My Hero Academia Goes Full Meta to Call Out Izuku's Dark Transformation

My Hero Academia really went full meta to call out Izuku Midoriya's Dark Transformation with the newest chapter of the series! Ever since the Final Act of Kohei Horikoshi's original manga series officially began, Izuku has been on a steady decline as he continues to isolate himself further from everyone around him in order to keep all of All For One and Tomura Shigaraki's attention on him and away from those who could be harmed. While he's growing in his power and control of One For All's various abilities, it's also been a detriment to how he's taken care of himself.

The newest chapter of the series picks up from the previous cliffhanger in which Izuku Midoriya had been saved from one of All For One's hired guns, but in their concern for Deku, they committed themselves to stopping his self destruction with force if necessary. Izuku's become so much different from when they had last seen him, and so much different from the bright young hero he used to be, the series even had to go full meta with a joke to call out just how dark his transformation has become.

Chapter 320 of the series picks up right after Katsuki Bakugo and the rest of Class 1-A had confronted Izuku, and he continues his myriad of calling him out with a few choice lines. In the previous chapter he had noted how Izuku was far from the All Might that he had strived to be, and even mentioned that he no longer had the smile that he tried to convey, and he digs his heels in further by going full meta and noting how Izuku looks like he's even "drawn" differently than the others.

Bakugo reveals how they know he's unlocked the fourth and sixth user's abilities, and says that Izuku's "drawn differently than the rest of [them] these days." This seems odd, but plays into how Class 1-A is trying to get through to him by essentially "breaking" Izuku's reality. Bakugo says things like he's treating them like "NPCs" and Tsuyu Asui ridicules him for wanting to be "some comic book superhero." So while it's a casual aside that breaks the fourth wall (something the series has toyed with before), it's with the intention of shaking Izuku loose by any means necessary.

But what did you think of this meta calling out Izuku's transformation? What did you think of My Hero Academia's newest chapter overall? Do you think Class 1-A can shake Izuku from his current misery? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!