“Unrequited”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kohei Horikoshi
Translation: Caleb D. Cook
What They Say
Midoriya inherits the superpower of the world’s greatest hero, but greatness won’t come easy.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Jumping into My Hero Academia as the big arc plays out continues to be a good bit of fun but it’s not without its problems. While my initial jumping on landed me into some decent character material and then some solid fight material, the exploration of longer character issues I’m unfamiliar with has hit as well. With the series working some big moments and playing with an interesting cast of characters, it’s easy to get into it at this point. But there are areas of struggle at times because it does lean into over three hundred chapters of history, so I know I’m missing out at times or having a harder time connecting things. I had liked what little I had seen of Horikoshi’s previous work in Shonen Jump and it’s clearly been a few years since Barrage, so I was looking forward to revisiting his artwork.
The focus for this installment keeps things small and personal which works out pretty well. Placing Deku and Himiko together certainly is a thing as she’s got the whole unrequited love thing going on with the intensity of a thousand blazing suns. Himiko’s a bit over the top and almost a caricature here but she makes clear that she views she and Deku as being a thing, which he clearly cannot understand. Both are of an age where they have such bare at best understanding of love and relationships that it’s almost comical but it has the intensity of that belief in being right and knowing what you want, acting on the emotions and feelings that power you. And for someone like Himiko, who has already lost things, she’s intent on getting what she wants completely this time.
The problem is that while what Deku says is right, it’s not the kind of thing that can help to de-escalate the situation and instead just drives her into more of a rage about things. He does luck out in that Uravity is there along with Droppy so they’re able to provide some cover and pushback on Himiko, giving Deku a chance to catch his breath and understand what’s going on. I do like that they make it clear quickly to him that this isn’t his fight, which is why Himiko ended up all the way out here, and that he needs to get back to the UA and what’s happening there. That’s also not something that will go over well with Himiko either but it’s clear that things are moving hard and fast with this fight and that Deku’s needed elsewhere and quickly. That they all handle this as well as they do is a big plus.
In Summary:
The action side to the series is one that works well and seeing the combination at play here makes for a pretty good chapter. Deku’s views on the way Himiko views relationships is certainly understandable and Himiko is operating from a bad point of view as well, albeit one shaped by her experiences. What we get here for a lot of it is a lot of yelling back and forth at each other until the action hits and shifts things so Deku can get away, but I liked seeing how Himiko operates here as there’s a kind of broken insanity that’s appealing to watch play out.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Shonen Jump
Release Date: March 18th, 2022
