Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, our weekly check in on Viz’s various Shonen Jump series. Viz has recently changed their release format, but our format will mostly remain the same. We will still review the newest chapters of one title a week, now with even more options at our disposal. The big change for our readers is that, even without a Shonen Jump subscription, you can read these most recent chapters for free at Viz.com or using their app.
This week, Zach checks in with “My Hero Academia.” If you have thoughts on this or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
My Hero Academia – Chapter 366: Full Moon
Written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi
Translated by Caleb Cook
Lettered by John Hunt
Reviewed by Zach Wilkerson
It’s been a hundred or so chapters since I last checked in on “My Hero Academia.” I always find it daunting to review a title that I’ve fallen behind on, especially one that is as particularly long running as this one. Nevertheless, jumping into this chapter of MHA is like meeting up with an old friend; one who hasn’t changed quite as much as you might expect in the last couple years but seems to be doing pretty well for themselves.
Immediately, I find that Tomura Shigaraki is still very much “a thing.” Arguably more of a thing than ever, having morphed into his “optimal form.” Horikoshi leans heavily into body horror with delightful results. While his finger-centric visual motif kicks into overdrive, the most striking feature is now his massive left hand, with each fingertip hosting the face of the Shimura family. The imagery is imaginative and haunting, but Horikoshi unfortunately spends little time dwelling on the horrific visuals in favor of heavy action. The action, of course, is quite good as well. Horikoshi’s panels are fluid and dynamic as characters fly across the page. The pacing is frantic and disorienting in a way that captures the dire situation at hand.
Mirio is arguably the chapter’s focus, acting as a counterpoint to Shigaraki. Miro feels particularly ineffectual and laments his perceived uselessness while his fellow heroes fall to the seemingly insurmountable force ahead of them. Nevertheless, Mirio finds inner strength and motivation from the words of his old master and, in the most shonen way possible, uses the power of humor to catch Shigaraki off guard.
This silly moment results in a bit of narrative whiplash as the tone flips from dire to goofy, only for Horikoshi to turn the tables once more with a series of triumphant full page spreads. While the backgrounds in these pages feel barren and lifeless, Horikoshi’s highly detailed character work shines thanks to his great use of perspective. However, the choice to use over a third of the chapter’s page count to depict this one moment does cause the chapter to feel somewhat slight, despite its high stakes.
Final Verdict: Horikoshi’s terrific character designs are the star of this briskly paced chapter.
