#rereading this chapter I want the deleted scene where aizawa gives mina her props also

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 216: You’re a Good Man, Shinsou Hitoshi

Previously on BnHA: Deku calmed his emotions and activated Blackwhip a second time, this time On Purpose, and for a moment it looked like he was going to completely curb stomp poor Shinsou. But then he crumpled in pain and the quirk vanished, and he realized he wasn’t physically strong enough to use that quirk just yet. So instead he chased after Shinsou using good ol’ full cowl. Meanwhile Ochako captured Monoma, who taunted her about having one last ace up his sleeve. This turned out to be a Twin Impact shot he’d been saving to hit Deku with, and it worked pretty nicely, but unfortunately our boy Shinsou didn’t have enough experience yet to take full advantage of the resulting opening. Meanwhile Ochako went to bail out Mina and Mineta and took out not one but two more opponents singlehandedly like the fucking ninja she is. Mina took out the third with a raging uppercut, leaving Deku to wrangle Shinsou, thus securing 1-A’s total victory. Now all that remains to be seen is what kind of excuse Deku will come up with for his sudden new quirk, and whether or not Shinsou will be accepted into the hero course. We’re all rooting for you, kid.

Today on BnHA: The 5th set wraps up with a 4-0 victory for Team A, which also gives class A the overall victory over class B, having won 3 of the 5 matches. As 1-A celebrates, Shinsou broods. He was able to piece together that the exercise was a test for his potential transfer, but he feels like he didn’t accomplish enough. The teachers gather the two teams for the post-game analysis and are all “what the fuck, Midoriya.” Deku is all “I don’t know either,” and for some reason everyone just buys that and moves on with their lives. Deku credits Ochako and Shinsou with helping to save him, but Shinsou says he just did it to stop his team from losing. Aizawa chokes some sense into him and says that just because he’s not a perfect 100% self-sacrificing martyr all the time doesn’t mean he’s not worthy of being a hero. Everyone else chimes in and says that Shinsou did really good, and Vlad says that although they still need to make it official, it’s more than likely that Shinsou will be joining the hero course next year. Having settled all that, Aizawa asks Monoma if he can do him a favor and come with him to see Eri the next day.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 225, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so we’re opening with Shinsou’s perspective on those last few moments against Deku

wow

you’re telling me Izuku was spinning around over and over again in mid-air? he wasn’t just twisting the binding cloth around?? he himself was literally twirling at high speed? that’s what this panel was depicting?? the author of this series is drunk

ahhhhhh my poor exhausted lavender son

welcome to shounen manga, friend. we only go forwards not back

ahhhhh fff dammit Shinsou

YOU BETTER NOT START CRYING OR I’M GONNA LOSE IT

and now we’re belatedly getting the hero names of the four class B kids waaaaaay after the fact

Emily??

(ETA: Exorcism of Emily Rose?? that’s what Viz’s translator speculated, anyway. idk I don’t watch horror movies so I don’t know what else it could be.)

I like the name “Mines” for Shouda though! his quirk kinda is like a landmine I guess. also this poor kid has seen better days Mina what did you do to him

anyways so poor Vlad is being forced to announce class 1-A’s perfect 4-0 victory for the second time in a row

haha check out Mina’s kung fu pose

and Ochako’s peace sign. MVPs. I stan some motherfucking legends here I tell you what

oh lol it was Midnight that was doing the commentary since Vlad went with Aizawa and All Might

I’m glad the kids’ petitioning paid off

so in the end class 1-A once again proved themselves against the unfortunate class 1-B who had all of the cool quirks but none of the luck

Midnight’s making the official announcement and everyone is cheering!

poor class B

it’s not your fault, Manga. at least your team actually won, mainly thanks to you

ahhhh we’re cutting back to Shinsou and his face is hidden and he’s tugging at his scarf and hesitantly addressing Vlad and Aizawa

SHINSOU STOP IT

SOMEONE GIVE HIM A HUG!! AND STOP LEAVING HIM IN SUSPENSE!!!

he says this was also supposed to be his transfer exam. so he knew??

lol Vlad is asking Aizawa if he told him, but Shinsou says he basically just put two and two together even though he wasn’t 100% sure

“not to mention, I was the only one who participated in two matches” yeah that was certainly a big clue

lmao Vlad looks so impressed

just how low are your standards dude

and now Aizawa is changing the topic and says it’s time for the teachers’ critiques! OH BOY THIS OUGHTA BE GOOD

Deku’s critique basically should just consist of “what the actual fuck Midoriya”

and like I said in the previous recap, Shinsou should get credit for his performance in the first battle as well as his save in this battle which showed he has the true spirit of a hero!

LOOOOOOOOOOOL

I WANT TO SHAKE HORIKOSHI’S GODDAMN HAND

so Aizawa’s asking what the principle is behind Deku’s new move since it’s so radically different from his established “super strength” quirk

and Deku’s just standing there nervously

Tokoyami and Kuroiro are bonding over their mutual admiration of how goth the new quirk is

hmmmm how you wanna play this Deku

so basically just be all “fuck if I know, this quirk only manifested for the first time eight months ago and it keeps surprising me with weird new shit. petition to rename it ‘mystery quirk’”

sidestepping the question like a pro there Deku

so he says his power suddenly started overflowing and he couldn’t suppress it and it scared him, but that thanks to Shinsou and Ochako’s help it turned out all right

he says that if Shinsou hadn’t knocked him out he’s not sure what would have happened

and he’s turning to Shinsou now and explaining that he wasn’t bluffing earlier, and he’s thanking him

what the fuck Shinsou

were you?? fooled me then

YESSSSSSSS GIVE OCHAKO HER PROPS

SHE WAS A FUCKING BADASS. NOW TALK ABOUT THE PART WHERE SHE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR CAPTURING 3 OF THE 5 ENEMY TEAM MEMBERS

noooo goddammit Mina not now!!

MINA ARE YOU JEALOUS NO ONE HAS GIVEN YOU CREDIT YET. WE WERE GETTING TO THAT, BE PATIENT

oh sheesh lmao

and now she’s nervously twiddling her fingers and smiling hesitantly and saying she’d rather do that than not do anything and regret it later

oh my gosh

SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE BABY GIRL. YES!!

and holy shit but I want to take that picture of him smiling almost imperceptibly and fucking frame it

look at Ochako managing to completely deflect the attention away from Deku somehow. not only was she the MVP of the battle, but she just keeps saving his ass even afterward

holy shit

DEKU’S FACE ALSO BEING BEET RED THOUGH. HE MUST LOOK LIKE A GODDAMN RADISH

anyway, so Shinsou says he just did what Ochako asked him to do

yeah, but you did it despite them being on the opposing team though!

exactly. you knew it was the right course of action and you didn’t hesitate

SHINSOU STOP MAKING THESE SAD FACES!!!

FOR FUCK’S SAKE I CAN’T TAKE THIS??

AIZAWA OH MY GOD YES

PLEASE REASSURE YOUR DEPRESSED PURPLE SON AND TELL HIM THAT HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG AND HE’S A GOOD HERO

sdlfhaslkdfj

holy --

lmao at Kaminari immediately breaking into a chant. methinks the mangaka is too self-aware

and well then, since Best Dad Aizawa Shouta has officially entered the ranks of parents who occasionally discipline their children via shocking comedic violence (consider also: All Might decking Deku at the beach a mere chapter before Mitsuki’s infamous introduction), maybe we can finally put that debate to rest. I think it’s pretty clear when Horikoshi is intentionally portraying abuse and when he’s just being over the top because this is a fictional story in a fictional world where not three pages ago there was a character with a literal comic book for a head

oh snap Aizawa

in other words, it’s okay to be a little selfish. sometimes selfish is even needed. because he’s absolutely right, if you don’t take care of yourself as well you’ll fuck yourself over before long and then you won’t be able to save anyone

and also, at the end of the day, if you save everyone successfully and complete the mission, does it really make sense to stand around and argue whether or not your intentions were pure enough?

anyways needless to say I’m really digging this “nobody’s perfect” speech right here you guys

(ETA: oh hey it’s Aizawa’s Mysterious Cloudy Friend, Shirakumo! probably. hey Shirakumo. what’s your fucking deal goddammit)

this is basically Aizawa’s version of All Might’s speech from chapter 120. I always love when the series metas about what it means to be a hero and what separates the great ones from everyone else. and we saw firsthand in Bakugou’s match just a few chapters ago the difference it makes when a hero is focused on both winning and rescuing

now Deku is complimenting Shinsou on all of his strategic moves like dropping those pipes down on him and trying to lead him back to where everyone else was to regain his advantage

oh my god you guys Deku is so passionate and generous with his praise, this is exactly the kind of thing Shinsou needed to hear though

kinda getting that “a true hero doesn’t just save people, they save people’s hearts” vibe thing here on top of everything else

oh my god Deku

what the fuck are you talking about, if anything you lean into this too much and you need to relax a little and take some of Aizawa’s advice to heart

ahhhhhhhhHHHHHH

YESSSSSSSSSSS THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. YOU DID IT SHINSOU I’M SO PROUD OF YOU

oh my god. the one hand clutching his scarf and the other one in a clenched fist. and that face. oh shit here come the feels

and I desperately need to know if this means next year as in January/next term, or next year as in when they move on to year 2

(ETA: Viz’s translation indicates it’ll happen in their second year of school.)

OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE

GODDAMMIT HORIKOSHI I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS CHAPTER TO FIND OUT, AND THEN YOU GO AND PULL THIS SHIT. UNBELIEVABLE

(ETA: I love that both classes so clearly want him though. again, they’ve all collectively adopted him and I love it

also, class 1-A still has a traitor in their midst, so depending on when and how that all goes down, they may just end up having a vacancy, just saying...)

oh my god

Mina this is why I want you to run for President. and Aizawa, she absolutely is right and he should be punished

loooool Monoma is trying!

hang in there buddy

so getting back to that, I’m guessing what happened there was that he did take One for All the quirk, but not any of the stockpiled power within Izuku? because to get that it has to be willed to you by the previous owner. so basically he was trying to activate it, and it probably was working, but his version of the quirk was at OFA Prime levels. basically starting from scratch with no additional power stored up other than his own. and we all agree this is actually very fortunate for him and he’d be getting carted off to Recovery Girl right now if things had gone differently

does that not bother him, by the way? like, Ochako just figured he was “bluffing”, but Monoma knows he was actually trying to activate the quirk and nothing was happening. I wonder what he made of that. it seems like maybe he’s too caught up in the loss to class A to really think much on it just yet

(ETA: so apparently he knows enough about how his quirk works to have already figured this out, lol.)

whoa oh shit and I just read the last three panels and a ton of interesting stuff happened so quickly lol

okay let’s break this down and then we’ll end the recap

(1) Deku is so fucking pure. middle of a battle and being attacked, and his only concern is that the quirk is gonna be too much for Monoma and badly injure him

(ETA: and can I just say, the other students could have used a little more of that concern though. the teachers too for that matter.)

(2) so I take this to mean Horikoshi is going to explain what happened, but for now I’m assuming my speculation is more or less near the mark. he definitely did take OFA because you could see the telltale red flashing pulsing shit happening with his skin. so it has nothing to do with Deku originally being quirkless; it’s the way that OFA as a quirk works

(3) Deku is super fucking lucky that no one started questioning what happened with his quirk again, what with Monoma bringing the subject back up

and lastly, (4) OH SHIT. is he gonna have Monoma copy Eri’s quirk to see if he can control it? lol we only just established how lucky he is to be alive after taking Deku’s quirk. what are you trying to do to this poor kid

though I am glad to see Aizawa being a logical dad who cares about his baby girl and is constantly thinking of ways in which to possibly help her out. ah well, hope nothing goes wrong there

and that’s it! on to the next chapter to hopefully see Bakugou and All Might grill Deku about WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED lol