My Hero Academia: Volume 11 manga review

My Hero Academia Graphic Novel Volume 11 cover image

Eighty percent of the population manifests superpowers called “Quirks.”  If someone wants to be a superhero, he or she enrolls in the Hero Academy.  What would a person do, however, if he were one of the 20% born Quirkless?  Middle school student Izuku Midoriya has no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes.  Then, Midoriya meets the greatest hero of them all, All Might, who gives him a chance to change his destiny…

My Hero Academia, Vol. 11 (Chapters 90 to 99; entitled “End of the Beginning, Beginning of the End”) opens the way the League of Villains had been planning for ages.  The kidnapping of the U.A. student, Katsuki Bakugo, was calculated to draw out the heroes – especially All Might.  At last, the mastermind behind it all, the powerful villain, “All for One,” the only villain powerful enough to go head-to-head with All Might, has appeared.

Now, shock waves from the clash of two powerful beings are destroying portions of Kamino Ward.  Still, All Might cannot totally unleash on All for One with Bakugo still being used as a pawn.  So Midoriya has to find a way for he and his classmates to rescue his Bakugo – without using their powers, which their elders have forbidden.  Can All Might win?  What will it cost him?  What does the future hold for All Might and his pupil, Midoriya?

THE LOWDOWN:  It has been a year and a half since I last read the My Hero Academia manga.  Returning to it now, I realize how much I missed what I consider one of the best superhero comic books and graphic novels available to readers in North America.

My Hero Academia Graphic Novel Volume 11 is a battle manga-heavy volume, at least the first half is.  In second half of the Vol. 11, creator Kohei Horikoshi focuses on re-establishing the relationship between Izuku Midoriya and All Might, considering the latter's new status.  Horikoshi also gives his young characters, the U.A. students, a new normal, and this returns the narrative to its sense of comedy and charm after so much intense battle manga violence.  So, Vol. 11 is a pivotal volume in the most excellent My Hero Academia series.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of superhero comics and of shonen battle manga will want to enroll at the Shonen Jump school, My Hero Academia.

A
9 out of 10