My Hero Academia Season 6 Explores the Vestige World at Last

My Hero Academia Season 6 has introduced fans to the Vestige World, at long last. The mysterious realm where past users of the One For All has been teased in the anime for literal years now. Well, in My Hero Academia’s latest episode, we finally got to see the Vestige World fully come alive – quite literally – as OFA’s previous users finally made a decisive stand! 

WARNING: MY HERO ACADEMIA SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

In “The Ones Within Us” Izuku Midoriya is nearly impaled by Shigaraki as the consciousness of his master, All For One, suddenly seized control of the evil boy’s body. Bakugo took the hit for Deku, enraging the heroic chosen one to go all out against Shigaraki. However, to Izuku’s horror, All For One’s consciousness takes control and quickly counters, turning Deku’s furious attack into the very chance to finally steal the OFA power for himself! But in a twist that even All For One couldn’t predict, the power of OFA rejects his attempted theft, and the battle moves from the physical world to a battle of wills within the Vestige World. 

My Hero Academia‘s anime version of the Vestige World of One For All is the same smoky void we saw in previous teases, with Deku similarly constrained in both movement and speech. In fact, it’s Izuku’s limitations in the Vestige World that make All For One declare him a loser; it’s that same boast that makes the OFA power and its previous users respond in kind, letting All For One know that their wills, attached to OFA long after their respective deaths, would not allow him to take the power – as they have chosen Izuku to be their true successor. 

The message that Deku is now endorsed fully by OFA’s previous users was delivered from the First User himself, All For One’s younger brother. The First User informs All For One that Deku has the true quality of a hero in his willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of others, and the anger he feels when others are hurt or suffer injustice.

Why This Is A Big Turning Point For Izuku

Before now, Izuku Midoriya has been slowly but surely gaining access to the powers of One For All, even more so than his mentor All Might ever did. The reasons why Deku has had both visions of the Vestige World and access to the powers of past users (Blackwhip, Float), have remained mysterious; however, the other part of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 10 sees All For One give a grand monologue about how quirks carry part of a user’s consciousness in them – transference he and his little brother were uniquely attuned to. One For All was born when the First User’s quirk passing power and a stockpiling power came together, effectively carrying the consciousnesses of all previous users into the future, well beyond their lifetimes. 

That’s all to say: One For All is truly “alive,” in a sense, and now is the first time that power has consciously chosen to embrace and endorse Izuku, for his purity of heart. It’s thrilling to think of what new arsenal of power Deku will get from that. 

My Hero Academia Season 6 releases new episodes on Hulu and Crunchyroll.