#izuku midoriya - criticism

[nagitosstolenhand]

i don't like the growing opinion that people are being 'too hard' on deku for his failing to save shigaraki.

i've seen quite a few people complaining that a lot of the bnha-critical crowd are being too mean to deku for getting tomura killed, arguing that it isn't really his fault, and that hes a 16 year old child soldier who's been failed by almost every adult in his life, why should we be putting all of this on his shoulders? hes just a kid after all?

and the truth is, they're right. deku IS a 16 year old boy whos had the fate of the world thrust on his shoulders. but the story itself just plainly refuses to acknowledge this.

the narrative doesn't acknowledge how fucked up having a school that trains literal children how to be combo cop-celebrities is. it only tentatively acknowledges the fact that a universe having combo cop-celebrities is fucked up, and even then the only people who ever point this out are antagonists, who are portrayed and treated in-universe as untrustworthy. the narrative doesn't care how fucked up dekus circumstances are. the narrative treats deku like hes a fucking messiah here to touch the hearts of the evil depressed villains with his magical empathetic heart of gold before they get blown up or just sent to fucking superhell for daring to challenge the status quote.

deku isn't a person. he's barely even a fucking character at this point. he's a plot device, and a mouth piece for the objectively shitty themes bnha is trying to spout. the themes that tell you that if you're mistreated by society and want to do something about it, you're a villain. that disrupting the status quote and refusing to repent to some random teenage boy spouting empty platitudes at you means you deserve to get sent to fucking superhell. the themes that portray people fighting for civil change as mass murdering supervillains. the themes that look the audience dead in the eye and can call deku the greatest hero to ever live.

deku, who barely spared a second thought to lady nagant telling him the truth about the hero commission. who spouts meaningless platitudes about heroism and morality at nagant, and aoyama, and toga and shigaraki, when even the thought that he should question the world around him comes up. who's constantly talked about as this truly kind, empathetic person, but hasn't spared an empathetic thought to literally anyone who is classified as a villain. who listened to every authority figure around him except the ones who asked him to question his worldview. who saw la bravas tears, shigarakis various breakdowns, himikos plead for understanding, chisakis catatonic state, lady nagants truth, and barley batted a fucking eye. deku, who killed tomura shigaraki.

people don't criticize deku for failing shigaraki because they just hate deku. people criticize deku because of what he represents. because hes a mouthpiece for the atrocious morals and themes of this ideologically rotten manga. because any character he had was chopped up to bits in favor of the incomplete husk we have now. people criticize deku because hes the main character of my hero academia. theres nothing more damning then that.

[imustbeimaginary]

Alright, so. I've read a lot of fics where everybody (or at least everybody sensible) knows that Endeavor is a bad hero. They know he causes a lot of collateral damage or even just straight up kills people sometimes. Data proves how terrible he is.

But listen. I want you to consider the scenario where he's a Good Hero. (hear me out) -He's still a piece of steaming shit as a person. He beat his wife, abused AND neglected his children, and I think there were allusions to sexual abuse with Rei. He's irredeemable. But he's also just a good hero. He's competent at his job. He minimizes collateral damage. He has an impressively high success rate. He still can't bring himself to stoop so low as to be nice, but come on-Trump won the elections. A good PR team can perform miracles.

So I want you to just. consider the way Shouto has to bite down the urge to break down in hysterical laughter every time someone talks about How kind Endeavor is, to have donated so much to that charity for Abuse Victims and How he must be such a softie under all that gruff exterior. And consider the moment when he realised that he could put 0% effort into hiding everything and it wouldn't matter. People would rather press their hands against their ears and sing La Di Da.

Also consider the fact that Izuku's father had a Fire Quirk. And while Endeavor had nothing on All Might, maybe Izuku used to look up to him, maybe he thought he was cool. Consider the hit he takes when he realises the truth. (because of course he believes Todoroki. that's practically a no-brainer for him. it is earth-shattering for Shouto) Consider the way he will later break a nail- while clawing, ripping, tearing the posters off his wall.

just. consider that.

[cryiling]

i see a lot of people headcanon that bakugo loves horror movies, meanwhile deku is a huge scaredycat/crybaby towards them. BUT actually i think it would be very funny if it was the other way around

SO. headcanoning that bakugo really fucking hates horror movies. NOT because he's. scared or anything what r u talking about. haha definitely not. but do not turn that shit on anywhere near him or he will fucking kill u

meanwhile deku USED to be afraid of horror movies. but then he decided that in order to get over his fear of them, he was gonna watch a bunch of behind the scenes for them to see how the movies were actually made and to be less scared when watching them. and then he became a HUGE horror movie nerd. he LOVES breaking down how the practical effects work and identifying them on screen when watching. jumpscares don't bother him anymore, he's too busy nerding out about the behind the scenes stuff and analyzing how all the different effects are working seamlessly together to make the horror movie effective

deku loves dragging bakugo to see new horror movies or forcing him to sit and watch them at home together, he's always really excited to analyze the effects and camerawork of the movies. bakugo only (barely) tolerates it because he just looks away during all the "scary" parts and concentrates on deku's mumbling to distract himself from the movie

deku: no kacchan it's actually so cool how they did this shot!! they only had one take so they had to position all the camera equipment perfectly and there's a whole bunch of hidden triggers and the visual perspective makes the intensity of the shot SO much more effective and blah blah blah-

bakugo, face buried in deku's shoulder and very much avoiding looking at the screen: turn this off immediately or i will explode ur face

[whateverthought]

I think, the craziest thing to me, about how people genuinely believe you can't be a Quirkless Pro-Hero in MHA/BNHA, is that having a Quirk doesn't mean you're invulnerable?

Eraserhead's Quirk only allows him to stop other people's powers, but the fighting? Thats him. The giant jump he does over the stairs? The way he throws people around with his capture weapon?

Endeavor makes hot flames, how did that help when Hood the Nomu bit through his arm? We see that his skin cuts like everyone else's, he gets his scar right before that. Hawks stabbing him in the back to make him go faster? Embedded enough to give him speed but not enough to pierce right through him? He goes toe to toe with the Nomu in the Stain Arc, that's all normal strength!

Stain's Paralysis doesn't make him faster, how was he dodging Iida's speed? How were his reflexes so good he moved past AfO Izuku's strikes?

Mandalay's telepathy, how did that help her agility? Sir Nighteye's Foresight, did it make him strong enough to throw those weights? Did Mirio's Permeation make him stronger even when he lost it and was still beating Overhaul's face in? Rock Lock's stop-motion? Ragdoll's Search?

How did Thirteen's Quirk help when almost murdered? Shouldn't she, as someone with a very strong ability just be faster? Bakugo's Explosion did jack when his heart exploded, right? Why wasn't his body just sturdier? Or do they have normal bodies, like a Quirkless person would have?

[class1akids]

How utilised/underutilised do you think each member of 1A was?

There is not a single character who I think is 100% well utilized and Class A was absolutely shafted in the Final War as an ensemble. All Might usurping their "team effort" into a mecha suit was easily one of the worst decisions the manga could have made. But I can give you a quick run-down on how well I think they were used in order:

Bakugou: Plus - decent character development, some great fight utilization, lots of POV. Minus - became too Deku-centered, which weakened his team narrative.

Shoto: Plus - great own arc, great relationships, good quirk development, good character development. Minus - he needed better fight highlights, not enough POV especially on his victimhood, story waffled the ending of his major relationships

Deku: Plus - very strong start, good fights, lots of strong relationships Minus - no POV, failed theme in Act 3, author lost interest in him clearly

Iida: Plus - very consistent on the themes he represents. Minus - weak connection to main plot, total lack of good fight scenes

Kirishima: Plus - solid arc and fights scenes Minus - sidelined in act 3 and badly utilized in the final arc

Momo: Plus - well utilized until PLF War Minus - sidelined in Act 3

Jirou: Plus - nice little arc, interesting extra hobby tied into the main theme of saving, decent endgame highlight Minus - didn't get enough role in the early story

Tokoyami: Plus - great fight scenes and role, potentially interesting mentor -student relationship - Minus - next to no character work

Uraraka: she was weirdly overused and underused at the same time. A lot of bloated scenes, flip-flopping themes. I found her really irritating pretty much every arc after the sport festival.

Basically, the rest of the class was completely and utterly underused/misused. Without any particular order:

Shoji: the main face of a last-minute mutant arc that had no real build-up. The way Hori used him in the epilogue was also very dishonest

Aoyama: the traitor arc was one of the biggest disappointments of the entire manga. His endgame was mostly treated like a gag. It also highlighted the double standards when it comes to crimes committed by heroes vs crimes by villains.

Kaminari: reduced to a gag character, biggest achievement is one-time lightning rod

Sero: his ability was made redundant by Deku's blackwhip, his big highlight was a stupid speech to AFO and an unearned / unbuilt moment with Shoto.

Mina: she was used to further Kirishima's character and that's about it. Her highlight came too late and felt forced.

Hagakure: objectified the entire time.

Asui: great design and abilities wasted on being Uraraka's sidekick and then the "friendship" completely thrown out the window for Toga.

Ojirou: did he do anything?

Satou: might as well not show up...

Kouda: cool quirk that is used the worst possible way

Mineta: too much panel time for a sex offender.

[cherrycloy]

The thing is, sure, bnha does provide a lot of lip service systemic criticism, but the worldview we are introduced to from chapter 1 actively spits in the face of this. It's a world so crazy individualistic that societal changes aren't caused by policy, changing of power structures or economic progress but by a single guy smiling big and punching bad guys.

Crime rates don't decline due to better social security networks and support of disadvantaged communities, but because potential crime doers are so afraid of All Might that they just... don't? People aren't happier and feel safer due to a more stable economic situation or new legislation against discriminatory conduct, but because there's a muscular blonde guy on TV.

The validity of this is never questioned and only confirmed when after All Might retires crime all around the country skyrockets. The only criticism of this system we ever get is that it was too effective because now people are struggling to fill the power vacuum all might left behind.

Change, so we are told, doesn't come by any substantial means but simply by being either intimidated or inspired by the right person. It's not that I agree with any of this, It's just that with this in mind, the impetus sent by All Might's retirement or the League of Villains for Izuku and the hero world in general is not to change the system but to become/find a replacement for his position (more inspirational and smiley-er than ever before so that we'll never have another Shigaraki again!)

From that setup, its deafeningly obvious that the intention wasnt to tell a story about a deeply flawed society but one about quirks and heroes being quirky and heroic. So obviously all of the problems have to be solved but either quirks or heroes as well.

[ilovereadingandstuff]

I'm sorry but THIS IS SO TRUE!!

Izuku, darling, you're my favorite and all media basically and i love you so much...but this is true.

[jp---v]

Weird how the class could barely ever see each other when Midoriya was just a teacher, but as soon as he gets this suit and can be a hero again, all twenty-one of them are all conveniently in the same place to answer a single call about a road being blocked by a landslide.

Just saying... eight years.

[blank468]

Nothing in My Hero Academia makes any sense.

Looking back at this series made me realize how much a lot of stuff never made any sense. A lot of stuff just happens without any rhyme or reason.

1. Why does the world of MHA look the same as ours even though it went through a life-changing change?

2. Wouldn’t it make sense if there were a major increase of villains than heroes since All Might kept the rate down more than anyone else?

3. What was Deku’s plan to get into UA if he never met All Might?

4. How has AFO not already taken over the world, with his infinite number of followers, infinite number of quirks he’s stolen for decades, and being able to kill the previous users of OFA before All Might?

5. How come secret identities don’t matter in a series about superheroes?

6. Why didn’t Nana Shimura change her last name to protect her son and herself from AFO?

7. What separates those with or without quirks if they can get a suit of armor or use a gadget that doesn’t influence or affect their quirk?

8. Why did AFO bother training Shigaraki on becoming a leader if he was going to mind-control him?

9. Was the doctor aware that AFO planned to hijack Shigaraki’s body?

10. Why is there an emphasis on Bakugo being a fan of All Might when he has no respect for him?

11. Why is Shoto invested in wanting to be friends with Bakugo?

12. How come Kirishima and Mina don’t care that Bakugo was actively bullying Deku?

13. Where is this counseling/therapy session that UA claims to have to keep Bakugo in check?

14. If AFO had access to Overhaul’s quirk, why didn’t he steal it or make a copy to help him or Shigaraki manage different quirks?

15. Why does Class 1A assume Deku and Bakugo’s relationship is a simple rivalry?

16. How and why did Aizawa assume Shoto lost his drive to fight since his match with Deku in the Sports Festival?

17. If Bakugo was taking Uraraka seriously during the Sports Festival, why did he accuse Deku for giving her a plan?

18. Why did Toga need to steal Deku’s blood during the Provisional License Exam?

19. Why is it bad when Deku tries to do something in his own and risks his life, but when Bakugo does this against Shigaraki AFO, it’s okay?

20. Why is Koji Koda trying to be a pro hero and not the world’s greatest animal caretaker?

21. Why are citizens with quirks not allowed to protect themselves when there are no heroes around?

22. Why does UA, especially Aizawa, have no respect or concern for their female students when they are constantly being harassed by Mineta?

23. Why was Bakugo and Mineta allowed to take the entrance exam?

24. Why did the police let Eri live at a hero school and not an orphanage?

25. Why did the heroes become active in saving Eri from Overhaul and not earlier when learning about the Yakuza?

26. Why would the population of Japan automatically be against the heroes when the country is being attacked after the Dabi reveal?

27. Why didn’t Dabi do his reveal at a time when there is peace and not when there is already chaos?

28. What is the point of the nomus?

29. Why does the population care if Bakugo joins the LOV when he already acts and thinks like a villain?

30. Why does Bakugo use his quirk in public without a license without facing any consequences?

31. Why does the story say that Bakugo’s moves are similar to Deku’s Full Cowl when they are not?

32. Why does Deku want to "Save people with a smile on his face" other than because All Might did it?

33. What was Dabi’s plan to expose his father if he never had access to the PLF?

34. Why was there no continuation to Stain and his ideology after his appearance?

35. How are the villains inspired by Stain when they want completely different things that Stain doesn’t want?

36. Why wasn’t Muscular executed after the Forest Camp Arc?

37. Why doesn’t the series show the perspective of how the villains have a hatred for the heroes other than the fact that they hate the way the world is?

38. Why does Deku feel the need to maintain a friendship with a guy who assaults him daily?

39. What is the point of having Bakugo die if he was going to come back?

40. Why does the series make a big deal when a major event changes everything but the setting remains the same?

41. Why did All Might kept his suit of armor a secret from everyone?

42. How did Sero fail his exam by being carried out but Bakugou passed?

43. Why doesn’t Bakugo do anything different to improve his relationship with Deku while knowing that he’s the reason for his self-destructive behavior?

44. How is Deku an underdog if he is given the most broken ability?

45. How is Bakugo so dedicated to helping Deku succeed and master OFA when the only time he helped was when he tried to force Blackwhip out?

46. Why are some of the students some overactive buffoons or some unlikable and petty jerk that don’t act like heroes?

47. Why didn’t Deku tell anyone other than Uraraka that he wants to save Tomura?

48. Why does Aizawa expect his students’ problems to be fixed on their own?

49. Why didn’t Deku come up with a plan to save Tomura after being asked if he had one?

50. Why didn’t the story have the news reporters record Yoga sacrificing herself to save Uraraka?

51. Why wasn’t UA called out for playing favorites with their students?

52. How is My Hero Academia considered a progressive manga when the only trans character is a side character or a villain who gets killed off and completely forgotten about?

53. Why are so many characters and their developments destroyed and undermined to be in favor of a bunch of assholes?

54. Why do a majority of villains in this series exist to favor or give Shigaraki an unearned victory?

55. Why wasn’t Bakugo punished for using his gauntlet during the Battle Trials?

56. Why should 1A care that they lost Aizawa’s trust when they shouldn’t have any to give him?

57. Why was Hawks’ first reaction to seeing the Twice clones in the final arc to kill him?

58. Why does Rei say everyone s to blame for Dabi and his actions despite Endeavor being the abuser and everyone else being a victim?

59. Why doesn’t Hawks reflect on his idol being an abuser instead of being a cheerleader?

60. Why is the pacing of each arc all over the place?

61. Why does the hero ranking system still exist?

62. What are the heroes going to do in the future if there is another Bakugo, Endeavor, and Dabi?

63. Why did Bakugo pick a fight with Deku in the middle of the night and instead of reflecting and questioning on why the LOV thought he would make a villain?

64. If technology in this universe so advanced that you can create robots and a suit of armor why can’t Tensei have robot legs to help him walk again

65. Why is Aizawa constantly making up excuses to justify Bakugo’s behavior instead of punishing him?

66. How is Bakugo a pillar of inspiration for 1A when Shoto, Iida and Momo exist?

67. What was the point of Kurogiri/Shirakumo as a character?

68. Why did Bakugo kill Kurogiri when he was just helping the heroes?

69. Why should I care about Mitsuki and Masura when the story fails to further develop and improve their relationship with their son?

70. Why does the “Save to Win and Win to Save” motif do nothing but fuel Bakugo’s ego and his abusive attitude?

71. What is the point of chapters 218 to 240?

72. What is the point of chapters 396 to 410?

73. What is intelligent and complex about the plans that Bakugo when people praise him for being a good tactician?

74. Why does Dabi have no reaction to Toga and Shigaraki’s death?

75. Where is the Todoroki family dinner without Endeavor?

76. Why is Rei stuck with wheeling Endeavor after the final arc?

77. Why does Bakugo get to know about the secret of OFA when he doesn’t deserve it?

78. How is Shigaraki supposed to be this great fighter if he’s constantly being bailed out by to plot to save him?

79. Why is Rock Lock portrayed as being unfair and overprotective when he makes a good point as to why he does want first year students involved in the raid?

80. What is the point of showing the LOV suffering if they were going to be irredeemable?

81. Why wasn’t Midnight told or learned that Kurogiri was Oboro?

82. Why in the end there so much put on Bakugo’s feelings rather than the main character?

83. Why does the story want me believe that Dabi is sympathetic and is worth earning a redemption when he’s really an unlikable psychopath that kills people for no real reason?

84. How is Shigaraki a good leader if he spent hundreds of chapters doing nothing with no real game plan?

85. Why wasn’t Dabi blamed for letting the heroes find the LOV hideout?

86. Why didn’t Gran Torino check up on Tomura after Nana died?

87. Why didn’t Dani check to see if Best Jeanist was dead and keep check on Hawks before the war arc started?

88. How is Aizawza a good mentor when he doesn’t teach his class anything important?

89. How can 1A not take the time to visit Deku is the rate of villains has gone down after they graduated?

90. Why does everyone hate 1A and see them as arrogant for being attacked at USJ?

91. Why are the civilians portrayed as being unfair and evil for getting angry with UA and the heroes?

92. What sense does it make to have Deku place last in the quirk assessment test after he spent months doing physical training with the No.1 hero?

93. Why is there less focus on quirkless discrimination and more given to the one that enables it?

94. Why does Shisou get transferred to 1A when most of his dynamic with them is him being an asshole?

95. Why should I care that Aoyama left UA if I already know he’s going to come back eventually?

96. If the movies are canon why don’t they play a huge factor in the story?

97. What sense does it make to host the Sports Festival to the public after the events of USJ?

98. Why were almost all the females heroes useless during the Overhaul Raid?

99. What exactly did Deku proved to the world about supporting and reaching out to villains by murdering Shigaraki?

100. Why is the actual final fight against AFO a loud, obnoxious and over bearing mess that combines all the worst aspects of Horikoshi as a writer?

[autumnmobile12]

I really think they should have told Inko about One For All and All for One in this scene.

She's here doing her best to protect her kid by getting him away from UA because the latest major villain attacks have been focused on UA, All Might, and the students, and given what she knows at this point in the plot, that's great. But watching this part, all I could think was, "Um, yeah, that's not going to help. Izuku has something the villains want and they'll hunt him to the ends of the earth to get it and--really, you two, you're not gonna let her know this very important bit of information?"

Telling her probably would have added a lot more friction to the parent-child-teacher dynamic because, "You're the reason my kid is being targeted?" and that could have introduced an interesting conflict of Inko straight up disliking All Might for endangering Izuku like that. (Actually, All Might giving Izuku a powerful Quirk without telling him the whole story has some serious Monkey's Paw vibes. Pretty far cry from an informed decision, but I've always gotten the impression All Might is something of a well-intentioned moron and deception wasn't even a thought in his head, so I'm not too mad about it.)

That aside, I never liked how they insisted on keeping Inko in the dark until much later in the series because it implies:

Izuku doesn't trust his very supportive/protective mother with his secret. He has supportive friends, but a doting parent is a step up from that, especially since she's the polar opposite of the other more toxic parents of the series. She could have been a much more compelling foil to Endeavor and Shimura Kotaro.*

It's not like AFO hadn't already put it together that Izuku has OFA, so she's not in danger of being interrogated by the enemy, so he doesn't even have the 'I'm protecting my mom' reasoning. (Actually, it's kinda odd the LoV didn't target Inko at any point in the entire series to get to Izuku, especially after they had no qualms targeting Hawks' mother for information.)

In this case, ignorance may be bliss, but this is definitely something a protective parent would be furious about being hidden from them. Just because you can't see a mountain lion in the woods doesn't mean there isn't one following you.

Inko Midoriya: Very under-utilized character to the point she's not even necessary to the plot and that is really sad.

*Sure, we can argue this is just another addition to the 'hero doesn't tell his loved ones his secret' trope that's prevalent in a lot of superhero stories, but the difference is Spiderman, Superman, and the rest are all in a world where people with superpowers don't make up 80% of the population. My Hero Academia breaks the rules there, so you'd think we'd have escaped the lone hero bs.

[sapphic-agent]

I have been seeing posts about how people who have been bullied project onto Midoriya and don’t accept Bakugou’s apology need to get over themselves and how sad it is they can’t move on. And…I don’t know, it just strikes me as insensitive and tasteless to just tell people to get over their trauma, like they can wash their hands clean of it simply. I was not bullied in school, but I have heard stories about how for some the bullying got so bad, they take their lives.

And to see people say, “The apology was to Midoriya, not to you, so just get over yourself”, when it can get to such degrees to a person makes me trust anything a Bakugou Stan says less and less. Trauma is trauma in my eyes, and some people can get over it, good for them, some can’t. So it’s okay to shit on their feelings? It’s like telling a victim of an abusive parent to get over it. Or an abusive relationship to get over it. Or a r*** victim to get over it.

Am I being overly sensitive? I just don’t trust individuals who tell strangers they have no idea what people went through how to live their lives as if it were that simple. If people are allowed to relate to Bakugou because of the one of two “positive traits” they personally see in him, then why aren’t people who were tormented and bullied like Izuku not able to relate to him and find the shit apology lackluster?

To me, this is what makes some Bakugou stans shitty people.

Like whichever character you want, I don't care. But how the fuck are you gonna get mad that people who were bullied hate his character? That's like telling victims of SA pr trafficking that they can't hate Endeavor. I was called the r-slur once for bringing up that out of everyone, victims of bullying have the right to hate on Bakugou's character.

Attacking real people- VICTIMS AT THAT- to defend a fictional piece of shit privileged bully is not what we should be striving for.

Izuku accepting/forgiving Bakugou is always the excuse Bakugou stans give. God forbid you bring up Izuku's lack of agency regarding Bakugou throughout the story. But even so, Izuku's a fictional character, one that's been proven to be biased and unable to advocate for himself. He's an unreliable narrator so him accepting Bakugou doesn't mean anything to me. Remember, he also defended Endeavor against Dabi.

I love him, but his POV is skewed when it comes to things like this.

No, you're not being overly sensitive. Attacking real people for not liking your favorite character (who reminds them of their trauma) is shitty

[donkeys-waffles]

Just as a warning to those that may be concerned, this is a Bakugo bashing post. If you love Bakugo as a character, then more power to you. He's my least favorite character across the board. And this is me venting my distaste for him, so be warned. Thank you :)

As I'm rewatching MHA, I've gotten to season 6 when Bakugo apologizes to Izuku. And there's something that really bothers me about it.

I feel like Bakugo had potential as a character. Like he really did, even though I don't like his character. I feel like there was potential for him to be an important figure in Izuku's development and growth. And the apology scene wasn't too bad for me. But I feel like it fell short in two major points.

Izuku rarely addresses and monologues about his own trauma/childhood. He expresses very little justified rage and the only real proof of the impact of his childhood lies within his body language and the subtext. His fear of Bakugo, borderline suicidal hero complex, every single scar on his body from overworking himself, constantly undervaluing himself and his efforts/improvements, and much more.

And the last point is Bakugo, I can understand wanting to keep core aspects of his character, but he has to change a little more to have it be considered character growth. The reason he bullied Izuku is because he felt that when Izuku reached out to him, Izuku viewed him as weak (delusional but go off. Literally harassed and assaulted someone for a decade because they tried to help you up when you fell.) His entire character arch was centered around the idea of not just winning, but also saving. He was supposed to understand the importance of both. But not only that, he was supposed understand and accept that help is needed, and you can't always win. I mean, if Izuku were to help him in a pinch now he needs to learn to set aside his arrogance, pride, and inferiority complex to accept help, and not explode into an overgrown toddler because he lost. With learning the importance of saving, he's supposed to not center his ENTIRE objective around strength and being the best all the time. And this could be done, while also still keeping his character true to himself. I always hear about his character development as a reason to like Bakugo, which... I don't completely agree. The only two changes are he doesn't physically attack people (Izuku) and doesn't call him Deku anymore, which GOOD I would hope that'd at least change. But his focus is still completely centered around winning. He says as much after the apology, in the baths, he's still fighting Izuku to become number 1. And that's not a bad thing entirely. I understand that's his character, what I want to see change is how he handles losing, how he handles not being the best and failing especially to Izuku. And what I get is an OVA with Bakugo having a temper tantrum because of a tie with Izuku, he used his quirk and was screaming about it too. It doesn't help that every chance he gets he talks about winning and out-besting Izuku in something, even with his fight with AFO he talks about it. Like he doesn't care that AFO is finally dead, and he saved the world, doesn't even offer a small sense of relief that he helped a lot of people, no, he beat Izuku and is clearly better and that's all that matters.

It's just, that entire mentality is what caused Izuku his problems, this mentality caused Bakugo to abuse him for a decade. I feel like the apology could've been done better, but it was just added to give Bakugo good boy points and then completely brushed aside. He's changed in some ways, but he hasn't changed enough to warrant forgiveness. Not when his competitiveness is still seen as somewhat mean spirited. Even when he found out about Izuku losing OFA, I just sat as he cried and thought "WOW, if I had my childhood bully that abused me for a decade for being quirkless, cried because I was quirkless again and couldn't compete with them anymore. I'd punch them so hard in the face." Like the audacity. Excuse me, I'm the one lying broken and battered in this hospital bed, with my dreams crushed again, and YOU'RE crying because you can't have an opponent for being the number 1 hero.

It's like Izuku is never seen as a person to Bakugo for most of the show, just something to kick aside, something to squash so he doesn't have to face his own inadequacy, and now just something to beat. Something with a power strong enough to rival the great Bakugo. And I feel like the narrative is trying to push that they were fighting for this dream together, since childhood up until this point in canon. That the bullying never happened, like that whole decade didn't exist. They do this through the scene of Bakugo crying and the All Might cards, but like how can you forget the last 5 seasons of the show and what 300+ chapters of Bakugo doing his upmost to crush Izuku under his boot. They most definitely DID NOT fight for that goal together their whole childhood, Bakugo has been crushing that boy's dreams of being a hero for years, instilling in him deep rooted self-hatred and a fat imposter syndrome.

[v0id-clawz]

I don't think the mha fandom understands how truly mortifying the sludge guy scene with Izuku is tbh

Like. Izuku was 14. FOURTEEN, and nearly died ALONE

Sure, the scene with Bakugo was horrible for him, but there were a LOT of people there, he would've been on the news, he would've died a hero

Izuku didn't have that. He was alone, no one was there for him. Also, no one beside his mother really cared for him, given how he's treated in the episode, probably no one would've cared when he disappeared

Also, he might’ve not been on the news at all! The show has said that there's discrimination against those with different Quirks, so it might not have been just the class being jerks to Izuku

[numberoneredriotfan]

Things I'd change if I were to rewrite Mha

A few things for context: These are just things that I would like to see and are all personal, and aren't meant to be a direct criticism on mha. These are for no one else but me, and how I would change mha if I had no limitations such as run time, censorship, etc. So don't take these too seriously. I just wanted to put my thoughts somewhere.

Have it take place over the course of ALL THREE of their years at UA. Like I have always been confused why it would only show them in their first year before all the shit goes down?? (I understand why but still-). I wanna see the kids ACTUALLY learning stuff in school before they go off to fight a war okay.

Put some of the movie storylines into the main one. Such as Humarise, I-Island, and Nine. With minor to major changes to each one. I feel like all of them had a lot of potential plot-wise.

Get rid of the whole Shigaraki/Afo possession plotline... it was really stupid. Focus on Shigaraki himself.

May sound strange, but have it be episodic to an extent?? At least for the first few seasons and have there be a major arc every now and then. Think team-up-missions style. Show the kids being kids while still incorporating their classes and hero studies.

Every character gets one or two chapters or episodes just dedicated to them. Whether it be exploring their personality or backstory. I want to feel connected to all of the kids!!

Deku, Uraraka and Iida are focused on more as a trio. I hated how their friendship was thrown aside in favor of "omg strong shounen trio." Bakugou and Todoroki should still have a relationship with Deku, but stop lumping them together. It feels so forced.

Get rid of the whole Endeavor redemption arc. Well, maybe not get rid of, but rework it. I don't like how Endeavor's feelings became the centerpoint of the todoroki family subplot. I feel like he did a 180 on his behavior way too quickly. Have something big happen that changes his perspective (I wouldn't consider All Might retiring as something big).

Self-indulgent but more focus on the Bakugou, Kaminari, and Kirishima trio!! They're so fun! Also, I wanna see Bakugou's process in making his own friends, real friends, outside of his weird rival-complex with Deku.

Rodydeku needs to be canon Okay but seriously, I would like to see more of Rody and Deku's relationship. Rody should become a more prominent person in Deku's life!

Playing onto that, but have half of their second year take place while the class is doing an exchange program. Based off MermaidMarie's fic, but I'd like to see Deku go back to Otheon. And I wanna see the other kid's adventures in different countries!

Slow Deku's progress down with one for all. I feel like it was going at a steady pacing until season 5 when pacing went out the window. I want to see Deku discover each one of his new powers in time, not just have them thrown at him one after the other.

GIVE ME A QUIRKLESS VILLAIN DAMN IT. I want there to be someone who's so smart at manipulation and intelligent that they don't need a quirk to get the job done.

Someone in class A needs to die. That's all.

More world building! There's so much to be explored with a superhuman society, so explore it!

Deku needs an actual vigilante arc. Not working with pro-heroes, but actually going out and taking matters into his own hands.

Have a theme of Expectation Vs. Reality be more present. This was explored a bit in mha, but not enough I feel like. I wanna be greeted to the idea of heroes being these incredible pillars of justice, how the kids see them to be, and then watch as this idealistic view slowly crumbles before them. Have them see the corruption that comes with the career, the true extent of the pain and misery heroes suffer, and all the systematic issues that come with it. Have them at some point question what being a hero means, and have them each find their own answer.

Better writing for all the characters in general tbh.

HAVE STAIN BE A REOCCURING VILLAIN. HAVE HIM LEAVE A BIGGER IMPACT ON DEKU. STAIN IS ONE OF THE BEST VILLANS IN MHA PLEASEEEEE-

This goes without saying, but the fanservice just doesn't need to be there. Attraction is completely normal, but write it in a way where it isn't borderline sexual harassment thank you very much. Also have Midnight put on some goddamn clothes around these kids for the love of god.

Have the quirk of doomsday theory be more prevalent, don't just use it for when it's convenient.

More Kirishima. Completely self-indulgent but I want him to be a major character.

And finally.... just show these kids being kids. I loved the episodes where they were goofing around, like the dorm contest and the school festival arc. Show more of their teenage worries outside of their hero studies, have them act immature and do dumb things more often! Show them just hanging out. Show them just being their authentic selves. Show this, so that when it does go into the more intense arcs and as the story becomes darker, have them reminisce on those moments of just being them. Have them grieve over who they were before.

[bibibbon]

Someone, please save Izuku. FandomWire released an article about how Horikoshi enjoyed working on Bakugou more than Izuku. 🥲🥲🥲

The only way we can save izuku now is if the fanfic writers team up and give him justice (some are already doing so!!!!).

I tried to find the article and the best I have gotten is to this 👇

I haven't fully read it but from what I have read I have to agree. We see Izuku a lot in the manga but dam it's just like we see him. We don't get to actually see inside him or what he is thinking and all like we used to.

Izuku in the beginning Vs izuku in the end are two different characters and a lot of people have described Izuku in the beginning as Izuku and the character in the end as deku (the hollow shell of izuku).

Izuku in the beginning would shout and rebuttal if he heard what spinner called shoji (he literally got all twisted up when shinsou called ojiro a monkey) but in the end we get nothing.

Izuku in the beginning would shout and be able to have negative feelings about people like bakugo and enji but in the end he defends enjis actions Infront of touya and doesn't even get any intropsection towards bakugos horrible apology.

Izuku in the beginning would do anything he can to be useful and be a hero but Izuku in the end gives up and doesn't do anything until he is given the tools to do so 8 years later

Izuku in the beginning and end still worships heroes and hasn't developed a well rounded world view even with the sliver of foreshadowing that he would from the begining of "not all are created equal"

Izuku in the beginning cried and prayed to have a quirk but in the end when he loses his quirk he is simply indifferent and it's bakugo whose doing the crying instead.

Dam too many of my favourite characters are going through character assassinations first Izuku now five whose next ?!?!?!

[class1akids]

It’s somehow very symbolic of the entire narrative failures of this manga, that the only person who gets to stand in victory like All Might is Endeavor and not the Origin Trio whose entire arcs were shaped around following in All Might’s steps.