#TJ overanalysis

[thejolteonmastertj]

Legend was very resistant to the idea before,

But now he’s,

actually entertaining the possibility of possession or corruption right alongside Wind,

at least a little bit.

I wonder if this means he and Wind had another chat on the subject, once they cooled off. Or maybe they’re going to?

Maybe the Vet’s just opening his mind a little?

No doubt he’s been deeply humbled over the course of Sunset, and, oddly enough, Wind was like the first character to seriously & imo intelligently question like Eyo wtf would happen if our blood got corrupted. Wind made the connection between what’s infecting the monsters and what’s infecting Twilight.

Combine that with Wind not long later bringing up something Legend never encountered before, mind control without the power of a witch or wizard, it’d make sense for the Vet to want poke the youngest’s brain a little.

He might’ve already did, actually, or just begun to at least, I almost forgot that like right after their argument the two left alone together to look for a great fairy.

Legend & Wind bonding incoming?

Plus

Plus

Plus,

Y’all,

Wind encountered Possession only (Oops, had to edit this) most prominently in Phantom Hourglass. Specifically describing Bellum when bringing it up in the first place.

The “dream” game. (I know it’s probably not a dream but there are other characters in-universe who believe it is at least)

Connect the dots.

[thejolteonmastertjspoilers]

The Monoma Meta Nobody Asked For

I don’t remember who it was on Reddit that said it makes sense for Monoma to be one of the most empathetic characters in BNHA cuz of his Quirk, (his quirk allows him to walk in the shoes of other people in ways most will never be able to even if for 5 minutes at a time), but let’s talk about it for a minute.

Monoma is a character full of contradictions but there’s a method to the madness. 

Let’s take a real deep look at the manga shall we?

It’s pretty much canon that Monoma trash talks 1-A so much in-part b/c he cares that much... too much... about his own classmates.  It’s implicitly obvious based on the way he interacts with his classmates and phrases his rants at class 1-A. 

The fact that he’s obviously influenced by Vlad is just the cherry on top. 

He’s prideful of not just himself but also his friends.  Let’s break down the nuances there.

Ch196 above, Ch207 below.

Empathy

The kid has a way with words. 

The kid has a weirdly poetic way with words.

He goes out of his way to encourage or reassure his classmates in a deeply thoughtful manner at every given opportunity.

He hyped up Setsuna Tokage before her battle with Bakugo and we saw him grin in pride when Komori took down Tokoyami. 

Whenever Monoma does criticize his classmates, it’s always frank, honest, but constructive, with the intention to help them improve.  He’s even contrasted with his own teacher for being relatively more kind in the delivery of his criticism (see the next screenshot).  Given that Monoma’s shown to be strongly influenced by Vlad, this particular difference stands out.

You never see an anime/manga character get fancifully philosophical & genuinely helpful like this unless they are an adult, usually the MC’s mentor.  Monoma’s legit acting more like an anime mentor than any of Deku’s multiple mentors.  lmfaooo.

Realistically speaking, all of this, the philosophical speeches & level-headed advice, takes an incredible amount of emotional & mental labor.  The kid’s practically doing half of Vlad’s job for him.

It’s during the joint training arc we begin to see why his classmates put up with him and are on friendly terms despite how obnoxious & cheesy he can be & how often they need to keep him in check.

It’s clear even as far back as the sports festival that his classmates don’t actually hate him, despite the smacks & tough love they also just shake their heads with a smile on their face as they say “sorry about him,” cuz that’s just the way he is.  They love him anyways.

He’s an annoying little sh*t but he’s their annoying little sh*t.  Perhaps they even realize why he acts the way he does towards class 1-A, it’s because he cares too much.

Sketch translated by @aitaikimochi​

Putting Up An Act

I think there’s actually even more to it when it comes to his rowdy & brash behaviors. 

Monoma is empathetic because of how his Quirk works.  He needs to learn to use the Quirks of others in order to become a hero.  In doing so he logically needs to become privy to all the Quirk’s weaknesses, not just their strengths.  Not only does he need to become privy to these often deeply personal details of one’s lived life, he needs to experience them, even if for just five minutes at a time.  It’s natural, even necessary, for Monoma to become exceptionally close to his classmates.

But he’s only like that because of how his Quirk works.  It’s his naturally nurtured self.  His conscious self, though, is notably different.

What we see when Monoma says he and Shinsou need to do unheroic things to get by is not his naturally nurtured self, but is a conscious decision.

At some point in his life, Monoma came to the conclusion that being too kindhearted all the time will be weakness.  This is clearly implied, almost outright stated when we heard Monoma’s thoughts when faced with Deku’s Black Whip, “All of the hopes and dreams in my mind from when I was younger are gradually becoming these heavy burdens... like some sort of curse.”  I am 99.999% sure it’s Monoma’s thoughts being shown there because the speech pattern & context don’t match up to Shinsou or Midoriya at all.

Basically, Monoma is a little sh*t because he saw his own empathy as a weakness, and overcompensates for it.  He’s trained himself to be brash & mischievous, likely from a very young age given how consistently brash he is.  We can see a little bit of this when interacting with his class-B classmates as well.

It was @thyandrawrites​ who first noticed this in this post, but here we see Monoma scolding Kendou after losing the beauty contest, giving perhaps too much tough love & TetsuTetsu steps in to Kendou’s defense.

Given how Monoma during the Joint Training arc clearly said everything he did to motivate his friends to do better, this is likely not an isolated occurrence.  The dude cares way too goddamn much for anyone’s good.

Yet there’s something else up with the guy too, something else that contributes even more to his unhealthy obsession with the rivalry vs class-A.  The dude has some serious self-esteem issues but is too prideful to seek real help.

Self-doubt

The fact that he’s the only member of class-B who failed the midterm despite having an intelligence stat of 5/5 speaks for itself.

Him failing the academic exam would be a sign of serious issues going on under the surface in itself, him failing the practical means he probably failed b/c he couldn’t hold his own and his teammate had to pick up the slack.

Him failing b/c he held back his teammate would have hit very close to home since we now know he was told “You can’t be a hero if you can’t do anything yourself” since he was a kid.

Basically, yet another reason he continues to antagonize class-A is a textbook example of someone pushing their insecurities onto someone or something else.

For something often played off as comedic relief there’s a lot of layers as to why Monoma does what he does.

But wait, there’s f*cking more.  There’s actually a particular reason Monoma expresses his insecurities in this unhealthy manner, and that reason ties into what I’ve already begun to address about his empathy.

Another Act

I don’t think it’s accident that the first time we see him have a real heart-to-heart with someone is when he’s attempting to do it for the sake of someone else.  Even if it is in a clumsy manner that ends up annoying Shinsou, it’s the intent I’m interested in here.

We almost never see Monoma receive or accept praise or reassurance, he’s always the one giving it.  He always makes it a point to put himself in the position where he’s being the emotionally strong one. 

He got over class 1-A securing their victory exceptionally fast, ready to put on a strong face for Tokage and the rest of his class.

The few times we do see him genuinely depressed, he’s distancing himself from others.  

He’s afraid of holding others back not just as a hero, but emotionally as well.  His instinct to be emotionally strong for the people he cares about stems not just from his strong empathy and caring nature nature itself, but also from his pride, insecurities and conscious decision to do everything he can do.

This is why he’s too prideful to seek or accept real emotional help & ends up venting his emotions in unhealthy & destructive ways.

His many depictions as an actor of sorts was intentional.  He juggles many acts, he puts on an act of emotional strength for his classmates, and he puts on an act of cruelty to get by as a hero.  To antagonize people in an attempt to throw them off their game.  Sometimes... oftentimes even, he misapplies these charades & gets carried away.  Oftentimes he fails entirely, he’s trying to do some hella complex things for a kid.

Finally, His Pride

Let’s not kid ourselves here, the dude has a major superiority/inferiority complex.  He fails to see how needlessly cruel he’s being when saying class-A asked to be attacked by villains etc.

I’m willing to bet he’ll be in a phase denial for a while now that Class-B and Class-A have gotten more openly friendly in recent chapters.  But because he cares so much about his classmates he’ll likely eventually come around to adjusting to a new frenemy relationship with 1-A... with much difficulty when we take his pride, insecurities & self-righteous envy into account.

He’ll probably end up being Tsundere about everything to protect his ego and so Horikoshi can keep using him for comedic relief lol.  Even if he does realize a lot of what he’s done was f*ked up, he’s too brash of a prankster to ever go fully soft on them either.

TL;DR... Monoma is a piece of mf work.  Not surprising really.

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

Hello, could you help me typing my friend? I don't know if she's an INFP or INFJ. First of all, she's really really smart. But she's very modest about it, and always says "I'm not, but thank you". She tends to be very reserved with her outbursts just because she doesn't want to bother anyone; she prefers to listen others stories. And she really cares. She's very kind and funny, althought she can look very cold and aloof at first glare. She looks estructured and likes to think over doing. (1/2)

She also loves philosophy, science, cosmology, astronomy, and psychology. The bad thing about her is that she tends to be very paranoic, she overthinks and overanalyzes everything, and this causes her insomnia. She is always very worried about what's going to happen, althought she neglects it. When something important happens, she's like “what is the real motive of this?” “Why did this happen?” She’s also reaaaally good learning new languages. She also tends to be very clumsy. (2/3)

She can be very logical and rational too; she loves theories and conspirations, and she can deal very easy with abstract things. She is better with theory than practice. On the other side, she also can be very “soft” and a daydreamer but in a more "realistic" way. Maybe this is important: she always thinks about what others are going to think when she takes a decision. She's like “what will others say about this?” (3/3) I hope this is not very long, and thank you so much in advance!

---

Smart: not an MBTI thing

Modest/self-effacing: most common in IxFJs, pretty uncommon in TJs, and if it’s specifically about smarts then I would guess feelers over thinkers since thinkers do prefer to be thought of as smart.

Reserved and prefers to listen to others, thinks rather than does: IxFJ does sound likely.

Liking these topics: could be anything.

Paranoid/overanalysis/insomnia: overanalysis would be in line with weak tertiary Ti; paranoia could be more of an enneagram thing (6) it could be weak inferior Ne, or it could just be anxiety.

Worrying about what’s going to happen but neglects it: not sure what this means.

Looking into the real motive or why things happen: probably more Ni, waiting for more Ni evidence to say for sure but leaning that way.

Good at languages: not an MBTI thing.

Clumsy: usually not a high Se thing but otherwise could be anything.

Logical/rational but loves conspiracies: contradiction in terms in that conspiracies are usually inherently a bad application of logic and are irrational, but liking conspiracies is somewhat more INFJ than ISFJ (either would have the same access to logic with tert Ti since I’ve already decided IxFJ makes the most sense

Prefers theory: fits with dom Ni

A day dreamer but more realistic: needs more information to be useful - I would appreciate that because this could be a point back in favor of ISFJ; more detail on both this and an expansion with examples on what you mean by preferring theory would also be really helpful, since there are things that could tip it that way still with all the other information.

Considers what others would think whenever making a decision: with all else that has been said, I’m very confident about IxFJ.

So: probably an INFJ, but depending on further information and some clarifications, ISFJ is less likely but technically possible. If you were considering INFP because you thought you saw Ne, this would be a good time to elaborate; if it was because of high intuition signs it would be helpful to know what those were to be able to confirm.

[thejolteonmastertj]

I’m late but we’re all in agreement that the whole Time & Twilight deal is gonna be a classic case of someone’s attempt at preventing the prophesy being exactly what fulfills the prophesy, right?

Like, Twilight is so desperate to prove himself to Time that he’ll continually put himself in danger, & THAT’S what’s gonna cause friction between the two during LU…

…& therefore also cause the Shade’s attitude towards Twilight in Time’s future & Twilight’s past…

Yea, I am not ok either. (/pos)

Art belongs to JoJo, this is an analysis of Linked Universe, Dawn part 9.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Thinking way too much about how genuinely happy Legend seems to be for this quest and how immediately after such thoughts it’s the Hero Of Time he chats with, even specifically about “lol you time traveled a lot old man?”

Does the Veteran know? Y’know, is he thrilled for this quest in-part because he gets to know someone he’d never thought he could? Someone long-grieved for, thought to be long-dead to a tragic end? The one aspect of Ganon’s evil he would’ve up-to-now assumed even his wish on the Triforce couldn’t undo?

Is he enthralled by time travel in-general because he assumes that’s how the Hero Of Time cheated death? Does/will he realize Old Man Time is simply living proof that his wish on the Triforce worked in ways he hadn’t thought possible?

Thinking way too much about how bashful the Vet was for a simple pat on the shoulder, how he projected onto Time stern fatherly qualities (“You haven’t worked us to the bone quite yet”) drawn from his experience with a knight uncle and blacksmith mentor.

Thinking a good amount on how of Time’s three direct successor’s, all of them are now known except for the Hero Of Legend. Thinking a good amount on how, even if ‘The Veteran’ does know, he’d keep it to himself.

Time doesn’t need to know he died in (what I believe to be) the original timeline.

He’s happy now. He has a wife and is even gonna have kids. Time literally has the idyllic life the Vet secretly wishes for himself, a well-deserved rest after having “seen the world, & traveled it tenfold.”

Knowing this is enough for the Vet, at the very least that’s what he’d tell himself.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Ranking Of Kings is amazing and there’s a million things I want to say about it..

but I wanna start with this heckin scene.

That scene.

WHY,

But like,

in a good way.

You see, we don’t actually know much about Diada’s feelings toward his brother, well, aside from, y’know, the fact that he’s willing to harm and even kill him if doing so is necessary for his ambitions. Eheh.

That sounds straightforward, but the other characters, even other characters who’ve done great harm to Bojji, Domas tried to legit kill him, have become complex enough to indicate we don’t have the full story on Daida either.

Daida has technically said exactly two lines directly toward his brother, “I won’t go easy brother,” & in frustration he shouted out “this isn’t fair brother!” when Bojji kept dodging his attacks.

He has also said exactly two lines betraying any semblence of feelings toward his brother, good or bad (discounting thoughts of what to do about him as a potential threat, which are oddly impersonal for your typical fictional character with family issues)

Once was to Queen Hailing, it’s easy to dismiss his “but I think that would make my brother miserable,” as manipulating the queen into putting Bojji into a vulnerable position. It probably indeed had that ultereor motive.

Then there’s that scene. His outburst towards Domas made NO SENSE, but like, in a good way. Like You’ve Just opened up a puzzle box.

The fact that pretty much every main character close to Bojji has gotten their big flashback development scene except Daida is the most obvious clue that the show’s holding out on something.

Re-watching early episodes helps you fully realize how much ambiguity there is about Daida and Bojji’s relationship.

So, let’s take those cues and overanalyze the f*ck outta this scene.

Ok, so first of all, it’s hella smart for Daida to identify Domas’s decision as a red flag. He’s rightly upset about that on a personal level and strategic level because as King he now has to work with someone he views as untrustworthy.

Yet, anger, pure unadulterated rage was not expeced. The sheer intensity in Daida’s emotions raises a big question. Why?

He threw a f*cking vase at Domas for crying out loud.

The thing is I can’t come up with a reasonable tactical reason for Daida to say any of this to Domas. If he was yelling at him in hopes it would frighten him into obeying his order to kill Bojji, the angle he took could’ve easily backfired. So there’s definitely an alternative reading when combined with knowledge from episodes 5-6.

We got two, very brief, contextless flashbacks. Depicting Bojji either crying or slacking off while Daida was working hard. We also see a dream sequence where a younger looking Daida is terrified, watching his “last glimmer of hope” aka older brother lose a fight.

He wakes up from the dream and immediately demands the mirror to help him become more powerful, all but outright saying he’s terrified of the fact that his weak brother is all he can count on, he’s desperate to become stronger to protect himself.

Combined with the brief flashback to what must be one of Bojji’s few moments of slacking,

really makes you wonder how much Daida’s “ambition” is really just a slightly aged manifestation of lifelong fear.

Perhaps he’s held onto some bitterness in his heart, on how quickly he (feels) he’s been forced into a position of power. The fact that the adults around him are so ready to push him onto the throne that they’d stoop to betrayal struck an old wound.

Emphasis on the old wound part, because he acts like he’s fully accepted his supposed destiny as king. There’s a chance this old wound may be opened again given his desire to “believe in my own potential,” being violently denied by the mirror that’s manipulating him.

On the topic of old wounds and conflicting feelings... there’s also this thing his teacher said. 🤔

Anyways, that’s one reading. It’s also possible that he simply ‘cares about his brother secretly uwu’ & that’s why the betrayal struck a nerve, but that’d be boring. 😂

It’s possible he was just manipulating Domas too, though that’d be boring for different reasons. 🤣

Welp, we’ll see how the nuances turn out.

In general Daida’s already starting to remind me of Azula from Avatar The Last Airbender.

Yet while ATLA waited until the very end to make her complexity known, Ranking Of Kings is making its buildup more clear, & starting way earlier... that has me hyped asf.

I LOVED the concept of Azula’s predicament, and loved her as a character, but was always disappointed in the lack of reasonably apparent emotional nuance and of/c how her tragedy was kind of tacked onto the ending of ATLA.

Daida & Bojji struggling to survive being put into positions of power in what seems to be a brutal world far too young (even Daida admits like ‘yo, mirror, I’m still young, chill’ obv not in those words but) is an overarching conflict I’m loving so far & hyped to see more of.

Oh yeah, full disclaimer, this promo art an artist on the show posted relating to the next episode motivated me to actually write down & post my thoughts. XD Them, happy brothers? At some point in time at least? I knew it.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Daida & Bojji

So,

to be honest, at first I was a little disappointed when it seemed like they might be going down a “becomes a nicer person because they experience pain” type of schtick with Daida.

But. Then episode 11 happened. Holy heck.

Oh my actual god, I legitimately did not expect this show to go this hard, to hit this nail so directly on the head.

Um, CW, for literal eugenics.

So, basically.. um.. what this strongly implies... is... Daida was ok with his brother being assassinated... probably... because... he thought death would be mercy for his brother. That’s what I’m getting from this whole development.

This... is not exactly what I expected, but wow. Wow. This show is not holding anything back. Nada. They’re going all in.

Daida was simultaneously jealous of, yet also pitied his brother, and he faced pressure from all directions to be not just his brother’s guardian, but to be a strong king to protect the weak... the latter he seems to be beginning to internalize only now?

The idea that his brother has a stronger will to be able to go on living is a seed likely planted for later (usually I’d be concerned about this idea becoming problematic, but given the show’s track record so far, especially in how ableism is focused on much more than the disability itself, I’m not too worried.)

Nonetheless, to sum it all up, it’s clear that his feelings towards his brother are complex, nuanced, and changing.

We know he cared enough for his brother to reflect and begin feeling guilty once he realized his mistakes in the mindrealm or whatever it is he’s stuck in...

Yet not everything is explained yet. There’s still a little ambiguity, we don’t know explicitly what his thoughts are on all the ideas he was confronted with during that walk through town. Many seeds were planted, and of/c the story may have a few twists & surprises in-store.

In-fact most of the clues we got way back in episode 1 and 2 have yet to be outright confirmed or expanded on. There’s evidently much, much more to come in the ways of development and flashbacks, likely being saved for later in the story.

For starters, right from the beginning it was evident that

Daida knew Bojji could lip-read.

That one scene when he tried to challenge Bojji? Pay close attention. Although directly addressing Domas, he also had his body and head turned subtly towards Bojji the whole time, even made prolonged eye contact, ensuring Bojji could understand what he’s saying.

Further, he was also completely unsurprised when Bojji responded affirmatively to “I won’t go easy on you brother,” even seemed to expect a response.

Right from the beginning It was clear these two were very close at one point.

Not-to-mention

The story’s avoided confirming whether or not Daida knows Sign Language

The only reason he had to ask what Domas signed one time is his back was pointedly turned to Daida at the time, Daida couldn’t see. Perhaps they’re saving the reveal for an emotional moment?

Nonetheless I am on board af with the hilariously obvious foreshadowing to a future struggle where Daida, despite expecting, even being literally raised to protect his brother, ultimately being the one saved by Bojji.

Yes Daida, your stubborn ass is gonna need to accept help from ur disabled brother.

This is awesome, y’all have no idea. Main reason I liked Kimetsu No Yaiba is I got to laugh at all the times the obliviously stubborn “I must protect my sister!” Tanjirro would be saved by said sister, but for this sort of plot to be intentional? Holding absolutely nothing back in worldbuilding the ablest society, and in setting up the dramatic context for the characters? hell yes.

[thejolteonmastertj]

TBH placing Bojji at the intersection of a fictional disability (being born tiny & without physical strength, despite being part of a physically strong race) & a real-life disability (deafness) is fascinating.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out, so far the anime’s been awesome!

[thejolteonmastertj]

I wonder if that one brief interaction with Bojji & the realization that they share a pain in losing a loved loved one

is all it took for Hokuro to not just begin paying attention & noticing things about the the deaf prince most others wouldn’t...

but to go out of his way to learn sign language just in case he, as a random soldier stationed in the castle, would ever interact with the prince again.

This is my headcanon now. 😭💞😭

[thejolteonmastertj]

My dumbass self only just now realized

“Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the strongest of them all”

is the toxic masculinity parallel to the original

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all”

that was about petty competition among women to be the best at embodying rigid feminine gender norms.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Media meta/analysis master-post

See my analysis posts in Chronological order: #TJ Overanalysis

Topical tags that include my reblogs: #LU Meta, #LOZ Meta, #Linked Universe, #My Hero Academia, #Folklore Stuff.

Some other tagging notes: Starting about… 6 months ago I think, I started using the #undescribed tag so folks who don’t want to see undescribed images on their dashboard can mute it. I also recently started using my own made-up #Partially’Described tag, It’s the words partially & described separated with an apostrophe instead of a space so the posts don’t show up when people are searching for stuff tagged as described. I mostly use this tag when my reblog describes part of the post but not all of it, such as when I’m describing particular panels of a webcomic to gush about it. I sometimes leave predominantly text posts untagged if the content of the images are implied or happenstance described by the analysis itself, but do let me know if I should be more or less liberal with the undescribed tag.

Anyways, below is a list of hyperlinks to some of my notable media meta posts organized by franchise. Not all of the old ones have described images at the moment.

~Linked Universe~

That one heckin AWESOME chapter

The Attempt To Prevent The Prophesy Will Ensure The Prophesy’s Fulfillment - The Heroes Shade

Legend & Wind’s argument on Possesion

Legend & Time, An Unhinged Ramble About Predecessors & Succesors

~Sky: Children Of The Light~

The Spirits Could Fly pt.1

The Spirits Could Fly pt.2

Tinkering Chimesmith Is Autistic-Coded

~Avatar The Last Airbender~

All the matchups & combat made an insane amount of sense (reblog chain I added onto)

~Ranking Of Kings ~

That One Heckin Scene

Episode 6 Foreshadowing (takes you to my twitter account)

At The Intersection Of A Real Life Disability And A Fictional Disability

~My Hero Academia ~

World-building:

Depth of Quirk Discrimination revealed by the words of background characters in UA’s entrance exam.

Aftermath Of The Sports Festival: Reactions To Deku’s Quirk

Implications Of The New Provisional License Exam Grading Criteria

The deftest method of portraying a flawed society without endorsing it: Aizawa, that’s it that’s the method.

General Narrative:

Subverting the damsel in distress trope in the provisional license exam.

League Of Villains

Narrative meta

Midoriya Izuku (Deku)

I  don’t think Deku’s doctor stole a quirk from him as a kid, but the   connection carries some... interesting implications of a different sort.

Uraraka

Genuine working-class representation (Takes you to my twitter account) (Marked as having a manga spoilers but it doesn’t anymore cuz the anime’s caught up since I wrote it)

Uraraka & Asui (Also takes you to my twitter account)

Kirishima

Privilege & Compassion: Deku & Kirishima Are Foils

Mina

Mina meta

Monoma

Monoma meta

Monoma meta followup

What’s up with that one face???

Pony Tsunotori

Pony meta

Magne

Magne meta

The One For All Quirk (OFA)

An oddly specific thing All Might said

I can’t believe Horikoshi put the best possible tutor for Deku right in front of us only to keep him too mad at the MC to be relevant

Manga Spoilers

If it doesn’t show up here, it will show on my alt’s masterpost

[thejolteonmastertj]

Me:

Runs out of theory juice for My Hero Academia, stops posting theories and metas for like, a year.

Me after watching Ranking Of Kings:

[thejolteonmastertj]

BNHA Fans Should Read Witch Hat Atelier

Here’s 3 reasons why

1.) The intricate power/magic system

Like bnha’s Quirks, the magic system is designed in a way that encourages theory-crafting & predictions on what the characters can do with it before it actually happens in the story.

A large part of the world-building shows you all the nitty-gritty details that go into drawing magic circles, but at a reasonable pace so you don’t get overwhelmed.  Seeing the characters learn new ways to apply magic is just about as satisfying as seeing bnha characters learn new ways to apply their quirks.  There’s this feeling that the possibilities are endless.

The possibilities of the magic system are so endless that, in-fact, despite everyone working under the same rules, every character has their own unique specialties.  Some characters even invent their own signature spells!

The story does a really good job of ensuring that every character has their own unique strengths and skill-set, to the point that what little the story loses from diverging from the traditional ‘each hero has their own superpower they’re born with’ template is more than made up for.

Witch Hat Atelier even leans more into the creative problem solving aspect than My Hero Academia does (which is impressive, cuz bnha is pretty good with that).

If you love the creative aspect of bnha fights, you’ll love Witch Hat Atelier’s magic system.

2) Similar themes

“You too... can become a hero witch”

As Dee from Animefeminest.com said,

Witch Hat Atelier begins with the premise that “anyone can become a witch” and then spends practically every volume introducing us to someone who’s been told “no, actually, you can’t,”

B/c it turns out, not only are outsiders like Coco normally barred from becoming witches, a multitude of other circumstances prevent children from living up to their full potential, be it due to a disability, learning style, abusive family or teachers.

Much like how most bnha characters must overcome challenges related to the limits of their quirk or perceptions of their quirk, apprentices in Witch Hat Atelier have their own limits & prejudices to overcome.

3) A unique take on a magical society that takes it’s dark past & structural issues seriously

I won’t spoil too much here, but a major part of the story is ethics in the use of magic, and the often desperate attempts to ensure past atrocities aren’t repeated.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Not gonna lie, I was fooled hook-line-and-sinker when it looked like Deku had to rescue Uraraka again in the Provisional License exam.  I really thought “oh yeah, this anime really pulled that sh*t again.”

But then it was revealed that Deku actually saved someone else in disguise mere moments after he, very pointedly, basically told the audience “there’s no way in hell the real Uraraka would be that stupid.”

That was poetry.  I love it.

He DEFINITELY KNEW it from the literal start because he was already acting aloof when he caught her, like, he was basically ignoring her.  

He didn't ask if she was OK or anything.  He would never act that way around the real Uraraka or any of his friends.

Pure poetry, all of it.

Horikoshi really used all the tenants of bad damsel in distress writing: the girl doing something out-of-character, focusing on the rescuer more than the victim (the camera barely showed Uraraka in the corner of the screen occasionally during the whole ordeal), showing the girl’s primary reaction to the ordeal as romantic attraction towards her rescuer (the few facial expressions we did see were that of amazement or blushing), and used them ALL as plot devices foreshadowing the fact that she fake af.

The more I analyze it the more genius this scene turns out to be. 

Like, bruh, it really took this fake af Uraraka almost BETRAYING DEKU of all things for, even I, to realize something is UP.  That’s embarrassing af.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Y’know, after seeing Kirishima’s backstory and thinking about what (little) Mina has done since she joined UA…

I’m beginning to wonder if she even liked all the pressure and high expectations people had of her growing up. 

While it’s true her bubbly personality could be interpreted as a good persona for a hero, like Kirishima’s friend says, I find it interesting how all of Mina’s great feats we saw were decidedly non-violent.

Being likable may be a valued trait for heroes, but being able to solve problems non-violently isn’t.

People with non-violent quirks or choose to solve a problem without a quirk are considered “boring” as evidenced by Mic’s commentary for the sports festival (he called the fight between Midoriya and Shinsou “boring”).   The public wants flashy fights and arrests, not quiet reforming and random break-dancing.

Yeah she might not have been strong enough to fight Giga, and she could have also gotten in trouble if she fought Giga or the bullies… but by that logic Kirishima and that bully would not have fought each other either. For that matter by that logic the entire Midoriya origin story would not have even happened.

Keep in mind though, none of that would be good grounding for my specific theory until you compare her actions in middle school to high school.

Let’s take a close look a the USJ arc.

Mina is one of the few students, even among the female students, who not only do almost nothing, but she’s the only female student among those who don’t act who’s inaction and indecisiveness is actually shown (Hagakure literally goes poof, for all we know she’s just the traitor).

I’ve always interpreted this panel below as important for Uraraka’s character because it emphasizes her early boldness in combat despite being primarily interested in rescue work… but I’ve begun to think about what it means for Mina as well.

In high school Mina and Kirishima swap places: now Kirishima is the proactive one while Mina is the one who stands back unable to do anything.

Yet, she doesn’t seem particularly bothered by this, at least as far as the audience has been shown.  Is it bad writing, or something more?

For perhaps the first time in her life, Mina is surrounded by people who don’t see her as the one and only person they can look to in times of a crisis.  She is surrounded by people who are equally if not more proactive than her.  Maybe she likes this.

She’s often seen training with a group, even during times when very few other students choose to do so such as before the sorts festival.  This suggests that she values teamwork a lot.  She likes being around to help and lift people’s spirits yet usually isn’t particularly interested in hogging spotlight for an extended period of time.

I don’t think she became a hero against her will per say, I think she does ultimately want to help and save people.

However, I do wonder if some of her exasperation towards Kirishima comes from her thinking like, “why do you want to be cool?  I’ve been cool for most of my life and it’s a little tiring.  Whatever, let me know once you get over it kiddo.”

So that’s my headcanon/prediction about Mina’s backstory atm.

[thejolteonmastertj]

Privilege & Compassion: Digging Deep Into Kirishima’s Ep68 Characterization.

Early on Kirishima mentioned in passing that his Quirk isn’t as “flashy” as he’d like it to be, and it would be harder for him to become a famous hero because of it. 

Bear in mind this is the same kid who was one of the top scorers in the entrance exam for the most prestigious school for heroism in the country... although to be fair he did also fail the midterms... but then he also passed the licensing exam.

So we know based on these background details and his increasingly pertinent insecurities he’s shared with his friends in the flashback that he’s likely suffering from a combination of imposter syndrome and genuine academic stress.

Kirishima is actually right that his Quirk puts him at a lower level of privilege within U.A.  He lives in a world that heavily judges people based on their Quirks, and, especially for those seeking a job in hero work, “flashiness” is as much of a measurement of one’s worth as versatility or power.

However, while Kirishima’s insecurities about his place within U.A. are somewhat justified, he forgets that he’s still well within that top class.

He lacks the self-awareness to fully understand how to interact with someone from an entirely different level of society.

The thing is, this particular flaw is a common one that’s so embedded into people’s psyches irl that there are many cases in media where it’s not intended to be read as a flaw at all.  Indeed, nobody corrects Kirishima on it other than the villain himself, so if this were a standalone episode the audience might have been left feeling that Kirishima is in the right and the villain is in the wrong.

This is not the case for My Hero Academia... at least, it’s not if you do some really deep reading.  Personally I quite like how the narrative isn’t up in your face about this being a flaw for Kirishima, the kid’s 14, he has plenty of room to learn about it later (and even if he doesn’t, as many adults irl don’t, there’s nothing wrong with having a flawed character).

I haven’t seen many people talk about it though, so I’m curious as to if anyone else caught on to this nuance.

Perhaps this nuance is a bit easier for manga readers to pick up on after learning the backstories of certain villains.  Even without taking that into consideration though, the backstory with Midoriya in the first few episodes also made it abundantly clear that there are people in this world who can’t make it as a hero, or that if they do, they are very lucky for it.  Midoriya not only lacked a Quirk, he also lacked guidance to train.  All Might gave him both of these things.

Then there is the clearest clue.  Let’s look at this moment in the sports festival.

It’s interesting to see the contrast between how Midoriya interacted with Shinsou vs how Kirishima interacted with the villain.  Midoriya had the self-awareness to realize there’s nothing he could think of to say that would make Shinsou feel better about his situation.  Although I must add, I think Midoriya being at a loss for words entirely is also a form of immaturity (I don’t mean that in a demeaning way, he’s hecking 14 years old, he still growing), Midoriya is at a different level in his understanding of these situations as opposed to Kirishima.

But Wait, This Get’s More Complex

Another funny detail about Kirishima is this episode is not just giving us Quirk and class politics crap for me to sink my teeth into, it’s also, quite humorously, addressing what happens when you put a high-functioning low-self-esteem kid in the same room as someone who clearly suffers from extreme anxiety.  This anime brings in an intersectionality with mental health.

New drinking game: take a shot every time Kirishima tells someone he understands them or feels the same.

“That’s called ‘being positive,’ first year” is one of my favorite quotes from the episode.

Fatgum, amusingly gives no input whatsoever to this particular exchange, he just let’s this learning experience happen.

While I think bringing Kirishima in to help Amajiki open up was Fatgum’s primary intention, and given Kirishima’s strong sense of empathy it wasn’t even a bad decision... this is also a learning experience for Kirishima.

To be fair, his comment above wasn’t even that bad, just a bit naive.  Saying you understand how someone feels can be good in certain situations, but it’s a very delicate art even for adults.  It’s an understandable mistake for a kid, especially a kid who’s never known anyone who struggled with mental illness on the same level as Amajiki... and triple-so for a kid who himself has self-esteem problems but hasn’t internalized the fact that his own experience doesn’t directly translate to everyone else.

Although Kirishima’s tact is a bit rough around the edges at first, he is making a genuine effort to help and be a good friend to Amajiki in any way he can.  He’s using his existing skills in picking up on how other characters are feeling (something I will address in another meta) and tests them to the max when he’s even able to pick up on the fact that Amajiki got upset mid-fight because he took a certain word the wrong way.

Kirishima doesn’t outright belittle Amajiki for his feelings like Fatgum does, instead, especially by the end of the episode he’s being genuinely encouraging.  Kid learns fast.

Privilege has many layers

I think it’s important and also fascinating to address these dynamics in fiction because we can see how Kirishima’s experience with Quirk discrimination is valid while also seeing a bit of the other side of things.  Something about privilege few talk about is how people near the top can be victims to it’s systemic effect in many ways too, even if it would certainly be cringe af to compare their experience directly with someone near the bottom of society.

Another thing that even fewer people talk about is what can occur at the intersection of a privileged class and non-privileged group (”intersection” is a form of “intersectionality” in this sentence).  If we consider Kirishima’s lack of a “flashy” quirk as a metaphor for someone who has a mild disability irl... then his experience is very relatable for some disabled folks who end up in a privileged position in terms of social class or authority.

One of my professors once talked about how in his younger years he made the mistake of thinking he could understand the experience of all Latino academics just because he was Latino himself.  He was not corrected on this until he went to a conference in Latin America and was called out by a another Academic from a Latin American college (sorry I don’t remember the country).  My USA-born professor finally got a bit of a wake-up call then.

Being a technical minority in a position of privilege comes with it’s own unique experience and especially a need for unique lessons for us to be able to realize our full potential as someone who can use our privilege for good.

In terms of social class and/or functionality of one’s Quirk or disability, some of us are born into this partial privilege, some of us had to work for it... usually it’s some combination of both.  For those of us who worked hard and/or feel like we worked hard for our current place it’s very easy to forget we were born into a good portion of it as well, just as Kirishima has.

My Hero Academia already tackled these themes head-on through the anime’s main character: Midoriya

In the first season and especially during the Sports Festival Season 2 arc Midoriya was shown to be far more self-aware about his position in the world than Kirishima.  If anything, Midoriya is almost too hard on himself, since the Quirk he was given isn’t without it’s own drawbacks.  In some ways we could read Midoriya and Kirishima as foils in this regard.

For Kirishima to be characterized in the way he was in recent events without much fanfare is an interesting narrative choice which allows viewers to come to their own conclusions.  Perhaps some viewers won’t pick up on it until they re-watch the anime years from now (or until they read this post lol).  Portraying societal flaws without endorsing them in this incredibly subtle and nuanced way is one of My Hero Academia’s strengths in my opinion.

Edit: Edited for clarity, punctuation and consistency but I promise I’m done with it now lol.