My Hero Academia fans call out “one of the worst writing decisions” in the franchise

Now that My Hero Academia is over, fans are looking back through the story, and they’ve settled on a pretty big missed opportunity from Kohei Horikoshi.

The My Hero Academia ending brought closure to most avenues of the beloved franchise. We see what happened to Deku and his Class 1-A peers, as well as All Might, all with a sprinkling of inspiring messaging.

A big aspect of the conclusion was Deku defeating Shigaraki and All For One. As dust settles on their final bout, a particular choice involving the villains isn’t sitting well with readers.

It turns out All For One was puppeteering Shigaraki for much of his life. According to fans on a Reddit thread, this undercuts deeper thematic connotations. Whereas Shigaraki had been established as a negative producer of the superhero hierarchy, this much simpler explanation robs him of more depth.

“All For One ruined Shiggy quite a bit with the Reverse Flash crap he pulled. The decay reveal was fine but the planning his birth and making his dad abuse him,” one comment adds in a thread that dubs the moment “one of the worst” twists in the franchise.

“The part where All For One orchestrated Shigaraki’s actual birth was bizarre,” echoes another comment. “Given Shigaraki didn’t even end up being saved by Deku in the end anyway, I wonder what was going through Horikoshi’s mind for him to go down this route,” a third adds.

There’s an abundance of evil piled onto All For One that seems convenient at first – making him the ultimate baddie so we have straight good vs evil in the last battle – but it undercuts other aspects of the story. Consistency isn’t Kohei’s strong suit, though – look at Deku’s father.

Regardless, it’s done now. We still have the superhero anime, though, and our guides to My Hero Academia: You’re Next and Season 7 will keep you up to date on those.