Although it would seem like defeating Overhaul and saving Eri were the biggest of his concerns as the Shie Hassaikai arc came to an end in My Hero Academia‘s fourth season, Izuku Midoriya has actually been carrying quite the burden before all of these wild fights began. Discovering that All Might’s former sidekick not only predicted that All Might would be heading towards a violent end in the future, Midoriya also learned that U.A.’s number one Mirio Togata was the original choice for One For All’s successor. So now that the fight is ended, all of this has come rushing back.
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With Mirio Togata now officially out of commission, confirmed by the loss of his quirk to Overhaul’s completed quirk weapon, Midoriya comes to the surprising conclusion to offer One For All to Mirio Togata. Noting how he was the original successor, and has handled himself better in the fight, Midoriya put his entire pride on the line.
Episode 78 of the series sees a Mirio Togata trying to come to terms with his new quirkless state. He’s keeping a smile on his face thanks to Sir Nighteye’s final words, but Midoriya can’t help but feel guilty over what has happened. Seeing Mirio putting on this brave face, Midoriya is astonished at how Mirio continued to fight to protect Eri without a quirk.
Midoriya can’t help but feel inferior to the hero as he needed Eri’s help to defeat Overhaul, and needed Aizawa in order to stop Eri from going out of control. He then wonders out loud that if Mirio would have been the successor perhaps Nighteye wouldn’t have died, but Mirio stops him there. Midoriya tries to offer him One For All, but Mirio quickly denies it. He doesn’t need Midoriya’s quirk, even if it were possible for him to pass it.
Mentioning that it would cause Midoriya trouble, and not to look down on himself, Mirio re-affirms Midoriya’s being a hero. But it’s not exactly a welcome conclusion. Midoriya will continue to feel lacking, and Mirio has to rely on the hope that Eri will someday be able to rewind his quirk loss. So now the two of them are stuck in limbo in the hopes that they are both on heroic paths.
Did this exchange take you by surprise? What would the series look like if Mirio had One For All instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!
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.
