My Hero Academia Fans are Smitten By the Invisible Girl’s Face Reveal

My Hero Academia finally revealed what the Invisible Girl looks like, and fans are now hoping to see more of the character.

SPOILERS FOR MY HERO ACADEMIA FOLLOW:

A first look at Toru Hagakure happened during Chapter 337 of the manga, during an emotional scene where the gathered members of UA High School's Class 1-A react to the news that flamboyant Yuga Aoyama was the traitor within the school. As Aoyama tearfully recounted how he was forced to give the villainous All for One information about the heroes' plans and activities, his friends questioned his actions and motives. A slightly distorted look at Hagakure as she pleads with Aoyama to explain himself is shown in one panel, giving readers their first look at the character's face in the series' seven year history.

Hagakure was first introduced near the start of the series, when main character Izuku "Deku" Midoriya takes part in the brutal entrance exam for UA High School. So far, she has played a relatively minor role throughout the series, with her completely invisible appearance mostly being used for sight gags and other jokes. Funimation, which distributes the anime internationally, released an "action figure" of the character that was simply gloves and boots mounted on transparent poles, as a gag gift earlier this year.

The character has been in the spotlight more recently, however, as an earlier chapter suggested that she was the traitor who was working for All for One. This initial reveal was met with a mixed reaction from fans, however, as some thought that with her invisible appearance and relatively minor role in the story so far, she was too obvious of a choice, while others worried that the series was setting her up to be the next female character to die. This all ended up being a masterful misdirect by series creator Kohei Horikoshi however, as the following chapter revealed that Hagakure was not the traitor, but rather the one who discovers the actual betrayer, Aoyama.

The reveal of Hagakure's face has already inspired a slew of fan art and colorizations. The face reveal, alongside the revelation that she wasn't the traitor, has caused a new spike of popularity for UA High's Invisible Girl, though some readers still suspect that she's hiding something and that there may be two traitors within the school.

In general however, most fans have expressed a desire to see Hagakure play a more major role in the story as the series approaches its climax. Horikoshi gave a statement at this year's Jump Festa saying that he expects to conclude My Hero Academia's story within the next year, barring any unforeseen delays or hiatuses.

Source: Twitter