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Silly theory from a random \o/

Weh, I know I created this page and never posted in a year, but after the recent chapter, I absolutely want to share a (positive) thought I had. Idk if this will reach anyone bc no idea of Tumblr's algorithm works tbh, but I need to put it somewhere!

I am certain Izuocha isn't happening next chapter for reasons that *I* find obvious, but it's fine if it's not the same for you. But I noticed something that has been brought up a lot by the Izuocha side: the fact that Izuku may be using his OFA remnants to reach Ochaco. Actually, thinking about it deeper, I crafted this silly theory (pls keep in mind I am NOT an analyst or anything, it just crossed my mind randomly, and sorry if it doesn't make sense either, my brain's a mess .-.):

The first time Izuku used OFA for real was during his exam entrance to save Ochaco, and now, the 'last' time (I guess? Or at least, one of the last times) he uses it is 'for' her again, in some way. If he sacrifices his last embers of OFA for her, I personally see this as a metaphoric conclusion to their arc, that will lead to the ultimate 'beginning of a new era' -- happening in the very last chapter, when Izuku will recover OFA for good thanks/through Katsuki. His 'old' version of OFA, the old part of Izuku that might have had a crush on her in the beginning, fades to get reborn as a new form of love (stronger & deeper than a crush ofc) for Katsuki. After all, Nana says that OFA is romantic, right?

I rerad this several times and to me it does make sense but if it doesn't to you... I'm so sorry lol, I've tried. And I just really needed to write this down somewhere (preferably somewhere I wouldn't get jumped too) ><.

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the boys are back together <3

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ngl in all of the English translations I've read, Izuku's response here always sounds a little flat to me, like he isn't fazed by Katsuki trying so hard to not call him Deku. I've even seen ones that kind of sound like he's making fun of Katsuki, like "too challenging?"

But in Japanese, he sounds just as soft and affectionate towards Katsuki as he always does! He says, "You don't need to push yourself, Deku is fine, Kacchan!" It reads as totally sincere!

idk man 「デクでいいよ　かっちゃん」 (Deku de ii yo Kacchan) just sounds hella sweet to me. The base of the term "don't push yourself" here is muri suru (無理する), which takes the word muri, meaning "impossible" or "unreasonable," and turns it into a verb.

MEANWHILE what Katsuki says back to him is so damn funny. Since Izuku uses muri shinaide to say "don't overdo it," Katsuki says, "Words like impossible don't exist in my dictionary!"

It's funnier in Japanese because he just says the same word Izuku said, muri. "I don't know the meaning of overdoing it!" is a good approximation of the pun, but the secondary meaning of Katsuki not knowing words like "unreasonable" is pretty amazing LOL.

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I love your translation posts, they give great context to some moments! I’ve seen chapter 348 translated with Toga’s confession as almost being narrated by Bakugou but I’ve also seen it translated as a more generic voice. Is there a correct version?

This is a complicated question, so let me put it this way: while there is less uncertainty in Japanese about who is narrating 348, that doesn't mean there is no uncertainty. In general, I think English audiences are responding with much more scrutiny to something that is not particularly notable in Japanese manga.

We don't have a lot of information about the narrator that refers to Izuku in the third-person. "Midoriya Izuku" is not how Izuku narrated the story when his internal voice was dominant, he always used first-person pronouns to tell "the story of how I became the greatest hero."

In the series, there are inner monologues that convey what the characters are thinking in the moment, and then there is "framing narration." Framing narration positions the story in the past tense, implying a future person is relaying this event with more knowledge about its conclusion than the audience has.

Inner monologues have distinct clarity both in visual cues (who is on-screen) and how they speak.

Ochako's inner monologue during 321 is indisputably Ochako; the opening words are placed over her image, and the Japanese audience is already familiar with the fact that Ochako calls Izuku "Deku-kun" and uses the personal pronoun watashi (私), so when she says "we," it's watashitachi (私たち), pluralizing her own pronoun. If this were Shouto's monologue, we would have had Midoriya and orera (俺ら) or oretachi (俺たち) instead. The audience would have understood the distinction, although the visual cue centering Ochako would feel a little odd, like Shouto is looking to her while thinking this.

Framing narration, of course, has little-to-no visual cuing, so we have to rely on speech patterns, and thus end up with subjective interpretation and predictions.

348's framing narrator uses kare (彼) to refer to Izuku as he. This is not a pronoun we have ever seen Katsuki use for him. Katsuki exclusively refers to Izuku in the third-person with aitsu or soitsu (あいつ or そいつ), both of which mean "that guy" in a rude way consistent with his typical speech pattern.

There is the possibility that the audience is supposed to be surprised by the use of "shitty nerd" following the pronoun kare, because the two contradict each other, and "shitty nerd" is put at the end of the sentence like a zinger. This might imply that, sometime in the future, Katsuki starts using kare for Izuku, and that really would be a shocking change, because it is extremely polite and non-confrontational compared to how he normally talks. I don't think that is what is going on, though, for the following reasons:

In manga, framing devices are not always explained or particularly thought of as noteworthy. Some series use a framing device at the beginning, and then completely abandon it by the end. Some series have very inconsistent framing devices, sometimes due to the intense workload of weekly chapter output and sometimes because the author just wants it that way, and they use the inconsistency as a way to be poetic, develop story themes, or conveniently convey information.

English language media, especially in recent years, has much more strict rules and expectations about framing devices. I don't think Japanese audiences are as concerned about who this narrator is because the expectations are different.

That said, from both a writing standpoint and the experience of the audience, Katsuki's words being brought up in the middle of a love confession is not meaningless. The literal identity of the narrator may not be that important in the end, but what the narrator conveys is absolutely still important.

There are a lot of ways you can interpret Katsuki's words being brought up here, but it is undeniably intentional. If he wanted the "nerd" meaning without connecting it to Katsuki, Horikoshi could have just called Izuku an otaku, since that term carries an implication of "indifferent or ignorant to human relationships" in Japan. If this were just about how oblivious Izuku is, he could have said that Izuku 空気を読めない (kuuki wo yomenai, can't read the room).

But he chose the words Katsuki alone uses for Izuku--words that were historically derogatory but, as their relationship has improved, could almost be read as friendly or affectionate.

I personally feel like it is foreshadowing, but we'll have to see how it shakes out!

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Like everyone else, I’m in love with Dynama. However, this little Kacchan statement wouldn’t leave me alone. This phrase ‘dreadnought love’— what the hell is that? To Google!

The kanji 超弩級 is for the word ‘Choudokyuu’, which is literally a ‘super dreadnought’, or a warship consisting entirely of big guns, but also a word used to describe something extraordinary, the best of the best. (Don’t bother searching the romaji, all you’ll get is a manga about a giant girl).

An image search of the kanji however (i.e. the imagery Japanese readers will associate with the word) results in pretty much every image being a trading card of this super tank/canon war machine thing, frankly one of the most Kacchanish things ever. The rainbow background was a happy surprise. 😏

So, basically, he’s saying that he wants love to hit him like a fucking canon (as opposed to Cupid’s piddly-ass arrow I guess?). He demands to be seen as cute, and demands a love as powerful as one of his own special moves (howitzer, panzer, dynamite etc.)

THIS BOY is READY to be considered a love interest.

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EDIT 29.12.22:

Hold the goddamn phones oh shit there’s more!!

Okay, so I was thinking about the fact that this mini comic was supposed to come out with the Chiikawa collab, and wondered what was going on with the manga at that time (April).

Well, while Kacchan was wishing for a transcendent warship of love to come smash him right in the heart (sorry), guess which shitnerd was, at that exact moment, propelling himself across the ocean like a canonball to come back to his side? FHDIKSBDAJSSJ

It’s me, ya boy Choudeku.

I’m palpitating. Maybe Hori decided not to release it at the time because it’s so on the feckin nose?!

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winter kacchan 🐺❄

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bunzuku

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fantasy bkdk!!

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did i do it right

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have a little bkdk

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not new to tumblr but i have never posted here. how does this work 😭

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I personally really enjoy how my bkdk shipping went from shipping them as a “i have always been in love with you but you don’t love me back :,( x but wait it’s actually requited but I’m much less emotionally available and now we’re both sad!” to “I love you so much it hurts but I can’t or won’t acknowledge the feelings that I have for you because if I do I’m scared it might destroy what we have and break me in the process so I’ll push it down and destroy myself pretending that you aren’t what gets me out of bed in the morning and that I could live without you x the love I have for you feels new but old and fragile but unbreakable and I want to protect and nurture this feeling inside myself because it makes me stronger— loving you has made me a person I’m proud of — but I know you don’t return the same type of affection my way so I can’t speak my truth to you and so as long as you’ll have me I’ll continue to be close to you, support you and love you as a friend, but I’ll never be close enough.”

Like what the fuck. It was all so fucking simple and now it’s consumed my life—

I went from angst to heavy angst.

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The more I think about it, the more I might be signing on to the theory that Izuku KNOWS his trigger is Kacchan, and he just hasn't admitted/confronted it yet...At least, that we have yet seen.

Hold my non-alcoholic beverage.

Once again, let's preface with the fact that we have SEEN with our own eyes, that Kacchan has been the trigger of two specific incidents, being Monoma insulting Kacchan and Izuku becoming angry enough to manifest Black Whip.

And second, Kacchan following him into danger, and then getting impaled and nearly dying to protect him, which then triggered possibly the most RAGE we have ever seen Izuku possess, AND the manifestation of Danger Sense, AND caused him to literally throw himself at AFO/Shigaraki which put him immediately under threat of having OFA stolen. Obviously, the vestiges protected the Quirk, but the fact still stands that the rage the a Izuku felt was enough to drive him LITERALLY into Shigaraki's hands, despite how very very dangerous that was. Izuku LOST HIMSELF so badly that he could have lost the entire war right there, if The Vestiges hadn't protected him and the Quirk.

The moment when All Might and Kacchan are trying to coach him and find the connection that brought about Black Whip. The mention of an external factor, and Izuku's avoidance of saying what that factor was(Kacchan being insulted, as we ALL know and explicitly saw), and arguably his words of "It's not something I can handle right now" seem a bit suspicious.

(NOTE: I've said before, that I had slight skepticism that this line about not being able to handle it and putting a lock on something, was meant to refer to the power he unlocked, however, watching season 5 has made me remember that, after the chaotic manifestation, and talking to Lariat, and realizing that Black Whip was part of his Quirk and therefore there to HELP him, and he had successfully used it without losing control because he ACCEPTED that it was a power that was there to help, not hurt him. I am not so sure that Izuku's "lock" is referring to the power anymore, but rather, his feelings for Kacchan.

But, I have new perspective that maybe, like others were pointing out, maybe it IS referring to the actual TRIGGER. IE, his feelings for Kacchan/his anger on his behalf.

I could be wrong, of course? But stay with me because this is a part of a larger context)

So, after the War arc, after Kacchan got gravely injured on his behalf, after hospitalization, we are given one thing before Izuku suddenly leaves. But it was KACCHAN's perspective, Kacchan waking up and being desperate to get to Izuku, and getting DENIED at the door. We are shown Kacchan's desperation to make sure Izuku's ok, but so far, even well after waking up, we are NOT SHOWN Izuku's worry over Kacchan's condition. We are suddenly FLUNG into a brand new world where Izuku is a drop-out "vigilante" working on the villain activity outside of school, cleaning up villains and questing to find out how villains come to be in their own minds.

We've seen him talk to his mom before he leaves. We've seen him talk to Gran Torino.

But we haven't seen him talk to ANY of his friends yet, ESPECIALLY KACCHAN. When there has been such a fantastic amount of tension placed on that particular relationship, after not only the sacrifice Kacchan made, but also, and particularly, the FOCUS that was placed on Kacchan trying to REACH HIM and FAILING.

We've all been forced to inhale a deep breath as Kacchan charged down that hallway yelling for Deku, and we are STILL HOLDING THAT BREATH. There is a huge, poignant LOOSE END there that is hanging over our head. We are still waiting for the payoff.

So like that scene, in theory, Izuku is still avoiding how he feels so strongly about Kacchan that he can be triggered into rage over him being hurt?

Actually, no, I think this sudden change to Izuku is very much him finally acknowledging it and acting on it.

The reason we have so much unresolved tension still hanging over Kacchan and Izuku's non-reunion, the reason Hori set up this big conflict that hasn't been resolved yet, why he showed us Kacchan trying to see Deku and not an ounce of Izuku wanting to see Kacchan before he leaves,

is that Izuku is actively trying to distance himself from Kacchan.

He did say that the reason he won't be returning to UA is of course because AFO could find him at any time and he would place everyone around him in danger.

But Kacchan? I think Izuku is still very much traumatized by the fact that he witnessed Kacchan taking a would-be fatal blow for him and falling out of the sky, drenched in blood.

I think he probably realizes that if Kacchan follows him into battle again, there's a real chance it could happen again... Or worse, AFO/Shigaraki, now knowing what a touchy button that is for Izuku, could actively target Kacchan on the battlefield, kill him, and/or use him against Izuku.

And Izuku is in the literary stage where the protagonist thinks that the love they have for someone else is a weak point and a danger/liability to those he loves, and so tries to shoulder all the burden themselves an shut the other out. He doesn't want his friends involved, he doesn't want Kacchan involved.

Because he knows that his love for Kacchan is his weakness. He's finally acknowledging that when Kacchan is hurt or slighted, he tends to lose himself. He loses control of his heart, and this is not something they can afford at this point in the game. Defeating AFO is now or never. (and he just desperately doesn't want Kacchan to be hurt for him anymore.)

He is going to have to learn, however, that, like Kacchan says to him, he can't keep playing the Hero on his own. And that their love can be their greatest strength, instead of a weakness.

So he's left, probably without a conversation with Kacchan. Hori is holding out on showing us this, building onto that tension, and I feel like he has some very significant pay off coming up. We haven't been shown any such conversation because he wants us to keep holding that breath for a little longer.

And if I'm right, it's gonna be dramatic when Izuku breaks down about this to Kacchan, finally. There was also some theories that Kacchan v. Deku 3 is going to follow the progression of their relationship and have this one center around Izuku's feelings being laid bare and Kacchan "accepting his feelings" as Izuku had done for him in KvD2, I think I'm a fan of this theory.

So yeah, Izuku knows that Kacchan is his trigger and purposely left without him for that reason.

That's basically my theory. Probably not the first one to think this, but I thought I'd write about it anyway. to get it outta my head, lmao.

Alsooo, yeah this is tagged for my Bakudeku peeps, and I use the word "love" in this, but you can read that as you will, either platonic or possibly romantic, not here to say this theory calls for canon romantic feelings between BKDK because that's not really my point, but at this point denying that they love each other in SOME capacity is being blind.

Ship or don't ship, but I legitimately think this is the psychology of Izuku's decision right now.

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The Bakugo Presentation 2.0 Part 2

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA”: A Breakdown of Katsuki Bakugo Part 2

Welcome to the Bakugo presentation 2.0 part 2!

Link to the Bakugo presentation 2.0 Part 1

Link to the Bakugo presentation 1.0: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Kirishima presentation

Link to the Todoroki presentation

Link to the Deku presentation coming eventually

Japan and Bullying

Bakugo implied Deku should jump off a roof. Fact. But “canceling” Bakugo over bullying Deku without acknowledging the series’ point that the motive for “evil” and pressures that inspire it are bigger than just one person is, well, reductive to the thesis of the story. It is also culturally naive.

This article from the Atlantic discusses Japan’s current education climate in a general sense through taking a look at Precarious Japan, but it also includes an interesting comment about bullying: “The notorious bullying in Japanese schools has actually been seen by many parents and teachers as a feature not a bug.”

Keep reading

[izuboom]

The Bakugo Presentation 2.0

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA”: A Breakdown of Katsuki Bakugo

Welcome to the Bakugo presentation 2.0 now with added sections and revisions based on the feedback of the Bakugo survey! If you have not taken the survey but would like to do so, please have at it! Just make sure you read the disclaimer at the start as your answers may be posted on the @baku-fessionals blog.

Link to the Bakugo presentation 2.0 Part 2

Link to the Bakugo presentation 1.0: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Kirishima presentation

Link to the Todoroki presentation

Link to the Deku presentation coming eventually

What you are about to read is a combination of self-guided research and absorption from fan discussions and other fans who have taught me so much. @rironomind​ @pikahlua​ @greenhappyseed​ @the-nysh​ and so many others, thanks so much! Again!

Warning: This is over 140 slides long and spread across multiple posts. I’ve put the rest under the cut because I love you all dearly and wish to spare you. Beware of My Hero Academia manga spoilers and My Hero Academia Vigilantes spoilers! I’m (almost) current and dangerous.

Keep reading

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Wait wait I think I got it this time: Yes it’s another Second’s quirk theory (but this one’s correct)

Third time’s the charm.

So there I was scrolling Tumblr in bed this morning, and I came across a classic panel from chapter 322, which I proceeded to stare at in my sleep-addled haze, and it gave me an idea which I threw out there on Discord, and we talked about it, and then, slowly…I figured it out. I wasn’t even trying to figure it out. I was gushing over how much I love chapter 322 and then I accidentally the answer. Pretty much like this:

I know what the Second’s quirk is.

Theory (not in the colloquial “guess” sense but, like, in the scientific model sense): The Second’s quirk is…under the cut, because holy shit you should really consider if you want this spoiled for you, fair warning, I’m fucking right

Table of Contents I. Accelerated Learning: Izuku’s Runaway Arc II. Holding hands gives you cooties III. How did Yoichi Shigaraki discover he had a quirk? IV. I Am Here V. Plus Ultra Possession Theory VI. tl;dr

Keep reading

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The Second’s Quirk: Shit’s about to get absolutely batshit crazy

With the chapter 349 spoilers out and that one subtle detail that’s likely to be a reveal in disguise, I must now make my case for not only my interpretation of what we just learned but what it means for the rest of the story.

Obviously the night is young. I’ve only had these spoilers for an hour and a half, but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this fandom and then myself.

Without further ado, welcome to my Ultimate TED Talk.

Everything Makes Sense Now and Other Horrifying Revelations

Table of Contents I. What is the Second’s quirk? II. AFO’s obsession with OFA III. Heroes Rising makes sense now. Yeah, you heard me. IV. Bugs V. The Butterfly Effect VI. This isn’t even my theory’s final form

Keep reading