My Hero Academia Makes Major Change to Shigaraki's Decay Quirk

My Hero Academia's latest chapter finally sees the long-dreaded moment arrive: Tomura Shigaraki's terrible re-awakening. Thanks to the planning of All For One and his disciple Dr. Ujiko, Shigaraki has had his powers boosted to an insane degree, while also having the mental controls on his secret All For One power finally released. My Hero Academia fans were eager to see just how powerful the League of Villains' leader has become, and they weren't disappointed. Shigaraki's opening attack has already slaughtered a bunch of pro heroes - but beyond the edge-of-your-seat thrills and horror of the moment, there's been a significant change to Shigaraki's disintegration quirk powers!

Warning - My Hero Academia chapter 272 SPOILERS Follow!

Tomura Shigaraki wakes up in Dr. Ujiko's lab, after having his stasis tube destroyed by the pro hero strike force, led by Endeavor. Shigaraki only says one phrase, "I'm cold," and proceeds to disintegrate the nearest hero, X-Less, to steal his cape for warmth. However, Shigaraki's disintegration effect doesn't stop with the person he touched - it unleashes an entire wave of disintegration that destroys the hospital, the surrounding buildings, and continues rolling down the side of the mountain, into the city below.

My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi has been pretty clear and distinct about how the quirk powers of various heroes and villains are depicted. Shigaraki's disintegration quirk is easily one of the series' most distinct illustrations / animations. That's because it's always horrific to see the way Shigaraki's power makes living beings crumble to pieces - like shattered statues, only with a lot more blood, gore, and guts. The new powers of "Plus Ultra Shigaraki" are just as horrific, but there's a distinct new detail to how his disintegration works:

As you can see in the image above, Shigaraki's power now carries the same digital-looking signature as All For One's quirk power. We saw those wired-looking effect during All For One's battle with All Might in Kamino District, and now here it is again, as part of Shigaraki's disintegration effect.

This visual change is no surprise. Previous chapters of My Hero Academia revealed that All For One transfered his original quirk into Shigaraki, at some point in the past. What we're seeing now is Shigaraki's full All For One powers taking effect, and it is a fearsome thing to behold. The chapter is all about the initial disintegration wave that Shigaraki unleashes, but the next few chapters will reveal if All For One allows him to do even more terrible things, like steal the quirks of those he's disintegrating.

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