One of the most startling revelations in the history of My Hero Academia was the fact that All For One had taken in the grandson of All Might’s mentor, Nana Shimura, to transform him into the villainous head of the League of Villains, Shigaraki. With the My Villain Academia Arc revealing the origin of Shigaraki, viewers were able to get an in-depth look at the life of Nana’s son, Kotaro, and the heart-breaking chain of events that led to him pushing his own son into the life of villainy through abuse and a tragic event.
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Kotaro ran his family with an iron fist, still bearing an unimaginable hatred for his mother, who had left her son for fear of her villains attempting to get revenge through him. Unfortunately for Nana Shimura, her protection was seen as abandonment by Kotaro, who hated the world of heroes so much that he forbid his children from following in their dream of becoming heroes themselves. When a young Shigaraki and his sister come across a picture of their grandmother, the future head of the League is struck by his father who states that Nana is not his grandmother, but rather is someone who had abandoned them all in order to remain a hero.
Shigaraki’s powers manifested in the most devastating way possible, with his decay first killing the family dog, and then striking down his sister, his mother, and his grandparents in one fell swoop, with the young boy unable to control the Quirk brewing inside of him. With Kotaro brought outside by the devastation, he attempts to stop Shigaraki by striking him, which was obviously the wrong decision to make. Unleashing his killer instinct, Shigaraki kills his own father and lets loose the personality of the villain that has become one of the cruelest to date in My Hero Academia.
Kotaro is a tragic case all on his own, mired in bitterness following his mother’s actions to protect him, but it also goes in showing the chinks in the armor of Hero Society wherein top heroes would have to make devastating decisions to protect their families while continuing their crime-fighting careers.
What did you think of the tragic origin story of Shigaraki? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of UA Academy.
