My Hero Academia: Why didn’t Star and Stripe’s Quirk fully work on Shigaraki?

Star and Stripe almost killed Tomura Shigaraki with her Quirk in the first episode of My Hero Academia Season 7. However, her rule didn’t apply to Shigaraki, here’s why that is.

My Hero Academia Season 7 debuted this May as part of the Spring 2024 lineup. It’s already one of the best anime of 2024, managing to impress the viewers with the first episode.

My Hero Academia Season 7 started strong with Episode 1 featuring the long anticipated fight between Star and Stripe and Shigaraki. USA’s No. 1 Pro Hero proved herself to be a formidable opponent as she completely overwhelmed Shigaraki multiple times. 

However, when she made her move to kill him by assigning a rule on him with her Quirk, New Order, she found the rule didn’t apply to Shigaraki. Thanks to this, the villain survived and is prepared to go all out in the next episode.

Why didn’t Star and Stripe’s Quirk fully work on Shigaraki in My Hero Academia?

Star and Stripe’s Quirk didn’t fully work on Shigaraki because she set the rule for Tomura Shigaraki whereas the villain has the consciousness of All For One inside him, meaning he is not entirely Tomura Shigaraki.

Kohei Horikoshi/Bones

When Star and Stripe fought Shigaraki, she quickly overpowered him with New Order. After some intense moves from both sides, the hero cornered Shigaraki and assigned a new rule on her. As per her rule, if Tomura Shigaraki moves, his heart would stop beating.

However, Shigaraki survived, shocking the Pro Hero. In his internal monologue, he revealed he was no longer Tomura Shigaraki. He wasn’t All For One either, nor was he Tenko Shimura. He had become something else altogether and his hatred was powerful that it kept making him stronger.

When the two first clashed, Shigaraki didn’t have any information about her Quirk which left him at a disadvantage. However, this incident made him better understand the intricacies of New Order and how it wasn’t as all-powerful as it looked.

If Star and Stripe assigns a rule to a living being that has a sense of self with New Order, the affected must also have the same sense of identity. She has to touch someone and include their name to make a rule, so if the name is wrong or if the person doesn’t identify that to be their name, New Order won’t work.

Shigaraki survived the powerful rule because of All For One’s essence inside him. This one move would prove to be detrimental to Star and Stripe as it gave the villain all the information he needed on New Order.

Star and Stripe vs. Shigaraki would continue in Episode 2. As per the My Hero Academia release plan, the next episode will be released on May 11, 2024. My Hero Academia Season 7 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

For more My Hero Academia, check out how to watch My Hero Academia in order, is My Hero Academia Season 7 last season of the anime, and 5 things you should know about Season 7.