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The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 371, "Together With Shoji," by Kohei Horikoshi, translated by Caleb Cook available in English from Viz Media.
My Hero Academia 371 continued to focus on the battle between Shoji and Spinner. In the previous chapter, fans saw the focus shift from the fight between Deku and All For One to Spinner, who had recently received the news of Dabi's defeat. After going berserk, Spinner and the army of Heteromorphs who had gathered behind him dealt significant damage to the Heroes and started pushing them back, however, the Heroes have started to fight with everything that they have, with Shoji being the main focus.
My Hero Academia 371 delivered quite a great deal of depth to Shoji's character. Not only did fans, see him take the fight by its throat all by himself, but also gave a glimpse into his tragically sad past. That, and much more, was tackled in My Hero Academia's latest chapter and it was one that certainly delighted the fans.
Spinner's New Power
Spinner has been on a mindless range for quite a while now. The last few chapters have seen him raging and destroying anyone and anything standing in his path. He has successfully managed to push back the Heroes quite a bit and deal a lot of damage to them. Above all, he has also incited other heteromorphs to follow him into battle, although that is something he is barely aware of. Nonetheless, Spinner has been the focus of this section of the arc for quite a while now and this trend will likely continue across the next few chapters. My Hero Academia 371 also focused on him in a positive light for his character.
Spinner was able to awaken a brand new power. Fans saw a short flashback of him and All For One where the supervillain decides to give him a new Quirk, called Scale Armor. According to All For One, this Quirk is fitting for Spinner as it grants heightened defensive powers as well as offensive capabilities and acts as a scaly armor. By awakening its powers, Spinner was able to rally yet another war cry and take the battle to its final stages. With his newfound abilities now revealed, fans can rest assured that the next few chapters will be incredible and the combat that Horikoshi will deliver will certainly light them up.
Shoji And His Past
My Hero Academia 371 also focused a lot on Shoji. One of the biggest complaints of the series ever since it began was that the side characters don't get enough focus. Quite understandably, the majority of the focus goes to Izuku Midoriya, the protagonist of the series. Along with him, characters such as Bakugo and Shoto also receive some attention from time to time. However, the rest of the Hero cast is not treated to the same privilege. Shoji is certainly one of them and he was desperately in need of more attention from the author. Thankfully for him, the Final War provided a great opportunity for him to jump in and show his skills to everyone as well as show the fans that his character is certainly an amazing one with great depth to it.
In this chapter, fans finally saw him fight with all his might. Taking the entire threat of the Heteromorphs and, specifically, Spinner all by himself, Shoji really shone brightly. Fans also got a look into his sad past where he revealed that he had been through quite a lot of oppression, just like some other Heteromorphs seen in the story so far. The heartwarming flashback certainly did great justice to his character and made him a lot more likable to the fans. Horikoshi also brilliantly managed to raise the stakes in this fight by diving deep into the past of both of these characters. Now, fans are heavily invested and that's certainly a great move by the author.
Shoji's New Power
Spinner certainly wasn't the only character to receive new powers in this week's chapter of My Hero Academia. Shoji, the other Heteromorph who was enjoying the spotlight this week, also received one. After his short yet compelling flashback, Shoji was seen springing into action against Spinner and his newly awakened powers. Expectedly, he doesn't stand much of a chance against him as he was and, as such, the author made him gain new abilities as well. It is possible that his Quirk has now awakened, causing him to gain some new powers. While it is unclear exactly what his new powers are, a spiral was seen forming around his left hand which seems to indicate that he has somehow gotten stronger.
Looking at Spinner, fans know that he has gained a tremendous amount of physical power and resilience, thanks to the new Quirk that was gifted to him by All For One. To match that, Shoji would have to gain a similar kind of boost that fans could see in the upcoming chapter. Overall, My Hero Academia 371 was a fantastic addition to the ongoing Final War saga and one that certainly made this section of the arc more enjoyable. It is highly likely that the author will continue to illustrate this battle to its very end in the next few chapters and then switch his focus to someplace else.