Hello and welcome back to the top 5 times Mairuma has given me a spook, dare I say a fright. Here at what’s probably number 4 is the camera having turning away from the not-a-zora professor to see a biology professor ready to anatomically rip him apart limb from limb
My Hero Academia Chapter 390: Shoto Todoroki: Rising Spoiler Thoughts
It’s the dead of midnight where I am while typing this and the leaks for Chapter 390 just finished and holy shit what a ride. Phenomenal chapter, 10/10, beautiful, stunning, heartwarming, heartbreaking, I need a full 2 weeks to recover. Which we’re actually going to get because Horikoshi is taking yet another break thank god. Give that man a vacation already, Shonen Jump. OK, onto my very long immediate thoughts:
So real quick, things are going to be kind of scattered due to it being late and my mind being all over the place so please be patient ☺️
So, Shoto Todoroki: Rising. A lot of people including myself saw this one coming once we were focusing primarily on the Todoroki family and we were hitting chapter 390. Horikoshi seems to have a thing for the 90s chapters since Endeavor Vs. High-End was on Chapter 190 and Dabi’s Dance was 290. Interesting choice, but it works thematically and it makes it easy to go back and read the important chapters once they come out in physical volume.
That said, I’m so, so glad Shoto got a Rising chapter of his own. It’s been a very long time coming and this was his chapter. Shoto became the hero he is meant to be and used his own personal growth, his friend’s help (especially Iida here, someone please check on him later), and his family to stop Touya and probably save him. I’m so proud of him. He’s come such a long way and I love him so much. Shoto is my favorite character in the series for a good reason.
I love the part in Shoto’s narration while he’s running at full speed (thanks to Iida launching him and propelling himself via Phosphor) where he basically says the conflicts he’s faced and the way his friends feel towards others are things that helped him start to understand other’s feelings. This is basic human empathy at it’s core, but remember that Shoto was incredibly cold (no pun intended) and stoic at the beginning of the series. Even after Deku saved him in the Sports Festival, it didn’t automatically fix that stoicism and social ineptness. He was still struggling to understand people even, but he’s trying to get better at it to the point where he’s practicing talking to people better. It’s fantastic growth on Shoto’s part, really.
Shoto thinks to himself that if Dabi’s origin was so simple, it could’ve been stopped long ago. While I agree with Shoto to an extent, it’s more complicated than that as we’ve learned. Endeavor could’ve trained Touya more to the point where his Quirk would’ve developed to gain Rei’s ice. This would’ve made Endeavor’s dream child come true and Natsuo and Shoto would never have been born. But, Endeavor didn’t want to take the risk of having Touya constantly hurting himself with his own flames and his obsession with making an ice/fire child to beat All Might ultimately pushed everyone to the brink. Of course, everyone but Shoto played a part in Touya’s decline, and the whole situation is complicated enough as it is. So, it’s hard to say how “easy” this could’ve been solved in the first place. Maybe if Endeavor wasn’t such an obsessive bastard in the past, I don’t know. It’s hard to say, things were rough even before the kids were born.
There’s one panel when Shoto winds up his attack where it depicts him as a crying child and I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THIS TODAY, HORIKOSHI HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CRY OVER BABY SHOTO’S SUFFERING AGAIN!!! 😭
Guys, the way I sat there for 5 straight minutes with my mind running circles around “IS SHOTO ALIVE???” when I saw the panel of the kids smiling. Holy shit I was paralyzed.
So, Shoto launches a massive Great Glacial Aegir attack on Touya and actually manages to stop the explosion. He managed to save his entire family holy fucking shit. The sigh of relief when I saw the panel of Shoto still standing was palpable, my dudes.
Really good of Shoto to mention that Rei’s, Natsuo’s, and Fuyumi’s Frost Quirks helped Shoto stop Dabi since his ice alone wasn’t enough to put out Dabi’s flames. So, Shoto and his family really did stop Dabi all together like they promised. Way to bring things full circle.
And Shoto also mentions that because he can’t do everything on his own that he’s not the “masterpiece” Endeavor once thought he was. Again, great way to bring things around. Shoto’s not perfect Quirk-wise and that’s ok. It just means he’s still got ways to go and that he’s become his own man.
And holy shit everyone took a hit with this battle. I won’t be surprised if we see new scars on all the Todoroki’s. Shoto’s costume is pratically torn in half, though I’m surprised the cooler/heater on his back is still working. He’s bleeding from his nose too probably from being put through the ringer (he was real intense in that last attack; I’m positive his eyes were whited out in one panel where he attacked). Endeavor looks like he’s going to collapse and Dabi looks crispy as hell. No seriously, that man is cooked and his eyes have been burned completely off. I’m surprised he’s still alive now.
And Dabi still thinks everyone including himself should die. And then, Endeavor comes in and apologizes for everything to everyone in his family. To Touya for not going to Sekoto Peak, to Rei for all the abuse he put her through, to Fuyumi for putting all the responsibilities on her shoulders, to Natsuo for abandoning him, and finally to Shoto who says “I’m sorry...” to before he passes out. Some people will call out Endeavor for this, but it’s part of his arc to do something like this. Even if it won’t mend all fences, even he continues to apologize for his sins for the rest of his life, it’s still genuine progress for his character and I can’t help but appreciate that. Horikoshi continues to remind us of what Endeavor did in the past without asking us to forgive him entirely despite his atonement arc and this is another example of that.
Honestly, I really thought someone was going to die this chapter. The last few pages made it out to be like Dabi and Endeavor especially were going to bite the dust. For now, they’re unconscious, so we’ll see where Horikoshi takes us with them sometime later. I hope they’re both alive tbh. I was REAL worried Horikoshi was going to have the titanium steel balls to kill off Shoto for a hot minute, though. But, I don’t think that would’ve been a satisfying conclusion to his and his family’s arc, and I think having Bakugo dead is more than enough shock for any of us. Also, happy 300 days of being “dead”, Bakugo. Please come back soon 🥲.
EDIT: Ok, so it was clarified that Shoto is the one who passed out at the very end. You can see his small figure spread out on the ground in the last panel. I’m sure Endeavor is out too, but Shoto passing out makes sense. He put so much energy into these last two fights. He must be so exhausted poor thing 😭
Finally, the chapter ends with a POV change to Ochako Vs. Toga now that everyone’s safe from the explosion. We’re also getting another break next week, so nothing until at least the middle of June. It’s rough, but I’m ok with it since this chapter was incredible and probably hard on Horikoshi to write and draw. I truly hope he gets a vacation and doesn’t rush into things though.
So, the Todoroki Family arc is pretty much done for now, huh. Not gonna lie, it feels weird since it’s been the one of the main side-storyline since the Sports Festival all those years ago. Though I’m glad to see things wrapped up in a very satisfying way for me at least. Everything came full circle, I cried, I cheered, I got my emotions thrown out the window and sent on multiple roller coasters. It’s been an absolute joy watching Shoto grow into a badass with a heart of gold who is loved by his family and friends and learned to do the same for them. He’s my favorite character and will always hold a special place in my heart 🤍❤️🩵.
About Shoto’s words to his mother..... Shoto you already care, yes you might not have been able to cry as easy due to your trauma, but you have shown time and time again you have cared about others. That's why you never went to see your mom for so long, you were afraid of what seeing you would do to her. You only went back, after your heart was opened cause you realized you can maybe save her in the same way.
After that you continued to help others. You empathized with Iida's darkness and helped him remember who he wanted to be. You were at Midoriya's side always helping him out, giving him half your lunch to giving him advice with Kota, to bringing him back to UA. You went to rescue Bakugo, knowing it was the right thing to do, damn the consequences. Yes the remedial course may have given you an assignment, but you wanted to help those children open up, sure the first time your approach didn’t work but you stepped up and tried again. You continued to show your friendship to Bakugo, knowing he was like you and was closed off from having friendship just like you once did. You could have selfishly went to your father and got an experience like no one else, but you didn’t.... you brought Bakugo and Midoriya, the two who also aimed for the top.... you did something your father would have never dreamed of doing. From the light novels, you gave Aoyama your seat when he was feeling sick on the bus, and you helped Mei with rounding up her inventions, leaving your precious photo of your mother to blow away possibly (dont worry Mei found it with her quirk later)
