Jam Packed Action | My Hero Academia Vol. 25: Review

Story & Art By
Kohei Horikoshi
Published By
Viz Media

This series continues to pull at my heartstrings. The villains in My Hero Academia are some of the most well-written characters I’ve come across in a manga series. That is just as true for Tomura Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains. As the bright cover of this volume would imply, we get a significant and much-needed focus on Tomura. His feats up until this point, although terrifying, have lacked an apparent driving force. What we learn about the young man’s early life made me sympathize with him. This story is al about how a hero-based society affects all aspects of daily life. For some, it is a blessing, but for others, it is a curse. This volume will make you understand, if not already understood, the dichotomies and social problems the world of My Hero has to fight through and the products of this society. So if you plan to pick this one up, buckle up for 1 chapter worth of powerful story.

After a heart wrenching first couple of chapters, the story transport you back into the present where the previous volume leaves off. The reader is back at climax at  Shigaraki’s fight with the CEO of Detnerat Company and Grand Commander of the modern Meta Liberation Army, Re-Destro. This guy has quite the resume with the strength to back it. The focus shifts back on these two powerhouses. It allows Horikoshi to show just how far Tomura has come from the first time he receives his new name. Even the way he is drawn in these chapters compared to before helps solidify a transition in Shigaraki’s character. Despite the massive action the first few chapters provided us, My Hero Academia Vol. 25 clarifies that the worst is yet to come.

I know I said this volume of MHA was all about Tomura. However, we do get to see what Deku and the main hero cast are doing. Their training is, of course, ongoing under the tutelage of Number One Hero Endeavor, and to make things more intriguing, we have an espionage subplot interwoven throughout these series of chapters. There’s just so much going on in My Hero Academia Vol. 25. It’s hard to know what to focus on the most! Multiple plot threads merge neatly and artfully to provide us with a concise story. Even when Tomura is not on the panels, Shigiraki’s presence still reaches. That’s just fantastic writing.

Let me expand on the artwork in My Hero Academia Vol. 25. Most of the time, Tomura is drawn just like everyone else in terms of style and structure. That all changes when the destructive villain goes through a major character shift. He is drawn are unburdened – that is, he takes up all the positive and negative space in a panel. The detail in his hair strands disappears, and instead, white emptiness occupies that space around his features like face and clothes. To portray where his hair ends and the background begins, Horikoshi purposely fills in gray area. His attire during his battle with Re-Destro is feathery like his hair and reflects his destructive nature. All this is just impressive use of negative space, and I love it. The art is ambitious, just like the leader of the League of Villains.

For being a story about a Hero Based Society, having such a big focus on the bad guys for a prolonged amount of time shows confidence in the author’s ability to give us exciting and dynamic characters. And he sure provides us with a lot too! Although Tomura is the highlight of My Hero Academia Vol. 25, we get some fantastic moments from his fellow League members and give us fresh new faces to look forward to interacting with.

The lines between good and evil are becoming more blurred as one side seeks order while the other fights for liberation. Liberation and Order for who though? It feels like we know the answer to that, but at the same time, we are lead to believe that maybe there is more to this current societal structure than meets the eye. My Hero Academia Volume 25 escalates the tension to new heights and seems to promise a clash of ideals. We can only wait to see if Deku and the rest of the Heroes will rise to the challenge.

Jam Packed Action | My Hero Academia Vol. 25: Review
My Hero Academia Volume 25
Dive into the heart and mind of Tomura Shigaraki as his power and influence grows. Are Deku and the other heroes ready for the coming storm?
Pros
Cons
5
Score