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, Robbie checks in with “My Hero Academia.” If you have thoughts on these or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
My Hero Academia Chapter 293
Written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
To say these past several chapters of “My Hero Academia” have been fast-paced would be an understatement. We’ve had non-stop action from the moment the heroes made their move, with each chapter bringing in another new revelation, twist, death, or surprise appearance. That brings us to chapter 293, which continues this pace without missing a beat.
Before anything else, we get a gloriously steampunk version of the cast on a full-color, two-page cover spread. While that doesn’t mean anything plot-wise, I look forward to seeing people cosplaying these variants as soon as conventions are safe to return to again.
As the last chapter ended with a surprise return of a fan-favorite who’d previously been benched, this chapter begins by explaining how it happened. While the “how” is something readers have all expected, and were in fact anticipating, the timing couldn’t be better for a gloriously dramatic return. Yet that’s only the first of many dramatic moments, as we also see Bakugo and Nejire make dramatic rescues in spite of their own wounds. Suffice to say, it’s very dramatic, and Horikoshi’s artwork continues to shine with a two-page spread showing their heroic attacks in glirous detail and a multitude of action lines.
At the same time, Horikoshi knows how to toss in just enough levity to lighten the mood. We get a nice callback to Bakugo’s utter inability to come up with a good hero name. Yet even part of his overly long and tacky name – Dynamight – is a reflection of his power and desire to follow in All Might’s footsteps (albeit in his own way). It’s impressive how a joke like this can still show character development.
Of course, that’s only part of the chapter. It also brings us back to the Todoroki family drama. Yes, there are a lot of balls to juggle right now, but Kohei Horikoshi keeps a good balance between each scene and brings us back and forth as needed. While this gives us primarily another dramatic speech from Midoriya, countered by an evil speech from Dabi, we also see more of Midoriya’s training in action. We’ve seen before how he learns a lot of moves from watching his friends in action, from picking up his Shoot Style of fighting from Iida to training with Uraraka and Sero. Now we see a move inspired by Tsuyu. This is a somewhat different take on a character gaining strength from “the power of friendship” – rather than some intangible power-up from emotions alone, it’s the results of training and learning from close friends. Quite frankly, I like it.
Speaking of, we do get to see how the characters who haven’t been in the middle of the action managed to contribute. No hero’s efforts have gone to waste, which makes each part of the story all the more important.
While each page is packed full of action and details, the artwork never lets up. In spite of how beaten, bruised, and charred the characters get, it doesn’t interrupt their character designs. Even with all the explosions and action lines, each movement is still clear and intense. There’s a wide array of character designs and highly emotional moments, but at this point, Horikoshi can draw them like the pro he is.
After a story arc this intense, “My Hero Academia” is really going to need a light breather arc to wind things down. But for now, chapter 293 keeps the action escalating and each character moment epic. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from this manga.
Final Verdict: 8.7 – Intense action and solid artwork, backed up by storytelling that makes every character moment feel like it matters and showcases the growth of our leads.
