My Hero Academia Chapter 430 - Let's Talk About it

Article at a glance:
The Vigilante arc marked a decline in effective plot structure, leading to a lackluster and unsatisfying conclusion in Chapter 430.
Major characters like Deku and Ochaco receive inadequate conclusions, undermining their previous development and relationships.
The series’ hallmark of meaningful consequences is abandoned, with characters like Gran Torino surviving against all odds, cheapening the story’s impact.

Look, I want to make it clear that I don’t hate MHA. There are certain things that this series used to do incredibly well. It had a simple but effective setup and payoff writing structure. It effectively utilized foreshadowing and things had consequences. It was simple but it worked. I know it is the popular thing to hate MHA and all, and I get it. the MHA community is…something. But I genuinely liked MHA up to a certain point. But the the Vigilante arc happened and My Hero Academia threw everything resembling a plot structure aside, chapter 430 is no different.

430 feels like a conclusion for a conclusion’s sake and yet it concludes almost nothing. I will get into more details later. But there are a few things that the chapter does well. They are few and far between but I think there’s like 2 things I like about the ending. That’s it. The rest of this article will be full of complaints and a bit of ranting on the side. There is a reason I am not talking about MHA Season 7 at all on the website and I didn’t want to make this article either but it is a major Shounen manga conclusion so I have to cover it.

So welcome to My Hero Academia Chapter 430 review. But I am going to talk about more than just 430. So here’s your spoiler warning. And let’s start by highlighting the few positives that I think the ending had. Because it is all downhill from there.

The Positives

Deku ending up quirkless after the timeskip is a good idea. It should’ve been executed better, he literally saved the world but he gets no recognition while his other classmates get to be heroes. Yes, All Might does help him but that doesn’t change the fact that Deku should be treated with more respect. Regardless, him being quirkless again and joining UA as an instructor are good touches.

The other thing I like is the Quirk Counseling thing Ochaco started so that people like Toga don’t turn up anymore. That shows Toga still influenced Ochaco all those years later.

Now though…

everything Else

Let’s start with my biggest issue

Deku Being a Loner Post-Timeskip is Stupid

Seriously? What the hell was the conclusion of the Vigilante arc was for then? Wasn’t Class 1A supposed to be a family? Like everyone else aside, how was he not in touch with Ochaco or Bakugo? The whole “I haven’t seen my friends much in 8 years” thing is stupid as hell. It sours the taste of so many previous moments, again, the biggest one being the ending of the Vigilante arc.

Deku and Ochaco get no conclusion either. Ochaco accepted her love for him in front of Toga and yet they don’t even get a single conversation in 430. Gentle and La Brava get a whole wedding but Deku and Ochaco get nothing? Not even a proper conversation? Oh you know, they are only THE MAIN COUPLE of the series! So what was the point of all the character development Ochaco got, huh?

GRAN TORINO IS ALIVE

That old man got punched through the ground and is still kicking it after the 8-year timeskip. Why? What happened to things having consequences? My Hero Academia was different because huge injuries used to have long-lasting consequences. I don’t hate Gran Torino but stuff like this only further cheapens Midnight’s death in the War arc. It was already pointless back then. But the final arc having little to no casualties on the hero side really cheapens it further.

While I am at it:

Edgeshot pretty much became a worm and survived
Toga died because of something stupid
Dabi somehow lived longer than her despite becoming a literal nuke

When the biggest causality of your “Final War” arc is a Deku losing his Quirk, you’ve got some issues.

Tomura…

Man, he deserved so much better. There was a time when he was the best-written character in the series by far. Then the Vigilante arc happened and his character development got completely halted in the favor of bringing All for One back. No, bringing him back in the Final arc doesn’t help either. Because the momentum his character had was not completely gone. His development mirrored Deku’s perfectly and that could’ve continued to the very end of the series and ended in a satisfying resolution.

But nah, setups and payoffs? We don’t do that here, what do you think this is? My Hero Academia? Oh wait-

I don’t have an issue with Tomura dying. That’s perfectly fine. But I wish at least one of the big villains other than All for One was alive for the post-time-skip era. Also, screw All for One. He ruined so many good things in the series and not in a good way, At some point, he just became the author’s crutch. X character’s mom died from cancer? Oh, All for One gave her the cancer. And no, I am not joking, that’s literally how some of the villain backstories are.

Deku’s Father

So this one’s a relatively minor complaint compared to everything else. But uh, sir, your son nearly died multiple times and saved the goddamn world, I think it is about time you visit him?? You mean to tell me that despite everything that happened, his father never visited him in 8 years? Horikoshi said that his father would be revealed at the end… what happened to that? Still, this issue isn’t nearly as bad as everything else so I won’t waste more words on it.

Remember when the story had a structure? I do. But post Vigilante arc, the series has literally been like “Check out this cool move!” and yes, that is a Honkai: Star Rail reference.

God, why can’t just popular mangas end normally? Gege, you better cook up a 5⭐ meal for the JJK finale after everything you’ve put us through. The latest chapter was good and you’ve been handling the final arc a lot better than Horikoshi did so I trust you, for now.

In conclusion

The conclusive chapter of My Hero Academia, Chapter 430 is a conclusion for conclusion’s sake. It concludes little to nothing. This article’s conclusion section offers a better and more conclusive closure than MHA’s conclusion. That is my conclusion and now I am going to stop saying conclusion and conclude my thoughts here. See ya.

Also, check out some Aharen-san Season 2 news here!