Summary
My Hero Academiais a series that is not devoid of flaws, one of the biggest ones being a failure to expand on the copious character’s lives and backstories properly. But one character, Eraserhead, did get one - in a spinoff series. Indeed,the schooldays of Shota Aizawa and his friends aren’t in the main series, but rather the prequel spinoffMy Hero Academia: Vigilantes. This sister series to MHA had several of the Pro Heroes from the main series have focus, most prominent among them being Aizawa. But this backstory probably should’ve been in the main series proper.
Chapters 59 to 64 ofVigilantesfeatures an extended look into Aizawa’s youth at U.A. alongside fellow students Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic), Nemuri Kayama (Midnight), and Oboro Shirakumo (Loud Cloud). This backstory is very important in understanding Aizawa’s character,as well as that of a significant villain in the main series, and is quite a good story on its own. This leaves the question of why it was nestled in to a spinoff series instead of being put in the main story.
There are several possible answers to that, but breaking down what actually happens in this backstory is important to understand why putting this backstory in a spinoff is a strange choice.
My Hero Academia: 10 Memes That Perfectly Sum Up Aizawa As A Character
Though Aizawa might be the most stoic and exhausted character in My Hero Academia, that hasn’t stopped fans from making Eraser Head memes.
Shota Aizawa’s School Years
The Three Dumbigos in their Prime
The backstory begins in chapter #59 ofVigilantes, as Aizawa considers becoming a teacher for U.A. five years before the main series begins. Thinking back to his days at the school, Aizawa remembers eating lunch on the roof with Yamada and Shirakumo, the trio forming the three ‘dumbigos’. Yamada is almost the same loudmouthed Present Mic he is in the present, while Shirakumo is a completely new character that the readers are meeting for the first time. They’re all considering their next moves when it comes to their internships for Hero Agencies.
Eventually, Kayama appears before them and convinces them to join the agency she’s interning under - Purple Revolution, led by the Prince inspired His Purple Highness. With this flamboyant fighter,Aizawa learns how to utilize his Erasure quirk to its full potential, learning from his mistakes, and becoming the hero that he is in the present. Shirakumo plans to open a hero agency with Aizawa and Yamada after they graduate, and everything looks like it’s heading up for them. Inevitably, tragedy follows.
The End of the Dumbigos
The Trio Becomes a Duo
Readers will likely realize they’ve never seen Loud Cloud in the main series, and realize soon afterward what this means for him. When a villain with a power absorbing quirk begins to rampage, Shirakumo is trapped under a collapsing building, which leaves Aizawa to deal with the villain on his own. While he struggles at first, when he hears Shirakumo’s voice over his radio, it gives him the confidence to defeat the villain himself. He does it, and is very excited to show Shirakumo it -only to find out that Shirakumo is dead.
His body is never found, and Aizawa doubles down on his training to cope with the loss. Once he graduates, he forms an independent Hero Agency alone. It’s there that Eraserhead began his underground hero career, and carved out his niche. However, Midnight suggested that he’d fit in as a teacher at U.A. - while Aizawa originally rejects the idea, though after reminiscing at his time at school, he changed his mind.Aizawa goes on to be a teacher for U.A., and eventually becomes one of Izuku Midoriya’s many mentors.
Why Aizawa’s Backstory Is Relevant To MHA’s Overall Plot
Shirakumo’s Surprise Reveal Hits Harder
This backstory, at a glance, may seem fine to stick in a spinoff. It’s a deeper look into Aizawa, but it’s not essential to understand him, and he’s a side character in the grand scheme of the series. Except it is important, because the villain Kurogiri is actually Shirakumo in a way.TheNomu are established to be dead quirk userswho had their bodies defiled and stolen for All For One’s evil schemes, and it seems like the villain grabbed Shirakumo’s body for this purpose, creating a servant for Shigaraki.
The Nomu are established to be dead quirk users who had their bodies defiled and stolen for All For One’s evil schemes, and it seems like the villain grabbed Shirakumo’s body for this purpose, creating a servant for Shigaraki.
Vigilantesdoes have a focus on the Nomu, as its main villain, Number Six, is a prototype of them. But this connection is never elaborated on in the spinoff, and Aizawa doesn’t learn of Shirakumo’s status as one until the events of the main series. So fans who believe thatVigilantesis indeed ‘just a spinoff’ don’t connect as much toAizawa and Yamada learning that Kurogiri is their old friend reanimated. So why did author Kohei Horikoshi decide to put this critical backstory into a spinoff?
There Was No Place for Aizawa’s Backstory
MHA’s Pacing May be to Blame
The honest answer may just be that Horikoshi couldn’t find a good place to put Aizawa’s backstory. When the Shirakumo reveal happens, it’s right on the cusp ofthe Paranormal Liberation War arc. Horikoshi could’ve put aside five chapters for it, but he’d need to introduce several characters, who readers could then assume were going to be as relevant as Shirakumo (they aren’t), represent something for the coming arc (it doesn’t), and interrupt the anticipation for the coming massive battle with a flashback that is fairly unconnected to it as a whole.
Perhaps Horikoshi could’ve peppered the series with tiny flashbacks of Aizawa’s school days, and that could’ve been fine - but it’s also equally possible that by the time Horikoshi had Aizawa’s backstory hammered out, there was definitely no place for it in the main series. A more cynical idea is that putting the backstory inVigilanteswas done more as a promotional stunt. While not many readers of MHA may be interested in the story of Koichi, the mousy protagonist of the spinoff,a significant number may be more invested in Eraserhead’s mysterious past.
WithMy Hero Academiawinding down, perhaps Horikoshi may explain the reason for this exclusion, but for now there are only assumptions to be made.As forVigilantes, it ended in 2022, and is definitely worth reading for fans of the main series who are hungry for more adventuresin the world ofMy Hero Academia.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
