#because in the manga if the chapter isn't focusing on one of them

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Do you have a process for scripting your design hot take shorts? (I’m considering trying out a similar format for Cookie Run Kingdom design hot takes)

I do, yeah, but it's nothing special. With a few exceptions, the structure I follow are essentially the same as what you'd use for any typical long-form essay: Introduction -> argumentation -> conclusion.

The extreme brevity of short-form video does force me to sometimes combine or compress those discrete steps in odd ways, and I obviously take a much more conversational/casual tone than you would in a formal essay, but my videos are usually pretty consistent in following this general flow.

Lemme post an example, this is my review of the Munna/Musharna Pokémon line. Introduction, argumentation, conclusion.

Bulbapedia has it that Munna and Musharna are based on a Japanese style of censer for burning incense, which, huh, that's interesting, a pretty cool concept and it squares perfectly with the smoke trail from Musharna's head. For my money, I've always felt like they are kind of like the Adventure Time version of Drowzee and Hypno, or maybe there's a little bit of a Moomins vibe to them - like, they're the kind of odd creature Moominpappa would have encountered on one of his many adventures. And as a creature fundamentally of dreams, of the shapeless psychic, a daemon of the Immaterium, Munna really really works for me. Something in its proportions, that slightly odd hump on its back and the gem-like eyes and hanging snout, and those flowers painted onto its side in an almost childish way, it feels like the look of an imaginary friend or some strange creature you would imagine in a fever dream. Not scary or nightmarish, but not quite comforting either, just a little too odd for comfort. Musharna, with the plume of psychic smoke out of its head, continues that vibe, complementing the sleep theme by quite literally just being asleep. Its body pattern also looks a little bit to me like a pajama onesie or a muumuu, something soft and comfortable. I do also like the little tiny trick happening here, Musharna is so curled into a ball that you kind of don't notice that it actually has a longer body with arms and legs and could stand upright, and the moment you imagine this creature actually standing upright, well, suddenly it gets kinda weird and freaky again, doesn't it? They aren't impressive and they don't have a "wow" factor but… genuinely, the more I think about them, the more I become convinced that these are absolutely perfect designs for a dream-themed Pokémon. Grade: S

This isn't nearly as rigorous or extensive as a longer-form essay gets to be, nor is the argumentation particularly in-depth, but you can see the structure of it, right?

Structure and format are also extremely helpful when writing very short videos, it helps a LOT in keeping things constrained and focused. I tend to focus my reviews of Pokémon or League of Legends skins very narrowly on character design, for example, ignoring things like visual effects and voiceover, or movesets and battle stats. Similarly, all my One Piece shorts are structured around finding "the best panel" of each chapter of the manga. Format helps things stay focused and avoid sprawling, and makes it a lot easier to produce multiple scripts for a video series because you can kind of just plug your thoughts into the format without having to invent a bespoke structure each time.

[class1akids]

Do you really think the Deku Bakugo Shouto trio were written well?

I often see people complain about their dynamic and trio in many social media spaces, and many people say Horikoshi focused on them because of their popularity and he abandoned the actual trio aka ''Deku Ochako Iida''

So the whole manga is not very well written, but I think that the idea behind the Origin Trio is good and interesting. Like I've said many times in many places, Origin Trio is not your typical shonen friendship trio, but the backbone of the manga on which the narrative is built. It explores All Might's legacy from three different angles:

Deku - the "successor/ chosen" one who explores the OFA legacy

Shouto - explores how hero society was shaped by the All Might era and how it impacted the family of "A" hero who was not "THE" hero

Katsuki - explores a genius by the standards of the All Might era hero society.

We follow each of these character, originally inspired by the same person as highlighted in their Origin chapters to try to emulate him, understand what made him so iconic, reflect on how to follow in his footsteps and finally come into their own as heroes in their Rising, with a more personal definition of what being a hero means to them. This is structured around the themes of save, win, reassure.

And while the Origin Trio do eventually become friends, the point is more this exploration, how they influence each other's emerging hero ideals in the ways their story intertwines.

I also don't know what makes you think that the "actual trio" is Iida, Uraraka and Deku or it ever was meant to be. They had a couple of scenes together in the beginning, but by USJ arc (so the first 20 chapters, Origin Trio was the one who went to save All Might and the Sport Festival was squarely built around their three-way rivalry.

It's pretty easy to fact-check, but the first popularity poll was published during the Stain arc. So it's not that because they were popular, they were given more content, but the content itself that was planned before the first popularity poll influenced their popularity.

For me, Uraraka's and Iida's function in the story is different than Bakugou's and Todoroki's. While Origin Trio are all pinned to All Might, Ochako and Iida are pinned to Deku's influence and how their hero ideals change due to their admiration of Izuku. This is most prominent with Uraraka, who has no other influence than Deku to make her journey from "I'm here to make money for my parents" to "who saves heroes" and "being a co-weirdo).

Iida's is a bit different, because while he starts out definitely as a Deku-admirer, he's also influenced by Todoroki and by Tensei's legacy, and after the Stain arc, he shifts more into the new Deku-Iida-Todoroki back alley trio friendship circle (which is btw much better written than anything about the first-arc trio) while Uraraka becomes attached to Tsuyu, I guess in preparation to her plotline with Tsuyu.

The Iida-Ochako-Deku trio isn't really a thing outside of the "Beginnings" arc and then is brought back during Class A vs OFA a bit, because that arc is making lot of full circles to the first arc (like bringing back the civilian with the star-head from Ch 1). Iida and Uraraka have no dynamic to speak of.

So I'm really not sure why this belief is so widespread in fandom that they were the "actual trio" and somehow got robbed by Bakugou and Todoroki (whose significance was pretty obvious from the start, I think).

There are some shonen where your "main trio" is introduced in Chapter 1, but there are many others where some of the key characters arrive a bit later (when did Karma show up in Assassination Classroom for example? when did Killua get introduced in HxH?) and the first trio is just a first-arc trio.

In any case, the Origin trio hate is very forced in the fandom, but their popularity (and the popularity of characters tied to them) is an indicator that their narrative captivates the readers.

[chaoticreivingu]

Anyone remember when these 3 got together to be total haters

It was pretty dope.

[aihoshiino]

you've talked before about not liking akurubi i'm curious what it is you don't like about it? since you've said you don't mind the incest is there other things about it you don't like?

The reason I dislike AquRuby as a ship is not because it's incest but because I just think it's kind of boring but the incest is such a hot button topic relating to the ship that that I just end up fated to talk about incest every time anyway LMAO. But honestly, AquRuby being incest is like, 1% of what turns me off about it as a ship - like I've said before, what I dislike about AquRuby isn't that it's incest but that it's bad incest.

It's not that I don't see what people find appealing about it because when you break it down to the broad strokes, I think there IS something really compelling and even romantic about the building blocks of the ship and how long and how intensely Ruby holds onto her feelings of love for Gorou, not just across two decades but two lifetimes. And if you're invested in Ruby as a character, it's natural to want to see that devotion rewarded or more broadly just to see Ruby get a W and to end the series happy. But when I see people going so insanely hard for it and all the people still to this day who are like, frothing and foaming that it was Totally Canon and everything in Oshi no Ko was leading up to their Amazing And Epic Fated Romance of Destined Soulmates i just look at the material for it in the manga and i'm like... this??? this is what you guys are going crazy for???

Because like. I'm gonna be so real and true and honest about this right now: even removed from romance or whatever else, Aqua and Ruby's relationship is shockingly underbaked and underdeveloped, especially in comparison to how loadbearing it ends up being not just for the ending but the series as a whole. Honestly, for such a huge chunk of the series, the twins just barely have a relationship at all; I've said this before, but I originally got into the manga/fandom just after chapter 11 dropped and followed it to the end of Tokyo Blade before I dropped it for a bit and one of the major critiques of the series was always both that Ruby in general was kind of a side character in a series she was supposed to be a co-lead in (people used to call her 'whoby' lmao) and that as a result, Aqua and Ruby do not remotely feel like two people who have spent 16(+) years together, let alone ones who spent that time in the social role of siblings.

Like... it's really funny to me that AquRuby fandom (and tbh, to a degree, the series itself) tries to pretend that omg aqua is suuuuuch a siscon so crazy and overprotective!!! so obsessed with ruby she's all he thinks about!!! because when you pay attention to where Aqua's focus is and what motivates him for most of the series, it really comes off like Ruby is just barely in his thoughts at all LDKJFJKDNKDSM. He's mostly focused on his revenge quest and when we actually DO see him interfering in Ruby's life, this is almost always an offshoot of his Ai related trauma and thus his general flaw of being controlling and manipulative of the people in his life because he's so terrified of what could happen to them if he relaxes his hold for even a second. And even when the series does suddenly start trying to manufacture AquRuby drama, it's all just Ruby doing brocon gooner bits while Aqua just stands there like 🧍‍♂️

Obviously I'm not saying that Aqua, in-universe, does not care about Ruby but from a Doylist perspective, all the intensity and emotional weight of the relationship is massively skewed on Ruby's side of things when the series does finally bother starting to try and flesh things out. This is something @lastthroes pointed out in in the tags of one of my posts and I think they summed it up really well, so I'll just quote them here (tag formatting removed for readability's sake);

yeah i have posted before about how even if you remove the romantic angle the twins just do not have a significant bond. […] doesn't matter if it's a relationship based on familial love or on hatred or on whatever. but it does matter that the bond needs to be meaningful in some way and by the way it was written it just isn't […] aquruby got so popular esp after the kiss but it's… when i see art from jp artists and stuff i find them nice but it gives me the same impression that some of the manga covers with them together always gave me that impression of 'this is good but they just don't have this kind of relationship'. akasaka tries so hard to convince you that goro is obsessed with sarina when aqua ignores ruby's existence for most of the story. that fucking page at the end of their past moments together doesn't even address their relationship after aqua reveals ai's secret because akasaka built them up as drifting apart after the reveal and never made an effort to fix that before making that ending

(full tags are on this post & are recommended reading, iawtc)

So like... all the above is ALREADY a problem when it comes to the twins' relationship even in a purely platonic/familial context and that issue only magnifies when you try to build a romance on top of it. If the foundation of their basic dynamic is already shaky then attempting to layer romantic tension onto it just falls flat because. What bond even is there to get invested in?

It especially doesn't help that Ruby is flanderized SOOOOOO badly in relation to her feelings for Gorou/Aqua post 123. It's not that she has nothing else going on with her character, but whenever Aqua enters the picture, she immediately becomes a pancake thin version of herself propelled entirely by this brand new and poorly motivated obsession with her brother. If OnK actually used the page time spent on the AquRuby drama actually fleshing out or examining Ruby's feelings or at least taking them remotely seriously then that would at least be additive characterization to chew on, but in practice all it does is do the same "lol look at ruby cooming all over herself bc she made eye contact with aqua" joke over and over and over again.

The result is that even though the story wants us to believe the twins are now more invested in each other than ever because of the underlying emotions of Gorou and Sarina's connection bleeding into their sibling relationship, their relationship feels flatter than any other point in the story because they have so few moments together that, once again, aren't just Ruby creaming her pants while Aqua just stands there.

The fact that Ruby has this degree of obsession with Aqua (inherited from Gorou) also really falls flat for me. This is an issue that starts as early as the Private Arc and isn't so much an issue with post-123 AquRuby but this degree of fixation on Gorou that the story kind of retcons her into having kind of... doesn't really make a ton of sense for her?

Back when the manga was still ongoing and I expected us to get more out of Ruby's brocon brainworms than the nothing we got, I just kind of accepted it with a sense of "oh yeah sure, if Ruby was this fixated on Gorou of course she'd end up being a little freak about Aqua" but the more I think about it, the more I'm like... ok, well, WHY is she still so fixated on Gorou? It would be one thing if this was just Ruby continuing to love and value him as a person who made her, in turn, feel loved and valued when she had nobody else in the world but the Private arc onwards makes it seem like Gorou is basically the bedrock of Ruby's emotional and mental stability, to the point of him being more important to her than Ai, her literal mother.

Again - I totally understand Ruby still having fond memories of Gorou and maybe even being drawn back to seeing him again, just as she is with Sarina's family. But at the point in the story that Aqua reveals himself to her, Ruby has a massive support network of people, some of whom have stepped up and supported her in the worst and most turbulent moments of her life. Why have none of these people achieved a level of importance to her that she seems to exclusively afford to a man she knew for a few months max nearly 20 years ago? The story just seems to expect us to take for granted that Ruby feels this way based purely on her backstory as Sarina without actually sewing up the internal and emotional logic of why she's white knuckle gripping this obsession so deep into her new life.

in general, I feel like AquRuby as a ship relies too heavily on the context of Gorou and Sarina's relationship to give it foundation and legitimacy, rather than establishing a unique and compelling romance between Aqua and Ruby as they are now. This would be a problem regardless of how good or bad the writing supporting Gorou and Sarina's relationship was but unfortunately, GRSR is itself made similarly shallow by the narrative's failure to do much of anything with it.

This wasn't something I really became actively conscious of until I read Spica and saw the Wow It's Fucking Nothing that was done with their relationship in it, but even in the main manga there are multiple attempts to make Gorou and Sarina's relationship more meaningful and emotionally impactful to the reader that (imo) end up falling flat because the story seems deathly afraid of adding any real nuance or depth to the bond they supposedly have. I actually feel like Gorou and Sarina's relationship was at its best in chapter 1 - that little snippet of their dynamic said so much with so little and I really felt like I could see the entire relationship surrounding it between the gaps left by what isn't said.

By contrast, I feel like the rest of the series gets increasingly diminished returns every time it tries to mine your emotional investment in it because it's so uninterested in doing anything beyond banging out the same old beats of 'sarina is sad, gorou does a nice thing, yey sensei kekkon shite''. As a result, I might understand why Sarina feels so attached to Gorou, but we never get any idea of why Gorou felt so strongly about Sarina, outside of the basic presumed sympathy and righteous indignation that any good person would feel for Sarina's situation. There's no exploration of what about Sarina (and therefore Ruby) as an actual person removed from her tragedy inspires in Gorou, so the fervent attachment the story again tries to insist that he has to her is hard to invest yourself in as a reader, because the story fails to ground those emotions in anything. So again, we have a relationship where all the intensity and emotional weight of the relationship is massively skewed away from Gorou/Aqua and we thus fail to get any exploration of his interiority as a result.

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

since this is where I got all my trans manga recommendations I figure I'll post this here. It's my first impressions after reading 1 volume of each.

Skip and Loafer: Pretty standard slice of life but I feel it's really well done. Each of the characters have strong and distinct personalities without coming off like caricatures. It's very laid back, based off the first chapter one might expect that it will do the "protagonist is the least popular student ever" trope but the story is smart enough to know that that's dumb. I also feel like the way the story has social webs is really cool. Even just from one volume it is super clear that every character has their own circle of friends that overlap with each other character's to various degrees. I would recommend this if you like a well done chill slice of life.

Last Gender: I have mixed feelings on this one. It kinda feels like a similar set up to Our Dreams at Dusk, which is one of my favorite manga. Both focus around people of various queer identities who frequent a specific place. But while ODaD has the main character, who serves as both a point of view and a connecting throughline to make it feel like the story is still progressing as we shift focuses. Last Gender does not have this. You would think the lady on the cover would be that but at least in volume 1 she's one of the least focused on characters. Instead the POV is constantly shifting to whichever character is being focused on. Also while ODaD focuses on a character or two + the main character each volume, Last Gender switches the focused character each CHAPTER. It has this weird format where each chapter is basically a character being like "I'm [name] and I'm [queer identity] here is a perspective." And then they meet person two who gives a different perspective and then said person two becomes the focus of next chapter. This leads to it feeling like a barely connected short stories where none of them have time to flesh out. It also leaves the central location to feel less like the lived in place of real community we are told it is, and more a place for exactly two people to talk to each other at a time. I'll try at least 1 more volume but if it continues this format I don't think I'll read further.

Welcome Back Alice: This is an odd one. So it's basically a love triangle between the main character, the girl he has a crush on, and the trans character who is being welcomed back (who is oddly named Kei and not Alice). What makes this odd is the character of Kei, who is such an incredibly strong and proactive character that she completely dominated the story. Almost the entire thing after she is welcomed back is her literally grabbing characters by the arm, dragging them places, doing things at them, and said other characters reacting. Now this isn't bad, it makes Kei a VERY interesting character, but I do hope future volumes give other characters any chances to show off their own personalities.

Just Like Mona Lisa: First thing I wanna mention about this book is the art is simply incredible. The limited use of color is so unique and striking that I literally made a post about it on my main the second I started the book. As for the story, it's another love triangle. And I'm gonna say now that my opinion of the story will depend a LOT on the ending. Because the setup is the world of this story has people born genderless, but around 12 they pick on and their body accommodates. The main character however is 18 and is still genderless. But they are confessed to twice on the same day, by both a male and female friend. The thing that makes me so wary is that the way they frame it is that the love interests basically have to compete to forcefem and forcemasc the main character since both of them want a hetero relationship. Now I HOPE that the story will acknowledge this as a character flaw of both of them, and their arcs will be about accepting the MC for who they are, but as of finishing the first volume it's unclear if that's the writer's intention. (I also of course hope for a poly ending since that is always the objectively best way to resolve a love triangle plot but that I would be less upset by it not happening).

Requiem of The Rose King: A lot sure did happen. I think I understood about 70% of it, but I may be high balling that number. This one I absolutely will need more than 1 volume to have any opinion of, I'm just putting it here for completeness. I am curious where it goes tho.

X-Gender: Our first autobiography; and honestly I felt it wasn't the best. With autobiographies I feel like the best of them have a clear vision of what to conclude. This could be of a certain topic of a certain theme (For some masterwork of autobiography I can not recommend enough the work of Zerocalcare, he has a show called Tear Along The Dotted Line and it is amazing. It will give you an idea of what I mean.) X gender does not do this. It feels much more like the author wrote whatever story they could think of when they wrote each chapter. There is no connecting throughline. There's literally a whole chapter where out of nowhere the author just explains to you stuff about periods, which while informative was not necessary for anything this book was going on about. Like the individual stores are interesting but it honestly feels more like a curated diary or a blog than a book.

The Bride Was A Boy: See this one gets it right. The author went into this wanting to tell the story of her transition and relationship to her husband, and keeps the stuff told relevant so that it feels like a cohesive book. The art is also so adorable, I'm honestly so disappointed that this author doesn't seem to have any other book (at least in english) because her art is just so cute. It's also the only book that was only 1 volume so I can recommend this one with certainty since I've read the whole thing.

Overall I would like to thank all of you who recommend these to me. I'll read at least another volume or two of even the ones I didn't like the best to see if they can turn me around, but quite a few of these I feel like I'm probably going to read all the way through. (oh also I know not all of the one's recommend to me are here, in particular ones I plan on reading online. I have most of these on my reading list still but I'm going through the many books I have checked out from the library first, so if I waited to make this post until I read those it would take quite a while)

[cantareincminor]

Day 7: Best Moment

Hands down, Chapter 86 of the manga. I know it's not a single moment but I can't really boil it down to just one.

The entire mole hunt arc was top notch. The ending made it even better. And not just because of the infamous Twilight Shower Scene.

It starts in the sewer, when Twilight tells a half-truth to Nightfall about why he spared Yuri:

I'm a sucker for whenever Twilight has these moments (of which there are several in this arc). That exact expression. His eyes say it all. He's defeated, shaken, not "himself." He can barely admit the truth to himself, but he has to come up with some kind of explanation to satisfy his colleague and the rest of WISE when he writes the mission report.

That "for the mission" defense isn't holding up so well anymore, is it, Twilight?

His solemn, defeated mood continues as he heads home as an ordinary civilian:

Again, the eyes say it all. He looks up at his apartment with something like dread. It takes effort to raise his head. He looks to be walking slowly. Like he doesn't want to be there. He knows he's heading into a difficult conversation after an already difficult day where he made a nearly fatal "mistake" and almost lost his life.

Then, against all expectations, Yor welcomes him with the sweetest smile, to the point where she has a halo around her head in his eyes. Once again, Yor defies all that he thinks he knows about human nature and women!

Look at him. That tiny dot of a mouth looks so cute. He's stunned, unable to process. I won't copy paste all the fainting he does since I don't want to copy paste the whole chapter!

So many miniature golden Twiyor moments and shoujo filter close-ups of Yor here. I love how soft her expression is, the contemplative look in her eyes and the shape of her smile. Yor isn't the best at expressing herself in words, especially when it comes to her own wants and desires, but when she tells the truth, it hits hard. She feels comfortable enough with Loid to tell him what's really on her mind, what she wants! What a major milestone for her.

Twilight looks so adorable up there! He's listening and absorbing her words. His mind is not on overdrive. It's just focused solely on Yor. What a sweet, slow moment.

Then, there's this beautiful panel of them in the midst of all this white space. Completely focused on each other, at face level, sitting on the ground. Not putting on a front, just talking as husband and wife. Other fans have analyzed this a lot so I won't say much more.

Side note, it's kind of funny that right after this Yuri bursts in, and while Loid springs to his feet immediately, Yor is still sitting on the ground. I wonder if Yuri noticed his sister was randomly sitting on the ground? What could that have implied? Allow me to have a bit of a dirty mind here, lol, it reminds me of this iconic sentence in @miss---nothing's amazing fic Little Deaths, "What makes you think we haven't sullied the floor?"

Ahem. Finally, there's Twilight's reflection on all of this:

Finally admitting that Yor is a weakness. That she is the reason he "slipped up" so horrendously and left himself extremely vulnerable, not only with debilitating injuries he could have avoided (which then cost him the fight with Wheeler), but by leaving an SSS agent alive and wondering why the hell the most notorious spy of the West would spare his life! That is a HUGE risk to take!

I just love the character development, the epiphanies, that shine through in this chapter. Twilight's still taking baby steps emotionally, but when we really think about it, he legitimately fulfilled his vow he made all the way back in Chapter 14:

He took a bullet for Yor!! Literally!! Actions speak louder than words.

He won't admit he loves her (probably will take 100 more chapters for that LOL), but he sees her as a "weakness." Which places him on the path toward that elusive point in the distance.

All in all, this is the chapter I have reread the most. It'll take a lot to top it in my mind!

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Short Mission 15... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

I really enjoyed this Short Mission, it was very nice...!! 😁

Just a Short Mission today, but of course I'm still gonna talk about it...!! 😄 So let's get to talking about it, shall we...? 😉

This chapter begins with Director Gerald Gorey asking Loid to come with him to visit Fiona at her home:

*PFFFT* Twilight's reaction...! 🤭

Gorey reassures Loid that he isn't going to see Fiona for inappropriate reasons but is in fact going to check up on her because she's sick. Twilight is surprised by this because it's unusual for Fiona to admit that she's sick, but he assumes that maybe she might be still recovering from her fight with Wheeler (back in Mission 85) and is exhausted from her duties, so he ultimately decides to go with Gorey (mostly to hopefully get more VIP patients from Gorey and to give Fiona some intel...!)

When there, Twilight alerts Fiona that him and Director Gorey are there:

And since this is Fiona we're talking about, when she hears that Twilight is at her place, well...:

THIS WOMAN, I SWER! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

Because Fiona opened the door before Gorey got the chance to mention that Loid is here with him, he started to assume that Fiona is finally gonna give him a chance...!! But...:

Oh Gorey...!! 😌🤭😂

After that, Fiona states in her mind that talking to Gorey is making her fever worse, so she decides to stare at Twilight to make herself feel better, but that is also making her fever worse...!! 👌😌 Twilight asks Fiona what's wrong, and well...:

OH MY GOD FIONA! 🤣

After that, Twilight decides that it's time for him and Director Gorey to leave so that Fiona can rest, but before he goes, he tells her...:

Which makes Fiona light up...!! 😁 She then thinks about another time that Twilight expressed his concern for her (Mission 33) and even when Sylvia was also worried about her wellbeing (Mission 87) before she ultimately agrees to get some well deserved rest...!! 😊

Before the chapter ends, we cut to a sleeping Fiona...:

...AND OF COURSE SHE RECORDED WHAT TWILIGHT JUST TOLD HER...!! SHE IS SUCH A NUT...!! 👌😌

And that was Short Mission 15, a nice little Fiona focused chapter!! 😁 I'm hoping that Fiona truly takes Twilight's words to heart cause I don't want her to get herself killed one of these days...

I also think that it's pretty funny that Endo decided to release a chapter with Yuri and a short chapter with Fiona one right after another, especially since they get a lot flack for their behavior and personalities throughout the series, it's nice see a bit of growth from both of them (though they both still have a long way to go...!! 😊)

And I think that's about all I've got this time!! So until the next Mission; take care, be safe out there and be kind to one another...!! LATER ALLIGATORS!! 👋😄

[sugar-grigri]

Crazy theory, but since I don't really read them, I don't know if it's ever been mentioned before.

I've already talked about this urge to discover the demon of death. So much so that fans see them in every new character introduced.

We know that Pochita punctuates both the birth and death of demons with his chainsaws.

I've always been surprised by the way Pochita calmly took hold of Makima, allowing Denji to knowingly save her by recommending that he give her love

Just as I'm surprised by Fami's interest in separating Chainsaw Man just as Yoru is stubbornly intent on revenge

How can these three horsemen of the apocalypse have so much interest and connection with a single demon?

We already know that Fujimoto has opted for the metaphorical, choosing the instrument designed for childbirth: the chainsaw, as the keystone of his story.

Chainsaw Man is intrinsically linked to birth and death

Denji's rebirth alone is linked to death having been cut up as well as Pochita?

Demons are born out of fear of one thing, so I know it might be strange that Pochita, representing chainsaws, represents death and isn't the chainsaw demon.

But two things: firstly, the impostor is actually the real chainsaw demon.

Fujimoto likes to undo our first impressions, so I find it absolutely INCREDIBLE that Denji should be the impostor from the start, the false Chainsaw Man in a part 2 that focuses on identity.

Secondly, how can simple chainsaws have so much power? I mean, sure, they're scary, but how can they have so much power as to be able to wipe out demons? Why should it be the chainsaw demon who's capable of this, and death remains crouched in the shadows?

This would also explain his promiscuity with the other Knights of the Apocalypse.

The demon of control wanted to play with Pochita - death was the only thing she couldn't totally control, the only thing she aspired to be on an equal footing with.

If Pochita understood her so well, it was as the fourth knight of the apocalypse. If Makima considered him her equal, it was because she couldn't control a demon she knew to be of her own rank. The logic follows with Nayuta.

The demon of war doesn't accept death, it accepts to spread it through conflicts and weapons of mass murder, but a general doesn't accept that death can touch him too. To spread death represents victory, to be touched by it a defeat that demands vengeance.

Famine works hand in hand with death, and is feared because suffering and death are the end result of not being able to eat. She's the one with the clearest goal at the moment: to save humanity. She doesn't hesitate to recruit her fellow Apocalypse members, whether it's proposing it to Nayuta, trying to recruit Asa and Yoru, or splitting Chainsaw Man in two to work with the pure state of the death demon.

The public hunters' aim is also to protect mankind from Nostradamus' prophecy, but by paralyzing death's actions as much as possible. They exploit Denji's flaws and desire to be normal to the full, threatening those around him. While the church, represented by Fami, titillates Denji's heroic side, his abnormalities, they want death to act.

It would also explain why everyone close to Denji is disappearing.

All the signs are pointing to Asa's imminent atrocity.

Wouldn't it be incredible to think that it's because death is in Denji's belly ?

Everything would then make sense: it's normal for Denji's development to stagnate, and for him to go through so many existential crises.

He doesn't know his own identity

What's more, it doesn't contradict my most meta theories: Fujimoto places himself in the work through Denji (cf. chapter 133), just as he responds directly to his fans (chapters 136 and 137).

We're all hating him, seeing all our favorite characters meet unfortunate deaths

It would all make sense if the manga we were holding in our hands, "Chainsaw Man", actually referred directly to death right from the start.

It would all make sense if we saw Part 1 as Denji's introduction to the ranks of hunters governed by an early death.

It would make sense for Aki's love for him to be a metaphor for accepting death, in the continuity of mourning.

It would make sense for Power to be reassured by Death when traumatized by the demon of darkness: she died twice for love, and the total disappearance of body and spirit allows us to escape the darkness.

I don't know if this theory holds, but let's agree...

It's poetic

[delawaredetroit]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[quirkwizard]

Final Chapter: A Look at the Ending of MHA

With the manga of My Hero Academia finally coming to a close, I thought I'd give my opinions about how the series ended. I will be covering everything from Chapter 424 to Chapter 430. This is going to mix my thoughts on the ending, a proposed rewrite, and a lot of responses to people's criticism towards it. Because I'm going to be real with you all: the past two months have been the most frustrating and exhausting experience I've had with this fan base. 

I have been writing this since the finale ended. In that time, I've been listening and taking in all the discourse of fans in order to make a more informed opinion. It's been miserable trying to read through all the thoughts people had about the finale. The sheer amount of opinions that were based off misinformation or misreadings of the series has been staggering. So, if I sound more exhausted or if the writing comes across as more scattershot then when I normally do something like that, that's the reason. And, as always, if you have anything you want to discuss, whether it be about the post or the ending, feel free to ask about it.

Review

Miscellaneous Notes:

So there are some bits of the story I wanted to talk about, but didn't feel the need to include full on diatribes about.

-Oh hey, Koichi from Vigilantes is here, that's so- and he's gone.

-Even when Izuku is his peer, Aizawa still finds time to be a jerk to his students.

-Mirio is the number one hero. Makes sense, but it does feel out of nowhere with how little Mirio has been relevant up until now.

-How on Earth is Miriko still working, let alone as a hero? She's down three limbs and in arguably worse shape then Enji.

-Man, they are really taking Kai to task these past few arcs, aren't they? I mean, I get why, but jeez. It's honestly sad to see what's been done with his character.

-I like how All Might's light returned to his eyes. It's a good way to show him getting his spirit back after all this time and reigniting hope in himself..

-So if Eri's horn is back, does that mean her power is back? Kind of wish we had something saying about why she isn't healing people. I get if it's her choice or the recipients choice not to do so, but there needs to be something for that.

Hospital Visit

This works as little cool down from the big battle, especially since we really needed to see some of the immediate consequences on the main characters. I actually like a lot of the stuff with Bakugou. After all this, he finally understands Izuku, shown by them getting similar injuries, and lets himself be emotionally vulnerable about wanting the two to be rivals. And we finally got some thoughts on part of Izuku here, like his regret about seemingly failing to save Tomura and how he doesn't feel hurt about losing out on "One For All". How he's glad that he even got this chance in the first place. I do feel the need to mention All Might saying that Izuku saved the "soul" of Tomura. I think a lot of people missed or ignored that line. It's important to Tomura's death, but I'll get more into that later.

Speaking of consequences, I don't mind Izuku losing out on "One For All". In the grander scheme of things, "One For All" doesn't need to be a thing anymore. With "All For One" gone, it no longer has a purpose to exist. And as we've all seen with All Might, someone holding that much power over he world is a problem, regardless of whether it's used for good or evil. Having it gone helps even the playing field and will push for the idea that people should rely on themselves and each other instead of focusing all on a single symbol. What's more, I think Izuku having to sacrifice it and lose it gives the ending a lot more weight. Because Izuku sacrificed the thing that made him a hero in order to stop Shigaraki. To me, that's one of the most defining aspects of a hero: the willingness to sacrifice something important to themselves to help others.

UA Stuff

All of the things happening at UA are fine.  I do like that Aoyama chose to leave 1-A of his own volition instead of being forced out. Plus, now Shinso is in the Hero Course. Good for him. I've never been all that invested in Shino's story, but this is a good way to get him into Class 1-A without making an exception or replacing any of the core cast members. I liked Mirio's graduation speech. I think it works with his arc of trying to inspire other people and trying to honor Sir Nighteye's memory. And they got to have their own little party. That's nice.

Honestly, I find myself having very little to say about all of this, at least the parts within the school itself. I'm all for a calm after the storm to talk about what happened and to build up characters. I'm honestly glad we're back at the school to help ground things after that massive battle. But I think there may have been too much time spent on this. It just feels a little longer than what's needed. Like the bits with the cotton girl feel like they weren't needed for the story and could have been better used setting up or wrapping up something else.

Todoroki Family Prison Visit

The Todoroki family drama has always been one of the stronger plotlines, especially in the latter half of the series. And I believe that it ended on a pretty strong note. It's to the point where I struggle to really say much about the resolution of it.  I do like how Shoto asks for something as basic as his favorite food. I also like how Dabi let go of his hatred towards Shoto, who was as much of a victim as he was in all of this, but still held on to it for Endeavor. Because in spite of what a lot of fans seem to think, the manga does take Enji to task and isn't saying he should be forgiven.

Dabi being in this condition is pretty awful, but I concede that it was necessary for him to have a resolution with the other Todorokis. I'll get to my thoughts on the condition of the villains later in the post. So for now I'll just say the metal coffin looks equal parts cool and horrific. I think it's too long at least in the wrong places. I understand that this is an important part of the story. But when it takes up so much of the chapter it's in, I feel like at least something should have been given to the other family members. They aren't the main players of the subplot, but they still could have used some resolution.

Afterburn

Now, there are those who say Enji got off too easy. Uh, no, he didn't. The man lost everything he strived for in the number one position, something that turned out to be totally hollow, and is left severely injured after the battle, due in large part to Dabi. Now the only thing that would bring his life purpose, his family, is all torn apart by his own actions. Now he's resigned himself to seeing his dying son, who hates him with every burnt fiber of his being, every day until Dabi dies. Enji's punishment is to live on, knowing what he did and failing to ever put his family back together. That's not a happy ending, that's a sentencing.

Which is something I do find frustrating about the end of their arc. While we get solid conclusions with Natsuo and Dabi, how Shoto, Fuyumi, and especially Rei feel about all this and their relationship with Enji is ambiguous at best. At least with Shoto and Fuymui, we had some idea of where they stood with their father before now, but Rei is still not clear. I'm not sure about the implications with Rei and whether she's still with Enji. I choose to think that she isn't just trying to help him out in the few panels we see them together, but it's not exactly clear. Which certainly does leave the door open for some... less than favorable interpretations.

Commissioner Hawks

I'm not sure how to feel about Keigo's conclusion. On the one hand, I don't mind where he ended up as the head of the Hero Commission. It's still a way for him to help heroes to make their lives easier without getting involved as a hero. And if there is anyone that can clean up the Hero Commission, it's the guy that's worked under them his entire life. On the other hand though, it does kind of feel like he did got off scott free for a lot of the stuff he did while under the Hero Commission, namely killing Twice. It never feels like Hawks personally was taken to task for his part in all of this. So now we have a murderer as the head of the Hero Commission. 

It doesn't matter if he was under orders to do it or not, nor if there were extreme circumstances that pushed him to such actions. The pragmatic side of me does see the reasoning of that, but the story enforces that what Hawks did is a bad thing and does so constantly. Nothing about the manga takes Hawks to task for what he did or makes it feel like he's been punished for that. He may have lost his Quirk, but we don't really know how he feels about that. Which is weird considering how much of his life came from having that Quirk. Unless his comment about not being ashamed of his "filthy wings" as long as he got to help Tokoyami? Maybe it will make more sense on another read.

Spinner and Izuku

I feel like this scene is pretty underrated. Heck, it may even cemented Spinner as one of my favorite villains. To me, it really goes to show the tragedy at the core of Spinner's character. That, for all of his desire to change things or help out his friends, he was too weak to see any change made for himself. So he attached himself to idols like Stain or Tomura. He was always manipulated or pulled by something else. Whether it be the radicalization of Stain or the machinations of All For One, his hopes were used against him, his mindless actions given meaning by peons. All it did was lose him everything. He was, ultimately, a kid who was in over his head and was turned into a monster because of it. The monster everyone saw him as.

And while I've heard some people complain about Tomura only having a message for Spinner, I think that's more about the relationship Tomura had with the rest of the League. They were aligned together for a mutual goal and had some care for one another, but I don't think they ever understood or were close to one another. Spinner is the only one Tomura had any kind of real closeness. That's the whole point of the gamer line, as silly as it was. So, while to the rest of the League, he was Shigaraki, the force of destruction and change, to Spinner, he was Tomura, a friend who he wanted to fight for. My only issue, again, is some unfortunate openness with the ending. Spinner writing a book to spite the heroes is fine, but it leaves this unfortunate implication that this book will be used to radicalize more people. I don't think that is the intention, but again, it's not very clear.

Everyone Do Your Share

I was originally frustrated by how much of the final chapters spent on the cleaning up of things, especially since there were so few chapters left. However, looking back, I do feel it's pretty important to reinforce the idea of everyone trying to help in their own way, no matter how big or small it may be. And in doing so, show the changes on every level possible. It's there to show how things are changing by how people act and see heroes. We've got the civilians doing their part to help the heroes, and we've got the next generation changing their perspective on heroism. All thanks to Class 1-A and their efforts. It's just a nice and efficient way to show things changing from a broader perspective.

Which leads me to the stitch mouth kid. I saw people begging that this kid would be the new Tomura and show that society is still bad and broken. As if something like that wouldn't undermine the entire point of the ending. The whole point is that anyone can be a hero in any way, as long as you are willing to reach out and help others. And people who see a problem can and should do something to help people. They should help when they have the chance before it is too late. So having the old woman reach out to help another lost child is a nice way to tie up that point. And the whole point of all this is that the heroes, especially Izuku, don't need to do everything themselves. 

The More Things Change

Many people were upset of the idea of aspects like hero rankings and the Hero Commission not being abolished by the time the series ended. I disagree. I never thought that the rankings themselves were bad or wrong, nor did I think the story ever shows that the rankings are bad. That only seemed to be an issue with Enji and that had a lot of personal issues behind it. Every other hero seemed to be perfectly content to do hero work regardless of the rankings. Now, the Hero Commission, I can understand more. It's shown to be morally gray with its power. However, I don't think the existence of this kind of system is inherently wrong. Having oversight to heroes isn't a bad idea. It's just that the usage of it use to a lot of problems. And most of those people that propagated it are dead and gone.

Further still, there are people that say nothing has changed in the setting. That, since these systems are still in place, it's always going to be like this. Again, I disagree. Because of the massive devastation wrought by Tomura, it gave Japan a fresh start with the current generation. This gives the country the chance to overhaul those systems, even if they are still around. At the end of the day, systems are made up of and by people. The story makes it clear many times how important it is to win the crowd over. And if you win the hearts and minds of the people, it could go on to propagate massive change to the system. If enough people want to change and push for it, things will change. Saying that "things didn't change because systems can't be changed" is such a horrifically pessimistic take on the ending.

The Death of Villains

I've mentioned it before, and I'll say it again: I don't mind Toga dying. By extension, I don't mind the villains dying either. While it may seem tragic and pointless for her to die, I do think that is kind of that point. And no, I don't think this means that she "couldn't be saved". I think it's more of a tragedy. She was the one that people could have been saved before, but it was far too late to help her given how far she had gone. And her dying isn't a failing of that. Because Toga's ultimate goal was to live and die on her own terms. Specifically, being able to express herself and her "love". And to a lesser degree, to have someone try to understand her. I think her dying to save Uraraka is a good end to her character. By extension, that's how I feel about a lot of the villains' deaths in this. They got what they wanted, tragically died in order to see it through to the end. At least there's some peace for them, in that respect.

There's also a matter of "saving". I think a lot of fans took this too literally. To me, "saving" was more about reaching out and trying to understand villains rather than simply fighting them. "Saving" was never going to be the same as "redeeming". Because let's be real, there is no redeeming these people. Not because they can't be redeemed, it's because they don't want to be redeemed, and I think it'd betray their characters to do so. They are unapologetically bad and have hurt a lot of people. Every member of the League is complicit in the deaths of thousands and throwing an entire country into chaos. They aren't wrong for fighting the system, they're wrong for killing countless people to do so. And I have to ask what the other options are? You either have them be forgiven and turn good, which would be insane given the crimes they committed and their characters, or have them locked up forever, which is a fate worse than death. At least in death they can have some form of peace by escaping the consequences of their actions and all the suffering they went through.

Izuku x Uraraka:

Yeah, I'm kind of confused about why it turned out like this. I'm ignoring all the shipping concerns that come from it. I'm more focused on the story and characters. The whole idea of Uraraka and Toga's shared story was about understanding your feelings, both towards yourself and other people. Especially how bad it is to repress and hide your feelings. The whole catalyst of Toga's story was her being forced to repress herself. So having this whole subplot end like this is really odd if Uraraka doesn't express her feelings. That's not mentioning all the hints, setups, and teasing that pushed these two as a potential couple that fell through by not having any conclusion. I honestly wonder why Hori, or his editors, decided to back down like this. 

Which, hey, now may not be the best time for a confession, but it's still jarring not to see anything come of it after all this time. Especially since so much of the chapter is about the two talking about their feelings. So why is it written like this? Now, I want to dismiss the popular concept that Hori changed this because of death threats between the two. While it's not something I'd put past obsessive fans, there hasn't been anything to substantiate the claim. So, barring rogue translators, my only guess is that Hori or an editor didn't want to do the reveal now and wanted to focus more on the important parts of the two's connection about inspiring one another. I can understand that, but it feels like a part of their dynamic is missing without any real acknowledgment of the two's feelings.

Izuku and Uraraka:

And I say all that to preface that I do like a lot of this scene and I do think it's important to each of the characters. Because Ochako is being open with her feelings here. It's just not the feelings that were being set up all the way in the first chapter. It's the two trying to connect and come to terms with their own failings with their villains. Only to have Izuku reach out his hand, reaffirming that sometimes all people need is a small act of kindness. Though it's hard to always do that, he's willing to do it because he's just that good of a guy. And having Izuku say that Uraraka is his hero is more heartfelt and important to these characters and the story at large then any confession could have been. 

And then we have the rest of Class 1-A coming to help as well. It works as a good parallel to Uraraka saving Izuku back during the Dark Hero Arc. It fits with the idea of heroes saving and helping one another. My only major issue is that I kind of wish we had gotten a little more with Izuku talking about his own feelings regarding Tomura, but we already got that back in Chapter 424. All and All: am I still disappointed that Izuku and Uraraka didn't have any romantic resolution? Kind of. It's less that I wanted them to get together and more I wanted some kind of resolution for it. But I still think what we got is good and that people are focusing way too much on what isn't there than what is there. Which I feel like is a problem with a lot of the ending, but we'll get to that.

Class 1-A Futures:

I do wish we got to see more of the future of Class 1-A, even if they were brief snippets. There are glimpses of Shoto and Bakugou. Bakguou's is alright, and I do like the final bit about no one connecting Shoto and Endeavor. I think that's a good ending for him. The most we get with any kind of detail are Shoji's and Urarak's groups. And I guess Shoji had a good future? Look, the Heteromorph plotline is arguably one of the worst parts of the whole manga. It may even be worse than the Stars and Stripes arc. So I can't exactly muster a lot of enthusiasm seeing it resolved by Shoji in the end. I suppose him thanking the people at the riot was nice? That whole part of the story honestly deserves its own post talking about it.

On the flip side, I'm fine with Uraraka's ending. Because I think people tend to conflate a lot of what makes up "Quirk Counseling", mostly thanks to people like Curious and Toga. One is part of a cult that wants to destroy society and the other most grievously targeted by it. From what we've actually seen of it, such as Tamaki's flashback, it just seems to be a lot of training and understanding your Quirk. Toga was just an unfortunate case where the system as it was couldn't help her and could only try and fit her into a niche. So I don't think expanding it is that big of a problem. Plus, expanding could include more extensive counseling that is more tailored to each child. I do think it's kind of odd that Iida and Momo seem to be stapled on to this ending, though. I'm not sure how this works as an end for either of them. I guess their roles as leaders of the class?

Great Teacher Izuku

Look, I don't mind Izuku having this job. Do I think there could have been other choices for this? Yes, but this is by no means bad. Being a teacher is a lot more respectable in Eastern cultures. Especially since he's teaching at the best hero school in the country, if not the world, it is certainly a high-profile job. And he is still being a hero in his own way and helping out the next generation as a teacher. More importantly, I still think that Izuku achieved his dream of being the greatest hero. The man brought down the greatest villain in human history and was one of the two people responsible for causing a massive shift in the way the world of heroes works. He is truly the world's greatest hero. There is no debating that. This is like some kid wanting to go to space to be the greatest astronaut. They not only go to space, they're the first person on Mars. They also stop the martins from invading Earth, killing the king of the martins, and save humanity. Now injured, they instead teach other cadets how to be astronauts. Would they not have success in their goal of being the greatest astronaut? I don't think anyone could match up with that.

However, my issue is with everything surrounding it. There isn't any set up for him becoming a teacher. It gives us the sense that this was the back-up option for when his real dreams feel through. Especially since Izuku gave everything he could to try and be a hero, and it doesn't happen until the very end of this manga. Which doesn't seem like the intention, since Izuku seems happy enough, but I heard a lot of people saying that. It's lacking in that catharsis and satisfaction that you'd expect from an ending. But you can have an ending that's not exactly happy and still be cathartic, and I think that still applies here. And another problem I have is that he's teaching at UA. Yes, he's helping out the next generation of heroes, but he's not helping out the people that need it most. The kind of people who don't make it into UA. The kind of people like Tomura, Spinner, and Twice. Those are the kind of people that should be getting help like this. Why not put him in a position with a much greater ability to help people? Finally, wasn't the whole point of All Might's arc? That there are other ways to be heroes and life outside of hero work? Why not have that aspect of the story be resolve with him instead of Izuku? He was already going down that route to begin with. Why repeat the same idea?

Walk and Talk

Again, I'm going to have to counter a major talking point I've seen in the fanbase. No, Izuku is not unhappy in his job. He seems to enjoy it and is in fact very good at it, as seen when talking to his students and the plate kid, Dai. He's only unhappy in one panel, in which he's being talked down to by Aizawa. No, Izuku is not forgotten by the world. He's mentioned in the same breath as some of the greatest heroes in the series, has his own statue with the rest of Class 1-A, and is so famous that people know his real name and is of such mythical status that people question if he is real. No, Izuku's friends did not abandon him. The most that Izuku says about that is that it's difficult for all twenty members to get together. He's still probably seeing them in smaller numbers. And I can tell you as someone who has had trouble even getting a quarter of that number of people into a single time slot, it's going to be difficult to get twenty people with separate schedules and lives together.

As for everything with Dai, it's fine. His perspective is pretty important as we get to see the changing worldview. With the demystification of heroes and the elevation of other roles in helping others, young people are now all getting into different fields. The talk around the statue is pretty good as well. Having Izuku effectively talk to a younger version of himself is a good way to close out his arc and all the insecurities he's had over the manga. However, part of me feels like this kind of talk should be done with the stitch-mouth kid. We do actually see him as a part of UA students with Kota. I think having Izuku end up talking to him about his Quirk could have been a good way to end his arc by having him be able to help someone similar. Not to say that the Dai stuff was bad or pointless. It just feels odd to include the guy that's supposed to be the metaphorical spirit of Tomura, put him in Izuku's class, and have them not interact.

The Suit

Again, this is another point where I don't have a major issue with it. At least, I don't have an issue getting the suit itself. I have some issues with the semantics. Did it take too long to build? I wouldn't say that. It was revealed in a piece by Horikoshi that it took all of All Might's vast resources to build, and it lacked a lot of the proper safety features. Having it take some time before it's battle ready for Izuku makes sense. However, that isn't in the manga, at least as far as I can tell. Maybe this makes more sense in the volumes, where stuff like this is included all the time. For real though, these people built this in secret for eight years, and they are just now letting him find out. Was there really no explanation you could have added to make that make more sense?

It creates this odd juxtaposition of endings as well. It gives the feeling of the story wanting to have its cake and eat it as well. Someone wanted Izuku come to terms with being Quirkless and to have a life outside of hero work. The other person wanted Izuku to still fight and be a hero. I also wonder why not just have be both at the same time instead of doing this twist. Make it clear that heroes have a lot more time, both thanks to Hawks and the contributions of the many heroes in the world all working together. Izuku doesn't need to be a full-time hero to save people and chooses to be a teacher to help people in a way that only he can do. That way, he can still be a hero that isn't necessarily the profession while being a professional hero without a Quirk.

Final Thoughts

Now, what are my final options for all of this? I think that ending was pretty solid, leaning good. I do agree that it's better than what is on offer than a lot of shōnen series and a good enough ending for the story. I'm not saying it's amazing or perfect. Though I do find myself more satisfied than frustrated. I get a lot of what the story is going for, and it makes sense. It just needed some refinement to really work. As for what everyone else has said about it, I honestly think that a lot of people are overreacting. I wouldn't go as far as to say people are "lacking media literacy" or that they are "reading in bad faith" like others have on either side of the debate. I just think this as a case where the context and delivery of it resulted in a lot of confusion. And more often than not, people will tend to go with the worst version of the implications. This is not helped by the leaks and bad translations which fans ran away with, as well the built-up hype and headcanons, which poisoned the well for a lot of people.

However, I cannot deny that there is part of the fanbase that is simply not getting the manga. I don't want to use the word "tourist", because that's a No True Scotsman fallacy, but it's starting to feel applicable here. The people who simply aren't reading the manga, whether it be through engaging with it solely through other people talking about it, or trying to look at it anything beyond the most kneejerk and surface level reactions. Because a lot of people tend to conflate what My Hero Academia is about or what its story is conveying. And unfortunately, those are the people with massive followings. Anyone with a differing opinion is drowned out in the sea of angry comments. And I think we really need to get away from that. What I'm saying is that you read the story as it is. Focus on what is happening and what it is trying to say. Don't force a meaning or headcanon on something that wasn't there and don't rely on word of mouth for what the manga is about. Just focus on what the story is trying to say.

My only hope is that this will pass, and calmer heads will win out. That once it's stepped outside the zeitgeist, people will be able to analyze it as a whole. If not, then I'm terrified to think that this will become My Hero Academia's legacy: a bunch of stupid jokes made by people who can't bother to read the official version of the story or try to understand a culture outside their own even when it plays a vital role within the story. If not, then I can hope that maybe something else will come to replace it. Because I'm not sure if this is truly the end. I've heard rumors that there's going to be something akin to Naruto: The Last or the Naruto Wedding Special coming out after the anime ends. If not that, who knows who other kinds of side material will come out to follow up on the world or characters. Which would make sense. The ending doesn't feel like an ending as much as it does "And the adventure continues." Which could be why I'm not as affected by this ending as other people.

There's certainly the cultural side and how that surrounds the manga. I'll always stand by the fact that this manga is a Japanese story by a Japanese author for a Japanese audience. And there's a lot of cultural context that goes into the series. I keep thinking about how a lot of Japanese fans seemed to like the ending and how much I wished I had the context to understand it. Another part of it is how much I'm thinking about Hori. Because for all the popularity of it, being a mangaka is one of the most stressful jobs in Japan. One where the artist has much less say over how their story goes. I'm so curious about what went on behind the scenes to make My Hero Academia turn out the way it is. Was all this Hori fumbling his own story, whether that be through incompetence or failing health, or were there outside forces pressing on him to do things a certain way? It's like how people became more forgiving of Kubo or Toriyama once they found out how hamstrung they were by their higher ups. I suppose only time will tell.

Rewrite

Now, time for the Rewrite portion. As a reminder, I do try to keep to what the manga does as close as possible. For example, I personally would just let Izuku keep some version of "One For All" if the ultimate conclusion was him still being a hero. However, it's obvious that Hori didn't want to go that route with it, so I'll be sticking to him getting with the suit.

Starting things off, we'll be in the hospital with Izuku and All Might recovering. We're told about "One For All" leaving him, and we'll get some reaction from Izuku about it. He will be sad but resolved. He may not have "One For All", but he's still alive. He's got the skill and will to help people without it. And he still wants to do that, even in his own way, because he still has value without "One For All". This could help soften the blow of Izuku losing out on "One For All". That and it's at least something to try to tie up Izuku's self worth issues. This will also be something confirmed by Inko, putting a nice little bow on all this with her being more properly encouraging of Izuku as opposed to how things were in Chapter 1.

Then we're going to reveal how many people want to talk to Izuku. Reporters are going to be hounding Izuku for his story, considering how he was key in stopping Tomura. Which he obviously can't do right now due to his condition. After some time, he will eventually recover enough to give a press conference. This will also be where we get the varying opinions on Tomura, having a panel overwhelming Izuku with questions and thoughts. Izuku is now going to use his newly found position to try and change things for the better. He's going to emphasize the importance of the role of the other heroes and not have it all focus on him. He's going to use it as a platform to talk about who Tomura was and why he did what he did.

It's going to be something emotional and vulnerable, something propping up Izuku as a person rather than the hero Deku, working to prevent another situation like All Might where everyone keeps putting them on pedestals. This way, we have both the validation of Izuku saving everyone and wanting to bring about change on the societal level. It shows him being a hero in the traditional way with the defeat of All For One, now he's being a hero in the non-traditional way. This will be cutting into some of the time we have at UA, but to me, I don't think a lot of what's in that part is ultimately necessary to what the story is trying to say.

For the sake of this, Hawks will still be working as the head of the Hero Commission. He'll talk about how he feels free now that his Quirk is gone and everything that came with it, more so than ever before. However, he still wants to make life easier for heroes so that they can feel this kind of freedom. He initially didn't want the position, but felt the need to take it on after everything that's happened and make things right, implying the guilt he feels over his actions. Plus, it has some nice irony of Hawks still being trapped within the Hero Commissions. So him taking the role is more of his own penance and a punishment.

So while Izuku is fighting on the public front, changing the hearts of the masses to enact change, Hawks will be fighting on the political and systematic front, using the devastation of the country as a fresh start. He'll encourage groups of heroes to work together rather than focusing on the individual. He'll push for a greater level of training or vetting when it comes to people who can get a license for hero work. Most importantly, a greater level of accountability and transparency in both heroes and the Hero Commission as a whole.

Lady Nagant will remain in jail, but it's more for reasons of atonement rather than wanting to wait and see how things play out. Hawks will try to offer her some deal or reduction as a way to make things right, but she feels like it's the right thing to do rather than trying to pretend it never happened. This will also be the part where we explore some of the points with Hawks we talked about earlier. Lady Nagant can even question if the Hero Commission is needed, but Hawks can talk about all the reforms he wants to do with it.

For Chapter 426, we're shortening the Todoroki family time, and it will only take up half of the chapter. I will have some confirmation on whether or not Rei was able to move on from what Enji did and do more to cement how Enji is alone now. He may be resolved to change and make things right, but he is not getting his family back. That ship has sailed. Instead, we'll be sticking to everything involving Hawks and Toshinori in the latter half of this, with him talking to Lady Nagant and him discussing his plans for changing the ranking systems in general. I think it'd flow a lot better, works with tying up another character so closely tied to the Todorokis, and gives us more time for other stuff.

However, we're keeping 427 mostly intact. I think Spinner's material is good, and everything that got brought up needed to be mentioned one way or another. The most I'd do is cut down on the ending gag, since it frustrates me so much, and some of the interviews since we may not need them as much with how I'll be changing things in those sections. I am removing the Kai part of the chapter as well. I like Kai, but this honestly feels pointless in the grand scheme of things.

The biggest change will be that I'll include a bit where, instead of Izuku saying to make it a comic book, he'll remind Spinner to think about what would happen if someone like Spinner read it. About how important a book like that could be and how it should be written, but also how it could hurt someone who reads it. Spinner will remain silent in response, thinking back on how he saw Stain and how he was puppeteered around by the likes of One For All and the PLF during the Final War.

I think you could do a nice parallel between Izuku and Spinner here. They were two young men who were ultimately racialized and hurt by their idols and their lack of self-worth. Again, it's showing Izuku thinking about himself more with what has happened to him and tying that to Spinner's own situation. Plus, it prevents something like Spinner's book from having the unfortunate implication of turning out to something like the MLA book.

We're cutting Chapters 428 and 429 in half and stitching them together. Specifically, all the stuff with the new Class 1-A and the Old Class 1-A will be removed. I just feel like we don't need to focus on this as much as other parts of the world or story. Preferably, I would want them to get together. With the Bakugou and Shoto being seen bit, we're throwing in Izuku as well. There needs to be some confirmation that people did in fact see him as a hero as well and confirm that the three are in fact the new Big Three of UA. I'm not asking this to be the norm of it like they do in Naruto. I just feel like there should be some external validation.

The fight between Toga and Uraraka will be around and released to the public. Her death will be seen as something tragic to the world and help spark the change we see later on with people empathizing with villains like her. This could also lead to Izuku seeing it and being the impetus for Izuku and Ochako talking about their feelings. Yes, this chapter will include a confession for Ochako to Izuku. It won't be during a breakdown, but it needs to be put in somewhere and might as well be here. I'll even settle for an implication. Up to you on whether or not you think this should solidify them as a couple, but I feel like you have to include that in order to complete all of the set-up in the series and especially with Toga.

The new Chapter 429 will instead be a two-year time jump into the future before everyone is graduating. We can still start it off with some of the "where are they now" bits, but not have it take up too much time. With the final embers of "One For All" starting to fade out, Izuku knows this is the end of him as a proper hero, but it doesn't matter to him. He got to be the greatest hero in history who literally saved the world. He doesn't define himself by having a Quirk or not and knows that he can still help people without a costume on. Izuku plans on either going into counseling, charity work, or even trying to get a job at the Hero Commission. Up to you on this one. He still wants to help and stop the various hurting people of the world from ever becoming like anyone from the League ever again. Make it clear this is something Izuku wants.

This is when Toshinori gives him his graduation gift: the suit. Between Toshinori's remaining resources, gifts and gratitude from the various people across the world, and contributions from members of 1-A, they were able to build him the suit. Toshinori kept it from Izuku because it wasn't ready until a few days ago, needing to be properly prepared and built as opposed to the rush job that was the dangerous prototype he used. Izuku, of course, has notes and ideas for improvements on the suit. Toshinori reaffirms that Izuku earned this, and he will still be a worthy hero and successor, Quirkless or otherwise. The chapter ends with Class 1-A and 1-B graduating. I know that two years seems short, but I think that the timespan is enough of a time gap to get the suit together, at least with how I am setting it up, and to have the embers of "One For All" fade. 

The alternative route is that, knowing that the embers are running out, Izuku still wants to be a hero. So he's spent the last two years trying to prepare himself for that, putting as much time into training and learning how to use equipment made for him. He doesn't care if he isn't going to be the top hero. He's going to do what he's already been doing: helping people, because that's all he really wanted out of life. That this whole experience changed how he saw himself and hero work. You could even say that it's the prototype for him, eventually becoming the suit. Maybe even combine them both, with the former being a backup plan after hero work. And while I have never been the biggest fan of the whole "Quirkless Hero" concept with how little it's supported in the world, I think we can let it slide because it's the finale. But I wanted to mention it because I thought it'd be an interesting path for the story to take.

Then the real chapter 430 will cut to the future, roughly five to six years. I could take or leave Izuku being a teacher, but for the sake of this, let's say that he is one. Heroes have more time off, so he decides to help educate people. We'll get a similar series of panels that will focus more on the world with how it is now, mainly in relation to Class 1-A. This will show a lot more of how the 1-A kids have grown and the affects they have on the world, like Uraraka actually interacting and helping a kid like Toga come to terms with their power to show how Quirk Counseling has become a tool to help people. I think we really need more scenes like that to really show that things have grown and changed with the world. Izuku's suit will have changed as well, commenting on how much he's been involved with the modeling and planning throughout his most current iteration.

Toshinori will be living his life and still teaching at UA. He talks about how all the kids want to be like Izuku, especially with Kota, and that they never stop talking about him. He jokes to himself about how he feels like he's been forgotten. Cut back to Izuku's old school with the kid in the back. Events will happen similarly to what they did in Chapter 430, with Izuku meeting a kid similar to himself at All Might's statue. There will be the usual stuff he said, trying to encourage the kid, making comparisons to himself, maybe even showing the photos All Might took of him when he was training. He gets a call about an incident and needs to leave. He tells the kid to never forget about the hero he can be and to never stop striving to be that hero. The final words of the series are the ever-iconic "Plus Ultra".  This is beyond cheesy, but if we're going to end the series, we might as well end it with some cheese.

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

is it just me or do we have less information on Pah then on the other founding members? Like, we explore Mikey's very complex character especially in the parts that aren't animated yet (as of April 2025), we also get to know Draken and Mitsuya well throughout the show. Baji did in the "original"/starting timeline, but especially in other timelines and even before Valhalla's battle we get to know him pretty well, similar thing for Kazutora. Yes, we did have information on Pah, the whole Moebius arc basically only happened because of him (we got to know that he's caring, compassionate and doesn't mind to revenge his friends), and we learned how he and Peh became friends but overall? I'd love to know a bit more about him; his family, how he grew up, how exactly he got in touch with the other members, etc. Maybe it's given in character books that I don't have access to, but in comparison to Mikey, Draken or Mitsuya, it feels like he was forgotten sometimes :((

Yeah I do think he doesn't get as much focus as the others tbh. Most likely because he's the first of the toman founders/ Mikey's close people that we "lose" in the manga. He also doesn't have someone that keeps his character relevant like Baji did. Baji is the next one to go but because Chifuyu has such a big role in the story and Baji is so important to Chifuyu, he kinda keeps bringing him up which keeps Baji as being more memorable throughout. The closest person Pah has is Peh but Peh himself also doesn't get a lot of focus. This means less info given in the manga and less flashbacks of him. I also think another issue is Pah never got a chance to shine in a fight, we're told he's very strong and obviously he must be but we see him get badly beaten by Osanai and then lose to Mikey later on, so he never get's his stand out fight moment (unless we're counting him not giving up easily against Osanai but compared to the moments the others get it really isn't much). Adding on to that he never get's an important role in any of the future's either, so he never really get's the chance to shine through helping Takemichi or really doing anything besides dying or getting married there. I'd say his best moments are the ones where he's showing loyalty for his friends and helping them out, and although those moments are great, compared to the moments every other founding toman member get's they really don't stand out much.

As for his backstory, we do get some of it, mainly focusing on how he met Peh and then later Mikey in the bonus chapters/dvd booklet chapters. He does only get one chapter focusing on him though, which you could argue isn't very fair compared to Kazutora's four but I think it does make sense considering how much more complex Kazutora's part of the story and relationships are. And then his character book info is just the same as the others.

[hvlcy0n]

EXPLICIT CONTENT UNDER CUT, ONLY 18+

writing this and immediately posting it no i refuse to come back to edit this

idk about the rest of yall but that one interaction between hiragi and banjo in chapter 130 snatched me up by my throat. plus hiragi with his hair down??? manga hiragi????? listen. stay with me now.

hiragi just oozes authority. STAY WITH ME. he possessed great leadership skills and commanded respect as a member of bofurin's four kings, and such attributes would draw you to him like a moth to flame even as he ages and consequently graduates from the high school. he exudes a casual dominance that makes your heart flutter, and you can't help but feel your brain go all mushy when he tosses his jacket over your shoulders to protect you from unwanted attention or when he nonchalantly drops to one knee to fix the strap on your sandals because you're wearing a dress or short skirt or when he offhandedly points out things that he'd like to see you in but "it's cool if you don't like it."

he takes such good care of you, he makes you want to suck him dry on the DAILY simply because you can. he isn't super well-versed in relationships and may be clumsy with certain situations, but he does his best, and you appreciate the effort. you crave his attention in a way that's almost embarrassing if you think about it for too long, but it's not your fault that almost everything he does leaves your skin flushed with heat and a dull ache throbbing between your thighs.

he may be a strong man, but he's not nearly strong enough to stay focused when you seek him out and invade his personal space, tempting him into your grasp with an alluring sparkle in your eyes and a soft plea for his assistance. sometimes, he may be able to resist for a while, but eventually, you'll get your way, even if you have to pull out all the stops to reach that point. the only exceptions are when you're intentionally acting out or there are pressing matters he must attend to, but that's a conversation for a different time. you're his sweet girl, how could he not deliver?

but, if you're going to demand his attention so often, you should be able to take what he gives you, right? it's only fair.

he's very much the type to crowd you against the wall and finger you until you're creaming all over his hand. his presence swallows you up, engulfing you so completely that it's nearly overwhelming; there's nowhere you can turn where he isn't already. the scent of his cologne wafting off his neck is dizzying, and the only thing grounding you is the low sound of his voice as you drift in and out of awareness. his free hand is braced next to your head for leverage, and you can't help but let your head loll weakly against it as you try to conserve enough energy to prevent your wobbly legs from collapsing under you.

you can't even remember how many orgasms he's pulled out of you with his fingers alone, nor do you care. the sticky squelch of his fingers as he curves them to bully your g-spot for the umpteenth time is obscene and makes your thighs tremble. you whine at the onslaught of stimulation and feebly try to rise up on your tiptoes to escape, but his touch simply follows you.

"nuh-uh, you don't get to suddenly decide to run. i'm not done." his voice, verging on a growl, vibrates in his chest. "i was gone for two hours, and i didn't even have time to take my fuckin' jacket off before you were all over me wantin' more. this is what you wanted, right?"

you nod, tongue too cumbersome and uncooperative to speak. you gasp sharply when the heel of his palm grinds against your clit, lidded eyes popping open attentively. "eyes open. answer me, sweetheart." his voice is firm but not unkind, searching for some type of verbal confirmation or denial that you're still with him.

"it . . . is," you can barely thread together the words. "feels s' good, toma . . . one more, pl--ease." your inner thighs are sticky, but you can't tell whether it's sweat or your own slick that's trickling down your skin. "jus' one."

"damn near insatiable," he grumbles, but regardless, his fingers sink back into you without hesitation.

he can't deny you. but, when he feels his cock twitch in his jeans when you lift your head to gaze at him with those hazy, adoring eyes and sweetly ask him for a kiss, he begins to wonder if he's just as bad as you.

[houkagokappa]

Bless Mokumokuren for outright stating that the genre tags for Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu have never changed, i.e. the official site never dropped the "BL" tag from the series as it got more popular to reach a wider audience. It's been a persistent rumor in the fandom, and one I'm afraid will start circulating again once the anime starts airing.

If you mainly follow English language sources, please remember that whatever tags different anime and manga sites, databases, aggregators etc., either add or leave out don't always reflect the author's intent and the official sources, and should NOT be used to argue for what genre or demographic a certain work belongs to. It can just be random people claiming whatever they want based on their own interpretations and I've seen plenty of errors and real time changes to them based on new chapter developments, that might help catch the attention of some people, but don't suddenly change the genre of the work itself.

Not having BL as a genre tag also doesn't mean that a work can't include any boys loving. The queer themes have always been present in HGSN, and if you're up to date with the manga, they've been outright stated. Having queer characters or a queer story line doesn't automatically mean that a work is BL or yuri, and not including those tags doesn't mean that it's just "baiting". This gets brought up so much I think Mokumokuren's gotten tired of it, because the other day they clearly spelled it out for everyone, assuring that the story is queer, although it's not tagged as BL or focused on romance.

Here's what they shared on their Bluesky account:

The genre tag and advertising direction on the official website have never changed since the beginning of serialization. From the beginning, it has been consistently promoted as a "coming-of-age horror" within the official reach. (It's also true that the official reach is very limited…) Whatever the genre tag is, and even if this story isn't a romance, as the author, I guarantee that it is a queer story. There seems to be a persistent false rumor going around that "the author suddenly removed the BL tag from the official website by the 3rd volume," but the truth is that there was never an official BL tag from the beginning. (This is not to deny any queerness.)

And further back:

My opinion that the genre of The Summer Hikaru Died is something that the readers are free to think about on their own remains unchanged, but I view it as a story that sympathizes with those who have been left out of stories about love and sex, so I describe it as "coming-of-age horror." I think the key is the fear of not being “normal” and not having a place to belong, which is common for all kinds of people regardless of their attributes. I think it's fine for queer stories that aren't romances to exist. That's why I've been careful not to position it as a love story from the start.

Let's stop obsessing over tags and allow queer stories to exist and thrive, even when they lack a clear romantic plot or subplot and are more subdued.

[fantasticstrangetimetravel]

The Rebirth Of The Phantom Thief.

The first thing you can see about the relationship between Aoko and Kaito is that Kaito loves to tease her. One of the things he does to annoy her is lift her skirt in front of the class, and Aoko responds by threatening her with a mop. Then, Kaito teases her again, and she throws a desk at him.

Their dynamic consists of:

Kaito teases Aoko, and Aoko responds aggressively.

In the context in which this is presented, it's comical.

_______________________________________________________

What is a gag manga?

A gag manga is a comedy manga subgenre that focuses on jokes and has very little plot. Gag manga is characterized by making jokes for the sake of it. Basically, they're sitcoms, but in manga format.

This is important because, halfway through the manga, chapter 19 to be exact, Gosho adopted a more serious approach to the plot and completely changed the genre of his manga, which completely changes the perception of the characters. _______________________________________________________ Taking a more serious approach, the early interactions would seem out of place for both characters.

But since we haven't even reached chapter 19 yet, and we don't have enough context for both characters, let's just take it as: "They're opposite people who, at first glance, don't seem to agree on much." Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since relationships are about getting to know each other and learning about each other.

Although for childhood friends, their relationship seems very superficial.

It's funny, because at first you can even interpret that Aoko is Kaito's equal, since both prove to be equally intelligent, but also their opposite (not only because of their personality), but she seems to be physically stronger than Kaito, and he is much more agile and flexible than her.

At first glance, and just from what I've seen of the first episode, I wouldn't really think they were childhood friends.

Maybe school friends who annoy each other a lot, or even classmates who don't get along with the addition that Kaito might annoy Aoko because he likes her (something very common in Japanese manga).

But, for the kind of relationship Gosho wants to portray, you can't really see much affection on Aoko's part for Kaito. Which isn't unjustified.

It's interesting to see how, despite supposedly being Kaito's most trusted person, he wasn't aware of her fear of fish until that moment. But that could also be because he developed the phobia later on, not during his childhood. And given how it's presented later on (they're close and have spent time at each other's houses with their parents), it's a little odd that Aoko doesn't know this detail about Kaito.

Which means Kaito probably went out of his way to hide it.

That means he doesn't trust her enough to be vulnerable.

Anyway, this is still a comedy manga (for now), so what's been said so far is irrelevant.

Since all of this is presented from a humorous perspective.

So, the manga tells you from the beginning not to take this seriously, although this becomes a problem when the genre of the work changes mid-story.

But as I said before, we'll get to that later; this is only chapter one.

The fact that she exposes Kaito's fear at school, which he seems to try so hard to keep hidden, is a bit questionable, but as I said, in her case it's justified.

However, the fact that the two of them get along so poorly, causing mutual humiliation, isn't the basis for a healthy relationship.

Because, well, that's what they do to each other. I mean, while it's clear they're not portrayed with that intention, gender reassignment has a big impact on these types of situations.

[zenshigarakilover]

Thinking about both of AFO's death scenes (og body and vestige) and my own differing feelings towards them which derives from one important aspect that ultimately makes me prefer one over the other

Yes, both have him admitting his need for Yoichi and have him completely losing his composure at the end, and alone they are good scenes showing him finally getting what he deserves.

The one important difference that changes everything for me is how in the first death he is completely consumed by Tomura's hate while in the second death he is being his true vulnerable self. The baby AFO we see is still being influenced by all of Tomura's own emotions and its messing with his own head. He's more focused on trying to win that we don't get much from him in terms of vulnerability until the last second when he realizes Bakugo is going to keep him from reaching Tomura. Even after that we just get him screaming from the overwhelming amount of hate he feels knowing he is about to be defeated by someone he called an extra. It's poetic that he dies through his own fault (rewinding) and was prevented from killing All Might by someone who he overlooked. While I found these aspects of this death good, I felt it was lacking. I just wanted to have that moment where he genuinely loses while in his right frame of mind. Also I needed a scene where he talks with Yoichi one more time before he dies, that's what I wanted more than anything. Which was why I was hoping so hard that vestige would return soon so we could get it after this chapter dropped.

I don't hate this death scene though I do love is how we see him admit for the first time that without Yoichi all his efforts would be in vain.

Contrary to what many believed initially having Yoichi with him is more important than ruling the world. Ruling the world is his ultimate goal but to him it would be unfulfilling if he has to do it without Yoichi by his side.

The second death scene it's everything I ever wanted when it comes to concluding AFO's character. He's in his right mind, Tomura's hatred is no longer a factor, but he's full of grief because he thought Yoichi was gone forever because of how he shattered after being thrown in Tomura so he's forlorn. But the moment he sees there's a part of Yoichi still left he completely loses his composure. Look at his face when he realizes there's a piece of Yoichi that still exists

His whole appearance instantly changes to how he looked before his injury starts screaming at him to show him his face and to not fade away. Great way to show he's being his true vulnerable self here.

And I love it so much, seeing the man who prides himself in staying in control and calm at all times just making a fool of himself to get his little brother to stay is just *chefs kiss*. He was so smug telling Yoichi that he has to stay with him because he's too weak to ever stand on his own and now here he is finally admitting that he needs Yoichi more than anything.

Honestly, there's something sad in how he doesn't think he's anything of worth without his brother in his life. Truest display of codependency shown in the entire manga and unfortunately for him the feelings aren't reciprocated. Yoichi is trying to gently tell him that's it's over for them, but AFO refuses to accept the reality. He's trying to command the situation by saying he won't allow it but this is a situation where he has no more control. It's time for him to pay the price for all the evil he has brought upon this world.

I like that his death wasn't gentle because I can't ever imagine AFO accepting a peaceful death. Til his final moments he won't let go of control because he still has to cement his legacy as the demon king of this world. His work isn't finished yet. He doesn't want to go until he ensures that he'll never be forgotten. He'll do anything to stay alive, but he's helpless to stop himself from being punched to death. Yoichi couldn't save him, but he displayed a last act of kindness by staying with him and taking the punch as well.

So yeah both deaths are good, but I have more of a preference to the second death than the first one. I only wish the second one was a full chapter instead of sharing it with Tomura's death but alas.

Anyways thank you to @kstbj for inspiring this post as they wanted to talk about his two death scenes ❤️

[mari-lair]

Akane is a popular kid, arguably the most popular student outside Aoi and Teru, at least in his own class, so let's talk about it!

In his introduction, we are told the basics: how Akane is a childhood friend of Aoi, dutiful, obsessed with her, and so on. During this exposition, we get this small panel of two guys looking at him with a positive opinion of him:

It's important that the stripped shirt guy is the one who says "Akane is so nice" cause it is implied he has a crush on Aoi, or at the very least, that he considers her really cute, blushing when she is just living her life.

So even people who should consider him one hell of a romantic rival don't think badly of him. I would go as far as to say that they are invested in his obvious crush on Aoi because of the amount of attention he gets after being enchanted by the confession tree.

In an arc where everyone starts to get together, is hard to notice or even care about new couples.

But the whole class stops when Akane and Lemon claim to be dating. They surround the boys and talk about it, openly staring at them. (shout out to @bpzau-d-r-a-w-s for pointing out this crowd)

Which I would have assumed is homophobia if it wasn't for how many guys confess to Teru on the daily without being spared a single thought, or the way no one is trying to comfort Aoi.

If he was only known as 'that dude that follows Aoi' the class reaction should be "Great! Her bodyguard is not in the picture anymore! That's my chance!" but they don't spare Aoi a glance. No one cares that "our calm and composed popular queen is crying in the middle of class." right now. They are just... focused on Akane, too shocked by his change of heart to care about much else.

I know is Akane getting this attention instead of Lemon because the class reacted the same way once Akane started studying like crazy to win 'Teru's challenge' in chapter 59.

People don't dismiss his behavior as "hum, weird, well whatever" like when Nene talks to 'herself '(talk to Hanako) in class, they keep crowding and talking about Akane, they are invested, aware of the context of the situation (so they asked him) and familiar enough to take a guess that his behavior is related to Aoi.

So they care about what this weirdo is doing, he is a soap opera to the class! Just look at how invested people get when he says no to Aoi, even the background crew are open-mouthed or confused.

This idea Akane is a boy people pay attention to is everywhere in the manga.

Even for a class representative/council guy, it is ridiculous the number of people who want his help. He is always surrounded by people wanting his help.

I personally can't see that many people approach someone just to take advantage of them, he makes others go "Oh it's Aoi! I can trust Aoi to be of help :D" but I acknowledge that can be seen as a sign of how incompetent his class is or just people wanting to take advantage of him, so I'll talk about the cases people run to him that are nonrelated to his duties, is just his vibes:

Tiara gets super attached to Akane in no time, literally clinging to him out of everyone in the room, running to his side whenever there is an opportunity for it.

Hanako, who is apathetic towards most humans and supernaturals alike, loves his guts. Even if the admiration is not mutual.

Teru and Aoi are prideful people who have the whole school paying attention to them. They look at Akane the most.

Girls especially seem to like him.

We don't see him interact with many girls considering Aoi's jealous nature, but enough to tell the boys in his class call him 'Aoi', and the girls call him 'Akane-kun.' (shout out to @iamhereinthebg for pointing that out)

I am convinced the reason he doesn't get many confessions is because he brutally shuts down anyone who tries.

He isn't like Teru and Aoi, he does not believe in "I'll let them down gently, give them a cute smile to soothe the pain of rejection" he just crushes their hopes without hesitation and makes it clear they have no chance.

The one girl we explicitly see confess to him only ever hoped Akane would accept her chocolate, having no hopes her feelings would be returned but caring enough to let him know anyway.

And Akane still rejected her chocolates.

He seems to be relatively used to confessions, to the point he panicked when Nene said "I've meant to talk to you for ages" and immediately assumed she wanted to confess to him.

His answer is so quick, almost scripted "My heart belongs to another. I'm sorry." it makes no sense if he isn't at least somewhat used to getting love confessions.

Considering how... Unpleasant confessing to a guy who everyone knows has been madly in love with someone else for more than a decade must be, I am not surprised almost no one is brave enough to even try to pursue him. His blunt, borderline rude, way of expressing that his suitors are not welcome probably doesn't help either.

Bonus:

He is no idol, people do not trip over themselves when they see him like with Aoi and teru, but I do think he is considered a 'pretty boy' in canon.

Maybe I am reaching cause I am biased af, but I do find it wild that he is drawn super pretty in other's people pov when he is being playful or flirty, and the person always blushes about it.

EDIT: In a Twitter Valentine event that takes place in the canon world, Akane is described as having admirers.