#bakugou is a stagnant character

[nutzgunray-lvt]

There's a really great point that @sapphic-agent brought up about Bakugou's lack of character development, and it's that whenever the narrative is in a position to call him out for his fuck ups, it never happens.

Bakugou's stans love to insist that he's faced the consequences for his behavior and learned from his mistakes, except he really hasn't.

I'm not going to be talking about Aldera or even his bullying of Izuku at UA, but we all know how that worked out. I'm going to be talking about the other things that he's done.

He (and Kirashima) deliberately disobeyed Thirteen's orders to stay back and let her take care of Kurogiri, and as a result, she got distracted and was thus severely injured by him (no joke, I thought she died when I first saw that episode). Is this followed up on? No. Somehow, Thirteen is miraculously okay, and then it's on to the Sports Festival.

The Sports Festival is its own level of messed up, so I won't really get into that either, except we all know what happens and how it ends.

What I will be talking about is the Training Camp, and how instead of listening to orders to stay back at camp, Bakugou RUNS TOWARDS THE VILLAINS because he stupidly believes that he can take them in a fight. When Izuku, Shouji, and Todoroki find him and inform him that he's the target, he STILL TRIES BREAKING FREE SO HE FIND THEM. How does this end for him? His stupid ass gets kidnapped. He gets rescued, they all move on to the Provisional Hero License Exam, and this is where Bakugou FOR ONCE faces the consequences of his actions: he fails the exam due to his attitude towards the "victims".

Does he reflect on this? Absolutely not.

Instead, he whines about "being the reason All Might retired". Now, this would have been somewhat compelling if he actually reflected on WHY he was kidnapped. Instead, he makes it all about him and his ego. Rather than talking about how regrets serving himself up to the villains on a silver platter or WHY they would think he's villainous enough to join the LOV or why the media doesn't believe UA can get a handle on his behavior... he makes it all about his and Izuku's non-rivalry.

And how does this end? He throws a tantrum over not being chosen by All Might, and All Might comforts him and lets him in on One For All.

Tell me how Bakugou is supposed to have learned from this.

[doodlegirl1998]

hori constantly acts as if he isn’t the writer and has full control of the story and it pisses me off to no end. gonna drop some examples below. these are from the street wear profiles from the manga.

sen kaibara - “I love his Quirk, so I can’t wait to portray it more.” he’s acting like something/someone is actively holding him back from doing so.

tetsutetsu tetsutetsu - “I hope I get to show him in action more.” once again, acting like something is stopping him. side note, why tf did he give him that name. it’s just so lazy. and it’s not even funny. just annoying to say and annoying to write.

hanta sero - “He’s mostly just for one liners in the background, but he’s a good guy, and I’d like to feature him more. At some point. For sure.” and then proceeds to never do that.

this might just be me being bitter abt all the amazing characters he’s completely disregarded and disrespected. this might just be me not understanding what it’s like being a mangaka. but it still bothers me.

i just hate how he’s created this insanely interesting world and amazing characters and never expands on anything bc he’s too busy sucking bakugos dick.

speaking of bakugo, as someone who has narcissistic tendencies, he’s a textbook case.

he obviously has some sort of inferiority/superiority complex and a mild to severe case of a god complex. at best he’s dismissive of people who he sees as inferior to him, at worst he’s downright cruel.

his “nicknames” are all just fucking insults aimed at peoples insecurities.

raccoon eyes/horns: mina was probably bullied for her appearance and then her so called “friend” exclusively calls her names that poke fun at her appearance.

bird brain/bird face/other bird names: tokoyami has probably heard it all at this point but once again bakugo making fun of heteromorphs.

dunce face: denki has shown to be insecure about his intelligence and once again his so called “friend” mocks him for it.

tentacles/arms/octopus: again, mocking heteromorphs.

tail: i’m beginning to see a pattern here.

ears: ok how has no one pointed out how most of his nicknames are him basically just calling them slurs.

i don’t think bakugo has ever called someone their actual name. maybe a handful of times? but it’s like a massive event when he calls someone by their actual name.

exclusive calling people insults isn’t exactly heroic.

anyway rant over i just needed to get all this shit off my chest.

Hi @the-jello-bowl 👋,

There could be something to be said here about how the editors may have had a hand in Hori not exploring all the characters he may have wanted to.

But, even if that is the case, not all of the blame would rest on them.

Hori clearly did not plan ahead for a lot of MHA. He is very good at coming up with good character designs and concepts as well as bringing life to them but seems to be at a loss after that is done. The cast bloating is key evidence of this.

It is sad to see all these interesting characters be swept to the wayside in favour of Bakugou, who by contrast brings nothing of interest to the table.

Bakugou is a narcissistic abuser in my opinion. He uses cruel nicknames, not as lighthearted jibes, but to bring others down - especially his friends.

Other than the instances you mentioned, I want to bring attention to one that belongs to Bakugou's supposed best friend, Kirishima, who he calls only "shitty hair." We learn in his backstory that Kirishima changed his hair to be like his idols as a symbol of his growth prior to U.A. Therefore, being continually called "shitty hair" would hurt Kirishima deeply. He also tells Bakugou to stop, and yet Bakugou does not care.

The time I can think of when Bakugou called someone their actual name is that time he used "Izuku" instead of the usual "Deku" slur. And even that is bad because instead of asking for the right to call Izuku by his first name, usually reserved for close family, Bakugou just does it.

Typical narcissistic, entitled and stagnant Bakugou. We hate to see it.

I wish Hori didn't waste so many manga panels on this idiot.

[sapphic-agent]

Thank you for the invitation! I've read your posts on Bakuguo's relationship with Izuku, and I agree with almost all of them, but this most recent post is the first time I saw you suggest that it's not just a mistake in writing on the creator's part but *deliberate* writing on the creator's part (forgive me if you've written about the subject before). The only way I could appreciate Izuku's relationship with Bakuguo was as an unfortunate side effect of Izuku's immature ideas of what it means to be a hero, and that as he experienced more of the world and grew into being his own hero, that he would eventually reject this need to tolerate Bakuguo's ... Bakuguo-ness. I also was informed that Bakuguo's behavior is a trope of manga characterization that the audience would expect from this type of writing, so I should just accept it.

But now, from what you've written, this might not be true. I've always suspected that some creators would have preferred to write about characters who couldn't actually carry a story *without* changing, but they didn't want them to change. (For example, Sukuna in Jujutsu Kansen is obviously the creator's favorite, but a story about Sukuna would require change, and the creator likes that monster just the way he is.). Are there clues that Izuku's creator is just using Izuku as a "Caretaker" character to enable the characters he does like to behave terribly and get away with it? (I hope this makes sense.)

I suppose the answer to this relies on how we look at "deliberate."

Do I think Horikoshi is intentionally undercutting Izuku's character to make Bakugou seem better? No. I don't think he has the foresight, skill, or self-awareness to even go about writing like that. I'm sure in his mind he thinks that by giving Bakugou more spotlight, he's making Izuku better written by extension.

And a lot of that has to do with the fandom. Horikoshi is an author whose decisions are very driven by popular opinion, it's why so many of his storylines and characters are all over the place. For example, almost as soon as Bakugou began to become popular (around the Sports Festival), Horikoshi started to give him more exposure. If you pay attention, you'll even notice how characters like Iida and Uraraka begin to fade into the background. This is even supported by the two of them not being very popular (especially Iida) in comparison.

And obviously, BakuDeku is very popular, the most popular ship in the fandom. Horikoshi would never make it canon, but that isn't to say he won't milk that fact for all its worth. By pushing Izuku and Bakugou together, he's feeding into that. Every time they so much as share a panel about it, BakuDeku shippers go crazy here and on Twitter. It keeps attention on MHA, and keeps revenue up.

Horikoshi knows that a large majority of the fandom will consistently read anything he releases as long as he keeps Bakugou and Izuku connected. Both Bakugou and BakuDeku as a relationship are essentially a cash cow that he can exploit.

But for Bakugou to actually improve and become a better person and for Izuku to come into his own as a hero, they need to be separated. They are both detrimental to one another's development, which is why Bakugou's character development sucks and Izuku's character seems so stagnant. They should have had to grow and learn away from each other before reconciliation was ever even thought about.

Does Horikoshi know this? Probably not. I don't think he even has the capacity to think this way. But it doesn't change the fact that he will gladly shove Izuku- and everyone else- to the side if it means Bakugou's stans keep reading

[wander-wren]

hot take all those posts about uraraka and deku having the same type (toga and bakugou)?

wrong. wrong! wrong. sorry

deku is the one with the canonically stated weird creepy obsession. whether you personally think its creepy or not is debatable, but regardless chasing down your ex-friend-turned-bully with stars in your eyes and taking such meticulous notes on his fighting (the moves he uses to beat you up) that you can beat him in a fight when you are at a huge disadvantage is…..it’s not normal.

the way. deku loves kacchan. is. not. normal.

that’s toga’s character

now you could say that bakugou is equally obsessed with deku and i think he is but it comes from less of a place of love. it’s mostly his own insecurity centered on the closest person to him. i think deku knows he loves bakugou (for whatever type of love you’d prefer), but bakugou doesn’t know he loves deku. he just has…these feelings he doesn’t know what to do with, and most of his character is a ball of low self esteem masked with huge ego, so it all just gets wrapped up in that. you know?

and i dont think it’s a hot take to say deku is FAR more feral than bakugou, he of the 8pm bedtime and tax returns. deku is fucking unhinged, man. kid breaks his limbs regularly for three seasons and runs off to become a vigilante.

also, deku AND toga’s character arcs are about seeing the way the world thinks of them, the ideas they internalized for a lot of their lives, and then accepting themselves for who they really are. deku doesn’t let anyone stop him from being a hero, and toga doesn’t let anyone make her feel ashamed for her bloodlust. bakugou’s character arc isn’t about inner acceptance, it’s about changing and growing as a person instead of remaining stagnant like he has all his life, comfortably at the top by accident of birth (this is not to discredit the very very obvious work/training he does pre-UA, no one fights like that with explosive hands otherwise, but it’s clear he didn’t need to adjust anything personally/socially).

i know absolutely nothing is going to stop the meme now, but every time it comes across my dash my eye twitches because ugh, blonde and loud does not a toga parallel make.

disclaimer: i am an anime-only so idk what’s happening in the manga but i sincerely doubt it could be anything big enough to wipe out several years of character building. correct me if i’m wrong!

[anartisicandautisticstararcher]

Hi, I'm also developing a reboot of MHA, although my intention is to create something new with the concept of the manga, I'm creating new characters and creating a totally different worldbuiding, but I'm keeping the essence of the manga, like focusing on education of heroes. I'm still in the development phase, but I have an idea of ​​how I can write Katsuki's character, even though I'm really reinventing the character, like he's literally another character. But here's what I have planned for him: . Katsuki was born into a prestigious family, where all the individuals are famous people, including his parents, as much as it may seem like a fantasy, it wasn't quite like that, Katsuki suffered enormous pressure to be perfect, this was done by his grandfather, his parents tried help him, but they often agreed with his grandfather, and everyone in the family kept saying that he is the next number 1 hero, but then I want to focus on the part where Katsuki tries to find out which hero he really wants to be, since everyone else he just said that he would be the next greatest hero, but he himself realized that he doesn't know what hero he wanted to be.

. Katsuki suffers from pressure and this influences him to develop an inferiority complex, mainly creating a fear of not being able to achieve his family's prospects. This influences the way he treats Izuku, since our protagonist was the only one who saw Katsuki in a different way, like seeing the blonde as a person and not an object, but all this changes, when Izuku does something that until then Katsuki was the only thing he could do in their classroom and that the blonde was proud of (I'm still thinking about that episode).

. Including this episode and the fact that Izuku has a quirk considered useless for being a hero, it made Katsuki explode with rage and start offending Izuku, calling him useless in front of everyone, which influenced everyone in their class to start bullying Izuku. (In my reboot, Katsuki didn't actually bully Izuku, but he didn't protect or defend him, and he was the one causing the bullying).

. Until when Izuku was 12 years old, he was removed from his school, in addition to All Might (He will have another name) becoming a guardian for our protagonist (Something will happen that I don't want to reveal), after an event. This made Katsuki feel guilty, but he tried to ignore it, thinking that he won't have to worry about Izuku, but it still makes him have a guilty conscience. This ends Katsuki's participation in this moment in the story, as he will focus on Izuku's training and how he will adapt to his new life.

I want to give Katsuki a chance, I don't have hatred against the character himself, I think my dislike of him is more about the poorly done redemption and the fans who don't accept anything other than idolizing him. I also want to write a healthy rivalry between Izuku and Katsuki, even though they will start as enemy rivals, but as the story goes on, they will both have a serious conversation and really understand each other, even though in the first part I want to focus on Izuku and his squad, Katsuki will be an ally in the upcoming arcs. There are so many things I'm creating for my reboot, I really want to create something new and different, I don't want to reveal anything, but I'm actually proud of how the development of One for All's worldbuilding is going.

Wow. My first ask in...forever.

I hear you, Anon. This is a similar problem that I had with Bakugou's redemption arc: He sort of remains stagnant and doesn't really change that much...also the fact Aizawa was willing to go through hell and back to defend Bakugou's abhorrent actions.

For me, I wanted to make Izuku and Bakugou actually be friends. But I didn’t want to completely sweep what Bakugou did to Izuku under the rug. This is one of the reasons that I added the 'MHA happened but it was an alternate timeline' plotline. To make the story different from the original while properly addressing problems that were never resolved.

And like you, I plan on making Izuku and Bakugou's rivalry a healthy one. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, Katsuki remembers the actions of his past self like Izuku. So it adds the extra layer of 'Is he doing this because he actually wants to be friends or is it out of guilt?' to his and Izuku’s friendship.

[delawaredetroit]

Hi! I love your BNHA analyses! But I do have to say one thing about the licensing exam.

Your points about Todoroki would hold up... If most of what the manga is trying to communicate about his character hadn't already been resolved.

Todoroki already learned a) not to underestimate his opponents and b) to respect his teammates and fellow hero students. He learned the latter during the Sports Festival when his move against Sero drained him and during his fight against Midoriya. Not to mention the incident with Stain showed him (through Ida's situation) the importance of relying on and trusting others. And for the latter, he learned during the final exam. He took charge, messed up, and had to face the reality that someone else (Yaoyorozu) knew better and that he had to follow that someone's lead.

These faults were already acknowledged and addressed. There was no reason to do so again during the licensing exam. In fact, I would argue that it kept his character stagnant. His character didn't improve from the remedial courses- only Bakugo's did because that entire arc was about him, not Todoroki- and was left out of a major arc. This is also supported by him and Inasa- the reason he failed- barely interacting during the remedial courses. The only reason he failed was so that Bakugo wasn't the only one to do so. Because Horikoshi can never let Bakugo be the worst or fail at something/face consequences on his own.

(I would also point out that the way he failed and what you listed had nothing to do with one another. The only reason Todoroki failed was because Inasa held a grudge. He didn't actually do anything wrong except for engage with him for a little too long. And who wouldn't? This kid he barely knew and doesn't remember him is attacking him for nothing. How is he supposed to do the task at hand when another participant- that would irl be a fellow hero- is purposely sabotaging him?)

I agree with most other things you say, but Todoroki failing was something that shouldn't have happened. He was already humbled and learned better

I knew one of these would end up in my inbox eventually after I wrote this post.

Shouto has had a problem with cooperating with others since the beginning of the manga. An established character flaw like that doesn't go away over night just because he starts to address it.

It's true that he learned not to look down on his peers in during the sports festival. And he was able to work with Izuku and Iida during the Stain Arc, but Izuku was one of the closest relationships he had and Shouto trusts him with his life. After much handholding and being told directly what he was doing wrong, he was able to work together with a classmate who deeply respected him (Momo) during his midterm.

That's improvement for sure. But it in no way meant Shouto had the ability to work with people he didn't see everyday or who were hostile to him in particular.

As I've said, Shouto likely would have failed the midterm if he had been paired with someone else who also had difficulty with teamwork like Bakugou. That's likely the only way Shouto would have learned this lesson early enough to prevent a failure at the provisional licensing exam.

2. Whether Shouto's character improved from the remedial course arc is a separate question. I'd be inclined to agree with you that that arc was mostly for Bakugou and Inasa's sake.

3. On the issue of the reasons I listed and the reason he failed having nothing to do with one another.

Shouto made a series of mistakes during the licensing exam.

First, he immediately rejected cooperation in the first stage of the exam and bulldozed through it without thinking about what the purpose of this test was and what they were measuring. Because he is quite skilled, he still passed the first round anyway. But since he didn't consider the big picture at all in the first half, it put him at a disadvantage in the second half of the exam.

Second, he stirred up conflict between the tests by confronting Inasa (this was unintentional obviously, but this was the effect of his behavior).

Third, he rejected cooperation with Inasa during the second phase of the exam from the second he appeared, though that was a mutual error for both himself and Inasa.

Fourth, he was significantly distracted by a personal matter and got into an argument with another hero in the middle of a fight with a villain.

Fifth, Shouto and Inasa almost severely injured a fellow examinee who was incapacited and was in need of help during a rescue exercise.

To some extent, it feels unfair because the HSPC changed the scoring of the exam to weigh cooperation more heavily after Kamino and because UA doesn't value this as highly (see Bakugou not failing after attacking his teammate in the midterm), but there is an internal logic to it. Shouto was lacking in a main skill they were testing.

4. On how anyone would react to Inasa's provocation

It's not that Shouto's reaction isn't understandable, but he was in a licensing exam to become a type of first responder. People say and do dire things in emergency situations, and sometimes they make it personal. Yes, he shouldn't have taken the bait and he should have continued to focus on the task at hand because that was his job in this exam. He was asking for a license to save people's lives, so more can and should be expected of him. What Shouto demonstrated here was that he prioritized arguing over a personal matter over rescuing the civilians in this exercise. Of course they were going to fail him.

Again, Shouto is one of my favorite characters in BNHA, but he earned this L.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

So.

The most powerful villain is causing havoc.

The safety of Japan hangs in the balance.

He gets a second chance at life by bullshit means.

And he STILL thinks about surpassing Midoriya after all that’s happened.

(Slow clap)

Ladies and gentlemen,

Proof Katsuki Bakugou, throughout the ENTIRE SERIES

IS

A

STAGNANT

CHARACTER.

We gotta love that yummy peak character development. The pinnacle of storytelling right here.

🤢🤮

Ok, that hurt to type even when I was being sarcastic. Fuck Katsuki and his Gary Stu ass non-existent character arc 🖕

[pikahlua]

Reading some of your comments, I've been thinking about why I dropped MHA a while a go as a Bakguou fan. I'm not sure if you want to hear it but you were asking anon to tell you the reasons why they think Bakugou's character arc isn't working for them so I'll say what I think. I think it's Deku. I personally always liked Bakugou and despised Deku from start. I liked Bakugou when he was bad and didn't even want development. If Horikoshi could separate them instead I would've loved MHA a lot more.

First of all, let me point out what an immaculate ask this is. I love it. This is exactly what I was asking for. You have perfectly expressed your feelings without saying anything to provoke or upset me. I have every respect for your opinion despite not sharing the same opinion, and I would have this ask stand as a monument and example of perfection to the world. Kudos, friend.

Now, since you offered your opinion, I will respond to it with my thoughts. I hope to do so just as respectfully as you have.

So I feel for you. I did not “despise Izuku from the start” as you have, but I have come to a point in the story where I’m feeling that frustration with how slowly his character is developing, so I understand where a lot of the negative feelings aimed at Izuku particularly lately have been coming from. Even though I like him, I don’t like him nearly as much as I love Katsuki (I think that’s obvious), and while my frustrations haven’t made me STOP liking Izuku, they are still frustrations that can annoy me at times. Additionally, my perspective on the story has changed since I first started watching/reading MHA, and these perspective changes put early story arcs in a new light that highlight Izuku’s character flaws when before I may have missed them. That said, I do love me some character flaws, so I wouldn’t say that made me dislike Izuku either.

And this is such a weird thing to say, but I kinda like that you despise Izuku. XD I don’t know what it is exactly about Izuku that you dislike, but if it’s anything other than “he’s just too whiny” like I’ve had to deal with in every fandom for decades, I have even more respect for you. Aside from character flaws, Izuku does have a few traits that can be gratingly annoying on occasion, and while they’re not bad enough to make me feel the need to air my grievances, I won’t deny that they exist. I think some of that is just by virtue of him being a shounen protagonist--some tropes are unavoidable.

Now, here’s the part where I have to speculate, because I don’t fully know what you mean by how you “liked Bakugou when he was bad and didn’t even want development.” To me, Bakugou “was bad” in two ways during the early parts of the story. One of those ways was how he plainly rejected norms and acted confrontational with everyone regardless of the situation (season 1 and season 2, basically), and I can absolutely understand why you would want more of that. But then there’s the plainly unhero-like behavior from, say, episode 1, which is a moment I treasure for what it means in his story but is not behavior I would want to see continued from that point because that would leave Katsuki stagnant and unable to demonstrate his actual heroism.

Now, that said, you claim to not want any “development” from Katsuki, which...I also don’t know exactly what you mean. Do you want his character PERSONALITY not to change? Or do you want his story character to remain static. I’m not sure. I can understand (but don’t necessarily agree with) the former feeling, but I definitely don’t agree with the latter. Katsuki’s character development, especially as begun in his Starting Line episode, was exactly the initial draw to Katsuki for me. I have already alluded to how sick I’ve become of lancer rival characters regressing after learning a lesson in other posts.

I can’t help but laugh (respectfully) at what I perceive to be the potential result of your desire to have Izuku and Katsuki separated. What you’re expressing sounds to me like you would actually prefer a story in which Katsuki is the main character. That’s the major effect of splitting these two characters up like you’re suggesting. And I can totally understand THAT desire, because Katsuki is the main character of my heart (looool). But I also have enough experience with narratives to know that one of the reasons I love Katsuki as much as I do, the reason Katsuki is allowed to be the character he is in so many ways, is precisely because he’s NOT the main character. Remember what I said earlier about some of Izuku’s annoying traits stemming from the fact that he’s the protagonist? Yeah, I don’t want any of that crap getting on my precious Katsuki Bakugou. Izuku is a shield protecting Katsuki’s character from getting bogged down in that protagonist bullshit, because Katsuki IS the formulaic main character of a shounen anime who doesn’t have to do any of that shounen anime protagonist bullshit because someone else is doing it for him. That’s a little too detailed of a discussion for me to go into right now, but that’s the summation of my feelings for that.

You say some things about wanting to watch Katsuki struggle and win as the underdog and fight and earn respect, and I think you’re justified in wanting those things for him. In my opinion, that’s exactly what we get from MHA. He hasn’t been given any help in those regards--everything he’s achieved he did so on his own. The ways in which Izuku has been involved have been as Katsuki’s inspiration in some situations. But that seems to be your sticking point, which I certainly can’t help you with or would even want to try to talk you out of. You don’t like Izuku, so your feelings make sense. For me, it’s more like the Izuku that inspires Katsuki is a symbol more than Izuku the person. Katsuki is seeing the things he needs to see in Izuku (not the full picture of Izuku) in order to push him in the areas he needs to improve. And when it comes to Katsuki’s fights and whatnot, I’ve said before I don’t think people should ONLY want him to have cool fights, but I do understand the desire to want to see one on occasion. It’s just that that feeling in me gets squashed every time I think about what Katsuki is in this story. He’s already a top fighter. No fight he wins will ever look like an underdog overcoming the odds because he’s been a combat savant from the beginning. The underdog aspect comes into play when he’s rescuing someone. It would be a far more amazing underdog moment for Katsuki to save someone like Tenko Shimura when it feels like that’s something Izuku, the rescue savant, wants to do, especially when the story seems to imply Izuku is destined to do so. So I guess in this way I’m getting those things fulfilled for me that you feel aren’t being fulfilled for you. And it’s gonna make sense then why I’m still into the story where you’re not. I hope you do get those feelings fulfilled in some other part of the story or in another story altogether then.

I do think Katsuki interacts with other characters, but I can understand why many people feel like it’s not enough. (That said, I think ALL the characters could stand to interact a bit more than they do, but at least we don’t feel like it’s TOO MUCH instead I guess.) It does seem like that’s an unfortunate consequence of the story coming to an end when Horikoshi seems to be running out of steam. I hope he gets to have all the scenes and moments he wanted in his story at least. And we will always have fanfic for those moments we didn’t get in the story proper.

Your not wanting Izuku to gain from Katsuki’s victories is...a very individualistic perspective (no, I do NOT mean you are being selfish). Like, there are individualistic- vs communal-focused societies, and many western countries tend to skew more individualistic whereas many eastern countries skew communal. Japan for sure is one of those communal-focused societies, and many of their stories will reflect this, such as in themes where “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Shounen loves its themes of friendship, comradery, and teamwork, so MHA was always destined to have a fair bit of that in it. I’d warn you a lot of Japanese stories will be like that, but I do wonder if you’ve had an anime you felt did give you want you want before. I personally don’t see Izuku’s wins as Katsuki’s losses--Katsuki has always in some fashion desired Izuku, which may have manifested as jealousy or yearning for friendship or comradery (or whatever, depending on who all you readers are). If you didn’t like that about him from the outset, I’m afraid you were long doomed for latter parts of the story. I’m not gonna say anything that will make you feel better about the likely ending to MHA in that regard. I happen to like where things are going (at least the things I can TELL about it, since I’m guessing as much as anyone else about it).

(And I mean, calling what Katsuki did to Izuku “mellow for an anime character” is its own can of worms. We don’t even really know enough about their childhood and middle school years prior to 9th grade to be able to comment definitively on any of that, I would think. I will say though it’s not anyone’s job to attack or defend Katsuki for any of that in a conversation with anyone else. You can take what you need to from that situation.)

Again, thank you for your thoughts! I really appreciate them, especially because they actually provided me a constructive point of discussion and some meaningful insight into opinions like yours. You’re always welcome to send more asks! A+ Anon Award!

[izvmimi]

hi mimi. this is in reference to your post about basing assumptions of the mha characters off of season 1.

but i had a coworker as me if i was a bakugou apologist. And i was so confused?? like yeah he was mean to izuku, but 1. he was a kid and 2. i feel like he's grown out of it?? idk it just threw me for a loop.

I am, however, an overhaul apologist /hj

i swear people have honestly refused to really think about the medium longitudinally

like early bakugou is mean and not very conscientious and early izuku has low self esteem and is extremely nervous but that changes over time??? Bakugou is clearly kinder and more of the consequences of behavior and the fact that he NEEDS people as time goes on??? And this thing where people are like oh yes crybaby izuku, would YOU not cry if you were facing certain death and had to DO IT ANYWAY despite the literal mortal consequences and were a teenager the entire time??? Also bakugou is clearly seen crying to nearly the same frequency??

idk how anyone’s perception can be stagnant about these characters when it’s literally a story about maturing and forming identity??? It’s in the title??? My hero ACADEMIA??? Referring to the formal and hidden curriculum of hero development???

????

Anyway it’s 9 am let me not be crazy

Tl;dr I agree with you and I hope you have a lovely day ❤️

[doodlegirl1998]

Hi, morning.

Just wanted to add more to how the fandom detest Izu...and this is all thanks to Hori's incompetency.

Fandom loves to yap how Shig' is a great guy bc "baby Tenko played with those two random loser kids" and this is all smth Tenko is saying.

We literally saw Izu saving a lil boy FROM BK. And the fandom does nothing with this.

Fandom loves to yap how bk has a great development, how he deep down always care for Izu.

Chap 1 he literally suicide bait Izu for no other reason then to dare to want to be a hero.

This is never addressed nor it will.

They have to give all his good traits and actions to others characters to make them look good...while fandom gives Izu nothing (it boils my blood how they blame Izu for Shig's death..just saw an acc saying for the "mysterious man" to be careful bc Izu is going to "save" him) but blame and hate.

You think Izu is the villain in this story...a Homelander.type but he is not! God, he is so innocent in all this nonsense this is a bit funny.

The sponge Bob meme works here.

This fandom didn't stick to see if Izu would be a great hero....they stayed bc they saw their toxic and pathetic fav...being reward for doing nothing. "Why change if the world bents to bk's will/my will"

And the ones who wanted to see a story where Izu became a hero....left or change their mind.

I stayed to see....this trainwreck.

Good evening @mikeellee 👋

There is something to be said about those members of the fandom who praise other characters for doing things, yet when it's seen that Izuku has also done something similar... *crickets*

It also angers me to see how the fandom gives Izuku so little yet reassign his good traits to their faves - but especially when that fave is Bakugou.

Bakugou, who in canon, stayed stagnant, vile, and abusive to the end without concequence.

Izuku is not to blame for Shigaraki's death, Spinner was wrong in blaming him as are the Villian Stans. Shigaraki did not want to be saved, he stayed unrepentant and used his last bit of strength to kill AFO.

We stayed to see a trainwreck of an ending but at least we met some good friends along the way.

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About Shigaraki

I've had some time to collect my thoughts, so I think I'm ready to finally talk about Tomura.

Fair warning, this is more of a rant. Mostly because there isn't much to say except that Horikoshi hates this motherfucker, almost as much as he hates Izuku.

Tomura is a character whose autonomy and agency has been stripped by the narrative repeatedly. And that's not really uncommon in MHA (Izuku, Hawks, Shoto, etc.), so why am I pointing it out? Because Horikoshi's assassination of his character didn't need to happen. In fact, it feels like he bent over backwards to make sure it happened.

Anyone who's been around my blog long enough knows that the MLA arc is one of my favorites, I even put it in my top five MHA arcs. It did a great job of having Shigaraki progress as not only a villain but a leader and come into his own power. My one issue with it and what kept it out of top three was that it seemed to immediately undo all the progress Tomura made by making him want AFO (the quirk). Him gaining this quirk didn't tie into his goals at all and it flipped him from wanting to use his destruction to make a world for the LOV to be free in (Eric Vale's delivery of this scene in dub was fire btw, go watch it) to him just wanting more power. It was an extremely weird decision.

The PLA War further perpetuates this and it causes some confusion as to where Horikoshi was going with his character. Instead of a newly established in-control and ambitious villain, he turned Tomura into a puppet for All For One to use for his own benefit.

(Off topic, but that also felt out of character for AFO. Prior to this, he seemed to want Tomura to succeed and carve his own path, even taking the time to gently correct his outbursts and give him actual advice and guidance. You could argue that this was manipulation on his part, but it didn't feel like it at the time. Why would he want Tomura to be level-headed and calm if the plan was to use him as a husk for his own control? It felt way more like Tomura was initially meant to be his successor, not his puppet. This reads more like another Horikoshi retcon)

For some reason, it feels like the intention was to turn him into a victim for Izuku to save. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... Except he didn't develop Izuku enough for him to be able to do that.

Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, he even admits this himself. He sees Tomura as someone who causes destruction for the hell of it. And you know what? He wasn't wrong going off his few interactions with him. But that's where we hit our problem; Izuku has not interacted enough with Tomura.

And honestly? There's no excuse for this. They're supposed to be our protagonist and antagonist. They're supposed to be parallels with one another. So why in the world do they only really have one intimate scene together?

(I have mentioned this before, but Izuku should have been the one kidnapped, not Bakugou. Bakugou being in this position provides nothing to the plot, especially because All Might would have sacrificed his power for anyone. Bakugou isn't a dynamic or integral enough character for this to benefit the character progression of Tomura or the rest of the LOV, but Izuku is. Him learning why they're villains would have really done so much for their characters, as well as his own)

This leaves their interactions during the Final War completely stagnant and stale. Izuku doesn't understand Tomura, and Tomura knows that. He sees Izuku as a goody-two-shoes with no understanding of how dark the world can be. Except Izuku does understand because he experienced it. But how would Tomura know that? And how would Izuku know how Tomura became a villain? There's no understanding between them which is why Izuku is unable to connect with Tomura like he did Stain and Gentle Criminal. Which is why him trying to save Tomura goes nowhere.

It didn't have to be like this though. Even if it was rushed, Horikoshi could have squeezed it in. He could have made the effort. He chose not to. Partly because he can't be assed to give either of them good development, but also because he avoids the shit Izuku went through like the plague. He hates to acknowledge it and when he does it's sugarcoated (and used for Bakugou's gain, not Izuku's own). Because of he gets into the nitty gritty of it, his favorite blond rat's "development" goes right out the window.

Horikoshi wrote himself into a corner here, which is why the Izuku vs Tomura fight is so lackluster. Their interactions mean nothing, so their fight means nothing. What's his solution to this?

To fucking kill Tomura and retcon his entire backstory to force AFO back into the plot.

The last shreds of agency Tomura had as a villain were ripped away. He can't even have his own tragic backstory at this point. Hell, Kotaro can't even own his own shitty decisions, blame is pinned on Nana even though him abusing his kids was his choice and AFO somehow had a hand in him having kids?? Ok.

(Abusive man not being held accountable without someone else- a woman- taking the shit for it, what else is new in MHA)

Also, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN AFO GAVE HIM DECAY?

In all fairness, this has been a theory for a while. But again, the entire point of his character in the MLA arc was that he took charge of his "cursed" power and made it his own. So AFO giving him Decay erases another part of his development.

(And to add to this, what exactly was the point of having him take a quirk away from Tomura? Why not make him born quirkless so a parallel can be drawn to Izuku (and even Aoyama)? What is it with Horikoshi and quirkless aversion? There are four characters born quirkless in the narrative even though they're supposed to make up 20% of the population: Izuku, Aoyama, All Might, Melissa. Only Melissa stays quirkless)

AFO just happening upon Tomura- desperate, shunned, and vulnerable- who just happens to be Nana's grandson makes him so much eviler and more despicable. Him seeing an exposed child and deciding to use him to be cruel to Nana's memory and Toshinori drives home his callousness. Making it so that he orchestrated it just takes away from that. Tbh, it just makes him look like a loser. So, both Tomura and AFO just suffered character assassination.

Back to killing Tomura, do you know how awful this comes off? This character claimed his own power and goals, only for that to be stripped by making him a puppet, the attempt to save him is drawn out and goes nowhere, and then he just fucking dies. Like he never mattered at all. Like trying to save him was a complete waste of time and there's nothing about him worth saving.

And people saying he deserved to die for his crimes, THAT ISN'T THE POINT. It isn't about what he did or didn't do. I couldn't care less about that. It's about how Horikoshi stripped him of agency again and again and then discarded him when he didn't serve the shitty narrative he created.

Tomura and Izuku deserved so much better than this

[ao3feed-izch]

A Heart's Unraveling: Journey to Rediscover Love

by Dios_tubbington

In the midst of a stagnant marriage, Momo and Shoto find themselves drifting apart, their once vibrant love fading into the background of their busy lives. However, Momo’s life is abruptly altered by a devastating accident, leaving her husband shaken to his core. As he watches Momo fight for her life, he is forced to confront the depth of his love for her and the role she plays in his life.

Haunted by regrets and missed opportunities, Shoto reflects on their relationship and vows to make amends. With newfound determination, he embarks on a journey to rebuild their connection, realizing just how precious their love truly is and the importance of cherishing every moment together.

Words: 517, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

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

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M

Characters: Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Shouto, Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Jirou Kyouka

Relationships: Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Married Couple, Pro Hero Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Fluff and Angst, Near Death Experiences, Class 1-A as Family (My Hero Academia), Future Fic

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54832540

[ao3feed-kiribaku]

Phanes (Fantasy Au Shoto Todoroki x OC)

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZiSG0f by Hotaru_Honey I thought freedom was the answer to the hole in my chest. The forest was thick, as was the tension that clouded the air. I held my own waist -hands wrapped around myself in a form of emotional defense. I looked down at the boy in front of me, eyes brimming with tears as his expression stayed stagnant. "do you love him?" he whispered, voice full of disdain and eyes brimming with sorrow. My arms fell to my sides, and I gave him a remorseful look; Straightening my spine and eyes scanning his expression. "yes..." I whispered, watching as his face flinched in hurt. He tucked his head, hands clenching into fists in his lap. Slowly, I walked up to him, reaching down and cupping his jaw in my hands. "but not like I love you," Words: 645, Chapters: 1/50, Language: English Series: Part 2 of In the World of Zinniafell Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: Other Characters: Todoroki Shouto, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, Todoroki Rei, Takami Keigo | Hawks, Toga Himiko, Original Characters, Kaminari Denki, Shinsou Hitoshi, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Ashido Mina, Asui Tsuyu, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Sero Hanta, Jirou Kyouka, Sensei | All For One, Bakugou Mitsuki, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Takeyama Yuu | Mount Lady, Midoriya Izuku, Iida Tenya, Yaoyorozu Momo Relationships: Todoroki Shouto/Original Character(s), Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Kaminari Denki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Asui Tsuyu/Uraraka Ochako Additional Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Prince Todoroki Shouto, dragon OC - Freeform, Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Sexual Tension, Mild Sexual Content, Gods, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Childhood Trauma, Orphans, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, On the Run, Blood and Gore, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Herbology, Alcohol, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Pirates, Switch Todoroki Shouto, OC is a switch, Body Worship, Shoto is a sub, Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, Soft Todoroki Shouto, Abusive Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ashido Mina is a Good Friend, Aromantic Ashido Mina, Mama Mina, Kaminari Denki is a Dork, Bisexual Kaminari Denki, Topping from the Bottom, soft smut, Gentle Sex, Heavy Drinking, Making Out read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lZiSG0f

[raymusterio]

In later seasons is when their character growth really shows, look for it in their actions. Bakugou has a lot of personal growth without fundamentally changing his character, he's still loud and explosive but his values and morality changed. I think that's why people write him off as a stagnant character.

To me, it's really not like drarry because Midoriya and Bakugou, whether viewed as platonic or romantic, are intertwined and their relationship complex. I would compare BakuDeku more so to Merthur from Merlin than drarry, but even that's not a great comparison.

Either way, it's all up to interpretation, as is everything.

Happy watching and welcome to the fandom :)

I'm watching My Hero Academia for the first time. Am I ever gonna find out why people ship bakudeku or is bakugou always this awful to midoriya? Is this like dr*rry where they hate each other the whole series but people ship them anyway despite them having no chemistry and being terrible for each other?

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I always thought that Heroes Rising was the type of film that if it happened as the end, another development of bakugou as a character would have been necessary, because at the plot level he was never relevant to justify such a decision. Bakugou is the type of character who only gets screen time because of his popularity, to the point that his character doesn't have a villain of his own and has to hang onto Midoriya and Tomura, all his fans want bakugou to save Tomura because they say that both are the same and It's true that there is a parallelism between them, that both are saved by Midoriya even when he doesn't necessarily have to. Both show the kind of character that Midoriya has, trying to save bakugou from the villain in the first chapter and Tomura because he can't ignore someone in pain. All this speaks of the kind of person and hero that Midoriya is, because until now bakugou doesn't understand that you have to save even those you don't like, the only thing he learned is that he doesn't have to be a piece of shit with the people but he doesn't have the necessary compassion to think about others, that is why he still doesn't understand Izuku, that is why he would never have been chosen by All Might because at the end of the day Toshinori chose a successor who reminded him of his beginnings (his quirkless part), someone with a compassionate soul and who has the same thirst to save others even despite his own pain, All Might and Izuku have parallels and have imposed to each other's growth, that kind of mentor/student relationship is something that takes time to develop and that bakugou never had, because at the end of the day Horikoshi never developed him for it.

All of this. Katsuki’s simply a stagnant character, and unlike the background characters, he’s one of the main characters, so he has no excuse to be stagnant. It would be fine if that was his purpose, but it’s not. He’s supposed to be a big part of the story and yet he contributes absolutely nothing.