My Hero Academia Chapter 335: Why Toru Hagakure U.A. traitor reveal could simply be a fakeout

My Hero Academia Chapter 335 officially released on Sunday, 28 November 2021. The chapter seemingly reveals Toru Hagakure as the U.A. traitor. The invisible Class 1-A student has been the subject of much speculation.

Yet fans are pointing out some translation choices and prior actions of certain students to argue against Hagakure being the traitor. Ironically, fingers are being pointed towards Aoyama. However, he already had a fakeout himself.

Regardless of who the traitor is, author Kohei Horikoshi seems to have a clear vision. Let’s take a look at the arguments for Hagakure fakeout and Aoyama being the traitor.

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Fans split on who My Hero Academia's U.A. traitor could be, with two primary candidates having surfaced

My Hero Academia Chapter 335: Hagakure fakeout?

The crux of the argument against Hagakure being the traitor comes down to a translation choice in the Japanese vs. English adaptations.

My Hero Academia Chapter 335’s Japanese version has an extra few lines of text on the chapter’s final page. Translated, this text reads

“A shocking punch to the gut! The traitor is actually…!?”

This is seemingly painting Hagakure as the traitor.

Yet in the English version of My Hero Academia Chapter 335, this text is absent. This could simply be a stylistic choice, with the English translators not feeling the text to be worth the space it would occupy.

It’s certainly an interesting choice to not include this text, but perhaps Horikoshi wanted to keep foreign audiences wondering. If the apparent Hagakure reveal is indeed a fakeout, it’s likely she is instead spying on or going to confront the real traitor. Either way, fans can expect the real traitor to be revealed soon.

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My Hero Academia Chapter 335: Is Aoyama the traitor?

Yet fans are already collecting evidence and pointing to Aoyama as the U.A. traitor instead of Hagakure.

While Aoyama already had somewhat of a fakeout traitor reveal in Chapter 167, there’s further evidence which points to his guilt. Aoyama is often seen breaking the fourth wall in the manga, yet hasn't done so in most recent appearances. It’s worth noting that he only breaks the wall by looking at readers, but this absence is still intriguing.

In addition, My Hero Academia Chapter 335 and other recent chapters saw Deku’s return to U.A. During the buildup to whether or not Deku would be let back in, we see Aoyama protesting against bringing him back.

Aoyama's initial traitor fake out, as seen in My Hero Academia Chapter 167. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

After Aoyama’s initial traitor fakeout, the impression was given that he had become much closer to Deku. Yet if this were the case, why would he not want to protect his friend and give him a place to rest?

It could be that Aoyama wanted to keep Deku in the outside world, where the former's true comrades could freely attack and capture the latter.

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In summation

Clearly, the identity of the U.A. traitor is a heavily contested topic with no clear answer as of this writing. While My Hero Academia Chapter 335’s closing page seems to paint Hagakure as the traitor, the next chapter’s leaks are necessary before jumping to conclusions.

There’s an argument to be made both for and against Aoyama and Hagakure. While it’s unclear who the traitor is, it’s obvious these are our most relevant candidates.

Be sure to support My Hero Academia Chapter 335’s official release and future chapter releases for more information on who the U.A. traitor is.