Did Enji atone to Touya (and his family) and stepped up on his role as a father?
Boku no Hero Academia has a grave 'flaw'. The fact that's strongly tied to Japanese culture and Buddhism makes it a very interesting work but also makes it a hardly international work because way too many cultural things are left unexplained because they're assumed to be a given. Only they're not when the work is read by foreign readers. And this lead to confusion.
The Todoroki plotline is an example of this.
In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west. The point is... it's not a given in Japan. In Japan is a BIG DEAL. So let's go though it.
First, the fact that he doesn't want to kill Touya even though he's a criminal
Todoroki Enji âOre wa ikinobite mo... ENDEAVOR wa shinda. TairyĆ satsujinsha (read: musuko) to tatakaenai.â
èœçćžăäżșăŻçă滶ăłăŠă...ăšăłăăŽăĄăŒăŻæ»ăă ă性éæźșäșșè ïŒăăăïŒăšæŠăăȘăăă
Todoroki Enji âEven if I survived... Endeavor is dead. I can't fight against a mass murderer (read: my son).â
Let's compare it to these two scenes of "Death Note" and see how Yagami Soichiro, a policeman, is taking the idea his son might be a killer and how, although Misa protests, the story doesn't present it as him being crazy but as it being his duty.
That's why Hawks doesn't want to send Enji, who's on an atonement path, to face Dabi, because Enji might end up in a situation in which he would have to kill his son and he would refuse... which is more or less what happens.
Second, Enji acknowledges that what Touya said is true, Touya is his son and Enji did what he did. In such a situation many would lie. Dabi's video proves nothing. He is a Villain, they had a doctor in the team who could create Nomu, the paternity test could be fake, even if Dabi were to provide a sample of his blood or skin they could insist that's fake.
Society didn't want the truth, they don't want Enji to confess, they wanted him to reassure them, they even commented he should have lied because yes, that's what's done often.
Basically he put his honor on the chopping block. A public apology like this one is a BIG DEAL in Japan. It's much more serious than in western countries and he does it when he could have spared himself and say Dabi lied but that would have meant to deny his son.
Third, it connects to the first in a way. While Enji is unwilling to kill Touya, he's willing to die with him. It's âshinjĆ«â (ćżäž Lit. âMind/heart center/insideâ but more likely means âoneness of heartsâ, probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants) and itâs a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. People who commit shinjĆ« believe that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between loved ones would continue into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through shinjĆ«, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land. By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation.
For us it's crazy, it's Enji giving up on saving him. In Japan it sounds like 'I love you and I want to be with you'.
Forth, he'll apologize to Touya. As said before it's a BIG DEAL, especially since Enji is the family head and, although for us most of what he did is wrong, in Japan most of what he did is well within what he can do. Marrying a woman you don't love in a combined marriage to expect the child who'll be born from it will fulfill your ambitions and not really bothering to raise it because that's a mother job, well, things are changing in Japan but none of the above is a crime. In a not so distant past it was actually the norm. Yet Enji apologizes even though normally a family head wouldn't.
Fifth it's a bit in the first point and in the second but it'll drag on through all the story, Enji won't reject Touya. He's the only one (except Fuyumi who however doesn't get to say much) who never calls him Dabi after the reveal, and he won't strike him out of the family register but will keep on considering him his son.
Look at the Tobitas instead and at how they kick their son out.
Don't think Hawks is cutting strings with his parents solely because they were abusive, the Tobitas show us how you should just cut strings with a criminal. Same as the Togas.
Have "Theseus no fune" in which a man accused to be a murderer, send a birthday gift to his son and watch the reaction of his wife.
They don't want to keep contact with a criminal. It's scary because they'll be mistreated if they are discovered to be related to him.
And, in this vein, the fact he wants to go see him, that he'll keep on seeing him till the end instead than turning his back on him, is seen as important. It's seen as him being his father.
To many of us it seems as if he's forcing his presence upon Touya. Actually, from a Japanese perspective he's instead not abandoning him like many others would.
And since Touya is dying, very likely the talking will be the talking that's done in a Buddhist culture when someone is dying. Death should occur in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance. Together they should reflect on the good deeds the dying person has done throughout their life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation. Additionally, family and friends can perform good deeds on behalf of them, which they believe will be of merit to the deceased.
So, since Touya is dying he won't get a scolding like Chisaki, they'll all only tell him nice and soothing things so he'll die peacefully.
Now... in the west all this is absolutely way too little, and in some points even feels wrong. Dying together instead than insisting in trying to save him? Deciding unilaterally to show up every day? Not our thing...
We can totally say 'thanks, I hate it' because we grew up with Darth Vader who instead gave his life to SAVE his son. All this accepting that Touya instead is going to die so Enji can at best die with him or keep him company until he does... well, it's mostly not our cup of cultural tea.
In in Japan though, all Enji does is important. Enji is doing something for Touya as a father, something important many fathers wouln't do for their sons.
Does it would satisfy a Japanese audience? They'll get the message better than us... but things are changing and anyway it can still feel too little. "Death Note" is dated 2005/2006 and back in it Misa was already questioning the idea of a father killing his son and then killing himself. BNHA is more innovative as Enji doesn't think to kill Touya but he still goes for the 'let's die together' route... and Horikoshi subtly criticizes it by having the rest of the family decising they'll try to stop the fire before just giving up. They're willing to die, but not before trying.
Enji represents plenty of old theories after all, which Horikoshi acknowledges were moved out of wrong beliefs, not moved by mean intents... which, is possible, would still not be enough for Japanese readers either because among teenagers, the target audience, there's an increasing number of teen who, in Japan, are forced to leave home (the Toyoko Kids) and often ends up committing crimes to survive and the league seems to be based on all the kind of homeless people Japan has.
While for a kid at home with a loving family being told that your father will die with him if he messes up instead than just dumping him might be comforting... for a kid that was abused and forced to leave home this might feel not enough.
People want to be saved, being told it's too late to save them, might be a lesson for those who hadn't done anything wrong yet so that they won't do it, but it's surely not a hopeful message for who instead got himself into troubles.
But well, that's something for the Japanese audience to ponder.
There's also to point out that, even though the message is not hopeful, Horikoshi is seeing the homeless people and acknowledging they should be helped.
Japan in regard to the Toyoko kids is mostly like the old woman who pretended not to see Tenko but that, in the end, helps that new boy.
I think Horikoshi's message desperately wants to be hopeful even for them, that he wants BNHA be like Midoriya's final stand, something that will push people to acknowledge they exist and reach out to help them.
It just that... it gets lost in what I'll call the 'litteral translation'.
No one explains us how we should jusge the scenes and, since we lack the cultural background, to us they are perceived differently because to us things work differently.
And, personally, even when I think I figured out the author's intent and can see the positivity of it, the cultural filter is still too tick and the picture gets blurried.
It's like being beginner at speaking a foreign language and having to constantly translate it in your head. The message loses its natural beauty, get simplified and not fully grasped.
I think I understand how Enji's atonement work in regard to Touya... it still doesn't feel fulfilling to me. But enough about Touya.
'Now,' you might rightfully say, 'fine, I'll bite, let's assume what Enji has is an atonement arc for Touya. It doesn't work at all in the west but let's give it a pass. What about his other kids?'
Natsuo and Fuyumi's wishes are in conflict.
Fuyumi wants the five of them to be a family (at the time she doesn't know Touya is alive), Natsuo doesn't want to be part of a family with Enji.
Enji's solution is giving Fuyumi a house in which she can welcome her mother and live with Natsuo (and Shouto when he comes home), while he removes himself from the equation. The solution fulfills Natsuo's wish of not seeing Enji because it makes him feel bad. It only partly fulfil Fuyumi's wish because it'll allow her to have her mother back (Rei couldn't bear meeting Enji either) and to stay with her siblings... but Enji takes responsibility for it, he doesn't tell her it's due to Natsuo that he can't live with them, so, in theory, it won't be Natsuo the one who's stressed to be at home when Enji is there and the one who has to leave home because he can't stand the sight of Enji.
There are many things I can say on how this is not a good solution (it doesn't make Natsuo feel better, it just stops him from feeling worse), but there are two points to consider. The first is that Enji is getting old and it would be his children's duty, due to filial pity, to take care of him, instead he's basically giving them the means to leave and take his wife with them.
Actually, since Natsuo is now the oldest MALE, it should fall on him specifically. Yes, Enji always intended to have Shouto inherit his mantle but this doesn't free Natsuo from his duties. Instead Enji is letting all his children free.
Even with Shouto, he doesn't insist anymore for Shouto to learn Flashfire Fist as his heir but just as an intern.
I take this is big in Japan.
Here again, not so much, especially in the countries in the west that think kids should leave their parents' home as soon as possible and we don't think our children are obliged to inherit our mantles.
Note how the story implies that this was meant to be the end for the Natsuo/Enji arc.
Natsuo made clear he didn't want to meet Enji again, he does it solely because they've to stop Touya and, once they've stopped Touya, he makes clear he doesn't want to see him again.
If we want though, the fact he's leaving the family can be seen as a concession in a way.
Since apparently Rei wants to stay with Enji (and likely their old house was devasted because that's what happens to relative of criminals) Enji can now move with Fuyumi and Rei and Natsuo won't have to see him because he'll leave home... to make his own home.
As for Shouto... Horikoshi answered his request by basically showing him Enji being a father for Touya and then promising he would protect them from the fiery fallout, which Horikoshi doesn't show at all because it's another thing that's a given in Japanese culture, it'll be hell for Enji to protect them, but not for us.
Just to get an idea of the fiery fallout here are some images from "Theseus no fune" again showing you how bad is this sort of thing.
Back to Enji, Horikoshi gives us verbal confirmation that Enji is now being a father by being willing to do this, by having Natsuo, who never called him as such, calling him father for the first time.
For Horikoshi that's Enji being a father.
Again, we've no idea of which hell Enji will suffer because that's not part of our culture. I've posted above screencaps of "Theseus no fune", that's how the fallout should be so not pretty at all.
So the fact that Enji will try to protect them from it is, again, BIG.
So yeah, Enji did do BIG things to atone and keeps on doing them and if he'll ultimately get forgiven by Natsuo (the rest of his family wanted to forgive him way before he were to do something), that's up to Natsuo... Horikoshi likely left this as open ending because he wanted to let it up to readers so as not to make them feel they were forced to forgive Enji.
In the general hopeful theme of the manga and with Natsuo acknowledging him as a cool father I guess his idea is that Natsuo too will eventually forgive him because he's kind.
I don't want to say that Natsuo forgiving Enji would be a culture clash because there's people even here that forgive their horrible parents and that's valid. Forgiving is a personal choice and one has the right to make it even if said horrible parent did nothing to deserve it.
It's up to you.
But sure is, if again we take the story at face value and not in its cultural contest, we can't see what Enji does to atone, because for us is nothing big.
It's even made worse by how Horikoshi doesn't show at all the hell Enji will go through (as for him is a given) so for us IT DOESN'T EXIST. We see Enji as having it easy, talking big but not having to face anything at all.
Honestly though... I think this is a bit of a flaw of the manga as a whole.
Way too often it prefers to focus on the good than on the bad so that the bad gets sidelined to much to the point people forget it.
There were horrible Heroes who committed crimes and had no intention to repent or stop... and we never met them. Nagant killed them off but we never met them.
Mountain Lady, who became a Hero for money and fame, then sticks to the job even when it's bad. Desugoro, who left the job when it turned bad, then came back to help. Enji is on an atonement path and, anyway, on work he was always a good Hero.
In the same way Horikoshi prefers not to show Enji's hardship but focus on how he'll have the support of his sidekicks, driver and Hawks... partly also because it ties in so well with the general message of everyone reaching out.
The result is that the Midoriya plotline of everyone reaching out becomes more important of the Enji atonement arc and overshadows it.
Enji's atonement arc ends in 426, chap 430 doesn't feel the need to tell us if Enji is keeping up with it despite the hardship, nor how his family is doing. It feels the need to reassure us that people will reach out for him even if he's in hell, that even if he had to give up on his family, he now as a new found family.
It's thematically consistent with the theme of reaching out but... the fact it overwrites the atonement arc honestly FOR ME doesn't work so great.
I think it's an overall problem of the 'reaching out message'.
While in itself is beautiful... it saves nothing I was lead to care about.
In Enji's case I was interested in his atonement arc, in how he could help his kids. I wanted more of that, partly because his atonement arc is so far from my culture, partly because it touched characters I cared about, I wanted to be reassured he would keep on working on it and that his family would be well.
Yes, he should be in hell, but the story didn't really work hard on trying to make me worry for him as it established already a support network for him. The story made me worry for the kids, for Touya, who was dying, for Fuyumi, who wanted back her family and won't have it, for Natsuo, who's marrying an unknown character so young, for Shouto, who has to cope with the loss of the brother with whom he wanted to connect.
I don't really care Burnin, Onima, Kido and Hawks are willing to continue to protect Enji, to reach out to help him, I knew they would, I wanted to be reassured Enji's kids are safe, well and protected. I wanted to see ENJI reach out and help them.
In this vein I don't really care the old grandmother saved a nameless abused kid, or, at least, not as much as I cared for Tomura to be saved. It's nice she saved him, it's nice he gets to live the life Tomura was denied but honestly, he's a mob character with a super tragic backstory created deliberately to force us to emotionally connect to him.
The message he now will be saved is good, but my emotional investment to him is too little.
The same applies to Uraraka's Quirk counsueling program, we knew next to nothing about the Quirk consueling previous program beyond that it didn't work (a real problem in Japan as they have a school consueling program that didn't work... and changes are in progress) and that now it supposedly does.
To how Shouji now solves peacefully plenty of conflicts caused by Heteromorph discrimination, which Horikoshi tossed in later and never really showed how to solve (and, don't take me wrong, it's not solved even by Shouji, he just solves peacefully the conflicts, how is up to everyone's speculation).
Long story short, I think Horikoshi worked really hard for BNHA to have an optimist, hopeful message... but part of it goes lost in cultural differences and part of it goes lost in how the story didn't try to get me invested in the things it's now saving.
So yeah, I'm still sad for this little panel in chap 430
I guess I'll eventually get over it. Today though, it's not that day.
On a positive note... if we count the pages of all the chapters that should go in vol 42 they're only 132. The chapters that were meant to go into Vol 39 had 165 (which yes, Horikoshi further expanded once the volume was released).
So yeah, unless Vol 42 will be slimmer than usual or that he'll add to it some sidestory or extra story, it's possible we'll get more plot in terms of epilogue. We'll see.
(also yes, I'm not touching Rei in this post. Rei is another can of worm entirely and one, I fear, Horikoshi doesn't care about. The poor woman doesn't even get a profile while Ikoma Komari does. And really, I do think Rei is much more important than Ikoma Komari)
This post is interesting and well-researched, so thank you for putting in the effort to try and understand the character.
That said, I disagree with several points. I hope you're open to discussion? If you're not feel free to ignore this reply.
First of all, I think you might be confusing the tumblr echo-chamber (sorry to put it like that but I do think it's a problem with this site) with western culture. For example, you say stuff like this:
"In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west"
I've lived almost my entire life in a western country with western values, and I really disagree that what Enji is doing for Touya would be "a given" anywhere in the world.
Touya is not some kind of petty criminal. He's a mass-murderer and serial-killer who was in cahoots with quirk-supremacists and human traffickers. He sent a suicidal madman after his own family, attempted multiple times to kill his little brother, and succeeded in destroying his father's career and body.
99% of fathers would have dropped his ass. Renounced him. You cannot tell me that you really think that in the west, a guy can gleefully try and murder his brother then put his father in wheelchair, without showing an ounce of remorse, and that it is "a given" that said father will react not with anger, but with love and commitment like Enji did. Idk I remember checking lists of serial killers and it seems like you might have an idealized view of western dads because they're not that forgiving.
Enji is promising to drag his disabled body every day to talk to Touya. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. He doesn't blame Touya. He's praising him. He's trying to comfort him. He's willing to take his poison every day if that's what would make his son happy. He doesn't see him as a monster, in spite what Dabi did to him and the absolutely atrocious crimes he committed. He sees only the boy he wronged. He's giving him a love that is truly unconditional (because there's literally no way Touya could make himself a worse human being than that, and Enji still loves him), when by law, and even by most cultural mores, Enji doesn't owe Dabi anything at this point. Dabi took his own revenge, he made his father suffer. Nobody owes love and kindness to someone who took so much satisfaction from torturing them to this extend (including by attempting to murder their kids, it's fucked up). This would be considered beyond even parental duty.
Second, to me and I believe most people in the western fandom, it was absolutely not "crazy" that Enji "gave up" on saving Touya???? I've honestly only seen this opinion from Dabi fans (same ones who are always trying to blame every single thing he does on his father).
The thing is, the story is just not written like Enji had another out there. He had none. Touya was saved because of miraculous (and to be honest, extremely contrived) circumstances. Touya turned himself into a nuke. He was going to die and take a shitload of people with him. His brain was so fried he couldn't understand what Enji was saying to him. These are just the facts of the story. Enji had no means at his disposal to reverse the effects. Nothing. His only options were to try and explode Touya from a distance or die with him, and as a father he chose the second option. It was an enormous coincidence that Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo's underground car was sabotaged, it was an unpredictable spur-of-the-moment decision from Rei to jump into the fire, it was an extraordinary feat that Shouto managed to catch up to them just in time.
It seems like you're arguing that Enji had a better choice here, when the author went out of his way to show he didn't. The overwhelming majority of the western fandom understood that this was a father moment for Enji, that he was showing love for his son and atoning in the only way he could. It worked for most people. It didn't work for the small subsection that seems to think the heroes not coming up with magical solutions to save the villains is their fault. *shrug*
(To be clear, I do not love this conclusion for the Todoroki. They were all driven into a corner and succeeded because the "masterpiece" overpowered the "failure", twice. Meh.)
As for Enji's decision to visit Touya everyday... I'm really sorry but I can't for the life of me take the complaining about this seriously. I just can't. People who criticize Enji for this are just not making any effort at his point. They don't want to understand the story, they're haters who want to rage at a character. I'm sorry, I understand that you may think I'm being a jerk or overly aggressive here. But I swear, I'm just being honest. I do not think it's possible to misread that moment to this extend in good faith:
Enji is obviously, very explicitly doing this FOR Touya because it's what TOUYA WANTS. Touya made it abundantly clear that he wants his dad to watch him???? Like he couldn't have been more clear???? And why do people act like Touya has no choice but to accept his presence? Touya had no problem acting sassy just moments earlier. If he didn't to see his dad everyday, he'd have just said so???? And Enji has made it very clear with Natsuo that he would accept that graciously, that it was his kids' right to choose not to be in his life anymore. But that's not what Touya wants. Touya wants Enji to visit him. Touya's heartbeat started acting up the moment Enji said he'd come back because he was so touched.
The problem is not that the story wasn't written for westerners, it's that some people just don't read the same manga as everyone else at this point.
And at the end of the day, I think this is the crux of the problem. The difference between your part of the fandom and mine. It's not a matter of western vs Japanese culture. For me it's first and foremost a matter of sympathy:
From what I saw, plenty of western readers thought Enji was punished enough, felt sorry for what he had to go through, everything he lost, and the hell he is promised. And there are Japanese fans who hate Enji and thought he got off easy (though not as many as in the west). For me, it feels like the fans who dislike Enji's arc often dehumanize him, project their own abusers on him, see him as just a vehicle for atonement for their favs, do not regard him with any sympathy. For these people, his arc is not satisfying because 1) they didn't want it in the first place, and/or 2) they only care about results. But Hori wrote Enji's arc to be about Enji - his struggle, his change, his failures, his internal resolutions. It doesn't matter if he succeeds externally, what's important is the endeavor: that he tries and keeps trying even after he's been beaten down. It's consistent, dynamic, real, mature and so very human that it resonated with loads of fans from Western, Middle-eastern and Asian countries. I'm always seeing western fans (not even primarily Endeavor fans) say that his arc is one of the best they've read in Shonen. All that in spite of the cultural divide, because the themes his character carries are universal.
So, for many of us, it was touching to show that he won't be alone in his suffering - that his good deeds, efforts and sacrifices are seen and appreciated. Hori gave Enji the harsher ending out of all his heroes (main characters), so to me that touch of compassion even felt essential to uphold the BNHA message. I do not think it was necessary to show him still atoning, because tbh we've been told over and over for 100s of chapters that he will. The whole of 426 was about stating that he'll keep atoning to his family. We know.
For the fans that don't enjoy his arc - a lot of them hold contradictory positions. Untenable positions tbh. It's honestly more than fine to dislike Enji and love the villains. And it's ok to be sad, disappointed and hurt when characters we love don't get happy endings. But I personally think that if they want to write valid criticism of the story (as opposed to just ranting to friends who already agree anyway), you need to be able to first view your own positions from a critical point of view.
This last part isn't directed at you specifically. The reason I replied to your post is because I do recognize a genuine effort to try and understand, even if I personally disagree with some of the premise (that understanding Japanese culture is essential to appreciating Enji's arc).
Sure I'm open to discussion! (though the day after tomorrow I'll have to leave for a travel, I'll be pretty busy and I won't have with me my pc so I'll likely won't reply to messages or, if I'll manage to they'll be pretty short).
I think you're under the impression I don't live in the west. I do, by when I was born. And I've seen the opposite. On the news I've seen families still sticking for their criminal relatives, not forgiving what they've done but wanting to still be there for them. I worked in a area near to an ex-prison. The houses there used to be all of people who had a relative in prison. They moved there to be close to their familiar because otherwise visiting became too troublesome. I've known of people who kept visiting their loved ones in jail.
I've even seen people who're not relative forgive the one who murdered their loved ones.
And I've heard way too much people should forgive. Forgive, forgive, forgive. Not condone but forgive.
I'm a bad sheep, an odd one as I'm not really pro forgivance in real life. It's not I don't understand it's importance and all, it's just not my cup of thing.
I don't know if I would be capable to forgive a relative if he were to end up in jail and I hope I'll never find out.
Of course you can complain I've generalized maybe a tad too much. The west is a BIG area. Countries in the west are more similar among them than with countries in the east but they're pretty different among them.
And people in the same country are different among them.
In truth I don't know if there's a country in the west in which people who has a criminal son would find normal to do like Yagami Soichirou and say 'fine, I'll kill him and then kill myself' (BTW, just to play safe, I've said I'm not forgiving but I still wouldn't be all right with this either).
So I guess the best thing we can do is to agree our experiences are different and formed our opinions, instead than trying to tell each other who has the experience that's more valid and general and fitting of the rest of the west population or who of us as an opinion that fits the most of the fandom and therefore can talk for the whole of it for this little discussion.
Now... could Enji save Touya or not?
I think you agree with me that the story want us to believe that Enji loved Touya. We have this as a common ground.
Now here it's were our experiences differ.
My experience teaches me that people who love other people have an extremely hard time letting go of them. They insist on doing CPR even when there's nothing to do, or are at the hospital and are told the hospital will shut down the machine that keeps their loved ones alive because there's no hope and they don't just get the memo and insist they can't. They search for crazy ways to heal incurable diseases, everything as long as there's hope, they dig into the dirt to pull out people who were buried under a building crash and keeps on digging even when there's no hope to find them alive.
My family experienced it, losing someone and refusing to just accept it at first.
Credits, when it's due we have some people that accepts death calmly... but they're considered uncommon.
This is of course a story and in the story Horikoshi wanted Shouto to save the day so no one else could do something but, for me, Rei's attempt at cooling Touya, which is impossible from the start because Rei just has nowhere near enough power, is much more my cup of tea than Enji's 'okay, nothing can be done'.
What's more BNHA is not a story of a consequential series of facts that happened to real people.
It's a story split in more arcs, in which the characters are tasked with accomplishing something.
In Enji's specific case he was given an arc of atonement toward the family members he had hurt. His role as a character is this, in the same way as Luke has to face and 'save' Darth Vader.
Narratively speaking, Touya being a mass murder who doesn't want to repent and wants to ruin his life and murder him is an obstacle in Enji's arc of atonement to his whole family (which includes Touya).
In the same vein Darth Vader being a giant size mass murder who destroyed planets and lead an army that invades them and put people under a fascist regime is also an obstacle. Dath Vader too doesn't want to redeem himself, he asked Luke to join him, he told him if he weren't to join he would try it with his sister.
In real life Enji has the option to say 'who cares, I don't have to atone to someone who's doing me that, actually scratch this, I don't have to atone to anyone, no one is pointing a gun to my head. telling me to do it'.
In real life Luke too has the option to say 'nope, not going there' or 'fine, I'll kill him'.
In the story, that's their role and if they try to escape, they're failing their role. It's game over. The story can tempt them because that's what are stories for but they've to overcome temptation.
The real question in Enji's arc is WHAT CAN HE DO TO ATONE TO HIS FAMILY FOR WHAT HE DID?
WHAT CAN HE DO TO ATONE TO TOUYA?
If we start to say 'no, but afterward, Touya did this so Enji doesn't have to atone to him anymore...' we abort Enji's quest.
If anything what Touya does afterward enriches Enji's quest because it made it more difficult. It's not much of a quest with Rei and Fuyumi, who basically immediately say okay, but in itself is not much of a quest with Natsuo either as he just say 'stay away from me'.
It's Touya who's the challenge and, at the same time, the consequence of what Enji did (by the way, I'm keeping this reply specifically about Enji, there's more to say about Touya but that's not the place).
Some people who complain he didn't do enough aren't necessarily Enji haters... they just wanted to see him do even more. I've met some people who wanted HIM to be the one who were to save Touya, not Shouto, they wanted another quest for Shouto.
Sometimes you just want a character to get a perfect score in his arc. Each of us is different.
Enji's actions had drastic consequences for his family but, at first, no real negative consequence of equal value for him.
Enji's sorry now and I think it's beautiful because in real life too few people get sorry about it. But in order to atone for what he did, he had to narratively pay a huge price. That's why he gets the harsher ending out of all the Heroes. Because he had all the power in his family, the family he was meant to protect, that it was his duty to protect, and instead he hurt it beyond belief.
For some the price he paid might feel enough. For others it will never be enough. It's not biased, it's life.
If I hadn't misunderstood you, you wouldn't forgive a murderer. Another person can chose not to forgive an abuser, even if said abuser says he's sorry.
I'll also clarify that I don't think Enji is forcing his presence upon Touya. I'm sure Touya wanted him to be there. I've said this in another meta. Horikoshi foreshadowed Touya wanted more time to talk with his family, Touya said he wanted his family to see him, his heart speeding up is clearly a sign the fact his father is willing to keep on coming to see him touches him, the fact he ultimately talked to Shouto showed he was willing to engage... but again between you and me is a matter of different experiences.
I've read way too many takes of people saying he's forcing himself upon his son to assume my take is the one of the majority.
Yes, undoubtedly there are many bad takes on Enji, fanfictions love to pin on him crimes he hadn't committed... or, on the opposite, completely absolve him saying Rei was actually the abuser and he was a poor victim and a perfect dad (some even went and blamed one or all the kids).
There's extremes in everything, bad takes are among both his lovers and his haters, and there's not really just two sides of the fandom, there's not my part of the fandom and yours.
I've noticed that too many think if you like one character you can't like the other, if you like Touya you can't like Shouto or Enji, if you like Shouto you can't like Enji or Touya.
In truth we can like multiple characters or just one, we can agree on something and disagree on something else and our opinions can shift, change.
I find all the Todoroki characters EQUALLY interesting.
I don't find Enji boring or hate him as a character.
And I think that understanding his culture (or trying to as I'm not sure I've a good grasp of it) and where he comes from help to understand him and why he does things a certain way or why he doesn't get punished in a certain way, which doesn't mean you can't like him even if you don't understand Japanese culture or that you can't hate him even if you understand it.
And funny enough in this blog I often end up talking about him instead than all the other Todorokis... it's not a complain it's just it feels a little odd.
Said all this, yes, I'm open to talk if people are willing to be polite about it. Comparing opinions, even different opinions, broad perspective and improve the understanding of a story. Though as I said at the start, I'll soon be away for a while so I might end up finding hard to do it until I'm back home.
Hey, first of all, sorry for not putting that wall of text under a cut. I've been away from tumblr in a while so looks like I forgot⊠--' And thanks for the polite reply, I really do enjoy these debates.
Loooong reply under the cut!
So, to start with, just to clarify, I think you misunderstood me on some points:
1) I'm not saying that people in the west do not visit their criminal relatives - even in Japan a lot of them do actually. But Touya is a particularly extreme case, and in extreme cases like Touya? I really do not think that "it's a given" that the father would stick with the son (let alone visit him everyday) no matter the country. And - again only talking about extreme cases like Touya - afaik they are likely to face social stigma even outside of Japan. To give a few concrete examples, in the US, the parents of mass shooters like Nikolas Cruz, Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, etc. all struggled with social backlash (blame, threats, etc.). Note that Touya is a much worst case (he's responsible of the death of many more people and displaced millions). (I do 100% agree that it's even worse in Japan though!)
2) I don't think you hate Enji, sorry if I implied otherwise. And I agree that it's not a matter of "sides" between Touya and Enji and that you can like both. On twitter I follow several accounts who are crazy about both of them and their relationship. I also find all of the Todorokis interesting personally, though I'm still figuring out my feelings on Dabi's character (the adult version) - maybe that's why I enjoy discussing him.
3) "If I hadn't misunderstood you, you wouldn't forgive a murderer. Another person can chose not to forgive an abuser, even if said abuser says he's sorry." -- I absolutely could forgive a murderer! I do not even think that murder is always bad lol. And tbh, I have already fantasized about murdering an abuser, so I definitely understand people who refuse to forgive.
------
Regarding Enji accepting Touya's death, I think I just don't see it the same way as you. First, everyone reacts differently to death and I won't judge a person for not having the "right" emotions or not entering a state of denial. I don't see it as lack of love - especially since Endeavor is a top hero who has been trained all his life to handle crisis and is hard-wired to always think about saving people. In that situation where the story didn't present him with a way to stop Touya's fire, I see Enji being willing to sacrifice his life for Touya (and atonement to the rest of his family) as love. It was at that point the only thing he could do to atone to his son.
The comparison with Rei doesn't work for me, because 1) she (and Fuyumi and Natsuo) didn't have all the elements when they jumped into the fray (they couldn't have known Touya was no longer capable of rational thought or what state his body was in, so they couldn't have known how hopeless the situation was), and 2) I think that she was doing essentially the same thing as Enji anyway - I think the story implies she went in there to die with them. When Enji tells her she'll die she doesn't deny it or say something like "I have to do my best to save him" or "it's not too late as long as he's still alive" - instead she replies with "so will you and Touya", which sounds resigned. She doesn't talk to Touya to try and make him stop, she just apologizes. She even panics when she sees that Fuyumi and Natsuo followed her even though they also have ice they could use to cool Touya.
IMO, the whole situation was different from that of a family in a hospital. In these cases, there is no urgency, no danger to anyone, whereas Touya is like a terminally-ill suicide-bomber that has completely lost his mind. Enji had to make his decision under duress: people were going to die. Idk, like, think of these stories from the Holocaust or Rwandan genocide of parents being coerced into killing one child to spare the rest from further torture or death. It's cruel to blame them whatever they chose because of how terrible it is that they have to make this choice at all.
And another difference is that the families you saw in real-life probably aren't dealing with a killer zombie as their loved one. What you wanted actually already happened with Enji the first time Touya died: he was that parent who refused to believe it, who kept looking for his son even after finding a piece of his jawbone. But Dabi isn't just Touya, the boy they loved and mourned for a decade. He's a Touya who came back from the dead but very horribly wrong, so the Todorokis don't get to feel joy at him being alive - rather horror, sadness and a sense of responsibility. It's not just Enji: all of them accepted easily enough that Touya was slowly dying in the epilogue. And it makes sense to me because I did not get the impression they were ever uber-optimistic in the first place about Touya's future (apart from maybe Shouto). Rei literally asked Enji to "fight Dabi" (knowing he couldn't do that without burning him so?) and they all talk about "stopping" him, not "saving".
------
But weeeell, that's an analysis from a Watsonian perspective, and it may be pointless to argue about it (says I after writing an entire essay on one single moment lol) because if I understood correctly the crux of your issue seems to be Enji's narrative arc from a Doylist perspective?
Personally, I think Enji's atonement (which, btw, is actually only part of his larger arc imo) is fantastically written and hit all the right notes. It worked for me, since imo Enji gave each one of his victims what they needed from him. Just to recap:
Rei needed to know that he (unlike her own family) hadn't abandoned her (that he no longer blamed her and still cared for her). He personally went to gift her her favorite flowers and accepted that they would only meet if she was ready without pressuring her. Later, he built a house for her to make sure she'd have a space where she'll be able to recover and rebuild her relationship with their kids away from him. After Dabi Dance, he kept fighting at her behest to atone for all of them, in spite of his initial resolution to retire immediately. And in the epilogue he promises he'll still take on the brunt of the consequences of Dabi's crimes, even if Rei was also his parent.
Fuyumi wanted a happy family and it's implied he made efforts to spend quality time with her. He also tried to be part of her dinner parties and when that failed he built the new house so she'd be able to enjoy meals with the rest of their family, and to take the pressure of being the peacemaker off her shoulders.
Natsuo needed to vent his anger and to be reassured that it was ok not to forgive him. Endeavor let him rage at him, validated his feelings, took responsibility and reassured him that he was still a kind person. He needed space to be able to bond with his mom and siblings without having to deal with his trauma, so again the new house was the solution. And at the very end of the last battle Enji found the strength to attack AFO one last time with his burnt and broken body because Natsuo asked him to.
Shouto wanted his help and guidance as a hero, as well as a chance to compete with his friends. Endeavor accepted to train them all together, and to train Shouto on Shouto's terms. It's in that environment that Shouto was able to master Flashfire Fist and "stumble onto" Phosphore. Even before that, Enji had told him he was proud of him and that he would strive to make him proud too - which is something Shouto thought about when he was afraid his father might die against Hood, so it meant something to him. Shouto also wanted more than anything to become his own hero, and that was basically Endeavor's entire motivation for fighting - he wanted to protect his son's future: against AFO, this was the thought that allowed him to go plus-ultra.
For all 3 of his younger kids, he of course also promised to shield them from the fallout of Dabi's reveal and make amends for the rest of his life, while freeing them from filial duty.
Your original post already went into details about how Enji atones to Touya: the public admission of guilt, his attempts to contain him without hurting him in the war, his resolution to keep visiting him every day, etc.
And there's of course the apologies.
So, at the end of day, Enji got to atone in multiple ways to each one of his victims based on their individual needs. He listened to them and acted accordingly, respecting their boundaries. In addition, the story makes it clear that 1) this is only the beginning and he'll continue to atone for the rest of his life, and 2) nobody has to forgive him and he's not doing it for a reward. It shows him making mistakes (e.g. saying the wrong words to Natsuo, misunderstanding Shouto coming to him for the internship as him opening up to him as a father) which he then tries to rectify. And the most important thing for me is that it all feels very real: it's all stuff that a father who abused his family in real life could and should do. There's never an easy way-out (e.g. he doesn't get to save Natsuo from Ending) just like in real-life you probably wouldn't get a magical opportunity to physically save your kid and call yourself redeemed.
It's consistent, it's nuanced and to me it feels complete (his atonement is not done but the arc went over all the points it needed to) - especially since BNHA has so many characters and there's limited space to tell Enji's story.
(It's actually incredible how much love and attention the Todoroki subplot got, taking the time to flesh out 3 background characters that have absolutely nothing to do with Deku or the main plot. Deku's own family got no screentime in comparison, neither did Bakugou's or All Might's or Shigaraki's or even AFO's.)
But back to the actual point of contention: did Enji, in addition to all the above, also need to save Touya to "succeed"? And here we have different interpretations of the story. If "saving" means physically saving him, then I disagree that was ever Enji's narrative role. Enji's wish that Touya could sit with the rest of the family around the dinner table was never meant to be a story objective imo (he wasn't even thinking of Dabi but a fantasy Touya who never died). Of course, it's true that Dabi is a challenge for Enji, but the text never makes that challenge "saving him".
Imo, the Todoroki narrative after Dabi Dance can be read on 2 levels:
On the surface level, their challenge, their actual stated goal, is to stop Dabi (the "family sin"). Enji's duty is to keep being a hero in spite of his broken heart but for the sake of atonement this time: atonement to society on behalf of the family. He has to shoulder the responsibility as the Number One Hero and the blame as Dabi's father.
On a symbolic level, Dabi is a ghost of the past. He's the one who's been left behind, the child whose future was taken from him, the pain nobody wanted to look at. That pain turned into hatred and came back to haunt them. So for me, their narrative challenge on this level was to face Dabi, to see him and listen to him and heal his soul - especially Enji and Rei. And since in the past they let the stress of dealing with Touya divide them, their challenge this time was to do things right, show they learned from their mistakes: to support each other and take responsibility together. The story gives them both the opportunity to do that. Enji accepts Touya's invitation to dance. He looks at him, admits his mistakes and resolves not to abandon him this time, to die with him as his father -- or after they both survive, to keep dancing with him in their own makeshift hell, until Touya can finally rest in piece.
So if "saving" means something like "soothing his anger", I think Enji (and the rest of the Todorokis) actually succeeded - or it's implied that he will eventually. Dabi's eyes reappearing after hearing his father's apology to me is symbolical of his lost humanity/love returning to him (and before that he had that moment where he finally feels seen and valued when Enji is looking at him through the fire). And in the epilogue, Dabi is at first his usual venomous self, but the rage seems to evaporate after Enji swears to keep visiting him and he visibly softens - and later even sort of reconciles with Shouto.
------
Last point regarding Enji having to "pay a huge price" to atone or the need for "negative consequence of equal value for him": I personally do not mind Enji's ending (he made honorable sacrifices as a hero and as a father and I respect that the consequences stuck). Buuuut the idea that he had to suffer to atone is a pet-peeve of mine. Who does it help, that Enji is disabled now? Is it going to improve their lives? Not even Touya seemed particularly happy about it. And like, promising abusers pain and ostracization if they try to atone isn't going to help them want to admit their sins. A message is only meaningful if its applicable to real life, and in real life, I do not believe that this is the philosophy with which we should approach wrong doers ("we gotta make them suffer as much as the victims").
(I mean, if we're thinking like that, they should be torturing Touya for his remaining lifetime instead of giving him a peaceful death - and even then he wouldn't have repaid the suffering he caused to his many many many victims. Should we wish for him to burn in hell until he pays his debt?)
Crazy because Enji didn't even wrong Touya, the only child he abused was Shouto, Touya was nothing more than spoilt brat and nothing more or less.
Anon, yes, yes he did. Enji absolutely wronged Touya.
As Touya's father, Enji had a duty to care for him and help him whenever he needed him. But in spite of Touya's desperate and very obvious calls for his attention, Enji refused to spend time with him ("all I can show anyone is the world of heroes"). Instead he foisted him on Rei - who also didn't properly look after him by her own admission.
Touya might look like a spoilt kid on the outside since he was lacking for nothing materially (huge house, good food, excellent education) but the truth is that his basic emotional needs weren't met: he felt abandoned, he didn't feel like he mattered to his father, he was having an existential crisis as a kid. That's emotional neglect. Emotional neglect can have a severe impact on a kid's mental and physical health - which was obviously the case for Touya, who was continuously self-harming.
In addition to that, after Shouto was born Enji started violently training him against his will and brutalizing his wife when she would try to stop him. We know Touya at least saw him abuse Shouto. So while Touya wasn't a direct victim of the physical abuse, he witnessed it. That's an extremely toxic environment to grow up him, and amounts to psychological abuse. Children can't feel safe in a home where their helpless relatives are being put through the grinder by their own father.
Finally, Enji picking an heir and choosing to focus solely on him and his development is the kind of favoritism that is considered abusive, since it seriously hurt his other kids' sense of self-worth - especially Touya's. It's extremely damaging for a parent to shower one kid with attention (no matter how terrible that attention actually was) and ignore the others' desperate attempts to please them.
I mean, look at this:
Here Enji's son is telling him word for word that he thinks Enji isn't glad that he was born. He's in visible distress and hurting himself. It couldn't be more obvious that he needs his father to reassure him and care for him. That's Enji's duty, and he failed to do it. He failed Touya.
Anon, I think you sent me this ask because you saw that I'm an Endeavor fan. You know that I read him with compassion, so you know I'm not trying to hate on him here. I'm also absolutely not trying to excuse the crimes Dabi will later commit - I do not believe that this backstory excuses anything and I hold him responsible for his own actions.
What I believe is that understanding that Enji did wrong Touya as a kid is essential to understanding MHA as a whole. And more than that, it's important to get it in order to be able to help families like the Todoroki's in real life - and that includes men like Enji (*).
(*) Because the tragedy of their story is that Enji did love Touya, but was too fucked up himself to give up his obsession and didn't know how to handle his own emotions let alone his son's. He was obviously extremely distressed by the situation which was only making him even more abusive. At this point, the family needed outside help.
I really do think showing this story to young boys in a Shonen magazine is a good way to teach them how NOT to act or how to recognize abusive behaviors even in people who aren't necessarily malicious.
Did Enji atone to Touya (and his family) and stepped up on his role as a father?
Boku no Hero Academia has a grave 'flaw'. The fact that's strongly tied to Japanese culture and Buddhism makes it a very interesting work but also makes it a hardly international work because way too many cultural things are left unexplained because they're assumed to be a given. Only they're not when the work is read by foreign readers. And this lead to confusion.
The Todoroki plotline is an example of this.
In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west. The point is... it's not a given in Japan. In Japan is a BIG DEAL. So let's go though it.
First, the fact that he doesn't want to kill Touya even though he's a criminal
Todoroki Enji âOre wa ikinobite mo... ENDEAVOR wa shinda. TairyĆ satsujinsha (read: musuko) to tatakaenai.â
èœçćžăäżșăŻçă滶ăłăŠă...ăšăłăăŽăĄăŒăŻæ»ăă ă性éæźșäșșè ïŒăăăïŒăšæŠăăȘăăă
Todoroki Enji âEven if I survived... Endeavor is dead. I can't fight against a mass murderer (read: my son).â
Let's compare it to these two scenes of "Death Note" and see how Yagami Soichiro, a policeman, is taking the idea his son might be a killer and how, although Misa protests, the story doesn't present it as him being crazy but as it being his duty.
That's why Hawks doesn't want to send Enji, who's on an atonement path, to face Dabi, because Enji might end up in a situation in which he would have to kill his son and he would refuse... which is more or less what happens.
Second, Enji acknowledges that what Touya said is true, Touya is his son and Enji did what he did. In such a situation many would lie. Dabi's video proves nothing. He is a Villain, they had a doctor in the team who could create Nomu, the paternity test could be fake, even if Dabi were to provide a sample of his blood or skin they could insist that's fake.
Society didn't want the truth, they don't want Enji to confess, they wanted him to reassure them, they even commented he should have lied because yes, that's what's done often.
Basically he put his honor on the chopping block. A public apology like this one is a BIG DEAL in Japan. It's much more serious than in western countries and he does it when he could have spared himself and say Dabi lied but that would have meant to deny his son.
Third, it connects to the first in a way. While Enji is unwilling to kill Touya, he's willing to die with him. It's âshinjĆ«â (ćżäž Lit. âMind/heart center/insideâ but more likely means âoneness of heartsâ, probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants) and itâs a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. People who commit shinjĆ« believe that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between loved ones would continue into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through shinjĆ«, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land. By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation.
For us it's crazy, it's Enji giving up on saving him. In Japan it sounds like 'I love you and I want to be with you'.
Forth, he'll apologize to Touya. As said before it's a BIG DEAL, especially since Enji is the family head and, although for us most of what he did is wrong, in Japan most of what he did is well within what he can do. Marrying a woman you don't love in a combined marriage to expect the child who'll be born from it will fulfill your ambitions and not really bothering to raise it because that's a mother job, well, things are changing in Japan but none of the above is a crime. In a not so distant past it was actually the norm. Yet Enji apologizes even though normally a family head wouldn't.
Fifth it's a bit in the first point and in the second but it'll drag on through all the story, Enji won't reject Touya. He's the only one (except Fuyumi who however doesn't get to say much) who never calls him Dabi after the reveal, and he won't strike him out of the family register but will keep on considering him his son.
Look at the Tobitas instead and at how they kick their son out.
Don't think Hawks is cutting strings with his parents solely because they were abusive, the Tobitas show us how you should just cut strings with a criminal. Same as the Togas.
Have "Theseus no fune" in which a man accused to be a murderer, send a birthday gift to his son and watch the reaction of his wife.
They don't want to keep contact with a criminal. It's scary because they'll be mistreated if they are discovered to be related to him.
And, in this vein, the fact he wants to go see him, that he'll keep on seeing him till the end instead than turning his back on him, is seen as important. It's seen as him being his father.
To many of us it seems as if he's forcing his presence upon Touya. Actually, from a Japanese perspective he's instead not abandoning him like many others would.
And since Touya is dying, very likely the talking will be the talking that's done in a Buddhist culture when someone is dying. Death should occur in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance. Together they should reflect on the good deeds the dying person has done throughout their life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation. Additionally, family and friends can perform good deeds on behalf of them, which they believe will be of merit to the deceased.
So, since Touya is dying he won't get a scolding like Chisaki, they'll all only tell him nice and soothing things so he'll die peacefully.
Now... in the west all this is absolutely way too little, and in some points even feels wrong. Dying together instead than insisting in trying to save him? Deciding unilaterally to show up every day? Not our thing...
We can totally say 'thanks, I hate it' because we grew up with Darth Vader who instead gave his life to SAVE his son. All this accepting that Touya instead is going to die so Enji can at best die with him or keep him company until he does... well, it's mostly not our cup of cultural tea.
In in Japan though, all Enji does is important. Enji is doing something for Touya as a father, something important many fathers wouln't do for their sons.
Does it would satisfy a Japanese audience? They'll get the message better than us... but things are changing and anyway it can still feel too little. "Death Note" is dated 2005/2006 and back in it Misa was already questioning the idea of a father killing his son and then killing himself. BNHA is more innovative as Enji doesn't think to kill Touya but he still goes for the 'let's die together' route... and Horikoshi subtly criticizes it by having the rest of the family decising they'll try to stop the fire before just giving up. They're willing to die, but not before trying.
Enji represents plenty of old theories after all, which Horikoshi acknowledges were moved out of wrong beliefs, not moved by mean intents... which, is possible, would still not be enough for Japanese readers either because among teenagers, the target audience, there's an increasing number of teen who, in Japan, are forced to leave home (the Toyoko Kids) and often ends up committing crimes to survive and the league seems to be based on all the kind of homeless people Japan has.
While for a kid at home with a loving family being told that your father will die with him if he messes up instead than just dumping him might be comforting... for a kid that was abused and forced to leave home this might feel not enough.
People want to be saved, being told it's too late to save them, might be a lesson for those who hadn't done anything wrong yet so that they won't do it, but it's surely not a hopeful message for who instead got himself into troubles.
But well, that's something for the Japanese audience to ponder.
There's also to point out that, even though the message is not hopeful, Horikoshi is seeing the homeless people and acknowledging they should be helped.
Japan in regard to the Toyoko kids is mostly like the old woman who pretended not to see Tenko but that, in the end, helps that new boy.
I think Horikoshi's message desperately wants to be hopeful even for them, that he wants BNHA be like Midoriya's final stand, something that will push people to acknowledge they exist and reach out to help them.
It just that... it gets lost in what I'll call the 'litteral translation'.
No one explains us how we should jusge the scenes and, since we lack the cultural background, to us they are perceived differently because to us things work differently.
And, personally, even when I think I figured out the author's intent and can see the positivity of it, the cultural filter is still too tick and the picture gets blurried.
It's like being beginner at speaking a foreign language and having to constantly translate it in your head. The message loses its natural beauty, get simplified and not fully grasped.
I think I understand how Enji's atonement work in regard to Touya... it still doesn't feel fulfilling to me. But enough about Touya.
'Now,' you might rightfully say, 'fine, I'll bite, let's assume what Enji has is an atonement arc for Touya. It doesn't work at all in the west but let's give it a pass. What about his other kids?'
Natsuo and Fuyumi's wishes are in conflict.
Fuyumi wants the five of them to be a family (at the time she doesn't know Touya is alive), Natsuo doesn't want to be part of a family with Enji.
Enji's solution is giving Fuyumi a house in which she can welcome her mother and live with Natsuo (and Shouto when he comes home), while he removes himself from the equation. The solution fulfills Natsuo's wish of not seeing Enji because it makes him feel bad. It only partly fulfil Fuyumi's wish because it'll allow her to have her mother back (Rei couldn't bear meeting Enji either) and to stay with her siblings... but Enji takes responsibility for it, he doesn't tell her it's due to Natsuo that he can't live with them, so, in theory, it won't be Natsuo the one who's stressed to be at home when Enji is there and the one who has to leave home because he can't stand the sight of Enji.
There are many things I can say on how this is not a good solution (it doesn't make Natsuo feel better, it just stops him from feeling worse), but there are two points to consider. The first is that Enji is getting old and it would be his children's duty, due to filial pity, to take care of him, instead he's basically giving them the means to leave and take his wife with them.
Actually, since Natsuo is now the oldest MALE, it should fall on him specifically. Yes, Enji always intended to have Shouto inherit his mantle but this doesn't free Natsuo from his duties. Instead Enji is letting all his children free.
Even with Shouto, he doesn't insist anymore for Shouto to learn Flashfire Fist as his heir but just as an intern.
I take this is big in Japan.
Here again, not so much, especially in the countries in the west that think kids should leave their parents' home as soon as possible and we don't think our children are obliged to inherit our mantles.
Note how the story implies that this was meant to be the end for the Natsuo/Enji arc.
Natsuo made clear he didn't want to meet Enji again, he does it solely because they've to stop Touya and, once they've stopped Touya, he makes clear he doesn't want to see him again.
If we want though, the fact he's leaving the family can be seen as a concession in a way.
Since apparently Rei wants to stay with Enji (and likely their old house was devasted because that's what happens to relative of criminals) Enji can now move with Fuyumi and Rei and Natsuo won't have to see him because he'll leave home... to make his own home.
As for Shouto... Horikoshi answered his request by basically showing him Enji being a father for Touya and then promising he would protect them from the fiery fallout, which Horikoshi doesn't show at all because it's another thing that's a given in Japanese culture, it'll be hell for Enji to protect them, but not for us.
Just to get an idea of the fiery fallout here are some images from "Theseus no fune" again showing you how bad is this sort of thing.
Back to Enji, Horikoshi gives us verbal confirmation that Enji is now being a father by being willing to do this, by having Natsuo, who never called him as such, calling him father for the first time.
For Horikoshi that's Enji being a father.
Again, we've no idea of which hell Enji will suffer because that's not part of our culture. I've posted above screencaps of "Theseus no fune", that's how the fallout should be so not pretty at all.
So the fact that Enji will try to protect them from it is, again, BIG.
So yeah, Enji did do BIG things to atone and keeps on doing them and if he'll ultimately get forgiven by Natsuo (the rest of his family wanted to forgive him way before he were to do something), that's up to Natsuo... Horikoshi likely left this as open ending because he wanted to let it up to readers so as not to make them feel they were forced to forgive Enji.
In the general hopeful theme of the manga and with Natsuo acknowledging him as a cool father I guess his idea is that Natsuo too will eventually forgive him because he's kind.
I don't want to say that Natsuo forgiving Enji would be a culture clash because there's people even here that forgive their horrible parents and that's valid. Forgiving is a personal choice and one has the right to make it even if said horrible parent did nothing to deserve it.
It's up to you.
But sure is, if again we take the story at face value and not in its cultural contest, we can't see what Enji does to atone, because for us is nothing big.
It's even made worse by how Horikoshi doesn't show at all the hell Enji will go through (as for him is a given) so for us IT DOESN'T EXIST. We see Enji as having it easy, talking big but not having to face anything at all.
Honestly though... I think this is a bit of a flaw of the manga as a whole.
Way too often it prefers to focus on the good than on the bad so that the bad gets sidelined to much to the point people forget it.
There were horrible Heroes who committed crimes and had no intention to repent or stop... and we never met them. Nagant killed them off but we never met them.
Mountain Lady, who became a Hero for money and fame, then sticks to the job even when it's bad. Desugoro, who left the job when it turned bad, then came back to help. Enji is on an atonement path and, anyway, on work he was always a good Hero.
In the same way Horikoshi prefers not to show Enji's hardship but focus on how he'll have the support of his sidekicks, driver and Hawks... partly also because it ties in so well with the general message of everyone reaching out.
The result is that the Midoriya plotline of everyone reaching out becomes more important of the Enji atonement arc and overshadows it.
Enji's atonement arc ends in 426, chap 430 doesn't feel the need to tell us if Enji is keeping up with it despite the hardship, nor how his family is doing. It feels the need to reassure us that people will reach out for him even if he's in hell, that even if he had to give up on his family, he now as a new found family.
It's thematically consistent with the theme of reaching out but... the fact it overwrites the atonement arc honestly FOR ME doesn't work so great.
I think it's an overall problem of the 'reaching out message'.
While in itself is beautiful... it saves nothing I was lead to care about.
In Enji's case I was interested in his atonement arc, in how he could help his kids. I wanted more of that, partly because his atonement arc is so far from my culture, partly because it touched characters I cared about, I wanted to be reassured he would keep on working on it and that his family would be well.
Yes, he should be in hell, but the story didn't really work hard on trying to make me worry for him as it established already a support network for him. The story made me worry for the kids, for Touya, who was dying, for Fuyumi, who wanted back her family and won't have it, for Natsuo, who's marrying an unknown character so young, for Shouto, who has to cope with the loss of the brother with whom he wanted to connect.
I don't really care Burnin, Onima, Kido and Hawks are willing to continue to protect Enji, to reach out to help him, I knew they would, I wanted to be reassured Enji's kids are safe, well and protected. I wanted to see ENJI reach out and help them.
In this vein I don't really care the old grandmother saved a nameless abused kid, or, at least, not as much as I cared for Tomura to be saved. It's nice she saved him, it's nice he gets to live the life Tomura was denied but honestly, he's a mob character with a super tragic backstory created deliberately to force us to emotionally connect to him.
The message he now will be saved is good, but my emotional investment to him is too little.
The same applies to Uraraka's Quirk counsueling program, we knew next to nothing about the Quirk consueling previous program beyond that it didn't work (a real problem in Japan as they have a school consueling program that didn't work... and changes are in progress) and that now it supposedly does.
To how Shouji now solves peacefully plenty of conflicts caused by Heteromorph discrimination, which Horikoshi tossed in later and never really showed how to solve (and, don't take me wrong, it's not solved even by Shouji, he just solves peacefully the conflicts, how is up to everyone's speculation).
Long story short, I think Horikoshi worked really hard for BNHA to have an optimist, hopeful message... but part of it goes lost in cultural differences and part of it goes lost in how the story didn't try to get me invested in the things it's now saving.
So yeah, I'm still sad for this little panel in chap 430
I guess I'll eventually get over it. Today though, it's not that day.
On a positive note... if we count the pages of all the chapters that should go in vol 42 they're only 132. The chapters that were meant to go into Vol 39 had 165 (which yes, Horikoshi further expanded once the volume was released).
So yeah, unless Vol 42 will be slimmer than usual or that he'll add to it some sidestory or extra story, it's possible we'll get more plot in terms of epilogue. We'll see.
(also yes, I'm not touching Rei in this post. Rei is another can of worm entirely and one, I fear, Horikoshi doesn't care about. The poor woman doesn't even get a profile while Ikoma Komari does. And really, I do think Rei is much more important than Ikoma Komari)
This post is interesting and well-researched, so thank you for putting in the effort to try and understand the character.
That said, I disagree with several points. I hope you're open to discussion? If you're not feel free to ignore this reply.
First of all, I think you might be confusing the tumblr echo-chamber (sorry to put it like that but I do think it's a problem with this site) with western culture. For example, you say stuff like this:
"In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west"
I've lived almost my entire life in a western country with western values, and I really disagree that what Enji is doing for Touya would be "a given" anywhere in the world.
Touya is not some kind of petty criminal. He's a mass-murderer and serial-killer who was in cahoots with quirk-supremacists and human traffickers. He sent a suicidal madman after his own family, attempted multiple times to kill his little brother, and succeeded in destroying his father's career and body.
99% of fathers would have dropped his ass. Renounced him. You cannot tell me that you really think that in the west, a guy can gleefully try and murder his brother then put his father in wheelchair, without showing an ounce of remorse, and that it is "a given" that said father will react not with anger, but with love and commitment like Enji did. Idk I remember checking lists of serial killers and it seems like you might have an idealized view of western dads because they're not that forgiving.
Enji is promising to drag his disabled body every day to talk to Touya. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. He doesn't blame Touya. He's praising him. He's trying to comfort him. He's willing to take his poison every day if that's what would make his son happy. He doesn't see him as a monster, in spite what Dabi did to him and the absolutely atrocious crimes he committed. He sees only the boy he wronged. He's giving him a love that is truly unconditional (because there's literally no way Touya could make himself a worse human being than that, and Enji still loves him), when by law, and even by most cultural mores, Enji doesn't owe Dabi anything at this point. Dabi took his own revenge, he made his father suffer. Nobody owes love and kindness to someone who took so much satisfaction from torturing them to this extend (including by attempting to murder their kids, it's fucked up). This would be considered beyond even parental duty.
Second, to me and I believe most people in the western fandom, it was absolutely not "crazy" that Enji "gave up" on saving Touya???? I've honestly only seen this opinion from Dabi fans (same ones who are always trying to blame every single thing he does on his father).
The thing is, the story is just not written like Enji had another out there. He had none. Touya was saved because of miraculous (and to be honest, extremely contrived) circumstances. Touya turned himself into a nuke. He was going to die and take a shitload of people with him. His brain was so fried he couldn't understand what Enji was saying to him. These are just the facts of the story. Enji had no means at his disposal to reverse the effects. Nothing. His only options were to try and explode Touya from a distance or die with him, and as a father he chose the second option. It was an enormous coincidence that Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo's underground car was sabotaged, it was an unpredictable spur-of-the-moment decision from Rei to jump into the fire, it was an extraordinary feat that Shouto managed to catch up to them just in time.
It seems like you're arguing that Enji had a better choice here, when the author went out of his way to show he didn't. The overwhelming majority of the western fandom understood that this was a father moment for Enji, that he was showing love for his son and atoning in the only way he could. It worked for most people. It didn't work for the small subsection that seems to think the heroes not coming up with magical solutions to save the villains is their fault. *shrug*
(To be clear, I do not love this conclusion for the Todoroki. They were all driven into a corner and succeeded because the "masterpiece" overpowered the "failure", twice. Meh.)
As for Enji's decision to visit Touya everyday... I'm really sorry but I can't for the life of me take the complaining about this seriously. I just can't. People who criticize Enji for this are just not making any effort at his point. They don't want to understand the story, they're haters who want to rage at a character. I'm sorry, I understand that you may think I'm being a jerk or overly aggressive here. But I swear, I'm just being honest. I do not think it's possible to misread that moment to this extend in good faith:
Enji is obviously, very explicitly doing this FOR Touya because it's what TOUYA WANTS. Touya made it abundantly clear that he wants his dad to watch him???? Like he couldn't have been more clear???? And why do people act like Touya has no choice but to accept his presence? Touya had no problem acting sassy just moments earlier. If he didn't to see his dad everyday, he'd have just said so???? And Enji has made it very clear with Natsuo that he would accept that graciously, that it was his kids' right to choose not to be in his life anymore. But that's not what Touya wants. Touya wants Enji to visit him. Touya's heartbeat started acting up the moment Enji said he'd come back because he was so touched.
The problem is not that the story wasn't written for westerners, it's that some people just don't read the same manga as everyone else at this point.
And at the end of the day, I think this is the crux of the problem. The difference between your part of the fandom and mine. It's not a matter of western vs Japanese culture. For me it's first and foremost a matter of sympathy:
From what I saw, plenty of western readers thought Enji was punished enough, felt sorry for what he had to go through, everything he lost, and the hell he is promised. And there are Japanese fans who hate Enji and thought he got off easy (though not as many as in the west). For me, it feels like the fans who dislike Enji's arc often dehumanize him, project their own abusers on him, see him as just a vehicle for atonement for their favs, do not regard him with any sympathy. For these people, his arc is not satisfying because 1) they didn't want it in the first place, and/or 2) they only care about results. But Hori wrote Enji's arc to be about Enji - his struggle, his change, his failures, his internal resolutions. It doesn't matter if he succeeds externally, what's important is the endeavor: that he tries and keeps trying even after he's been beaten down. It's consistent, dynamic, real, mature and so very human that it resonated with loads of fans from Western, Middle-eastern and Asian countries. I'm always seeing western fans (not even primarily Endeavor fans) say that his arc is one of the best they've read in Shonen. All that in spite of the cultural divide, because the themes his character carries are universal.
So, for many of us, it was touching to show that he won't be alone in his suffering - that his good deeds, efforts and sacrifices are seen and appreciated. Hori gave Enji the harsher ending out of all his heroes (main characters), so to me that touch of compassion even felt essential to uphold the BNHA message. I do not think it was necessary to show him still atoning, because tbh we've been told over and over for 100s of chapters that he will. The whole of 426 was about stating that he'll keep atoning to his family. We know.
For the fans that don't enjoy his arc - a lot of them hold contradictory positions. Untenable positions tbh. It's honestly more than fine to dislike Enji and love the villains. And it's ok to be sad, disappointed and hurt when characters we love don't get happy endings. But I personally think that if they want to write valid criticism of the story (as opposed to just ranting to friends who already agree anyway), you need to be able to first view your own positions from a critical point of view.
This last part isn't directed at you specifically. The reason I replied to your post is because I do recognize a genuine effort to try and understand, even if I personally disagree with some of the premise (that understanding Japanese culture is essential to appreciating Enji's arc).
Boku No Hero Academia Light Novel Vol. 3Â âAnother U.A. Questâ Official Fantasy AU Story
The Boku No Hero Academia Vol. 3 Light novel comes with a long chapter that is based off of the popularity poll art and the Season 2 Ending 2 sequence featuring the characters in a fantasy setting. The story is probably one of many since it does not end and seems to set the stage for an epic continuation!
One of the most notable things to highlight from this story is that Kirishima is officially revealed to be Bakugouâs dragon who has committed to serving under Bakugou since he lost a duel against him. I translated the entire chapter from the light novel, so please enjoy this epic prologue~Â
Oh My Godddd!! They made Endeavor more of a smooth flirt than he should be capable of!
(On the other hand it's that irritating egotical boaster trope where hes repeating how he told Shoto making him his sidekick one day as if tha would be the greatest thing(not the rest of Shoto stuff just that one line alone to see base characterization))
It's a very different thing with Shouto. Shouto is supposed to be his successor and he is his son. Of course, Enji wants him to be his sidekick! He lives through his kids, it feels natural that Shouto must be his sidekick one day
But look. Horikoshi says that Endeavor's main issue is the inferiority complex. Which means he feels inferior. He is insecure. Which, of course, can manifest through boasting. "I can't be the worst, I must be the best, everyone actually wants to be my sidekick". I can see him *suggesting* this to someone either jokingly or seriously but I can't possibly imagine him being ok and smirking at a clear "no". Does he look like a man that won't throw a tantrum when he is refused something? I know he changed but I can't believe he wouldn't grumble or say something like "I was joking anyway, it's not like I need you" (that would make it more ship-y, point taken, but more in-character)
That's my opinion idk. If Horikoshi wants an inferiority complex to be his base characterization then Enji must act like it. He can't be both confident and insecure. You can say it's only about All Might but that's shallow and lazy. Would Endeavor be a happy person if All Might didn't exist? I don't think that is true since the problem isn't in AM, it's that Enji isn't a "natural", a "superhero". His hatred and competitiveness towards AM is a symptom, not the disease
That is why that scene annoys me so much. Who is it for? It's not in character! Omg I am a ĐŽŃŃĐœŃла about this đ (a killjoy perhaps)
Personally I think people really can have both a superiority and inferiority complex, and in fact they often go together, from experience? It's just what happens when you keep judging your worth by comparing yourself to others. I think early manga Endeavor did feel superior - you can sort of feel it from the way he carries himself around others or talks about himself, etc. He boasts but also he's not wrong - he just knows his ability.
So like the inferiority complex for me was about All Might specifically, because he was the only he saw as above him (and now there's also Deku). The way I see it, his base characteristic isn't that feeling of inferiority, which is contextual, but rather his feelings of inadequacy and insecurities. Or even more precisely, his fear/disgust of his own weaknesses (which originally stems from his trauma, his disgust/shame/horror at his father's corpse and failure). In order to not feel weak (fragile, human), Endeavor needed to be perfect (super-human), and All Might was the everyday reminder that no, he's just another hero. He can die and become insignificant.
I think if All Might didn't exist, Endeavor would have been Number One, and he wouldn't have that terrible inferiority complex - he'd probably feel superior to his fellow heroes - but he probably still would have felt insecure like hell, like he's not a good enough Number One, and felt upset at every small perceived failure (and like if he ever felt threatened the inferiority complex would rear its head again).
Back to the added scene, I don't think it was OOC because I really didn't interpret it as a rejection (I agree Endeavor wouldn't handle a real rejection with a smile, like lol he's not that good). I really don't think his mid-battle job-offer was meant seriously. Like he knows Eraserhead already has a job?? As his son's teacher, no less. Why would he want to join his agency? And if Enji really was making a serious proposal he'd have brought it up after the fight.
No, this was just battle banter, like he does with Hawks. He was joking. He was enjoying the team-up with Eraser so he gave him a kinda cheeky compliment. And Aizawa's response wasn't even snarky - like he didn't even say he wasn't interested in being Enji's sidekick, he said he had lousy students to take care off (so Aizawa was throwing shade at 1A here not even Endeavor, but it was also clearly very much not serious). Idk it's like when you say "marry me" to someone after they've done you a favor, and they answer "no thanks I'm married to my job" or something. It's banter.
Endeavor's smirk for me just shows he really enjoyed Aizawa's answer actually. Because of course he'd appreciate that his son's teacher cares about his students. And Enji's also come to truly respect and feel some affection for Deku and Bakugou too, so it probably feels good to know him and Eraser are on the same page. I think for me that was really the point of this scene: just showing two of the main "origin trio" mentors teaming up and bonding over their kids.
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic
kaledo-art
origamiaround
romaincrisis
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
