My Hero Academia Hits Low with a Stolen Quirk Throwback

My Hero Academia's latest chapter sees the most drastic battle of the Paranormal Liberation War continue to unfold. Tomura Shigaraki has emerged from stasis to fulfill the grand vision of series villain All For One, by inheriting his master's full power and a wide array of stolen quirks and stepping onto the battlefield to face the pro heroes. My Hero Academia chapter 274 sees the dynamics of the battle shift pretty rapidly, as Shigaraki begins to grow accustomed to the new power he wields. In the process of detailing Shigaraki's new set of powers, My Hero Academia takes a pretty low-blow shot at a pro hero whose quirk was stolen.

Warning: My Hero Academia chapter 274 SPOILERS Follow!

As Shigaraki gets settled into his new powers, he also inherits All For One's insatiable hunger to consume the One For All power that is its counterpart. With the compulsion burning into his head, Shigaraki tries to devise a way he can track down the One For All quirk. Luckily, he just the means to do so: the "Search" quirk that One For All stole from pro hero Rag Doll, who was part of the Wild, Wild, Pussycats team, and got captured by All For One during the Battle of Kamino.

My Hero Academia chapter 274 makes Shigaraki's dark intents with using Search that much worse, by featuring a scene that actually looks in on poor Rag Doll/Tomoko Shiretoko. With her quirk gone, Tomoko is forced to watch the first skirmish in the war unfold from the sidelines, stationed at Wild, Wild, Pussycats headquarters. Shigaraki's awakening sent out a shockwave of disintegration that annihilated the surrounding area and sent pro heroes, police, and civilians all scrambling for survival. That chaos is exactly what Tomoko is horrified to witness, knowing that with her quirk she could be aiding in saving lives. Unfortunately, her gift is now in the possession of a madman, who is using it to hunt down Izuku Midoriya and his One For All power.

Series creator Kohei Horikoshi is constantly sneaking in layers of depth and meaning in his storylines, and this is definitely one of the more biting callbacks. Rag Doll's quirk loss was one of the more horrific moments in My Hero Academia, as it truly conveyed just what kind of horrible violation All For One's quirk-stealing ability really is. Taking that analogy further, seeing Rag Doll left powerless while someone further perverts the use of her power is a hard hit, and a reminder that Kohei Horikoshi isn't afraid to lean into some darker themes.

My Hero Academia has finished airing season 4 of the anime on Hulu and Funimation. Online chapters of the manga can be found HERE.