All Might's final move is inspired by Bakugo (and My Hero Academia chapter 402 proves it)

Wednesday, September 27, 2023 saw the alleged spoilers and raw scans for My Hero Academia chapter 402 being released, bringing with them an exciting early look at the issue. While nothing within is officially canonical until Shueisha’s official release of the chapter this coming Monday, October 2, the spoilers have historically been very accurate.

Likewise, fans are now excitedly discussing My Hero Academia chapter 402 as a fully canonical addition to author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series. This is somewhat understandable, as the issue contains plenty of exciting developments which set the stage for a dramatic finish to the series.

One of the most exciting aspects of My Hero Academia chapter 402 is that All Might shockingly continues his fight against All For One, despite seemingly being down and out. However, there’s a specific aspect of this final assault which has fans praising Horikoshi’s writing, as well as expecting a major return for the series in the coming issues.

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My Hero Academia chapter 402 showing All Might using a Bakugo-inspired move suggests his return soon

Brief spoiler recap

Per the alleged spoilers, My Hero Academia chapter 402 opens with a brief update on the effect Shoto Todoroki and Ochaco Uraraka’s respective victories have had at large. Mei Hatsume announces that, with the Twice clones and their weight now eliminated, U.A. can float again.

Izuku “Deku” Midoriya is meanwhile keeping Tomura Shigaraki at bay so he can’t assault U.A. and the injured fighters there. All For One then tries to use the teleport goop Quirk to take over Shigaraki’s body fully, but the latter stops this.

Switching to “plan B,” All For One takes All Might by his leg, flying him to Deku and Shigaraki’s battlefield. He says All Might has to pay the price for putting dreams into the heads of both children while Shigaraki tells Deku he’ll kill everyone at U.A. while he’s saving All Might. Despite holding back his emotions up to this point, this causes Deku to break down while All Might reminisces about their first meeting.

My Hero Academia chapter 402 then shows All Might grabbing All For One’s neck with his final armor gauntlet, prompting All For One to remember Nana Shimura’s final words. She told him that All Might will win because he’s the crazier and, in the present, All Might asserts All For One will rewind into a kindergartener if he dies again. The chapter ends with the gauntlet on All Might’s arm exploding, sadly announcing a series break next week as well.

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Why All Might’s final move is inspired by Bakugo, explained

Beyond the fact that All Might’s final move is a point blank explosion (which Katsuki Bakugo is known to do), there are also major similarities in the design of the two’s gauntlets. As several fans have pointed out, it appears that All Might’s gauntlet is of the same design as Bakugo’s except for the decorative grenade on the latter’s version.

This is further supported by the fact that prior to My Hero Academia chapter 402, every move All Might had used in the fight against All For One had been inspired by a Class 1-A student. With each and every student being referenced in his attacks besides Bakugo, it’s clear that this final attack is an homage to the final student, despite no official proclamation from All Might saying so.

Understandably, fans are excited to see that Horikoshi was able to bring this theme full circle in My Hero Academia chapter 402, with this aspect of All Might and All For One’s fight being the most heavily praised.

However, fans are also excited as they speculate that this may be setting up a return for Bakugo in the next chapter. With Bakugo having been incapacitated for over a year of real-world time, fans are certainly anxious to see him reappear.

This could also create a scenario in which Bakugo feels that he’s responsible for All Might’s death, if the former Symbol of Peace’s latest gambit does end up taking his life. While fans are excited at the possibility of a Bakugo return, many are expressing remorse that this could be the context in which the fan-favorite reappears.

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