Why My Hero Academia’s darkest backstory made many fans uncomfortable, explained

My Hero Academia is no longer the series it once used to be. Initially, the show was a good balance between humor and action. It felt like any other shonen anime and manga series that utilized humor as a source of relief when fights took place. However, the manga has progressed quite a bit and the stakes are extremely high.

Most heroes might not even make it out alive and their parents have to watch their children decide the fate of the entire world. In the recent chapters, My Hero Academia explored the backstory of one of the most important characters – All For One. He is the prime antagonist of the series and it’s safe to say that he was born evil.

The things shown in the latest chapter could have very well made the reader-base uncomfortable. It’s not common to see shonen anime and manga series tackle dark themes. This article will look at the character’s backstory and certain themes that were explored in the latest chapter of the manga.

Disclaimer: The article contains massive spoilers from the recent manga chapters.

My Hero Academia: All For One’s backstory explored

It was in My Hero Academia chapter 407 that the reader-base got some insight into All For One’s backstory. He and his twin brother were born to a s*x professional and their mother didn’t realize that she was pregnant. To make things worse, she wasn’t well off and was homeless when her children were born. She died right after giving birth to twins since they were draining her life force ever since they were growing in her womb.

One of the twins was All For One. The mother had certain hardened warts on her body, which disappeared after he was born. This was because All For One stole the meta ability that his mother had. His twin brother Yoichi, was frail and small because the only thing All For One could and wanted to do was take from people. Even as a baby, he was extremely arrogant and looked like he was chewing the flesh of his mother’s corpse.

All For One eating his mother's flesh right after being born (Image via Shueisha/Kohei Horikoshi) — All For One eating his mother’s flesh right after being born (Image via Shueisha/Kohei Horikoshi)

In the My Hero Academia series, All For One thought that the entire world belonged to him. He believed that if people didn’t have anything to offer him, they were disposable. The only reason he didn’t kill Yoichi was because he was his brother and because he considered Yoichi his possession.

All For One brutally murdering people at a young age (Image via Shueisha/Kohei Horikoshi)

At that time, a glowing baby was studied and was one of the first ever documented cases of meta abilities. The study created a rift between those who had meta abilities and those who didn’t because the ability was a consequence of gene sequences that weren’t “human” . All For One killed the baby and kept that quirk to himself.

Final Thoughts

All For One’s backstory highlighted the reason for his evil ways. Ever since he was a child, all he has known is to take. He has been taking from people without really suffering from consequences. Furthermore, the sheer number of people he has killed so far is bone-chilling as well.

We can see no remorse in his face when he kills the people who have nothing to offer him. Such dark themes aren’t particularly explored in shonen series. That paired with how My Hero Academia started as a series, made people extremely uncomfortable while reading the latest chapters.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2023 progresses.