#was good to see Nagant

[commander-revan]

This chapter was better than I could have hoped in some ways, and a little disappointing in others.

I am upset about the whole 'slowly dying' thing, but honestly I'll take it over him dying in this chapter. Touya shouldn't have survived a long time ago anyway, so I'm not buying that he's actually going to die anytime soon now. (They didn't even touch on the whole ice quirk thing.)

We finally know his favorite food (the fact that it's the same as Shoto's is killing me), and I'm not accepting that Horikoshi will kill him off before he gets to have soba with his family, minus Endeavor.

Also I really appreciate that Horikoshi didn't make Natsuo forgive Enji in any way, and that he's going no contact. Good for him.

I do wish we could have seen the family talk to Touya more, especially Rei. But maybe, hopefully, that's something we might see in the future, like in one of the light novels or something. (Hori, I'm begging, please give me a LoV focused light novel.)

[mishy-mashy]

Kudo and Lady Nagant are actually parallels and foils to each other.

Kudo led a Resistance to fight for what he believed would be the greater good (taking down AFO), knowing his path was hard and killing many for that purpose.

Lady Nagant follows that same path, Pro Hero version: being a Hero to help others, but killing many in the process and realizing how this bright light she believed in casts a darker shadow.

Lady Nagant's tired, which is why she killed the chairman and was arrested. Exactly because she grew tired of everything and shouldering the duty on her own, she's set apart from other Heroes and inmates

But even though she's sick of platitudes (righteous/flowery words for a greater moral purpose), Kudo doesn't dislike them

Kudo isn't tired of those. He wasn't tired of fighting against AFO. He's still fighting, and in ch. 413, he's still willing to die for this purpose.

Even if All For One is technically dead, the Quirk and will lives in Tomura, and Japan is still collapsing. It's all about to come down, and Kudo's seen this before.

Kudo could've easily been just like Lady Nagant. Fighting against society itself, scrounging things and people to fight, and watching so many die on your path, for and against you, so you can keep doing what you should...

Kudo's not optimistic like Midoriya and Hawks. He's aware of what he's done for his purpose, like Nagant. But he still looks toward the future, and is optimistic to believe in that. That what he's doing will help the future.

Lady Nagant saw Hawks and Midoriya, and wondered how they could keep fighting. Why were their eyes still alight?

Lady Nagant asks Hawks how that can be. AND HAWKS' RESPONSE?

HE WASN'T ALONE. HE'S STUPIDLY OPTIMISTIC. WHO DOES THAT SOUND LIKE?

Hi Kudo.

Can you imagine how bullheaded he has to be to do this? How could you grow up in crumbling Japan, and still think about stopping the great evil looming on the horizon? How could that thought have ever occurred to him, to go against current reality? That the person bringing peace really isn't? That he should stand up and fight?

Even Kudo thought Midoriya was delusional, and Nagant can't understand them for being so hopeful. But Kudo himself is crazy for standing up to fight the greatest evil at his peak, with even less strength than anyone else. First Generations were weak, not only because AFO took everything good, but because they were the base of the age of Quirks. The first Quirks were all weak. They'd only grow as they mixed and evolved through time.

Kudo falls into the group of people Nagant can't understand. The group that Nagant grew out of.

If Kudo had been alone like Nagant, he'd have been just like her in the end. But he wasn't. Even though their paths are so similar. They're both fighting a dark, bloody path for the "greater good" they can't see, and with all the death they're responsible for, the purpose behind this all is becoming muddled. But Kudo still managed to keep his eyes set ahead, and didn't lose sight of it.

Kudo knew he couldn't do it alone, and gathered allies. He had Bruce, and the Resistance, who followed him to their graves.

How could he have the will and charisma to gather people and be able to pull it off? Even All For One has to acknowledge that stupid, stupid light in their eyes that persists.

Kudo's eyes have a similar, if not the same light as Hawks and Midoriya.

The two panels even parallel each other. A shot of their left eye, with that light, and text in the exact same place, questioning the existence of that glimmer.

Kudo may not be a Hero or even a vigilante, but Star still reached out and caught his attention directly.

Bakugo has the same will as Kudo. Like Nezu with that "first step", and All Might paving the way for the next generation, will spreads.

Kudo had allies. Nagant was all alone. Only when Midoriya reached out to Nagant and told her to fight with them, recognizing her will, did Nagant smile and call him a real hero. She even gave them the information needed, and did join their side, to keep fighting.

Nagant had allies late. Kudo had them from the start, and so could continue.

[thotsforvillainrights]

And some Nagant to top it all off

[thyandrawrites]

I don't think I've ever shared the final results here 🤔 but if anyone remembers me working on some handmade gifts back in july/august, here's two of them! A little Lan Zhan and an equally tiny Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra's jacket gave me a lot of trouble and I'm not super satisfied with it, but the Lan Zhan doll is probably one of my fave designs so far. I'm thinking of doing a tiny Reo with these proportions at some point. Tho I'll see if I can have him sitting instead 🤔

[aashi-heartfilia]

Why do we need a Ochako and Hawks conversation before the manga ends

I've been waiting for their conversation for centuries! Like these two definitely need to talk.

Ochako managed to do something that Hawks couldn't do. Toga and Twice both were really nice people and it's just their quirks led them to despair and they both realised this.

Hawks didn't wanna kill Jin Bubaigawara but he did because in his way, he was trying to be a hero, so he brutally killed his own friend but then what kind of hero does that? In MHA, there's a very thin line between heroes and villains and that has been pointed out several times.

Even with Ochako and Toga. Remember when Toga told Ochako how she used Ochako's quirk to kill a bunch of people during their 2nd battle? Ochako was horrified. The same quirk that Ochako uses to make everyone's problems weightless quite literally was used to kill people.

Ochako and Toga are very similar. They're both very cute and shy, they love to tie their hair up in buns, and even love the same boy which is why when Ochako wasn't able to empathize with Toga, she was hurt because she thought at least chako would understand...

Horikoshi loves to draw parallels between certain characters and their storylines and one such beautiful parallel is this...when later on Ochako notices Toga's tears in the final battle.

"She loved seeing people happy. So of course she zeroed in on her tears"

Beautiful narration, amazing storytelling

It is a way for us as readers to tell that Ochako has now grown, as she is now seeing Toga as a person, not as a villain, just as a person who was sad and crying.

Like it's outright stated for us in the manga, so I don't understand people who think Ochako never got any character development because this is exactly where she differs from Hawks ideology.

Hawks was able to sacrifice Twice for the greater good, even if he himself regretted it later. The Public Safety Hero commission must have made him do other terrible things as well and he might have killed some more villains in secret just like Nagant.

We can cut him some slack though cause he was just following the orders, but then so did Ochako. Tsu even points it out, that killing Toga would have been much easier just like Hawks suggested, but her friend Ochako took a harder route and is trying to confront her.

Plus, Hawks had a chance to correct his mistake and yet when Twice (actually Toga) appeared in the battlefield again, his first instinct was to kill him.

MHA is not a story about killing people for greater good. We've seen in the latest chapter how both Dabi and Endeavour survived the war and while Dabi would live for only some time, he would have some moments of peace with his father. They can at least try to heal what was broken.

Killing twice was definitely not a good idea cause his will continued within Toga. She took her revenge and killed so many heroes on the same battlefield. As long as their despair and sadness is not confronted, the problem is not yet solved. We've seen it with Toga and Shigaraki.

Which is why I said that Ochako passed where Hawks failed.

Both Toga and Twice died, but at least Toga died smiling, happily to save someone she loved. Twice died to save his comrades while Toga sacrificed herself to save Ochako, an act of true love by the so-called villains.

And this needs to be addressed.

Plus there has been too much of a teaser about it...

Hawks witnessed the impact of Ochako's speech in ch 325. And she was the last thing that came to his mind before passing out...

Plus even their covers are a big parallel!

So with all that being said, if Ochako and Hawks didn't have a conversation before this manga ends, it would really be such a missed opportunity and quite a shame.

~Sunshine

[pikahlua]

What is an antagonist in My Hero Academia?

Okay, I saw stirrings of this topic rumbling about, and I just have to jump in this time. Please note that I am doing so gleefully and excitedly. This is meant to be fun.

With recent advents in the MHA story, apparently there are some who now want to call Tomura Shigaraki a deuteragonist, or even THE deuteragonist. I see why they're saying this. I think the urge lies in the potential that Shigaraki could turn on AFO and become a hero in some sense. He could join forces with Izuku Midoriya! I am here to argue that Shigaraki is absolutely not a deuteragonist, and I mean this as a good thing.

Tomura Shigaraki is an antagonist. He is the ULTIMATE antagonist. What is happening with him in the current story does not contradict that idea but enforces it.

An antagonist is a character acting in opposition to the protagonist. Right away you may say "Then if Shigaraki stops opposing Izuku Midoriya the protagonist, that would make him not an antagonist by definition!" Hold your horses, friends. I maintain that Shigaraki is an antagonist still. An antagonist is not someone who by definition must be destroyed by the protagonist just to be considered an antagonist in the first place.

Horikoshi has already set the terms for what constitutes antagonism in My Hero Academia. Antagonists are not antagonists because they fight against Izuku Midoriya; they are antagonists because they represent a large obstacle preventing Izuku Midoriya from saving someone.

Izuku Midoriya is a protagonist who exemplifies the desire to save people. His terms for victory are defined by saving people. It is this ideal that acts as the cornerstone for the story and inspires other characters to admire and follow in Izuku's footsteps.

This is why Izuku is a radical, perspective-challenging character. He is not a bland protagonist in a generic shounen manga. MHA is in many ways a meta commentary on the genre and on storytelling itself. Izuku consistently demonstrates that, in a world of comic book superheroes, defeating an enemy in a fight holds little value for him. Everything is about rescue.

To demonstrate, I shall now show you some of Izuku's other antagonists.

Now don't get me wrong. Izuku has other antagonists too, like Stain and Endeavor and Dabi and Overhaul and AFO--but those antagonists still are such in the sense that they are hurdles to Izuku saving someone.

Many of the above pictured characters are antagonists who even fight Izuku, and yet their battles culminate in Izuku saving them (or else partially saving and then punting the complete rescue to some other moment down the line if they're a recurring antagonist). The point is, they didn't cease to become antagonists the moment Izuku saved them either. Even in those moments when we see the results of their rescues, such as Shouto visiting his mother in the hospital and Inko allowing Izuku to return to UA and Katsuki rekindling his friendship with Izuku and Eri smiling for the first time in ages and Gentle joining the side of the heroes and Nagant turning her back on AFO, those moments were not the characters changing from antagonist to protagonist. They were the moments showcasing Izuku's victory and the arc's conclusion. Each of these characters serves as an antagonist for a particular story arc. So long as we're still within the same self-contained story arc, that character is still technically an antagonist even after Izuku has won. Their functional statuses as characters in a story only change when the story moves onto the next arc.

This means Shouto is an antagonist through the moment he visits his mother in the hospital for the first time because the scene serves to show us how Izuku has saved him. But then Shouto functionally changes so that he is no longer an antagonist in the next story arc. In the Stain arc, Shouto serves as a protagonist or co-protagonist or deuteragonist or tritagonist depending on how you wanna define those terms. Just because his role changes doesn't mean he isn't still an antagonist during the sports festival. He is! That change is the whole point!

So to bring this back to the ending, Shigaraki himself is an antagonist--and not just any antagonist. He is the overarching antagonist of the entirety of MHA! Because he, not AFO, represents the greatest threat to the protagonist Izuku Midoriya's ideals.

For every second Tomura Shigaraki rejects Izuku's helping hand, he threatens Izuku's worldview not just that all people have equal hearts in equal need of saving but that Izuku himself is equal to all others. This is the driving existential force that keeps Izuku doing what he does. To Izuku Midoriya, everyone is included in the whole. Everyone. Izuku included. Tomura included.

So now that Tomura may turn on AFO and may change his mindset, we don't have Shigaraki ceasing to be an antagonist. We have Izuku conquering his antagonist, that being Tomura's rejection of salvation. Tomura is becoming a person who can accept help, and that's precisely what has to happen to all of MHA's antagonists in their individual story arcs. These are the terms for the protagonist's victory. Tomura would not be undergoing this change if he wasn't an antagonist. To be an antagonist in MHA is a very important, fundamental role. We're just now seeing the resolution to Izuku's and Tomura's (or Tenko's, if you will) ultimate clash as protagonist and antagonist.

A deuteragonist has a very different role in MHA and that's a whole other post lol

[bibibbon]

The way Deku’s dynamics with the rest of the cast have taken a nosedive in act III is so depressing, there’s SO much missed potential.

He doesn’t reflect on Endeavor (beyond a brief moment protecting the Todoroki’s on PLW)

He doesn't reflect on Hawks actions being exposed for everyone to see, the safety commission conveniently evaporates so Hawks and Nagant’s roles on society have already been taken down, leaving his desire to change society feel shallow.

Hawks interacts with Deku on Villain Hunt but him murdering a Villain that was actually a good person isn’t explored, and neither is wanting to save Shigaraki or the way he’s gonna go about it when you could easily contrast what Hawks DID with what Deku should have done.

Endeavor’s reaction to Izuku having All Might’s power, his relationship with AM is ruined, his relationship with his own class is barebones besides Ochako, it’s so sad to see a character that was known for learning from everyone around him suddenly losing all of the wonderful dynamics he had and could have had in the last stretch of the story

I would say that Izuku's interactions with other characters and meaningful interactions+intropsection that can directly help his character development has decreased in both quantity and quality since the middle of act 2 or much more accurately since the bakugo Vs izuku fight part 2 (is when I noticed it tbh)

I say this because it is exactly after those acts that we see less of izuku and all might relationship being depicted in a meaningful way or we don't have all mights problems with his successor being addressed, take for example the vigilante arc where all might and izuku meet after their falling out is framed as a gag or joke and we never see them talking it out. Sure the introduction could be played for a bit of laughs but what rubs me the wrong way is that there isn't a slow meaningful talk about this between the two (also I have just come to the realisation that all might and izukus relationship should of been built up a lot more before this moment and they're quite shallow in terms of mentor and mentee)

There's also Izuku's relationship with enji todoroki that somehow does a complete 180 spin where he first went from hating on enji for what he did to shoto and his family to then defending enji infront of touya and telling shoto that he is ready to forgive enji somehow even though enji has done unforgivable deeds. This moment just seems ooc for izuku and even after everything is revealed in more gruesome details like you said we don't even get a scene of izuku thinking about it or actually acknowledging that enji is a bad person and that touya has a point.

Or when the dark corruptness of society is revealed we only see izuku exclaim and almost berate lady nagant for killing her boss (who drove her almost insane because of the amount of killing he made her do) and it's so convenient that HPSC doesn't exists anymore so horikoshi doesn't need to make Izuku think about it at all (ultimately this ends up being bad because Izuku's dream of ripping up the realms of good and evil like a rug become almost meaningless) he k izuku doesn't thunk abkut how it was the hpsc and UA that sent both him and his classmates to war as child soldiers (actually none of 1A or 1B think about this)

Izuku and hawks could of had a meaningful conversation about how to go around saving villains and how their ideologies may clash with hawks believing that Jin needed to be killed to prevent tragedy and izuku wanting to save shigaraki. Izuku and hawks share some interesting parallels with one another but they're not deeply explored especially when they can be and lead to more izuku and hawks intropsection. Ultimately Izuku and hawks do have similar thinking styles with both of them believing that because a villain wouldn't back down that they can't save them, both of them being used as weapons by society, both of them wanting to protect, both of them being great analyst and having great intelligence. These are just some things that they have in common.

Or Izuku and his somewhat superficial or shallow bond with his classmates. I can admit that izuku and some of his classmates had a strong build up for some interesting relationships like izuku and iida (but due to iida being sidelined the whole holding hands moment and reaching out kinda falls flat) or Izuku and shoto (but Izuku's view of enji ruins it a bit and it's a shame we dont see izuku spill the beans to shoto since shoto is always the first to notice izukus emotional distress) or izuku and ochako (but it got muddled a bit because of the whole shipping thing and the way the narrative frames some of their moments). I think Izuku also needed more time with other classmates to build a proper relationship with them that's not based on transactional things that he did for them like encouraging jiro for the school festival or standing up for ojirou (I would of liked there to be more in between all of that)

Heck there are overall more character relationships that I want Izuku to have in deeper depths like izuku and shigaraki are pretty underdeveloped or Izuku and mei who had great chemistry or Izuku and shota. heck established relationships like izuku and kora or Eri should get more screentime and depth as they can for sure help Izuku's character. Izuku and his relationship with his mother could of easily been turned into an arc where inko realises that she is neglectful and steps up as a parent. Etc etc.

Ultimately it's a shame that these things never happen because what made Izuku's character so compelling to me is his parallels and foils with the rest of the cast and that he is a character who learns, adapts and also should of been one that questions and influences change within society but he doesn't!

[gece-misin-nesin]

I hope it’s ok if I rant a little about MHA because your post about Endeavor walking free reminded me of how detrimental some of the messages MHA can be. (I’ll try not to write much, feel free to delete this tho!)

It is so frustrating how the story doesn’t linger enough on the weight killing people that have yet to commit a crime, people that are a threat to the status quo, holds.

Sometimes I legit feel insane because people will be saying things like, “He could be a threat, so of course they should kill him.” And then talk about Deku and class 1A “changing the world for the better,” when the series doesn’t care to unpack its systematic issues past individual issues + the series essentially maintained the system that failed so many—resorting to reforms and expanding programs doesn’t actually solve the problem imo.

And it’s so hard nowadays to even try to have a conversation that entails criticism of the story, when so many fans fall for the condescending righteousness the story feeds as a response just because it came from heroes. Even though the story itself presents reasons why we shouldn’t blindly trust heroes (Endeavor literally right there) 🤦

Like, the story presents characters being oppressed and the ultimate response to their plight is constantly, “Just be a better victim.” The whole situation with Touya and Endeavor + what Deku says to Touya, is absolutely insane to me.

It made me sick to see people saying, “This is what Touya always wanted.” This is what people are taking away from the story, when many people who grew up being abused and didn’t fit the “perfect victim” criteria will tell you how fucked up that ending was.

Anyway, sorry for ranting. It’s so hard to find people who understands criticism in the MHA fandom 😭 The story has a lot of good points and potential, Hori just couldn’t handle it properly.

I am ALWAYS happy to listen to bnha rants!! I devour the bnha critical tag like a wild beast lmaoo

As for your thoughts, 100% agree. I feel like a big part of the problem is that the story spends so much time setting up systematic issues and then just..drops them? Acts like they don't exist? And instead it redirects all blame and reason to indovidual problems, like Endeavor for example. Touya became a villain because of Endeavor..but the conditions under which he became a villain could have been massively prevented if the ranking system didn't exist and if so much value hadn't been placed on it. Or if the wealth and privilege that being a hero had brought to Endeavor hadn't let people turn a blind eye to his bullshit. Because are you really telling NO ONE had even an inclination that something was wrong in that household? Really?

This also applies to Tomura. In the beginning The Walk where he spent some amount of time on the streets without anyone helping him seemed very important to his backstory. He didn't become a villain just because his father was a pos, he becane a villain because the state of heroism led to a society that glorified heroes to such an extent that people didn't help a bloody kid on the street because a 'hero would'. But instead most of his memories Deku interferes w are about the Shimura household instead of the very important bystander syndrome. And THEN to top it all off, we learn the stupid 'AFO orchestrated Tomura's whole life' thing. I cannot find the right words to express just how much I loathe that.

Anyway, Touya and Tenko are just two examples. Overall, the story chooses to resolve individual problems (and how well even those are resolved is certainly debatable) and frame them as the leading causes of villainy when its mostly systemic issues that cause it and then act like there were no systemic issues in the first place. I mean, literally no one has a problem with the HPSC casually having private assassins to commit extrajudicial murder, so. Guess Nagant should have just been "optimistic" and waited for someone to, idk, topple the literal government.

[rewrittenmha]

Hero Killer Stain Arc

As far as arcs in MHA go, this is the only one I would call almost perfect.

This was the arc that (should have) set the tone for the rest of the series. It was dark enough to show us the severity of being a hero, laid out the flaws of hero society, and tells us why Izuku (our main character) is different and has the power to change things.

I hesitate to change much about it.

I think there's something to be said about Izuku's reaction to Stain. As far as people who call out society, Stain is the only one who gets through Izuku's ideals if only a little bit. No one else- not even Lady Nagant, who had the most valid argument- made him stop and think.

I do have to wonder if this was because of Stain's admiration for All Might. And that... isn't a great look for Izuku in all honesty.

So instead, I want Stain's words to really affect Izuku. I want him- as someone who's studied heroes all his life- to really think on the things he's seen. Thing he might have justified in his head at the time. I want him to reflect on what Todoroki told him about Endeavor and Quirk Marriages. I want his idealization of heroes and the societies heroes protect to be challenged.

This will be the start in deconstructing not only Izuku's blind hero worship, but also the circumstances in which he grew up in. What allowed Bakugou to torment him all those years? What was it that decided that he wasn't equal to his peers?

I mentioned this before on my main, but the one thing I always thought would benefit the Stain arc was also breaking Tenya's idolization of Tensei.

Stain brings up great points in canon, but they're undercut by the fact that Tensei- as far as we know- is a good hero. So Stain targeting him really undermines his actions and goals. Sure, you can make the argument that it's all heroes other than All Might that he sees as the problem, but it just makes Stain look like a hypocrite because we have no proof of that either.

So, Tensei won't be as innocent here.

It happened when he was just starting out as a hero. Tensei Iida had just graduated from UA and became the hero Ingenium. He was dedicated to upholding his family's ideals: noble, honest, and good.

But as a rookie, he came across something he wasn't supposed to see. He was investigating an underground drug ring where he witnessed Lady Nagant- one of the top 10 heroes at the time- kill another hero, albeit one a lot less known.

Tensei panicked and demanded to know what she was doing. But her eyes were so haunted and empty that he couldn't bring himself to move. When she answered him, her voice was hollow. She told him that this was the society they were tasked with upholding as heroes. And that if he had a problem with it, he could take it up with the HPSC. And then she left, like nothing had happened.

She was arrested just a few months later.

Tensei never said a word about it. And the guilt has been haunting him ever since.

He confesses all of this to Tenya after Tenya's confrontation with Stain. Tenya is confused and upset; all his life he has been taught that standing up for what's right is the foundation of the Iida family. He doesn't know how to feel about this information...

But then he remembers how Izuku had rushed in to help him without hesitation. How he always stood up for others, no matter what. How he never gave up.

Izuku... inspired him. Izuku made him want to be a better hero. A hero who always did the right thing, regardless of if it followed all the rules or not.

Shoto has never had friends before. He was never allowed to. He was told he was better than everyone else, including his brothers and sister. But being there for Izuku and Tenya felt... good. Like others relied on him, and he could rely on them too.

He's been sheltered all his life so outside of Endeavor he doesn't really understand what Stain is talking about. Heroes are usually good, like All Might, right?

But what if... more of them were like his father than he had previously believed?

Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu- upon learning that Uraraka is interning with Gunhead- decides to take the invitation from him that was also offered to her. She wants to know how Uraraka held off so well against Tokoyami when she couldn't. Uraraka thrives under Gunhead's tutelage, but Yaoyorozu struggles. She, no matter how hard she tries, can't seem to learn how to think on her feet.

Yaoyorozu comes off as cold at first which intimidates Uraraka, but then she realizes "Oh, this rich kid has never had a normal social interaction in her life." She makes the effort to be kind to Yaoyorozu, who has never had a real friend in her life and doesn't know how to respond to this compassion.

Uraraka helps her to stop overthinking. Tells her to stop thinking about what her opponent will do so much and look at what they're actually doing. It improves Yaoyorozu's already decent combat ability, which she's grateful for. She sincerely thanks Uraraka and confides in how she felt like she failed at the Sports Festival. Uraraka sympathizes; it's hard to be overlooked and cast aside when you know you're capable of doing so much more. For the first time in her life, Yaoyorozu feels understood

(They're besties, your honor)

Notes:

This one's more of a summary because there really aren't many changes to this arc other than Tensei's flashback. I was thinking of making him an HPSC assassin too, but a) I thought it would be more meaningful if he just happened to be in a place where he made the wrong choice and b) I like to think that the Iida family is descended from some of the first heroes. I feel like the HPSC couldn't sink their claws in them

The "main trio" as of the moment will be Izuku, Tenya, and Shoto as was (presumably) intended. I loved their chemistry in this arc and I feel like the three of them balance each other out really well

I almost forgot to take Momo out of that terrible internship. Having her work with Gunhead along with Uraraka was a great opportunity for Momo to actually connect with another girl. I feel like Horikoshi had all the girls like each other and get along for no other reason than they're all girls. Even MomoJirou and TsuChako are like that to an extent

To add to that, I also felt like Horikoshi focused way too much on Momo becoming an even better planner instead of being able to think on her feet. Her and Izuku are kind of opposites that way and it would have made for some great parallels between them

Do you guys think Best Jeanist would still take an interest in Bakugou? He lost pretty early and didn't have the chance to throw his tantrum at the awards ceremony. He definitely wouldn't get nearly as many offers in canon. I feel like him being mentored by Jeanist or not is an indication of whether or not he'll be redeemed idk it just feels that way

[transhawks]

He has his hero suit under the biz suit, a sword at his back, has resumed being cheerful & expressive, & continues to be called “Hawks.” I’m still digesting all of this. Many change but also not much at all.

I'll be actually serious in answering this - yes, some of the development is lacking, but I also think there's a step in the right direction.

I've said over the years a lot of Hawks's issues are over agency and choice, yes?

He spells out here: he cannot refuse. In some ways it's because he as a person (as Hawks/Keigo) could never just sit back and not do anything, but also because they won't let him. Let's remember what else is in this part of 192 because I think it shows how clear the relationship is.

He's bowing. He's acknowledging his subservience here. He's below her.

One of the worries of the manga with Hawks's narrative is that he would always fall into this pit of letting other people make decisions for him no matter what. I strongly believe he essentially also caged himself here because while he could break out, there were consequences.

However, let's look at Hawks's "breaking free", which I think was illustrated to be looked at along with these panels.

While I argue Keigo isn't free here, not of the cage he's imprisoned himself, he is literally free of anyone ordering him to do anything he doesn't want to again. Nagant even mentions he must have been ordered to do horrible things. So, I do want to say that one the biggest issues, it seems, at the end was Keigo not having control of his own life.

While I do think there's more he could be doing, the idea that he can make his own decisions, that he's now so high above everyone that his life is no longer as expendable as it once was, might indeed be an improvement.

I'll save this for a longer meta, but Keigo was always curious for being a caged bird who couldn't fly free in his imagery, but his skills were always impeccable control - over his quirk and over others. The manipulation was really what caught my eye initially. And it provided lovely irony for someone who hasn't ever really controlled his life and desperately believes he can't.

He could have said no. Mera was there, even if he sorely needs a nap. Hawks doesn't have to or need to be the new Prez/Chairman. I think he wants to be, because he realized he can't shape the society he stated he wants all along from where he was. That it was the people running the society who made him false promises and maybe he can do better. Can he? Pardoning La Brava and Gentle is the right step. Retiring the Hero part and likely making "heroes" less prominent in their society is a good step. Allowing Nagant to whatever she likes is a good step. We need to see what happens with Toga/Spinner/Compress as well, because Hawks now controls their fates, too. He has a lot of work to do. He has a LOT to make up for. But he can do more like this, than as a hero. He doesn't need his wings to cause change. Just the mouth and sharp wit he had all along - and that made him interesting in the first place. And that's why I think this final image pulls it together. It is literally the image above, but a very different sort of Keigo. Maybe it's the light-hearted one we should have wanted all along.

[frickingnerd]

poly relationship with mirko & lady nagant

pairing: mirko / rumi usagiyama x gn!reader x lady nagant / kaina tsutsumi

tags: established polyamorous relationship, hero / villain dynamic, angst to wholesome fluff, exes to lovers (nagant & reader)

lady nagant and you were colleagues and you two met long before you got to know mirko

you two were happy and in love back then and you really thought you'd end up marrying kaina one day

but then she snapped, wasn't able to endure all the pain her work caused and ended up being thrown into tartarus

a few years later you met rumi aka. mirko, a new hero that you worked along side and quickly build a close relationship with

you still weren't fully over kaina when you started dating rumi, but you assumed it would just happen eventually

beside, she was in the most secure prison japans, so you'd never get to see her again… right?

wrong! a few years later, the prisoners of tartarus fled – along them your first love, kaina

you were one of the first ones to start looking for her, together with mirko, who knew how hard it would be for you to see her again

instead, lady nagant crossed paths with hawks and deku first, with you only getting to meet her again when she was brought into a hospital after severe injuries that almost killed her

it took a while for kaina to get better again – not just physically, but also mentally. yet you were beside her every step of the way. and so was rumi!

your girlfriend knew how much your ex still meant to you and she wasn't the jealous type

even when you confessed to her that you still hadn't gotten over kaina and that you still had feelings for her, mirko encouraged you to tell her about it

if everything would go well, you'd get to be with kaina and rumi. and things did go well!

both of them were important people in your life that you couldn't live without!

they were aware of it and they didn't mind having to 'share you' with someone else

rumi had heard a lot about kaina since she started dating you and kaina learned about rumi during her time at the hospital

the two girls slowly got closer as well over time, realizing they weren't so different and that they had a few things in common, aside from you

but being your girlfriends was a good bonding point for the beginning

after a while, the relationship started to feel more and more natural. you started getting used to your situation and it started to feel like it was meant to be this way

you couldn't imagine your life without the two of them anymore

and neither could they! 

without you, kaina wouldn't have been able to recover. you were able to accept her flaws and support her as she tried to get better again

and rumi fell in love with you even more, seeing how kindly you treated kaina, someone who had been through so much and yet still received nothing but kindness from you…

[itsnothingofinterest]

I actually find it funny when people will say the heroes need to kill more villains instead of arresting them when, from where I'm looking, every instance of the heroes killing a villain(s) has led to some consequence that would've been avoided had they just been taken in alive. (Which evidence has often shown them quite capable of doing.)

Lady Nagant was made to kill loads of people, driving her crazy and leading her to kill her boss and deprive the hero side of one of it's best. Her case feels like a big reason why killing on the regular would be incompatible with the rest of the hero shtick; 'cause it turns out people with lots of blood on their hands have trouble using them to then shake the hands of children.

People say All Might should've killed AFO; but you can tell both from All Might's dialogue in Kamino & from how AFO regrew his head that that's exactly how their first fight ~7 years ago ended. AFO's brains met the pavement that day. And I can only assume this allowed his body to be easily recovered & revived, letting him lay low for the next 6 years to mould Tomura into a successor and orchestrate a good portion of the conflicts we've seen in this series. Just saying, that sounds much harder to do from Tartarus. And at least the heroes knew when he broke out of jail way faster then when he broke out of the grip of death. Heck, it could easily be argued he only broke out of jail thanks to that 6 years of set-up.

Oh and where to start with Hawks killing Twice? Maybe how it enraged Toga & Dabi to make them more crazy & dangerous, maybe how it affected people's trust in heroes? Oh but the big one has to be how leaving Twice as a corpse let his blood be collected for Toga to get a parade off anyway; one the heroes were unprepared for too, which distracted a lot of the pros meant to keep AFO in Gunga. All of which could've been avoided if Hawks had just taken Twice in alive. (Which I must reiterate he easily could have done; I mean his quirk was shown pretty easily countering a Parade.) The heroes wouldn't have had to deal with a Parade in this war at all if Twice was sitting pretty in a jail cell next to Compress & Geten.

I can't help but think those last two cases could be a surprisingly common occurrence too if heroes killed as much as some readers say they should. Like, could you imagine if every dangerous villain in Japan's history was killed and then just dumped somewhere for a guy like Dr. Garaki to get his hands on them the same way he got Shirakumo?

So anyway, between the mental health issues it causes, combined with how villains keep finding ways to perform necromancy; I'm just not seeing a lot of evidence that things go well for the heroes when they kill villains, or that they'd go much better if the heroes were kill-happy soldiers of the war on villainy all the time.

[mishy-mashy]

This was on a separate post but I think it should have its own (also because I went off-track when I first wrote this)

Remember when Midoriya was trying to wake up a Quirk as a child, trying to pull the couch toward him or breathe fire?

This was him trying to use his parents' Quirks, in the hope he inherited one of theirs.

Inko could pull small objects. Hisashi could breathe fire.

Anyway this is a [Midoriya has AFO] post and [DFO is real]-

Anyway please listen? If his dad was AFO, and passed on that Quirk to little Midoriya, it makes sense that they all considered him Quirkless.

All For One starts as a blank slate. It has no Quirks available, because none were taken yet. And if no Quirks were stolen, nevermind passing through the user to be bestowed to others, then AFO at the base level is the equivalent of being Quirkless.

Midoriya having AFO would leave him as Quirkless. And he never would've known if he had AFO, because he thinks his dad just breathes fire. AFO's existence is just an urban legend to people back then.

Midoriya wouldn't be able to breathe fire if AFO was his dad, because that was never his Quirk.

Even if he did have a fire-breathing Quirk, AFO holds onto random ones like Naval Laser. It could just be one of those gags.

All For One is a quirk that takes. One For All decides to be given.

Midoriya, rather than take, was instead given Quirks, and sees people's goodness. He isn't selfish at his core. He's too optimistic. This is the opposite of AFO, which takes and gives—Midoriya was on the receiving end of being given, by OFA.

If Midoriya had a natural AFO, it makes sense that he's Quirkless. It also makes sense that he can handle multiple Quirks from OFA; because the nature of AFO is being able to wield multiple Quirks in one body.

AFO looks for Quirks that are easy to use, and straightforward. Midoriya ended up with Quirks that he has to strategize and think with, and even Bruce mentions his brain couldn't do all the processing, which is why he froze up.

Midoriya is past the point of Singularity. Yoichi says this when he first tells Ninth "You are not alone". But Midoriya is completely fine.

He only breaks his bones. He doesn't deform and become something the human body warps to be able to contain the Quirks. He got a good deal, when considering what Shigaraki became once.

He has OFA's Quirk Factor, but that Quirk Factor stores up Quirk Factors within itself. We can deduce that from Bruce saying only Danger Sense's Factor was stolen. It's naturally a stockpiling power similar to AFO that Yoichi had forced on him, and at its very base, Bruce called an "unformed dud".

Now, it's more grown from all the strength and Quirks stockpiled. Even if OFA counts as one Quirk, it still holds multiple Factors inside itself, so it might as well be the same as multiple Factors to the body. When Shinomori explained his life shortened because of multiple Quirks, he shows all the users before him, rather than the more-common "One For All is glowing in my hand" or "One For All is a flame" image to show the crystallization of power. Though it could just be to show the individuals adding to the short-life..

In the void, we see OFA vestiges are inside the vault, according to the door's face. On the other side, like when Yoichi was alive, could be AFO.

Midoriya sees the goodness of people. He said Eri's power was gentle, and always affirms that she saved him when she tries putting herself down. He says Shinso's Quirk is amazing, and he'd make a great hero. When seeing Chisaki while fighting Nagant, he just said he'd talk to him later, and promised to fulfill her promise if he was willing to direct his regret toward Eri. Kudo says he should hate Bakugo, but Midoriya looks at the heart, and believes in that.

AFO only sees the Quirk first. He looked at Ragdoll, decided to take the Quirk and didn't care for what happened to her body afterwards. When he looked at Best Jeanist, he applauded his use of his Quirk to save everyone, but then knocked Jeanist down anyway, saying it required too much work, so he didn't need the Quirk.

Midoriya having AFO and OFA would make him an intersection. He's born with AFO, but because he believed he was Quirkless, had grown up being put down, and knows what it's like to be weak. Born with AFO, but seeing the unequal world, and being given OFA because he wanted to save people and be a hero.

Y'know, this sounds a lot like Yoichi. Believed to be Quirkless because his Quirk required someone else, and therefore was unfinished and "non-existent". Even AFO didn't realize it existed because it was so weak.

Midoriya wanted to save people. He has AFO. He's living what AFO could've done [saving others] and embodying Yoichi's belief ["the power to give and take could have been the kindest in the whole world"].

All For One is blank. AFO only had an Ability he could use because he stole his mother's at birth.

Midoriya didn't. His Quirk should've come when he turned five. And he didn't know about AFO. He doesn't even have holes in his palms

If there's no holes in his palms, either his Quirk Factor is elsewhere, or manifests differently in said hands. In which we consider Inko: she can pull small objects toward her

It's possible for Midoriya to have a combination of AFO and Inko's Abilities. He tried pulling objects, but he never tried pulling people or Quirks.

If Midoriya can take Quirks from a distance, and AFO, like OFA, stores Quirks within a single Factor, then Kudo could be saying to let go of One For All so he can make room for All For One's Factor. Midoriya would have the capacity for it.

[seri-41]

Let’s estimate AFOs Kill Count 😀

Been seeing people say AFO isn’t a good antagonist cuz he hasn’t killed anyone………. Tf?

So let’s take a look!

Be mindful this is an estimate! 😀

Spoilers and TW for character deaths obviously.

I will be basing this on:

1. Lifespan: AFO is over 121+ years old. Assuming he was active in villainy for most of this time, we can estimate his annual kill rate and multiply by the number of years.

2. Historical Events: Important events and battles where AFO is known to have killed. This includes those who were affected by the battles; civilians, heroes and villains.

3. Direct Kills: Instances where AFO is explicitly shown or mentioned to have killed someone in the manga.

4. Indirect Kills: Considering the broader impact of his actions, such as orchestrating villain attacks, leading the LOV, and creating Nomus.

I will be covering the manga only.

1. Yoichi Shigaraki

2. Kudo

3. All of Kudos relatives and any children/women close to him (Let’s say ~10)

4. Bruce

5. Banjo Daigoro

5. En

6. Nana Shimura

7. The Shimura family (Indirectly, but he still planned it and used someone else so it counts; that’s 5 people).

8. Orphans he collected at the orphanage (Said by Dabi: rogue or useless kids were disposed of)

AFO has been ruling Japan for a long time, and it was mentioned in the Character Book Ultra Analysis he has orphanages all over the country. Let’s take the most reasonable number we can.

If there are approximately 2 orphanages per prefecture in all 47 prefectures, that would be:

2 orphanages per prefecture * 47 prefectures = 94 orphanages (Keep in mind some of these children might have been stolen by AFO/the doctor over the years)

If each orphanage has about 1,000 orphans, then the total number of orphans would be:

94 orphanages * 1,000 orphans per orphanage = 94,000 orphans

So, there would be a total of 94 orphanages and ~ 94,000 orphans. Sound like a stretch but Japan has a population of 122 million so not unreasonable.

Minimum: If we take 1% who are useless or disposed of, that’s 940 killed/nomufied.

Maximum: If we take 50% who are useless or disposed of, that’s 47,000 killed/nomufied.

9. The winged Nomu

10. Other children/people (heroes, villain, and other randomly killed civilians) he and the doctor collected to make Nomu (~50)

11. Oboro Shirakumo (Used an explosive meant to kill Aizawa)

12. The people he gave quirks to over the years that ended up going insane (~100)

13. The people he murdered during his rule at the dawn of quirks directly/indirectly (~1000 +)

14. During his childhood chapter 407 (8 people)

15. The thousands of off-screen deaths especially during the final war (Bare minimum 1000+)

You don’t need proof for that

16. His own mother (Indirectly and not his fault, but worth the mention)

17. The people he murdered in front of the Aoyama family (Let’s say ~3)

18. Those killed during the Kamino incident

19. Tomura Shigaraki

20. Star and Stripe

21. Stain (that’s the blood that came out when AFO punched the guts out of him)

22. Gigantomachia

23. The Glowing baby

Attempted on-screen kills:

1. Lady Nagant

2. Bakugo Katsuki

3. Aizawa Shouta

4. Spinner (Almost turned him into a Nomu)

(-4 for that, but it’s still worth the mention)

In summary:

Annual Kill Rate:

If we estimate a conservative rate of 1000 kills per year (considering both direct and indirect actions), over 100 years, this would result in:

     • Minimum: 100 years * 100 kills/a year = 10,000 kills

     • Bare Maximum: 100 years * 1000 kills/a year = 100,000 kills

Yeah. Make your own assumptions based on this. That man has killed millions on average, so to the people that have been complaining on AFOtwt, here you go.

If you know anyone else I missed, please mention :) if you think I made an error please let me know!

[aashi-heartfilia]

The genius conception of self sacrifice in MHA

From the very first chapter we are told that "Self sacrifice is what makes someone a true hero".

But throughout the entire narrative of MHA, self - sacrifice is painted in a bad light. The entire vigilante Deku arc is about this.

Then why is self sacrifice a symbol of true heroism?

Because the entire story was seen with the eyes of Deku who is influenced by All Might!!

It's such a big point that throughout the story All Might keeps pushing Midoriya to his limit, because he thinks that without his power of OFA or without his self sacrifice, he is not a true hero. This is a very old school concept of true heroism shown in comic books of the late 90s and MHA is heavily focused on the theme of comics.

But then, All Might loses his power. After that, he kept believing for the longest time that his life doesn't serve a purpose. Now that he is not the knight in shining armor, he is not of value anymore but we know that's far from the truth.

As the story goes on, All Might learns to live without his power and also the influence he could still make on people just with him living. A lot of people believed that All Might should have died in Kamino because his arc concluded there. There were great emotional stakes too but he survived.

And we see that the hero system still falls in chaos, yada yada. But what about the backlash? Bakugo.

Think about Bakugo.

He was so damn guilty that All Might lost his power in order to save him. Think about his guilty conscience had All Might died!

.

Another example is Todoroki.

He had a powerful quirk. He should have been a hero and yet his actions were painted in a bad light because he was doing everything to take revenge on his father. In the end, his empathy is what saved the Todoroki family and that made him 'The Todoroki family's hero'.

.

Another example is Eri.

Throughout the arc, we see that her quirk was painted as a curse but Deku changed its meaning and used it as a blessing to save everyone from Overhaul.

Eri also killed her family by mistake and she was living in all of that trauma but would killing her have solved the problem? No.

So they conducted a mission to rescue her and used her power for a greater good.

Just like Toga who is a recent example. She was abused by her family because of her quirk. They called her a deviant and she committed various crimes for survival. But would killing her solve the problem?

People are people and Quirks are Quirks.

Nothing good would have come from Endeavour and Touya dying, think about Todoroki family members they will be leaving behind.

Just one mistake doesn't make someone a villain, Deku said it himself while defending Aoyama. Same for people like Gentle Criminal and Lady Nagant.

Again, NO.

Because self sacrifice is not good.

Killing anyone for punishment is not good.

So, if self sacrifice or a quirk doesn't make someone a true hero, killing villains doesn't make them a true hero, then what does?

Their love, acceptance, understanding, atonement, empathy and courage makes them a true hero.

Ochako, Todoroki, Iida, Deku, Bakugo, All Might, and even people like Kota are all true heroes!!

Mha portrays self-sacrifice, killing villains, powerful quirks make someone a hero but in its essence, it has always been a story about how "True heroes are those who give help that was never asked for!".

MHA is a story about people learning that they matter, even without their quirks.

~Sunshine

[underratedmhapoll]

Underrated MHA Poll: All Stars Edition!

Like I hinted at before, people have been asking for the winners of our previous polls to go head to head for months. So, as a thank you for an entire year of support, I'm finally making good on that promise with one last bracket, for old times sake.

Does this kinda of break the concept of highlighting unpopular characters when they've all already won a popularity content? Who cares!

Our competitors are made up of all of our previous podium winners, where they placed in their respective polls are noted above.

We have Spinner, Mr. Compress, and Shoji from our first bracket

Mei Hatsume, Fuyumi Todoroki, and Thirteen from bracket 2

Star and Stripe, Inko Midoriya, and La Brava from bracket 3

Mirko, Lady Nagant, and Gentle Criminal from bracket 4

and The Crawler, Rei Todoroki, and Aoyama from bracket 5

We also have special guest Monchan, who placed first in our April Fools Non-Human/Object/Joke Submissions bracket in order to have an even 16.

A lot of the long time followers understand the gist by now but this bracket will have a few structural changes:

Polls for each round will be posted all at once instead of one per day

Polls will last for one week instead of one day

Where previous brackets were randomized, this one has been intentionally structured to minimize potential rematches and unfair first match-ups

The first round of our All Stars bracket starts on Monday, February 26th!

Hope to see you all there.

Plus Ultra!