My Hero Academia may have had its finale earlier this year, but there's one fairly substantial storyline which was only given the barest of resolutions. It could've been the basis for a fantastic story arc, but circumstances prevented the idea from being properly explored.
My Hero Academia's finale tried to tie up loose ends where it could, and mostly did a good job of it. Given that the final battle spanned years of real time, it's understandable that some things got a bit lost in the fray, particularly when a storyline was already on the back burner, not being paid attention to. This led to one of the biggest missed opportunities in the entire manga, as the series concluded without ever really diving deeply into the topic of corruption in hero society. This corruption was absolutely present in the series, but by the manga's end, it was almost completely ignored.
Corruption in the Hero Commission Needed to Be Dealt With
Hawks' Story Arc is Unresolved Due to This Missed Opportunity
Hawks is a character who works for a group known as the Hero Public Safety Commission, or HPSC, and they're the ones responsible for ordering him to do some of the more questionable things that he does in the series. They recruited Hawks at a very young age and trained him to be their agent after his predecessor, Lady Nagant, turned on them. Lady Nagant had good reason to turn on them, however--the HPSC was significantly corrupt and abusing its power, having her assassinate both villains and fellow heroes in order to maintain the narrative they wanted.
In the manga, the HPSC suffers a major blow when the president is killed by a Twice clone of Re-Destro, who was brought into their office in an attempt to arrest the real Re-Destro. The president of the HPSC was certainly among the most corrupt, but corruption was spread throughout the organization. The HPSC continues to function in a reduced capacity even after this loss, providing Hawks with intel and support, as he remained their agent. When Deku confronted Lady Nagant, he learned about the HPSC's corruption firsthand, and this could've been a major moment for Deku, realizing that evil exists on the side of the heroes as well.
The corruption in the HPSC supports the villains' criticism of hero society, proving that despite their methods, they do have some valid complaints. Hawks, as a member of the HPSC, was the one in a position to change things, and the manga's distant finale ultimately puts Hawks in charge of the organization, presumably giving him the power to clean up any remaining corruption. However, this is a rather unsatisfying way of dealing with the issue, especially after Lady Nagant shined such a spotlight upon the problem.
Why My Hero Academia Couldn't Tackle Its Corruption Arc
The Pieces Were Already in Motion for the Finale
The main problem that My Hero Academia faced when it came to trying to do an arc about dismantling the HPSC's corruption was simply when a lot of this information was revealed. Most of the information on the HPSC comes from Lady Nagant, who attacks Deku during the period where villains are running rampant after All for One's jailbreak and the country is in shambles. While tackling corruption is certainly important, there are much bigger issues to deal with than a corrupt bureaucracy.
Once Deku is brought back into the fold at UA, there's really no good opportunity to attempt such an arc, either, as the countdown towards the final battle has already begun. The way that the end of My Hero Academia is structured is on such a tight timetable that there's just no opportunity to deal with this problem, which almost raises the question of why it was even brought up in the first place. It would also be difficult to work Deku into such a story arc, as the story would almost certainly have to revolve around Hawks specifically, since he's a member of the organization.
A corruption story arc could've forced Deku to directly confront the idea that hero society has its problems, something which he often seems to brush off since it works for most of the people. Deku was already in his "dark" phase at the time, so it wouldn't have been too much more to have him turn against the HPSC as well. Hawks would be the real winner of such a story arc, finally getting to do what his predecessor couldn't and force this organization to purge its corrupt members and expose them for what they are. It's a shame that My Hero Academia never got to challenge this corruption, as Hawks' character arc would've greatly benefited from it.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as "Quirks" are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn't so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan's greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
Movie(s) My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018) , My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019) , My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021)
First Film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
Cast Daiki Yamashita , Kenta Miyake , Nobuhiko Okamoto , Ayane Sakura , Yûki Kaji , Aoi Yuki , Kaito Ishikawa , Toshiki Masuda , Marina Inoue , Yoshimasa Hosoya
TV Show(s) My Hero Academia
Video Game(s) My Hero Academia: Battle for All , My Hero One's Justice , My Hero One's Justice 2
English (US) ·