My Hero Academia's Paranormal Liberation War Arc: Strengths and Shortcomings

 Warning: This entry contains spoilers for My Hero Academia

The Paranormal Liberation War arc of My Hero Academia, an epic clash between the Paranormal Liberation Front and all of hero society, undoubtedly major part of the story, recently ended, and I'd like to share my thoughts on it. I will look at certain aspects of the arc that the story did well, and things that it could have done better.

Full disclosure: this was written when Chapter 297 was the newest chapter(the apparent start of a new arc), and things may change as the story progresses.

Strength: The League of Villains

The League of Villains was used remarkably well in this arc, with each member getting a significant amount of development. This is especially true for Dabi and Mr. Compress, whose backstories had not been revealed until now. The revelation that Dabi is Endeavor's eldest son Toya is hardly surprising, but it had a great impact, both in-universe and out. Mr. Compress's backstory as the descendant of the great thief Oji Harima helps give significance to a seemingly extraneous bit of lore, and he almost singlehandedly (no pun intended) helps the League escape.

The arc also gives Twice a rather moving death scene, as just after Hawks kills his main body, he uses his final clones to save Himiko Toga and Mr. Compress. His final clone returns Himiko's handkerchief to her with the last of his strength. The fact that Twice, a villain, was treated sympathetically in his final moments, and that fans are hotly debating the morality of Hawks killing him says much about how nuanced My Hero Academia's treatment to the conflict between heroes and villains has become.

Shortcoming: The Meta Liberation Army

While the League of Villains was used well, the same can't be said of the Meta Liberation Army. Despite the arc ostensibly being about an alliance between the two organizations, the much larger Meta Liberation Army is reduced to being an army of henchmen for the League, a way of giving them the numbers they need to be a national-level threat. 

Even then, the Meta Liberation Army is underutilized. While much of the early fighting is against the former Meta Liberation Army foot soldiers, by the time Shigaraki awakens, the Near-High End Nomus and Gigantomachia prove to be much greater threats to the heroes. Skeptic helps edit Dabi's broadcast together, but even that is a supporting role. Since the Meta Liberation Army's leaders have been arrested, it's somewhat unlikely that they will play a major role from here on out.

Strength: Bakugo

Bakugo is a rather divisive character, and for good reason. While he has a surprising amount of depth to him, a lot of people feel that he hasn't appropriately acknowledged how poorly he treated his old "friend" Midoriya. Even if his suggestion that Midoriya commit suicide is at odds with his later characterization, many readers have difficulty forgiving him.

However, this arc is a large step in the right direction. During a flashback, Bakugo talks with All Might about his worries about Midoriya, and admits that he bullied Midoriya because he was afraid of being inferior to him. All Might suggests that Bakugo helping Midoriya with his training is his way of atoning for how poorly he'd treated Midoriya in the past, and while Bakugo doesn't say anything, he doesn't deny it, either. While Bakugo hasn't outright apologized for it, he has acknowledged that his behavior was wrong.

All this culminates in Bakugo risking his life to save Midoriya, with his claim that his body moved on his own mirroring what Midoriya said about his reckless attempt to save Bakugo from the Sludge Villain. Considering that Bakugo and Midoriya's character arcs are intertwined, this is a rather effective narrative choice, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Bakugo goes from here.

Shortcoming: Uraraka

Once again, Uraraka gets the short end of the stick. She spends much of the arc off the front lines, helping civilians evacuate, and only starts getting screentime when Gigantomachia breaks past Yaoyorozu's group.

Unfortunately, Uraraka doesn't appear to have changed much in this arc. She's desperate to save as many people as she can, but this is hardly much of a development for her, since even her "selfish" desire to provide for her family was altruistic. During her brief fight with Himiko, Uraraka reiterates how she has "shut (her) feelings (for Midoriya) away," showing that while she still loves Midoriya, she isn't going to act on them any time soon. Uraraka has valid reasons for this, but it still feels as though Horikoshi is drawing out the romantic sideplot as long a he can. At this point, there's no telling when or if Uraraka will be able to reclaim her status as a main character.

Strength: Call-Backs

At this point, the Paranormal Liberation War seems to be the climax to what is presumably the first act of the series, a bit like the Sasuke Retrieval Arc was for Naruto. It makes a surprising number of call-backs to events earlier in the series.

As mentioned above, Bakugo saving Midoriya effectively mirrors when Midoriya saved Bakugo. Another parallel to the first chapter is how in Midoriya remarks that Shigaraki "looked like (he) needed saving," an echo of the words he said to Bakugo when trying to save him from the Sludge Villain.

The entire battle with Shigaraki is an effective parallel to the battle with All For One in Kamino Ward. The latter battle ended with All Might victorious and All For One imprisoned, but at the cost of the world learning that All Might had lost his powers. The battle with Shigaraki ends with the world learning about Endeavor's abuse of his family, and Endeavor, now the #1 hero, failing to defeat All For One, who now has All For One's original Quirk. Shigaraki, now under the control of All For One, escapes and plans on breaking All For One out of prison, likely undoing what All Might's sacrifice achieved. All Might's final battle ended in victory, but this spectacular failure could cost Endeavor his career, or at least the #1 spot he desired for so long.

Shortcoming: The Death Toll

The long-term significance of this arc has yet to be conclusively determined, but at this point, it wasted the opportunity to kill off significant heroic characters.

On the one hand, Twice had a rather poignant death scene, as mentioned above. Unfortunately, the arc comes off as a wasted opportunity to kill off prominent protagonists.

Here's a brief list of the notable named characters who die, with

• Midnight, the most significant casualty of the war. She's a teacher at U.A. and has a colorful personality, but doesn't feel nearly as important to the plot as Aizawa or All Might are.
• Crust, the #6-ranked hero, wasn't developed nearly as much as Endeavor, Hawks or even Best Jeanist were.
• X-Less briefly appeared during the Kamino Ward arc, but here, his primary significance is to be the first casualty of Shigaraki's awakening.
• Majestic, the hero Yaoyorozu interned for during winter break. He was never even mentioned before that.
• Mr. Native, the hero Iida, Midoriya and Todoroki saved from Stain.

Compare how the Internship arc upped the stakes by killing off Sir Nighteye. Nighteye debuted in that arc, but as All Might's former sidekick and Midoriya and Mirio's mentor, he was an important presence in the story. He was rather unpleasant at times, especially to Midoriya, but gradually changed for the better in the days before his death, showing that he was a fairly well-written side character.

While it's important to carefully choose which characters to kill off, I think that this arc would have been an excellent time to kill off a prominent character like Aizawa, or even one of the students, to show the dangers of hero work and further emphasize the tragic outcome of the arc.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, the most climactic arc to date, does many things well, but still has unrealized potential. Since My Hero Academia is far from over, it's possible that the unfulfilled potential may be realized in later arcs, and I certainly hope it will be.