#actual horikoshi spread

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Horikoshi giving hero tropes to the villains is probably my favorite part of bnha.

He presented us with a nervous wreck of a boy at the beginning of the manga. Look, he seemed to say, isn't he creepy? isn't he evil? He met Tomura in his most lanky form. Malnourished, neglected, real dead hands all over his body and blunt nails digging mercilessly in his skin.

Sure, the story paints him as a real villain. He is there to kill kids, after all. He wants to kill the light of the hero society, to spread violence and hatred all around. He's also very very suspicious. You get that feeling that there's more to the story. It's in the way he acts, his desperation. He looks sick. What is he making him so? What is his story?

Tomura is a loser. A failure since the beginning, if you follow the narrative. Characters like Stain, Overhaul and Redestro point it out: Tomura isn't the best strategist per se, they can't understand his reasons to do what he does, there's something wrong with him in villain terms.

That's when the brain starts to pick up the signals and plants the doubt. Many people don't notice it, but something in the story gives away that he is a very special type of villain.

We see him alone in his dark messy room, staring at a screen. We see him drinking alone in a bar as he sits on his misery. Over and over, we see that evil boy and his burdened stance. Only Kurogiri is there. His master only talks to him through some radio. He doesn't mention anyone else. No one else seems to live in that bar but Kurogiri and him.

Back then, when Tomura was all about AFO and All Might and no one else, he felt hollow. Rotten.

We first saw him approach someone for help and some company after the first LOV members were introduced. We meet Toga and Dabi, then Tomura goes to find Deku. Is he still creepy? Yes. Is he still evil? Also. We have Giran talking about Tomura with the fondness you reserve for a spoiled child. The way Kurogiri and Giran talk about it, it's more like Tomura needs to make some friends. He's not used to it, so he's being rude to them.

He's a chosen one reluctant to make friends, since he's used to doing things on his own— or at least with people he didn't care about. Next time we see him, his telling Kurogiri that he doesn't want them to die, he wouldn't sacrifice them for a goal and he actually wants them to succeed. He talks like a leader, he considers them important.

When they show us the LOV around Tomura as he talks to a kidnapped Bakugo, there's something in there already. How they worry when Bakugo hits Tomura and knocks the hand out of his face. They humanize Tomura, which is a lot to say when AFO did everything he could to dehumanize him. They make Tomura be more mature, more responsible and more capable. While AFO paints Tomura as a foolish child that cannot get things right until he's guided there, the LOV trusts Tomura to take care of himself and guide them.

That's when the hero tropes with villains started.

A quick list from the top of my head:

Twice overcame his trauma mid-battle in order to save Toga and then the LOV.

Tomura was tempted by Overhaul to betray the LOV in exchange for power. He pretended to agree, only to backstab Overhaul because Tomura would never forgive those who hurt his friends and would never betray the LOV.

Magne went to attack Overhaul for offending her and her friends, defending their ideals and their right to exist 'til death.

Mr. Compress took the leading role in many dangerous situations to assure that the LOV would get their win, but also to assure they'd make it out alive.

Tomura would forgive people not on his behalf, but for the benefit of the LOV.

Giran refused to sell any info about the LOV and laughed in his captors face because he was not so important to them. Turns out he was bluffing about it being all business, since we know from Twice's flashback that he did it also for the fondness he felt towards the LOV and the LOV went there to rescue him.

The LOV rushing through a battlefield the size of a city while desperately trying to find a way to save Tomura.

Twice and Mr. Compress refusing to leave Tomura fighting Gigantomachia alone and taking the burden of his training with him.

Dabi doing all he could to save Twice and snapping when he realized Twice was dead.

Mr. Compress worried about Toga and her solo mission.

Spinner telling Toga that she needs to come back safe and sound to them.

Tomura refusing to die or give up while the LOV still needs him (to be a hero).

Twice already dead and still moving because he needed to save Toga.

The entire LOV refusing to even consider defeat because they blindly believe that there is no way Tomura can lose.

And there's so much more...

The LOV made Tomura act heroic. They gave him a reason to want to save and protect, instead of just wanting to destroy.

The power of friendship but for evil.

Isn't it the best thing ever?

[valenteal]

Honestly I just really want to know what Horikoshi was thinking…

Like at the beginning MHA was obviously leaning towards more society critical ideas and undertones, with most of hero society being blatantly corrupt from the audience’s perspective and the Villains slowly being humanized until a lot of the audience is actually rooting for them.

And then like… one sub-plot at a time the underlying message does a complete 180! It doesn’t make sense! I can’t quite pin down one specific moment where it changes but by the beginning of the last war arc everything is flipped!

What caused such a change? Was it just that Horikoshi’s own perspective on the world got more conservative over time? Was it pressure from some kind of authority that wanted him to stop spreading anti-establishment ideology disguised as a superhero manga? Was it audience feedback?

Someone tell me what happeneddddd 😫

[menuliso]

i actually think i have some sort of brain damage from chapter 403 because now ive taken my bkdk obsession to a whole new degree. like, i was insane before, but now i feel as if i should be genuinely put into an asylum.

ive gone through a full on awakening.

before this chapter i refused to believe that bkdk would become canon/hinted bc like its wishful thinking. but now? ive fallen into the fucking deep end. i am of full belief that bkdk will become canon or at least be hinted bc horikoshi is cooking something and im so glad im not the only one to see it.

there is no way that man doesnt know what hes doing. bkdks entire arc has been fucking perfect and this man just keeps BUILDING UP. like all this talk about feelings, and how bkdk have never really spoken about them to eachother before??? this is like, building up to a fucking love confession i swear, because katsuki DIED for izuku, and izuku cant control his heart when it comes to katsuki, and like… what other explaination is there? atp i consider it canon that theyre in love with each other.

and the other most likely ship that i thought was gonna be canon, izuocha, just is not feasible. its not like i dislike the ship, no hate to it at all, but making it canon would be so fucking harmful to izuku and ochakos characters and we dont talk about that enough. it would a dissapointing, flat conclusion with barely any build up and itd be the bland, predictable formula. like, ochako has already basically wrapped up her thing with izuku with that entire fight with toga. shes admitted herself that her crush on izuku was more admiration than anything of massive substance. and dont even get me started on izuku. barring some fluster and embarrassed blushing in the early seasons, this boy has NOT reciprocated AT ALL. its actually ridiculous. izuku has been focused on like, two things only: hero work, and kacchan. izuku does not show ANY romantic feeling to ochako whatsoever.

surely, surely if horikoshi were to make this canon, he’d put in a little more effort? add some more chemistry, more development, more than just ‘boy meets girl. blush and get shy. little crush. get married. the end’?

that is bad storytelling, and horikoshi is anything but a bad storyteller. this guy adds foreshadowing YEARS before the chapter. horikoshi is INSANE when it comes to character + relationship + plot development. if horikoshi throws all that out the way, and makes izuocha canon, id be extremely, extremely disappointed. not because i hate the ship, but because itd be out of nowhere, disregard practically ALL development, and be nauseatingly dissatisfying.

talking of which, for the entire day ive been thinking about the foreshadowing for bkdk.

there. is. so. fucking. much. it feels like everytime i read like a new section of the manga, their relationship is described in the most frutti tutti rainbow gay way. im sorry, shigafo, did you just say that katsuki is closer to izuku than ANYONE else? excuse me, aizawa, did you just describe them as pair, a pair that the class revolves around? dont even mention the shit that izuku and katsuki say referring to each other. i cant even choose one to add in here, but every out of context bkdk quote has like these SEVERE more-than-platonic undertones, especially when you consider their past and their development. i feel like horikoshi has been doing some fucking insane foreshadowing for something MORE.

yk, i keep on thinking about how in the double spread in 403, the words ‘the beginning’ are displayed right over bkdk, as they find each other. call me delusional, but that has to be on purpose. i also keep on thinking about izukus green and orange gloves in so many official arts, and the light in both their eyes when they see each other, and the way theyre both always observing the other, never speaking about how they feel directly.

their relationship is just so, so……. and i feel like the only next step is for them to talk. just. fucking. talk. its been hinted at for so long, and horikoshi is doing SOMETHING.

them simply being together would be the most satisfying, developed, beautiful ending.

if they arent canon, i will die. ill say it now. bkdk canon. there is too much proof. as a writer, i know for a fact that i write everything for a REASON. why would horikoshi write this, if he wasn’t going to do anything with it?

bkdk will be canon. i dont care if i sound insane, or get proved entirely wrong. i now fully believe that the last page of the manga will be bkdk at a theme park eating crepes.

thank you chapter 403 for driving me off the rails.

[pikahlua]

you are a bkdk but please don’t spread misinformation about that extra note because I’ve seen people say hori said it’s not canon and others say that is not true at all. like please be impartial as you can. did he ACTUALLY say it’s not canon or that’s just how you interpreted it???

Read what I said again and notice how I used language that says it's MY READING. Jeez. Obviously this is my interpretation. I don't post my shit on Twitter nor do I ask anyone else to.

I take Horikoshi's note as PERMISSION to ignore the chapter if I want to. He's saying it's not part of the main story, it's releasing the characters from their story and allowing them to live life after it. I take that as meaning the characters in 431 aren't the same characters that we've been reading about until now. Their context is entirely different. It's NOT connected to the main story thematically. It's almost fourth-wall breaking. In other words, it doesn't HAVE to impact the story if you don't want it to.

[delawaredetroit]

Hi, I know you said you didn't want to talk about this last chapter until the other rereads, but you're one of the few blogs that I trust won't respond with biased information about any particular ship or character. I'm hearing that there's a problem with chapter 431, that it shouldn't be counted as part of the chronology because the author didn't write it or something? but it doesn't appear in the final volume and is part of the end? Sorry for the question, I'm just really confused.

This comes from a misinterpretation of commentary written by Horikoshi expanding on the metaphor of BNHA as live theater. That theatrical connection has long been established. There was a reason the manga was split into three acts; the story focused on masks, roles, stages, etc.; and the manga spent so much time breaking the fourth wall and speaking of fantasy and reality.

I'm paraphrasing, but Horikoshi's commentary was that chapter 429 was the end of the play, chapter 430 was the curtain call, and chapter 431 was what happened after the curtain fell and the cameras dimmed.

It makes sense why chapter 429 would be "the end" of the play. It was the end of the hero society where everyone played black and white roles with very particular masks. (Because Shigaraki destroyed the stage). The play reached its conclusion with an ordinary person putting down the mask and reaching out to the child in need in front of them.

Chapter 430, where it ends with a spread of all of Class 1A, is the curtain call. If you've ever seen a play live, the actors all come back on stage for one final bow to the audience. That is the role of chapter 430.

Chapter 431 is what is left after all of the dramatics of theater are gone. The stage is no more, the masks are destroyed, and the roles will never be the same. Their current roles may eventually disappear entirely. This chapter is what they chose after the fantasy ended.

Even if the final two chapters were "extras", it would be dubious to argue they aren't canon. This argument is either coming from a place of those unhappy for shipping or other reasons...or they don't read much. Seriously, epilogue chapters (even those labeled as extras) set after a time skip are common from mainstream YA novels to Korean webtoons. Some folks in this fandom interact with BNHA as if they have never read a book before and it's mildly concerning...

Beyond that, acting as if a chapter included in a published volume of a text isn't canon is absurd on its face. Even if Horkoshi said it wasn't, at that point apply Death of the Author and actually read the manga as presented.

Tl;dr: Yes, chapter 431 is canon. It's in the official final volume and Horikoshi's commentary about this chapter was part of a metaphor about BNHA as a play.

[lycolux]

I recently heard that there is a theory going viral on Twitter that the enemy the heroes are having to fight now is not an AFO, but a parasite that is the progenitor of Quirks.

I can’t say that I believe in this theory, but I really like it, and if it were confirmed after a while, I would not be surprised. At the same time, I did pick up one interesting point from this theory, and that is the fact that, according to the author, the emergence of quirks is due to the fact that the corpse of AFO and Yoichi's mother was eaten by rats, the rats became carriers of the "disease", and then they spread her “disease” throughout the world.

Honestly, this makes so much sense that I'm surprised I didn't figure it out sooner. Horikoshi actually explained to us how the quirks came about, but we didn't notice it. Additionally, Horikoshi hinted at the origin of quirks back in the Overhaul arc, but that was so long ago that many simply couldn't remember it.

Apart from this, I would also like to remember Nezu. His name comes from the Japanese word nezumi, which means "rat". We don't know much about Nezu other than that he was once experimented on. His age is unknown.

I would like to note that ordinary rats do not live very long, only 2-3 years, but Nezu is clearly a long-liver. He was already the principal of U.A. when All Might and AFO fought and he knew about OFA for some reason before that battle.

I'm guessing that he was also the principal of U.A. when All Might was a student, although that was 40 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if Nezu was one of the rats that spread the "disease" throughout the world, or is one of the descendants of those rats.

[bnhaobservation]

Who's to blame when the stakes are missing?

So recently I’ve been hearing people complain about Eri’s Quirk and how it destroyed the stakes and I decided I just wanted to talk about the whole issue BNHA has with stakes and how it’s not tied to the devices it uses, be they Quirk or medical knowledge, but to how it decides to use said devices.

But let’s start with order.

“If anything and everything in a story can be theoretically altered with absolutely no in-universe constraints whatsoever—bound only to the whims of the writers themselves—then why does anything that happens in the story matter?” [State of the Arc Podcast, "The Problem with Time-Travel"]

This is how the tvtropes page “No Permanence, No Stakes” opens.

The lack of stakes is a problem BNHA faces in a way that’s so embarrassing that when the story killed characters for real many readers ended up doubting said characters were really dead… or annoyed when the dramatic problem the story just created ended up being resolved way too quickly and way too easily (see Midoriya’s arms coming back so quickly there was really no point for him to lose them).

The problem though isn’t Eri’s Quirk that can fix everything… it’s that the story never had some solid rules that managed to keep the stakes alive even when in the story existed devices to undo the damage.

What do I mean?

I’m going to talk of another manga, one who had plenty of methods to undo the damage that’s made through the story, but that still managed to keep the stakes alive because it sets rules. This is a shounen which made history, aka “Dragon Ball” by Toriyama Akira (by the way I’ll use only the original Toriyama’s manga for this, forget the side material and the following anime series and manga series, okay? And before you ask “Dragon Ball” isn’t perfect but boy, it did things so much better in this camp and it’s a classic authors study so I don’t get how Horikoshi couldn’t have learnt from it).

In “Dragon Ball” nothing has to be permanent, it seems as if Toriyama had fun trying all the ways he could think of to undo the damage he were to give to his characters and his words… yet each magical device to undo the damage comes with rules. The characters know them, the readers know them and the stakes are created by having the characters move through those rules to use the magical devices that will undo the damage.

Let’s start with the titular artifacts of the series, the “Dragon Ball” (ドラゴンボール), who can be used to fulfill whatever wish you were to have. They come with a large set of rules. First of all you’ve to collect all 7 of them, as they spread themselves through the world each time they fulfill a wish, a task not easy if you don’t have a radar to locate them (and while some characters have it, others don’t). Once they’re collected you need to be the fastest to express your wish because if someone else will beat you on it, it’ll be their wish that will be fulfilled. As said before the Dragon Balls spread themselves after fulfilling a wish… but you can’t try to collect them moments after it as it won’t be possible to track or use them again for a full year. The Earth Dragon Balls also come with the rule they can’t resurrect a person twice, while the Namekian Dragon Balls come with the rule they can’t resurrect more than one person, although they can fulfill not one but three wishes and can resurrect people twice. Also, if their creators or the dragon they summon die (it’s actually the dragon the one fulfilling the wishes), they stop working.

When in the series there is a Dragon Balls hunt, or the characters need to use them for a wish, they’ve to fight with those limitations. The limitations become stakes, become part of the battle, part of the story. You know that at the end the heroes will manage to use them to undo the damage but the point becomes how they’ll overcome the stakes that will try to stop them from using them? Toriyama did entire arcs playing with those rules, having characters trying to overcome them.

For minor things like characters risking to die but not being dead yet we also have devices that will reverse this.

The story in fact introduces the ‘Senzu’ (仙豆 lit. “Hermit Bean”), which are mystical beans with immense rejuvenation properties. When eaten, a person's physical condition is near-instantly restored to its natural peak. Too bad they aren’t everywhere and you can’t have an endless supply of them. Characters need to get them and to make sure they don’t overuse them. Once they’re out of them, they’re on their own. And, of course, they can be stolen.

Next come the ‘MEDICAL MACHINE’ (メディカル マシーン), large containers filled with some form of liquid that can completely heal a person from near death. Of course they’re owned by the big bad of the series so it’s not so easy to get free access to them, they need time to heal the person who wants to use them, time during which the person can’t move from them, and can be destroyed.

We’ve then the ‘kaifuku’ (回復 “Healing” Lit. “time again”), which refers to a variety of special techniques used throughout the series to restore physical condition… only not everyone know how to use such technique, so you’ve to find someone who can use it and the user can be killed by an enemy.

But what if a person truly dies?

Well, if are given special permission, they can go back on Earth. Limitation? It works for one day only and they need permission to do so.

And if all this isn’t enough?

Just grab the ‘TIME MACHINE’ (タイムマシン) and redo everything. Be mindful though that only 1 person has a time machine, that the time machine can be broken or stolen and that, if you go back to the past and do something, you’ll alter it and you can’t predict how or if it’ll go for the better or worse. Also your timeline WON’T CHANGE AT ALL, so as not to create a time paradox.

Now let’s go back to BNHA and see how things work there.

The first magical device introduced in the story to undo damage is Recovery Girl’s Quirk ‘Iyashi’ (癒し “heal”). At first it seems to work like the “Dragon Ball” healing technique… Recovery Girl uses it on a fainted Midoriya and, in a second, all the damage he received is undone, the completely shattered bones resetting themselves and healing just fine (chapter 4). It would have worked just fine like this, but Horikoshi felt the need to retcon it to add a rule, it would consume the stamina of the one being healed… so that if the person were to run out of stamina he would die instead than being healed (chapter 7). In case you don’t know, stamina is the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity. Midoriya fainted in chapter 4, rightfully so as he should have worn himself out completely due to using OFA’s power and getting injured as he completely shattered both his legs and one arm… but the healing administered didn’t kill him. This retcon wasn’t enough as we later learn that Recovery Girl has to set the bones before administering healing and that scarring will remain anyway (chapter 40), something she hadn’t done in chapter 4, when the damage was way worse, never mentioning Midoriya never reported any scarring in the previous 3 times in which he was healed. Lastly, chapter 342 will introduce the idea Recovery Girl gets older if she uses her Quirk… something we were never told before and that doesn’t really affect the plot. All those setbacks that the story introduces aren’t obstacles the characters have to overcome to get access to the healing, they’re just things tossed in after the damage is done that have no real weight in the story. If in chapter 11 Recovery Girl claims she can’t heal Midoriya because he is too low on stamina, this won’t mean much for the story as Midoriya won’t have to do anything else for the day and will be healed the day after before lessons starts. When she’ll heal him the first time during the sport festival, the loss of stamina won’t make him too weak to fight Shouto. The only time in which her limits seem to have some weight is when she can’t heal Nighteye… but this could have resolved just by having her reaching him when it was too late. When, in “Dragon Ball”, Dende refused to heal Vegeta, this could have as a consequence Freezer to kill them all, when Recovery Girl refuses to heal Midoriya, the stakes are inexistent, because Midoriya isn’t in desperate need of healing to do something, he can just wait to heal on his own… or the next day when Recovery Girl will be willing to heal him.

In order for the rules/drawback of such device to work as stakes, they need to be introduced BEFORE the device will be used and the characters must try to overcome them or, at least they’ve to affect the plot in some way to create an interesting story, otherwise there’s no point to them. “Dragon Ball” does this, BNHA will never do it.

In fact let's move to the next thing, Chisaki’s Quirk, ‘Overhaul’ (オーバーホール), which gives the user the ability to disassemble and then reassemble matter with their bare hands. This process happens instantly, as long as the user is touching its target, is effective on living and non-living things alike and can even recombine two different objects or beings into a single entity that possesses components of both subjects. The reassembling can heal any injuries or ailments the target had by reconstructing them to a biologically perfect state. Stakes? There’s a minor cool down and, if the user’s hands get destroyed, he can’t use his Quirk. Oh, also, that this Quirk is owned by an enemy who use it against the Heroes. This though wouldn’t be a real problem as Chisaki will get arrested and team Hero has Monoma who can copy Quirks… but, while they thought to use Monoma to copy Eri’s Quirk and learn to use it so that he could teach Eri how to use her own Quirk, they don’t think to copy Chisaki’s Quirk so that they can use its healing properties. Nope, even if they gain Chisaki back, his Quirk will never be used again, not even to heal Bakugou’s arm… which will eventually heal enough he can move it just fine… while Chisaki’s boss was healed by doctors. This makes one of the Quirks with the greatest healing power useless and therefore also recovering Chisaki becomes useless since the plot doesn’t know what to do with him (and, to be honest, Chisaki wasn’t even that relevant in the Midoriya/Nagant fight). Really, Chisaki’s Quirk is used only in the Shie Hassaikai arc as a weapon against Heroes and then dropped.

While it’s not a perfect work and it has its mistakes, I can’t remember something of this magnitude being dropped in “Dragon Ball”. We’re talking of a Quirk that can heal everything, be it an illness, an injury or whatever, perfectly. And it gets forgotten.

We move to Eri’s Quirk, ‘Maki Modoshi’ (巻き戻し “Rewind”), which gives the user the ability to reverse a living being's body back to a previous state. This allows the user to undo or bring back injuries or modifications from the present or the past, revert people back to a point before they even existed, and even rewind genetics, basically erasing a Quirk factor. Downsides? Eri doesn’t know how to use it, which can cause her to also lose control of it, making her activate it by mistake or making her unable to stop using it. Also, it’s a power that work through accumulation of an unknown element, so it can go dormant once it’s overused and Monoma can’t help her to learn to use it. Too bad that she never activate it while she’s under Chisaki’s control, that once she uses it too much, Eraser Head will stop her, that she’ll learn to use it just fine on her own just in time to rewind Lemillion and give him back his Quirk when he needs it… but hasn’t accumulated enough power to heal Eraser Head’s sight… yet it has enough power to heal Midoriya’s arms. Never mentioning when Eraser Head stopped her from Rewinding too much Midoriya the first time, her horn wasn’t decreased yet, meaning she still had power… (chapter 161) but when she wakes up from her fever the horn has decreased even if her power wasn’t used at all (Chapter 167), a clear sign this was a retcon to make her power more manageable. Also Eri cuts her horn…  which Ectoplasm helped her to do even though they’ve no means to send it to Midoriya… but her horn will regrow back just fine… but it’s pointless as we will never see her using it again since she wants to become a singer… besides… Eri had problems using her own Quirk and Aizawa can do it just fine?

There are basically no rules for all this, it’s just the author adding to it things as the story goes on.

Never mentioning giving Eri such a big healing power which will never be used is kind of bad. Eri doesn’t want to become a healer, she wants to become a singer which is totally fair and she should be allowed to do it… but Eri’s Quirk can literally save the lives of plenty of people, could restore Bakugou’s arm, could have saved Touya, could erase the burn scar from the whole Todoroki family. Eri should be allowed to choose what she wants to do, she’s not a healing machine but… her choosing not to become a healer condemn people who aren’t healed by her to death. This is not a good moral dilemma a series focused on saving people should pose to its readers. Should we force a young girl to become a healer or should we let people die? Horikoshi likely didn’t notice he ended up posing this question when he drew Eri with a regrown horn.

We continue the ‘medical magic’ of Garaki first and of Central Hospital and its doctors later. This is different from the medical machines of “Dragon ball” as we aren’t told beforehand what it does, we just find out that they can do things after they did the things. Garaki can basically resurrect AFO, restore Touya’s body, he can take the rewind bullets and inverse their power so that they go back on rewinding people instead than Quirk factors, it can extract Quirk factors, copy them, modify people so that they can host more Quirk factors but lose their brain or keep it… and somehow Central hospital learns to duplicate its techniques so that Best Jeanist can be put in a state of death or they can save Shuuichi and wake up the boss of the Shie Hassaikai. To the list of the ones capable to use ‘medical magic’ we should probably add Edgeshot, who could magically restore Bakugou’s heart. All this has no rules, we aren’t told beforehand they can do it, ‘medical magic’ becomes just an excuse for when something impossible is done by medicine. The text doesn’t call it ‘magic’ yes, but it’s just the same. Oh, the Shie Hassaikai boss couldn’t wake up anymore… no wait, it can because we have doctors that can NOW wake him up. With all this medical magic that can do the impossible though, becomes hard to accept they can’t save Touya (even though they now have Garaki captive and can ask him how he did it the first time) and they actually ended up doing more damage to Kurogiri or that blood transfusions now kill, ask Himiko.

But all this can be, because there are no rules and so the result is that ‘medical magic’ becomes  deus ex machina that moves according to the whims of the author, that it can do everything and nothing at all according to what Horikoshi wants. In the end it becomes unpredictable in a bad way because it destroys the stakes instead than setting them.

“Dragon Ball” had people holding on their chairs as they waited for Goku to finish healing in the medical machine, not because we believed he wouldn’t be healed, but because the rules established the healing would take a certain amount of time and we were worried three other beloved characters would die first. The same will never happen in BNHA, not even when we waited for Bakugou to recover (which had all the potential to do this) as the story didn’t really played up on the struggle of the others against Shigaraki but moved on focusing on other characters.

We go on with ‘Quirk awakening’ a random way to boost a Quirk up at random that all of sudden gets mentioned when Himiko gets her own Quirk awakening. Rules for the Quirk awakening are hazy, you can get it for a near death experience (Himiko) or because you just worry a lot (Geten who worries when Re-Destro burns himself) and it does things at random (Himiko can use the powers of those she transform into but only if she loves them and she’s not too angry, Geten can change ice temperature, Tomura’s decay can spread to other things, Touya also gets ice and so on). There are no rule but there is knowledge, even Enji knows about it yet no one tries to deliberately force it except for Garaki with Tomura? I mean, are we going to believe Enji gave a pass to his chance to get even more powerful? “Dragon Ball” is famous for its power up too, but they often come from training or, since the Saiyans are alien, from near death experience. When this rule becomes established, we’re told about it WAY BEFORE the characters try to use a near death experience for a fast power up. The same goes for the Super Saiyan, who’s also introduced way before Goku will finally manifest such power… and the reason why Saiyans in the past didn’t try for it is because they believed it to be a legend. The moment the possibility is on the table it’s all a run to get such an amazing power up. Quirk awakening? Happens for random reasons, solely when the plot needs it (otherwise why Touya didn’t get it when he nearly burned on Sekoto Peak? Why Hawks didn’t get it when Touya burned him? Why Best Jeanist didn’t get it after his fight with AFO? Why Nighteye didn’t get it either as Midoriya fought Overhaul?) and again, except for Garaki with Tomura, no one truly pursues it… not even in the MLA where people is willing to die for their cause and where apparently only Geten got it due to Re-Destro getting burned.

And should we mention the ‘magical rage power’ which can keep alive Tomura and Touya. Tomura dies but he is brought back to life by his dream and his hatred (Chap 296), Touya shouldn’t have survived a month but his grudge keeps him alive for years without medical aid, clothes, a place to stay, money and a job (Chap 350). Do we need those  powers when Tomura could have very well be resurrected by the zap of electricity which made his whole body contract so dramatically but that somehow X-Less didn’t even feel because it was likely retconned as useless or would have killed X-Less? Do we really need to be told Touya would have only survived a month without Garaki’s aid as a way to excuse why they let him escape when a month was more than enough to tattle the truth to his Hero father had he decided to stay at home? Is the magnitude of the revelation they survived thanks to magical rage power worth it? Especially when they won’t manage to pull it out again at the end of the manga?

This is the sort of device the story doesn’t need to have… and that in a way ties to Bakugou’s resurrection as well as we’re told Edgeshot couldn’t resurrect it, Bakugou came back to life thanks to one of Bakugou’s tiny bead of explosive sweat somehow finding its way to his heart through his bloodstream and, instead than blasting Bakugou’s heart in pieces again, just restarting it so that Edgeshot can tell him he came back to life due to his own power as it combines with Edgeshot medical magic and bring Bakugou back to life. Really, we were already being asked to suspend our disbelief when Edgeshot jumped in action and sterilized himself with a soap bubble that somehow he kept on his persona without dirtying it and then started sewing a heart around without any medical degree. Do we need a totally random extra beg for suspension of disbelief that pleads at us through the “rule of cool”?

It’s the poor use of all the devices that can rewind things back to how they were what truly ruins the stakes. As long as the devices are bound by rules that are stated early, they’re part of the world building and the stakes exist and the story thrives on trying to make use of those rules to get the rewind. However when there are no rules or the rules have no use or are told only after the thing happen… well, here the story is moving according to the whims of the writers who use the devices as random deus ex machine to change back the status of things and force the story in the direction they want.

Again:

“If anything and everything in a story can be theoretically altered with absolutely no in-universe constraints whatsoever—bound only to the whims of the writers themselves—then why does anything that happens in the story matter?” [State of the Arc Podcast, "The Problem with Time-Travel"]

Horikoshi could have used more cool healing Quirks and rewinding Quirks and even time rewinding Quirks and medical progress if he had done it by first setting the rules and then having the characters navigate through them to use all of the above. Instead it’s all things that pop up at random to fix what can’t be fixed by other means or to make things look cool.

But you can ask suspension of disbelief only for so long and Horikoshi outdid his quota, which is a pity because really, this could have turned a lot better.

[todomitoukei]

Why do you believe Toya won't die? He's basically a burnt corpse that can no longer move and barely talk. Horikoshi's writing could be changed to emphasize how the family can now fully move on from Toya and Endeavor and it was a Greek Tragedy on Endeavor's end while hopeful for Shoto.

This is not a Greek tragedy, it's a Japanese shounen manga that focuses on kids becoming heroes.

"He's basically a burnt corpse" isn't it just lovely then that a fantasy story about people who have varying superpowers could so easily fix that?

I'm sorry you guys have never read stories where people look like they are beyond saving or actually dead, only to come back just fine because the author said so.

The only tragic part is the fandom being so dead set on the villains dying somehow being a satisfying conclusion rather than the tragic part of this only being that such a conclusion would be poor writing.

The themes of the story have been uplifting, focusing on the fact that people can get better in the right environment and if given a second chance.

"The family can now fully move on from Touya" and that is shown where? I see nothing but people being hopeful for a future where they can talk to him after ten years of being separated from him. The family does not want to move on from him. They want to talk to him, want to come see him. They had ten years to move on from him and couldn't, so suggesting that finding out that instead of dying before, he had been alive and physically and mentally suffering this entire time, is somehow the magic ingredient that was missing from their ability to move on is beyond me.

It is also unclear to me how it would be "hopeful" for Shouto to know he was able to prolong someone's life by a few weeks and have that person find closure before death like that somehow is the mark of a successful hero. He wants a relationship with his brother - wants to get to know him, have soba with him, hang out with him. That has been his goal since being a kid and wouldn't it be nice if he could get that?

Touya has been surviving a lot and as said before, if Horikoshi had wanted him dead, he could have done so at the end of the war instead of keeping him alive so that his dad can tell him he's retiring.

If you want to worry and tell yourself Touya and the rest of the lov are dying, I won't stop you but this idea is simply not supported by the story and with only 4 more chapters left, some of you should maybe just wait it out silently instead of spreading fear and holding on to this tragic mindset the same way Touya has been holding on to life.

[celestialspiritbabe]

satoruspookie and that dekacchan weirdo or whatever the fuck her name is on twitter, are probably the two most embarrassing and cringiest bkdk shippers I've ever seen in my life

their extremely high levels of copium and the amount of mental gymnastics they have been doing over the past few weeks have been nothing else but incredibly amusing to see (filming themselves crying over bkdk not getting canon, blocking Horikoshi on Twitter, claiming chapter 431 is not canon and is actually AI-generated, as well as spreading around all sorts of misinformation etc.)—and for what exactly? for holding onto that tiny sliver of hope that their toxic, garbage ship would get canon instead of Izuocha?

in famous words of Michael Jordan:

[trashformha]

So let me get this straight, MHA dropped it's final chapter and:

-Horikoshi straight up forgot certain plot points like the 'quirk singularity theory'

-some characters do not show up.The surviving villains? Nowhere to be seen. Compress gets like a tiny panel. Deku's mom? also nowhere to be seen. We've never meet his fucking dad.You'd think the guy would come back to Japan after hearing what happened but no. So some characters just don't get closure,sucks for them.

-Society didn't change shit. The hero rankings are still there and in that tiny panel with Endeavor Rei is still with him for some reason.

-Whatever supposed changes do happen get mentioned only briefly. Shoji gets an award for fighting racism and Ochako does quirk counseling.Both of these things occur within 1/3 of a page

-The icing on the cake is deku himself. Lost his quirk and spent these past years as a teacher without talking to his friends at all. He straight up has no contact with them and is alone only for all might to suddenly show up 8 years later and go "hey we got you some gadgets so now u can be a hero actually " and then it's just a double spread with Class 1A grown up.

Mind you this is just the problems the last chapter brings up,if you look at the past 20 or so chapter it just gets worse.I honestly don't think I could have come up with a shittier ending if I tried lmao

[lura-valentine]

Why the hell is he right again?!

Dabi and Kaji Headcanon

I'm currently writing a headcanon one-shot for an ano and an idea came to me.

Moments with Dabi and his son where Kaji just thinks, 'Why does he always have to be right?!' Such a moment occurs in this one-shot and somehow I want to write more about it.

So have fun with my head cinema 🤪

World of My Hero Academia / Boku no Hero Academia

random AU where Dabi is still alive. In Kaji's true lore, he never met his father

With the exception of Kaji, all characters belong to Kōhei Horikoshi

➡️ click for Kaji's profil #kaji black character profil

Please note that English is not my first language. So forgive me for mistakes.

You lie

Kaji tries to make up an excuse as to why he was out in the middle of the night, but before he can say anything, Dabi grins crookedly.

"You talk too much and stiffen up when you lie. Don't even try."

Kaji narrows his eyes. Damn, why did he figure that out so quickly?!

She likes you, you idiot

Kaji casually mentions a girl who constantly provokes him. Dabi just raises an eyebrow.

"She likes you."

Kaji grimaces. "Bullshit."

Dabi laughs softly. "Believe me, boy. If she didn't like you, she'd ignore you."

Two weeks later, the girl stands before him and confesses her feelings. Kaji doesn't want to admit it, but in his head he's just screaming: How did he know?!

The guy is lying

Kaji is negotiating with a shady person for a mission, believing it's a good deal. Dabi sits nearby and watches silently.

Dabi after the conversation: "The guy is lying."

Kaji frowns. "Huh? He was totally convincing."

Dabi shrugs. "He swallowed three times when he mentioned payment. That means he's hiding something. Don't make the deal."

Later, it turns out that the guy was actually planning an ambush. Kaji is furious – but more at himself.

Don't trust anyone who is too nice

Kaji meets someone who seems to be helping him selflessly. Dabi remains skeptical.

"No one is just nice. They either want something or they're hiding something."

Kaji rolls his eyes. "Not everyone is as paranoid as you."

Two weeks later, it turns out that the person was just taking advantage of him. Kaji grumbles. Why is my dad so good at reading people?

You are more like me than you think

Kaji swears he's nothing like his father. Dabi just laughs.

"Say that again the next time you're in a fight and grins."

Later, as Kaji found himself in the thick of the fight, adrenaline pumping through his veins, a crooked grin spread across his face. The only words going through his mind were: Shit. He's right.

[class1akids]

BNHA 423 - Thoughts (aka how to fumble your ending: a masterclass by Kohei Horikoshi)

I won't have time on Sunday, so I'll write up my chapter thoughts today. Probably the last time for this series (unless we get a Todo-family moment in the epilogue).

I've joined this fandom 6 years ago and written countless meta and analysis. I'm grieving today not that the story has come to an end, but the way it fumbled its landing.

Last chapter: Deku after a combo from everyone Rises to everyone shouting Ganbare and All Might Annointing him as HIS personal Jesus Greatest hero

This chapter:

Everyone's aggregate animosity (including 16 members of Class A - missing: Uraraka, Bakugou, Shoto and Aoyama) and the strength Deku added to OFA in 2 years kill AFO-in-Shigaraki's regen (even though he was engineered by Ujiko to be able to hold OFA).

Deku punches the body of that little crying boy he yapped about saving of the big bad and it starts to crumble. So AFO looks for a new host in Deku.

We get to the only good point in this chapter: as Aizawa is yelling for Midoriya, ShiraGiri worries about Tomura. The tragedy of how their lives went in separate ways. The only person on this battlefield who cares about Tomura is Kurogiri

WTF - I'm emotional. This must help bring Tomura back, right?

Let me see! what's happening on the vestige side?

Is Kurogiri dead? Why?

I NEED ANSWERS!!!

Or fuck that - let's get to Bakugou, because why not. Obviously, he's in desperate need of another highlight.

Let's even make sure he gets personally praised in case in the last 5 chapters he was not mentioned we forgot how he's the awesomest. Who cares about Kurogiri dying in the background? Who cares about Aizawa's or Mic's feelings? The most important question is how Bakugou got to the battlefield.

Oh, wait, here comes the twist. Remember that crappy little panel of Shoto in the last chapter? No? Don't worry. Neither does 99% of the fandom, except a few die-hard Shoto-fans.

Well, you see, that crappy panel was actually Shoto being hidden as he lifted up Deku at the end of that long combo to give him his last push. And the one above, is not a BKDK combo but an Origin Trio combo. It's just cropped the same way BKDK shippers always crop Shoto out of any Trio pictures.

Congratulations, Kohei Horikoshi-sensei! What an amazing twist. You managed to write Schroedinger's Origin Trio scene! It happened, but maybe it never did. Thanks for stringing me along all these years through the rollercoaster rides of Origins and Risings. I'll take that playground from you and give it to fanfic writers who actually care about maintaining it.

While Bakugou is yelling in the background, Deku is pulling a Mirio on AFO and calls him friendless. The worst thing that can happen to a Shonen boss.

There is some incomprehensible mumbo jumbo about OFA-magic - but don't worry peeps - it's all a set-up for Deku getting it back (in case you are one of the people who seems really to be worried about that)

And then AFO realizes - due to Deku transferring the last bit just so - that he was just a sad little human who loved his brother all along. Yoichi's lifelong efforts to make an impact on AFO didn't do anything. Only the Jesus-Punch-of-Magic did. Too bad.

Oh no, the whole fucking peanut gallery is back to nobody's surprise. (Actually All Might is missing, which may suggest Deku will only get the stockpile back). Even if Deku gets OFA back, please don't transfer these guys back. I'm so sick of them. They were a total waste of time and took Deku's precious real estate for introspection. Fuck that. I don't actually care. Deku has been damaged beyond repair.

GROUP FIST BUMP!!! Amazing Climax. Maybe a double spread, Sensei?

HK: Sorry, I used up my double spread quota on Bakugou!

I'm not one to criticize Horikoshi's artstyle, but boy, this panel is so underwhelming compared to the stuff he drew in this endgame. Is this your big AFO vs OFA clash????

What happens when Ghost Fist collides with Real blood? Of course, it will transfer all that sweet Ghost-DNA!!!

Aka - Horikoshi is saying - Don't worry, Deku won't be quirkless.

OK. Well. Let's move on.

Here is another line from Horikoshi's outline. Did you want to see a heart-warming scene between Nana and Tenko? Too bad for you. You get Bakugou, you voted for him.

(Btw, Shoto is not the only one who doesn't seem to be allowed to have a proper scene with his mom, I guess Tenko cannot even get an emotional afterlife scene. If you are an abuse-victim in story, Horikoshi says - fuck you! Take a swan dive and hope to be reborn as a bully in your next life).

Well, at least Tomura noticed that Kurogiri mysteriously died after Horikoshi couldn't think up an actual proper endgame for him.

OK, onto the MAIN ANTAGONIST's final monologue. It will be deep after being built for 400 chapters, right?

Shigaraki: Well, I didn't even manage to destroy your hand. I amount to just a crying boy.

Deku: Well, I still hate you for stabbing Kacchan and the others. (forget the others, I never cared about the others). I killed you because I was sick of your moping it's the International Board of Therapist's recommended therapy for victims of abuse and grooming.

Shigaraki: Well, what do I say to that. That's so fucking stupid.

Shigaraki: And to my gay little boyfriend, I leave my treasured Nintendo controller.

Deku: Yeah, whatever. I don't really have any thoughts. I've stopped introspection in Act 2. Your life sucked. You need to fuck off now and stop spreading the sadness, I have a victory punch to perform.

Deku: This is the story of how I became the greatest hero by punching the fuck out of this crying, abused little boy and then bathing myself in his nasty pixie dust. killing 2 main villains for the price of 1 in under 7 pages and changed the weather for the dudebros on Twitter can cry about the blue sky in the anime again. I also eradicated sadness with punching it hard enough.

Also - I probably still have a quirk. Tune in to find out in two weeks.

Sensei, with all due respect - this chapter was ass. Visually, thematically, from a storytelling point of view. Even the good ideas were executed badly or were crammed in with terrible ideas. What a fucking let-down.

Will Shigaraki go and be the hero of the villains?

I can see him reconstruct with Overhaul and magic, or I can see that we will get a reveal where Deku had the Lion Turtle solution all along and he has punched Shigaraki just at the angle to magically manifest 5-year old crying Tenko and save him and he was cold and aloof because he already "saved the boy".

I can see a BS solution incoming. But it will not fix this chapter for sure, nor the broader writing issues with Deku's character and with the Deku - Tomura dynamic.

[dekusleftsock]

Don’t y’all love it when a popular tiktok creator is analyzing a character and interpreting it so, so wrong, and him and his dumb ass take is spreading.

Like it was one thing for you to be wrong

ITS ANOTHER THING FOR YOU TO BE WRONG AND MAKING OTHER PEOPLE MORE WRONG

If one more person says that Izuku is “underdeveloped” and that he’s “uninterested in all of his other relationships” and that he “has a power imbalance in his relationships with other characters bc they care more about him than he does them” STOP. PLEASE STOP.

A fundamental part of Izuku’s character: He is an UNRELIABLE NARRATOR. Most of his character is, therefore, told through SUBTEXT.

Izuku doesn’t say that he feels ashamed about his feelings for Katsuki.

But he does say that he thinks they’re gross.

Izuku doesn’t say that he thinks that Toga and her feelings aren’t human

But he does say that she is the “perfect counter to this quirk”.

THE LIST COULD GO ON.

Izuku is an unreliable narrator in a third person omniscient story (though sometimes mha acts more like a third person objective story? Anyway). That means that the way we do not understand the story is not through a retelling of what is happening to you, the viewer, unreliably—instead it is not telling you the full extent of his character and his thoughts.

To say “izuocha’s relationship is underdeveloped because it’s one sided” is NOT the same as saying “bkdk’s relationship is underdeveloped because it’s one sided”.

Izuku has always been obsessed with Katsuki. At some point the rhetoric being passed around was that it was Katsuki who was underdeveloped and uninterested in the dynamic. Now that rhetoric has been reversed since we’ve seen so much of Katsuki’s POV.

Ochako has always been obsessed with Izuku, NEVER THE OTHER WAY AROUND. In fact, Ochako’s arc even surrounded letting go of those feelings… as literally said in the text. Because that is a textual statement that she makes.

Izuku does not understand how or what Ochako loves in anybody, especially him. She loves a unique sense of personhood, which Izuku has always carried, and of which she saw in the entrance exam.

Izuku does not know how to view things he deems as “girly”, and Ochako very personally CANT be in a relationship with someone that she has realized is very repressed. Her friendships turn from friends to fascination very quickly, into her heroic form. (Think her few moments with Katsuki in that extra, or how disinterested she became of Izuku as she saw him run away from help, and not know how to respond to an apology. Or, hell, how much more interested she became when Himiko was honest with her feelings in their second real confrontation. She even says that she “admires how she can love so freely, and say it with her whole chest”)

LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS. THIS IS WHY IZUOCHA ISNT DEVELOPED. That’s a purposeful choice in genius writing, at least in my opinion.

Bkdk is a result of Izuku being uninterested in acknowledging said feelings, and this is shown to be different because of the amount of times he has had that imply a deeper emotion or thought that we are not told. Think black whip, controlling your heart solely surrounding katsuki, “my feelings are gross”, the ear piercing scream when katsuki was kidnapped and the “this was a total loss” line, relaxing into katsuki’s arms after the apology, only coming home because of Katsuki, comparing romantic feelings toga had for him and admiration to ALLMIGHT and not katsuki who was “actually in his life”, I COULD GO ON FOR HOURS.

This is absolutely NOT underdeveloped, this is called SHOW NOT TELL. Horikoshi is so purposeful in what he shows vs what he tells. He tells you that ochako and toga are the same, he tells you that katsuki is worried about Izuku, he tells you that katsuki is there to step in when deku can’t handle it on his own, he tells you that ochako has a crush on Izuku, and he tells you that Katsuki is Izuku’s “closest person”.

But he also SHOWS YOU SO MUCH MORE. Unreliable narration is such a key part of Izuku and his character. Izuku doesn’t understand Izuku as much as the audience doesn’t understand him. It’s why I genuinely think most interpretations of his character are wrong, because you really can’t take him at his word. It’s the same reason no one understood katsuki for the longest time, he was in the same circumstances of a character who is only showed to you, not told.

I know i named so many god damn references so if anyone is curious as to what specifically I’m talking about with what, I’ll gladly show what scene I’m referring to. Apparently I can’t remember a damn thing but this manga anyway.

[cherryblossombombs]

I have an issue with the "the giga cover is likely fujobait" because I can't help but think:

if it was truly fujobait, why now?

Why try to get their attention if MHA is now in the 100M club? The series now so popular, hori/jump doesn't need queer shippers to increase its popularity.

Why try to get fujos and queer fans, if it's already popular in that group? Wasn't it apparently shown that MHA is more popular with women and LGBTQ+ fans?

Why try to get that audience when hori had the chance to do that back in 2016-2018 when Kr//bk was the popular gay ship? Wasn't there an interview where someone pretty much asked hori if he's for kr//bk, but instead of playing along, hori made it about bkdk (the ship that no one took seriously at the time) and said he saw the hand hold more about bkdk angst. Kr//bk was a popular ship, it had bones making official art of them. The smash parody manga had moments of it. Two heroes was their movie [I believe hori didn't really help in that movie. However, notice how in the second movie, (he was a part of that one), focused on bkdk (again, the ship no one took seriously)]. Hori had the ability to use that ship as bait, but he seemed to be the only one out of everyone else to not go for it. Instead he kept pushing for the ship that was thought to be too toxic to even become a platonic ship.

If horikoshi did not want bkdk to seen as romantic, why isn't he stopping jump for implying it? You really can't say that he has no ability to, the guy went to bones and told them the ending. Now, notice how bones suddenly stopped making iz//ch moments and added a bkdk moment in the recap episodes (something that they would never do 2 seasons prior). The assistant (whom hori is friends with) is a loud speaker of dkbk lol. Hori follows him on twitter, there's no way that hori hasn't seen his dkbk art once. Same for katsuki's JP VA (who is also a friend of Hori).

Why try to bait the audience when the manga is ending?

Idk, maybe there's a chance he is actually queerbaiting and make iz//ch canon, but again, after everything?

After the togachako arc? He had made ochako confess her crush on midoriya, only for seconds later to not only brush it off as unimportant (unimportant in the sense of it was more of way to relate to toga and speak with her, it wasn't really used as a "canon izu//ocha" moment), she tells toga that she could have ochako's blood for the rest of her life (and we know that's toga's love language of returning/accepting her feelings) and she told toga that she had the cutest smile in the whole world. Like, didn't hori say that toga was made for ochako's character? I feel like it wouldn't make sense for hori to do all of this, then have ochako end up with midoriya, it would feel like a middle finger to toga tbh.

After chapters 285, 322, 362, 367, 403, and 404? The apology? The "you're the closest one to midoriya izuku, therefore I need to kill you in order to make him go crazy". The heart shaped black whip after seeing bakugou's dying body? The "their feelings became one" double spread? this bullet point could be spread to about 2-3 document pages, but I'm just going to summarize for this post lol. But overall, these chapters (and a few more), show me (imo) that it the "fujobait" claim isn't really strong to use against bkdk.

Again, maybe this is queerbait, because I know that there are times where other media/anime have done simliar and still had the MC in a heterosexual relationship, and leave everyone dumbfounded lol. Once again, all I say to this is "let's see what happens."

P.S. Isn't this the same author who said that he thought that naruto was going to end at 698 (the implied SNS ending) lol? Idk if it's true, that's just something I've heard.

**************************

EDIT 11/29/24: WELP I GUESS I'M BOOBOO THE FOOL LOL

[sapphic-agent]

So that was the ending of MHA. And oh my GOD, it sucked ASS.

So, rip to the villains, I guess. Fuck their trauma I guess, according to the story. Nothing gets resolved, the history of killing villains even when society is why they are the way they are, and it just ends with some dumb hospital scene and Midoriya getting a shitty haircut. The fact Bakugo stans only care about the dumb hospital scene and Midoriya getting a dumb haircut over the fact that Shigaraki just DESTROYED the story and message he's built up for 8 years. I know we're getting an epilogue but I fucking hate it. That was a TERRIBLE ending. So what then, Horikoshi? Should people who have been hurt by the system not band together to do something and spread awareness? My GOD, this is the WORST timeline.

Shigaraki, you were right. You have proven that hero society is a joke. The fact that even Shigaraki just accepts his death even though he's determined and a fighter, just fucking. We don't even get to see him come to this conclusion.

Anyway, I'm gonna be saving fuck that and the villains live in my AU. Wasting everyone's time. I'm not even sad. I'm just mad that Shigaraki and the League got so dirtied. I was really only staying around for the villains, because Horikoshi's writing fell off down the line. Also, yay. The kids go to school, and probably not address their trauma like how they brush over Shigaraki fucking dying.

Hate it here. Also the fact these last 2 chapters woke everyone up to MHA's sucky ass writing is something but better late than never, I guess.

The only good thing to come out of this ending is people realizing "Hey, MHA's writing it shit." Granted I have no idea what's going on, but it sounds fucked.

From what I can gather, everything that I thought would happen happened. The villains who were products of the corrupt society- which also hurt a good amount of our protagonists btw- are killed off for no reason. No word of rehabilitation, or what's actually being done to change the status quo. If Shigaraki died at peace after Izuku or someone promised to change things for the better, that would make sense. But I'm guessing that didn't happen?

The LOV amounted to nothing in the end. And that's so fucking sad

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 403: (But Just That One Part, Because I'm Not Caught Up)

Previously on BnHA: Truly no idea, but it kind of looks like Katsuki is riding some sort of spaceship, and everyone has gotten really, really sparkly. I see you all have been busy these past 22 months. Great job, keep it up.

Today on BnHA: “So it’s come to my attention that a truly shocking number of you are only reading this manga for a single character.” – Horikoshi Kouhei, October 2023.

so. where to start, lol

I guess I should open with an apology, because I am about to make a fairly selfish decision! what I am about to do, is post a reaction to Bakugou’s Return To The Manga. however, because I’m not caught up, I’m going to be reading this one scene completely out of context without knowing anything about what is going on. which means that I’m going to be missing out on god knows how many nuances and details, which means this reaction post will be short on those things as well. so basically I’m prioritizing my own personal gratification as a fan here even though it is 100% going to affect the quality of my reaction blog, and for that I genuinely am sorry. eventually I will finish catching up, and when that happens I will post a proper reaction with all the trimmings. that’s just how it is for now though

anyway so with that said, basically what I’ve done now is I have gone to the scanlation website, and clicked on chapter 403, and then scrolled down through most of the chapter while sort of half-looking away from my screen with my eyes squinted so that everything is mostly blurry, until I finally reached the big double-page spread with you-know-who doing his thing. namely, standing around on this giant glowy cereal bowl from the future, which appears to be either hovering up in the air, or slowly crashing onto the ground

and this right here, is exactly what I was rambling on about a moment ago. you guys I really am sorry to be doing this, because even I can tell this should be solemn and sincere moment of awe and excitement and relief. but because I completely lack any context whatsoever for wtf is happening, most of the dramatic impact is lost on me, and to tell the truth right now this page is a hell of a lot funnier than it has any right to be

like, so Deku. this boy is crying all the tears. I recklessly scrolled back up one page to see why, and it appears the answer is Because All Might Is About To Fucking Die (which, !??!?), so that’s actually VERY fucked up, and I’m sure I will have PAGES AND PAGES OF WORDS to say about all of that once I finally catch up properly. that is very traumatic and emotional and I will probably cry a lot about it

BUT, that being said, I just need you guys to know that without that context, Deku standing here with his giant head all >:O in the foreground, while Kacchan appears out of nowhere glowing with the power of a thousand suns and standing on top of this giant floating Smash Bros level that Nezu maybe probably built with his nine million dollars, is one of the wildest fucking things I’ve seen in my life. I feel like an accidental time traveler. you know when a character has one of those crazy prophetic dreams showing them chaotic glimpses of the future, and they’re just standing there all “???” because they have absolutely no clue what the fuck is going on? that is what it’s like right now

heh but there he is

“did you miss me, Izuku. back by popular demand after being on IR for 14 goddamn months. rebuilt better and stronger than ever thanks to the heroic spaghetti man wrapped tightly around my heart keeping me alive. just BnHA things. just a flesh wound. by the way, it’s me, Kacchan, just in case you didn’t recognize me on account of my still being really far away and completely covered by smoke, and also you thinking I was dead. here let me give you a close up to make this easier”

“fuck yeah. it really is me, btw. just in case you still couldn’t tell on account of me also being like 100x prettier than you remembered. guess it’s just that blindingly handsome character development”

also, “the end of an era” um hello, yes, what?? just what exactly have I missed here with all this All Might stuff?? because apparently All Might just prior to this was in some sort of mortal danger, is what I’ve been hearing, because everyone keeps posting excitedly about Kacchan showing up in the nick of time to save him? which incidentally makes my heart so incredibly fucking warm omg. it’s what both of them need AND deserve

why is everything so goddamn sparkly right now. this is like a Sailor Moon battle over here

love that look of instant recognition and shock and overpowering relief in Deku’s eyes though. also has he really been fighting in this cracked out OFA-overflowing mode this entire time?? he looks just like he did on the cover of volume 37. I still haven’t seen his actual canon reaction to the “death”, and I haven’t been keeping tabs on his fight with AFO??/Tomura?? at all, but I’m glad it looks to have been as emotional as I could have hoped

aw fuck yeah

his precious card. I’m now almost as invested in the saga of the All Might card as I am in all the rest of this. it’s all beat to hell, but somehow still made it through in the end. just like him

oh. my. g

protect them.

protect them all.

so is the reason this fight is so sparkly just because of OFA symbolism, then?? or is there something else happening here?? goddammit, okay, I‘m gonna very carefully scroll back to the beginning of the chapter, because I’m 100% positive there is some sort of deeply meaningful symbolic thing going on here and I’ll be damned if I miss out on it, spoilers or no

-- oh my goD??!

1. BABY ALL MIGHT WHAAAAAAT

IS THAT HIS MOM???? OH MY GOD DID WE GET ALL MIGHT BACKSTORY. oh my god. oh god. no actually don’t tell me, ahhhh I cannot fucking wait to read this properly, holy shit

so did something wind up happening to Mighty Mom later on then?? feels like it must have, since he wound up getting so attached to Nana? man I don’t want to think about any of that stuff after seeing this panel though :( just, damn it, why is this man’s whole entire life so goddamn fucking tragic

“the one thing I’ve done most is looking back to the path I took” my god I cannot wait to read this. only two short pages and I’m already buried miles deep into my All Might feels. came here for the triumphant Kacchan return and now I’m sitting here tearing up about All Might, god damn you Horikoshi YOU’VE STILL GOT IT. and I am STILL A SUCKER FOR ALL OF IT

anyway, so now back we go to the last couple of pages with this additional context, aaaaand...

...and apparently I’m now full-on crying about All Might! (: well how about that. turns out when you read the manual and follow the instructions properly this series still works exactly as advertised. don’t mind me I’m just sitting here sobbing because everything is exactly what I wanted and I apparently don’t know how to deal with that!!

THEIR FEELINGS BECOME WHAT?!?!?!

EVERYTHING IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED AND I’M GONNA BE A MESS ABOUT IT FROM NOW UNTIL THE END OF TIME BECAUSE LIFE IS GRAND!!

ARE ALL OF THESE WATERY SPARKLES LIKE. DEKU’S FUCKING TEARS LMAO OR WHAT. HOW IS KACCHAN IN THE SPLASH ZONE. HOW ARE HIS TEARS HOLDING UP THE SPACESHIP. I DON’T UNDERSTAND A GODDAMN THING BUT THIS IS NOW OFFICIALLY A SHOUJOU MANGA, I DON’T MAKE THE RULES

the urge to ruffle baby Deku and baby Kacchan’s hair is so goddamn powerful you don’t understand. this is PRIMAL. they are SO happy and SO good and perfect. I’m gonna fucking die

there’s not even any dialogue. what the fuck are they even gonna say. their expressions say it all and more. also they are being kind to me because they know I’m not caught up so they don’t want to spoil me any further, thank you my sons

lastly, I guess, because I don’t really have anything else to add now that my brain has fully turned to sappy mush: so uh. I truly have not the slightest clue how or why, but. does Kacchan have OFA though. and why is the answer, “yes he definitely does.” ???

like, I don’t understand it, but I confess that by now I have spoiled myself on the last few pages of chapter 362 for reasons (those reasons being “I finally gave in and looked at them on purpose, because I’d already seen most of them out of context here and there, and my willpower is only so strong”), and so I know that this boy was talking to vestige!Might, and as far as I’m aware that is 100% not possible unless he has some sort of connection to OFA in some way so yeah

and now here he on this last page being all Profoundly Connected with Deku while they gaze into each other’s eyes, and I can’t help but notice that said eyes are all explodey and they look a LOT like Deku’s actually. and on top of that we have all of this All Might symbolism that I’m still crying about, so like? ???

anyway so I’m not going crazy here right? like this is definitely a thing? for whatever reason?? unless you guys know something here that I don’t. in which case I actually am asking to be spoiled fully just this once, because at this point I just need to know one way or the other and I don’t care lol

anyway so that concludes my thoughts I guess! so now my absurdly ambitious goal is to speed read the manga this next week and hopefully at least catch up to Kacchan’s “death”, so that I can better understand what’s happening when I inevitably wind up spoiling myself for chapter 404 as well. the plan right now is to still type up my liveblog notes as I go, but to not worry about posting or editing anything in between chapters. so I’ll have a big backlog of chapter recaps which I’ll eventually get to uploading whenever I can, but in the meantime I can participate more in the fandom side of things. since I really want to share all of my endgame theories and so forth, but in order to do that I really need to find out just what the fuck is actually going on lol, so yeah