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[baku-fessionals]

I think of Katsuki’s character as a maze; he’s easy to get lost in, and when you take a look around, you realize just how complex he is. I’m 100% guilty of living vicariously through him, and thus I tend to project a lot of my deepest feelings onto him. I am a teacher and I study child psychology. Some of my theories about him come from more speculation than others, but with my understanding of psychology, I can see that there’s so much more to him than canon has explicitly shown. Perhaps that’s another way I see him—as a test subject. Someone to marvel at. All in all, I think it’s most important to remember that Katsuki is (currently) 17 at most. It’s easy to see his harmful actions and assume that he just has a villainous personality—that’s actually a belief held by many uneducated adults in regards to real children—but it’s so so so important to think deeper than that. What has affected him? Who taught him that behavior? Why does he get so defensive? I’m sorry, I rambled lol. I just love him (clearly).

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[baku-fessionals]

He’s so irritating, but also exactly what I’d expect a 15 year old boy who has been praised his whole life for being exceptional talent among a whole world of already exceptional people would be. I hated him at the beginning of the series but do appreciate his growth and sincerity toward Izuku (especially in the most recent chapter where he literally breaks down after learning Izuku is quirkless again). He’s not my least favorite anymore, so that’s progress! He’s objectively the character with the coolest design too, unrelated to character traits.

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[baku-fessionals]

I've really just seen someone say 'Vegeta who’s a softie over his cheap “waifu”' and I'm getting a headache trying to figure out how you can watch any amount of DB and think Bulma is Vegeta's 'cheap waifu', she was around before he was! Vegeta didn't give a shit about her until the last arc!

That is a bizarre take among bizarre takes.

[baku-fessionals]

I find Bakugou to be a enjoyable character. He has all these layers built up without having the traditional tragic backstory like most main characters (and their rivals) do. His conflict is very relatable to me because of the whole high expectations thing being placed on him since he was a kid but his approach to it is different to most people, myself included (at least those I'm familiar with) and I find that fascinating. It's always fun to see a character with similar issues to you and see how you're similar/different. It gives new perspective. He has this drive to always be the best witch is a great quality. I won't lie, he did annoy me a lot in the beginning of the series but as he grew and matured so did my opinion of him. I greatly admire his tenacity and ability to grow as a person while still remaining true to himself. He isn't diminished to the angry guy or Endeavour 2.0. He's his own character, a multifaceted character capable of growth and development. I also think it's really cool how he manages to surprise you by having skills or thoughts that you normally wouldn't associate with his character archetype, it's makes for fun comedy and reminds one that you can't judge a book by it's cover

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[baku-fessionals]

I loved him the moment I saw him, and somehow, years later, I love him even more. His story and character motivations are classic and straightforward, but the complete view of him and the care the story takes to give both cartoonishly obvious and dramatically subtle facets to these things make him special. All the characters in this series are connected, and logically, Izuku or All Might should be at the center, but I get the sense that, based on the themes and experiences shared by the other characters' story arcs and how they mirror one another, the real heart of the series lies with Kacchan instead. I saw part of the anime first, and something about Katsuki stuck out in my mind. When I finally read My Hero Academia for the first time and held what I gleaned from it against the at-the-time loud disapproval and vitriol aimed at Katsuki's character expressed by the western fandom, the dissonance was so striking that it made me dizzy. Katsuki should have been familiar and straightforward to me, but the loudest conventional wisdom painted him as a stranger - but one that I had still decided I loved. Because of that, I shyly and privately made a promise to myself that I would come to understand this character as well as I knew myself. I've spent at least five years doing exactly that, and it is at once the most intuitive thing I have ever done and yet one of the most labor intensive. I have to wonder if Kohei Horikoshi would laugh at me if I told him that I was trying to do such a thing with a character that was not even mine, or if he would be bewildered that I even thought I could do such a thing. Still, I've tried. Right now, Kacchan's sun is reaching its zenith as the manga comes to an end, but once the series ends, I can't help but wonder how the series - and by extension, Katsuki - will be remembered. I know I could never forget him and even if the retrospective of the series ages poorly, I will always think of him as someone who, above all the other things he did, fought tooth and nail to learn what it meant to love others as well as love himself, and broke my heart in watching him struggle with it before putting it back together again when he finally succeeded. I love him and I don't care if his story ultimately becomes dated, out of style, or no longer relatable in the future."

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[baku-fessionals]

"I LOVE HIM!!! He’s annoying but also so much more. He is pretty, he is handsome but gosh he looks so ugly at the same time. He is much more complicated and has deeper characterization the longer you read the manga. He has one of the best character developments. He surpasses all my expectations that I have for him!!! Go Bakugou Katsuki! Go Dynamight! Go beyond, Plus Ultra, my King!!!"

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[baku-fessionals]

I relate to him personally, but the things I hate about myself, I also hate about him. Like Bakugo, I'd rather die than be wrong. I understand his resentment for Izuku because he did everything he was supposed to, but Izuku was still happier/(eventually) more liked. I've been on both sides of bullying. I've bullied people before, and I can explain to you exactly why I did: I'm autistic. And a girl. For 11 years I was in occupational therapy, working on changing myself so I could fit the world's expectations better. So when I saw autistic boys who changed nothing about themselves and acted how I wanted to, but got no ridicule, I made fun of them or excluded them from activities. Was this right? Absolutely not. But when you hear it from my perspective, it doesn't sound so monstrous. I think the same thing applies to Bakugo. From his perspective, Izuku was getting away with being everything he'd been taught was societally unacceptable, just like the double standard I saw between ND boys and ND girls. The main thing I hear cited as Bakugo being irredeemable is the suicide dare. I've been suicidal in the past. I know how painful it is. But I can’t say with certainty that a 13-year-old me would never tell someone to do so in a fit of anger if they were "threatening my future" like Bakugo thought at the time. End of the day, he's a dumb kid who makes mistakes and bad choices, but he eventually tries to fix it. He's human. That's all we can ask for.

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[baku-fessionals]

Q: Is there a specific moment in the series regarding Bakugo Katsuki that sticks out in your mind?

in the Battle Trial arc, anime episode 6-8, his reaction to seeing Midoriya completely rekt as a result of his own lack of self-control - the scene where his shoulders are dropped, and he's completely slack-jawed, even when All Might starts talking to him while Midoriya gets wheeled out on a stretcher.

He's realizing at this point that his assumptions about Midoriya were wrong, and that worthless Deku might actually be able to beat in him a fight - and being the strongest, best fighter was Bakugo's only real source of self-worth up until this point. His dramatic reaction also seems to be partially due to seeing the result of Midoriya using his strength quirk and absolutely WRECKING his body in order to win a simple training exercise. It's like he's also realizing that there's something really Not Right about the way Midoriya is acting here. Like he's becoming aware that Midoriya is 100% willing to destroy his limbs just to win: his desire for victory, his sudden show of power, and his determination seem to all catch Bakugo completely off-guard, like he'd never considered that Midoriya would even bother to really try and win against him. Like Bakugo's victory wasn't actually assured or even assumed - like now he actually has to TRY to win. He's not in middle school anymore, being pampered by everyone around him. He's got to try just as hard as the rest of them if he wants to stand out. No longer a big fish in a little pond, so to say.

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[baku-fessionals]

Q: Is there a specific moment in the series regarding Bakugo Katsuki that sticks out in your mind?

It's just his attitude and style that catches my eyes👀

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Q: Is there a specific moment in the series regarding Bakugo Katsuki that sticks out in your mind?

when he was tackling the kids and got hit by a quirk that made him SPARKLE and smile like a material guwrl... i mean, NeAh...

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[baku-fessionals]

i love this guy, i mean, everythinggg about him... his anger,laugh everything... ukw, i just want to be mine..

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[baku-fessionals]

Honestly the "angry insecure teenager" trope developing into a "self-aware but still hotheaded" thing. He starts out as a product of his environment, his entire personality is the result of how others treated him. Then he becomes self-aware over time and takes control of himself, but doesn't become a whole different person. His overall personality is the same - hot-headed, short tempered, gruff and violent. But instead of using that temper and violence to push others down to make himself seem better, it's just his personality and he's grown enough to stand up on his own merits. Also, the change from bully to classmate is interesting, and it's nice that it's not because he was punished "properly" by the narrative or the other characters, but just because he realized that it wasn't right, and decided to do something about it on his own.

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[baku-fessionals]

obviously there's the bk v dk fights, those are always interesting, like i have feelings about the first one when he lost, like, sir???? are u ok????? and the answer is no. there is something seriously wrong with and it's soooo good.

the second fight is just, oof, right in the feels, he thinks it's his fault all might lost his power and kills me,

i am deceased and all might says it's not but he obviously doesn't believe him, ourgh, argh my heart ngdhtdutd

there's also the shish kebabing, the swish cheesing, no thoughts very good, im glad he did that

and more recently, bro straight up died??? for over a year????? like who does that????? and then he comes back,

severs some arms and goes 😇 and back to feral in the span of a few panels.

mad sh*t. i think i just like it when he suffers :3 oh and in the sports fest, the cavalry battle.

not much to say about that one im just a massive simp for the bakusquad

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[baku-fessionals]

When he cries.

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"Man, I wanted an autograph so bad."

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I think the thing that comes to mind is him taking the hit for Deku from Shiggy, when he said his body moved before he knew what was happening.

I think that just shows you his real self. He always wears such a mask and puts on a persona, but he knew what he needed to do in that moment and did it.

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[baku-fessionals]

His apology and fight with AFO

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