#only the last part showed us hints on what his actual murder could've been and even then it's really vague

[genderqueer-miharu]

I am kinda worried that the guilty prisoners possibly being stuck in a single symbolic space for their second mvs means we won't get to clearly see more of what they've done, because i feel like those three specifically were the characters we needed the most information from

[codenamesazanka]

Now that MHA is over there's one more secret I have to share... I don't know/understand what the whole "vestige" thing is with OFA, and quite frankly it just feels like an Avatar rip off

I think Horikoshi has stated before that he never knew of Avatar: The Last Airbender until someone pointed out the similarities between Shouto and Zuko and brought the series to his attention; and by then, we already got the first hints of the vestiges back during the Sports Festival, so he did came up with it on his own. But failed to use it to its full potential. 😔

The idea is that quirks, being a core part of someone, holds someone's essence, even after the quirk is take away or transferred. I think it's supposed to be that OFA, being a quirk that is intended to pass itself to another person, having merged with a power-stocking quirk, and able to hold other quirks, gets to have these essences really take form, almost like ghosts/spirits that remain on Earth even after the person died.

But vestiges were never consistent in the first place. If Decay is made from the Overhaul quirk, shouldn't a distorted or half-Chisaki show up in Shigaraki's vestige space? Shouldn't any of the vestiges of the quirks AFO collected show up there to? Why didn't the 4th's vestige show up in Shigaraki and tried to sabotage him from attacking Deku? Only AFO ever got quirks rebelling against him. (Tho it could be that they're able to surface and rebel against AFO because canonically AFO is weaker-willed than Shigaraki.) Plus, since OFA as it is was created because Yoichi's original quirk merged with the power-stocking quirk that AFO gave him, shouldn't the original holder of the power-stocking quirk be in the vestige realm as well? Or be some kind of Yoichi/Power-Stocking Quirk Holder blend?

And as I've said, the sheer potential of OFA ghosts was very much wasted. In the story, they only ended up giving bad advice to Deku (Kudou coming up with the Kamikaze Us into Shigaraki's Trauma Core; and it's Yoichi getting kamikazed that made AFO resurface), and became a convoluted resolution to the century-long AFOFA conflict, like vengeful spirits gathering to haunt and kill their murderer so they can be at rest. (So much for OFA being a power meant for saving, not killing.)

We could've had fun stuff like history lessons and flashbacks and consensual possession and these spirits interacting with real life people. All Might talking to Nana again, Nana talking to Gran Torino again, really delving into the Shimura tragedy and her choice to give up Kotarou. Instead, note that the flashbacks of Advent Chaos when quirks first appeared, or the flashback of All Might meeting Nana, were actually not from the vestiges, but from the living.

You mentioned Avatar, and that's how it was in the show: Aang getting advice and guidance, Aang learning truths about the past that have been long forgotten, Aang sometimes getting possessed so that the ancient spirits can show up to affect the living world. That's good stuff! Shame it wasn't how it was for the OFA vestiges.

Thanks for the ask!