The latest arc of My Hero Academia has brought a vital player into the war between Japan’s pro heroes and One For All: the top pro hero from America, Star and Stripe, who will play an important role in the battle between the two sides. When Star and Stripe was a child, she was saved by All Might (as seen in the opening sequence of the film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes).
Since then, she has used her Omega-level quirk power, New Order, in service to her country with a commitment that would make All Might himself proud. We learn, however, in the most recent episode of the My Hero Academia manga, that America’s requirements for its top hero are vastly different and significantly more restrictive.
This section contains SPOILERS for My Hero Academia Chapter 331!
During the most recent episodes of My Hero Academia, Star and Stripe engaged in a full-scale aerial fight with the new hybrid of All For One and Tomura Shigaraki, which took place over the skies of Japan. Due to the villains’ combined identities, AFO Shigaraki was able to survive a direct attack from Star and Stripe’s New Order quirk, allowing him to escape. Knowing that there is something about her adversary that her quirk cannot immediately identify, Star and Stripe opts for a more indirect blitzkreig tactic to take down her adversary. That is, assuming she is successful in obtaining the required approval from those in authority.
Yes, it turns out that the United States places a far tighter control over their pro heores than does Japan. However, in the case of Star and Stripe, the nature of her godly New Order quirk (which allows her to rewrite the rules of reality with the flick of her wrist or the spoken word) is kept strictly confidential – even though it is noted that the general public understands the “gist” of her power from her use – is kept under wraps. It appears that the government is also closely monitoring Star and Stripe’s travels and acts, as her power redefines what constitutes a quirk and the level of harm that one can pose.
At the conclusion of the chapter, it is also made plain that there are certain degrees of attack that Star and Stripe can only employ with official government approval or by exercising some kind of “special authority” that she has been granted in times of grave urgency.
Despite the fact that America’s more restrictive techniques for dealing with its top pro hero may appear unjust at first glance, they become apparent when we observe the really god-like level of attack that Star and Stripe brings against AFO Shigaraki. A misuse of her powers would almost certainly result in the annihilation of an entire city (or country? Because she has access to America’s most advanced weaponry (such as the hypersonic Tiamat missiles), the potential misuse of her power is considerably more terrifying to contemplate than it already is.
You may read the most recent manga chapter of My Hero Academia for free on the internet.