My Hero Academia Teases the Climax of Its War's First Raid

My Hero Academia is now into its big Paranormal Liberation War arc, and it seems as though the first segment of that arc is about to reach a thrilling climax! As the pro heroes and cops have launched an ambitious surprise attack against the League of Villains' new Paranormal Liberation Front army, the villains have desperately trying to unlock their next-gen era of super-being weapons, in the forms of new highly intelligent Nomu, and a power-boosted Tomura Shigaraki! Now that Shigaraki has emerged from stasis as the biggest threat in My Hero Academia's run, it's only fitting he first throw down with the No. 1 Pro Hero!

Warning - My Hero Academia Manga 273 SPOILERS Follow!

Shigaraki's awakening unleashed a destructive wave of his disintegration quirk, which annihilated the secret lab of All For One disciple Dr. Ujiko, and most of the surrounding mountain town. Left alone at the epicenter of the carnage, Shigaraki does a quick assessment of how things are going in the war. Of course, that answer is "not good," since the heroes have Ujiko, the Nomu, and the PLA soldiers on the ropes. Moreover, the quirk-canceling bullets Shigaraki stole from Overhaul were largely destroyed, leaving only a few rounds still usable (not at all an ominous foreshadow... nope).

Of course, even with those setbacks, Shigaraki and the PLA still have a big chance to recoup their losses. With new disintegration powers and the All For One quirk, Shigaraki is a one-man WMD; he still has a giant monster to deploy on the battlefield, and his surviving League of Villains teammates are already out on a rampage. Knowing the tide could turn, No. 1 hero Endeavor goes from fleeing Shigaraki's wave of disintegration to doubling back to attack the villains' leader head-on!

The final panel of My Hero Academia chapter 273 sees Endeavor coming at Shigaraki, who calls the no. 1 hero "One hell of a wake-up call." It's pretty much a big, waving, flag from series creator Kōhei Horikoshi, that we've reached the climactic point of this first 'Lab Raid' mission of the Paranormal Liberation War arc. Shigaraki vs. Endeavor is a proper sort of finale - one that could result in a major twist (Endeavor's death???), which sets the stage for a darker, and more intense effort from the villains, following that pivotal battle.

More to the point: Shigaraki vs. Endeavor fight is the kind of outcome that could shake-up the entire pro hero world, and set the stage for Izuku Midoriya to have to unlock new One For All powers, in order to stand any kind of chance of beating Shigaraki, when the top hero could not.

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