Spoilers and raw scans for the upcoming installment of author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia manga series were released on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Within, fans got an exciting sneak peek at chapter 394’s events, which appear to highlight the finale of the Ochaco Uraraka and Himiko Toga fight.
While these events have obviously yet to be corroborated by the issue’s official release, the latest My Hero Academia leaks do portray the finale to this fight as very exciting. Toga and Uraraka finally connect and become true friends by having their talk about romance, with both clearly growing as characters as a result of the fight overall and its ending specifically.
Likewise, many My Hero Academia fans are calling it the best ending to a storyline in the series’ purported final arc thus far, which is certainly a lofty compliment considering the arc’s events. However, there is one small aspect of the ending that fans are faulting Horikoshi for, and arguably for good reason, even with the ending’s high quality in spite of said flaw.
Skimping on an Uraraka flashback in chapter 394 is one of My Hero Academia’s biggest missed opportunities
Brief spoiler recap
My Hero Academia’s upcoming issue allegedly begins with Ochaco Uraraka and Himiko Toga both realizing that the former’s Quirk has Awakened to become incredibly strong. Uraraka adds that her body is getting frighteningly cold, but she ignores this in favor of trying to connect with Toga. Likewise, she starts explaining to Toga that she originally became a hero to financially help out her parents.
However, she realized that the world is bigger than that thanks to her experiences throughout the series thus far. Likewise, this original goal and her subsequent experiences all define her and are why she’s right here, right now. Uraraka then asks Toga to tell her everything she’s currently feeling and ever felt, prompting Toga to think of Dabi and her tragic childhood as she prepares to stab Uraraka.
My Hero Academia’s upcoming issue allegedly then sees Toga drop the knife, beginning to talk about her kind of love and her past experiences with love. She adds that the League of Villains are the only ones who accepted her love from the start, as the Twice clones turned to dust. The chapter ends with the two hugging and Uraraka telling Toga she’s the cutest in the whole world, prompting her to smile and the Twice clones to disappear as the issue ends.
Why not giving Uraraka a flashback is a missed opportunity
#MHA394 #MHASpoilers
This ch is crazy but I especially love how Hori showed Toga looking like a demon trying to attack a Uraraka as a child, indicating how in their fight Toga was coming at her with malicious intent and pure hatred due to her experiences with society, + pic.twitter.com/oepX1oq8dC— John (@Ogosaurus) July 12, 2023
As mentioned above, fans are heavily praising the ending to Uraraka versus Toga, giving it the flowers it truly deserves. That being said, not giving Uraraka a flashback to her childhood is arguably a mistake from Horikoshi at worst and a missed opportunity at best. Nonetheless, the ending to their fight and story arc as foil characters is still fantastically well done.
The fact remains, however, that giving Uraraka a flashback to her childhood prior to the ending of their fight in My Hero Academia would’ve added a significant amount of narrative depth. This is especially true given that Toga got a flashback to her childhood growing up in a wealthy but unloving home, whereas Uraraka grew up in a loving but poor home.
Establishing and exploring such a dichotomy between the two could’ve added further depth and meaning to their actions and opinions, especially as they relate to one another. In turn, this makes their ability to connect with each other despite their juxtaposed origins that much more significant, seeing them break barriers with each other as both people and Heroes and Villains.
Thank you for reaching out to Toga Himiko, Ochako Uraraka 🥺💖 #mhaspoilers #mha394 #mhaleaks #ochakouraraka #togahimiko pic.twitter.com/ndZZBF5leM
— Shelbs😋 (@dorkydeku1A) July 12, 2023
While the actual canonical ending to their shared story arc in My Hero Academia still communicates this, a flashback would’ve deepened this communication and meaning greatly. The flashback would’ve also fit in perfectly with the images of a young Uraraka and a young Toga interacting with one another throughout the most recent issues of the series.
Unfortunately, Horikoshi chose not to take this route, instead choosing to focus on a fantastical ending in this issue rather than a flashback to set up the ending later. In any case, the ending to their shared story arc is nevertheless exciting, engaging, and extremely well done, a claim that many fans of the series agree on.
Be sure to keep up with all My Hero Academia anime, manga, and live-action news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news, as 2023 progresses.
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