The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 362, “Light Fades To Rain" by Kohei Horikoshi available in English from Viz Media.
This was not a fun chapter. Not for the reasons one may immediately think either. Yes, the art was still phenomenal as always. Yes, the action was amazing. Watching Tamaki use his new move and seeing Bakugo's attacks as he sprungback into action. Even the emotion of the chapter was dialed to the max with incredible tension, impactful scenes, and dialogue. All of these things together should in theory make for one of the most fun and exciting chapters of this arc. But it came at too high of a cost.
Horikoshi left readers last week on a cliffhanger of Tamaki having turned his arm into a giant animal cornucopia. All For One’s possession of Shigiraki was nearly complete but the remnants of Tenko Shimura remain. Those were fighting back in the last chapter but the will of All For One pressed on to kill Bakugo and the Big 3 combined their powers to create a powerful attack to finish off All For One, or at the very least, knock him out for some time.
Would That Hurt All Might?
The chapter opens with the same panel the last one ended with but just flipped to the other direction. Tamaki is saying how it is all up to him and expressing how his failure here means they are all doomed. He remembers all the people who have believed in him thus far and how he could never believe their praises or respect. Now though it was his time to step up. The scene screams power of friendship hype. You can practically hear “you say run” playing in the background as the heroes prepare to launch an attack to turn the tables. This was the anime moment where the heroes turned it around! Tamaki tells Shigiraki/All For One to “Get Wrecked” and shoots a high-powered plasma beam straight at him. He attempts to dodge the blast, but Lemillon jumps into the cannon and punches Shigiraki’s body back into the blast, so he takes it head on.
But it does nothing. All that hype, all that buildup was completely useless as Shigiraki’s body not only still stands but the growth expands even more and more around him, smashing into everyone present. He chastises them for even thinking such an attack would hurt prime All Might and as the big three are knocked aside, only one hero stands to face them. Bakugo rise from the dirt telling Best Jeanist to look after the others. Bakugo says he has to win and then moves to engage. Best Jeanist tries to stop him but then is shocked to see Bakugo memorized the patterns and movements of him. This was a callback to the end of 360 where he literally said right side. Bakugo was fighting All For One on his own and, it looked like he actually had a shot.
The Death of Bakugo?
The reason why Bakugo was able to keep fighting is that, just like Shouto Todoroki, his quirk began to evolve. Todo was able to make fire that freezes things and Bakugo evolved to where he can make explosions not just from the sweat glands on his hands but from the one’s on his entire body. These explosions increased his speed to levels that made All For One uneasy. Bakugo remarks how the way he fights is with his body in pain just trying to withstand it while observing all the habits and ticks of his enemy. He thinks on how this is what Izuku must have felt like and wonders if he can finally keep up with him. This uneasiness takes over All For One as he says himself he does not understand why he’s even uneasy, but then as he turns to see Bakugo, he is reminded of the second One For All User. Then he strikes him.
The scheme cuts away to Bakugo speaking with vestige All Might. There is literally no explanation on how that is even possible but Bakugo does not even question it. Bakugo pulls out his All Might trading card he got as a kid and begins to talk about how he always wanted to get it signed by him, but couldn’t because of how much of a punk he was. Miruko, Tamaki, Miro, and Neire all rush forward trying to save his life with their bodies while attacking All For One and Best Jeanist tries to hold him still with his threads and pull Bakugo away so he can be safe, but all of them were just not fast enough to save him.
There is a sudden drastic change in temperature changing the weather patterns and causing it to rain. All For One Gloats about how this is the villain's story, and we see the heroes' reactions. Best Jeanist holds his head down in shame, Mirio and Aizawa cry out in fury and horror, Miruko grits her teeth in frustration, and Monoma is even shocked with his mouth agape as we then go to the next panel and see Bakugo lying on the ground, hole in his chest. Blood is splattered everywhere and next to him is the All Might card he kept with him since he opened it as a child, but never got signed by his favorite hero.
Conclusion
This chapter is not one of Horikoshi’s better chapters. What was the point of hyping up Tamaki all these chapters and hyping up the big three if their efforts were going to be so meaningless? Tamaki has been hinted at as being the strongest of the three for a while but when it's time for him to show it off he’s practically useless. Then, one of the worst fan theories began to get some concrete support for this chapter. Horikoshi obviously alludes to some type of connection between Bakugo and the 2nd holder of One For All but the explanations are limited to reincarnation or time travel. Both of these concepts have been overused in the anime industry and very rarely do they actually enhance the story or end up working well. The reincarnation plot line in Naruto is one example of fans being disappointed.
But perhaps to the surprise of the readers, Bakugo’s alleged death is not a reason I am rating this chapter a 6/10. In fact, the scenes with Bakugo were perhaps the best parts of the chapter. The way he is drawn is just absolutely stunning! That's to say nothing of, the advancement of Bakugo's abilities, the evolution of his character, and seeing his sweeter more child-like nature. These parts elevate the chapter to new levels. The best part has to be the scene of all the heroes present (EXCEPT EDGESHOT!) trying to jump in to save him. It's one of the most heart-wrenching panels I have read not just in My Hero Academia but in manga overall! This chapter did what it was supposed to do exceedingly well when it comes to Bakugo, but it's just unfortunate every other character’s development and growth had to suffer because of it.