My Hero Academia Breaks Hearts with Emotional Ashido Flashback

My Hero Academia has put the students of Class 1-A and 1-B directly in the path of the monstrous Gigantomachia, and to make matters worse series creator Kohei Horikoshi really broke hearts with a terrifying Mina Ashido flashback. The latest chapters of the manga have challenged the heroes in all sorts of new ways as the violent war against the Paranormal Liberation Front continues and Gigantomachia is doing everything he can to make it to Tomura Shigaraki's side. The efforts of the pro heroes have been for naught as the monster continues tearing through them, and now it's up to the kids.

As the previous chapter ended with a cliffhanger seeing Mina Ashido making her way towards Gigantomachia's mouth, Chapter 280 of the series picks up immediately after as Mt. Lady continues to hold the monster's mouth open while she draws in close. But as Ashido gets closer, she has a terrifying flashback that nearly gets her killed when she recognizes Gigantomachia from her past.

Chapter 280 of the series sees Ashido cover herself in Acidman while jumping toward Gigantomachia, and she starts second guessing herself as smaller fears kick in. She starts thinking about whether or not Midnight actually survived her encounter with Gigantomachia, and as this doubt kicks in her Acidman armor begins to melt away. When Gigantomachia speaks, the final bit of her armor is washed away as Ashido instantly recognizes the monster's voice.

She then flashes back to the first encounter she had with Gigantomachia when he asked her for directions, but we only saw this from the outside in Kirishima's perspective. Now it's clear that this moment had a huge impact on her, and Ashido soon sees herself as the scared little girl that faced the monster the first time rather than the hero she is currently trying to be. Because of this, she fails to throw the sleeping substance and is soon almost killed by the monster. Luckily she is saved at the last moment thanks to Eijiro Kirishima jumping to her rescue in time.

This was a heartbreaking moment for Mina Ashido, and shows just how much that encounter with Gigantomachia really had an effect on her. It's also a showcase of just how much she's hiding behind her usual smile. But what did you think of this surprising flashback? Did you expect Ashido to remember Gigantomachia so much that it terrifies her? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!