My Hero Academia‘s manga has been moving pieces all over the game board as it sets the stage for the upcoming Meta Liberation War arc. Tomura Shigaraki and the League of Villains have taken command of Re-Destro’s Meta Liberation Army group; meanwhile, the Pro Hero world is desperately trying to prepare itself and the students of U.A. Class 1-A for the war that’s brewing. Caught somewhere in the middle is the former Symbol of Peace, All Might, who no longer has the power to defend the Pro Hero world from aggression. Now, My Hero Academia manga chapter 257 has debuted a scene that many fans seem to think is a direct foreshadow of All Might’s death!
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Warning: My Hero Academia chapter 257 SPOILERS Follow!
The latest issue of My Hero Academia manga follows All Might’s revelations to Izuku and Bakugo about One For All’s previous users and their various quirk powers. After that important little exposition dump / foreshadow, Class 1-A gets together in the dorms for a nice Hot Pot meal and bonding session, which also feels somewhat ominous. That’s because Izuku takes a moment to look around at all his friends in Class 1-A and how they’ve come together, and realizes just how blessed he is. For us, the readers, it kind of feels like a hint that this is the last time Izuku and all his friends might be happy and alive, together.
While the U.A. students get their nosh on, All Might sneaks outside of the U.A. dorms, where Eraserhead finds him sitting on a bench, watching the night sky. All Might confides in Aizawa that “I’ve decided to keep on living. But… This feeling… Like I’m powerless… Keeps bubbling up inside me.” All Might explains that watching the Class 1-A students learn to master their Quirks and grow in power only makes him feel that much more powerless. Shota reminds All Might that as the Symbol of Peace he had propped up Japan’s pro hero community for years on end, and that coming down from that kind of hero worship fame would be painful. Shota ends by telling All Might that all he has to do is live to continue being a symbol to the next generation of heroes – and pretty much sounds like a death knell for the iconic hero.
All Might’s death has been hanging over My Hero Academia since its very first episodes, where we learned just how badly Toshinori Yagi had been injured in the famous All Might vs. All For One battle that left the Symbol of Peace secretly crippled thereafter. Ironically enough, the My Hero Academia anime has just finished the season 4 “Overhaul Arc” this week: in that arc we learned that All Might had a falling out with his former sidekick Sir Nighteye, after Nighteye’s future-seeing quirk made him believe that All Might is destined to die horribly at some villain’s hands. Deku gave fans hope for the future by defeating Overhaul and “twisting” the future Nighteye thought was set in stone, which seemed to also hint that All Might could also escape his own dark fate.
However, as stated, My Hero Academia chapter 257 very much seems like a “calm before the storm” chapter that’s foreshadowing the seriously dark and tragic period Class 1-A is about to go through. That presumably means Deku fully discovering and mastering the various quirks hidden within One Fore All; significant members of Class 1-A not making it back from the Meta Liberation War alive; and All Might being the major death of that arc. In fact, thinking it about, all those events could easily be linked (member of Class 1-A is in danger or dies / All Might jumps in to save the day, powerless, like Deku once did / All Might is killed and Deku goes Super Saiyan as a result).
Do you think All Might is going to die soon in My Hero Academia?
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. If you wanted to check it out for yourself, you can currently find the series streaming on Crunchyroll and FunimationNOW. Funimation will also soon be bringing My Hero Academia’s second big movie, Heroes Rising, to North America on February 26th.
