#MHA 327

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

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."

[nightmarerose1]

💙👓Tenya and Midoriya 🥦💚

[bibibbon]

And while we're on the subject of Bakugou's "apology", it really rubs me the wrong way at how 1A just takes him for his word when he throws All Might under the bus for Izuku's low self esteem and self sacrificing tendancies.

Izuku flat out told Ida and Ochako that Deku was an insult and not a friendly nickname.

They were there to see how hard Bakugou was going against him during the Battle Trials, and a lot of them were genuinely scared that he was going to kill Izuku. Hell, even Momo quickly realized that at the very least, Bakugou held some sort of grudge against him.

Momo, Ida, and Ochako saw Bakugou backhand Izuku and refuse to work with him during the final exams.

They all saw him INSULTING Izuku when they were about to beat him into submission before 1A vs Izuku. They were even there when Bakugou admitted (but not really) to bullying Izuku.

I know that this is due to Hori sweeping Bakugou's earlier behavior under the rug, but come on! Anyone with common sense would be able to see that Bakugou is NOT Izuku's friend anything he says about Izuku should be taken with a grain of salt.

Hi @nutzgunray-lvt 👋

There's a reason why I don't talk about how bad bakugos apology is and that's because there are already a mountain of other posts that have talked about it and phrased what I wanted to say in ways that I could never do.

However, the one thing that continually bugs me is just how horikoshi makes class 1A react to bakugos behaviour and the "revelation" of his actions. During the early arcs of MHA (before the sports festival) class 1A were allowed to have their opinions on bakugo and actively made it clear that they dislikes him and his behaviour somehow without bakugo changing at all class 1A's own behaviour towards bakugo changes and they seem to accept that him being aggressive is just a bakugo way or thing.

In the earlier arcs like the battle trials 1A literally saw bakugo saying that he wants to kill Izuku and it was actually kirishima who spoke out to all might and told him multiple times to stop the fight because he knew bakugo was taking it too far. Heck even after the fight and when izuku came back to class the 1A kids all talked about how well he did and asked if he was okay while they ignored and didn't acknowledge bakugo (which says a lot)

Asui calls bakugo out in the usj arc. Tokoyami also calls bakugos behaviour out in chapter 327 when bakugo is still being rude to midoriya after his alleged apology.

Izuku literally explains to iida and ochako that the name deku is an insult and when izuku picks out the name deku as his hero name the whole of class 1A looks in shock and uncomfortable heck someone even asks him if he is sure that he wants to use that name due to the negative connotations it has.

While I do like the idea of izuku choosing the name because ochakos gave a new meaning to it I think that was just poorly done and showed how izuku was just attention starved at best.

Heck even in the final exam battle the teachers and some students saw how bakugo was treating midoriya yet bakugo receives no concequences for this and the narrative acts like aizawas plan of putting the two together was a great idea so they can somehow get along when there is clearly a horrible dynamic between the two. This also makes me think why the hell did all might not do anything about this?!?! Like come on all might you are literally witnessing bullying and it's your mentee getting bullied and you choose to do nothing ?!?!??

One of the reasons why bakugos apology and the whole 1A Vs izuku fight fails is because instead of them trying to properly reach out to him they literally beat him. This is also one of the reasons why iida's role is my favourite during that fight because he doesn't try and beat izuku or to harm him or to make Izuku deflect an attack. No, iida reaches for izuku and holds his hand while trying to encourage him to come back to UA and tires to comfort him.

Before the fight bakugo literally starts by taunting and insulting Izuku and at the same moment he also tries to apologise like he didn't do the thing a moment before?!?! Bakugo also never acknowledges just how his bullying and abuse for 10 years has effected izuku. He doesn't ack how the name deku has effected izuku or how he contributed to izuku's poor mental health. The narrative simply doesn't acknowledge it and so bakugo doesn't acknowledge it either, all bakugo does is simply offer an explanation as to why he thought he could bully izuku and to be honest that explanation was so stupid. Seriously, bakugos whole inferiority and superiority complex that he has going on is incredibly badly written.

[honeybeelec]

Yo, a little while ago I drew some Uraraka fanart and reblogged an entire analysis based on what she was wearing here. But here's a repost of it just in case 👍

Alright, since mha is coming back in full swing, i thought I'd share a little something I noticed back when I was drawing this little doodle. So, spoilers for season 7/manga spoliers past chapter 327!!!!

Ok, so at the start of the year back in January, I started getting back into mha, back when promo posters like this one were being released for season 7

And so I drew Uraraka based off her design in this poster. However, while I was drawing her, the whole time I was wondering "what's up with her little button up. I swear I've seen it before, and it's gotta have some kinda deeper meaning".

I remembered I recognized it from Uraraka and Deku's talk about Toga and Shigaraki in chapter 342, setting up for the final battle where the heroes have to save their respective villains.

But in the context of the scene, I was wondering why it was so so important for her to be wearing that button up shirt over her hero costume? Surely it wasn't just "oh she's a little cold, obviously she would want a little shirt to wear to keep her cozy". There had to be a meaning!

And then, a certain vision popped into my head of where I'd seen Uraraka wear it before. But I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or making things up in my mind, so I went back through season 3 of mha during the training camp arc and found episode 44 - Roaring Upheaval, where Uraraka first encounters Toga.

And Bam, I'd found my culprit. The reason she is wearing that shirt during her talk with Deku is to show how much she has been thinking about Toga and to visually show those thoughts by bringing back an article of clothing linking to their meeting.

I gotta love the time and thought Hori puts into crafting these characters and their arcs through words and visuals. And as always, I will be crazy over togachako and their moments together.

Anyways, I'm currently working on some fanart for these two for season 7 coming up since I'm done with school for the semester, yayyy!!!

[pikahlua]

[MASTERPOST] My Hero Academia Spoilers/Manga Translations Part 2

Continued from Part 1 here.

Ch. 369

Ch. 368

Ch. 367

Ch. 366

Ch. 365

Ch. 364

Ch. 363

Ch. 362

Ch. 361

Ch. 360

Ch. 359

Ch. 358

Ch. 357

Ch. 356

Ch. 355

Ch. 354

Ch. 353

Ch. 352 (full chapter)

Ch. 352

Ch. 351

Ch. 350

Ch. 349

Ch. 348 (clarification on Izuku’s response to Toga)

Ch. 348 (first three pages complete)

Ch. 348

Ch. 347

Ch. 346

Ch. 345

Ch. 344

Ch. 343 (full chapter)

Ch. 343

Ch. 342

Ch. 341 (first six pages)

Ch. 340

Ch. 338

Ch. 337

Ch. 336 Part 1

Ch. 336 Part 2

Ch. 336: The MHA 336 leak(???) translated

Ch. 335

Ch. 334

Ch. 333

Ch. 332

Ch. 330

Ch. 329

Ch. 327 (but only the first three pages)

Ch. 326

Ch. 325

Ch. 324

Ch. 322: What Katsuki needs to say

Ch. 322

Ch. 321

Ch. 320

Ch. 319

Ch. 318 Part 1

Ch. 318 Part 2

Ch. 318 Part 3

Ch. 310 Translation Notes

Ch. 302 Translation Notes

Ch. 290-291 Dabi’s broadcast translation

Ch. 284 Translation Notes

[the19thduckpotato]

I don’t know if this information or the site is accurate, would love to know if anyone can confirm.  

“Going by chapter count, (MHA’s) season 6 should end on chapter 327″

because if so, we’re getting Bento Box this season.  And my heart isn’t quite ready for Bento Box.  

[bnhaobservation]

Ramblings about BNHA chap 381

And here chap 381 comes…

..and I’ll warn you beforehand so you know if you want to keep reading or not, this is not a chapter I particularly enjoyed because fundamentally nothing happens, beyond the story trying to give a positive light to the heroes… which wouldn’t be bad at all if it wasn’t for the way it chose to go at it… All for One going for a Villain decay path and… a previous important point of the story being destroyed. So, if you decide to keep on reading, don’t expect words of praises for this chap. Consider yourself warned.

In fact we start with the POSITIVE VIBES immediately thanks to the Shiketsu kids and, more specifically, thanks to Shishikura’s inspiring speech who claims he’d like to kill All for One for killing his father but won’t do it because his father was a prison guard set to protect.

This of course remarks how nobles the hero kids are, you might remember how, back in the past, Stain scolded Iida for giving in to hate because a real hero wouldn’t have gone there for selfish reasons but to save Native.

So where’s the problem?

Shishikura’s father is a Tartarus guard and, although we don’t know exactly who, among them, he was, from the little we saw of the Tartarus guards, they viewed the Villains as sub humans, beasts, and would have probably not hesitated to kill All for One if they had been given the chance.

We’ve the bit in chap 297, with a Tartarus guard who claimed all the Villains there are disasters on legs or wild beasts, animals, claiming that the convict might walk and talk like people but are actually disgusting beings who only managed to  be allowed inside society solely because Quirk have warped the standards for humanity, while we’re also informed Tartarus is basically MHA version of Alcatraz with plenty of accusation of human right violations… and we’ve the guard in chap 327 who yes, managed to heroically hold the information that Stain will later deliver to All Might, but also clearly shared the previous guard’s ideal as he asked Stain if he was a man or a beast.

Maybe neither of them was Shishikura’s father, all right, but since we saw them, they left an impression and this impression wasn’t of positive role models.

Yeah, they guarded the prison, which resulted in protecting people from criminals… but what about protecting the prisoners from human violations?

It would have felt better if Shishikura aimed to surpass his father, to protect everyone, to be always rightful, instead take him as a role model.

That, or we could have been shown a Tartarus guard that actually was a role model, someone against mistreatment of prisoners and who wanted to improve things at Tartarus.

The way Tartarus is depicted, a place in which Villains are abused and jailed for life so that they can be forgotten instead than reformed is why, when someone suggests that the LOV should end in it to pay for their crimes, I would find more merciful if Horikoshi were just to kill them. There’s no redemption path in Tartarus, it’s just a place to bury them alive.

Meanwhile, thanks to Inasa we move on DESTROYING SOMETHING THAT HAD SEEMED SO IMPORTANT PREVIOUSLY.

In fact Inasa is effortlessly holding the Toga as Twice’s clones at bay.

Why this is a problem?

Because the whole excuse for Twice’s death was that his Quirk was oh so powerful if he were to be left free to run rampant, the heroes would have lost the war and Hawks, to save the war, had no other solution but kill him.

Hawks knew of Twice’s Quirk. Students were deployed during the previous war as well. Yes, they didn’t ask Inasa, but they should have if he could be the solution without causing any death.

It was all organized and planned with so much care, Endeavor and Eraser Head knew of Inasa’s Quirk and Twice’s Quirk was known as well and… no one thought at it?

What’s more, Twice’s Quirk was never used to his full potential, not back then nor now.

I mean, in both situations Twice and Toga as Twice are using the Sad Man’s parade… when they should have just cloned Shigaraki or Dabi or All for One.

Twice has strength in numbers, but Twice isn’t particularly strong or fast, we saw how Geten could easily kill a good bunch of Twices with his ice attacks… but we might have given it a pass because if Twices were to keep on coming the heroes would eventually exhaust themselves… but here we’re outright told they just had the perfect Quirk to stop the Twice problem and… didn’t even think to use it.

And yet, we’re not really tackling how bad it was from Hawks to kill Twice. Actually, since the sad man’s parade was so easily stopped, it seems as if Himiko’s revenge too won’t manage to affect him and, anyway, he’s just not caring to face her (and Twice).

Yeah, maybe this will come back to bite him later, maybe one Himiko will manage to get to him and make him regret what he did but it’s been a long time from Twice’s death and it risks to become a case of too little too late.

It would have been a great development for Hawks to ponder on what he did, to face it, and I was fine with waiting a bit but… all this waiting makes me wonder if at the end there will really be a payoff or if it will be all just shrugged off or rushed through. We’ll see.

Okay, going on with the next part which is… A RECAP OF THINGS WE ALREADY KNEW.

We’re remembered that Deku and Shigaraki left U.A., which we shouldn’t have forgotten already since it happened what? 2 chapters ago and was mentioned in the previous chapter as well.

Tsukauchi has a chat with Hawks in which we’re told Shiketsu students came there on their own… which was also said on the previous chapter. How, in case someone has missed it, All for One got back his old body and how they’ve to keep All for One at Gunga because this could decide the whole war... which was something that was made clear from the start of the war, in case someone has forgotten.

We then get an All for One monologue in which he explains how he can solely steal Quirk by touching the body of the owner, not by touching the effects of the Quirk (meaning he can’t steal Touya or Enji’s Quirk by touching their fire or Kaminari by touching his electricity and so on)… which I would like to think everyone figured out already even without this monologue but whatever. I can’t remember this being spelled out, but I never really felt the need as it seemed intuitive enough.

Then All for One claims that why the heroes attacked him with solely Endeavor and Hawks instead than a larger force. Which we already knew as it was said in chap 354 and still wasn’t such a great plan.

All for Once goes on saying they’re now attacking him with a larger force because they’re tossing all precautions away… because yeah, in the previous chapters it was said the divide and conquer strategy didn’t work and it was also made clear Endeavor and Hawks needed back up, but I guess it was important All for One were to remark it so we can waste some panels on all this.

So, in the best Shonen tradition, All for One starts using stronger attacks combining more Quirks together… only to focus on HERO POSITIVITY by showing how bravely they’re resisting to his attack.

Okay, this doesn’t have any backfiring, different from the previous one but… feels like a waste because it simmers down the threat that All for One is by showing the heroes resisting anyway.

All for One is a cool adversary as long as he’s scary, when he knocked down everyone in chap 89, we were all scared and in awe, and we got even more impressed when he could keep up with All Might, but now he’s not really sending the Number 4 and other heroes down on the ground causing them to be hospitalized for months. Now he’s sending Kinoko and Kamui Wood fly away but we hardly see the damage, so it doesn’t feel as scary as when Best Jeanist was sent on the ground with Midoriya’s group hidden and trembling in fear.

I’ll spend a moment talking about how Touya seems to be chasing Endeavor, who had previously promised he would FINALLY, FINALLY look at his son. Well, he’s apparently looking back at him as he seems to be escaping. Small consolation.

I know people have already joked on it and, actually, it’s possible the idea might be to lead Touya away from that battleground so as to cause his flames to shrunk while he’s away (because Inasa’s wind tears up trees and their roots, so they can’t feed the fire… but I guess this means they’ll end all up in the air? And there’s also rain) but who knows.

It sure doesn’t look good how Endeavor is letting his son burn himself alive, instead than doing something to stop him, like, I don’t know, talk to him, apologize or whatever.

But I think Endeavor’s plan was always to die with Touya (because it’s unlikely they’ll let them go to Tartarus together since in Tartarus prisoners has single rooms and therefore this would make hard for Enji to keep on watching over him) and watch over him while they’re in hell together, and not try to save him or something. Maybe he thinks if he wounds up as a corpse with Touya the same way his father wounded up as a corpse with the little girl he failed to save, it’ll count as atonement.

I don’t know. It feels like Horikoshi is planning to go for redemptive death, because as burned as it is, I’m not sure Touya can survive (and we were already told he shouldn’t have lived this long) and have him die due to this instead than being killed would be awfully convenient as it would be kind of a suicide instead than a murder and… well if Endeavor, who’s the one who caused Touya’s downfall, is the one who survives while Touya dies it won’t really be that inspiring so maybe Endeavor dies of blood loss due to his lost arm.

But whatever, let’s wait for future developments.

Meanwhile we move to… ALL FOR ONE GOING FOR A VILLAIN DECAY PATH.

What’s a Villain Decay path? The process by which a villain who is extremely scary on first appearance becomes a joke after a few more appearances.

So how’s being done.

All for One launches in a speech about how the heroes think they can beat him because they don’t know of his glorious past, his golden age… meaning until now he hadn’t accomplished anything worth looking scary or impressive or whatever. -_-

I mean, he’s not boasting about his powers, about how he broke All Might, about how he continued to manipulate the underworld, no, those things wouldn’t be scary at all, he boast about his glorious past, sounding like a grandpa who just can’t stop reminding everyone when he was young he did something great.

All for One isn’t the sleeping beauty who just awoke and can only talk to us about how he was in the past, to feel as a big threat to us readers, he has to impress us with what he did NOW. Or up close.

If he has to summon a golden age we hadn’t read about after he’d been around for so many chapters… we aren’t impressed. And the narrative seems to think it’s a bright idea to remark this by dismissing the whole of All for One’s speech.

In fact Inasa informs him he has studied all that at school… or better, All for One was condemned to damnatio memoriae and never mentioned in class but the dark age is some trashy thing they study at school so no big deal.

I hate to repeat this, but for the battle to work and the heroes be amazing, All for One has to feel like a genuine threat. If the heroes who’re attacking him en masse aren’t at disadvantage it isn’t scary.

Think at classic shonen like “Dragon Ball” or “Saint Seiya”.

The enemy is always this overpowering force that the hero must struggle with all he has to overcome and who feels fearsome until the hero finally manages to find inside himself enough strength to triumph.

Instead, although occasionally All for One’s group managed to land some good hits, the heroes have been more or less in a stronger position from the start.

They divided the group as they wanted. Yes, Deku didn’t end where they wanted but eventually got there and yes, Bakugo died but it was made clear it wasn’t permanent so no harm done.

Touya didn’t manage to cause any serious harm to Shouto, Shouto almost knocked him out and yes, Touya managed to recover and to reach Endeavor but he’s basically burned to a crisp.

Spinner was beaten up and half out of it due to incompatibility with his new Quirk and the people helping him decided against it because… violence is bad.

Yes, he freed Kurogiri, and Kurogiri managed to move people around but… Kurogiri is short circuiting now and even saved Eraser Head and Present Mic.

Skeptic basically didn’t manage to accomplish anything as all he did was thwarted by La Brava and Gentle and he was captured.

Himiko’s back up was taken care of, she used Sad Man’s parade but, guess what, Inasa is making it ineffective so she can’t face Hawks.

Shigaraki was out of commission for a while as All for One took control of him, but now he’s back and ready to fight Deku which, again, is a nail in how All for One’s plan fail and the man who previously predicted Lady Nagant would betray him, felt surprised when Lady Nagant continued to help the heroes.

As for All for One himself, Endeavor and Hawks managed to get a good hit at him but yes, he rewinds but then… does nothing but babble of how cool he was in the past? He doesn’t have to say anything about his present? He can’t show us how he’s cool RIGHT NOW?

But we pause a moment in his decay path to have another moment of hero positivity that doesn’t really work well with Inasa claiming he decided that he’s just going to cheer up for Shouto and Endeavor because their hot-blooded passion is going to make them win the day and he wants to see a future for the guys he’s cheering on which prompts Hawks to go in Endeavor’s fanboy mode, dismiss how Inasa mentioned Shouto too and claim it’s not just One for All but Endeavor also who’s linking people’s hearts together.

And why this doesn’t work very well?

Because the reason why Inasa decided to cheer for Endeavor is totally unconnected to Endeavor. Endeavor did nothing to gain that trust apart for fighting for the same side Inasa is fighting for.

Inasa, after his hero licence exam with Shouto, simply decided to give Endeavor a chance too based on how his interaction with Shouto affected him and then we never heard how he reacted to the news of how Endeavor abused his family, Shouto included, because it doesn’t look good for this HERO POSITIVITY moment.

And yeah, I guess it’s a big deal but it dismisses completely Endeavor’s previous abuse of his family. Which I get people who’re afraid of All for One don’t care about, why should they feel sorry for Shouto, Touya, Rei, Natsuo and Fuyumi when they can just have Enji fight in the frontlines to save them?

And don’t take me wrong, in many tales the wrongdoings of a man are forgiven due his doing some heroic acts… but this happens when he can make up for his wrongdoings directly to the people he wronged.

If character X murders someone and then saves 100 people, it might feel as he atoned, because he can’t undo the fact he killed someone but he can prove he has understood murdering his wrong and has given his all saving people.

But here all of Endeavor’s family is alive and the most he has done is to stop beating Shouto and Rei and building a new house for Fuyumi and Natsuo.

And let’s not forget Endeavor is the number 1 hero, which was what he longed for through all his life, as much as this fight can be risky and painful, this was what he wanted.

He’s not a child who didn’t know what he was getting into. His battle with All for One doesn’t work as atonement, it’s just his job, it can save him from the public opinion who might not care if he’s an abuser at home as long as he saves them, but it doesn’t wash away what he did to beloved characters.

Poor Shouto still has to see him acting like a father.

So this ‘oh, Endeavor, you too link people’s hearts’ speech, which is here merely to give out HERO POSITIVITY vibes, actually doesn’t work well.

And back to ALL FOR ONE GOING FOR A VILLAIN DECAY PATH we go.

All for One decides to steal some more Quirks, but his oh so powerful blast only manages to bloody Inasa a bit and not stop him at all, which again remarks how he’s not that all powerful and scary.

He then has an inner monologue in which he complains about how heroes has a light in their eyes which might go out but then is relight, which feels as another round of HERO POSITIVITY this time from a bad guy because heroes are so damn amazing and hopeful they impress even the big bad… which somehow doesn’t seem to fit with All for One. But whatever All for One never fully had his character well defined so he can do everything and the contrary of everything.

More ALL FOR ONE GOING FOR A VILLAIN DECAY PATH comes when All for One can’t read the mood and claim the heroes don’t dare to approach him for fear of losing their Quirk when we had Endeavor and Hawks getting up close in the past and other heroes still coming close enough if he were fast to move (and he can be fast, we saw him being fast in the past but now I guess he feels like being lazy), and then All for One challenges them to come to him and meet his fate because evidently he doesn’t want to run after them and expect them to come to him in a line and stand still so he can steal their Quirks comfortably. -_-

I wonder… where’s the chessmaster of the previous parts of the story, the guy who could predict people’s moves? The guy that since he had tons of Quirk was oh so fast and oh so strong? Where All for One went and who’s this stranger who realizes too late that Dark Shadow has gotten behind him and, when he does, seems to realize it’s an attack he needs to dodge at all costs because evidently Tokoyami now has an attack that’s scarier than Endeavor’s.

I get that part of MHA’s goal is to have the adult heroes pass the torch to the kid heroes, but it somehow feels again as if All for One got depowered if he’s scared of Tokoyami, because previously we were never told Tokoyami’s dark shadow could creep out even someone like him.

Tokoyami gives him a speech about darkness and how he doesn’t get to speak of the dark because they already devoured the darkness All for One brought and, as he does so, he thinks back at when they brought Midoriya back to U.A. as that moment evidently solved everything.

No, I don’t mean to say it didn’t help but… Japan was in disarray with all those Villains roaming so Midoriya finally getting a chance to rest among friends doesn’t really feel like they swallowed all the darkness All for One brought, just that they managed to turn on a light in it.

But whatever, Dark Shadow seems to be planning to devour All for One, so we get a speech about how the dark clouds and the flames having shrunk, as well as Tokoyami buring himself under earth, allowed him to build up his power. Then, again, Tokoyami reminds us that All for One can’t steal Endeavor’s power by grasping his flames, which was told to us pages ago, so that’s why he was chosen to support Hawks and Endeavor, since All for One can’t steal Tokoyami’s Quirk by touching Dark Shadow.

Then Dark Shadow seems to swallow All for One but, I guess, this can be his end or it’ll be a total left down if he gets knocked down in this way. But whatever, he’s on a Villan Decay path so it might be?

Still I don’t think this will be the case, they’ll probably will need to join forces with the LOV, it’s too early to defeat All for One.

Meanwhile we get an introspection bit saying

‘If I was able to connect to you even a little bit then I’m glad I was born with these filthy wings’

or

‘If I was able to pay it forward to you, even a little, then dirtying these wings was well worth it.’

It depends if you’re reading the fan translation or the official one.

The general speculation is that it’s Hawks’ inner monologue referred to Tokoyami.

Fan translation and official translation differ as in the fan translation Hawks is born with filthy wings, while in the official one he dirtied them. I prefer the fan translation because it would make sense Hawks would loathe his wings, which connect him to his father, a Villain, and call them filthy but also see them as what pushed him to connect with Tokoyami.

The official translation instead seems to imply Hawks is glad for the crimes he has committed because, although they dirtied his wings, they also allowed him to connect with Tokoyami.

I prefer to think Hawks isn’t glad for dirtying his wings but maybe that’s just me.

The chapter ends and as you can see I had next to nothing to say that’s positive about it.

It feels like nothing was accomplished, too much time was wasted on explanation and All for One felt even less threatening, which isn’t good.

Horikoshi had to previously take a break because he wasn’t well so the previous chapter and, especially, this one, might be under standards due to this. We’ll see.

[ao3feed-izch]

MHA reacts to Star And Stripes , UA TRAITOR and Final War Arc!

by DarkMystery4224

The ultimate war between heroes and villains looms in the near future as both sides regroup. Japan's heroes weave their plans in the lead up but will spies within U.A. give it all away? The Hero Course students will have their parts to play as well, and Midoriya himself will have a major role. if things work out, the heroes hope to divide and conquer, but even the best laid plans rarely survive contact with the enemy...

After Izuku Midoriya Returned to U.A High he was at peace. But for how long will that peace last as light fades into rain by teloporting the mha cast in a room to react to their unforseen future?

Words: 975, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of MHA reacts

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Uraraka Ochako, Asui Tsuyu, Kirishima Eijirou, Kaminari Denki, Iida Tenya, Sero Hanta, Aoyama Yuuga, Ashido Mina, Jirou Kyouka, Tokoyami Fumikage, Yaoyorozu Momo, Hagakure Tooru, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Tsukauchi Naomasa, Class 1-B (My Hero Academia), Shinsou Hitoshi, Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Yoichi | First One For All User (My Hero Academia), Second One For All User (My Hero Academia), Third One For All User (My Hero Academia), Shinomori Hikage, Banjou Daigorou | Lariat, Sixth One for All User (My Hero Academia), Shimura Nana, Sensei | All For One & Yoichi | First One For All User's Parents, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Toga Himiko, Hakamata Tsunagu | Best Jeanist, Kamihara Shinya | Edgeshot, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Toogata Mirio, Hadou Nejire, Amajiki Tamaki, Midoriya Inko, Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru, Hatsume Mei, Iida Tensei | Ingenium, Other Characters Mentioned, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Ghost Sir Nighteye, Nezu

Relationships: Jirou Kyouka/Midoriya Izuku/Yaoyorozu Momo, platonic Midoriya Izuku/Toga Himiko, Platonic Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku - Relationship, Romantic Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Platonic Midoriya Izuku/Everyone, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Everyone Loves Midoriya Izuku, Reaction, characters watch their show, izuku is jirou's comfort friend, may or may not be there romantic ships, Post-My Hero Academia Chapter 327: Rest!!, Final War Arc (My Hero Academia), Star And Stripes Arc, U.A. Has a Traitor (My Hero Academia), Traitor Aoyama Yuuga, Parental Tsukauchi Naomasa, He loves izuku, Parental Yoichi | First One For All User (My Hero Academia), bakugou cannot forgive himself, Good Parent Bakugou Mitsuki, Good Parent Bakugou Masaru, Mentioned Midoriya Hisashi, Good Parent Midoriya Hisashi, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, dabi hates his whole family

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52095832

[qkmlh]

BABE WAKE UP WE’RE IN IZU LOVING HOURS NOW!! ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

IZUKU GETS A BATH!!! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡

HE GETS SOME SLEEP!!!! ψ(｀∇´)ψ♡

THEY’RE ALL SO CUTE!!!!! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡♡

[imahoeforhawks]

uh

excuse me

SIR?! 😭

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

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

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

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

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

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

[niks-minion]

My Shouto devoted brain has been fed!

[moonbiit-arts]

// light nudity

bkdk bath kith :< ♡

[honeybeelec]

Alright, since mha is coming back with season 7 this week, i thought I'd share a little something I noticed back when I was drawing this little doodle. So, spoilers for season 7/manga spoliers past chapter 327!!!!

Ok, so at the start of the year back in January, I started getting back into mha, back when promo posters like this one were being released for season 7

And so I drew Uraraka based off her design in this poster. However, while I was drawing her, the whole time I was wondering "what's up with her little button up. I swear I've seen it before, and it's gotta have some kinda deeper meaning".

I remembered I recognized it from Uraraka and Deku's talk about Toga and Shigaraki in chapter 342, setting up for the final battle where the heroes have to save their respective villains.

But in the context of the scene, I was wondering why it was so so important for her to be wearing that button up shirt over her hero costume? Surely it wasn't just "oh she's a little cold, obviously she would want a little shirt to wear to keep her cozy". There had to be a meaning!

And then, a certain vision popped into my head of where I'd seen Uraraka wear it before. But I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or making things up in my mind, so I went back through season 3 of mha during the training camp arc and found episode 44 - Roaring Upheaval, where Uraraka first encounters Toga.

And Bam, I'd found my culprit. The reason she is wearing that shirt during her talk with Deku is to show how much she has been thinking about Toga and to visually show those thoughts by bringing back an article of clothing linking to their meeting.

I gotta love the time and thought Hori puts into crafting these characters and their arcs through words and visuals. And as always, I will be crazy over togachako and their moments together.

Anyways, I'm currently working on some fanart for these two for season 7 coming up since I'm done with school for the semester, yayyy!!!

Uraraka sketch I drew a while back when season 7 promo posters were coming out!!!!!!! I love her with all my heart 😭😭😭

[inchells]

this chapter was just too cute

[prncssguya]