The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 354, “Oopsie Daisy” by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
Chapter 354 of My Hero Academia ended on one of the series’ most harrowing cliffhangers yet. Kyoka Jiro, Class 1-A’s resident stealth and tracking expert, flew in on Fumikage Tokoyami to crash the fight between All For One and the top two heroes — and saved Hawks in the process. After her lucky break, one would assume Jiro immediately left the same way she arrived but, impressively, she stuck around with Tokoyami, even throwing All For One’s taunting words back in her face.
All For One’s strength can’t be overstated. He’s lived an unnaturally long life thanks to Dr. Garaki’s anti-aging Quirk and has spent most of it collecting the most powerful Quirks he’s come across. He’s a living weapon far superior to any Nomu he has created, and he knows how best to use his arsenal of Quirks to maximize their efficiency in battle. He was tough enough to go toe-to-toe with All Might in his prime, and even though he’s significantly weaker than he was back then, All For One is still plenty dangerous.
Compared to the overpowered All For One Quirk, Jiro’s Earphone Jack isn’t that impressive. At first, she could only transmit sonic waves from the speakers in her feet de ella when she attached her earphone jacks to them. With the help of a wrist-mounted support item, however, she was able to use her Quirk in a more versatile manner. With these new, ultra lightweight speakers, Jiro can blast sonic waves in whichever direction her earphone jacks can point; and given their near-unlimited range of motion, that means her attacks from her have virtually no blind spot.
Jiro’s Quirk also makes her one of MHA‘s expert stealth heroes. Whether it’s sneaking up undetected on others or locating enemies before they get the drop on her, Jiro’s ears from her are hacks for these otherwise complicated tasks. Like the other students from Class 1-A, she’s spent the first year at the prestigious UA Hero Course honoring her Quirk. While her sonic waves from her could n’t hold a candle to Present Mic’s previously, her from her latest feat from her perfectly illustrated just how strong they’d become.
When All For One directed a pulse blast equal to the one that destroyed Kamino at Hawks, Jiro was able to completely negate its effect over an area with her Heartbeat Wall. For comparison, these blasts were powerful enough to force All Might out of his muscle form from him, and could only be canceled out when he used One For All at 100%. Being able to cancel All For One’s blast was a sign that Jiro’s speakers are nothing to write off anymore. It also follows that her de ella secondary ability – to vibrate her Earphone Jacks themselves – has gotten a boost as well. Previously, Jiro was able to shatter rocks by pumping sound directly into them. Right now, there’s no telling the amount of destruction she’d be capable of.
Of course, despite her numerous upgrades, it’s still a slim-to-none chance that Jiro could take out All For One in single combat. The great thing is, she doesn’t have to. She’s already supported by Tokoyami’s exemplary aerial mobility, and the duo can deploy Dark Shadow anytime All For One gets too close for comfort. Hawks is n’t out of the fight either, and should Endeavor manage to recover from his injury from him, All For One night find himself with one too many heroes to handle.
Their current objective in My Hero Academia is removing the leader of the villains’ life support mask by any means necessary, and Jiro’s earphones might be the perfect tool for the job. If All For One leaves an opening long enough for Jiro’s earphone jack to touch his helmet, it’s as good as destroyed.
