#one for all primo

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 193: The First

Previously on BnHA: Recovery Girl healed up Endeavor and he left the hospital with a shiny new scar. Hawks apologized for everything that happened and came up with some bullshit story about how they were probably spotted by villains earlier and made a tempting target and that’s why they were attacked. We also learned that he was more or less raised to become a hero from a young age and didn’t have much of a choice in the matter due to his talent. Endeavor headed on home where his kids were waiting to greet him. Although they were glad he was all right, Natsuo couldn’t hold back his anger toward Endeavor for tormenting Shouto and Rei for all those years, and for taking this long to finally get an attitude adjustment. Shouto acknowledged that Endeavor the hero was amazing, but he felt similarly to Natsuo as far as forgiving Endeavor the father. However, he said he was willing to wait and see, and that he knew better than anyone how “one small inspiration” could change a person. Endeavor thought about the epiphany he’d recently had that his children were the most important thing and that as a hero it was his duty to protect them. He also realized it was too late to apologize for all of his wrongdoings, and that the only thing he can do now is to move forward. That evening, Deku fell asleep after a long day of training, and dreamed of the past wielders of One for All, including the very first, All for One’s younger brother.

Today on BnHA: Deku finds himself in the midst of a wildly trippy dream sequence. First he sees the eight other wielders of OFA, and then his attention is drawn towards a flashback conversation between AFO and OFA the First. The First accuses AFO of using his quirk to fulfill his own selfish desires. AFO maintains he is using it for the good of the people. He demonstrates this by taking a mutation quirk from a man who wants to be rid of it, and bestowing a quirk upon a quirkless man who wanted a power of his own for self defense. The two men appear grateful, but the First says that AFO is really just creating an army of loyal servants to do his bidding. AFO says he intends to restore order to the world, and goes on to imprison his brother while he creates his army. Some time later he visits his younger brother and brags about how his dreams are becoming a reality, “just like in that comic we read together way back when.” The First says that AFO never finished the comic, and at the end of the story the Demon King lost to the Hero of Justice. AFO is all “well whatever IT’S NOT LIKE THIS IS A MANGA OR SOMETHING,” and then forces a quirk on OFA in order to entice him to join him. The scene fades, and Deku finds himself speaking with the First directly. He mentions something about them having passed “the point of singularity”, and tells Deku that he is not alone. Deku wakes up and finds that he’s somehow activated his quirk in his sleep and destroyed his room. He stares at his hand in shock and the chapter ends.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 213 now, so any ETAs will reflect that. If you haven’t read that chapter, don’t read this recap! Don’t be like me and think “eh I’m probably good, I bet I know most of the big stuff by now” and get cocky and then live to regret it sob.)

so just a quick thing here -- I have unfortunately been spoiled for something big related to Deku, which is that he is going to be getting additional quirks. six, to be precise. and that’s all the details I saw before I clicked away (much too late), but unfortunately it was enough to put everything else together. because he is the ninth owner of OFA, and the second quirkless wielder, and the original dude’s quirk was OFA. but the other six wielders presumably had their own quirks, and so in hindsight it makes perfect sense that he would inherit not just their strength, but all of their abilities. and since it had been hinted at that there would be more OFA stuff coming up around this point in the manga, and also that Deku would be getting some sort of huge power-up, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together here. so yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what all of this is eventually building up to

but oddly enough, that’s not even in my top 5 list of things that I’m actually excited for here! I don’t even care about him getting their abilities tbh, but I’m just curious whether he’ll be able to talk to them and have access to their memories! and for the first time it appears that yes, he will! which makes me so fucking excited you guys, because I have at least two of three fanfic ideas that have been permeating in my head for quite a while now which are very reliant on this concept. so I’m so fucking glad this panned out omfg

AND I WANT HIM TO MEET NANA OH MY GOD

ANYWAY!! LET’S START THIS THING ALREADY

so it appears that that fog or whatever that’s surrounding Deku is actually him not having a full body in this state, whatever he is. because his mouth is missing, he isn’t able to speak. but he can watch, and he can move his right hand

that’s so fucking clever and I love that eventually this ability will grow stronger and presumably he’ll be able to interact with the others and maybe even train with them??

right now he can’t move since he doesn’t have legs though

and there are still two figures that are complete mist and he can only see their silhouettes thus far

kind of weird that these guys are out of order, no? because All Might is all the way back there for some reason. and I assume his form is less distinct than the others because he’s still alive? maybe? though that doesn’t make a lot of sense but idk, it’s a cartoon, people

also there’s a disappointing lack of female representation here, but unfortunately that seems to be par for the course recently. poor Shimura having to rep an entire gender because the mangaka decided that just six or seven dudes wasn’t enough. nope, better make it eight!

though I suppose the somewhat androgynous Shouto-looking one in the trench coat could be female, possibly. that would be pretty awesome. or one of the two shadows, though based on the silhouettes I’d say that’s less likely

(ETA: although the second-from-the-left one, though... I’d say there’s a shot. fingers crossed!)

and lastly, the missing one is clearly the original, who’s fighting AFO in your dream sequence as we speak! pay attention, Deku!!

oh shit you guys I’m so fucking hypppppped. more AFO stuff!!!

and even though Deku has never seen his face, he recognizes his voice instantly and is thinking that he’ll never forget it

and so he’s finally realizing that the person AFO is talking to must be his brother, the First

why is the First such a hot mess. look at that scraggly looking hair and outfit. looks like he just rolled out of bed

why would they be aware of your presence if it’s a flashback dream. have you never read a fucking manga before Deku

oh shit AFO is beckoning to some dudes and they’re appearing out of the flashback mist

and you, being the kind soul you are, are going to “help” them both I suppose

also interesting that quirks were not called “quirks” at this point, but superpowers! taking more notes for that fic I mentioned!

First is running toward his big bro begging him not to do it and saying that once he does there’ll be no turning back

but he’s collapsing in a coughing fit oh shit

OH MY GOD ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO SEE IT??? I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS HOLY SHIT

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE

so his quirk is gone! is he happy though?

and meanwhile the other guy has the defense he wanted so badly

so far nothing about this seems that evil, but I’m sure the other shoe is going to drop any minute now

well he is implying that they both owe him a favor now, for starters

and we know he’s going to go on to be the future kingpin of the underworld, so him acting all Godfather here is definitely on point

and they’re saying of course, and that they’ll never forget what he’s done for them

sophistry is a super fancy word for a fallacious, intentionally deceiving argument, FYI. jesus Mangastream, put that fucking thesaurus away for a bit will ya. or am I the only plebe here who had to double check what that meant and everyone else already knew and is cool with it lol

AFO is acknowledging that he needs people who owe him a debt so he can know they’ll come through when he needs them

building up that loyal army of followers huh

but he says that by trying to deny him, First is also denying them of their happiness

but will they still be happy by the time you’re through with them? that remains to be seen

already one hell of a god complex building up here

First says he’s just taking advantage of people’s vulnerabilities and using them and throwing them away after

yeah I’m inclined to agree with him lol. AFO your MO has been made abundantly clear already

what is this?!

oh shit!

-- IS THIS KUROGIRI!?!?!??!??!

lol that’s crazy right. that’s a crazy thought. but idk I’m still convinced that AFO and Kurogiri are very old friends, so it would not surprise me at all to see him running around in this timeline already. hell, he doesn’t even need to have the same quirk at this point; the warp quirk could just as easily be something that was given to him by AFO

(ETA: this is an absurd theory that I’m gonna continue to push until the end of my days you guys.)

so as Deku continues to watch, AFO is loftily monologuing about how his poor pathetic brother was born without a superpower

“without power, one cannot even assert their ideals”

but he says that even so, he still loves him. “you’re my only family after all”

oh shit is this when he makes the mistake of giving him OFA??

but the black fog is getting much more prominent all of a sudden? like, I don’t think we’re going to get to see this flashback play out in full

I swear to god, if Deku wakes up and it turns out someone is shaking him awake or something I’m gonna be so pissed at that person lol

oh shit nope, never mind, we’re just getting a scene change! EVEN BETTER OMG

YOU GUYS

seriously you don’t understand, I have this plot bunny in my head that involves time travel and is tentatively set during the early days of quirks, and it also involves the past users of OFA and the concept of them passing on their memories as well as their power

so basically what I’m saying is this whole chapter thus far has been an absolute goldmine

does Deku even realize what he’s seeing here, though? whose narration is this

(ETA: I think that’s actually a paraphrase of something All Might said back in chapter 59, so we’re probably just being reminded of it.)

you guysssss AFO’s origin story is so fucking metal oh my god I love it. I love this so much

YESSSSSSSS

YESSSSS LOOK AT THIS MAGNETO BULLSHIT. LOOK AT HIM WITH HIS FUCKING ARMY HOLY SHIT

and now we’re transitioning again, this time to a dark cell

jesus christ AFO

that’s your own fucking brother for christ’s sake?? what the hell do you have him locked up in, a bank vault? are you that concerned about his sickly ass somehow getting out? for fuck’s sake there’s not even a bed in here

First says he refuses to be manipulated by AFO, and AFO says it’s about time he gave up already

oh my god!!!

OH MY FUCKING GOD THERE WAS A FUCKING RESISTANCE MOVEMENT YESSSSSSS

this is another thing I needed for my fic, fuck yes!? this worldbuilding is giving me life right now

(ETA: not that anyone cares, but despite my not shutting up about it, this isn’t something I’ll probably be writing any time soon. more likely I’ll spend the next five years or so outlining every last detail in my head, and then finally get inspired to write it only to flake out before the very last chapter hahaha sob. but it sure is fun to construct imaginary WIPs in your head though.)

so I’ll just assume that even though he thinks they were all killed, some of them survived! and continued the fight!

anyways

so AFO says he didn’t actually give the order to kill those people, and that his “friends” and followers simply did it on his behalf and made his desire to bring order into a reality

and he says he was happy beyond words. “I simply think it, and everyone takes action on my behalf”

so much fun being the god of your own world huh

HOLY SHIT

WHAT THE FUCK AFO, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOUR EYES SO FUCKING CREEPY

oh my god I for real shuddered

(ETA: and I was so creeped out by his eyes that I didn’t notice this my first time around, but underneath his nose there... are those freckles?!)

but First, nerd that he is, says AFO only read up to volume 3, and that the story continued and eventually the hero won and defeated the demon king

I like how Horikoshi clearly drew these in the style of the old timey American comics of the gold and silver ages

OH SHIT!!

SFLHKSDLKF HERE IT IS!!!

DEKU’S REACHING OUT, BUT OF COURSE YOU CAN’T STOP IT, DEKU! AND EVEN IF YOU COULD, YOU’D UNDO THE ONE GOOD THING AFO EVER DID LOL

YESSSSSS OH MY GOD I’M SO HYPED TO FINALLY SEE THIS MOMENT OH MY GOD

(ETA: there really is something fascinating about watching the moment when someone seals their own doom and doesn’t even know it. if only AFO had gotten himself an irony-understanding quirk.

also, this answers the question All Might raised in chapter 59 about whether or not AFO gave his brother the quirk out of pity/affection, or whether it was to control him. seems like it was mostly the latter, but seeing as he could have killed him but chose to keep him alive all this time instead, maybe there’s a little of the former there too. like, he wanted him to submit to him, but the reason he wanted it so badly was probably because some part of him wanted his little bro fighting by his side. that’s why he spent so long trying to convince him of his own free will before he finally went with this option instead. but little did he know...

also also! that just goes to show you how much OFA has leveled up over time, because this quirk was originally so weak that AFO picked it specifically because it was something that his “frail and starving” little brother would be able to handle. and look at it now. quirks. are. fucking. wild.)

and now the scene is fading!

AHHHH!LHLKlksdhflahks

YES!! HE IS!! WHO’S TALKING!??

OH SNAP

YOU KNOW, LIKE A LIAR

HOLY SHIT IT’S THE FIRST WHO’S TALKING!!

YOU GUYS THE HYPE IS TOO MUCH I’M FUCKING LOSING IT HERE OH MY GODDDDDDD

“BUT YOU CAN ONLY MANAGE ABOUT 20%” HOLY SHIT DEKU FUCKING HURRY UP AND MASTER THE REST OF IT ALREADY AHHHHH

so the memories are the same as the powers and will come to him little by little? but why lol. with the powers I can understand, because his body can’t physically handle the strain

...well actually, thinking of it like that, maybe his mind can’t handle the strain of all this info dumping yet either, though

and the hands touching omgggg. the connection! the bond that they now share despite being separated by time. the same shared fate oh my god

there is so much more to this than All Might ever let on. he barely even scratched the surface. did he think about all of this before he made the decision to give this power to a 14-year-old? this is so much, though. holy shiiiit

(ETA: so a couple more things to add here! first, we now know that All Might apparently didn’t know shit about most of this, so he gets a pass for the most part. and that’s a relief, because there’s a limit to how irresponsible I can accept him being lol. at some point it becomes less of a gift and more of a burden. but he had no idea of the extent to which this would happen, because his own OFA experience was very different.

and second, I totally missed this the first time around, but “the point of singularity” which First refers to is something that was brought up by Seiji in chapter 166. basically it’s the whole “eventually quirks will evolve to the point where no one can fucking control them and it’ll be chaos” thing. I didn’t realize this would become an actual plot thing so soon, but this is something that’s come up again in the chapters I just got up to, and now I can kind of see what they meant. best of luck with that Deku.)

HYPE AND FUCKING FEELS, COME ON THOUGH??

oh sweet moses

this chapter is blessed

so now he’s charging in to Deku’s room and asking why he’s making so much noise

WHAT’S GOING ON WHY IS HE HAVING THIS REACTION

OH SHIT

holy fuck

is it weird my first thought was that I bet this exact same thing has happened to Katsuki in the past. accidental activation of your quirk in your sleep, destroying all of your precious All Might merch in the process

and is his hand all right!? his hand was the only thing he could move in the dream so I’m worried the power was concentrated there, and that’s his fucked up hand and he’s not supposed to use it oh man

what is this

lol well actually I probably know the answer to that already huh

oh man. ohhh hhhhhhhh man

that was so intense. easily one of my favorite chapters ever. I said “oh my god” and “oh shit” so many fucking times lmao. that was fucking intense! it’s late and I have to get up early tomorrow but I’m gonna read the next one anyway because I need to see what kind of a conversation he has with All Might after this lol, and ALSO! TELL KATSUKI, YOU COWARD

(ETA: THEY DIDN’T but it’s okay because Kacchan realized something was up and took matters into his own hands! KEEP KACCHAN IN THE LOOP 2K19 IS ALIVE AND WELL.)

by the way, I haven’t done omakes for the last few chapters, but we actually crossed over into volume 21 back in chapter 189, so at some point I’ll have to go and find what I can from that volume and edit it into one of the upcoming recaps. this volume has way more bonus content than the last one, thanks to the presence of the Todoroki children as well as all of the class B kids finally making their appearance after all this time lol. so that should be fun to find out more about them.