#HIS Bakugou Shounen!!

[spinji]

Something I really love about the vol 40 cover is the inclusion of the Bakugou silhouette. Once again Horikoshi is beating people over the head with a mallet to make them understand that Bakugou also has a deep, personal connection to All Might and he unambiguously recognizes him as his successor alongside Izuku.

[flying-cat]

thinks about bakudeku and falls to the floor

[kisasan]

[vvienne]

Sometimes I’ll rewatch bnha anime like I’m fourteen again and be blown away by how pretty they animate Todoroki sometimes, like I’m fourteen again

[arabian-batboy]

Honestly I’m so happy Genya only spent like a couple of episodes max after his introduction being “the show’s token bad boy & the protagonist’s broody rival” and is now a really good and wholesome friend to Tanjiro instead, because having him be voiced by Bakugou’s voice actor AND needing 6+ seasons to learn to be nice toward the main character would have been overkill.

[masterdizzi]

Let's talk about Spacetoons Mineta...

Spacetoons is an arabic channel that semi-recently dubbed MHA. Some may call it "Arabic 4kids," but as someone who watched a substantial amount of shows in a 4Kids dub. (namely SonicX), that's not a fair comparison. The only 4 kids dub I actually enjoyed was that of "Kirby: Right back at ya"

Anyway, the BokuNometaAcademia sub brought to my attention the way that Mineta is written here. I have always hated how Hori used Mineta to live out his weird fantasies. The inclusion of Mineta's "comedy" turned a lot of people, me included off and honestly, why wouldn't it.

Spacetoons is more child-tuned so they did a lot of censorship, for example, look what they did to Momo

(They also greatly improved her character)

You may be asking, "What did they do with Mineta?" Valid question considering 70% of his character is horny jokes. Well, the completely removed the perv aspect and made him a loveable kid who wants to fight his insecurities and be great hero.....

I have always said it, Mineta holds some great potential. His moment during the USJ arc was a great stepping stone for some great character growth. The idea of a coward pushing to become a true hero is so different from the norm, but as we know, when it comes to MHA, potential don' get used.

From what I hear from spacetooneta, he is actually really likeable. He is so different from Canoneta that people mistaken him for a girl. The scenes where he is being pervy are either edited out completely or altered convincingly.

They changed the scene from season 3's filler episode so that the context is as follows:

Kaminari and Mineta want to goof off at the pool

Mineta has overheard that the girls have booked the pool too

They convince Izuku to come w/them so that they can get there before the girls

Izuku invites Tenya and the others and Tenya makes them train instead of goofing off

The girls are here, goofing off while they have to train

The most nuts part is that viewers of that dub absolutely LOVE HIM. He suprassed Bakugou in popularity even. This shows that Hori could have made one of the most loveable characters in Shounen. Think about it, his design is already cute, just slap a cute personality on and everyone would love him. But no, he had to be a creepy perv.

Canon Mineta sucks man

[pikahlua]

"A deuteragonist has a very different role in the MHA and that is a whole other post ."Can you please write this article? I am tired of Bakugo being constantly downplayed. There are very few people who understand his character and role in the story as well as you do.

Haha I mean hehe it's just hoho I never said fufu that Katsuki is the deuteragonist guffaw shucks haha I mean come on snort why are you putting words in my-

Katsuki Bakugou is the deuteragonist.

Katsuki Bakugou is the deuteragonist

Katsuki Bakugou is the deuteragonist

"Of course you would say that. You're a Katsuki Bakugou stan! You are invested in inflating his importance in the story because you love him." - some people, probably

No. If that were true, I would be arguing Katsuki Bakugou is the protagonist. But I'm not.

Because Katsuki Bakugou is the deuteragonist.

It's not that I love him and therefore assert that he's the deuteragonist. I love him because he's the deuteragonist (plus many other reasons). He is an archetypal familiar shounen hero made interesting in part by the fact that he is NOT the protagonist and deliberately written in the deuteragonist role/function, and I will go into visceral detail about this momentarily.

I promise you I don't go around in other fandoms arguing my favorite non-main character is the deuteragonist. I fully embrace whatever role it is they play in the story. YOU WILL SEE THE EVIDENCE OF THIS VERY SOON, FOR EVERY CHARACTER IN MHA.

What is a deuteragonist?

A deuteragonist is a story archetype. They are the second-most important character in a story (which is a vague as hell definition). They are often known as the "secondary main character."

That's it. Everything else one might say about a deuteragonist is just a sub-archetype.

A deuteragonist can be a sidekick, a love interest, a rival, an antagonist, or even a neutral party. They are often, not always, written as foil characters to the protagonist. They often, not always, provide a different and yet similar outlook to the protagonist's. Their utility in a story can be quite varied. Sometimes they support the protagonist, and sometimes they oppose the protagonist. Often, they are used to help the protagonist complete their character arc.

Sometimes, there can be more than one deuteragonist.

What the hell is a deuteragonist?

The problem is, the function of a deuteragonist can change just depending on the type of story we're talking about. A deuteragonist in an ancient Greek tragedy (theatre), where the term originally came from, won't necessarily function the same way as a deuteragonist in a 2-hour contemporary movie. Things get even more complicated when we're talking about a TV series, a book series, or a comic book series in which the cast becomes so large we're likely to see MULTIPLE deuteragonists.

My Hero Academia, like many long-running shounen manga, has an ensemble cast. Would you be surprised if I told you My Hero Academia not only has multiple deuteragonists, not only has multiple antagonists, but also has multiple protagonists? Because it does!

Sometimes people wanna divide MHA into three or four acts and make the claim that the deuteragonist changes from act to act. I say they aren't going far enough. MHA is divided into arcs, and each arc has its own protagonist and antagonist and sometimes even deuteragonist. This is a STAPLE of ensemble cast shounen manga, where often there will be so many characters they get grouped off into trios (or more) and one among them will be the group's designated protagonist.

Sure, in most MHA arcs, Izuku is the protagonist. But he's not always. Who is the protagonist of the Pro Hero (Endeavor vs Hood) arc? Who is the deuteragonist? It's not Izuku and Katsuki; it's Endeavor and Hawks! What about the protagonist in the My Villain Academia arc? Tomura. The Hero License Supplementary Course arc? Katsuki and Shouto (who can't seem to decide if they're co-protagonists or protagonist and deuteragonist and who is which). The Overhaul arc? Izuku is the protagonist and Mirio is the deuteragonist. Some arcs really play with these roles or make it unclear who is playing which role or if the role even exists.

What is a deuteragonist in My Hero Academia?

So if we have a bunch of protagonists, does that mean the most important one is the series' overarching protagonist and the one second in importance is the deuteragonist? It COULD be, but it's not necessarily true.

There aren't that many arcs where Izuku is not the protagonist. If we look at the number of arcs where someone else is the protagonist, following the above logic, we could end up with All Might or Endeavor as the deuteragonist. Maybe some people would earnestly make the argument Endeavor is the deuteragonist--I don't know, I haven't met those people I guess. The problem with this approach in my eyes is that it entirely discounts the deuteragonists of each arc. Would it not follow that the overarching deuteragonist is the character who has played the deuteragonist in the largest number of arcs? What if that character is different from the character who has played protagonist the second-most number of times? And this is to say nothing about if the protagonist or deuteragonist are the same as the antagonist in a given arc! It's difficult to weight any one character in this fashion particularly when you have an ensemble cast.

This is getting into the question of focus and screentime. How much should we weight this metric? Admittedly this one can also be complicated, especially when it comes to long stories with ensemble casts. The question is how much does screentime actually convey how much a character is the focus of a story, and does that necessarily translate to protagonist and deuteragonist? Because for many the question is: could the deuteragonist be an antagonist in MHA?

It just gets a little harder to argue someone besides Katuski Bakugou is the main deuteragonist the more Katsuki's screentime allocation looks something like this:

Okay, perhaps that exact size of gap is hyperbole. But there is a clear, measurable gap between Katsuki Bakugou and everyone else and I don't think anyone has ever disputed that. Please check out this post by @dekusheroacademia that has compiled some of these statistics (they also make some excellent points about evaluating the elements of a deuteragonist and how various characters fit or don't fit those characteristics).

Still, this is merely supporting evidence, not conclusive. I am well aware of the concept of a false protagonist, where someone appears to be the protagonist until later someone else is revealed to be the story's true protagonist. And while I've never seen a false deuteragonist where someone SEEMS to be the deuteragonist and is later revealed in a twist not to be (as opposed to the deuteragonist just merely changing NOT as a deliberate twist where expectations were set to be otherwise), that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Tangentially related, we could also potentially look at marketing as another piece of supporting evidence. It's not conclusive that just because Katsuki Bakugou is one of the most merchandised characters in the franchise that he is more important to the story than those who aren't, but it's still notable supporting evidence. After all, based on Horikoshi's marketing of his own story i.e. who he draws in which orientations on chapter and tankoban covers, or how he lists characters on character intro pages, we could easily come to the conclusion as casual readers that Izuku is the protagonist. There are many cases where one could conclude Katsuki is the deuteragonist based on such presentations alone. But again, I concede this is not conclusive.

So, if we set aside individual story arc roles, screentime, and marketing, what does that leave us with?

What is THE deuteragonist in My Hero Academia?

Even if we can determine Izuku Midoriya is THE protagonist of MHA based on things like the number of times he's protagonist in story arcs, his screentime, and marketing, I'll set those aside for the deuteragonist and see if there's something else that can help us here.

What element are we missing? The overall story.

Sure, we can break down the story into arcs and assign deuteragonists that way, but that's not getting us to THE deuteragonist. So let's start with the protagonist. How do we know Izuku Midoriya is the protagonist of MHA without considering the previous metrics? The way the story focuses on him. It is easy enough for anyone to recognize the characteristics of a protagonist in him from a functional perspective. He is a POV character. We hear his thoughts. He narrates the story. We see the story over the timeline of his character growth. His character arc coincides with the overall story themes.

I've talked many times about how My Hero Academia at its core is a story that explores the question: what is a hero? MANY characters explore this question, but the character who compiles these answers together and rounds them all out and grows and has his perspective change and exemplifies the moral is: Izuku Midoriya.

So let's go back to the functional elements of a deuteragonist. Remember those sub-archetypes? Well, in a shorter story with no ensemble cast, what do a sidekick, a love interest, a rival, an antagonist, and even a neutral party all have in common? They are defined by their relationship to the protagonist.

You see, in a story where all the characters interact with each other and converge on the major theme of the story, ALL characters are defined by their relationship to the protagonist. But in particular, the function of a deuteragonist is to supplement the story with what the protagonist needs FUNCTIONALLY. When is a sidekick the deuteragonist of a story? When the story focuses on the adventures of the protagonist and their sidekick. When is a love interest the deuteragonist of the story? When the story focuses on the developing relationship between the protagonist and the love interest (i.e. the romance genre). CAN a story with a love interest deuteragonist focus on their adventures and individual character development too? Yes, but sometimes the result is that the love interest is ALSO the sidekick...or the rival. When is the rival the deuteragonist? When the story focuses on the clash and growth between the rivals. When is the antagonist the deuteragonist? When the story focuses on the battle between them. NOTE that when I write this, I don't mean it focuses on the protagonist's adventure that culminates in them meeting the antagonist at the end for a battle. I am talking about when the BATTLE ITSELF is the main focus of the story. See stories like Silence of the Lambs or Death Note for a clearer example of what I mean, where the focus of each is on the psychological games the protagonist and antagonist play with each other. The point is, the story on a structural level, on a meta level, has to focus on these sorts of interactions to determine its deuteragonist.

Obviously this gets more complicated with a large story and an ensemble cast because you could have bits of the story where the structure changes and seems to focus on new things. That's why I pointed out that the more immediate protagonist and deuteragonist and antagonist often change in MHA depending on the story arc.

When I try to determine who is THE deuteragonist of the entire story, I have to look at the entire story. I have to ask myself what the story is about. So what is the story about? What is MHA about?

If you said MHA is about Izuku falling in love with Ochako, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

If you said MHA is about Izuku taking on All Might's mantle, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

If you said MHA is about Izuku defeating/saving Tomura, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

If you said MHA is about Izuku rekindling his friendship with Katsuki, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

MHA is about Izuku Midoriya (and most everyone else) learning what it means to be a hero.

It's in the fucking title. MY HERO ACADEMIA. The story is about Izuku's education (as it takes many forms) to learn what it means to be a hero.

So who is the deuteragonist in the story about Izuku Midoriya learning what it means to be a hero? The character who is second-most important in how Izuku Midoriya learns what it means to be a hero.

A lot of characters do teach Izuku Midoriya what it means to be a hero or at least some piece. But who is MOST IMPORTANT?

See, My Hero Academia is LONG. If we just focus on the parts of the story in which Izuku tries to learn from All Might or take on his mantle, we lose ARCS of the story. The same is true if we focus on his love life, or his rivalry with Katsuki, OR EVEN HIS BATTLE WITH TOMURA AND ALL FOR ONE. In the case of the latter, we're basically excluding HALF the story: the school arcs!

MHA is structured such that it alternates between what we colloquially refer to as "school arcs" and "villain arcs." And while exploring the question of "what is a villain?" is an important subset of the main theme, it is not the entire story. You can't just label all the school arcs as "filler" (because they're not) and chuck them out. Each story arc contributes to the lessons Izuku learns and the theme of the main story.

I can think of something every character teaches Izuku with respect to this theme. I can think of a lesson Izuku has taken away from every encounter and every story arc. But who ELSE is present in nearly every story arc? Who represents the foil to Izuku who allows us, the audience, to learn alongside them what it means to be a hero? Who learns the bits Izuku does not need to learn because he already exemplifies those answers in spades? Who represents the other half of the hero equation that Izuku is missing? Who has his own blanks filled in by Izuku himself? Who has played all the sub-archetypes of a deuteragonist for Izuku Midoriya, including antagonist, rival, sidekick, and even arguably love interest (replace with platonic interest for the rekindling friendship angle if you want so we don't have to go into that whole thing here please, I'm talking about the generic structural elements within a story more than anything)?

Izuku Midoriya cannot possibly have learned the fundamental lessons of what it means to be a hero without Katsuki Bakugou's character arc to supplement him. Katsuki Bakugou is an irremovable, integral player in demonstrating the theme of collectivism that informs the main story, not just for Izuku to learn it but for THE AUDIENCE to see it too. He is one half of "win to save, save to win." He is the standard shounen manga archetype who has to learn the value of teamwork/collectivism so that he can teach it to Izuku Midoriya and save him from himself. The story is structured in such a way that it resembles LESSONS for the characters to learn, and Katsuki's "education" in this respect is VITAL to the story, second in importance only to Izuku Midoriya's.

P.S. Is it actually taking away from Katsuki to call someone else THE deuteragonist?

Yes. I know some people don't want to have to say it that way, but it is. Based on a number of metrics, Katsuki Bakugou is most widely recognized as the deuteragonist. If there's a default answer to the question of who is the deuteragonist but you think the deuteragonist is someone else, then in order to be persuasive you must not only argue why you think your chosen character is the deuteragonist but why Katsuki Bakugou is NOT the deuteragonist. If you want to argue someone else is the deuteragonist, you are taking on that onus, that burden of proof. You have to disprove Katsuki Bakugou is the deuteragonist.

Are there other characters who fit the deuteragonist function at times? Yes! There are multiple deuteragonists! But if in spite of the multiple protagonists we're still able to call Izuku Midoriya THE protagonist of My Hero Academia, then we are absolutely able to call Katsuki Bakugou THE deuteragonist as well.

tl;dr MHA is about learning what it means to be a hero and Katsuki Bakugou's story is second-most important to that theme, which makes him the deuteragonist

[delawaredetroit]

So this is one of those times I'm going to directly contradict widely believed fanon. It's clear that Izuku has some level of aversion to physical touch.

He rarely ever initiates physical contact with anyone outside of heroics. And in the few moments where others do, Izuku typically looks somewhere between stiff and deeply uncomfortable as seen with Mirio here. Some of the only exceptions that come to mind are scenes with Inko.

Now, it makes sense where some people got the idea Izuku was a more touchy person. Izuku's character plays with the trope of the plucky, sunshine shounen protagonist. Being more physically affectionate is one of the traits typically associated with this trope. Izuku also has a lot of themes surrounding reaching out his hand to others, which logically involves physical contact with other people. But that wish to reach out to others is tied up with Izuku's concept of his hero persona.

There are a few ways to interpret this aversion to touch. One, this awkwardness with touch is there to add to Izuku's characterization as a bit of a dork. Two, it's the result of Izuku's backstory. He may have associated physical touch from people other than Inko with pain. The supporting evidence for this includes Bakugou existing and that Izuku's negative responses to touch decreased over the course of the manga.

[menofsweaters]

Okay, I finally broke down and read the MHA epilogue leaks and I'm throwing my thoughts at the wall here so they'll get out of my brain. I fully did NOT seek these leaks out, but I was inundated with them all over tumblr, Insta, and even TikTok.

First and foremost, canon genuinely means very little to me. 90% of my enjoyment of MHA comes from fan works, including creating my own AUs and whatnot with friends, so like... canon being bad can't hurt me. I'm also old and have lived through way worse queerbaiting and fandom wars. There's also probably a lot lost in translation that we don't know yet and won't know until the official release. 🤷‍♀️

In no particular order, here is my brain dump on:

Izuocha and shipping in general

- as mentioned above, I don't really care about canon and I don't think ships need to be canon to be meaningful and enjoyable. I'll ship characters who never meet. I'll ship characters from completely different fandoms. Who's gonna stop me? In general, I think the shippers need to stop putting so much emphasis on a particular ship being canon.

- ALL THAT BEING SAID, BKDK was my first MHA ship and it's incredibly important to a lot of people. I think Hori had the opportunity to do something with that relationship that would have been groundbreaking, and he chose not to. He also had the opportunity to simply not focus on any ships and he didn't do that either, soooo... yeah. I think it's okay to be bitter that we still can't have a canon queer ship in shounen. It's reasonable to be disappointed. BKDK and Togachako were the most moving and complex relationships portrayed in the entire manga, in my humble opinion, and it does sting that they got pushed aside.

- I am not a fan of Izuocha, even though I generally like Ochaco. I just find it boring. I'm not enthused by het ships in general, but Izuocha in particular has zero chemistry in my eyes. They're also very similar characters in their mannerisms and personality, and I prefer "opposites attract" type ships that are more dynamic. I prefer Izuku and Ochaco as besties. They went through such similar traumas during the war, being unable to save someone that truly mattered to them, I would prefer to think of this ending as them helping each other move past their PTSD to rekindle a closer friendship.

- ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, while the chapter did not explicitly pair up ANY couples (except apparently Mushroom Girl and Vantablack? which is?? cute but random???), it's definitely implied that Izuocha is pursuing a romantic relationship. Feel free to tell yourself something different but it is what it is.

The hero rankings and other random plot crumbs

- the rankings also felt so incredibly random to me?? Best Jeanist dropping below Mt. Lady? what??

- good on Lemillion being number one though, I always imagine him in the top spot and I think the MHA world needs a hero like that to lift their spirits after the war. It makes sense that he's popular.

- also makes sense that Shouto is number two but wtf do you mean AIR CONDITIONING HERO

- so many of the updated character designs on the adult heroes are BAD, but Jeanist looks slick

- they changed Shinsou's hero name? for why? and gave him a bad haircut??

- absolutely no mention of how Hawks and All Might are working to revamp the hero rankings system, do not accept this

- Mirio is one of my favorite characters but his scene was weird af

- so many inconsistencies in the art style and messaging

- people randomly saying ominous things with no follow through like "heroes won't be around for much longer" or whatever

- I saw someone mention an implication that Bakugou is married to a woman but I didn't find any sign of that in the leaks, so I think that's fake. I know everyone is upset about Dynamight being number 15, and I agree that's too low, but that irritation is low on my list of grievances.

- the whole conversation between Baku and Deku about joining his agency was confusing and unfulfilling? I get why Deku would say no to being a sidekick, but I also don't feel like that's what Bakugou was offering, and they had the conversation in the car with Kirishima... just awkward. Which segues into my next talking point

Horikoshi's writing as a whole

- I think you can easily track the degradation of Hori's writing from the vigilante Deku arc to now. It's disjointed, confusing, often strays from established themes, and meanders around on weird tangents. It's... not great. It's not awful, but not great, especially for an epic climax/epilogue. Which is fine! He's a human being, not a content machine! But I think it's fair for fans to be disappointed that the writing has gone downhill, especially since the art has improved and become much more dynamic and interesting at the same time.

- in my view, it's incredibly easy to see that Hori lost his passion and was completely burnt out on MHA as we approached the end. The writing reflects a desire to wrap up everything quickly. Vital details are written in text rather than shown on the page. Storylines and themes are abandoned. Characters die, fail, or excel completely off screen. Hori spends more screen time and puts more emphasis on random side characters (see: Dai and the figure escaped a basement and was saved by that grandmother) rather than main characters, probably because it would be too difficult to give better endings to the main characters.

- you can also see the difference between the complex symbolism and plot points set up since the very beginning in earlier chapters, and all of that complexity and the hopeful vibes are bled away at the end. It's sad, actually.

- I saw an interesting take that this final chapter is Hori trying to make everyone happy - implying Izuocha while leaving BKDK still kind of open, making Deku a teacher AND a hero, listing all of the rankings, etc. and I think this is the theory that makes the most sense to me. He's taking a safer route and trying to please as many fans as possible, while unfortunately disappointing everyone.

- I've also heard that there's pressure from editors or Shounen Jump to have the series end this way, but I don't know about that. I'd think they would want to keep milking this cash cow forever. Maybe that partially explains the lack of queer canonical ships.

- SPEAKING OF WHICH, I've heard consistently from the fanbase that Hori is more progressive and more queer-friendly than other mangaka, but I honestly haven't seen any proof of this. Feels like wishful thinking. I've also hear that he's had other canon gay and trans characters, but the only ones I know of are Magne and Tiger, both characters that are simply implied to be gender nonconforming and maybe trans. But these are also not necessarily great portrayals, even if they are intended to be canon. Maybe there are characters in other works of his that I don't know about.

- maybe I'm jaded, but I also can't shake the assumption that Hori purposefully implied Izuocha at the end because he doesn't like his main characters being seen as gay. We've seen this in many other fathoms. Even if Hori didn't want to make BKDK canon, there are other popular queer ships that could have been given a tiny spotlight if he really wanted to have that representation.

- this is going back to shipping a bit, but Hori had this entire manga to create a meaningful relationship between Izuku and Ochaco and he just... didn't? Instead he literally and figuratively pushed them together at the end? Why not show them going on cute dates and getting closer? Why not a kiss? It just feels like a half-hearted cop-out. Ochaco has more chemistry and more screen time with Toga's ghost living in her brain than with Izuku. I am not exaggerating.

- I think Hori has a major case of "oops I accidentally wrote a powerful queer love story" syndrome (see also: Destiel) and just didn't know what to do with that. There's so little room for chemistry with other characters when you make the entire story about Bakugou and Izuku's relationship. 👀

- I think a lot of fans put Hori on a pedestal and expected perfection, but it turns out he's just one guy and he can't please everyone. I never got the vibe that he was a particularly great writer, and I never got the vibe that he was going to make BKDK canon. I think he (kind of like a certain JKR) created an amazing world and beloved characters, and then really fumbled at the very end when all the pressure was on.

Okay, I think I've cleansed my brain enough of all this.

TLDR: I think Horikoshi's writing has unfortunately been going downhill for a long time and this is the culmination of that. I feel bad for the man because he's probably under so much pressure and so burnt out - he wants to be done. Maybe we would have gotten something better if Hori could take some extended breaks or hand off the manga to someone else.

I'm disappointed about BKDK but more in an "I'm disappointed that we couldn't have this representation in 2024" way than a personal way. I would have preferred no ships. I'll keep enjoying fan content of lots of different ships that aren't canon and you should too! The canon can't hurt you! I hope we get the queer shounen we all deserve one day.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 406: Secret Menu Hero Name

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all “NOT EVEN DEATH ITSELF CAN STOP ME!!!” and saved All Might so easily and spectacularly that it immediately became clear why Horikoshi had to keep him on ice for fourteen months straight. All Might was all “thanks for the assist Bakugou-shounen, now please allow me to show my gratitude by lending you my SWEETASS ROBOT ARM that nearly gave makeste a fucking heart attack when she saw it, HOLY SHIT.” Kacchan was all “I JUST LIKE TO SMILE, SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” and he smiled the BIGGEST EVER and indeed has literally not STOPPED smiling ever since, and my heart is warm. <3333

Today on BnHA: A jubilant menace stirs in the air. A chill runs down Kid For One’s spine. A sudden crash behind him. He whirls around, only to be met with the face of Chaos itself in all its raucous glory. The boy is relentless. His pursuit, unending. His blows, unyielding. And his mirth, as perplexing as it is petrifying. What the fuck. Why won’t he stop laughing. He’s laughing. Horikoshi is laughing. The readers are all laughing. You’re laughing. Kid For One is shitting his pants while this cackling sleep paralysis demon gleefully chips away at his frail sanity, one frenetic BOOM at a time. And you’re laughing. :|

doo de doo, don’t mind me, just gonna scroll past the first couple pages of this chapter so I don’t get spoiled for the outcomes of all the other mini-battles I haven’t finished catching up with yet :’)

though I already caught a glimpse of a bloodied-up Shouji before I realized what was happening, so unfortunately that particular cat is now out of the bag. can’t believe the suspense of whether or not Shouji would survive his fight is now completely ruined for me. can you even imagine how tense it would have been wondering whether or not Shouji would get killed off. ...and you know what, even as I type this, I’m realizing that this is really not the type of sarcasm that translates very well across the internet, lol. and even if it did, it could just as easily come across as “WOW, MAKESTE REALLY DOESN’T CARE ABOUT SHOUJI AT ALL, HUH” sarcasm, rather than the “it’s not that serious guys, it’s just that there’s no possible way Horikoshi could ever convince me that he was actually going to kill off one of the kids” sarcasm it was intended as! so yeah. you know what, I’m just going to shut up about all this now and move on. glad he’s okay though

so now back to the Main Character Battlefield, where Kacchan is currently having way too good of a time for someone who actually WAS killed off by Horikoshi fairly recently

All Might is all “he’s so fast!” and yeah he really is lol. ngl, I had a fair amount of Kacchan endgame theory stuff riding on his ability to meaningfully upgrade his speed, so all of this is very satisfying to hear! and to be fair, I do wonder how much of it is owed to the boost from Gearshift as opposed to Katsuki’s own newly acquired exploding bloodsweat. but I’d like to think that even without GS he’s still incredibly fucking fast at this point. like easily still a Top 3 BnHA Speedy Boi

well shit lol now Edgeshot is reminding everyone that even prior to his “death”, Kacchan was briefly able to surpass Tomura’s speed with his upgrade

well there you have it! so yeah, that basically confirms he’s currently even faster than All Might was at his peak. just a homicidal little comet casually zipping around all of these other slowpokes

lol

just for the record, I still have no clue how Kacchan’s bizarre new upgrade actually works, but I am fairly certain that sweat is NOT SUPPOSED TO EVER DO THAT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

like seriously though Kacchan, doesn’t this hurt? like at all?

(ETA: hahahaha. ouch.)

well whatever!! if Tomura was able to bypass Erasure’s loopholes with all of his hand nonsense, then Kacchan’s sweat has my permission to zoom around inside his bloodstream and randomly explode inside him to somehow make him faster without actually harming him in any way, AND THAT’S FINE. the time for nitpicking ended roughly around the same time that a soft-spoken paracord man dove inside of him to forcefully restart his organs

LOL

“DON’T GET ME WRONG, I COULD EASILY KILL HIM ANY TIME I WANT! I JUST DON’T FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT RIGHT NOW, OKAY. THAT’S DEFINITELY WHAT IT IS, AND IT’S DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE HE JUST EXPLODED ME SO HARD THAT I SAW THE FOURTH DIMENSION”

meanwhile back in Dekutown it looks like Tomura has maybe finally broken free of his impromptu Blackwhip toddler leash

whatever man. how are you still not redeemed yet since I last saw you in chapter 369. you had like an entire year’s worth of chapters. get it together already!!

lol what in the actual fuck is “instadeath”

is this just a Funny Ha Ha fanscan way of referring to Decay?? or were there some additional Tomura quirk developments that I missed out on which were somehow even wilder than the infinityhands

Deku keeps saying that he’s for serious REALLY going to run out of Gearshifts now, but I don’t fucking believe a word this kid says tbh

it will be the “final one” once the fight is finally over, and not a moment sooner. if I know anything about Deku, which I do. and Gearshift, which to be fair I really don’t

-- oh, fuck yeah

what the hell is up with that swirly hand shit though, Kid For One. you better knock that off right now

OH MY GOD THIS FUCKING GUY FOR REAL THOUGH!!

:/ well at least this time you’re being ignored because he’s actually scared shitless of you. shh. don’t tell anyone

holy shit this chapter keeps hitting me with these random bits of information Destiel meme-style and it’s the wildest fucking thing

so while I did obviously clue in to the fact that something must have gone down in the Endeavor+Hawks+Toko+Jirou VS AFO battle, on account of AFO very clearly not being in Jakku anymore, I have not yet caught up to that part of the series, so I don’t actually know anyone’s status! hopefully they’re all alive and relatively unmaimed! although they very clearly failed at their One Job, but oh well

that being said, “AS STRONG AS DARK SHADOW” looooooool omg. DS what did you do. my boy left an impression. I cannot wait to read that, oh goodness

KFO YOU LITTLE TWERP, DIDN’T ANYONE EVER TELL YOU YOU SHOULDN’T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER PEOPLE OR ELSE YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OWN WEAKNESSES

seems like someone ought to have told you that. could have spared you a lot of pain and agitation to come. more’s the pity

hee hee hee

hello there

so now my feral wolfchild is having a big internal monologue about how he’s finally mastered his new superquirk through the power of being an unrepentant masochist

fsdkfj. listen up Kid For One, he may be “nothing but a pebble”, but I promise you, if you could fucking hear this kid’s thought processes right now, you would already be halfway across the planet. living out the rest of your days in hiding while checking underneath your bed every night to make sure this little hobgoblin isn’t secretly waiting there to pounce at you

FSDLKFJSLDKJFL SDFLKWJEFLKWLF WLKJFLDKS

(ETA: you guys will never believe this but I found a sneak peak of the as-yet-unreleased soundtrack which will accompany this scene in season seven of the anime! SPOILER ALERT!!!)

ACTUAL GHOUL. I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING. MY SON HAS BECOME GENUINE NIGHTMARE FUEL

THIS IS MY FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE THING EVER YOU GUYS. HOLY SHIT. I CAN’T BREATHE OMFG

OUCH. HA! HAHA.

(ETA: once again, I know this sounds highly improbable, but I actually found some 100% authentic footage from the anime version of this scene! I’m telling ya. once this hits the airwaves minds are gonna be blown.)

HE IS THE “WHO” WHEN YOU CALL “WHO’S THERE”!!! HE IS THE WIND BLOWING THROUGH YOUR HAIR

you have to admit though, this really is the exact type of behavior you’d expect from someone who literally just got spat back out from the pits of hell

oh my god hold up what is this sudden tonal whiplash?

you guys I seriously had to sit back and take a deep breath and calm myself down for a moment, because Final Form Katsuki is just So Much. like actually just THE MOST. that I had to physically force myself to slow down and take these next few panels seriously and resist the urge to keep on making jokes about how CLEARLY EVEN HIS PARENTS ARE TERRIFIED. LOOK AT THEM. MASARU IS SOBBING AND MITSUKI’S HAND IS TREMBLING. IN THE WORLD’S MOST EPIC TWIST, AFO GOES DOWN ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY KACCHAN HIMSELF AS THE FINAL VILLAIN!!!

but yeah I had to stop and calm down from all of that because, oh. Masaru has his head in his hands. and Mitsuki’s trying to get him to turn around, but her hand really is shaking though. and it just really hit me that the two of them have spent the last... thirty minutes...?? swept up in the highs and lows of almost losing their child, and then getting him back, and then watching him be so strong and so good and SAVING ALL MIGHT and RESTORING EVERYONE’S HOPES AND DREAMS. and they must be so incredibly proud, but at the same time he’s still caught up in this fight, and the fight is still not over, and they know the tide could still turn again at any moment. and I can’t even imagine what that must be like. especially with them having already watched their son die once today

oh my god Horikoshi you cannot freaking do this to me!

goddammit. and now I’m all caught up in my Bakufam feels. DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI, THE MITSUKI TEARS WERE THE LOWEST OF BLOWS

and now Kid For One is once again whining about this “pebble” who’s pissing him off even worse than All Might. you love to see it!

OH MY GOD?!?!

oh my lord?! is it finally happening?? ARE WE FINALLY GETTING THAT SWEET, SWEET CONTEXT AT LONG LAST? WILL A MAN FINALLY HAVE A NAME??

-- Horikoshi I swear to god

YEAH NO SHIT. NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, THEY DO KIND OF BEAR A RESEMBLANCE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU SQUINT

okay, color me intrigued. so that is indeed why AFO was crying when we previously saw this flashback! this is actually so interesting to me, because it’s literally the one and only time he’s ever shown real emotion outside of generic battle-related stuff (anger, shock, surprise, etc.)

so he says Kacchan pisses him off because he looks like Two. and every time he gets reminded of Two, he remembers how his brother died. and, I guess, made him feel sad for the first and probably last time ever???

holy shit, Kacchan was right

he really is AFO’s Final Boss. like even more than he realized

*~*~*OH MY GOD*~*~*

HOLY SHIT YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!

OFA DOS PARTIAL NAME REVEAL AT LONG LAST!! FULL NAME REVEAL AND ADDITIONAL FLASHBACKS TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEK...?? YES? MAYBE? PLEASE????

I swear to god, if Horikoshi deliberately kept Two’s quirk and name Top Secret for YEARS only for them BOTH to wind up NOT ACTUALLY BEING REMOTELY SPOILERY OR WORTH ANY KIND OF SUSPENSEFUL BUILD-UP IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, I will. just sit here and be puzzled, I guess. lol. “sometimes I just like to fuck with people like that.” OKAY?? WELL GOOD JOB, THEN??

“Kacchan of the Bakugous” was so out of left field and I am grinning so, so hard right now. BAKUGOU NO KACCHAN. that’s officially the second Heroes Rising reference in as many chapters! sure feels like A Certain Mangaka is building up to a Certain Reveal about SOMEBODY maybe possibly still having SOMETHING which will remain unnamed for now, but which rhymes with “done for mall”! and that’s all I’m gonna say about that

except that it’s not, because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also have fifteen other entirely different emotions about him proudly introducing himself to AFO not as Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, but as someone even more powerful. “BEHOLD, it is none other than I... Kacchan!!! ( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و lolo get fucked you big dumb fart”

heh. but seriously. just me sitting here basking in the fact that he uses the name Deku gave him. the fact that he decides not to go with his formidable, much-agonized-over hero name in this one moment, but instead chooses to use a far more terrifying moniker, even if AFO doesn’t realize the significance. because Dynamight is a hero, yes. one of the very greatest and strongest!

but Kacchan? Kacchan is the boy with a dream. Kacchan is the boisterous child laughing at the danger, unafraid of the challenge. smiling in the face of the tallest wall. Deku’s motherfucking Image of Victory. hahahahaha. ouch

anyway so yeah! what a chapter. this may have actually derailed me because now my brain just wants to write a bunch of character metas even though I STILL HAVE THIRTY MORE CHAPTERS TO READ. and not to mention I still have to actually post all of them as well lol. but whatever! we’ll make it work. long live Kacchan of the Bakugous, and may his Secret Menu Hero Name always strike fear in the hearts of his enemies

[0ynes]

It's like Horikoshi gave us the ending he wanted and then someone twisted his arm and said "nah gives us the usual shitty shounen ending bruh". I really didn't mind Deku being a teacher at all and the wait he got tears on his eyes when Bakugou gave him the suit so he could be a hero again, was so touching. But no. Now he just wants to be just a teacher and refuses Bakugou, like??? What a 180° turn on his character. It was like everything and all the hopefull messages in the final chapter were shattered and is a big fuck you to all characters.

Is this epilogue also suppose to prove izuocha is canon 'cause it didn't work. Wtf was that lmao. Listen you can check my tumblr, I didn't mind izuocha, but this epilogue? Feels weird, feels like damage control, since everyone said that now bakudeku and togachako can be assumed as canon.

The only good thing is that I got to see Shouto and Katsuki as adults, that's it.

[erasurecloud]

Some seriously awful MHA takes I have seen and why they’re dumb as heck.

Spoiler warning? Duh.

1. “How could class A forget all about Deku?”

My guy, they didn’t forget about him. They’re heroes. And even more than that, they’re adults. Adults don’t hang out with their high school friends every day all the time. Adult friendship is a constant stream of mismatched schedules and hangouts planned months in advance. He doesn’t say ‘ever since they began hero work they don’t have time for me’. None of them have time to hang out. I’m sure a huge part of why Ochako, Momo, Tsu, & Iida work together is because that’s the only chance they have to see one another regularly.

2. “THEY PUT BAKUGOU IN REHAB??”

Because Shigaraki severely damaged his arm and after significant injuries it’s totally normal to have to go through physical therapy/rehabilitation to get mobility and strength back. Sometimes Horikoshi is very consistent and realistic and this is one of those times.

3. “Deku’s sad and lonely.”

He misses it- of course he misses it, it was his dream and he had a taste before losing everything. But he’s not sad that he can’t be a hero anymore. He’s learned that there are other ways for him to fulfill his dream of helping people. That’s why he became a teacher in the first place. But he’s literally smiling as he thinks this. He’s not miserable- he’s clearly happy and content with the way his life has turned out.

4. “Deku can finally be a hero again!”

This hero suit is just dumb as hell. I could make an entire post detailing why but to summarize: consequences are meaningless if you can just undo them. Deku fought the strongest, most evil villain in the world and won. And he lost his quirks. He did what no hero could do in 8 previous incarnations. He saved everyone. Forcing him back into the fray undercuts his sacrifice and the significance of OFA’s end.

5. “No one remembers Deku”

Dai literally names Deku as one of the heroes he and his friends admired from the time they were kids. Deku’s heroics were never forgotten.

In conclusion this ending is very lukewarm but makes sense for the most part and is not ‘the worst ending in shounen’.

[class1akids]

I'm not a bkg hater but i don't understand why bkg should get the special shounen treatment when every member of the saviour squad doesn't?

I'm not a hater either - Bakugou is a long-time favorite of mine.

But I really don't like how currently the broader narrative balance of "effort-pay-off" looks like between the 4 main kids, with the saviour trio getting all kinds of downer endings and Bakugou is off alone in his little shonen power fantasy world where everything works out just fine.

It makes me feel uncomfortably like the overall message Hori is sending (probably because he doesn't think too deeply about the message) is that "caring is for losers" and "no good deed goes unpunished"

And I really don't know if that's what you want to go with when writing for a bunch of teenage boys.

2 chapters left to change it.

[my-rewrite-academia]

USJ Arc (Week 7)

Here it is: where things go from Slice of Life to Shounen. The moment you've all been waiting for, that I accidentally ended up withholding. The Unforseen Simulation Joint.

The Arrival

The morning of the USJ trip arrives, and students are ushered onto a bus to be taken away after changing into their hero costumes, and Izuku takes his communication device (from the Student Council) with him.

The staff on-board, (Aizawa, Mic, and Snipe), are on edge, keeping an eye out for any sign of hostility. While they hide this from the students, it's obvious to each other that their paranoia is increasing by the moment.

Behind them, due to their secrecy, the students are nonethewiser, and thus are completely fine chatting as they'd usually do, with only Bakugou and Shouto staying completely out of it.

Eijirou has a moment where he believes his quirk isn't flashy at all, and thus would make him appear boring to everyone. Mina manages to cheer him up, and he also remembers that Izuku is right there - who doesn't even have a quirk to deem boring or flashy.

Izuku insists that he took no insult, but Eijirou apologises anyway. He also rejects the idea that Eijirou would appear boring, as he already has a page of analysis for his quirk, then three more pages full of theories. Eijirou is pleased by this, though still feels bad for his reckless comments.

Then Tsuyu pipes up, apologising beforehand as she knows her tone is blunt and therefore may seem insulting, and she asks Izuku how he got into U.A., even placing first in the entrance exam, without a quirk.

He winces. Not because of her blunt tone, but of the phrasing. Of making it sound like he doesn't deserve that placement. Like he wasn't enough.

Mic overhears, and he cuts in, telling Tsuyu that a blunt tone can be explained, but her words weren't phrased right at all.

She thinks about it, wondering where she went wrong, before finally coming out with, "It was hard for me with a quirk, and you did it all without one. I think I can learn about quirkless fighting from you."

Izuku relaxes at the rephrasing, as it no longer sounded like she was talking down to him. Or even at him.

Ochako answers for him, however, gushing about how he used broken pipes and environmental weapons to beat the robots. Izuku denied the praise, revealing that most of his points were from the hidden mechanics, and Denki got the most points from destroying robots.

Denki regards this as pure luck, as his quirk was just effective against machines, but others assure him that he still got enough points in other areas to score in the top ten, which is mighty impressive.

Kyouka then reveals that Bakugou got the max villain points too, but got zero in every other area, which she didn't even think was possible.

Bakugou glares at her, opening his mouth to yell, but shuts it before he does, turning his head to glare out the window.

The conversation continues, until the bus stops outside of the Unforseen Simulation Joint.

Thirteen greets them, waving at the other members of staff with three fingers. Izuku, as the only one who knows All Might's secrets, believes that he's run out of time.

The staff are annoyed by this, as All Might was warned that villains may appear during this lesson, but they have no choice but to continue.

-

Meanwhile, All Might is rushing to U.A., only to hear a scream - a purse snatcher. There are other heroes, he knows. There's a chance villains will show up at the USJ, he knows.

But it's not in him to allow others to do a job he is more than able to do - not since the Sludge Villain.

He turns and wastes more time.

-

Thirteen explains the lesson: they will, along with the other teachers, demonstrate how rescue heroism works. The different areas have control to simulate natural disasters, such as earthquakes, wildfires, avalanches, and so on.

These controls can be found within seperate shelters at each area, but only the teachers know how it works and will trigger them. There are three settings to them - minor, medium, and major.

The explanation continues, but before they can do more, a single purple portal opens by the fountain, noticed by Mina.

"Is that part of the lesson?" she asks, and Mic steps in front of them.

"No," Aizawa says, a hand on his scarf. "Those are villains. Get back."

For a moment, the students aren't sure whether to believe this or not - his logical ruses could go to any extent. But, Mic, Snipe, and Thirteen ready for battle, and they realise it truly is real.

Izuku recognises the portal, and informs the teachers that it's the same villain who infiltrated the staff room and stole the papers.

One by one, more and more villains appear. One, two, ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred. Five hundred villains arrive, and it's clear now more than ever that this is real.

Tomura stands at the forefront, head lolling back. "Hey, heroes..." he greets, his voice echoing as a villain increases his volume. "We are here."

-

Battle: Start!

All Might isn't there, Tomura realises and feels more than just annoyed by this. However, he reckons that, if All Might really is as great as he makes himself look, he would come running if a few students died.

He reaches out, and Kurogiri recognises the command, opening a portal. His hand sinks into is, just as another portal opens behind a students' back - Shouto's. He reacts quickly, creating a shield of ice to take the hit. Tomura's hand decays it on touch, and retracts back into the portal when he realises his plan failed.

Mic and Aizawa rush in, with Mic ordering Thirteen and Snipe to protect the students. They land among the 500 villains, and they fight back-to-back.

Mic's vocal projections strong enough to send many villains flying back, and Aizawa cancelling multiple quirks at once, using his scarf and combat prowess to take them down, as they both try to get to Tomura and Kurogiri.

Snipe tells Thirteen to shield the kids, and stand at the top of the stairs, backing Mic and Aizawa up via sniping.

Kurogiri, however, warps behind him and in front of the students. Thirteen steps in front of them, holding their hands out. "Stand back!" they yell, but before they can open their gloves and use their quirk, Bakugou and Eijirou rush in, attacking Kurogiri.

In doing so, they disrupt Thirteen's flow, and Kurogiri is unaffected by either of their attacks. He is thus given the opportunity to open multiple portals underneath the students. Mezou manages to grab multiple students, but nobody else is able to react as fast.

Seeing Tenya, in particular, escaping the portal, Izuku throws him communicator towards him before he falls, and tells him to get within a mile of U.A. and call the Student Council.

-

Izuku, Mashirao, and Kyouka land in the conflaguartion zone, the fires already blazing.

Bakugou, Kouji, and Hanta land in the flood zone, sinking into the water almost immediately.

Mina, Shouto, and Rikidou land in the landslide zone, the ground trembling beneath them already picking up.

Tsuyu and Tooru land in the ruins zone, destroyed buildings falling apart all around them.

Yuuga, Denki, and Minoru land in the mountain zone, rolling down the rocky terrain.

Momo and Eijirou land in the downpour zone, water and wind attacking them first.

Mezou, Tenya, Ochako, and Fumikage are still at the entrance.

And villains await each of them.

-

Struggles

Izuku, Mashirao, and Kyouka know straight away that they need to get out, the heat far too much for them to fight to their best, but roughly fifty villains surround them, blocking any attempts to escape.

Mashirao's tail is getting singed by the flames, and Kyouka's soundwaves are being muffled by the fire. Izuku finds himself regretting his turtleneck, finding it far too stifling in the heat.

The villains attack, and they're brutal. Fire, heat, smoke, gas, whatever their quirks are, they weaponise them, and Izuku realises that none of their quirks clash with the zone - it was planned thoroughly.

More than that: they're able to dodge Mashirao's tail with an uncomfortable amount of ease, and wear earplugs to combat Kyouka's quirk.

They know. They know their quirks.

"Kyou," they call him. Kyou, meaning hollow. Blank. That's all he is to them. A blank, hollow nothing without a quirk to worry about.

And Izuku finds himself... angry. If he was so useless, then he wouldn't have even made it into U.A. He wouldn't be considered better than Bakugou - the person everyone ordered when they were kids. All Might wouldn't believe in him so much. If he was useless, he'd still be at home, crying over his weaknesses.

He isn't useless, and so he uses his most dangerous weapon - his brain.

"Jirou-san!" he calls, rushing to her side and blocking a red-hot arm with his blade. "Aim up - at the cieling! As big as you can!"

And Kyouka? She's seen him dissect people's quirks like their nothing. He's the Student Council secretary by recommendation. He made the NEWS with the Sludge Villain.

She doesn't dare question him, and aims a soundblast at the cieling, as loud as she can make it.

Faster than she thought it would happen, the cieling cracks, bits of the material falling. Mashirao and Izuku easily dodge the rubble, but so do the villains.

"Again!" Izuku commands, and she does as ordered, allowing him and Mashirao to protect her as she does. And again. Until the cieling is nearly gone.

"What now?" Mashirao asks, his voice shaking but his body as strong as ever. The heat that drowned them was leaving with the open cieling, but it did nothing to stop the fires.

Izuku licks his lips, his mind running. The villains aren't new to this, that was obvious with their lack of hesitation to kill. They knew their quirks, or lack thereof, and they're plenty capable in contact.

Each of them had quirks that worked in tandem with fire, whether it be becoming stronger with the fire, using the fire, or being resistant to it.

There had to be something he could do to turn those strengths against them.

And there was.

"They made a mistake," he realises, heart thumping wildly as he continued to fight against the villains, struggling to keep his mind running.

Because they may have known their quirks, and knew that the guy with a furry tail would be cautious of fire, and that soundwaves could be muffled by fire, but they didn't know everything. Something that works only when soundwaves are used as a physical attack.

And with the cieling gone, it would work now more than ever.

"Jirou-san," he says, "are you able to make consecutive blasts?"

She nods, "Yeah! But not as powerful as the one I used to take down the cieling!"

"That's fine!" he assured, using his hidden blade in his arm brace to force a villain away from him, his stomach churning at the sight of the blood that coated his arm. "Aim them in front of you! Ojirou-kun, can you pick her up and spin around with her?"

"What!?"

"Sorry," Mashirao mumbles, before grabbing Kyouka by her pits. Her face flushes red at the action, but she does as commanded anyway, plugging her ears into her speakers, blasting two waves at a time as Mashirao began to spin, the waves striking the flames.

At first, it only flickers. But the more they spin, the more those waves strike the flames, killing them little by little, and also serving to make the villains disorientated by the blasts.

As they do that, Izuku runs, booking it towards the entrance, using the villains to block Kyouka's waves.

But, as he finally reaches the entrance, he doesn't leave. No, he goes into the control room just beside it.

A villain awaits him, and is taken by surprise. Water begins to build around his hand - he was probably stationed here in case the flames become too much - but Izuku reacts faster, taking his kunai and slicing his palm. The villain drops his hand, clutching it in his agony, and Izuku takes the chance to knock him out via kneeing his face.

With that done, he gets to the control panel, observing the interface, confused by all the switches and button, before he finds an emergency kill-switch.

He presses it, and water gushes from sprinklers in the ground, killing the rest of the flames.

Noticing the opportunity, Mashirao lets Kyouka go, and they easily regain their footing, fighting back more comfortably.

As they do, Izuku is blindsided. A villain enters the control room, ears bleeding when their plugs fell and they were undefended before Kyouka's waves. He grabs Izuku's wrist, heating his hand up immediately, burning his wrist.

Izuku tries to fight him off, but the villain's grasp is too tight, too strong.

Mashirao and Kyouka are still busy fighting against the remaining forty-something villains, and miss this entirely.

"Come with me, Kyou," the villain demands. Hearing and feeling his skin begin to blister, he realises then and there that he has no choice.

-

Not Enough

Aizawa and Mic fight off against the villains in the central plaza, and they're seasoned heroes who worked together back in U.A. They're not losing anytime soon, working in tandem with each other, able to fight off against groups of villains at a time, even when faced with a hundred of them.

They'd been unable to stop those groups of fifty from warping away, but they could at least take out the remaining hundred.

It was easy for them, with Mic's blasts targetting multiple waves of them, and Aizawa's quirk rendering handfuls at a time unable to use the quirks they relied so heavily on.

Tomura watches, scratching at his neck. "One... two... three..." He watches Aizawa's hair fall after three seconds, and he watches each breath Mic takes.

He watches as his pathetic cannonfodder lose before two pro heroes, three with Snipe's back-up from behind. Though that quickly ran out as he spun around, shooting at Kurogiri with a hand over his bleeding hip.

"Ah..." He smiles beneath Father. "I understand it now."

And so he steps forth, rushing at Aizawa, and grabs his elbow, just as his hair falls. His quirk comes to him in a flash, decaying the cloth of his shirt, then the skin beneath it.

Hissing, Aizawa leapt back. Mic turned as he heard this, but Tomura was prepared. He was already running as Mic spun, and his hands are already at Mic's throat before he can make any noise - especially since he's timed how long his breaths are before each attack.

His fingertips graze Mic's throat, but Mic reacts with a fist to his arm, saving himself barely.

Aizawa jumps in once more, but Tomura is already ducking before he attacks as he usually does - a roundhouse kick aimed at the head. Mic takes the opportunity to send a shockwave with his voice, but it doesn't work as Tomura pulls Aizawa towards him, forcing him to cancel Mic's quirk less he gets the brunt of the damage.

"Eraserhead, right?" Tomura asks, his voice giddy as though he'd just met his idol. "Your quirk is OP, but your stats are lacking. Too easy to parry." He slammed a hand on his back, relishing as Aizawa writhed and screamed under his touch.

Mic, not risking endangering Aizawa's life further, runs up, kicking Tomura away from him, uneasy as the blood that dripped from Aizawa's back.

Just then, Kurogiri appears by Tomura's side. "Shigaraki-sama," he greets first, then continues, "the two heroes have been dealt with."

Mic chances a look behind, and Snipe lays on the stairs, blood slowly pooling beneath him. Atop the stairs, Thirteen lays with their back blown out. Ochako, Mezou, and Fumikage are by their sides, doing whatever they can to prolong any life left, Dark Shadow keeping Thirteen's hole sealed, Mezou pressing several hands against Snipe's wounds, and Ochako defending both of them from the villains slowly making their way up to them.

"One student managed to escape."

Tomura twitches, aggrivated. "Kurogiri..." he drawls. "If you were anyone else, I'd kill you."

"Apologies, Shigaraki-sama." Kurogiri summons another portal - and more to catch the shockwaves Mic sent, sending them back with even more. The portal besides him and Tomura grows with each second, large enough to rival All Might's size.

And a single purple hand exits.

Mic and Aizawa don't stand a chance.

-

Greetings

Tomura couldn't even bring himself to smile at the sight of four proheroes laying on the ground, not standing a single chance against the Noumu.

It was all so boring.

With a sigh, he scanned the area. Not a single student, other than Kurogiri's mistake, have managed to escape their zones. The villains couldn't stand a chance against the pros, but the students didn't stand a single chance against them.

Even that round-faced girl was struggling with the remaining twenty left after Present Mic and Eraserhead dealt with the majority.

"Sir!" Groaning, he looked to the side.

And a smile finally came upon him.

"This quirkless freak ruined our plan! What d'you wanna do with him?"

The boy pulled his wrist from the underling's hold, body curling him from the pain, (ah, his skin was smoking now), yet, as his eyes peered up to him, it was ferocious.

"Midoriya Izuku," he greeted. "The pathetic hero wannabe who nearly ruined my plans, and apparently did ruin the conflaguration team's."

He stretched his hands out either side, grinning with teeth. "Welcome."

-

Kisai pulled her hair behind her ear, trying to focus on Midnight's lesson. As she did, her communicator beeped. Four times. Once meant it came from her, two meant it came from Ayame, three was from Osamu, five was from Daiki. Four meant one Midoriya Izuku.

But, it was the middle of classes.

Well, she supposed he was new, so it could be forgiven.

Raising a hand, she waited for Midnight to call on her, requesting permission to answer.

"Yes, of course," Midnight nodded.

As soon as she shut the door behind her, she accepted the call. "Midoriya-kun, you should be in class. Can this not-?"

"This is Iida Tensei from Class 1-A!" She nearly ended the call from shock alone. "Villains have infiltrated the USJ and blocked out communications! Please inform the staff - I shall be arriving in ten minutes!"

Right. That was a damn good reason to disrupt her lesson.

Slamming the door open, she yelled, "Emergency! Intruders at the USJ!"

-

Notes:

Honestly, I'm so happy I got to this arc. It's a joy to write, and change up. Never get to see this arc changed in fanfics, at least not to this extent, with more staff, different location drops, and competant villains

Trying to make the villains actually good at their stuff, while also having Izuku, Kyouka, and Mashirao gain an upperhand was difficult, I can't lie. The balance is hard sometimes, but I didn't want to make the villains suck at their jobs, y'know?

The next part will probably be longer, so make sure to stick around for next week's update!

Conclusion:

The students are scattered around the USJ

Aizawa and Mic face off against the Noumu - and lose

Snipe and Thirteen face off against Kurogiri - and lose

Izuku is brought to Tomura

[ominousvibez]

thoughts on bnha ending

i had no idea that the manga was over until it popped up on my fyp on tiktok and i got spoiled for it and i have a few thoughts

losing one for all

i don't particularly care about izuku losing OFA? i mean, don't get me wrong, it's a cool quirk, but i've always wanted to see what izuku could have done without a quirk!

i think having the powerless character be the MC in a shounen manga would have been a really cool thing to explore! like, he's not anything unique. he's completely ordinary (beside the green hair). how would he adapt, how would he rise to the challenges around him? what sort of tech would he need to invest in, build for himself, so he can keep up with his peers?

i think that would've been cooler than OFA. kinda cool to see that bakugou ended up helping to design a suit for izuku to be a hero without a quirk. i'm kinda surprised that it isn't something izuku immediately jumped into after he lost OFA, but we all need a break from our passions, i guess

2. losing contact with 1-A

as upsetting as it is that izuku ended up losing contact with class 1-a after graduation, it's understandable. all his friends are pro-heroes now, but he's back in the shadows because of his Quirkless status. they're busy with their own lives, and he's busy with his.

it's sad, but it's just a fact of life. i haven't kept up contact with any of my high school friends since i graduated. i'm sure i'll end up seeing them again, of course-- if my school ever does class reunions, maybe we'll meet again there!-- and friendships for me don't immediately dissolve when we stop talking. i still see my hs friends as my friends!

3. teacher izuku

VERY ICONIC I LOVE IT IZUKU BEING A TEACHER AT UA WHILE NOT QUITE HIS DREAM STILL GETS HIM CLOSE TO THE HERO SOCIETY HE LOVED AND ADMIRED SO MUCH AS A KID AND HE GETS TO BE AIZAWA'S CO-WORKER. hilarious.

it's even funnier that he doesn't look a day over 16/17 in the final chapter. like aizawa looks like this gruff old man and here's the baby-faced savior of the world who looks like he should be one of his students. hilarious.

overall, i do think that BNHA missed some cool points in storytelling that would have been interesting/fun to explore in a shounen manga, but it's not that Bad of an ending as compared to........ other....... things

also btw i stopped watching/reading after the arc with Eri so i have no idea what happens in-between that and the ending

[ammy246]

Just because Uraraka has feelings for Midoriya doesn't mean he returns them. At the end of the day, it's always the protagonist who chooses who they end up with. Midoriya has never returned her feelings in a meaningful way beyond friendship, and he clearly cares about Kacchan more than anyone else. The fact that we're so close to the end of the series, and he has yet to really have any deep romantic moments with Uraraka speaks volumes. Meanwhile, the narrative is focusing very heavily on his bond with Bakugou. I cannot say for certain Bakudeku is canon given shounen's history of failed queer representation *sobs while thinking about sns's disappointing ending* but I cannot help but hope since Horikoshi has never given me a reason not to.