#let a41 get some proper character resolution before putting him away for good please

[20001541]

there was a time where I got into an argument with someone who believed the purpose of chapter 407 was to show that AFO was born evil and though the circumstances in his childhood were tragic he still was a lost cause from the very beginning. they believed that he was shown to us as an example of someone who is too far gone to be saved. and why did they think that? they told me it's because the story has not taken any measures to reach out to him as with the other villains.

and it is interesting isn't it? afo has one of the most horrifying and tragic backstory in the manga and yet we do not see anyone making an effort to try to understand him. he is only seen as a threat to be eliminated.

and while I wouldn't mind this sort of attitude if it were in any other series, bnha has shown us multiple times of heroes reaching out to those who got left behind by society and took their wrath out on everyone as a result. so the fact that afo who was screwed over by life from the very moment he was born does not seem to get this same grace extended to him sticks out to me. it is one thing to dismiss him as being too evil, but if you're going to show me in explicit detail about all the tragic events that were out of his control that happened to him as a child then I would expect there for more to be done with that.

now you could make the argument that afo could've been saved as a child but now it is too late to change his mind. I would've agreed with that if it were not for the fact that we are shown his own humanity throughout the story. we know he feels some guilt when faced with the vestiges of the peoples whose quirks he stole in his sleep and he's able to feel fear as he had nightmares about his first fight with all might. his own main goal is to have the worlds eyes upon him because he wants to be noticed after a lifetime of being ignored. however, the biggest display of his humanity is shown to us through his feelings towards yoichi.

some of the most genuine displays of emotions we see from him are because of yoichi. yoichi is someone who had been with him from the womb and he is someone he cares about more than anyone else.

he has spent the last century chasing ofa not because of its power but because it has one of the last pieces left of his brother after he died. we're even shown how he kept yoichi's severed hand, it's a raw display of sentimentality and regret over what he did to his brother.

and while he claims yoichi isn't the final goal, only the midterm goal, one shouldn't underestimate yoichi's importance to him as we see him chase after him even when it would've been more beneficial to just let him go. he had two chances to end the ofa line for good before it became too powerful as we see with banjo and en, and yet he didn't take it because he couldn't bear to let go of yoichi. and let no one forget his line "yoichi without you, it's all for naught" from chapter 410.

so why am I saying all of this?

honestly, I'm hoping for a different ending for afo that's not him being defeated and humiliated once more.

I'm not trying to justify anything he has done nor am I an afo apologist, but if other villains could get the chance to have a hand reached out towards them then why can't afo? why else would you show me how terrible his childhood is and the displays of humanity within him unless you're trying to show us he isn't a complete lost cause?

we saw how izuku was willing to listen to muscular as to why he was doing all this, but muscular didn't care to speak so they fought instead. there was no backstory nor any attempt to show muscular as something other than a bloodthirsty killer.

why not have the same treatment with afo if your main point is to show he is a lost cause? yes afo doesn't deserve any grace or kindness towards himself, but isn't being a hero reaching out to other even when they don't deserve it? certainly none of the other villains being reached out towards didn't deserve it after all they've done. so maybe just maybe I am hoping for a kinder ending for vestige afo. an ending that will put to rest all the "he was born evil and is a lost cause" arguments and shows us the who he really is underneath the mask he has worn for all these years.

my biggest hope here is that yoichi's vestige isn't gone permanently, but it still exists. how will he come back and how did he survive the whole being smashed against tomura? I have no idea. as I said its just a hope. but if there is anyone who could reach out to afo as of now and have the moment be impactful it would be yoichi.

there's a lot of bad blood between them and yoichi did give up on afo when they were alive, but considering how depressed afo is now that he thinks yoichi is gone forever and that he doesn't see the point of ruling a world without the one person he wanted by his side the most and how yoichi took no joy in seeing him being beaten earlier there's a chance a final reunion between them could happen.

afo built too much of his image being the evil villain that he doesn't know what else to do, which is why he's still trying to conquer the world even though he feels its meaningless now without yoichi. I think this all leaves afo in a very vulnerable position emotionally right now.

yes the heroes will defeat and his vestige will fade away forever, but I'm hoping for yoichi to be there with him at the very end and they decide to put everything behind them and fade away forever together. maybe we will also get to learn his true name through yoichi and see his humanity fully out on display. no more struggling between them, but just them being brothers once more right before the end.