My Hero Academia‘s latest string of arcs has seen a terrifying amount of growth for Tomura Shigaraki as the villain has evolved both on the inside and out. Facing the Meta Liberation Army sparked a new level of personal growth for the character as flashbacks to his past revealed the brutal fate of his family, a family that he continues to hold a creepy tribute to by using their hands (the last remnants of their bodies after his quirk activated) to constantly adorn his body. But there was one hand that was left unaccounted for.
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That was until the latest chapter of the series as Chapter 270 sees Shigaraki grow one more time as a distinct look into his mental state as he fully merges with All For One. Seeing the members of his family grabbing onto him much like the hands he always wears, a final hand emerges on his head belonging to his grandmother, Nana Shimura. Teasing that this final hand on the back of his head was indeed hers.
As seen through previous chapters, Shigaraki adorned himself with the hands of his grandparents, mother, sister, and father as a way to both comfort and remind himself of the massacre he dealt to them as a child. But this chapter sees him going through essentially a hellscape of his own creation. Shigaraki has reached his final evolution, and that means finally letting go of the past.
Letting go of that past also means letting go of the ghosts of his family, who all latch onto him in this vision. As Nana Shimura grabs onto him and urges him to “never forget,” Shigaraki casts this all aside and accepts his place as the new user of All For One. Given how much All For One has manipulated Shigaraki to this point, this reveal does make sense.
All For One explicitly chose Shigaraki because he was Shimura’s grandson, and gave Shigaraki the hands to wear in the first place. This final hand belonging to Shimura (unless it gets de-confirmed later) makes a ton of sense as yet another final cruel detail All For One has put into this grand scheme of forging Shigaraki as a successor.
But what do you think of this reveal? Does Nana Shimura make sense as the final hand left unaccounted for on the back of Shigaraki’s head? Does this all mean that Shigaraki is now physically and mentally changed forever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
