Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 8My Hero Academia’s ending had some problems, but one of the biggest is the absolute waste of a character that was the death of Kurogiri. After having an extensive arc set up about his past, Kurogiri was dismissed without fanfare, angering many fans and disappointing far more.
Kurogiri is first introduced as Shigaraki’s handler. It’s later revealed that he is in fact a Nomu, and that he wasbuilt from the body of Aizawa’s deceased childhood friend, Oboro Shirakumo. Aizawa tried very hard to reach out to Kurogiri while he was in custody, and had a small breakthrough, getting past Kurogiri’s programming and reaching his old friend, if only for a moment. Kurogiri would be freed in the Final War and have an identity crisis, but struggled to overcome the programming and ended up helping the villains. As such, Bakugo killed him to take him off the field of battle, and that was that.
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My Hero Academia Utterly Wasted Kurogiri’s Arc
Kurogiri’s situation was one of the most interesting subplots running throughoutMy Hero Academia. Fans actually got to seeShirakumo before he was turned into Kurogiri inMy Hero Academia Vigilantes, further emphasizing his importance. As such a tragic figure, being killed and turned into a monster programmed to do evil, many fans became deeply invested in Kurogiri’s storyline. Would it be possible for Eraser Head (Aizawa) and Present Mic to get through to him? Could Shirakumo be restored somehow? Kurogiri’s allegiance was tactically significant as well, so changing his affiliation would be huge.
Kurogiri is clearly still struggling with his true identity during the Final War arc; he saves his two former friends from certain death, but also teleports the villains around to aid their plans. Somehow, off-panel, Eraser Head and Present Mic manage to get through to him long enough to get him to teleport all the remaining heroes to Deku’s location, but the programming is just too strong, and Kurogiri leaps in front of Shigaraki to protect him. Bakugo kills Kurogiri without a second thought, and shockingly, no reaction is shown from Eraser Head or Present Mic at all.
Ultimately, Bakugo’s killing of Kurogiri leaves his storyline completely unresolved, and the fact that his friends were able to convince him off-panel should absolutely have been shown to readers. The problem isn’t necessarily that Kurogiri died; if Kurogiri had instead jumped in to protect Aizawa, for example, and died from that, it would’ve been a perfectly acceptable, if tragic, ending for his character. Heck, even having him save Shigaraki could’ve been turned tragic, if Kurogiri had been given some final dialog to indicate that he just couldn’t beat All for One’s programming in the end.
My Hero Academia Has a Long History of Mishandling Deaths
Kurogiri is Far From the First Character to Have Suffered a Disappointing Death
It’s apparent that the problem with Kurogiri’s death is that the story didn’t take any time to process it, as it was simply too eager to get to the final battle sequence, and characterization took a backseat to action. But Kurogiri isn’t the only one whose death was mishandled. Another character close to Aizawa, Midnight, was killed by villains during the Paranormal Liberation War arc. While a few of the students who happened to be present to find her body did take a moment to mourn, Aizawa is never shown learning of or reacting to this information, despite their close relationship.
This is the real problem that underlies much ofMy Hero Academia, at least when it comes to character deaths. A character will die in a shocking manner, but no one really takes any time to process their death or realize the significance of the moment.This is understandable in the moment, but there should absolutely be sobbing breakdowns and tears aplenty once the danger has passed. Instead, they’re rarely brought up again. Many of these characters are children, after all, and have never been through traumatic experiences like the War before, so why doesn’t it feel like it?
The one character whose death was handled relatively well was Sir Nighteye. He didn’t die on the scene, but later at the hospital, which gave All Might and Lemillion a chance at a teary goodbye. Why wasn’t this same benefit extended to Midnight, or Kurogiri? These scenes didn’t need to be long; just a few reaction shots, perhaps some thought bubbles reminiscing about Aizawa’s past with them, and that’s all it would take.
My Hero Academia’s Rushed Ending Cost It Greatly
The Series' Legacy is Irreparably Tarnished By These Mishandled Deaths
The ending ofMy Hero Academiawas rather slow to release, with series creator Kohei Horikoshi forced to take long hiatuses for his health, and the story already took almost a full year longer than he had planned to finish. It’s understandable that Horikoshi might have been feeling like he just wanted to finish and close the book on the series, but it’s very clear from the manga’s final chapters that there was a driving force rushing through the ending. Moments like Kurogiri’s death weren’t given the room to breathe that they needed. Even Shigaraki’s death didn’t quite land properly, andlet’s not even get into Toga’s death.
Rushing the ending was clearly a mistake; Horikoshi should’ve taken the time he needed to finish it properly, even if that meant another six months of waiting. While it’s possible the anime could rectify some of these mistakes, there’s been no indication that anything like that will happen, and fans shouldn’t hold their breath waiting.Instead, Kurogiri’s unceremonious death will always be a reminder to other writers why it’s important to give these heavy emotional moments the time they need.
My Hero Academiais still a great series overall, with some incredible scenes and emotional moments to it, but it’ll unfortunately never be as great as it could’ve been, and that’s a real shame.
