#which is unfortunate because my mouth situation is busted as FUCK. as previously mentioned. it’s over for me

[theexorcistiii]

What I’ve learned from having braces (again) is that my teeth hurting apparently puts me in the most evil horrible disgusting miserable mood possible no matter what so if you see me being evil & despicable & irritable over nothing it is 100% because my teeth hurt

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 208: [S] Bakugou: Win and rescue.

Previously on BnHA: Teams BakuJirouSeroSatou and TokaBondoAwaKama began the 4th round battle. Over on the sidelines, Aizawa chided his students for not being as strategic as class B, while All Might said that class A hadn’t yet shown everything they were capable of. Anyway, so Bakugou’s strategy consisted of “let’s just charge at them while Jirou keeps an ear out”, which predictably resulted in them running into an ambush. Class B’s Bondo used his glue quirk to try and entrap the group, but Bakugou stopped him, which was fairly impressive considering that he was also battling Tokage’s various amputated body parts which were all attacking him like Buggy the Clown because quirks are fucking absurd you guys. Anyway, so then Kamakiri from class B dove in to attack Jirou. But as All Might and Deku looked on, thinking flashbacky thoughts about the whole “win by saving people and save people in order to win” thing, Bakugou dove in to intercept Kamakiri’s attack.

Today on BnHA: We learned that Bakugou’s strategy of “let’s just kick their asses” also included a supplemental strategy of “and if you guys get in trouble I’ll save you.” Everyone on the sidelines is like “whaaaaat!” and Monoma nearly has an aneurysm, poor kid. Bakugou says he wants a perfect victory, meaning 4-0 with everyone unscathed. He heads after the fleeing Bondo, only to be ensnared in a trap by Awase. But then Satou busts him free, and we learn that Bakugou’s plan also included a second supplemental strategy of “and if I’m in trouble you guys save me.” In short, this kid has finally learned teamwork, and within the span of about two minutes, Sero and Jirou take out Awase, Satou restrains Bondo, Bakugou KOs Kamakiri, and then with the help of the others -- using Sero’s tape and his grenades -- he takes out Tokage as well. Anyways, you guys know I don’t like to exaggerate, but this is the best chapter in the history of time, and now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to go pick up my “Congrats on winning the manga, son, you make me proud each and every day” cake. Peace.

(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 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

wow, seeing it from this angle I can appreciate just how close that was. Bakugou had to blast himself in between Kama and Jirou with incredible precision and with barely any time to think, let alone pull it off. Satou didn’t even manage to turn around in the same span of time

(ETA: Satou actually makes this panel look like some kind of renaissance painting and it’s hilarious.)

not to mention from this view you can see how close-range that shot actually was. like how is Kamakiri even alive

oh I see, he blocked it with his swords

you know. because explosions are famously weak against swords

also, “concludes”? already?? like, we’ve barely even gotten started. damn Bakugou, do you have an appointment or something after this? is your coach going to turn back into a pumpkin or what

oh hey

so the saving them part was so important you went and made it an Official Part Of Your Plan, huh. wow. when this kid commits to something, he fucking commits

but we already knew that, didn’t we. he has always been like that. putting 100% into everything. aiming for the top. it’s just that for the first time, we’re seeing that determination aimed in the right direction. or well, not to say that he was aiming in the wrong direction before, but it’s more like his destination was a bit too narrow-minded. and now he’s finally seeing the full picture of what a hero needs to be, the kind of person he needs to become. so now, imagine this tenacity applied toward the aim of keeping the world safe. he is gonna do it. people will know that’s a fucking promise. that is how you become someone that people can put their trust in

basically this boy is going to kill it when it comes to heroing. this chapter has barely even started and already I’m so fucking proud. future numero uno right here. the Symbol of Victory. fuck yeah

anyway I should stop gushing over Bakugou’s character development so I can finish the chapter. I’m sure I’ll break down like six more times to gush some more anyway. probably

so Bakugou is all “you blocked it, eh?” in that manner of his that’s both acknowledging and insulting

yeah Bakugou. he blocked it with a sword. you know. how swords do. I’m sorry, I still can’t get over this lol. it’s like a medieval knight against a fucking bazooka

but anyway, so when in doubt, simply blow them up again right?

lol now that’s more like it. “you blocked it” smdh. for fuck’s sake

lol now Kama is turning tail and thinking “avoid fighting Bakugou head-on. if that happens, retreat immediately!”

and yeah, that’s a valid strategy

now we’re cutting to our audience!

first of all there was no kick, Kaminari. wtf are you talking about

(ETA: thank you @asukaskerian for pointing out that this is referring to him shoving Jirou out of the way with his foot in the previous chapter. I swear I reread that half a dozen times trying to see if he kicked Kamakiri and it never even occurred to me that it might’ve been Jirou instead lol.)

and second, what exactly is your angle here, Monoma? are you attempting to mock Bakugou for... doing the right thing? being a good person?? did he throw you for a loop. do you need a moment to collect yourself

lol Kirishima

every now and then this kid just blows me away though. like, obviously he knows there’s nothing wrong with Monoma’s eyes! so a line like “your eyes are working fine” would normally carry an undercurrent of passive-aggressiveness in a situation like this! you know, like “okay but that’s my bro, dude. so if you’re about to try and make fun of his hard-earned character development, I’m gonna need you to step the fuck off right now”

but because it’s Kirishima, he somehow impossibly manages to deliver this line without any bitchiness. he’s defending Bakugou while at the same time subtly telling Monoma to back down, but somehow he still keeps everything friendly. this is genuinely amazing to me, and I’m sincerely jealous of how effortless he makes this look

lol Monoma

okay I’m starting to think he may not actually have had an angle and his entire worldview has in fact just been shattered

it’s okay Monoma, you can still maintain your beloved rivalry with class A even if they are actually lovely people who have been nothing but kind to you and now even their last bastion of ill-mannered and bratty behavior is turning out to be an upstanding citizen. a little friendly competition never hurt anyone

awwww Kiri

I still want Bakugou to have a gets-hurt-saving-someone moment also, but so far he’s been too damn competent. still, the dream is alive! I love this manga

anyway! so back to the boy in question!

Jirou is all “thanks” and he’s all “shut your mouth!” lmao

see, you have to be able to speak Bakugou. what he means is “forget about it, just stay focused.” which they know! doesn’t mean they can’t still get annoyed by it, of course, but his classmates understand him by this point I think

haha my boyyyy

look at their faces. “a hero is someone who brings reassurance.” well I don’t know what you would call this, but I’d say they all look pretty damn assured right now

and yet, the tiny beads of sweat. because there’s always that flash of hesitation that’s like “oh no, I’m being inspired by Bakugou. is this okay. quick, moral alignment check. we still good?”

but once they realize that yeah, they are, they can’t help but feel the same excitement as him. fuck yeah, let’s do this. let’s beat this challenge. let’s win the day. let’s get stronger

(ETA: and this is also what I was talking about yesterday about his smile being contagious. because it is, though. and also do you remember way back in chapter 106 when Aizawa was talking about how he and Deku inspire the rest of the class and get them all hyped up? about how “they infected the rest of the class with their passion and fervor”? fucking this, though. I love this so much.)

oh my poor class B

this is not actually a strategy. this is them straight up acknowledging they can’t beat Bakugou and saying “well we’ll just keep trying and hope it works out”

and what bits of strategy they do have appear to be entirely focused on him only

like, this doesn’t even make sense. first of all, the fact that they’re following his lead is a strength, not a weakness. every good combat unit needs a leader. in fact I’d argue that was something the previous class A teams messed up to some degree

and second, just because he is leading them though doesn’t mean they’ll just fall apart without him. if you think that you’re gonna have another thing coming

basically this is just a lot of wishful thinking which is unfortunately heavily reliant on exploiting a bug that was fixed in the Bakugou 2.0 release. sorry Tokage. you guys are fuuuuucked

anyway so Jirou’s trying to hear what they’re up to, but it’s difficult with all of Tokage’s interference. but she says there’s less of the Tokage Noise than there was before though

so the others assume that means they’re regrouping for another attack

yeah Baku they’re trying to wear you down and trick you into making a mistake or something. then step 2: ?? and step three: profit. idk

heh

I want to ruffle his hair so bad. this might not be a normal person’s response to a panel like this. I’m aware, but this is how I live you guys

oho!

at first I was like “the hell are you doing” but boy he’s got good eyes

also I fucking love the ZOOM effect of these two panels though?? like, you see how far away he is in the first panel, and then in the next you see how he’s crossed that gap in an instant, and it’s just like, !! like oh shit. even knowing how fast he is, it’s still so jarring to actually experience it like that though. and hella cool

Awase what are you doing

are you using your quirk to make some kind of weapon or something. like LEGOs

OH SHIT

THIS BOY IS PRETTY FAST TOO HUH

well there go the gauntlets! those things are fucking expensive, Awase

I’m not so worried about those, but the ones that seem to be attached to his torso are definitely a problem. or is that just his shirt? if so, less of a problem

so Sero figures that the perfectly staged ambush means that Tokage’s eyes must be hovering around nearby again

and he’s shooting some tape up to where Baku and Awase are

Awase’s looking smug and thinking that Sero will never be able to hit him with all the obstacles around

I mean, yeah. like that seems obvious. I figure he must have had some other aim in mind, though I can’t figure out what

oh sweet!

no pun intended by the way! but that is indeed a sweet assist! glad Satou got to fucking do something finally lol

also my thanks to him and Awase as well for smashing the gauntlets to bits. I have to assume he’ll just get new ones, of course. but if you ever feel like going for a sleek redesign though, Katsuki... I’m just saying. at least until you grow into your fucking costume so it doesn’t feel so much like you’re trying to make yourself into an action figure

(ETA: yeah he has them back a mere ten chapters from now. he doesn’t listen to me. whatever, I’m only trying to help kid but you do you.)

looool

I’m fucking dying omg

so now Awase is frantically sticking a steel plate from another of his pockets onto his face like a welder’s mask

!! what’s this??

IS THIS A TEAMWORK PLAY!?

AHHHHHHH

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

holy shit

someone send the recording of this over to the Hero Public Safety Commission. you can give Bakugou his license now. no need to keep spending the people’s tax dollars on babysitting classes

by the way I fucking love Jirou’s little bluetooth speakers holy shit? I know they’re not bluetooth cuz she’s got her earjacks plugged in, but I’m just referring to their size, okay? anyway they’re fucking awesome. and the new sleeves on her costume are badass too. you go, Deep Dope

anyhoo it looks like Bakugou’s heading after Bondo since we’re seeing the latter turn around now and he’s got that deer-in-headlights look. which, it’s pretty impressive how Horikoshi managed to convey that from a dude with a colander face, by the way

Tokage’s shooting a bunch of her body parts over there trying to save him, but you know it ain’t gonna work

hahahahahahaha

you fucking maniac

although hell, this is still fucking tame compared to the shit those kids pulled in the first three battles though

now Satou’s grabbing him and it looks like they got him!

meanwhile Sero has restrained Awase!

sorry Vlad King

lol again Monoma

WHEN THEY’RE AT LEVEL ONE AND YOU’RE AT LEVEL 50, NATURALLY YOU’LL BE GROWING AT DIFFERENT RATES

holy shit. so what level would we say Bakugou’s teamwork has grown to? he still has room for improvement, obviously, in spite of my giddy enthusiasm. maybe halfway there? little more than? say level 25-30? it’s difficult to say, because Bakugou’s level 50 teamwork is more than likely going to look very different from Deku’s. and also because his level 50 combat skills are pretty effective at concealing any weaknesses in his teamwork skills because they more than make up for the gap right now

for what it’s worth, though, despite what Monoma says, this isn’t the first time Bakugou has shown himself capable of teamwork. in fact, the actual first time we saw a hint of that was all the way back during the cavalry battle. it was, in fact, against Monoma himself. maybe he was just too traumatized by it to remember lol

okay so this is quickly becoming the “everyone is shocked at Bakugou’s character development” show though

you guys really should have watched season 3 of the anime through to the end before you came in here all cocky

haha now she’s all “what is this team?! it’s too perfect!!”

that’s what I’ve been saying! this team was never not going to kick ass and take names

lol class A is so proud

lmao poor Deku and All Might. Jirou’s getting all of your credit

I can’t say I’m complaining though. also, do I suddenly ship BakuJirou?? quick, shipping alignment check. we still good?

hmm, yep, we good. and yep I do

well this sure is a momentous day

wtf Sero

okay first of all, ew. like what happens to the discarded body parts after? ew. ew

and second of all, can someone please check under the mask and make sure that really is Sero and not Deku. holy shit Sero let me go check your class rank again

-- holy shit you guys, Sero is ranked 17th. either he’s been focused on self-improvement as much as Bakugou has been, or class A is so fucking smart that even the 17th smartest kid is out here giving detailed analyses of quirks they’ve barely even seen

and shit, you guys, he’s still going

meanwhile Kacchan is flinging poor Kamakiri into a wall

oh my god I can’t wait to see that one in the anime. gonna be like two fucking years, but I’ll be sitting right here, waiting

OH SHIT YOU GUYS

OH SHIT

I’M GLAD HE CLARIFIED THAT THEY DON’T HAVE A TON OF POWER BECAUSE I WAS SERIOUSLY LIKE “OH SHIT HE’S ABOUT TO BLOW HER TO KINGDOM COME”

OH MY FUCK

IT’S LIKE A HORROR MOVIE WHERE THE AUDIENCE IS ON THE KILLER’S SIDE LMAO

HAHAHAHA

IS IT MY FUCKING BIRTHDAY OR WHAT?? OH MY GOD

oh my godddd

BOY!!!

(º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀)

my son is all grown. you guys. I’m so proud. I fucking can’t

this chapter might as well have been titled “Bakugou wins the manga and everyone is shocked and amazed and proud.” that’s basically what just happened here. oh my god. what a blessed glorious day