As I write this, chapter 161 is out and we're… dealing with that, but personally I'm not quite over chapter 160 yet, so let's dive into Shigaraki, and what the hell he's doing.
Word of warning: Massive manga spoilers ahead.
So let's talk about that heist thing for a moment.
It's a good chapter. What Shigaraki and co are doing is Extremely Cool.
Like, they're villains, they should not be allowed to look this sexy flamboyant.
But what they're doing is also a little… off. There's a few things about this action scene that are new or at the very least not the usual strategy that Shigaraki and gang are used to.
It's improvised. They seem to have secured a truck beforehand, but they can't know how, why and what until Toga calls them. That's weird. Shigaraki is usually a guy who plans things. The raid on the practice grounds, on the camp. The release of the nomu. Those are well thought out plans, though they weren’t always successful.
Shigaraki is taking the front line. That's a first. He fought All Might on the training grounds, but he basically waited for everyone else to be defeated. And even then, he used the nomu and his personal gate butler Kurogiri. In this scene, he's jumping from car to car like he suddenly took a course in acrobatics. And he's doing that himself. Kurogiri is notably absent.
It is Brutal. There is a needless cruelty to this chapter. Dabi and Compress basically torture that sand hero to death, for one. And then there's what Shigaraki does to Chisaki. There's an unhinged quality to it, a search for poetic justice, or at least poetic violence. So far, the League of Villains was mostly efficient. They were violent, yes, murderous also, but I can't recall them taking it to serial killer levels of torment.
Speculation incoming.
That chapter, while seemingly a weird interlude, I think, marks a new start for Shigaraki and his gang. It is League of Villains 2.0.
On the surface, this is of course a vengeance thing.
Chisaki killed Magne, he took Mr. Compress's arm. He tried to subjugate the whole gang. They have reason to dislike him, and since they're villains, that 'dislike' is going to be violent.
But it's more than that.
Chisaki was already defeated. They have his little serum thing.
His life’s work is already lost.
Why not just kill him? Why go through the Very Symbolic ritual of taking his quirk, and then also taking his hands (possibly to add to the collection).
And why blow up a whole highway to do so?
They could have quite literally had Kurogiri open up a portal for just the truck or something. They could have been sneaky (or at least sneakier) about this, but they very specifically weren't.
They wanted people to watch.
They want word of this gruesome crime to spread, to go viral.
To be known.
This isn’t just about Chisaki’s life work being destroyed
One of the things Shigaraki has learned from the likes of Stain, is the power of a message. Of images. (I talk a little bit about this in a previous post as well).
Stain gained followers through his ideals and philosophies. Shigaraki has sort of begrudgingly adopted those followers, but he has always disliked Stain because he took the spotlight from him at a crucial time.
Remember when he let loose a bunch of nomus on a city? The moment that stain fought Midoriya, and Iida and Todoroki?
That was Stains Big Moment.
But it was supposed to be Shigaraki's moment.
He didn't release a small army of nomu on that town to aid Stain. He did it to send a message about himself.
It was meant to be Shigaraki's 'big debut'. All for One's way of showing his protégé off to the world. But it failed, because the one getting all the attention, was Stain.
But now Stain is gone. All for One is gone.
Shigaraki is the one in charge now.
He's even leaving Korugiri behind, the one person that linked him to All for One, the one that kept him grounded throughout the first 160 chapters of BnHA.
He's free to do what he wants now, and what he wants, is to fight All Might.
The Symbol of Peace.
The guy who took the job of hero and turned it into an institution, using viral storytelling and imagery.
All Might's aim has always been to make people feel safe. He stands for order. For justice.
But that guys is also, sadly, gone. Or at least retired.
Shigaraki can't fight All Might in the way he always wanted. He can't be the End of All Might, because All for One already took that trophy.
So what he does, is fight everything All Might has wrought.
He's fighting the very foundation of the Symbol of Peace.
Shigaraki makes a Scene because wants people to recognize him.
Not just to put himself out there as the crime lord or whatever.
He wants his name to strike fear into the hearts of citizens and criminals alike.
He aims to be a Symbol of Chaos.
For Shigaraki, this chapter is the start of a new era.
In a very real way, it mirrors All Might giving his power to Midoriya and Midoriya stepping out, taking the mantle on his own. All for One is gone. He won't be guiding him and plotting for Shigaraki any longer.
But in the same way that Midoriya is not All Might, so Shigaraki is not All for One.
All for One was strategic. He plotted, used stealth and science and played heroes like a game of chess.
Shigaraki isn't like that. He's probably smart enough, but he's much more emotional.
He's explosive. He's flamboyant and childish and criminally insane.
He has a team around him but he's willing and able to jump into the fray to make his point.
He's Different, but he's no less dangerous than his master.
This, my friends, is Shigaraki unchained.
Ps: This is far from the only one of these i’ve done
