Following the Tournament Arc, the student’s of U.A. are set up for training with a professional hero. Despite his determination during the tournament he has almost no takers: nobody wants the young hero who seemingly has to hurt himself to do great things. Todoroki goes to work for this father, a move done in order to try and fight his identity, and Bakugo ends up getting a makeover. Izuku feels as if he has no options until he gets one offer: from a cooky hero known as Gran Torino. It seems like everyone else will have a more meaningful internship until Gran Torino begins training Izuku to use One for All in a new way: A cowl that focuses the entire power of one for all evenly across his body. Now Izuku can begin to learn a new way to fight, one that might allow him to truly inherit the power of One for All and All Might’s legacy.
While Izuku struggles with carrying the legacy of All Might, a battle occurs within Iida. During the tournament Iida’s older brother was attacked and his future as a hero was essentially brought to an abrupt end. Iida loses sight of his justice and his determined to get revenge for his brother’s sake: so what will become of him now that what makes him motivated is now tainted with fury?
What commences from this point on is probably the most interesting set up for the villains in Hero Academy. We see the villain’s league reappear and attempt to court Stain, who is essentially like ‘go fuck yourself’. His reasoning? He believes fake heroes are worth nothing and hates pretenders – he only really believes in one hero, All Might. And when Iida faces him, not for the good of others, but in order to avenge his brother? He quickly becomes Stain’s next target.
What made me cry tears of proud joy was the next step, however, when both Todoroki and Midoriya prove themselves worthy to Stain. Seeing Stain’s honor code work was so cool because he outright stopped himself from killing Midoriya and Todoroki at times because they were there to help people, not for any gain for themselves. The battle became Todoroki and Midoriya attempting to save Iida and another hero while Stain consistently paralyzed members of them over and over. Stain’s powers are even revealed to be related to drinking blood- BECAUSE BLOOD STAINS ARE HIP, Y’ALL!
The end of the battle is satisfying but also. . . not. In order to stop the manga from recognizing Midoriya too quickly all of the UA students are forced to take a deal which gives Endeavor the credit and pretends they had nothing to do with it. Stain’s message of determined anarchy rings out to everyone but the world doesn’t get to see its true counter- the message of heroes like Todoroki and Midoriya who are willing to stand against evil no matter the cost. Iida has learned a hard lesson but is back on track to becoming a true hero.
But after the fallout of Stain, All Might knows he must reveal the truth. He tells Midoriya of the first One for All, and his enemy, All for One. The story details of a man who can take and give quirks to others and his seemingly powerless brother whose sense of justice made him determined to stop him. One day the ruthless power stealing brother chose to give his younger sibling a quirk that allowed him to stockpile quirks- though no one knows the original reason why. This revealed a hidden quirk inside of the young man, the ability to pass on quirks to others. While his power wasn’t enough to stop his brother, he passed on his abilities until someone who could finally stop his brother came: And that someone was All Might.
Izuku learns about the destiny he will be forced to face, but he doesn’t yet realize that All Might won’t be able to be with him when it happens. I found myself torn at this because Midoriya realizes so much about being a hero except for the part where he has to believe in himself. He bestows so much power to others and reminds them to stand tall, but he clings to the figure of All Might. What I can’t wait for is when Midoriya can finally realize his own strength and stand for that. But for now, I cry for his inevitable heartbreak.
On the final review before the new season begins, we will cover the return to UA and Midoriya’s growth. How does he compare to his classmates after learning to take on the One for All Cowl? and how will he fair…on the final exams?
Oki
Stain’s origins were expanded upon in a prequel spinoff, Hero Academia – Vigilantes*.
Spoiler
Apparently he used to be the Villian Killer, but his encounter with the MCs left him with a destroyed face and warping his ideals into one of hero-killing.
*Mod Note: For the spoiler script to work, make sure you close the tags by making sure there are no spaces + Details are where spoilers should be plugged in and Summary should be filled with “Spoiler” 😉 .
There was a fan scanlation, but now Viz is doing the official scanlation.
Done by a different author/artist team, not Horikoshi Kouhei. There’s been cameos by Academia characters like All Might, Iida’s older brother, and Aizawa-sensei.