The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 403, "The End Of An Era, And...," by Kohei Horikoshi, translated by Caleb Cook available in English from Viz Media.

My Hero Academia chapter 403 continued the events of the manga in quite some style and it is safe to say that this could well have been one of the most exciting chapters of the entire series for the fans. At the same time, My Hero Academia chapter 403 proved to be quite cathartic for many reasons.

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Fans finally saw the battle between All Might and All For One conclude in this chapter. While it was quite clear earlier that All For One was too powerful for All Might to defeat, fans still held hope because All Might was using his last resort. My Hero Academia chapter 403 covered that and many other events which left them in a state of surprise.

All Might's Failed Attack

All Might prepared to launch his final attack at All For One towards the end of My Hero Academia chapter 402. Fans knew that All Might had no chance against All For One in normal combat. Given the level of strength that the demon king had reached, All Might simply could not compete, at least not without his former powers. Sadly, that wouldn't have been possible for him to attain and, thus, it was a losing battle for him, to begin with. However, All Might still had contingency plans and he planned to deploy them towards the end of My Hero Academia chapter 402.

The following chapter focused very well on what All Might had planned, and, as seen in the chapter, all of his ideas were crushed in a single moment. All Might had planned to use his Explosion powers to blow himself up and also deal a tremendous amount of damage to All For One at the same time. The idea was to get him to use the power of reversal once again so that he reverts to the body of a toddler. This would greatly weaken him and, at the same time, ensure that he would fail in his plans. Sadly for All Might, this was not to be as his arms were pierced and his explosive braces were completely destroyed. That certainly was not all. All Might also felt completely defeated because All For One used the power of Bloodcurdle to paralyze him. After licking his blood, he had now got All Might in the palm of his hand and this was certainly the end for the former Number One Hero.

All For One's Victory

Immediately after All For One used Bloodcurdle and paralyzed All Might, it was quite clear that the victory was now in sight. All Might had no other trump cards that he could utilize in his battle against All For One and even he realized that. Fans could see a completely broken expression on his face and he could not come to grips with the fact that he was going to die and, at the same time, doom a million other people to their terrible fate, failing them as a Hero in the process. For All For One, this was one of the most joyous days of his life. Not only did he get to completely crush All Might in battle but he also got the chance to see All Might completely distraught.

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The expression on his face which signified helplessness and powerlessness was incredible for him to enjoy. With that, All For One proceeded to the next step and that was to finish him in front of the entire world. The world was watching what was going on on the battlefield and it was time for All Might to meet his end. Desperately hoping and praying, everyone wanted a Hero to intervene and somehow change the tides of the battle. Of course, this was a hopeless situation, to begin with, however, the prayers were answered later on when Bakugo emerged in the form of a Hero towards the end of the chapter.

Bakugo's Return

Fans know that Bakugo suffered a tremendous defeat at the hands of Shigaraki when he fought against him along with many other Heroes. He had his chest ripped apart and his organs completely destroyed. It was up to Best Jeanist and Edgeshot to save him and those two did phenomenally well to combine the powers of their Quirks and save Bakugo. Of course, Bakugo would still not have been in moving condition anytime soon. That is precisely why he ended up staying out of the manga for over a year, however, fans knew that at some point, he would return.

Horikoshi could certainly not have picked a better time for his return and this was a stroke of genius from him that every fan absolutely loved. As the era of all Might is coming to an end, Bakugo is here to see to it that he leaves on a high instead of being killed in a shameful manner. Bakugo has finally arrived and it is time for him to retaliate. As soon as Bakugo appeared, Deku took notice, and the two shared eye contact. Although no words were exchanged, Bakugo clearly realizes that Deku is entrusting him with a huge task that he cannot do himself. At the same time, he doesn't need anyone to tell him what to do because, to him, All Might has always been a role model as well. At the end of the day, even if All Might cannot directly finish off All For One, his students certainly can and that is his victory to share as well.

The Beginning Of A New Era

With the return of Bakugo, a new era is on the horizon and My Hero Academia will likely explore that in the next few chapters of the story. Bakugo will be under quite a lot of focus and the upcoming chapters will be defining for his character. Every fan of My Hero Academia knows that Bakugo holds himself responsible for the decline of All Might. He knows that he caused the Symbol of Peace to lose his power and that is something that he cannot forgive himself forever in his life. However, now is his time to redeem himself and save All Might when he is desperately clinging to life and staring death directly in the face. This is Bakugo's time to shine and save him, and hopefully, in the process, forgive himself as well.

Bakugo's responsibility from here onwards would be to end All For One for good and let Deku handle the rest. Fans must remember that he isn't at his best right now so he cannot properly fight against the power of All For One, however, he can give one last push and, if All Might is able to join in, perhaps the terror of All For One can be dealt with forever. Thereafter, My Hero Academia will explicitly focus on the fight between Deku and Shigaraki, which will be the final fight in the entirety of the series. The story is incredibly close to wrapping up now and it is safe to say that every chapter from here onwards is going to be exceptionally important.

My Hero Academia is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of My Hero Academia, My Hero Academia chapter 403, is set to be October 15, 2023.

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