#i hope you enjy

[itsnothingofinterest]

Wild to me that people are looking at the new Hero Commission president being this guy:

And thinking: "oh yeah, he's gonna change things, make them better, bring about some much needed reform." Because I must've missed the part where he had any revelation that anything the hero system or the commission in particular were doing was wrong.

I mean treatment of villains is going to get so much worse between this guy ^ being in charge and every other reason we have to expect that treatment of villains will get worse. But even something as small as the ranking system, which I've seen suggested he'll do away with...but did we ever get a scene where he said he didn't like the ranking system?

I mean I remember him saying it could do with some improvement, but I also remember he really liked the idea of there being a number one hero to inspire people, it's part of why he tried to help Endeavor be that inspiring figure (The rest is him choosing the worst hero to be a fanboy of, but that shouldn't discount his personal logic).

And overall I just don't recall him ever having any problem with the existing way of things besides wanting more free time (and without giving any thought to what makes a villain, which he has not, that one's out of his hands), or else otherwise complaints about his personal annoyances being told what to do. But we never got that he thinks what he was told to do was wrong. Even Twice he still thinks of as "The pretty decent guy who it sucks I had to kill-which I definitely did, what does 'arrest' mean?" He even doubled down by calling for Toga's death. (Goodness sake, I give Enji shit but at least he knows when he did something bad.) So besides those little things; he had no criticisms, nor did he ever agree with people who did have criticisms. I'm just not seeing a lot of reason to think this is the guy who will improve things.

[shibaraki]

the symbolism of the entire todoroki family now being scarred to varying degrees……….

[noxious-fennec]

Hero agency fighting superpowerful anomalies, but its a government 9 to 5

Takeda Mizuki (codename "Merlin") is a 29 year old corporate accountant who was discovered, by accident, to have a suit of terribly powerful abilities; faced with an ultimatum, she joins HAWK to train her powers and help their world-saving mission, but mostly to not be sent to prison.

[eternalera]

gonna be honest... this one has been spinning in my head for a while! so imma do an analysis of touya/dabi (I might switch between the two but its whatever) and just how much his arc makes sense for him and plays into his character. also his trauma and how it affected him. SO! with that being said this will kinda be ramblely and not very coherent but fuck it we ball.

also i have NOT read the manga so uh.... yeah-

(p.s this is REALLY LONG-)

so basically I'm gonna be going over about why it makes sense that touya is a villain and why he chose this path specifically over the one that most people would do, especially after his incident which would be go back to your family and talk it out or whatever. (which he didnt do because hes a totally EDGELORD- excuse me-).

One thing that's been essential about touya's character, from the very beginning (talking childhood) is that he always wanted his father's attention. From a young age touya was raised as practically an only child because lets be honest with him inheriting fire and with endeavors whole 'i want an ice quirk so i dont overheat stuff' he likely payed a lot more attention to touya rather than fuyumi.

touya took in this affection from a young age and seeing how apparently endeavor only got worse as the years went by the view that touya had of his father was likely in somewhat of a good light, glad to be receiving attention from someone in his life that he clearly looked up to at the time. although this did have side effects like his disrespect for his mother (which he also probably gained from being around his father so often).

remember that touya most likely gained a lot of attention from his father, that and his standards from a young age with no one to tell him 'hey this is wrong that hes doing this' as he didn't really care for his mother and her opinion because of guess who? his father. (this is where shoto and him differ as shoto clearly looked up to his mother, who was probably a lot more in his life than she was in touya's).

so the moment when its revealed that 'hey your quirk hurts you, dont use it' is the moment where everything shatters, not just for endeavor but for touya. imagine being told your whole life that you were gonna do something to make someone you looked up to so proud only to find out that you couldn't because of your bodies limits, something thats out of your control.

not only this, but touya likely would've been fine if endeavor had still shown some interest in him. but that wasn't the case. he moved on. touya already had these expectations built in his head that he's going to surpass All Might like his father wanted, so why isn't his father paying attention to him anymore? he probably figured out 'its because my quirk hurts me' so his response was 'its fine i'll push through the hurt and make him proud and show him that i can still do what he wants. so he'll have to pay attention to me again'

touya was so obviously raised on endeavors attention so when its ripped away all that remains in his is 'oh ive done something wrong, how can i fix it?' so once again he keeps training his quirk and hurting himself. not to mention that once again its clear how he looked up to his father

not to mention that he knew what endeavor wanted. he wanted an ice and fire quirk, so when endeavor kept having more and more children it was probably only worsening his dread and anxiety. 'what if this one had the quirk?' 'would dad still love me?' 'would he still look at me?'

he sees this as his father trying to get rid of him, as his father not having enough time for him in a way, which given how much attention he was raised on by his father, is absolutely devastating. SO- lets get to the main course shall we?

TOUYA'S BREAK DOWN!! PART ONE-

at this moment i cant remember the exactly what happened but its where basically endeavors like 'STOP WITH YOUR QUIRK DAMMIT' and touya cant understand that. because if he stops then endeavor will stop looking at him. to touya he has to disobey endeavor, thats the only way all of his attention doesnt go to shoto who clearly has the right quirk his father wants with his split hair because quirks or whatever-

(also fuyumi's face is hilarious in the second picture but moving on-)

in this scene he out right says 'look at me endeavor'. the kid who has been so basically pumped full of attention and praise has had enough of his father trying to constantly trying to seemingly get rid of him and throw him to the side. he wants his father's attention more than anything now, whether its endeavor yelling at him or praising him he just wants to be noticed by someone he's looked up to all of his life.

so he attacks shoto, no quite honestly i don't think that he was trying to kill shoto in this scene, as much as he was trying to scare endeavor/harm him. but thats just a personal opinion. so back to everything else i guess-

NOW- BREAK DOWN PART TWO!!!

in this he very excitedly tells endeavor to come to sekoto peak. endeavor wonders why and checks under the boys shirt only to find burns. and tried to tell him off but touya doesn't listen. he instead says that its really cool and that he might be able to get to shoto's level not only that but its also evident that what his father told him from a young age is still present in his mind as below he claims that he doesn't think that he'd lose to All Might, meaning even after when Endeavor's long thrown touya's training away forgetting about the boy ever being able to surpass All Might touya did not. most likely thinking about how this is his chance to impress his father.

now with these next few lines it reveals a few things, touya doesnt think that endeavors happy with him. he thinks that hes not glad that his own son exists and reasonable it makes him sad as he starts tearing up. but keep in mind, he looks up to endeavor at this point and if the person he looks up to isn't happy with his existence at this point than what the hell is he doing. now this is totally different from before as he just wanted attention, good or bad as he yknow... tried to hurt/kill his younger brother- this is him actively wanting attention. and likely... this is the most healthy he's been mentally for a while.

he went from. this person who i look up to expects something from me, to uh oh i upset them what am i doing wrong? to why arent they paying attention anymore? if theyre not then im gonna harm someone to make them look at me for once. But now his mindset is more 'okay well maybe im not trying hard enough, if i try harder than he'll like me more'

once again... probably his healthiest mindset, that and we see the excitement on his face about this new move or power or whatever. he's genuinely excited over this and the fact that his father just blows it off is gonna take a toll on him. as what did he do wrong again? well we know he did nothing but he doesn't know that. after all the person he looked up to must have a reason right?

he starts crying and with that everything burns. he can't control it and he ends up hurting himself in the process. covering his body in burns as he turns into basically what we see today.

but why didn't he go back? it would make sense right? well probably because of a few reasons.

how could he go back? what would they say? endeavor would be mad at him and plus he wanted to prove himself to his father on that peak. yet it seemed he only did the opposite

why didn't endeavor come? thats all he wanted, all he ever wanted so why didnt he? he no longer holds endeavor up to his high standard anymore, he's angry at him. and rightfully so

would they want him back? maybe natsuo would be there for him but what about the others? would they care for him?

of course the last one might be pushing it but you get the point. the second one probably affected him the most though and is why he became dabi, training his quirk so that he may surpass his father as a petty victory, trying to say 'i was right all along i can surpass you and all might and shoto'. its his last attempt at making his father look his way and he wants to do it right.

he wanted it to be something that his father couldnt just shove off hence the video and him taping it. one last time he wanted his father to look at him and be reminded of everything that had happened with him. and it worked, the todoroki's do go over what happened with touya and saw went went wrong, that being that they neglected him after building him up so high only to say that he was useless after all (its all endeavors doing but... whatever-).

so yeah those are basically my thoughts on it- might be slightly inaccurate but yknow what... this is getting long and i dont wanna type anymore :D

[helga-grinduil]

'endeavor still sees only dabi, the villain he needs to take down, not his son'

he. literally saw him as liddol touya in this chapter. and thought about how he doesn't want him to die.

we, as readers, know that shouto and the rest of todofam are all about to reunite with touya and endeavor, but endeavor does not. he's thinking that touya is already on the verge of death and is about to blow up and he has no way to stop it because touya already became delirious and is losing his conscience - he doesn't hear him, he doesn't understand what's going on, his mind is being reverted to a childlike state, mentally he's not even there. enji is not thinking that he has to take him down - he's thinking that not letting him die alone is the only thing left for him to do at this point.

[wentrogve]

Enji Todoroki aka Endeavor — My Hero Academia

part of @benziiiin's birthday week gift

[inkykeiji]

Random thoughts. Could you imagine, though, if the first time Enji saw Dabi, he just blurted out Touya's name. Like it's not a conscious thought, but seeing those eyes all he can think about is his son. He doesn't like to think about him. Of course he doesn't. Who really WANTS to think about the fact that they drove their kid to overwork so much that they ended up accidentally getting themselves killed. But he sees Dabi, and he can't help it. He's not even particularly calling Dabi by Touya's name. He just wanted to hear his son's name out loud. And Dabi just Freezes cause fuck he did not expect endeavor to actually recognize him so soon. And he's just like, so you actually recognize me. And endeavor is caught off guard cause what? He was just saying dabi had the same eyes. But damn now that he thinks about it he does look like a weird older version of his son.

I just like thinking of an endeavor that wasn't a complete monster to his children for almost 15 years

i actually genuinely believe this is what dabi was hoping for when he first came face to face with enji after touya’s ‘death’ all those years later!! i think when he says ‘this is our first time meeting, right?’ / ‘well, endeavor, should i say…nice to meet you?’ there was a part of him that was hoping so desperately for his father to look him in the eyes and recognize his own, recognize his son, turn to rigid stone and go ‘…touya?’ or something of that manner. but then enji calls him dabi, and that HURTS, because that means enji knows who dabi is—has seen him before, has perhaps even scrutinized/studied him as a villain, but failed to put together the blue eyes + the flames. he’s looking right at touya and yet he is still not seeing him.

this is also the first time we see dabi lose his cool, and i think that enji failing to recognize him has something to do with it or at least adds insult to injury. i know i’ve said this a million and one times before, but touya’s family (especially his father!!) seems to be the one thing that sends his usually ironclad emotions spiralling out of control. dabi is an absolute master at masking his emotions…until he’s face to face with his father. i feel like there’s so much subtext in that first meeting aaah like !!! no one can convince me that he didn’t phrase things the way he did (‘none of this is how i planned, but that’s fine’) because he really was hoping, on some level, in some capacity, that his father would come face to face with his long dead son and recognize him.

[emjiroki]

Enji coming home from a business trip and immediately taking you to the bedroom

His big hands gripping your waist as you wrap your legs around him to keep yourself balanced, though he would never let you fall as he fucks you against the wall just beside your door, barely even letting it shut.

"I missed you, fuck I missed you so much" growled against your throat as he sinks in as deep as he can get

[krbkss]

mha 395

has anyone brought this up yet </3

[drengar]

@multianime liked for a starter between Keigo and Enji!

"What do you want Hawks?"

Burnin' had loudly, as was normal for her, announced the other hero's arrival. Even though Enji had strictly told her not to let anyone disturb him. Today was supposed to be the day he went through the agency's paperwork to see what could be gotten rid of and what was still needed. He wasn't even dressed in his costume to show that he had no plans of going out. He was in just a black tight-fit t-shirt and a pair of jeans, something comfortable for a day in the office.

"If you're looking for a teamup then it'll have to be another day."

[hellflcmes]

@sun-flowerfields liked for a starter!

He wasn't exactly good at trying to covertly find things out. Even when it came to finding things out about his fiancee. It was fairly easy for him to find out things he didn't mean to. Enji was pretty observant and spending enough time with Do he had learned a bit about her by just watching her. Only the thing he wanted to learn about wasn't exactly something he thought he could learn without breaching the subject with her.

Thankfully Burnin' had been trying to help him and now so was Hawks, given the two of them had gotten closer due to recent events. However, this wasn't exactly a task he wished to give to one of them. All because he wished to avoid the teasing that they would give him for asking. Though they had been able to tell him some things that Enji hoped would make this outing successful.

So long as he could convince his fiancee to allow him to spend some money on her. That was going to be his biggest obstacle really. Enji was still trying to figure out how to go about convincing her to accept his soon-to-be gift as he held the door open for her. One that led to a jeweler.

"We're just here to look," he said, hoping that maybe that will make her go along with the plan he had in mind.

[thelazyhermits]

After you're left at a café due to Aizawa being suddenly called to work, your Quirk shows you a worrisome vision about events that will happen to Midoriya and his classmates during their internship at the Endeavor Agency. As it so happens, Todoroki's older brother, Natsuo, is at the café you're currently visiting, so since you were forbidden by Aizawa to directly intervene with your students' internships, you find yourself with only one option:

Warn Natsuo about what the future has in store for him.

[symbioticsimplicity]

Oh man MHA sure is trying to make the audience like and feel for Endeavor.

The level of complexity going in with the moral grey area is great! Love that in a show! But dude I'm never gonna like that guy.

I can definitely see he's changing and while I love a good "Everyone can change, even the worst people" storyline, it's not gonna make me like him.

"But you're a Bakugou stan, aren't he and Endeavor basically the same??" Nope! Bakugou didn't let himself go NEARLY as far down that road as Endeavor did! While his treatment of Izuku was inexcusable, it wasn't unforgivable. (This is entirely due to Izuku too, had he actually stepped off that roof, Bakugou would have jetson'd straight to super hell with Endeavor for me, he got lucky in this regard) But he learned the error of his ways and put in the work to change before it destroyed the lives of everyone around him. (Wish they'd teamed this with the understanding that his own home life was not great and was causing some of his behavioral issues but that's a lot to expect out of the same dude who cannot seem to stop introducing amazing female characters only to immediately assassinate them)

I'm sorry but like....do y’all have any idea how much abuse it takes to drive two people insane??? It could have ended up being three, or possibly four without Midoriya's influence. Shoto was very close to his own tipping point at the beginning of the series, and even acknowledges how close he was to breaking. If he'd lost it, I don't think Natsuo would have been far behind.

So while I appreciate the story's dedication to showing multiple facets of its characters, and I absolutely love the development going on there, I'm probably never going to actually like Endeavor. Too close to home.

[bokunowtv]

This post is interesting and well-researched, so thank you for putting in the effort to try and understand the character.

That said, I disagree with several points. I hope you're open to discussion? If you're not feel free to ignore this reply.

First of all, I think you might be confusing the tumblr echo-chamber (sorry to put it like that but I do think it's a problem with this site) with western culture. For example, you say stuff like this:

"In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west"

I've lived almost my entire life in a western country with western values, and I really disagree that what Enji is doing for Touya would be "a given" anywhere in the world.

Touya is not some kind of petty criminal. He's a mass-murderer and serial-killer who was in cahoots with quirk-supremacists and human traffickers. He sent a suicidal madman after his own family, attempted multiple times to kill his little brother, and succeeded in destroying his father's career and body.

99% of fathers would have dropped his ass. Renounced him. You cannot tell me that you really think that in the west, a guy can gleefully try and murder his brother then put his father in wheelchair, without showing an ounce of remorse, and that it is "a given" that said father will react not with anger, but with love and commitment like Enji did. Idk I remember checking lists of serial killers and it seems like you might have an idealized view of western dads because they're not that forgiving.

Enji is promising to drag his disabled body every day to talk to Touya. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. He doesn't blame Touya. He's praising him. He's trying to comfort him. He's willing to take his poison every day if that's what would make his son happy. He doesn't see him as a monster, in spite what Dabi did to him and the absolutely atrocious crimes he committed. He sees only the boy he wronged. He's giving him a love that is truly unconditional (because there's literally no way Touya could make himself a worse human being than that, and Enji still loves him), when by law, and even by most cultural mores, Enji doesn't owe Dabi anything at this point. Dabi took his own revenge, he made his father suffer. Nobody owes love and kindness to someone who took so much satisfaction from torturing them to this extend (including by attempting to murder their kids, it's fucked up). This would be considered beyond even parental duty.

Second, to me and I believe most people in the western fandom, it was absolutely not "crazy" that Enji "gave up" on saving Touya???? I've honestly only seen this opinion from Dabi fans (same ones who are always trying to blame every single thing he does on his father).

The thing is, the story is just not written like Enji had another out there. He had none. Touya was saved because of miraculous (and to be honest, extremely contrived) circumstances. Touya turned himself into a nuke. He was going to die and take a shitload of people with him. His brain was so fried he couldn't understand what Enji was saying to him. These are just the facts of the story. Enji had no means at his disposal to reverse the effects. Nothing. His only options were to try and explode Touya from a distance or die with him, and as a father he chose the second option. It was an enormous coincidence that Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo's underground car was sabotaged, it was an unpredictable spur-of-the-moment decision from Rei to jump into the fire, it was an extraordinary feat that Shouto managed to catch up to them just in time.

It seems like you're arguing that Enji had a better choice here, when the author went out of his way to show he didn't. The overwhelming majority of the western fandom understood that this was a father moment for Enji, that he was showing love for his son and atoning in the only way he could. It worked for most people. It didn't work for the small subsection that seems to think the heroes not coming up with magical solutions to save the villains is their fault. *shrug*

(To be clear, I do not love this conclusion for the Todoroki. They were all driven into a corner and succeeded because the "masterpiece" overpowered the "failure", twice. Meh.)

As for Enji's decision to visit Touya everyday... I'm really sorry but I can't for the life of me take the complaining about this seriously. I just can't. People who criticize Enji for this are just not making any effort at his point. They don't want to understand the story, they're haters who want to rage at a character. I'm sorry, I understand that you may think I'm being a jerk or overly aggressive here. But I swear, I'm just being honest. I do not think it's possible to misread that moment to this extend in good faith:

Enji is obviously, very explicitly doing this FOR Touya because it's what TOUYA WANTS. Touya made it abundantly clear that he wants his dad to watch him???? Like he couldn't have been more clear???? And why do people act like Touya has no choice but to accept his presence? Touya had no problem acting sassy just moments earlier. If he didn't to see his dad everyday, he'd have just said so???? And Enji has made it very clear with Natsuo that he would accept that graciously, that it was his kids' right to choose not to be in his life anymore. But that's not what Touya wants. Touya wants Enji to visit him. Touya's heartbeat started acting up the moment Enji said he'd come back because he was so touched.

The problem is not that the story wasn't written for westerners, it's that some people just don't read the same manga as everyone else at this point.

And at the end of the day, I think this is the crux of the problem. The difference between your part of the fandom and mine. It's not a matter of western vs Japanese culture. For me it's first and foremost a matter of sympathy:

From what I saw, plenty of western readers thought Enji was punished enough, felt sorry for what he had to go through, everything he lost, and the hell he is promised. And there are Japanese fans who hate Enji and thought he got off easy (though not as many as in the west). For me, it feels like the fans who dislike Enji's arc often dehumanize him, project their own abusers on him, see him as just a vehicle for atonement for their favs, do not regard him with any sympathy. For these people, his arc is not satisfying because 1) they didn't want it in the first place, and/or 2) they only care about results. But Hori wrote Enji's arc to be about Enji - his struggle, his change, his failures, his internal resolutions. It doesn't matter if he succeeds externally, what's important is the endeavor: that he tries and keeps trying even after he's been beaten down. It's consistent, dynamic, real, mature and so very human that it resonated with loads of fans from Western, Middle-eastern and Asian countries. I'm always seeing western fans (not even primarily Endeavor fans) say that his arc is one of the best they've read in Shonen. All that in spite of the cultural divide, because the themes his character carries are universal.

So, for many of us, it was touching to show that he won't be alone in his suffering - that his good deeds, efforts and sacrifices are seen and appreciated. Hori gave Enji the harsher ending out of all his heroes (main characters), so to me that touch of compassion even felt essential to uphold the BNHA message. I do not think it was necessary to show him still atoning, because tbh we've been told over and over for 100s of chapters that he will. The whole of 426 was about stating that he'll keep atoning to his family. We know.

For the fans that don't enjoy his arc - a lot of them hold contradictory positions. Untenable positions tbh. It's honestly more than fine to dislike Enji and love the villains. And it's ok to be sad, disappointed and hurt when characters we love don't get happy endings. But I personally think that if they want to write valid criticism of the story (as opposed to just ranting to friends who already agree anyway), you need to be able to first view your own positions from a critical point of view.

This last part isn't directed at you specifically. The reason I replied to your post is because I do recognize a genuine effort to try and understand, even if I personally disagree with some of the premise (that understanding Japanese culture is essential to appreciating Enji's arc).

Did Enji atone to Touya (and his family) and stepped up on his role as a father?

Boku no Hero Academia has a grave 'flaw'. The fact that's strongly tied to Japanese culture and Buddhism makes it a very interesting work but also makes it a hardly international work because way too many cultural things are left unexplained because they're assumed to be a given. Only they're not when the work is read by foreign readers. And this lead to confusion.

The Todoroki plotline is an example of this.

In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west. The point is... it's not a given in Japan. In Japan is a BIG DEAL. So let's go though it.

First, the fact that he doesn't want to kill Touya even though he's a criminal

Todoroki Enji ‘Ore wa ikinobite mo... ENDEAVOR wa shinda. Tairyō satsujinsha (read: musuko) to tatakaenai.’ 轟炎司「俺は生き延びても...エンデヴァーは死んだ。大量殺人者（むすこ）と戦えない。」 Todoroki Enji “Even if I survived... Endeavor is dead. I can't fight against a mass murderer (read: my son).”

Let's compare it to these two scenes of "Death Note" and see how Yagami Soichiro, a policeman, is taking the idea his son might be a killer and how, although Misa protests, the story doesn't present it as him being crazy but as it being his duty.

That's why Hawks doesn't want to send Enji, who's on an atonement path, to face Dabi, because Enji might end up in a situation in which he would have to kill his son and he would refuse... which is more or less what happens.

Second, Enji acknowledges that what Touya said is true, Touya is his son and Enji did what he did. In such a situation many would lie. Dabi's video proves nothing. He is a Villain, they had a doctor in the team who could create Nomu, the paternity test could be fake, even if Dabi were to provide a sample of his blood or skin they could insist that's fake.

Society didn't want the truth, they don't want Enji to confess, they wanted him to reassure them, they even commented he should have lied because yes, that's what's done often.

Basically he put his honor on the chopping block. A public apology like this one is a BIG DEAL in Japan. It's much more serious than in western countries and he does it when he could have spared himself and say Dabi lied but that would have meant to deny his son.

Third, it connects to the first in a way. While Enji is unwilling to kill Touya, he's willing to die with him. It's ‘shinjū’ (心中 Lit. “Mind/heart center/inside” but more likely means “oneness of hearts”, probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants) and it’s a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. People who commit shinjū believe that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between loved ones would continue into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through shinjū, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land. By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation.

For us it's crazy, it's Enji giving up on saving him. In Japan it sounds like 'I love you and I want to be with you'.

Forth, he'll apologize to Touya. As said before it's a BIG DEAL, especially since Enji is the family head and, although for us most of what he did is wrong, in Japan most of what he did is well within what he can do. Marrying a woman you don't love in a combined marriage to expect the child who'll be born from it will fulfill your ambitions and not really bothering to raise it because that's a mother job, well, things are changing in Japan but none of the above is a crime. In a not so distant past it was actually the norm. Yet Enji apologizes even though normally a family head wouldn't.

Fifth it's a bit in the first point and in the second but it'll drag on through all the story, Enji won't reject Touya. He's the only one (except Fuyumi who however doesn't get to say much) who never calls him Dabi after the reveal, and he won't strike him out of the family register but will keep on considering him his son.

Look at the Tobitas instead and at how they kick their son out.

Don't think Hawks is cutting strings with his parents solely because they were abusive, the Tobitas show us how you should just cut strings with a criminal. Same as the Togas.

Have "Theseus no fune" in which a man accused to be a murderer, send a birthday gift to his son and watch the reaction of his wife.

They don't want to keep contact with a criminal. It's scary because they'll be mistreated if they are discovered to be related to him.

And, in this vein, the fact he wants to go see him, that he'll keep on seeing him till the end instead than turning his back on him, is seen as important. It's seen as him being his father.

To many of us it seems as if he's forcing his presence upon Touya. Actually, from a Japanese perspective he's instead not abandoning him like many others would.

And since Touya is dying, very likely the talking will be the talking that's done in a Buddhist culture when someone is dying. Death should occur in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance. Together they should reflect on the good deeds the dying person has done throughout their life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation. Additionally, family and friends can perform good deeds on behalf of them, which they believe will be of merit to the deceased.

So, since Touya is dying he won't get a scolding like Chisaki, they'll all only tell him nice and soothing things so he'll die peacefully.

Now... in the west all this is absolutely way too little, and in some points even feels wrong. Dying together instead than insisting in trying to save him? Deciding unilaterally to show up every day? Not our thing...

We can totally say 'thanks, I hate it' because we grew up with Darth Vader who instead gave his life to SAVE his son. All this accepting that Touya instead is going to die so Enji can at best die with him or keep him company until he does... well, it's mostly not our cup of cultural tea.

In in Japan though, all Enji does is important. Enji is doing something for Touya as a father, something important many fathers wouln't do for their sons.

Does it would satisfy a Japanese audience? They'll get the message better than us... but things are changing and anyway it can still feel too little. "Death Note" is dated 2005/2006 and back in it Misa was already questioning the idea of a father killing his son and then killing himself. BNHA is more innovative as Enji doesn't think to kill Touya but he still goes for the 'let's die together' route... and Horikoshi subtly criticizes it by having the rest of the family decising they'll try to stop the fire before just giving up. They're willing to die, but not before trying.

Enji represents plenty of old theories after all, which Horikoshi acknowledges were moved out of wrong beliefs, not moved by mean intents... which, is possible, would still not be enough for Japanese readers either because among teenagers, the target audience, there's an increasing number of teen who, in Japan, are forced to leave home (the Toyoko Kids) and often ends up committing crimes to survive and the league seems to be based on all the kind of homeless people Japan has.

While for a kid at home with a loving family being told that your father will die with him if he messes up instead than just dumping him might be comforting... for a kid that was abused and forced to leave home this might feel not enough.

People want to be saved, being told it's too late to save them, might be a lesson for those who hadn't done anything wrong yet so that they won't do it, but it's surely not a hopeful message for who instead got himself into troubles.

But well, that's something for the Japanese audience to ponder.

There's also to point out that, even though the message is not hopeful, Horikoshi is seeing the homeless people and acknowledging they should be helped.

Japan in regard to the Toyoko kids is mostly like the old woman who pretended not to see Tenko but that, in the end, helps that new boy.

I think Horikoshi's message desperately wants to be hopeful even for them, that he wants BNHA be like Midoriya's final stand, something that will push people to acknowledge they exist and reach out to help them.

It just that... it gets lost in what I'll call the 'litteral translation'.

No one explains us how we should jusge the scenes and, since we lack the cultural background, to us they are perceived differently because to us things work differently.

And, personally, even when I think I figured out the author's intent and can see the positivity of it, the cultural filter is still too tick and the picture gets blurried.

It's like being beginner at speaking a foreign language and having to constantly translate it in your head. The message loses its natural beauty, get simplified and not fully grasped.

I think I understand how Enji's atonement work in regard to Touya... it still doesn't feel fulfilling to me. But enough about Touya.

'Now,' you might rightfully say, 'fine, I'll bite, let's assume what Enji has is an atonement arc for Touya. It doesn't work at all in the west but let's give it a pass. What about his other kids?'

Natsuo and Fuyumi's wishes are in conflict.

Fuyumi wants the five of them to be a family (at the time she doesn't know Touya is alive), Natsuo doesn't want to be part of a family with Enji.

Enji's solution is giving Fuyumi a house in which she can welcome her mother and live with Natsuo (and Shouto when he comes home), while he removes himself from the equation. The solution fulfills Natsuo's wish of not seeing Enji because it makes him feel bad. It only partly fulfil Fuyumi's wish because it'll allow her to have her mother back (Rei couldn't bear meeting Enji either) and to stay with her siblings... but Enji takes responsibility for it, he doesn't tell her it's due to Natsuo that he can't live with them, so, in theory, it won't be Natsuo the one who's stressed to be at home when Enji is there and the one who has to leave home because he can't stand the sight of Enji.

There are many things I can say on how this is not a good solution (it doesn't make Natsuo feel better, it just stops him from feeling worse), but there are two points to consider. The first is that Enji is getting old and it would be his children's duty, due to filial pity, to take care of him, instead he's basically giving them the means to leave and take his wife with them.

Actually, since Natsuo is now the oldest MALE, it should fall on him specifically. Yes, Enji always intended to have Shouto inherit his mantle but this doesn't free Natsuo from his duties. Instead Enji is letting all his children free.

Even with Shouto, he doesn't insist anymore for Shouto to learn Flashfire Fist as his heir but just as an intern.

I take this is big in Japan.

Here again, not so much, especially in the countries in the west that think kids should leave their parents' home as soon as possible and we don't think our children are obliged to inherit our mantles.

Note how the story implies that this was meant to be the end for the Natsuo/Enji arc.

Natsuo made clear he didn't want to meet Enji again, he does it solely because they've to stop Touya and, once they've stopped Touya, he makes clear he doesn't want to see him again.

If we want though, the fact he's leaving the family can be seen as a concession in a way.

Since apparently Rei wants to stay with Enji (and likely their old house was devasted because that's what happens to relative of criminals) Enji can now move with Fuyumi and Rei and Natsuo won't have to see him because he'll leave home... to make his own home.

As for Shouto... Horikoshi answered his request by basically showing him Enji being a father for Touya and then promising he would protect them from the fiery fallout, which Horikoshi doesn't show at all because it's another thing that's a given in Japanese culture, it'll be hell for Enji to protect them, but not for us.

Just to get an idea of the fiery fallout here are some images from "Theseus no fune" again showing you how bad is this sort of thing.

Back to Enji, Horikoshi gives us verbal confirmation that Enji is now being a father by being willing to do this, by having Natsuo, who never called him as such, calling him father for the first time.

For Horikoshi that's Enji being a father.

Again, we've no idea of which hell Enji will suffer because that's not part of our culture. I've posted above screencaps of "Theseus no fune", that's how the fallout should be so not pretty at all.

So the fact that Enji will try to protect them from it is, again, BIG.

So yeah, Enji did do BIG things to atone and keeps on doing them and if he'll ultimately get forgiven by Natsuo (the rest of his family wanted to forgive him way before he were to do something), that's up to Natsuo... Horikoshi likely left this as open ending because he wanted to let it up to readers so as not to make them feel they were forced to forgive Enji.

In the general hopeful theme of the manga and with Natsuo acknowledging him as a cool father I guess his idea is that Natsuo too will eventually forgive him because he's kind.

I don't want to say that Natsuo forgiving Enji would be a culture clash because there's people even here that forgive their horrible parents and that's valid. Forgiving is a personal choice and one has the right to make it even if said horrible parent did nothing to deserve it.

It's up to you.

But sure is, if again we take the story at face value and not in its cultural contest, we can't see what Enji does to atone, because for us is nothing big.

It's even made worse by how Horikoshi doesn't show at all the hell Enji will go through (as for him is a given) so for us IT DOESN'T EXIST. We see Enji as having it easy, talking big but not having to face anything at all.

Honestly though... I think this is a bit of a flaw of the manga as a whole.

Way too often it prefers to focus on the good than on the bad so that the bad gets sidelined to much to the point people forget it.

There were horrible Heroes who committed crimes and had no intention to repent or stop... and we never met them. Nagant killed them off but we never met them.

Mountain Lady, who became a Hero for money and fame, then sticks to the job even when it's bad. Desugoro, who left the job when it turned bad, then came back to help. Enji is on an atonement path and, anyway, on work he was always a good Hero.

In the same way Horikoshi prefers not to show Enji's hardship but focus on how he'll have the support of his sidekicks, driver and Hawks... partly also because it ties in so well with the general message of everyone reaching out.

The result is that the Midoriya plotline of everyone reaching out becomes more important of the Enji atonement arc and overshadows it.

Enji's atonement arc ends in 426, chap 430 doesn't feel the need to tell us if Enji is keeping up with it despite the hardship, nor how his family is doing. It feels the need to reassure us that people will reach out for him even if he's in hell, that even if he had to give up on his family, he now as a new found family.

It's thematically consistent with the theme of reaching out but... the fact it overwrites the atonement arc honestly FOR ME doesn't work so great.

I think it's an overall problem of the 'reaching out message'.

While in itself is beautiful... it saves nothing I was lead to care about.

In Enji's case I was interested in his atonement arc, in how he could help his kids. I wanted more of that, partly because his atonement arc is so far from my culture, partly because it touched characters I cared about, I wanted to be reassured he would keep on working on it and that his family would be well.

Yes, he should be in hell, but the story didn't really work hard on trying to make me worry for him as it established already a support network for him. The story made me worry for the kids, for Touya, who was dying, for Fuyumi, who wanted back her family and won't have it, for Natsuo, who's marrying an unknown character so young, for Shouto, who has to cope with the loss of the brother with whom he wanted to connect.

I don't really care Burnin, Onima, Kido and Hawks are willing to continue to protect Enji, to reach out to help him, I knew they would, I wanted to be reassured Enji's kids are safe, well and protected. I wanted to see ENJI reach out and help them.

In this vein I don't really care the old grandmother saved a nameless abused kid, or, at least, not as much as I cared for Tomura to be saved. It's nice she saved him, it's nice he gets to live the life Tomura was denied but honestly, he's a mob character with a super tragic backstory created deliberately to force us to emotionally connect to him.

The message he now will be saved is good, but my emotional investment to him is too little.

The same applies to Uraraka's Quirk counsueling program, we knew next to nothing about the Quirk consueling previous program beyond that it didn't work (a real problem in Japan as they have a school consueling program that didn't work... and changes are in progress) and that now it supposedly does.

To how Shouji now solves peacefully plenty of conflicts caused by Heteromorph discrimination, which Horikoshi tossed in later and never really showed how to solve (and, don't take me wrong, it's not solved even by Shouji, he just solves peacefully the conflicts, how is up to everyone's speculation).

Long story short, I think Horikoshi worked really hard for BNHA to have an optimist, hopeful message... but part of it goes lost in cultural differences and part of it goes lost in how the story didn't try to get me invested in the things it's now saving.

So yeah, I'm still sad for this little panel in chap 430

I guess I'll eventually get over it. Today though, it's not that day.

On a positive note... if we count the pages of all the chapters that should go in vol 42 they're only 132. The chapters that were meant to go into Vol 39 had 165 (which yes, Horikoshi further expanded once the volume was released).

So yeah, unless Vol 42 will be slimmer than usual or that he'll add to it some sidestory or extra story, it's possible we'll get more plot in terms of epilogue. We'll see.

(also yes, I'm not touching Rei in this post. Rei is another can of worm entirely and one, I fear, Horikoshi doesn't care about. The poor woman doesn't even get a profile while Ikoma Komari does. And really, I do think Rei is much more important than Ikoma Komari)

[am3ya]

Enji Todoroki, A (more) Visual Analysis.

Okay, hear me out on this...

Enji is an interesting case for me, I absolutely ADORE how horikoshi draws Endeavor, and honestly I wanna talk about how I kind of analyzed his moments in life, and how his expressions correlate with his mental state.

This is long btw. And probably a little all over the place and I don't actually know how coherent it is so bear with me on this-

The youngest we see Enji is when his dad died, staring in stunned silence as he watches his father die alongside a girl he tried to save. Enji was probably around thirteen at the time if I had to guess. Due to his more rounder features. This was the starting point for Endeavor, his origin. Something that he had carried with him throughout his entire life.

When he entered UA, his expression was stoic, not showing much emotion, even when talking to his older self. He wasn't taking pleasure in mocking him, he looks disappointed. Looking down on what he had become, Looking down on his older self like a parent would a young delinquent. You can still completely see his face, because he was still Enji at the time, even if the time was still ticking, even if he was slowly deteriorating, his face not completely covered in shadow, or in flames.

Throughout his younger life we never really saw Enji with his flames, not on his face at least. Before he married Rei he still had that stoic expression, with furrowed brows making it take on the image of disintrest or impatience. Though we do see times where he doesn't have this stoic look..

Like when he noticed Rei looking at a specific type of flower, asking if she liked them. His expression lightened up, not as intense as before. Showing that he hadn't fully become 'Endeavor' at this point in time.

This stoic expression followed him until things had officially spiraled out of control. Before, he seemed to be the type to occasionally show some sort of interest, we even saw him genuinely smile when training Touya. Enji isn't someone good at emotions, both his own and others. Taking on a stoic persona for most of his life and bottling up his emotions. Though even at this time, we didn't see him constantly use his flames to mimic facial hair at this point.

Not until everything finally reached a tipping point that is. At multiple times in the flashback, we see Endeavor with his faced covered in shadow, darkened by his obsession, his expression angry. Using his anger as a way to 'cope' with his losses. To make himself seem stronger, to hide his weakness. His stability and his sense of self started breaking apart because all he was started to be consumed by his obsession, and even if he was still trying to be a good father, he wasn't able to. The way he was practically pleading and yelling with Touya to give up, showing just how unstable he was becoming. More and more his face is becoming hidden by shadows, looking more like a demon than a man.

The official death of Enji is when the shadows no longer decorated his face, instead replaced by flames. Flames to intimidate, flames to blind. his flames blinding him and anyone who tries to look closer at the remnents of 'Enji'

Turning from a rather calm, though anger prone man to a prideful and obsessive monster with a constant scowl. Barely if ever turning off his quirk, buring himself in his work, buring himself in his new identity to hide from himself. No longer is he the same man who would take interest in his family, to mention his wifes favorite flowers, because by this point, he is his work, first and formost. He is no longer a father, he is a product of his own insecurities, hidden behind a mask of flames. The only smiles he can produce are ones of excessive pride in himself, not of genuine happiness for others, or even himself.

That is... Until All mights retirement. No longer can he hide behind his work like he had before. No longer can he hold onto this false sense of Identity he crafted from failure. Shadow covering his face in a similar way it had when everything had first started to spiral after hearing the news...

The next time we see him, he's wearing that same scowl, and that same inauthentic smile. Though, that's before he had sat down and talked with All might. When he did, his expression seemed to become almost softer, back to that more stoic expression he had in his past. Now, for this expression I don't know how exactly to describe it. Though the best I got is annoyance, he's annoyed by the fact he couldn't earn the title of number one, by wanting to truly be number one, for who he was.

And when All might had asked him why being the strongest was so important, his expression was more light. He didn't have that same stoic-expression he usually had when he was younger, or the scowl he always had now. Slowly coming to a realization.. When he spoke to Shoto, his eyes had a shine to them, determined to live up to his words.. And finally, smiling genuinely for the first time since losing himself to his obsession.

Though, it wouldn't be till the battle with hood that Enji would truly come back. There were sparks of him throughout the two episodes. The way his expression was stoic once more, his eyes now filled with a determination to atone for what he had done, for what he had caused.

Before his fight with hood, we can see more of who Enji actually is. A socially awkward, and honestly, extremely socially unaware individual. Someone who has to work to not only fix his mistakes, but to actually rebuild himself from the ground up. To figure out who he truly is as a person, and not just as a job.

And through his battle with hood, after getting striked in the face, which could've potentially destroyed his left eye, he still stubbornly fought through the pain, the fight, ironically, opening his eyes in a way that hadn't happened before. Noticing the similarities between himself and the nomu, noting how just like him, the nomu was obsessed with strength, just like he was... And as he burnt away the nomu while using the school motto he had always hated, he had offically burned away what was left of Endeavor as well, and in his place, Enji stood victorious. A new beginning, for Enji, and for everyone else.

All throughout season five, his expressions are back to the way it was before. Stoic, though different from his past stoicness. No longer harboring that obsession that seeped through his every thought. That previous obsession replaced by determination, A new Endeavor.

Replacing his old obsession with a new goal, a goal of atonement. something that he may have to spend the rest of his life to achieve, and even then he may never achieve true atonement. But unlike his obsession to be number one, this goal wont fall into his lap, this one is something He'll have to earn, no matter the imposibility of it, and he won't stop trying. After all, Enji is a stubborn man, an extremely stubborn man.

Enji has went through many changes in his life, from a scarred kid, to a demon of a man. Though his stubbornness never changed. He's not the same Endeavor as he was previously. No longer a superhero, a job, or an arrogant monster.

He's a person, A stoic man who takes interest in the lives of others from time to time, a man who remembers something said only once, a man who is slowly rebuilding himself from scratch to fix his own misdeeds.

he is imperfectly human.

[pretty-sparkle-bomb]

What the MHA boys might do for your birthday. This one was extra special and took some time so I hope yall liked it <3

Bakugo Katsuki

I think he'd be the type of guy to give you hot kisses at random times of the day. You could be doing anything, talking to anybody and this explosive hot-head would march right up to you and tug on your hand like a child. "C'mon, let's go."

"Suki, wait-!"

He wants the whole world to know that yall are together. I take him as the needy type, the type who'd place butterfly kisses on your neck and shoulders when he pulls you into a random classroom or storage room or behind one of the bleachers.

Huge bouquet of roses with tiny little gifts tucked in between along with a box of your favourite treat and a special little note he wrote himself. You're interrupted in the middle of class by a delivery man who mumbles something about the instructions being ridiculously specific.

In the afternoon, he'll take you to the park and pull out an intricate pair of silver promise rings. "G'nna be a great hero, dollface. 'Cause I can feel it."

Midoriya Izuku

I imagine Izuku as the most giving person so him giving you something like an exclusive All Might plushie that he spent months saving for would be an understatement. He just loves you too much.

He caught you ogling a cute pair of leg warmers the other day when you guys were walking home so of course he got a pair for you.

Lots of handholding that he actually initiates. Whispers of sweet praises in your ears that just corrupt your thoughts. Does he even know what he's doing to you?

"You're so cute, y'know that?" And there you are blushin' so hard, Mina thinks he said something dirty.

Him walking you home and giving you a long hug in front of your door just so he can have a whiff of that shampoo you use. He made a mental note to drop by with a new one and some more shower things you like before the night was out.

Kirishima Eijiro

He stays up until 12 just so that he can photo-dump you across all of his social media platforms. He'll send you a long text paragraph (that took him days to type) with all of the things he loves about you.

Gives you roses and a huge gift bag filled with all of your favourite skin care products and lipglosses. His wallet is crying but nothing compares to the smile you have on your face. You'll make sure to thank him properly afterwards anyways.

Offers to walk you home that afternoon. He's helping you carry all of the gifts you got and you're telling him all about your day, and he doesn't miss the way your eyes light up when you reach a specific topic. You're just the sweetest thing.

Todoroki Shoto

Shows up at your house in the morning with a limo all fancy in your favourite colour and he's like, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Now you feel bad. He wasted money on a limo just to take you to school.

You just know Enji's credit card is paying for all of this and Shoto seems unbothered by spending his father's money.

"Red bottoms?!" you screech, looking at the pair of heels in the box. "Do you not like it? If it's not enough, I could always-" he began, coming up behind you and wrapping a hand around your stomach to pull you closer to him.

"No. I love it but Sho, this is too much." you turn to look at him.

Heterochromatic eyes look into yours affectionately, "For you, I'd say this is a small gift."

You blush, still worried. "What will your father say?"

Shoto scoffs. "He doesn't need to know."

Sorry for any errors lovies but I hoped yall liked this one.