My Hero Academia Flashback Reveals the Aftermath of Nana's Worst Decision

My Hero Academia's war between the heroes and villains continues with the newest chapter of the series, but as Tomura Shigaraki goes further with his rampage we got a heartbreaking flashback to his grandmother Nana Shimura's decision that set all of this in motion. As it was revealed during Shigaraki's origin story, his father had been abusing him and hated Nana for abandoning him as a child. This hatred of the world of heroes is eventually what fuels Shigaraki's villainous turn with All For One, but it was not so easy for Nana either.

As one might expect, a flashback into Nana's perspective of her having to give away her son resulted in a terrible immediate aftermath. The newest chapter of the series dives back into this moment, and reveals yet another piece of Nana's crucial past that we have not been privy too in the series yet. At the same time, it's at the cost of someone's life.

Chapter 281 of the series sees Shigaraki fighting Gran Torino, and in their clash Shigaraki manages to get a hold of Torino before he can speed away. Pouncing on top of him, Torino can't help but think to back when Nana was giving up her son. The flashback then reveals a younger Gran Torino looking on as Nana hugs her crying son and says goodbye to him for the last time. She confirms to him that she had altered the records to remove the connection between her and her son to keep All For One from exploiting.

As she begins to say "I have no son," as a way to confirm it for herself the weight of the decision crashes down on her. She begins to cry as Torino also remembers Shigaraki saying that his father told him all about how heroes hurt their families to help complete strangers. It's here that he wonders whether or not he and Nana made the right decision, and it's here that Shigaraki deals the final blow to him. Torino erupts in a bloody geyser as the final image of Nana's crying face enters his mind.

We have been gradually learning more about Nana Shimura from the characters directly impacted by her like her family, Gran Torino, and All Might, and each new time shows a different facet of her role as one of the inheritors of One For All. But this is definitely the most human side we have seen from her yet.

What did you think of this flashback to Nana Shimura's past? Is it yet another tragic facet of All For One's terrible influence? Is she directly at fault for Shigaraki's current villainous self? 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!