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keep-smiling-deku · 7 months ago

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Every time I see someone say they don't find Midoriya interesting, a piece of me just fades away. I know he doesn't look it, but he's batshit crazy. He is a damn wild card.

EVEN BEFORE OBTAINING OFA.

All Might decided to give OFA after seeing this kid do something crazy (running ahead to save Bakugou from the Sludge Villain... defenseless).

After that, for training, what does Midoriya do?

CLEAN A BEACH!! Keep in mind, he is just a scrawny kid. And then one morning, he just decides "I'm about to do something wild".

He climbs up a pile of trash, and just screams into oblivion with a war cry, shirtless just as the sun is rising.

That's just the beginning!

Kid has punched a robot the size of a building, attempts to fight an obviously dangerous villain with broken bones.

Later during the Sports Festival, he manages to make a new friend with Icy-Hot Princey boy who holds a grudge (I mean rightfully so, but this ain't about him) by breaking his bones and screaming at him and could have got himself killed in doing so. Oh wait! Rewind! Before that, Midoriya goes through an obstacle course race without using his quirk and just being calculating.

AND GETS FIRST PLACE before kids with quirks that can boost their speed!!

After that arc, he faces a whole serial killer!! He gets told not to run off and guess what? He does it anyways!

You know what, let me just list things he is and has done the best way I can because when I say this kid is not what he seems, he is not what he seems.

Doesn't listen, "I do what I want because it's right even though I'll get yelled at for it". Okay, this kid is impulsive sometimes.

Puts up with Bakugou and calls this explosive kid "Kacchan". Who in the hell gives that boom-boom gremlin a cutesy nickname and not once get told to stop using it? Midoriya damn Izuku, that's who.

Wears t-shirts that says other pieces of clothing like "blouse" and "tank top". WHERE DID HE GET THEM?!

Can mimic All Might's face and voice!

Has to be told to keep his emotions in check because they affect OFA, his strongest emotion being anger. And when he's angry, just beg for mercy. Just get on your knees and hope he doesn't break your face or something and embarrasses you. (Muscular got it twice as he deserves!)

Faced an ASSASSIN.

Somehow managed to still move like it's nothing after being shocked by KAMINARI and after that, headbutting through Todoroki's ice wall (by accident). (Class 1A VS Deku fight)

Midoriya is intelligent, he's observant. He's able to work how the function of someone's quirk just by watching. He was able to figure out how Stain's quirk worked and how he's using it. Stain, the Hero Killer.

On that note, he uses his knowledge to incorporate that in his own moves and how he can work with OFA. Midoriya is creative.

Even though he knows the risks, he sometimes pushes his body to the limit and breaks his bones and sometimes still wants to fight despite his body being damaged at that time.

Tried to talk down Dabi the same way as he did with Todoroki and honestly, he deserves some credit for that. It didn't worked, but he tried talking to DABI. Dabi is something else.

There's probably more I missed, but I'm just saying Midoriya Izuku is just more than that sweet round freckled face. And you wouldn't think with that face he would have the body he does. He used to be a scrawny kid. But now? He is a pint-sized powerhouse!

Do not take him lightly. He needs to come with a warning label!

Look, if he's boring to you, fine. I don't care. Didn't write this post to convince you.

I wrote this post to express just how I feel about him.

I know some people are put off by him because "he's the protagonist, he gets a lot of the spotlight".

But that's not stopping me. I mean, Miruko is my number one tied with Midoriya and she shares a lot less focus than he does! To me, a character doesn't have to be minor or a major one to be liked. I look past that role and see their other qualities and in the case of Midoriya, I like his qualities enough for him to be an interesting character to me.

Which is rare for me because my favorites often be the minor characters, characters that don't get as much screen time and aren't as popular. Even for BNHA! A lot of my favorites are characters that haven't spoken in the manga since forever!

(For goodness' sake, I know I'll sound salty for this and I do adore the other characters! The Todoroki's got a whole arc and even an origin to how their whole mess started dating back to when Enji and Rei met! And we still don't know Midoriya’s dad whereabouts! WE KNOW HAWKS' BACKSTORY!! AND WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT HISASHI LOOKS LIKE!! Midoriya barely has had focus for how many chapters this whole ongoing war arc now? Just saying, even though there's a lot of characters, let's not act as if Midoriya gets the spotlight all the time.)

That's just me now.

(Don't even reblog and say something like "Okay, I see your point, OP, but I still think he's boring." Or argue why he's boring to you. Don't even come into my inbox with all that. Again, I do not care.)

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keep-smiling-deku · 7 months ago

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Something that honestly blows my mind about canon bkdk is the shift of Katsuki's mentality about Izuku's eyes. Izuku is starkly remembered/characterized with them, by Bakugou, all the way back in the infamous river scene in Ch 9.

As well as with the sludge villain (not directly, but implied.)

These two occurances expand upon Ch 8 where he first expresses anger at his expression.

And then when the fight reaches its climax, he can't help but mention it again.

We get to see another taste of just how much this bothers him, as he implies that he would purposefully be cruel to Izuku when they were children because Izuku wouldn't stop looking at him and go away.

To skip forward a bit, I've always found it very strange that Katsuki decides to waste a hand to shove Izuku's face away at the end of the Deku vs Kacchan 2 fight. It's honestly not the best way to pin someone, it's kind of inefficient.

But god, in the context of their relationship at that point, I really do think the thought of being that close to Izuku and having him stare at him probably unnerved tf out of him.

It's the biggest aspect of Izuku that he actively dislikes at this point in the narrative, the part of him that Bakugou had thought (until their fight) meant "I'm better than you" rather than "I admire you".

Then Katsuki gets his introspection arc while Shie Hassaikai happens, we get to see some glimpses into his own mental state, Izuku and Katsuki being able to hold very minor conversations, Katsuki waiting up late until Deku comes back (until Kaminari calls him out on it). We know that they're more actively trying to coexist and things don't seem like they've shifted too drastically. Izuku is now comfortable (and happy) at being able to compliment Katsuki. And then we get to see Katsuki's response to all this in the Class A vs B scene.

I'll be honest, I originally was an anime-only, and when I first found out that the anime had fudged/modified these lines to only be "Just watch, Deku", I didn't think it was a big deal.

But in the context of how Katsuki himself has previously dealt with and contextualized Izuku's feelings and actions, this is extremely important.

He's always seen Izuku as having his eyes pinned to his back which consistently angered and freaked him out in equal measure. He's never WANTED Izuku's attention and has, for the majority of their childhood, seen it as a negative. But now we have a genuine case of Katsuki wanting Izuku to not just look at him but to KEEP his eyes on him, to keep watching him, to not look away.

We also get to see just what exactly he wants Izuku to see, and its Bakugo accepting Izuku's part of being a hero, to Win by Saving. And then we get another iconic panel that further implies that Bakugou's change is due to Izuku (which was, again, removed from the anime).

And then finally we get the end of the fight where we get more of Bakugou being a disaster unable to take a compliment and reflexively yelling at Izuku (which also wasn't clear in the anime…).

It's honestly kind of funny bc this idiot literally cannot still directly handle Izuku, but wants Izuku to look at him.

And then we get to see Izuku parallel Katsuki's thoughts, wanting Katsuki to watch him as well (although Izuku doesn't realize it).

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keep-smiling-deku · 7 months ago

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Does Izuku Think His Feelings For Katsuki Are Gross? (or, DvK2's Endless Emporium of Nuance)

This is a pretty common sentiment I see repeated, and we all know the source of it: Deku vs. Kacchan 2.

Original Japanese and official English translation.

Crunchyroll subtitles

In one translation, Izuku expresses discomfort over this topic; in the other, he outright declares it to be gross.

That is quite the difference. I gotta say, Crunchyroll’s direct “This is gross” kind of shocks me, because it functionally ignores the key adverb “sasuga ni” and translates the line the same as you would if he hadn’t said it at all. The official manga translator, on the other hand, clearly made a decision about what Izuku meant by that phrase and then dispersed that meaning across the line as a whole.

So I understand why people have this straight-forward interpretation.

I’m here to offer some linguistic nuance, because my main problem with “Izuku thinks his feelings are gross” is not that it is completely wrong. It’s that it isn’t the whole story.

There are two really important phrases to take into account: kimi ni wa ienai and sasuga ni.

To illustrate their meaning, let’s split the line into two sections:

Note: Grammatically, kara belongs in the first section. I’m lumping it into the second section for the sake of isolating the core ideas expressed in the first section and maintaining clarity in the second.

Now we’re going to break the sections down into their constituent parts. This looks like a verbatim nightmare of a translation, because it is, but trust me, it’s a useful exercise.

Kara links the two sections by showing that the first section directly causes the second. Something worth noting is that Izuku does not use past tense here—he uses present tense and indicates a continuous, unchanged state. He has not been able to before and still cannot tell this to Katsuki. I would argue this also suggests he thinks the circumstances will not change for the foreseeable future.

Important Phrase #1: kimi ni wa ienai

Ienai is the negative potential form of “to say,” which means it is not possible for him to say it. Iwanai, on the other hand, is the negative present tense, and if he had used iwanai instead, that might suggest that he has some choice in the matter. Examples in English might be, “That’s why I don’t tell you this,” “That’s why I’m not telling you this,” and “That’s why I haven’t told you this,” which all express intentional withholding despite opportunity. To use a form that specifically denies the possibility serves to center limitation, regardless of desire.

The combination of the two particles ni and wa are used to emphasize, compare, and contrast. This is extremely telling just on its own. Izuku is emphasizing the fact that, compared to everyone he could possibly tell, he cannot tell Katsuki this. He might be able to tell other people, but when it comes to Katsuki, he cannot. Ienai does not specify where the limitation stems from, but ni wa sure implies it.

Now let’s dig into the phrase that does the most heavy-lifting in the first section.

Important Phrase #2: sasuga ni

Sasuga ni is the adverb Izuku attaches to the adjective kimochi warui (gross or creepy). It is typically translated “as expected” because this kind of adverb sounds awkward in English. “This is expectedly gross” is not a sentence people say much. You might also see it translated “as I thought,” “naturally,” “obviously,” or “indeed.”

And there is something interesting here: Izuku uses a second word that means “as expected” on this page.

Yappari, which can also be translated as “in the end,” “sure enough,” or “after all is said and done.”

I researched the nuances of these two phrases, synthesizing definitions and examples from four different Japanese dictionaries/encyclopedias and two forum boards for language tutoring from native speakers. My conclusions as related to their usage here:

Yappari indicates:

an outcome that was expected (example: “I tried, but sure enough, I failed.”)

something that remains unchanged [in the state it was previously or in other circumstances]

a situation where, no matter how you think about it, you end up with the same result (example: “I was really torn over it, but in the end I gave up on going.”)

Sasuga ni indicates:

[you, the speaker] must acknowledge that this is the natural result of the situation up to this point (example: “they grew up in a big family, so naturally they are good with kids.”)

something exceeds the permissible range, or that it may be permissible under certain conditions, but not others (example: “no matter how nice a guy he is, if he was accused of something unfairly, he’s bound to get angry.”)

You can see the meanings overlap, but the sentiments are a bit different. I saw someone learning Japanese say that every time they used one of these phrases, native speakers told them they should have used the other one instead. Another learner responded that, from their observations, the distinction appeared to be that yappari is used when the speaker had personally thought about and expected this outcome, while sasuga ni suggests that everyone would agree with this statement.

I’m not sure this is true across the board; usage always varies, even among native speakers, so generalizations are only useful up to a point, but I have to admit, a bunch of little things I noticed in my research do support this line of thinking.

If yappari tends to be more reflective of the speaker’s personal thoughts and expectations, sasuga ni’s “acknowledgment of a natural result” could indeed imply external validation. This is true of the equivalent English words, at least: naturally and obviously both suggest that any reasonable person would accept it as fact.

In fact, permissible as an idea kind of hinges on social norms—what is reasonable for someone to put up with? What behaviors sit within the realms of welcome, allowable, or excusable based on your relationship?

In my opinion, Izuku feels like he cannot say this to Katsuki because it exceeds the bounds of what is permissible between them. If sasuga ni implies Izuku feels sure that anyone would agree with his assessment, Katsuki is absolutely included in that.

Izuku is not saying, “I alone think this is gross, so I can’t tell you.”

He is saying, “Considering everything that has happened between us up till now, you would obviously see this as gross, so I can’t tell you.” Its grossness is a natural result of the situation—their history, the way their relationship fell apart, the way Katsuki lashes out, how he can barely stand Izuku’s presence, let alone his emotional honesty.

Chapter 10, during Deku vs. Kacchan 1

But remember that this sentence is a fragment: the subject of Izuku’s sentence is revealed in the second half, and it is the fact that he runs his mouth when he wants to win more than he wants to save.

This is what is gross. Izuku acknowledges that the behavior itself is unpleasant, and that any reasonable person would agree with that. His whole identity as a hero is based on saving people, so he feels some real discomfort when he has to recognize that sometimes he just wants to win. In fact, he can want victory so much that it supersedes his desire to help people.

Izuku has intentionally emulated Katsuki’s practical tactics, but this is about instinctive response. He wasn’t standing there facing Muscular, thinking the winning move was definitely to scream, “shut up.” He was furious, so he wanted to win and make that guy shut up.

When the scale tips, he acts out. He talks shit. He screams at people and insults them, because that’s what Katsuki does. These are all unacceptable behaviors, socially-speaking. Katsuki constantly and intentionally acts the exact opposite of how he should to qualify as a Good Japanese Boy. Izuku, on the other hand, plays the part faithfully, at least until it demands he betray his core values.

Deku vs. Kacchan 2 showcases how neither Izuku nor Katsuki had fully accepted the heroism of their counterpart. Katsuki is uncomfortable with Izuku’s innate capacity to help others, to see their need and meet it without question. Izuku is uncomfortable with craving victory, with that indomitable drive to seek glory. They each admired All Might for the value they themselves embody, and they admired each other for the value they lacked, but that doesn’t mean their admiration was uncomplicated.

Katsuki is a loud-mouthed, aggressive jerk, but Izuku ends up acting just like him. He clearly feels conflicted about it. He’s annoyed and hurt that Katsuki pushed him away by being such a jerk in the first place. And, from his perspective, he fails every time he tries to wrangle their relationship into something less miserable. He might even be embarrassed over the simple fact that he has held on to these deep-seated emotions for years over someone who wants nothing to do with him. He wishes things were different. He doesn’t know how they could be, anymore. He wants to connect, but he can’t.

Izuku frames his inability to express this specific thought as natural and reasonable. Obviously, there’s no way I could do this. And honestly, he is probably right. After all, this is a very intimate, revealing thing to tell someone who seems to hate your guts and has for years.

At any other point in the story, Katsuki probably would have curled his lip in disgust and barked out Izuku’s exact words, “Gross.”

But in DvK2, Katsuki bears his heart to Izuku without restraint.

Katsuki confesses something painful and private to Izuku twice, at two separate moments.

Izuku has two confessions, too. Here's the first:

But the second he admits only to himself and the audience.

Maybe if Izuku had said his “image of victory” monologue out loud, Katsuki could have had his own moment of understanding:

Izuku’s reaction after Katsuki’s second confession.

Maybe Katsuki wasn’t ready to hear it, or maybe Izuku was too chicken to believe he was ready. Either way, he needed to voice both confessions, and he didn’t.

So the narrative punishes Izuku for failing to push past his own limitations.

In the battle of revealing their honne—their true feelings, their truest selves—Katsuki risked it all.

Izuku couldn’t do the same, and that’s why he loses.

Don’t forget that underestimating your opponent is one of the easiest ways to lose a fight in MHA.

But I want to reiterate, Izuku feels conflicted about this behavior and his own feelings, not ashamed.

Emotional conflict is borne from two or more simultaneous, contradictory feelings. Izuku admits that any reasonable person would see the way he unconsciously imitates even Katsuki’s bad habits as gross, but he also clearly tells us something else.

Izuku is directly expressing his own thoughts about it, and the most important phrase is nanoni, which according to online encyclopedia Kotobank, “indicates that the following is contradictory to the preceding matter” and specifically, “includes critical feelings about the contradiction between” those two things. The latter point is unique because other words often used for “but” (such as kedo, which he used earlier in the form of dakedo) do not necessarily do this.

In the final line, one little detail here is the orange highlighted nda. This is used to explain and correlate topics of discussion. The most obvious point of explanation is why he acts this way. But the use of nanoni to connect this thought to the previous one tells us that this line is also explaining why Izuku doesn’t hate it.

Katsuki is his image of victory, and that alone is the reason he does not find this part of himself unacceptable. Just like with sasuga ni, Izuku is telling us that he understands the way other people would see this situation, and he knows what he “should” feel, but then he tells us that he does not feel that way.

I know it is very easy to see “This is gross, so I can’t tell you” at the start of this monologue, skip right to “image of victory,” and walk away thinking that Izuku is ashamed of that specifically, but the details show that the opposite is true.

And let’s not forget the nuance of yappari, which implies that Izuku has personally thought about this fact over and over, but it has always been this way.

I have seen people say that Katsuki is the one letting Izuku set the pace of their new relationship and that Izuku holds back, with this presumed shame as the cause. But I don’t think that acknowledges Izuku’s perspective on their dynamic, nor the casual mutualism they build together.

Katsuki initiated DvK2: a unique, closed “event” wherein, for the first time, they each expressed their vulnerabilities as much as they were able. But immediately outside the confines of DvK2, Izuku is the one who reaches out, as a gesture of reciprocation towards Katsuki for having initiated this change.

He is asking Katsuki's opinion, but what this gesture means is, “I don’t want us being honest with each other to end there. I still want you in my life.”

And maybe for the first time in years, Katsuki actually understands what Izuku means, and reaches back.

Look at these fucking nerds.

Notice that Izuku responds to Katsuki twice. At the first response, Katsuki has offered his observations and given him valid criticism on his technique, which is a show of goodwill. But then, Katsuki continues even when the admission reflects a personal weakness, with Izuku's punch having caught him off guard. This is actual honesty, and it means that they didn't just resolve their aggression and reset to neutral peers, but that Katsuki wants to be close, too. And just like during their fight, understanding comes the second time around.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: from Izuku’s point of view, Katsuki’s shitty behavior was the only thing that stood between them, because Izuku’s core feelings for him never changed.

Izuku lets Katsuki decide what is permissible between them, because Katsuki is the one who pushed him away in the first place. He opens the door just enough to say, “Whatever you want to give of yourself, I will accept.”

After that, Katsuki is the one making the big gestures by taking time out of his own life to discuss OFA with Izuku and All Might and help Izuku by training with him, even inserting himself into situations when he isn't asked. At every point, we see Izuku receive Katsuki with warmth and then follow up with smaller gestures of his own.

Chapters 202, 209, 249, and 327.

The reason we see so much of Katsuki’s side of their relationship, especially after DvK2, is because his feelings are the ones that change the most: from dysfunctional to self-aware and accepting. He has struggled for years over Izuku’s place in his life. He didn’t understand Izuku or his own feelings, and he was wrapped up in denial. He tells himself again and again that Izuku is “beneath him,” when we know the truth is he always thought Izuku was better than him.

Comparatively, Izuku resolves his conflicted feelings about his admiration for Katsuki much quicker, because the source of his conflict was primarily external while Katsuki's was primarily internal.

Chapter 257

A little detail I love about the "I'm too blessed" moment is that Izuku thinks of his conversations with Katsuki as "normal(?)" with a literal question mark attached. Is this normal? He doesn't really know. But it's enough. Kacchan is Kacchan, explosive and outrageous and way too much, all the time. Maybe they'll never be what other people think of as "normal," but Izuku is happy just to have Kacchan as he is, and be there however Kacchan will have him.

Katsuki's ideal has always been Izuku; he tried to outrun that fact and failed every time. Meanwhile, Izuku’s image of victory has always been Kacchan, and he has just been waiting for Kacchan to want to hear that from him.

Everyone has been wondering if Izuku will ever tell him. Me, personally, I'm hoping their story will end with a mutual declaration of their shared truth.

"You have always been my hero."

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