My Hero Academia's ending is already one for the history books. Almost every character in the exhaustive cast has been given a role to play in this final war arc -- but somehow, the villains have always maintained the upper hand. Chapter 419 continues this disturbing trend of villain domination. Frankly, it’s very difficult to imagine the heroes overcoming the new hurdles they're faced with.
My Hero Academia Chapter 419, "Design," takes a break from extraordinary character writing in order to answer one of the series’ oldest questions. For the first time, All For One’s involvement with the Shimura family is explored, once again confirming an MHA fan theory. Chapter 419 is an incredibly difficult read for multiple reasons -- yet it could end up becoming one of the manga’s most pivotal chapters.
All For One Unveils His Master Plan in My Hero Academia 419
Shimura Tenko's Entire life Was Engineered by All For One
After All For One was resurrected in My Hero Academia Chapter 418, the villain is taking a victory lap in Chapter 419. Free from any influence by Shigaraki, the Demon Lord begins to explain the circumstances of his return in one of the series' most unsettling monologues. All For One’s speech is accompanied by a montage of images that reiterate Horikoshi Kohei’s capacity for more horrific art choices -- as opposed to My Hero Academia’s usual clean cut appearance. All negative space in this initial vestige sequence is filled with pitch darkness, and the borders between the following individual flashback panels have a static looking design.
Deku is the first to receive All For One’s attention, even before the villain’s vestige fully materializes. He comments on Deku's deconstruction of One For All, before confirming that Deku was responsible for his return. Because Deku weakened Shimura Tenko’s resolve, All For One's vestige was able to rise again and seize control of the body. He then turns to Shimura’s vestige trapped within his, calling him foolish and taunting him by claiming none of his choices had ever been truly his.
According to All For One, he’d realized that stealing One For All would be impossible without a will that was greater than its wielder’s. Since he couldn’t match them himself, he’d turned to creating a perfect vessel that could overwhelm them. This vessel’s willpower depended on them believing that they were in full control of their actions, so from his infancy, All For One secretly began to groom Shimura Tenko to steal One For All. His plan to inhabit Shimura's "perfect body" had been decades in the making
All For One’s plan for manipulating Tenko shows just how far the villain was willing to go in order to achieve his aims. His first target was Tenko’s father Kotaro, whose existing anti-hero sentiment was encouraged by the madman. By fostering Kotaro’s insecurities, All For One ensured the Shimura household would not be a safe place for children aspiring to be heroes. Meanwhile, All For One was simultaneously encouraging Mikkun and Tomo to play at being heroes with Tenko, planting the seeds of ambition in the unsuspecting youngster.
All For One’s revelation perverted every single aspect of Shigaraki/Shimura’s backstory. Even the Quirk that he had identified so strongly with, and that had influenced his dream of complete destruction, had been prepared for him. Decay was revealed to be from All For One. It was a synthetic Quirk created by Dr. Garaki. The times Shimura shared pretending to be heroes with Mikkun and Tomo were among his favorite memories, and even those had been tainted by All For One’s greed. There had been no part of Shimura’s life that was free from the Demon Lord's influence. To truly flex his total control of the body, All For One forcefully ejected Deku from his vestige realm, ordering Shimura’s would-be savior to vanish from his body.
My Hero Academia 419 Brings the Battle Back to the Physical World
Deku Pays the Price for Being Reckless
Following All For One’s command, both he and Deku are abruptly transported to the physical world, where both fighters immediately begin to assess the effects of their vestige brawl. Almost immediately, the Simple Growth Quirk begins to respond to the remnants of Shigaraki's influence by manifesting his trademark hand mask. However, All For One quashes any hope of a Shigaraki return by immediately ordering the lingering voice that activated the Quirk to be silenced. As his body slowly repairs itself, All For One begins to consider his next steps out loud. Upon his announcing a half-hearted desire for world domination, Deku objects but falls forward, leading to one of the most devastating page turns in manga history.
The injuries Deku sustains in the vestige realm carry over to the physical one, meaning that both of his forearms are completely gone. His severe injuries are almost a cruel slap in the face for the altruism he showed while dealing with Tenko and inadvertently reiterate My Hero Academia Chapter 419’s running theme: that every action so far has been for All For One’s benefit. Considering All For One’s inability to sense his brother’s vestige, there’s no guarantee Deku is still in possession of One For All, or if he’d even be able to use the Quirk in spite of the pain from two fresh amputations.
Deku tries to ignore his injuries and stop All For One, which just confirms how truly helpless he has become. Never one to pass up an opportunity to verbally berate his opponent, All For One offers to create a world in which people gain strength proportional to their losses, but ends by making fun of Deku’s being Quirkless -- claiming that Deku never had anything to lose in the first place. With this final taunt, All For One is primed to destroy Deku, but is once again interrupted in the nick of time.
Class 1-A's Reserve Team Warps to the Rescue in MHA 419
Sero Hanta, Rikido Sato, Mashirao Ojiro and Eraserhead Return in Spectacular Fashion
The welcome appearance of Sero Hanta marks a visible change in Chapter 419. Suddenly, all the backgrounds take on a sharp white color as if to reflect the reappearance of hope, as Sero loudly declares that he has arrived to save Midoriya. Sero’s sudden appearance confuses All For One long enough for Mashirao Ojiro and Rikido Sato to burst onto the scene. They both launch their most powerful super moves at the villain -- pushing him away and placing themselves firmly between him and Deku. The icing on the cake is on Chapter 419’s final page, which showcases the quotable Shota Aizawa stepping out of a Warp Gate to rejoin the battle.
These sudden arrivals have several implications, but at the very least, tease that Kurogiri has been subdued. Whether the Warp Gate villain was beaten into submission or recalled part of his memories as Oboro Shirakuma remains to be seen, but his Quirk opens up a lot of options for the Pro-Heroes. All For One may not be able to realize his goal of world domination just yet, as even more reinforcements for Deku are surely on their way. My Hero Academia Chapter 419 ends on yet another cliffhanger -- but for a change, it's one that bodes well for the heroes. However, it feels like their celebration could be short-lived, depending on the lasting effects of this chapter's reveals.
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