#at this point we already know horikoshi loves forgetting things he introduces into the story

[ellectric-blue]

my prediction for the rest of this arc if aizawa survives 😔

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA: 

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn. 

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

??

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy��� look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed

[hopelesshawks]

History of Us Part 3- Introductions

Summary: Once upon a time Todoroki and (y/n) were best friends. Now they haven’t spoken in years. When (y/n) is forced to transfer to UA, will she and Shoto reconnect or will their troubled past keep them apart? A childhood friends to enemies to lovers hybrid fic.

If you don’t want to see History of Us content blacklist #hopelesshou

Masterlist Kofi

You trudge downstairs already dreading meeting new people. Aizawa had assured you your last name would be kept under wraps but it still feels like it’s only a matter of time before everyone figures out who you really are. There’s a reason you dye your hair, your natural coloring is too recognizable and it’s a bitter reminder of a man you actively wish to forget. For years you hated looking in the mirror until you finally convinced your mom to let you dye it. Kirishima had been kind even after finding out but Kirishima is kind to everyone. You seriously doubt everyone is as much of a cinnamon roll as he is, especially if he-who-shall-not-be-named recognizes you and blabs to everyone like the little bitch he is.

As you walk into the lounge area it’s just your luck that you spot him first. It’s like a hit to the chest, physically stopping you in your tracks. Suddenly you’re that sobbing, confused eight year old all over again, just wanting to understand how her best friend in the whole wide world could turn his back on her when she needed him most. Kirishima calling your name snaps you out of it as you roll your eyes and make your way over. If Shoto doesn’t recognize you then fine, you’re not about to give him the satisfaction of knowing it’s upsetting you. You drop onto the couch unceremoniously in the small space between Kirishima and Bakugo, causing the blonde to shoot you a glare and huff as he and Kiri are forced to adjust themselves to make space for you. You give him a satisfied grin once you’re comfortable, which only causes his scowl to deepen more, before suddenly multiple unfamiliar faces are hovering right in your field of vision.

“Have none of you fucking heard of personal space?” you snap instinctively, feeling closed in. They seem unperturbed by your temper, instead a boy with long black hair and a wide toothy grin comments “You really are like Bakugo!” “Don’t compare me to that angry Pomeranian,” you scoff. “Hah!? The fuck you just call me half and half?” Bakugo immediately retorts, crimson eyes glaring you down as his palms spark in warning. “I called you an angry Pomeranian. You deaf or something? That why you fucking yell all the time?” you fire back as black shadows start to curl off your right hand like smoke. “You little-“ Bakugo starts to threaten, looking like he’s seconds away from launching into you and starting a proper fight, but both of you are distracted by the delighted laughter of the others. “I love you already! Name’s Mina Ashido,” the pink girl, Mina apparently, introduces herself. “Glad we’ve finally got someone who can keep Bakugo in check. I’m Kyoka Jiro,” another girl introduces. Your mind whirs as you process more and more new names. Denki Kaminari is the other blonde. The boy with the long black hair is apparently Hanta Sero. All of them introduce themselves with both their first and last names. You will not be following suit. “I’m (y/n),” you reply simply. “No surname?” the eager blonde, Denki you remind yourself, asks with a tilt of his head. The gesture reminds you of an overexcited puppy. “Nope,” is your simple reply. “Why not?” he presses. “Because I said so,” you shoot back, raising one eyebrow. To your surprise he immediately drops the subject and moves on. “So why’d you transfer?” he asks. “Moved too far from my old school,” is your quick reply. “How d’you know Kiri?” “Fatgum’s agency.” “What’s your quirk?” “Jesus Denki it’s not an interrogation. Let the girl breathe,” Sero cuts him off with a laugh, shoving Denki to the side a bit so that Sero becomes front and center in your line of vision. He openly gives you an appraising look from head to toe before saying “Don’t mind him he’s a little nosy. The better question is: are you single?” You can’t help but bark out a startled laugh at the boldness of the question. “Your laugh, while beautiful, is not an answer,” he grins. “God you guys are the worst,” Jiro groans with a roll of her eyes, “you don’t have to answer that.” “Thanks,” you laugh before turning back to Sero to say “but for the record I am single,” with a wink. Your laugh turns into a full on cackle at the way his face goes bright red. “Don’t tell me you can dish it and not take it,” you tease him. “Oh he definitely can’t take it,” Mina giggles before launching into a story to prove her point, much to Sero’s chagrin. A small part of you starts to hope that maybe this year won’t be so bad.

The sound of your laughter draws Shoto’s eyes to you. It’s such a stark contrast between how you’d looked when he last saw you. Guilt crawls up his throat like bile, leaving an acrid taste in his mouth. You’re different from when the two of you were little. Harsher. More acerbic. He’s not entirely surprised but it still saddens him. He wonders if things would’ve been different had he ignored his father’s warnings about you. He wants to ignore his father’s warning now. He wants to march right up to you and apologize for everything, lay himself out bare to prove to you he never wanted to abandon you, but something holds him back. He thinks it might be cowardice. God, how would he even begin to apologize? You were having such a bad time you moved to an entirely different prefecture and he did nothing. Of course you hate him.

Shoto is brought out of his musings by Midoriya nudging him, a questioning look in his green eyes. Midoriya would know how to right the wrongs of the past. Or at the very least would probably be able to give him some ideas. But to fully explain what had happened he’d also have to explain your father and reveal your identity. Judging by the fact your last name wasn’t even given on the list of students Aizawa gave Iida, you must be trying very hard to keep that information confidential. It’s really not his place to share and he’s hurt you quite enough already. Maybe he can talk around it a little bit though. “Midoriya, hypothetically, if you had hurt someone greatly many years ago and now had no idea how to start apologizing. What would you do?” Shoto finally asks after thinking carefully over how to phrase his question. “Hypothetically?” Midoriya asks skeptically. “Yes. Hypothetically,” Todoroki confirms. “Well I guess it depends how bad what I did was,” Midoriya hedges. “It was bad,” Shoto replies immediately, face darkening at the admission. “In this completely hypothetical scenario,” Midoriya replies with a knowing smile. “Yes exactly,” Todoroki says as he clears his throat. “Well I guess I’d start by just doing little things to show I’m sorry until we were both ready to talk and I could apologize properly,” Midoriya offers. Shoto nods thoughtfully as he mulls over Izuku’s words. Small things. He could do small things. “Hey, Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya prompts causing Shoto to return his attention to his friend. “Whatever you did to (y/n), I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think. She’ll forgive you eventually,” Midoriya assures him.

A loud boom causes both of them to jump in their seats, eyes seeking out the source only to land on you and Bakugo almost literally at each other’s throats as the two of you tumble over each other, the crowd around you still laughing at whatever had incited the tussle in the first place. Both of you look damn near feral, causing Midoriya to gulp. “Probably,” he amends, “she’ll probably forgive you eventually.” Todoroki nods almost solemnly. You may just kill him before he gets a chance to apologize. That doesn’t mean he can’t at least try though.

A/N: Am I back to daily updates on a fic again?? Maybe??? We’ll see lmao. It was fun to write more of the class and their dynamics but omg there’s so goddamn many students in class 1A idk how Horikoshi keeps up with them all 😩 also M*neta got kicked out for sexual harassment in this version of events, I refuse to write that little nightmare lol

Taglist: @sorrythatspussynal @miss-bakugo-writes @pixelwisp @larkspyrr @sokkaandzukosimp @akkaso

[hamliet]

how would u rate the mha arcs from least fave to most? i love the war arc, mva, and the kamino ward/ training camp arcs the most !! love ur blog :]

Hmmmmmm.

Forest Training Camp/Hideout Raid

Sports Festival

Hero Killer

Joint Simulation Arc

My Villain Academia

War Arc

Endeavor Agency

Pro Hero

Final Exams

Remedial Course

Overhaul Arc

Cultural Festival

Intro Arc

Provisional Licensing 

Joint Training

Stellar Arcs (1-4)

I love the Forest Training/Hideout Raid Arc, because it is really a turning point in the story, and combines the students’ idealism with real world stakes in a very effective way. It’s well-paced, exciting, and progresses the story and character arcs. 

The Sports Festival is also fantastic for this reason, and Todoroki’s backstory, Ochaco vs. Bakugou--those elements are incredible. Like, I wish Ochaco’s arc had continued from here.

The Hero Killer was a good follow-up; it expanded on the previous arc’s question (what if heroes are the bad guys?) and threw an element of chaos into the story, showing us that hero society is clearly not working for a group of people. The kids are able to defeat Stain but only via breaking the law, and Shouto continues his arc of growing closer to his classmates. 

Joint Simulation was a great way for us to meet the villains and get to know the class, too. Great for a way to introduce the plot. 

Great Arcs (5-9)

I’d actually say the Final Exams is the best written of these, and I love Momo’s development; it’s just not as personally interesting to me as the others, lol. 

I really like all these arcs. Shigaraki’s backstory, Twice’s arc, Toga’s--these are fantastic. The only reason MVA is slightly lower than stellar is because I’m just not sure the Paranormal Liberation Front is that important, and Geten felt like a tease that will go unexplored. 

There’s just one major flaw that runs through the rest of the arcs on this list--they focus too much on heroes and not on the kids. It may be a consequence of the premise Horikoshi’s exploring--the pain of child soldiers is a major theme yet children are your heroes--but Harry Potter and SnK do it better. Also, the War Arc was just very, very long.

Fine/Meh Arcs (10-13)

There’s nothing really wrong with many these arcs, they just don’t jive with me. Remedial Course and Intro are fine and work for the characters and story; they’re just not particularly exciting. 

The Overhaul arc is overly long, has potential that is never really capitalized on. Mirio’s great, but apparently doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, so... (there’s a lot to explore in it but it’d bloat the manga even more, and it doesn’t actually explore any of them). I do like the League’s attack on Overhaul at the end, though. 

The Cultural Festival is part of what I’ll be criticizing below about Arcs I think are bad, but it does finish off the Overhaul Arc with Eri well. However, if this isn’t gonna matter in the end, then... Lol. Also, Gentle and La Brava work to help Deku realize he has to empathize with villains--except he then forgets that and starts all over again next time this comes up, which is, like, in the war arc. Soooo it’s wasted too. 

Bad Arcs  (14-15)

I’ve said this a few times before, but I feel like BNHA’s major flaw in this second “act” so to speak (after the hideout raid) was that it separated the plot from the students, focusing too much on pro-heroes when developing the plot, and too much on the school at the expense of the plot which would just be left hanging for several months on end. 

The Hideout Raid was the point of no return for the audience--we knew the stakes and endgames--and it did not work to separate that atmosphere from the students, as they’re supposed to be our protagonists (again: Harry Potter did it better). Treating the hero licensing exam and the joint training arcs (the worst offenders) with the same emotional weight as the kidnapping of a friend or abuse of a child we’ve just seen--it doesn’t work for the story’s tone and pacing. Consequently all these arcs felt shallow and forced, like someone told Horikoshi to develop the students so he did it in a side story that ate the main story. Plus we kept seesawing--irrelevant students arc, relevant plot arc, irrelevant, relevant--and it just felt dumb. Joint Training in particular just retread what we already knew for the most part in terms of the students’ arcs (Bakugou and Deku being the exceptions, and Deku only technically, because it introduced his new quirk of power up when the plot needs it, and he was already the character who never loses so). 

[clearturtletrash]

Horikoshi’s writing of Shouto and the problems I have with it

If you’re a fan of the way Shouto’s treated in the manga, don’t read, we’ll end up disagreeing on everything and you’ll probably end up offended lol. Because I’m not (satisfied, that is). 

This post is spoiler-heavy for anime onlys, and for manga readers not up to date with the last arc (and last chapter for that matter, which is 301).

So, about Shouto and how he’s handled, along with ‘his’ story.

I don’t get how Horikoshi, whose writing I respect immensely, managed to depict such an incredible and alluring storyline with the Todoroki family, with some of the most complex character writing I’ve seen, but fumbled the one character he had to actually focus on.

Literally more than half the people in the Todoroki storyline are more interesting and more developed than Shouto at this point. Hawks, Endeavour, Dabi, Rei… a good bunch of fans are way more invested in their story than his, and I am too. It’s really sad, because if you asked me two years ago Shouto would have probably been one of my favorite character. But he was completely shafted, given no internal conflict, and at this point, I have the same interest in him as I do for Fuyumi and Natsuo, which basically means his only interesting feature to me is that he’s Endeavour’s child (oh, and he does have a cool design, but that can only get you so far).  

Deku and Katsuki are more popular than him by a landslide compared to before if we believe the Japanese popularity polls, because Hori actually bothers to give them focus, conflict, and cool moments (even though, sometimes I feel like Horikoshi forgets Deku’s his main character lol). It’s a testament to how great Shouto was and how much potential had that he’s still that popular despite everything. Because, let’s be real, Endeavour and Dabi have taken the focus because they have much more emotional energy, while Shouto is just stuck in the crossfire, as a punching ball and stress relief (and eventually as the person who’ll save him I guess) for Touya (see how he was relegated to first aid during the big fight against Tomura? how he did absolutely nothing against Touya who was burning him alive? And how Touya had no interest in Shouto outside of the fact he was Endeavour’s son? Story of the way Hori treats him). He has no particular interesting insight to give on the Todoroki family either as he was too small to remember the important events, so even on this point we can’t count on Horikoshi to write something for him, everything comes from Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Rei. He's really had one great moment in S2 and S3 and that’s it. The way Horikoshi struggles to give him a personality doesn’t help either (he admitted some time ago he was hard to write sometimes, and… yeah, I can see that).  I’m really trying to like his character but the manga gives us nothing, and keeps developing Endeavour, Dabi, and Hawks, which is great (I really love all three of them) but makes no sense given who’s supposed to be the main focus.

In the Endeavour agency arc, Endeavour’s thoughts and struggles were heavily touched upon, and Bakugou and Deku are in sync for 90% of it while Shouto’s just… there. as fodder for Endeavour, and maybe as a link between Endeavour and Bakugou/Deku too. He’s supposed to be a part of both these storylines, but instead, he just ends up as a way for them to overlap. we don't even take a peek in his thoughts, even though it's supposed to be an arc about the Todorokis!

I say all this as someone who eagerly waited for the day Horikoshi would portray Shouto, Katsuki, and Deku as a trio, but yeah, Shouto feels more like a third wheel than anything. if he wanted to establish them that way, he should have done it right after the sports festival arc, but after this arc, they have no scene together, and the focus shifted on Deku and Katsuki. Too little too late I guess.  

To come back to the Todoroki storyline, I feel like Horikoshi simply woke up one day and decided Endeavour was more interesting to write lmao. at this point, it’s more Endeavour’s storyline than Shouto’s, even though Shouto’s supposedly one of the main characters. it has come to a point where, even though I know it ought to focus on Shouto because he’s (at least he should be) the main focus of this particular storyline, I’m hoping it won’t, because that’s just the least interesting aspect of this whole thing.  

I’d say even Ochako’s treated better by the story, because at least Horikoshi tries to challenge her views and beliefs (even though for now it’s not very conclusive), while Shouto’s inner growth hasn't been put into question in how many chapters?

(btw, by inner growth, I’m not talking about his problem with his fire side, because that’s just been rinse and repeat for more than 200 chapters. I mean, srsly it’s been already 3 times since this problem has caused him to lose/fail... and it's not even satisfying like Katsuki or Deku (except for the first time in the sport festival, because that was when his character was still handled very well by Horikoshi). Why? Simply because when he loses, the stakes aren’t high, it’s all training or exams, so he’s just like, "oh, I have to maybe learn how to deal with it!", but there’s no real pressure he’s under. It’s not like Deku, who, if he does not progress, will break all his bones, and who failed to rescue Katsuki because of his broken arms (=and had a mental breakdown immediately afterwards and blamed himself). It’s not like Katsuki either, because Katsuki has a personality that makes low stakes feel like high stakes, which isn’t the case for Shouto. just compare Shouto's reaction when he loses because of his setbacks to Katsuki's reaction when he lost to Deku the first time (mental breakdown), or when Katsuki failed the provisional license exam (another mental breakdown, not caused just by his failing, but yeah). And anything else about Shouto's inner growth is tied to his reaction to Endeavour’s arc, which isn’t a flaw, and 100% depends on the way Endeavour acts. Apart from this, he has 0 internal conflict).  

Sorry, I’ve gone off on a tangent lol.

To get back to the point I was making, and to further develop my analogy with Ochako, let’s look at their relationship with Deku, because there’s a major difference there, which is clearly in favor of Ochako.  Deku has a big impact on Ochako, yes, but the reverse is also true. People complain she’s all about him (which, yeah, probably), but at least, she made a big impact on him too. She was the main reason ‘Deku' became his hero name. Shouto and Deku have a nice friendship, and Deku clearly considers him one of his best friends. but... it’s all one-sided in terms of impact, I can’t think of a single thing Shouto has done who changed/motivated Deku, while Deku literally changed his life. Because of this, he’s not one of the people who’s intrinsically tied to Deku’s character development, because he’s not Ochako, Inko, Katsuki or All Might (and probably soon Tomura).

His writing feels so fast compared to the others too. Shigaraki / Deku and Toga / Ochako have been paralleled for ages, have had a conversation at least once, and have had deep encounters early on. Nonetheless, both Deku and Ochako are just coming to terms with the fact these villains aren’t so different from them. However, Shouto’s only interaction with Dabi is a ten second eye contact when Dabi kidnapped Katsuki. Dabi had more interactions with Endeavour for fuck's sake! Shouto then learns Dabi’s Touya, and speed runs the development of Ochako and Deku. He doesn’t even need 10 chapters to process they’re ’the same'. Where were all the reflection and doubts? Okay, it’s his brother, so the parallels are easier, but still, it shows Horikoshi doesn’t allow Shouto to have that much introspection, and I feel it’s because Horikoshi just doesn’t care that much. Even worse! Horikoshi introduces another hero parallel to Dabi in the character of Hawks. A parallel much more interesting and compelling, because it parallels Dabi MUCH BETTER. They’re opposites in every ways (particularly in regards to their relationship with Endeavor), and know each other. Touya and Shouto don’t even seem to have spoken to each other...

And so, the only thing that still was interesting and that Horikoshi still bothered to develop was Shouto’s relationship with Endeavour, but in the end, even that was overshadowed by the much more complex, fucked up, and challenging relationships of Endeavour and Touya (and Endeavour and Hawks) as seen in 301 and before. Clearly the one Dabi’s fixated on is Endeavour.

one last thing: Shouto's stuck in a weird loop where Horikoshi kind of makes him comes close of the Bakugou and Deku duo, and then when we start to think they’re an actual trio, he does everything in his power to make it very clear how that’s NOT where he belongs either, since OFA/All Might/Deku/Katsuki is another storyline. It’s as if Horikoshi doesn’t want him here (see: how he decided the ‘win all might’ scene didn’t have to include him), but puts him there sometimes anyway. It’s probably because Shouto’s so popular, which, yeah, would be fine, if he could stick to it!

His supposed admiration for All Might (I feel like everybody forgets it's a part of his character, and I don't blame them) is brought up once every blue moon, which compared to Deku and Katsuki, is just ridiculous. And, once again, All Might has a much deeper and more interesting relationship with Endeavour than with Shouto. At this point, I don’t even know what Hori could do to make me want to read about him. I much prefer the dynamic of Hawks/Endeavour/Touya and Katsuki/Deku/All Might.

I hope the future will prove me wrong for his character. Actually, I hope everything I’m saying is wrong and idiotic, and Horikoshi will make every scene I criticized worth it and a means to an end. I mean, he clearly has the talent and writing ability to pull off some of the best character development I’ve ever seen, so anything’s possible. but yeah, I don’t really believe it for now, and I’m frustrated, because Shouto had so much potential.

tldr; I liked Shouto as a character, but he dwindled after some time, and now I feel as if he’s not the focus of his own storyline, because this place is occupied by the much more dynamic relationships of Endeavour, Touya and Hawks. And I’m not even mad, because their dynamic is much more interesting. However, I feel like Horikoshi grew bored of Shouto, and has put much more soul into Katsuki and Deku as of late.

I’m welcoming any responses, if people are seeing an aspect of his character I don’t, please enlighten me! I miss enjoying his character, and I’m not opposed to seeing him in a different light. I just needed to put down my thoughts in writing to make sense of them lol.

[sumsmasterpiece]

The Lesson I Learned From The Todoroki Family

WARNING: long rant about my personal life on the bottom. Super long post!

The Lesson of Today = Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a very interesting emotion that I feel is very misrepresented most of the time in the media. Horikoshi has brilliantly shown the many different faces that forgiveness can take form. 

Shouto

Shouto’s journey to forgiveness is very believable for someone who is young and had gone through the trials of abuse and neglect. He started off in the series as very fearful and grew to be very petty and angry towards his father. His anger blinded him to the only good thing in his life to be forgotten until it took someone (Midoriya) to remind him of his past and to take a new perspective on how to live his life. He is also a great character because he doesn’t just magically accept Endeavor after he accepts his fireside and even admits that he probably will never fully forgive his father. He also held his hatred for his father that he never blamed his mother for scaring him. Later in the manga, it took some again making him see how he views his dad (Midoriya again) that he was already taking strides towards forgiving his father and wasn’t even realizing that he was. 

Fuyumi

Fuyumi represents the hopeful family member. Now this will be speculation because we haven’t really seen her side of the story much but from the short scenes that she is present you can see a girl who wasn’t accepted into the family and was forced to grow up really fast for her family. I don’t know if she fully forgives Endeavor but we can safely say she wants her family to move in the direction of coming together again. 

Natsuo

This character will probably hold on to his hatred for his father until the day he dies. Again much like Fuyumi, we don’t know much about his childhood and what he experienced growing up, but from what little information that has been given it safe to say that he at least heard of what was happening with Touya and Shouto and then the “death” of Touya he forced onto Endeavor. Natsuo shows that he loves his family so much, but he can’t just forgive and forget like how he sees Fuyumi doing because he is just ties those negative emotions to the man Endeavor himself. So much so that he won’t even acknowledge Endeavor as a father but as his hero name. He even tells Endeavor that he can’t forgive him. 

Rei

Rei can be seen in one of three ways.

1. There is the lense of a domestic abuse victim where they forgive their abuser because they feel they were the cause of the change in them and not the other way around. (mental manipulation and torture) 

2. Self-forgiveness for what she did to Shouto not only as a person but also as a mother. That fear of never being forgiven by your own child the one that a mother loves unconditionally.

3. Forced forgiveness (this falls a little in my headcanon of Rei) I feel that Rei was raised in a household where the process of marriage was permanent and divorce was seen as being a failure and basically not an option. As a wife, it was her duty to do what she can for the family system and be strong and I think she felt like a failure for breaking down (even though that totally not true but the brain and abuse does crazy shit).

Dabi/Touya

Dabi is the example of physically doing everything in your power to separate yourself from what you hate so much. His story can go many different directions because until the reveal is made we have either an actual death sibling that Endeavor pushed too far or pushed him too far to the point that his way of forgiveness is to kill it and be rid of the feelings of resentment all together. 

Endeavor

The process of being forgiven is a process that I would not enjoy going through. It’s one of the story elements in the My Hero that I appreciate. Endeavor became one of my favorite characters because he is taking steps to realize he messed up and is doing right by his family (better late than ever...? God I’m going to get so many hate comments). But he wouldn’t have been my favorite character, in fact I hated him when he first was introduced in the anime, it only took me reading the manga and seeing the development where I started to see why this character was important and how he is necessary to the plot of My Hero. It’s smart writing to have so many different ideologies and people to represent them but it’s also is even better writing when you have a character with an established ideology and starts to question it and begins to change. Because people in the real world are not stagnant or just one thing or one representation because that's what humans are, complicated. If Horikoshi just wrote it where magically all of the Todoroki family magically forgave Endeavor for becoming the Number One Hero and then he gets a scare on his face and declares he going to change, I would absolutely have hated it, but now he is showing that people (even if they are in the same family) can forgive and move on with their lives at different paces than others. And no matter how much one family member or person tells you that you need to just forgive them so you can move on with your life or vice versa you don’t have to do that either. 

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Personal Life Story

Let me start by saying that I had nowhere near the horrid childhood that Shouto or his siblings had ever gone through. However, I know that all people's trauma and pain are all relative and no one's sorrows or pains are worse off than others. That being said, I have a very strain relationship with my biological father (or how I like to refer to him as the sperm donor). He (in my eyes) is why a person should never be a parent when they are emotionally not invested in the lives of their children. My parents got a divorce when I was 2 and I never learned the true reason behind the divorce until I turned eighteen. My mother did her damnest to keep the truth of what really happened and to make sure I had a relationship with my father and things were okay with my dad until I turned 15. Up until that point, it was a decent relationship with my seeing him every Tuesday and staying with him every other weekend but I automatically could tell the difference between him and my mom. He would tell me lies and bash my mother, blaming her and her family for the entire problem in the marriage and why it ended. Growing up, I believed that I was part of the reason that they got divorced, that I was too much of a strain and just tipped things too far. But my feelings started to change about my dad was with my first stepmom. I literally turned into Cinderella whenever I would go over on those weekends and I would beg my mother not to let me go because she was so mean and vindictive and my father just never did anything about it. He never protected me or stood up for me and I think that was when my resentment for him began. Eventually, they got a divorce and things were decent until he started dating again. He would date women with baggage and need to be taken care of with children. The worst was when he’d have them move in and when they break up they’d take stuff of his. The final straw that caused me to final say I had enough was when one weekend I went over with his almost wife number 3 and she had two children who were significantly younger than me. Now there was an unspoken rule in his house that no one was allowed to go into my room because that was my space and I’m not there all the time to keep an eye on it. But for some up godly reason, he let these kids use my toys and let them defile and destroy and mark up my toys and then telling me that I should let it go because they’d just wanted to have fun. It wasn’t even that my toys were ruined (or that I’m just super picky and particular with how my things are and should be) but it just felt like a disrespect on me as a person but worst of all me as his daughter. 

I should probably mention now that my father suffers from bipolar depression and I know that sometimes that it is a horrible thing to go through, I also know that he doesn’t get help and doesn’t want help. He hated being on medication some stopped taking them and never went back on them. He is also a very sad man. He is the type of guy who is trying to find love for himself through someone else. 

It’s been 6 years since I last spoke or seen my father. In the beginning, he’d try to contact me through Facebook then contacting my friends through Facebook to force them to tell me to contact him. The worst was when he was on wife number 3 she messaged me a nasty message saying that I needed to grow up and to talk to my father. Sometimes I find it laughable that I can act more adult than him. Ever since then I have just been harboring this anger and hatred and wrath and grief and guilt over this man that is my father.

The reason this ties back to the Todoroki Family is that my mother has been preaching to me about how I need to forgive him and that I would feel so much better with my life if I just forgive him. But I don’t know how to go about doing that. A part of me has just felt this way for so long that I don’t know how else to feel. Another part of me feels that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness because in my mind if I forgive him than it excuses all that he did to me and that he can go through the rest of his life feeling that I was wrong and he was right. There was a point where I felt such resentment and anger that I didn’t care if he was already dead and I’d never known about it. I felt like I would be glad to be rid of him from my life.

I’m at the point now that I have thought about forgiveness and honestly, that is the most that I can do up to this point. I am afraid that I’ll become like him someday. I have his depressive tendencies as well as his anger and I am so afraid that I will treat people the same way he treated me. I’m afraid to become the monster that he is. 

Basically, what I’m saying is that I’m kind of in a Natsuo and Shouto place in my life. And honestly, that’s okay. Forgiveness is something that needs to be done at a person’s own pace and it has to be something that you truly believe with your whole heart and being. Because if it isn’t, then the break of those emotions won’t be clean and you will be in a weird limbo. 

---

Thank you for reading my Ted Talk. I hope this made sense.

[ghostlycreatoruniverse]

Dabi and the awkward black ballon: a narrative comparison between Touya Todoroki and Vinsmoke Sanji

Hello everyone!

I’m really thrilled about this whole situation , I can’t stop coming up with ideas!

This is about Dabi, Hawks and the black balloon. I’m making this post because I’m totally convinced that Dabi hadn’t tell Hawks he was Touya Todoroki. He might have said something that implied it, but I think that this is not all he told to Hawks. I’ll try to cover others possibility in another post, but to consolidate my position I wants to draw another comparison.

This time is between Dabi and Black Leg Sanji from Eiichiro Oda’s great masterpiece: One Piece.

One Piece is a worldwide famous and one of the most important and best sellers manga of this generation. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not: at some point if your life if you like mangas you’re bound to hear One Piece sooner or later.

For those who never read/ disliked it, Black Leg Sanji is one of the main crew character and soon after his introduction he haunted fans with one question: who he really is?

In years hints became gradually more important; however One Piece is full of adventure and emotional moments so you’re bound to forget about it from time to time... just to be reminded that he’s hiding something.

I don’t know what Horikoshi thinks about One Piece, but I think he should know one or two things about it at least . Oda is considered one hell of a mangaka, being able to tie plot lines among the years, so if I were Horikoshi I’d give a look at One Piece to take inspiration. You have to consider this is a good way to avoid having a copycat event in two mangas published on the same magazine.

I’ll explain briefly who Sanji is.

Sanji is the cook of the Straw Hat pirates and he was (almost forcibly) recruited by Luffy before they entering in the Grand Line making him one of the first nakama.

He was introduced with the nickname “Black Leg”, inherited by his boss who raised him like father ( “Red Leg Zeff”). Zeff tried to assault the cruise ship Sanji was working on as a kid, but they both shipwrecked. When they were saved Zeff took Sanji they met Luffy.

In One Piece names are extremely important, but back then readers really hasn’t that feeling and before Sanji, both Nami and Usopp didn’t have a family name. So no one was impressed.

The first foreshadowing something was off happens around Skypeia arc. In fact all the first straw hat pirates (Zoro, Nami and Usopp) were said to be from East blue, thus everyone thought Sanji was too. However after finding a book Nami never heard of, Sanji gave a brief recap adding casually he was from North Blue instead .

A recurring fun gag about him is that when he finally gained his wanted poster an awful drawing of him was placed instead of his photo. Later on another character was introduced: Duval, who is the spit image of the bleak drawing. As funny as it can be, Duval was persecuted for many time, guaranteeing Sanji wasn’t found.

The biggest red herring Sanji gave was around chapters 480+. In front an honourable yet powerful enemy, Sanji was ready to sacrifice his life for his captain’s sake , underlining that he is someone important due to his background.

After that many theories were edited. And this went on for YEARS.

Until, chapter 800+. Around thst arc we finally get to know his full name and backstory. Vinsmoke Sanji was the third male son of a fallen aristocratic family. He had 3 brothers and one sister, an abusive father and a mother who was locked away in a medical facilities. In fact when she was pregnant, her husband forced on her some scientific experiment to turn their kids in the “perfect soldiers” stripping out every sign of humanity from them. She, trying to save her children for this bleak fate, took a medicine to inverse the process. In the end only Sanji was spared and had a kind heart, while she had a chronic illness that few years later killed her. Sanji then was considered a failure by his own father , enough to fake his own death and putting him in a jail. He then escaped to East Blue thanks to his sister who helped him.

Now, Enji seems to be a loving father when compared to Vinsmoke Judge.

Despite Sanji and Dabi’s story being quite similar , what I want to point out it’s the timing.

Oda foreshadowed this for years and gradually. And when the time was about to come, he added even more details to build Sanji’s great revelation. Once it was declared he was a Vinsmoke there was no turning back and all of his past was known in the following chapters. Of course it took some time to develop it all, but Vinsmokes were brand new characters, while Todoroki are very well known, so I expected Touya’s past to be introduced soon after his revelation, like it happened.

My main concern is... why.

Horikoshi chose an approach similar to Oda.

He show us Todoroki siblings one after another. He hinted Touya had a powerful fire type quirk, yet his body couldn’t stand it. He hinted about his death even before Natsuo spoke about it openly, having Fuyumi praying in one panel. In My Villain Academia he inserted baby Fuyumi’s panel. When Dabi was first introduced he spoke like Shoto does and he made clear he wanted to keep his name a secret. We then were reminded that nobody knew who Dabi was, but instead he was thinking about family and hold a personally grudge against Todorokis.

And that’s was fine! It was exactly like Sanji’s and to be expected.

in chapter 267 at the peak of drama the big black balloon happened. I was both intrigued and excited about it because it was something different and new when compared with the iconic One Piece. And so I guessed that we would have to wait a lot of time before knowing the truth. Then chapter 290 happened.

Now, if you compared Sanji’s reveal with Touya’s reveal your noticed that Sanji took years since his first introduction. The most significant and last foreshadowing can be considered his wanted poster, which after Dressrosa arc finally had his picture and full name on it, with the status of “wanted only alive”.

The huge unnerving block balloon was like Sanji’s poster: the moment everyone saw it they thought Dabi said “I’m Touya” as much as everyone said “Sanji’s theory about being some sort of prince/ son of an important family it’s true”.

And it works! Because the moment we knew Touya was Dabi we would have wanted to know how Touya turned into Dabi, as much as what happened to Sanji.

What it doesn’t sound right it why hiding that dialogue with a black ballon in chapter 267 to give us the truth only 6 months later when One Piece took his own sweet time with Sanji.

To me this makes absolutely no sense at all.

But Horikoshi decided differently than One Piece. And illogically.

The only way this would actually makes any sense is if Dabi said something else to Hawks. Or rather: what if he said he was Touya but with another meaning? With last chapters we were overloading with new informations about Dabi/ Touya. So the black balloon isn’t that interesting to us anymore. And conveniently Hawks is out of the games for the moment, so we don’t expect him to say something about it. It might be argued that we don’t need to, not anymore.

However after that sentence which took and entire panel Hawks should have something to say, and he can’t bothered the reader with something we already know.

This comparison ties perfectly with Anakin
Skywalker’s: in fact after years it was Sanji’s turned to be talked about. His identity moved One Piece’s story one arc forward.

Instead about Anakin... audience didn’t really need his backstory. It was something you wanted to know, but the story could have worked just fine: you just needed to know Vader was Luke’s father to understand why he saved the Jedi at the cost of his own life.

I thus expect we’ll dig up more into Dabi’s past in the following arcs; no, I’m not delusion: Dabi being Touya won’t move the plot much forward aside from the hero society being totally ruined. And neither will end the Todorokis drama.

The situation is dire, of course, and heroes will have it hard. But still, society needs heroes so they can’t just give up on them. Things will change and won’t change at the same time cause even in the worst case scenario, in which Endeavor and Hawks will stop working and all heroes are fired someone needs to take a stand against Shigaraki.

Touya’s death instead might give another push forward, giving the Todoroki arc a deserved ending.

Bear in mind that this doesn’t mean Dabi can’t die. He totally can. But if into Touya’s death a secret lies this can be useful for upcoming future arcs, even if I doubt Dabi will die here and now.

[lethesomething]

The morality scale of BnHA

Heya Nonny, Alright, so this is one that has been sitting in my drafts for a while. So thanks for making me finally finish it :) And I'm going to be contrite again and start with: to me, BnHA is pretty complex when it comes to morality. Let me explain why I think so.

Mild spoiler warning for the manga (Chapter 133)

Who watches the Watchmen

So this is something @thekuroiookami​ noted in one of our chats, but  several of the underlying themes of BnHA are similar to the classic Alan Moore comic book The Watchmen (it was made into a movie, also). And I like to imagine Horikoshi knows of this comic, and that it is intentional. Watchmen, which I'm sure you can find all kinds of meta on, is about the fall of heroes. Specifically, super heroes. It's about responsibility, accountability. Who watches the Watchmen?

One of the central themes of that book is what it takes to be a hero. It’s about moral decisions. Should you strive for peace, and how many lives are you willing to put on the line for that. That kind of thing. Now Watchmen, is pretty heavy and almost depressing, so while BnHA has similar themes, the moral of Horikoshi's story is very different and so far more optimistic. What they have in common, in a big way, is that morality comes on a sliding scale. So while heroes in BnHA are, on the whole, a force for good, they are far from black and white.

Heroes and villains

Which makes it all the more interesting, that that is totally not how they're first introduced to us.

We initially see the world entirely through the eyes of a young Izuku, who incidentally worships the starkest, truest hero of them all, All Might. He is the literal symbol of peace and I think we can all agree that he's a truly good person, who does his hero-ing for all the right reasons.

The great part is that as we follow Izuku on his journey, it becomes clear that not everyone is quite this angelic.

Good people doing good things for the right reasons

Let's start with All Might, who is the ultimate hero to pretty much the entire cast. He has the power, the drive, the attitude, the looks. Everyone has some story about how he once rescued a thousand people while going 'It's allright'. But then, during his very first meeting with Izuku, it turns out he's not an ultimate hero all the time. All Might is at this point a literal façade. And the façade of the hero world just kinda keeps crumbling from that point.

It's telling, for instance, that some of the 'purest' heroes in this story are the younger ones. Izuku is, obviously, the poster boy here. He wants to 'do good' and he truly cares about people. Slightly more interesting, though, is Kirishima. Because Kirishima is one of the first and only examples of a hero trying to de-escalate a violent situation. That stuff is standard practice for a lot of police forces. The idea is that when someone is acting out, when they're threatening people, you try to talk them down.

That's what Red Riot tries when faced with that tooth guy. Admittedly, he’s already punched him by this point, but the guy also friggin shot Suneater, so I’m calling that a draw. Kirishima also ultimately fails, but at least he tries the non-violent approach, which is notably absent from a lot of other heroes.

Good people doing good things for the wrong reasons

This one is kind of the basis of Stain's whole philosophy. Example: Mount Lady is shown to steal spotlights, to plain profiteer from her fame and looks. That's not really villain type behaviour, but it's not exactly squeaky clean either. Again, it's a sliding scale. Uraraka wants to be a hero for the money, which would be 'bad', but she just wants to help her parents, which is 'good'. There's a lot of moral greyness here. You could, for instance, also put Iida's crisis of conscience in here. He brashly charges in to kill stain out of vengeance, forgetting the part where he's a: not really equipped for this fight, you dolt, and b: supposed to save the other guy. Not a paragon of virtue kind of moment for him there. But does it make him a bad person? No. It makes him human.

Good people acting bad

Some heroes are honest to god good people, but have some unsociable behaviour, or just plain look like hobos (yes hello Aizawa). You can consider this superficial. And then things get… muddied.

Bakugou is an interesting one, because he's incredibly powerful, and very smart, with attitude issues and a past as a bully. Is he a bad person? It seems like he's working on it. New question, which I know tumblr is gonna love: Mineta. He's a sleazy teen who wants to be a hero to get chicks, and who exhibits unwanted behaviour towards women. Is he a bad person? Would you class him as a hero or a villain? And then there's Endeavour, who is supposed to be the number two hero in the country. And he's a shit stain of a human being. Where exactly would you class him?

Bad people and the lives they lead

I'm not gonna do every character here, but I think you get my point. There's a lot of moral grey in BnHA. The same goes for villains, too. I've seen quite a few meta posts on what it says about society that it has a warrior who punches people as a symbol of peace. And how the strict way in which the BnHA universe deals with quirks is what Makes Villains. And it must be said: most of the bad guys in the story are not mindless, and they're not without motivation. Stain really believes that hero culture is out of control. He is the bitter ex-hero. If this were an American comic, he could be the Punisher (ostensibly a hero). He has the drive, the power, the charisma. He just has a terrible way of getting his point across (murder). There's a scale, even on the darker side. Chisaki does horrible, horrible things for something he believes in. He's a terrible human being, but he's good to his men, he gives them something to believe in. To live for. Shigaraki, arguably one of the most petty of villains, wants to mostly cause chaos, but he's also aiming for revenge. His parents died and All Might could not save them. That is super sad, but it is something he could have gotten over, if it weren't for All for One. Shigaraki has been GROOMED to be a villain since he was six. You could wonder how much of a chance he, with his bad guy quirk and his upbringing, ever had.

We're all human here

Where I actually answer the question. You're right, nonny, when you say that the way 'justice' is dealt in the story is too simple. Because let me make it perfectly clear. The BnHA universe  may have superpowers, it's by no means a just society. It's not a utopia. It has the exact same issues as present day Japan, only with more explosions and… slime attacks. There are people that don't fit in society. There are those that rebel, there are those that are in it for the money, there are those that use their family and ancient marriage traditions for personal gain. In Vigilante spinoff, which is arguably a grittier version of BnHA, there are those who try to seek justice where regular cops can't do it.

While the public may need to see heroes as larger than life celebrities, what BnHA is very careful in showing us is that every one of these characters is human.

So to finally answer the question: I don't think Horikoshi is trying to write a black and white story. There are links in the very fabric of the manga, to real world issues: to police violence, to sexism, to celebrity culture. While the story started innocently and tropey enough, we are seeing, with every new arc, the deeper issues of this society. We're growing up with young Izuku and learning that the world is not a perfect place. Good people get hurt and die. Bad people sometimes get away with it.

I actually have pretty good hopes that we'll see, later on, the likes of Izuku or Kiri or Bakugou struggle with what it means to be just. The suffocating bounds of the law are already a theme being dealt with in Vigilante - My Hero Academia Illegals (a spin-off which, if you're into this sort of thing, I can highly recommend). So I don't think that's likely to be addressed any time soon. What we might see more of for Izuku and gang, is the boundary between hero and villain. Shinsou's struggle, for instance, with his 'evil' quirk. Or maybe something like a Dabi arc. If he truly is Todoroki's brother, like the theory goes, that could make for some Very Interesting story lines about the consequences of Endeavour's behaviour.

I just hope it never gets as depressing as Watchmen, tbh.

PS: I do a lot of these.

[yeastofeden]

SO LET’S TALK “WHO’S THE TRAITOR” SOME MORE

If you’ve never read my initial theory post, please do yourself a favor and check that shit out. It is a foundation for the theory that, regrettably, was missing a lot of information that I wasn’t able to get to until I was able to do a reread of the series, plus I wanted to wait for the series to develop a little further. The original post was made right after "Deku vs Kacchan 2" was released, so we’ve had about 30 chapters of development. You might be wondering how on earth 3k words isn’t enough to make my point the first time, but here I am yet again! 

I might sound crazy, but believe me when I say… I am the MOST serious. 

The Art of Subtlety One of the most amazing things about Horikoshi’s writing is that he is incredibly subtle. This has happened in a bazillion different places, from pointless comparisons like Horikoshi’s love of rabbits, the rabbit-like ears on Deku’s costume, and the antenna that the rabbit-ears are meant to emulate; and it can also span a much greater distance, the subtle references to Bakugou’s issues with Deku mentioned in their first fight, later making more sense in their second. Uraraka is no different. Without going into anything about traitors yet, here’s an example. Most of us might say that the very first time that Uraraka’s crush on Midoriya comes up is when Aoyama asks her about it during the midterm exam. But actually, it’s Gunhead who first teases her about it right after the Hero Killer Stain arc! 

More significant moments have happened, as well. I’d like to talk two kinds of subtlety; artistic subtlety and literary subtlety. Because we’re dealing with a comic book, both art and literature ideas should be taken into account, though naturally they have expectable overlap. The following image is the entire basis for the theory that there is actually a second Twice that exists in canon right now. 

Middle guy look familiar? This kind of subtlety relies a bit on artistic judgement. The figure’s hair is a light object on a dark ground, is located in the very center of the image, is the foremost, unobstructed figure in the picture, and it is the largest unobstructed figure on the page. The gradient on his suit could also be a way to guide the viewer up to the characters head. He is also located under the window which, presumably, Twice is looking out of as he tells his story. This is all a part of “artistic subtlety”, where even though we’re given no words regarding the situation, the art draws our attention to the character in the center. This, naturally, hasn’t been proven yet, but I’m sure in due time we’ll see it bears fruit. 

Toga’s quirk also gets concealed by subtleties, though this time we must infer by what is written. Upon being introduced to Toga, we never find out what her quirk is. Despite this, it later becomes hinted at during her encounter with Uraraka: "You wanna be the same as the guy you like, it's only natural! so you, like, wear all of the same things! // But then you start not taking the same satisfaction as before and you start wantin' to straight up become that person! There's just no helpin' it!" (FA translation, image linked below.)

It’s subtle, but unmistakably a reference to what we would eventually find out. It’s only later on that Toga actually uses her quirk, becoming Camie - but again, we have no reason to believe that Camie could be an imposter. Nevermind the fact that Camie, for some reason, is WEIRDLY obsessed with Midoriya upon meeting him without knowing anything about him (couch, Toga’s crush on Midoriya). The other thing that I’d like to note is that Camie expresses an odd interest in Uraraka when she disappears, obviously a result of their first encounter: 

All of this is enough to give the suggestion that Camie is actually Toga, and I don’t think it would have been farfetched in previous months to have made this theory. Horikoshi definitely deals heavily in subtlety.

So, this might sound like a lot of talk about Not Uraraka, but hear me out. What’s important to note here is just that the subtlety is the basis of the argument - because that’s just how Horikoshi writes. What I’ll be doing here mostly is connecting her to other things in the series, and how what we’ve seen compares to Uraraka’s behavior. Even I’ve made a subtle remark already toward a later part of the theory.

Double Double, Toil & Trouble This first one is a bit silly, but I think it’s kind of funny and curious; and also I want to make a point about "artistic subtlety.” If you take a look at the 2017 character poll for My Hero Academia, you’ll find that the characters in the image appropriately line up with the kind of role they would play in a medieval fantasy RPG. Bakugou the rogue barbarian, Deku the commoner, Iida the knight, and Todoroki the nobel they fit because of who they are in canon. Though were forced to speculate a little, we cannot doubt that each of these characters absolutely fits their role. 

Then…. we get to Uraraka. The witch. Though it’s absolutely possible to claim she’s "just a mage," we should be particular about the artistic decisions made when designing her costume. The pointed cap, the rustic color scheme, the wooden staff - from experience dealing with RPGs, that usually adds up to a "black mage," which of the different types of mages most closely equates "witch." There is variation, but could Uraraka be any other kind of mage base on her costume?

What’s in a Name? Horikoshi has been fairly intentional with his naming structures, as is typical of manga and anime. This is a part of literary subtlety, similar to the queues Toga has given to her quirk and Camie’s true identity. 

Just some examples of current naming sturctures: Midoriya contains the kanji 緑 (midori), which is "green" in Japanese. Bakugou’s name uses 爆 (baku), a part of the word 爆破 (bakuha), meaning "explosion." We even see characters developing naming structures in canon; Bakugou changed the meaning of “出久”, Izuku, to “Deku” - and also in the way Uraraka reappropriates the name. There’s a lot of hidden meaning and puns involved with the names in MHA. So…

We know Urarka Ochako’s name, 麗日お茶子, means "bright, beautiful" and "tea girl" respectively. Her hero name is Uravity, ウラビティ, which is again a kind of pun on her name. The two names are meant to be just subtle fun references to her personality and her quirk. 

My hang up here is the interesting fact that "ura" is actually a repeating element in both names. I’m thinking of the noun 裏 (ura). I’m just going to list off a few translations using the character on its own as well as a few highlights of how it’s combined with other kanji and hirigana to give you a sense of what kind of word 裏 is.

裏(うら) (ura) 1. bottom (or another side that is hidden from view); undersurface; opposite side; reverse side 4. out of sight; behind the scenes; in the shadows 裏切る(うらぎる)(uragiru) 1. to betray; to turn traitor to; to double-cross 裏方 (うらかた)(urakata) 1. someone working behind-the-scenes; scene shifter 

translations: jinsho(.)org

Obviously, 裏 is not in Uraraka’s name, the "ura" instead coming from 麗 (urara), but like… if Horikoshi actually used the other kanji it would have been a dead give and I wouldn’t be here arguing this. Covering up this naming structure seems like just the kind of thing Horikoshi would do. Given that we have uraraka and uravity being repeated as a theme, is it really far off to think perhaps there’s more meaning to it?

Envy

verb 1. desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to (someone else).

As loving and kind as Uraraka is, we cannot forget that she has her flaws just as every character in MHA does, which is what makes her and so many characters in the series so great. What’s interesting, however, is that her flaws (as far as this post is concerned) have a lot to do with a particular theme that keeps repeating in the storyline: the them of admiration, imitation, and copying. Some examples from the heroes include the struggle Midoriya is constantly overcoming to separate himself from his idol, All Might; Iida nearly getting himself killed because his admiration for his brother get over his head; and the struggles Todoroki goes through trying not to become like his father. 

The villains are just as much part of this theme; however, it would appear that one of the aspects has consumed them. For example, Twice’s quirk is to make copies, which we’ve seen resulted in the identity crisis he talks about in his monologue. Toga’s ability to imitate a person, and how her own personality results in an obsession with wanting to literally become her crush. All For One is the quirk that pretty much embodies the tragedy, a man who enviously steals all quirks to inflate his own power. 

Which brings me to Uraraka, who must overcome an aspect that makes her most like the villains of any other character. Namely, her crush on Midoriya is absolutely now treads on the thin line between admiration and envy. 


Toga first introduces us to the idea when she compares herself to Uraraka, talking about how they both want literally to become the person they admire. That admiration is what makes Toga’s personality “evil.” Because Toga relates her own feelings to Uraraka’s, we as the readers are meant to question the approach to Uraraka’s crush in turn. Has she envied Midoriya longer than she’s had feelings for him? Has the number of people asking if she had a crush on Midoriya affected the way she she perceives her own feelings? Did she deceive herself to believe her own envy is actually feelings of love?

Every other hero in the story has been shown exactly why imitation and admiration can be a problem and each has learned from their mistakes in order to embrace their own strengths - Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki are all learning how to embrace the strengths that were passed on to them. But none of these boys learned this lesson without going through great hardships: Midoriya’s scarred arm is proof enough; Iida watched haplessly as his friends nearly got themselves killed to defend him; and Todoroki was shamed at the sports festival resulting in a spell of dissociation and he was shamed during the provisional license exam. Bakugou goes through something similar, in the shape of jealousy; and Momo as well, envying Todoroki. 

Uraraka hasn’t learned her lesson, however. In fact, we’re watching over and over again as Uraraka just barely avoids learning her lesson in order to become stronger. For example, during the provisional license exam, this happens: 

Uraraka reacts this way because she is trying to mimic Midoriya's act-first-think-later attitude, nearly costing her a lot more points during the exam. Instead, Momo cuts her off, thus preventing the much more sever consequences that could have helped Uraraka learn from the situation on her own. Even though she wants to overcome her feelings for Midoriya, she hasn't actually learned anything. She continues to try and become Midoriya, thus inhibiting her own development. And worse, in this case, she's only "learned" because Momo did the thinking for her. Arguably, she would be better off embracing her crush, but Horikoshi just didn’t write it that way. 

Chapter Titles and What’s to Come There are a couple of "themed" chapters in the series, notable by the syntax used in the phrasing of the chapter titles. One is "[Character]: Origin" which Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugou have each had. The "origin" chapters are typically a turning point in the title character’s development, and we can assume that this point is the most significant turning point in their storyline. Todoroki uses his fire for the first time; Bakugou works with Midoriya for the first time; Midoriya receives his quirk. Momo also has a similarly phrased chapter for herself, called “Yaoyorozu: Rising,” and she goes through a similar lesson to the aforementioned boys. Logically, Momo is likely to get her own “Origin” chapter later on. 

The next is "From [Character A] to [Character B]" which Todoroki, Iida, Midoriya, "teacher" (ie, All Might and AfO), and "disciple" (ie, Shigaraki and Midoriya) are in the the titles. These chapters deal with passing something on. "From Teacher to Desciple" is the (presumed) final battle between All Might and AfO, where at the end of the battle both hero and villain are "defeated" in some way; thus the torch is passed from All Might and AfO to Midoriya and Shigaraki respectively.. Todoroki passes on what he’d learned from the sports fest to Iida; Iida passes on his trust to Midoriya in order to save Bakugou. There’s also "vs" and "and" for a couple themes, but they’re very self-explanatory. Most of these characters have been mentioned a couple of times in the titles of chapters. 

Uraraka has only had one of the “themed” chapters with her name in it, titled “Bakugou vs Uraraka.” That is, currently, her pinnacle chapter; almost 100 chapters ago. For the heroine of the story, that is way too long ago. What that means for what we’ve already seen is up to you to decide, but I can say these two things for certain:

As Uraraka continues not to learn from her mistakes, she has no way to grow. She, unfortunately, needs to eat just as much dirt as Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Iida have in order for this to happen. So, this much all depends on whether we ever see that chapter appear "From [character] to Uraraka." Similarly, we absolutely are waiting to see the very best of Uraraka, as 100 chapters of going unmentioned in the titles, you better believe that whatever "Uraraka Ochako: Origin" has in store for us is going to be a hell of a trip. 

Greed The other chapter mentioning Uraraka in the title is “That’s the Idea, Ochako,” and the most pertinent panel for us is the one linked above. There's nothing wrong with wanting to do work that you love for money - plenty of people do it, and those people who do work obviously deserve to be paid for their work. There's nothing inherently wrong with Uraraka's way of thinking, and I think it's actually really cool that this is her motive for becoming a hero. I would have no problem with this line ever in a million years! Except for the fact that this gets brought up:

Hero Killer Stain is objectively wrong; utterly and miserably. But this issue was still brought up in canon as something to make us question. There are those who work for a *passion* and those who work for a *paycheck*, and those who work for a passion are, in theory, considered "superior" in their field because they are doing what they love. Whether or not you agree with this mindset is not the issue here; the issue is that this mindset exists, and Horikoshi has consciously brought this mindset into the series. So what does that make Uraraka? 

Tactile relationships It’s probably about time that we start talking about Shigaraki, Overhaul, and Uraraka. You might be asking what on earth these three characters could ever have in common, but as one might have it, their quirks are all surprisingly similar, don’t you think?

From what we know, all of these characters require touch to make their quirk function. When I initially considered this relationship, we hadn't yet been introduced to Overhaul. I did, however, find it interesting that Uraraka and Shigaraki had such similarly designed quirks, to the point that I have to wonder why Horikoshi allowed them to be as similar as they are. In order for their quirks to take effect, all five fingers must be touching their subject. So, by not touching them with a single finger, as seen above, they keep their quirks at bay entirely. 

Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what his quirk is supposed to be, but based on the panel above (and a few other hints in the series) we can assume that touch is part of the requirement, meaning that all three of their quirks are dependent on a tactile relationship. This should be considered different than, say, Mineta, whose balls are always sticky without prerequisites; or Denki, whose quirk can be activated at will when making physical contact. Uraraka, unlike the two villains, can at least deactivate the quirk after the fact.

Tactile relationships appear to be a very important aspect of MHA, which makes this whole theme of quirks so interesting. Although Uraraka might not seem to have a strong, comparable relationship to Overhaul thus making him little more than a prop in this argument, the close, comparable similarities to hers and Shigaraki's quirk is just remarkable enough to make one wonder why Horikoshi, who could have designed their quirks in any way, design these two quirks so similarly. 

Uraraka and Toga Honestly, you should be losing your mind over Uraraka and Toga. THERE’S SO MANY PARALLELS BETWEEN THEM IT HURTS. My deep regret here is just that I’ve said this once before and I’ve read it from others, but still I am unable to stop myself from writing about them. Uraraka and Toga’s relationship is wildly important even if Uraraka isn’t the traitor. I’m losing my mind for the chance that Uraraka and Toga interact again, because I know I’ll need like a year to recover.

Very quickly into their encounter, Toga immediately likens herself to Uraraka, explaining her own feelings so that we understand who she is. Toga has an unhealthy sense of admiration for the person she also consequently loves. She tells Uraraka this, and Uraraka's reaction is incredible. You know how it goes when someone points out a truth that one has been hiding away? They respond with anger. Not only has Toga made the comparison, but Uraraka seems to understand the truth and validity of her comparison, and for a brief moment we see the frustration build in Uraraka. Her brows are not lifted, but rather they are knitted. Toga has her pegged. Funny to note, after all this, Toga ends up with a crush on Midoriya as well - just one weird similarity between them. 

This happens again later on, where Toga literally takes on Uraraka’s person and imitates her during the provisional license exam. This was clearly done as a part of the storytelling mechanic, helping us to understand how well Midoriya knows Uraraka, and also to lead us into the discovery that Uraraka is Camie who, in turn, is Toga; but there is absolutely more to it. Why did Horikoshi decide that Uraraka’s blood should be taken and not, say, Asui’s, who was just as exposed as Uraraka was during their first encounter with Toga. The decision was clearly very intentional, as could be inferred from the manga cover I linked above - Uraraka and Toga/Camie are shown on parallel sides of the cover, and feature as the secondary “center” of the book cover. Uraraka and Toga are connected; their stories are going to connect again, perhaps very soon.

What is our heroine up to today? To start this section out, because I know I’m going to sound like I’m speaking the contrary: Uraraka is the heroine. In no way shape or form am I denying this, nor do I dislike that she is the heroine. Even if Uraraka turns out to be the traitor, she can still be our "heroine," it’s just super fucked up and probably cooler that way. She’s our heroine because of all the girls, she has the best relationship to Deku, naturally, and she’s also got a ton of excellent relationships with many of the other characters, such as Bakugou, Iida, Asui, and Toga. Add who you like to that list, the relationship she has with pretty much all the characters is great.

However… I find a particular "lack" of our heroine in the story. I’ve briefly touched on this before, as I mentioned that Horikoshi seems to absolutely ADORE female characters (I mentioned how populated his pixiv is with strong, female characters), so the lack of Uraraka is strange. She hasn’t been on the cover yet, she hasn’t gotten her own specialty arc yet - mainly she gets a highlight ever few chapters because she rightfully deserves it. She also seems to fall into the background during critical portions of the series. In fact, I would say her most critical moment in the series was her fight against Bakugou during the sports fest, and since then a lot more has been brooding around her than anything.

"Hold up! Uraraka has been doing a lot! She got an internship right now and everything!" Like, right??? It’s amazing! But like…. We totally didn’t get to see her in action? Compare how much we saw of Kirishima’s fight against Knives McGee to how much we saw of Uraraka’s fight. I’m not saying we need to see like 100% of every fight that ever happens in the series, and I’m vastly grateful that we don’t, but it’s been almost 100 chapters??? Bakugou vs Uraraka was a whole chapter; but Toga vs Uraraka was only a couple pages, Uraraka and Aoyama vs No. 13 was barely a fight to mention, and Camie actually stole Uraraka’s screen time in the provisional license exam. What I’m saying is, a lot of her fights are quickly wrapped up or skipped over. 

I think, however, one of the most intriguing moments where Uraraka is surprisingly sparse is when they’re going to save Bakugou. 

While she’s not wrong, what the hell kind of line is that? Thoughout the whole discussion, listening to the class go back and forth about whether or not to do something about Bakugou, Uraraka offers only one, very minor line pointing out their numbers. It’s not until afterward that Uraraka has anything to say. But what sort of heroine says this? What kind of hero says this?? It goes so strongly against the mold for heroes that it honestly surprises me - Uraraka does not strike me as a girl to tuck her tail and flee. I almost expect a girl in love to want to follow her crush anywhere, as I would expect from a usual shonen romance. 

Were she the traitor, it makes a lot of sense that she wouldn’t want to be around the villains in an attempt to rescue Bakugou. If she’s not a traitor, she must have a serious beef with Bakugou to try to use the claim that saving him would just upset him. It’s just… unhero-like, and all around strange. It also bothers me that Uraraka was unable to say this line until after they Midoriya’s hospital room. It’s as though she could only think of it after that point or she didn’t want Midoriya to hear her say it. 

After saving Bakugou and playing "King of All Room," Asui apologizes for what she said before saving Bakugou:

This whole scene with Uraraka is just weird. I’ll start with mentioning that Uraraka expresses no remorse for not going to save Bakugou - nor do we receive any indication of how Uraraka feels regarding the situation. Even if she didn’t want to risk saving Bakugou, shouldn’t she have risked going to make sure Midoriya would be okay? I mean, that’s basically why Iida went; shouldn’t the heroine and love interest of the story want to go just to protect Midoriya? At the very least, I would have expected a little soliloquy explaining her position to the reader. Similarly, Kirishima mentions that what Uraraka said was "really harsh," so I think it’s weird that when scene finishes that only Asui has apologized - I would almost expect Uraraka to want to join in on the apology so Asui feels better, but like clearly not. Uraraka either is the traitor or she has a serious beef with Bakugou. 

By extension, what she does eventually say, weirdly enough, rubs me the wrong way. I would LOVE to see more translations of this scene, even just to look at the Japanese, because the way this is handled is so weird???? Why is she hesitating so apparently? What on earth does she have to be nervous about in this situation?! It’s WEIRD!!! But perhaps that’s just a personal feeling, you can be the judge of this dialogue yourself:

Short wrap-up That should be like 90% of everything I’ve ever considered related to the traitor theory regarding Uraraka specifically. Just a few final notes to close the argument: 

- I am not trying to imply that Uraraka is an evil character. MHA is absolutely dealing with the gray areas of what is good and evil, a theme that has been mentioned in several places in the series, from different perspectives and in different ways. The immediate moments we figure a traitor has to have been involve are (debatably) when the "reporters" break into school grounds as a guise for the villains, during summer break where someone leaks the location, and in the most recent chapter where Overhaul already knows about the infiltration. All of these likely had nothing to do with real “dirty work,” and rather were just information sharing

- One post-script update to my previous post regarding Uraraka is Bakugou’s “heel”. First is that the better, less presumptuous term for their relationship is “foils” - however, that gets convoluted due to the fact that in canon Bakugou and Midoriya are also called “foils.” Either way, both terms are acceptable. Recent omake information has revealed that Bakugou and Uraraka’s costumes are actually made by the same company. Translation here In short, the two black dots on each of their uniforms is supposed to be the company’s way of “branding” their material. It’s just backup omake information, but I think it’s just a cute detail to add and support my earlier argument regarding them. 

- Food for thought: I’m still not sure when Uraraka becomes “the traitor.” My initial belief is she must have been a traitor since the beginning in order for the reporter incident to make sense, but it’s not necessary that she was. My other theory is that she joins the league after her crushing defeat against Bakugou. It’s also entirely possible that she isn’t the only traitor in the series; while I can’t think of any suggestions that might make this apparent, Uraraka had to have been contacted some how by the villains. The only thing I could say for certain is that if she is the traitor, she would have made her contract before her feelings for Midoriya became an issue. 

- More food for thought: If Uraraka is the traitor, do Toga and Uraraka know each other? And was the encounter in the woods with Asui intentional? If I’m honest, I think Toga knows who Uraraka is, but because Uraraka has been away from "HQ" for so long, she never had the chance to meet Toga. Something about their encounter in the forest feels too real for it to be an act.

If you read the theory and like it, please reblog! If you have more questions, or want to add onto it, feel free to respond. This is just a theory after all, so I really hope that even if you don’t agree she’s the traitor, you may have found that I’ve made a few good points about the peculiarities of Uraraka’s storyline, and are just as excited as me to see how she develops.

EDIT: If you want to read more observations about her character related to this theory, I have a Traitor Uraraka tag you can look through! 

[miriolemillion]

Thoughts on chapter 152

Phewie! This chapter was probably very emotional to all of us, especially us Mirio and Big Three fans! I’ve just finished reading the new chapter and I myself, am all jittery and just sjdsdjksdk WOW this chapter is A LOT to digest. Feelings? What ARE THOSE. MIRIO. Mirio. A mirio chapter. The third one in a row which makes me go WOW but also kinda anxiously screaming and just. THIS MIGHT BE TOO PLOT INVOLVING TO MY TASTE but also I rly want that to happen and I’m thirsty for Mirio content so GIMME.

First of all I want to say that this chapter didn’t get to me to the fullest until I got to the flashback scenes, but I wanna try and calm myself and stay consistent with my commentary and hold my horses ahah. Before the chapter, there were three things I had in mind:

1st) something WILL happen to Mirio. (even if all the deathflags in his tag made me go eh, I still believed sth will happen.) And if it’s not death, it’s probably gonna be that he will lose his quirk, due to the last scene in ch 151 with the bullets.

2) It (the sth that happens) will be plotrelevant. We saw it coming. There was so much going up to that arc, and so much was relevant to Mirio, to introducing him, making him sb that Midoriya looks up to, sb who COULD have been like all might, kinda was, could have been what midoriya probably will be, sb who had a hard time but tries even harder. This all made it clear that the arc will have sth abt Mirio which will get the story going and have a greater impact on the storyline.

3) whatever WILL happen, I probably won’t like it due to my habit of picking favourites and not getting genuinely warm with the main-main cast (I’m so sorry, the third years caught my heart, even more than once...)

TL:DR - I analyze what Horikoshi is probably trying to do with Mirio’s character and why the stuff is happening that happened, while being extremely disappointed on how it was carried out. Also I don’t want Mirio to lose his quirk bc I think it’s so... unnecessary. Cheers.

(disclaimer: I’m trying to be critical while still enjoying Horikoshi’s work! Also I love Midoriya just a -- eh-- heads up...)

ALSO I WROTE THIS AT THE END OF THE DAY COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED PLS DONT MIND GRAMMAR OR ORTHOGRAPHIC MISTAKES THANKS

There was the whole debate going on, will Mirio die, will he live but “lose” something veery important to him, will he be able to save Eri but get harmed severely... So when I first saw the first few panels my first thought was “oh god he will def get shot and probably lose his quirk”. And that’s probably what would be the “big plottwist” that gets the story going and I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS.

For one thing, I would absolutely love to get more “angst” for Mirio going, I love when my favourite boys experience some sort of pain and grow from it, but on the other hand he already had to go through so much to get where he was and become this strong so it feels a little unnecessary to make him lose his quirk completely. We already have All Might for that kind of storyline and there are plenty of other characters whose quirks could probably called “useless” but they prove that wrong. Not to forget that the whole point of boku no hero is that someone who is /quirkless/ can actually find a way to get one and become a hero this way... so yeah... this is why I conclude: A Midoriya/Mirio thing.

The whole point of Mirio “Lemillion” Togata existing in bnha is most likely to make Midoriya stand out as the pro hero to be as Mirio himself loses his quirk and experiences pain that way and I don’t like it one. damn. bit. People would probably disagree and I want to disagree myself but when I think back to earlier chapters when Mirio was just introduced, suddenly there is this whole new stuff about All Might and how Mirio was actually supposed to be his successor and there was a lot of drama (Midoriya even cried bc it was too much stress with all the stuff going on and the internship and then he wasn’t even meant to be the one? Well congrats Midoriya now Mirio doesn’t have one anyway...). It definitely was on Midoriya’s mind a lot and it was clear that there was supposed to be some kind of mentorship between the senpai and kouhai, both kind of successors of All Might.

We already had All Might losing his quirk dramatically, what even is the point?

The point is that Mirio is probably here to show that one can be a hero despite not having a quirk. And I would laugh my salty laugh if he manages what Midoriya couldn’t: become a hero without your favourite hero maigcally appearning from the sky and handing you his dna to become the protagonist of a super hero story. (oh wow my salt level is rising with writing this oops...)

Don’t get me wrong I love Midoriya with all my heart, I love his relationship with Mirio and that he finally has somebody to ask questions and hang out with a third year senpai. In fact I think it’s lovely. I’m just questioning whether it was really necessary to put Mirio in this position for dramatic effect. And what will Mirio do about it?

We don’t know the extent of Eri’s powers nor do we know if her qirk even fully manifested. She’s still a child, her quirk could be weak, her quirk could be something entirely different, or later in life she could even be able to grant quirks or give them back, however you want to see it. I would definitely love to see that, give Mirio his angsty arc where he overcomes his frustration and sadness and then Eri appears and helps him recover. If anyone would deserve it than Mirio.

Even more so after reading this chapter, and noticing all these panels of the flashback scenes (and GOD am I weak for childhood flasbacks aaaa MIRIO’S FATHER DJSDKJSD and the miritama childhood panel absolutely KILLED ME), it opened my eyes just how bad Mirio thinks of himself. How low of an opinion he has on himself. It was shocking because you get introduced to Tamaki and think “yeah, he feels so bad about himself, good that there is his buddy mirio to cheer him up”... JUST THAT IT’S ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY ROUND. Tamaki might have felt inspired from Mirio to strive even harder bc of his hard-working attitude but boy does Mirio need all the cheering up from his friend.

I mean just LOOK AT THEM SOBS. This was actually my favourite part of the new chapter, that we get to see more of the Big Three’s origins and how they came to be friends. I always thought that Mirio and Tamaki were practically always a duo from point one since they started at UA and gradually Nejire appeared in their lives, but no, it’s actually Tamaki that stood out more in the beginning and so did Nejire.

It was actually so heart-warming for me to see Nejire talk to Tamaki first and be interested in his quirk. Mirio looks so adorable as he stands in the back, not rly sure what to do with himself, even if it’s also a little sad bc that was before they were the big three so he must have dealt with his own amount of self-doubts. Poor boy, but he’s not giving up!!

This is something very positive I find about bnha manga, the energy spent on showing characters back stories and interpersonal growth, even for villains and side characters. You don’t find that in every shonen manga and it’s a pleasant surprise (I’m talking abt beyond main cast-flashbacks here!).

And when Sir compliments him and tries to encourage him, he looked so happy and excited I honestly nearly cried.

So yeah, in my mind it’s still unlikely that Mirio will lose his quirk forever and never be abe to use it his whole life, but there is definitely something that happened to him that can’t return to the way it was before. The scene with Tamaki waking from his unconsciousness to worry about Mirio is kind of a proof to that. He worries about his friend, his gut feeling tells him that sth happened. And Miro himself was thinking about Tamaki and other people that are important to him.

About the last two panels, I honestly to god am very disappinted that for once, Mirio doesn’t get to end his angst chapter himself, but no Midoriya had to steal that spotlight from him. Because the oh so mighty protagonist appears, and saves his poor quirkless senpai from the hands of the villain and/or death. Like really. We really didn’t need that. What we wanted, at least after all that, was a Mirio that stood to the end, presevered, standing and not losing his hope, grasping Eri into his arms and carrying her to safetly (preferrably outside where he could be tended to too bc damn did you see those wounds...)

Alright those were my two hundred) coins, I am a salty Mirio fan who is curious about what turn his storyline will take.

[kitsunesbooks]

How to Fix Shonen's Biggest Problem

So not too long ago there have been a couple of videos regarding a certain issue within anime, more specifically shonen anime. It is a problem that has been around since Dragonball Z started, and has persisted to this very day through anime and manga like Bleach and Naruto. This issue is none other than the escalation problem. For many extremely popular shonen anime and manga, there is a constantly increasing scale throughout their plot. From Dragonball, to Naruto, to One Piece, each of these stories continues to build and build and build until the audience can barely stand it anymore. Hell, I'm pretty sure this is why Fairy Tail has become so despised in the community as of late. A video by Reality Punch Studios introduced me to this problem, and then Gigguk decided make video of his own on the subject. Both of them had great points and examples, while also providing some intriguing solutions, which I will cover briefly. But I felt they were ignoring the simplest solution to the problem.

In order to really grasp the problem and my solution to it, I have to introduce you to a very basic literary concept. That concept is the dramatic structure, or Freytag's pyramid. The dramatic structure is the most basic template for any and all storytelling. It was originally utilized to analyze old plays, such as the works of Shakespeare. But due to the fact that Shakespeare’s writing was so influential and has practically become an entire lexicon of tropes, the pyramid can be utilized to analyze almost any story you come across. The dramatic structure includes five parts that categorize the different phases of a story. Those parts are exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution or conclusion. Now, in order to really understand the escalation problem, you only need to really look at the first three parts of the pyramid. This is because, those three parts make up the problem.

If you look way back at the Frieza Saga from Drgaonball Z, and compare it to the earlier Saiyan Saga, you could argue that from a dramatic standpoint, the Saiyan Saga is superior. This is purely off of the fact that the Saiyan Saga itself is more or less a self contained story, albeit with a few loose ends. Not only that, the Saiyan Saga had far more personal stakes and conflicts. Goku having to battle his brother after discovering his origins is incredibly moving, especially to the hardcore fans who watched (and or read) all of the original Dragonball beforehand. That and the introduction of Vegeta and Nappa raises the power ceiling of the series to new heights, and even though character death had already been more or less numbed in the original Dragonball, seeing countless long term characters getting obliterated is still extremely hard to watch for long term fans. Compare that to the Frieza Saga where the stakes only really grew because the villain had a higher power level than the heroes. That and the overall conflict was far more “classic comic book” in style. The entire plot of the Frieza Saga is very, very cheesy. There is far less personal conflicts in the Frieza Saga, until the very end when Goku finally achieves his Super Saiyan transformation. That being said, these issues are more or less remedied in the Cell Saga as there is a far greater focus on character building within that arc. The thing is, that between the Cell Saga and the Buu Saga, character development is more or less isolated to single moments than the entirety of the arc.

Using DBZ as an example, the escalation problem can be narrowed down to the writer, Akira Toriyama in this case, wanting to constantly one up his earlier work in the series. That and also pressure from editors as the Cell Saga was an influenced nightmare on part of Toriyama’s editors being fickle. The big difference however, lies in the transition from the Saiyan Saga to the Frieza Saga. The whole purpose of the Frieza Saga was to find the Namekian Dragon Balls and resurrect everyone Vegeta and Nappa killed. That goal is lost once Frieza and his army enters the fray, sure they are still looking for the Dragon Balls, but the arc becomes more focused on stopping Frieza than saving the fallen heroes. There is a lack of personal investment with the stakes of the Frieza Saga and that is the biggest issue here as a result of escalation.

Bringing it back to the dramatic structure, we can pinpoint why this problem exists and where it emerges. You see, most shonen manga and anime seem to only utilize the first three parts of the dramatic structure. Exposition is used to set up the concepts and ideas of the entire series and then for the remainder of the series the plot is stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of rising action and climax. There is no falling action or resolution in these stories because it seems like they are rushing to get to the next arc. They lose the benefits the falling action and resolution can provide because those parts of the dramatic structure are never utilized. However, there are some stories that do utilize the full extent of the dramatic structure, and two of them couldn’t be further apart.

The first example I want to mention is Boku no Hero Academia. Aren’t you surprised? Of course not, I have been gushing about this show non-stop. Fandom aside, Boku no Hero has shown a great understanding of the dramatic structure. Horikoshi definitely knows what he is doing when it comes to writing a complete story. The most recent season of the anime featured a tournament arc that used all five parts of the dramatic structure. There was exposition to explain each stage in the Sports Festival, rising action in the actual events themselves, a climax that culminated in the epic final battles of the Sports Festival, and then a falling action into a resolution where we see the winners awarded for their efforts. The arc even has further exposition leading into the rising action of the Stain arc, which picks up shortly after the resolution of the Sports Festival. The point I am making here is that an arc should have a definite conclusion to it. Falling action and resolution help to bring the audience back to reality. This can especially help for stories involving a lot of high powered battles, like Dragonball Z, Naruto, or Bleach even. The problem with introducing such ridiculously powered battles is that while the spectacle is great, we as the audience can forget that the characters we are seeing are still people with emotions and attachments. Though the much easier way to fix this is to maintain consistency, but that is a topic for later. However, the second example of dramatic structure I want to talk about is a far more impressive one, and it is one of the oldest and longest running manga of all time. I’m of course talking about the legendary, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

I’ve been meaning to get around to discussing Jojo on here, because it is one of my favorite anime and manga of all time, even though it isn’t in my top four. Jojo has been running for a very long time, and it has several ways that keep the story from getting stale at all. For one, the dramatic structure is present in the entirety of it. This is especially true since Jojo is a story told across multiple parts, each of which are self contained stories. This allows for new exposition to be introduced without the plot getting too confusing. Stands would not have been nearly as loved as they are if the third part of Jojo continued directly from its predecessors. Despite each part having a relation to the others, there is a very large gap of time in between them, thus keeping them separate for the most part and only ever mentioned through core mechanics, references, or minor character interactions like Joseph Joestar, the main character of part two, appearing in parts three and four. Because every part of Jojo is a new story it allows for a whole new style of storytelling to be utilized. Hirohiko Araki has created a formula that allows him to have complete and total creative freedom with his work and it shows. His art and storytelling are both extremely detailed and exemplify the best parts of the dramatic structure. There are so many things in Jojo that utilize the structure as well. Not only do the individual parts use the pyramid, but the individual fights as well. Not only that, there are sagas that carry across multiple parts that utilize the structure completely. To be honest, if I were to map out all of Jojo, we’d be here all day. There is so much material to work with and all of it shows what a good shonen can be, even if Jojo is moreso a seinen series.

The dramatic structure is one of the most common and useful strategies when it comes to writing any story. A lot of long form stories in anime and manga could seriously benefit from the use of this structure and we are starting to see that within stories like Boku no Hero. With the fall season coming soon, it seems we have a ton of other battle anime coming out including Black Clover. Let’s hope these anime understand what makes shows like Boku no Hero and Jojo so great and utilize it in their own story. Hope you enjoyed the article.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 291: The Endeavor Pamphlet

Previously on BnHA: Dabi showed up atop Gigantomachia’s back and was all “you’ll never guess who I really am!” and the readers humored him and were all “who?” and he was all “TODOROKI TOUYA” and we were all “WOW └(・。・)┘ OH MY GOSH I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED”, except for Shouto and Enji who were GENUINELY SHOCKED. Anyway so Touya was all “and guess what I’m doing right now!” and before anyone could even try, he was all, “STREAMING MY EMMY-NOMINATED MINISERIES ‘HELLO, I’M EVIL BUT ALSO TRAGIC AND SEXY, NOW LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY DAD WHO SUCKS’’, THAT’S WHAT.” And everyone was all “oh my god” and Touya was all “ヽ(⌐■_■)ノ♪” for basically the rest of the chapter, and that’s pretty much it! Oh, wait, except for the part where he also doused himself in bleach in a fit of pure theatrics, which is actually pretty much the main takeaway from the entire chapter really because it was just wild af. ANYWAYS.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi introduces Baby Touya, the world’s most enchantingly sweet character, and is immediately all, “I sure can’t wait to tell you guys all about how his fucking jaw burnt off.” Thankfully he doesn’t (YET), and we cut back to the present pretty quickly, where Dabi explains how he took all of his brain cells that should have been used to stop him from pouring bleach over his head, and instead put them all toward his big brain plot of releasing an elaborate video detailing Endeavor’s various abuses and crimes, and even throwing Hawks under the bus as well because WHY NOT. He then leaps off of Gigantomachia’s back (like I said, no brain cells) all set to blast them with a Prominence Burn, only to be stopped by none other than THE LEGEND HIMSELF, MOTHERFUCKING BEST, PRETTIEST, NICEST, MOST OUTSTANDING MOTHERFUCKING JEANIST. Who’s no doubt outraged by the crime against hair he witnessed only moments earlier. GO GETTIM JEANY BOI.

so I haven’t had time to answer any of them because this has been the stupidest week, but I just wanted to tell you guys that I received no fewer than nine asks about Dabi’s hair. which, in a week filled with election memes and tumblr’s most cursed fandom briefly rising back up from the dead, is a pretty impressive feat for him if you ask me. like, I know I was making fun of it basically nonstop, but it sure did generate a lot of discussion so maybe I should rethink my opinions on Dabi’s PR strategies now, idk

anyway. it’s Saturday. time to catch up on this shit. let’s see how fucked the Todorokis are

OH NO HE’S CUTE

HOLY SHIT THIS IS TOO MUCH TO FUCKING PROCESS. I’M JUST TRYING TO ENJOY MY DAY HORIKOSHI, ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO TRAUMATIZE THIS POOR CHILD RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SALAD

“thanks for being all right” the fuck

who allowed this child to be so cute. I’m serious. who signed off on this

how could a child this adorable possibly want to murder his equally adorable baby brother. please, your honor. there must be some mistake here

guess how prepared I am to read all about Touya’s tragic past. mm. that’s right. zero ready. none ready

anyway. TWO THOUSAND DEGREES LOLOLOL. NO TRACE OF A CORPSE HOW CONVENIENT. A PIECE OF HIS LOWER JAW BONE FFFFMSGHKLSh. LOVELY. LOVELY

LMAOOOOO

listen you guys. I just want to take a moment to appreciate that Horikoshi Kouhei did one of two things here. either (1) he planned it out FROM THE VERY START that Touya would be born with red hair Because Fire Powers, but would then have his hair turn white due to trauma, thus making the Dabi/Touya connection very slightly less obvious, although Let’s Be Real Who Are We Kidding. OR, (2) the anime got it wrong and gave him red hair, and rather than allowing this plot hole to continue to exist, Horikoshi took it upon himself to concoct this elaborate storyline and pretend it was never a plot hole at all! in which case I sure hope someone at Bones is sending him a VERY nice Christmas card this year. got this man sweeping up all your messes for you. you’re just lucky he has some sort of wild compulsion to address these things

anyways!!

FATHER AND SON. how sweet. :| still zero percent ready for any of this btw

STOP BEING CUTE

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I’M SO MAD RIGHT NOW. HE IS THE SINGLE CUTEST CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SERIES, and do you even know how many other baby characters I’m betraying in order to say that?! baby Kacchan, baby Deku, baby Ochako, baby Shouto, Eri, baby Hawks. I’M LOOKING YOU DEAD IN THE EYE RIGHT NOW AND TELLING YOU THAT BABY TOUYA IS CUTER THAN ALL OF THOSE PLEBS. AND YOU’RE LOOKING BACK AT ME RIGHT NOW ALL “YEAH IT SURE IS A PITY ABOUT HIS JAW MELTING OFF THOUGH.” THAT’S IT, I QUIT THE SERIES

and Enji’s smiling at him. he’s so proud of him. but then Touya won’t be able to do it, and Enji’s gonna stop training him, and Touya’s gonna feel like a failure and keep pushing himself in order to try and win his dad’s affections back, because that’s all kids fucking want, all they want is just love, that’s fucking it, you couldn’t just give him that?? and then he’s gonna immolate himself fflkdlskfh THERE YOU SEE HORIKOSHI, I KNOW THE WHOLE STORY ALREADY, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE WHOLE “SHOW THEM THE DEAD DOG” THING YET AGAIN YOU PIECE OF SHIT

OH SNAP THERE GOES THE TWIN THEORY. R.I.P.

BABY FUYUMI. PRETTY CUTE. NOT AS CUTE AS TOUYA THOUGH. HEY LOOK, NO REASON TO GET MAD AT ME I’M JUST STATING A FACT HERE

YEAH THIS IS GONNA GO REAL WELL OH BOY

I keep pressing the emergency stop button but this industrial tragedy machine just keeps on chugging along anyway, I’m pretty sure this thing is not up to code

:| I am so sorry sweet boy, Horikoshi is only getting started with you

FUCKING HELL WITH THIS NARRATION

but he wasn’t actually a child to you, he was just a little puppet child for you to live vicariously through!! and then you went and did the same fucking thing with Shouto afterwards and never learned your lesson until just six months ago!! fucking hell, Enji

so now he’s all “Touya is dead, that’s an unforgivable lie” fflkdhflk motherfucker does he look dead to you. if you really think that, tumblr and twitter have got a little over five years’ worth of archived theory posts to show you

oh shit Touya’s countering with “it’s an unforgivable truth”, which, damn. I actually think Horikoshi’s dialogue is one of his weaker points as a writer a lot of the time, but that comeback was snappy as fuck

actually guys, now that I’ve seen how ridiculously fucking cute baby!Touya was, I can almost understand why Shouto and Enji never put the pieces together before lol. any passing similarities would have easily been dismissed on account of he’d need to be at least 10x more adorable in order to get the full resemblance

OH MY GOD

NOW YOU SLEEP??? SO YOU POINT BLANK REFUSED TO PASS OUT WHILE YOU WERE BUSY MAIMING ALL OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS, BUT NOW THAT THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE YOUR REACTION TO THE “YOUR LIEUTENANT WAS SECRETLY RELATED TO ONE OF YOUR WORST ENEMIES THE WHOLE TIME” BOMBSHELL, YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO GET YOUR FORTY WINKS. I SEE

WOW DABI

I’M SURPRISED YOU DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE YOUR ANCESTRY.COM RESULTS PRINTOUT READY TO FOLD INTO A PAPER AIRPLANE AND ZOOM ON DOWN TO HIM

LOL NEVERMIND

gotta say, so far The Endeavor Pamphlet is just about as spicy as I could have hoped

(ETA: Natsuo’s face as he watches his beloved dead brother come back to life only to literally and metaphorically set everything on fire in one fell swoop is :/. why must you do this to me Natsu. can’t you see I’m trying to throw a Welcome Back Jeanist party here.)

HAVE YOU READ THIS?! TODOROKI ENJI ABUSED HIS OWN HEIR, AND DABI WROTE IT DOWN RIGHT THERE

WELL HE’S NEVER GON’ BE NUMBER ONE NOW / NEVER GON’ BE NUMBER ONE NOW / THAT’S ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT / THAT’S ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT

btw I neglected to mention this last week, but yes I do recognize and appreciate that this is Can’t Ya See-kun himself whom Horikoshi has chosen to be the face of this existential crisis which the general public is about to experience. rip CYS-kun

OOF

excuse me. putting aside the implications of Dabi sharing this context-less murder video of Hawks with the entire world for a moment, I just have to pause for a sec here, because when exactly did he get a chance to edit this all in?? complete with voiceover that seamlessly ties in with the prerecorded footage of him with DNA test results sans shirt?? you’re telling me this motherfucker, with all the smoke that was in the room thanks to his own quirk, somehow got a PERFECT SHOT of the PRECISE MOMENT when Hawks drove his feather knife into Jin’s back, using his MAGIC CAMERA THAT HE I GUESS HAD THE ENTIRE TIME IN THE POUCH RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BLEACH BOTTLE, and then immediately somehow got this very next shot as well FROM AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ANGLE

ALL THE WHILE IMMEDIATELY RUNNING THROUGH SCRIPT REVISIONS IN HIS HEAD, WHICH HE THEN PROCEEDED TO RECORD... WHERE, EXACTLY?? WITH SKEPTIC, WHILST RIDING ON MACHIA’S BACK??

AND THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF???

and this after I just wrote that whole long paragraph positively GLOWING about this man’s ability to plug up a plot hole. jfc. just scratch out every damn word I said lol. just forget all of it

are you fucking kidding me, the footage was from the cameras Skeptic planted on Hawks??

that’s... actually... okay you know what, it still doesn’t make any sense in the slightest, but the determination to address it nonetheless... just, dammit... I feel like I’m constantly at war with myself over whether or not I want to shake this man’s hand or slap him lmao. whatever, then!!

anyway, since Shouto and Enji can’t actually see the damage that Touya is dealing to the hero industry even as they speak, Touya is taking it upon himself to give them the highlights

I think it’s a testament to how much Endeavor cares about Hawks that he managed to zero in on that comment even amidst all the craziness of his eldest son returning from the dead to announce how he’s been carefully plotting their destruction for years and years. like, he heard “Hawks” and his face immediately went like that. you think he’s worried that Dabi did something to him? because he’d be right to worry lol

so the Endeavor Pamphlet narration is now explaining all about how Hawks totally killed the Number 3 Hero Best Jeanist as well! yep... he sure did... totally...

OH MY GOD WE’RE CUTTING TO HIM AHHHHH

Hawks, that is. lol. not Jeanist. NO, JUST MY POOR HALF-DEAD WINGLESS BABY SON

NOOOOO HIS LITTLE WING STUMPS. BUT SOMEHOW HIS FACIAL HAIR IS STILL INTACT. OH TO BE AN ANIME PRETTY BOY BEING SET ON FIRE. “HEY, TAKE IT EASY, WATCH THE FACE”

EXCUSE ME WHAT

interesting! we suspected as much, I think, with the clues that Ending dropped, and the little flashback right after the name reveal. still not clear how Dabi found out about it though!

looooool okay here we go, breaking out the heavy-handed holier-than-thou shit now

you know, I do find it interesting how trying to model themselves after All Might’s noble Symbol of Peace image has kind of ended up being the heroes’ undoing here. like, I could write a whole essay on this, but what it basically boils down to is that they were all trying too hard to be perfect. All Might went out there and did his thing and was amazing, and so the powers-that-be built an entire system centered around this seemingly-infallible person, and they acted like the system was infallible as well. and so most of the population ended up becoming complacent over the years, and meanwhile the people who were unfortunate enough to fall through the cracks understandably wound up disillusioned and perceiving the heroes as these false idols

anyway, but I think one positive takeaway from this is that the new up-and-coming generation of heroes represent a breakaway from that system. like, imo what we’re witnessing is the downfall of the Perfect Hero, and the rise of the imperfect hero. and this new generation doesn’t shy away from their failures or pretend like they never happened. they pretty much can’t pretend, because their failures are all right out there in the open for everyone to see. Bakugou Katsuki, just to name one example off the top of my very biased head, has had his own personal character journey basically play out right in front of the media’s eyes. his humiliation at the sports festival, his kidnapping by the League, and all of the fallout afterward. this isn’t someone who can ever go out there and convince the world that he’s perfect. but what he can do, instead, is show the world that he’s trying. that he’s trying with everything he has to do his best, to be the best. rather than this untouchable godlike image, it’s instead the image of someone painfully human who is nonetheless striving with everything he’s got to keep moving forward, flaws and all, and work his way to the top

and ultimately I think that’s going to be a much more positive image to send out to the world when all’s said and done. because rather than merely inspiring awe, heroes like that inspire people to take action themselves. or at least that’s what I hope! and not just Bakugou, but the others as well. we’ve got Shouto, whose own personal trauma is being aired in front of the whole nation even as I sit here ranting. we’ve got Deku, who cries at the drop of a hat, and who fought to become a hero despite being quirkless (and I think it’s only a matter of time before that eventually becomes public knowledge as well). tl;dr because I’m getting way too long-winded here, but these kids have effectively been humanized in a way that the old generation never was, and I think that’ll go a long way towards building trust between them and the people they’ll someday be protecting, and inspiring the next generation in hopefully a much healthier way

anyway so where were we. ...oh yes, Dabi was explaining that heroes only protect themselves, and is presumably building up to his grand conclusion of “therefore you should all just let the villains take over and burn down the world”

omfg. YOU GUYS

DOES CAN’T YA SEE-KUN’S SHARK FRIEND ACTUALLY CALL HIM “CAN’T YA SEE-KUN.” HE HAS A NAME YOU KNOW!! UNLESS HE LEGALLY GOT HIS NAME CHANGED TO CAN’T YA SEE-KUN. OH MY GOD

ALSO, IS THAT CAN’T YA SEE-KUN CRYING IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT THERE OMG. GIVE THIS CHILD A HUG. EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND HUG HIM

BAKUGOU IS BARELY HANGING ON THERE LOL. GOTTA STAY CONSCIOUS... SO MUCH TEA BEING SPILLED... FOCUS... CONCENTRATE

IIDA’S ANGLING HIS HEAD IN A WEIRD WAY, LIKE DUDE. LOOKING SUSPICIOUSLY SNUGGLY THERE. MMM THESE IIDABAKU CRUMBS

HADOU IS ALL “WHAT EVEN IS ACTUALLY GOING ON” LMAO

LASTLY, POOR SHOUTO OMFG. WHEN YOU’RE ALL FINISHED HUGGING CYS-KUN THIS CHILD NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION!!

so now Dabi’s leaping off of this ninety-foot-tall gargoyle man like that’s a normal, smart thing to do. unless he can fly too now? saw his dad doing it back at Fukuoka and was all “hmm”

OH MY GOD SOMEONE TELL ME RIGHT NOW WHAT WORD SHOUTO IS USING TO ADDRESS ENJI, THESE TRANSLATIONS LOVE TO MESS WITH MY HEAD

ENJI GET MOVING DO YOU NOT SEE THOSE TEARS!!! SNAP OUT OF IT YOU BIG TREE

AHHHHH

OH KACCHAN YOU WOKE UP A LITTLE MORE THERE, HUH

lol he and Deku both look so determined but they’re basically sitting ducks. their “oh shit” faces do look remarkably like their “TIME TO SWING INTO ACTION” faces but don’t be fooled, they have one good arm and about six pints of blood left between the two of them. looks like this one’s all on you Shouto

-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH --

BAH GOD... WHAT’S GOING ON HERE... THAT’S BEST JEANIST’S MUSIC

y’all. can’t even talk right now, my brain has completely shut down lol. just. ...

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