Iâve got so many katsudeku feelings I apologise in advance.
I loved these panels because it makes so much sense to me. Bakugou is scared, and this can be interpreted in several different ways.
1. Heâs scared that Izuku will become stronger than him.
This seems like an obvious conclusion due to his and Izukuâs confrontation:
He doesnât want to be weak, he wants to be strong like All Might and the fact that All might chose Izuku âover himâ makes him think that heâs inferior.
2. Heâs scared that he will hurt Izuku.
This seems like a less likely option but one I have considered nonetheless. Perhaps because of his strong quirk and his brash personality, he is afraid of hurting or corrupting Izuku. Of course he did hurt him, so Iâm not sure how much substance this theory has.
3. Heâs scared of his feelings.
The third option (my favourite lol) can also separate into different categories:
Heâs scared of his fear (this sounds a little weird, but stay with me).
Heâs scared of his hatred.
Heâs scared of his affection.
I was considering option no. 1 when I thought huh, this reminds me of Harry Potter. In the third book, it is revealed that Harryâs boggart (his biggest fear) is a dementor, which is often described as the embodiment of fear. Therefore, Lupin explains that Harryâs biggest fear is fear itself. The more I think about it, the more I feel like this fits Bakugou. More than anything, he wants to be the No. 1 hero, and he believes that in order to do that he needs to be the strongest there is. And he believes he canât be strong if he is afraid. Hence, he is afraid to be afraid⊠(this option doesnât fully connect to Izuku, except for the fact that he is scared Izuku will surpass him).
Option no. 2 is also viable, although it makes a little less sense to me. Bakugou may think that his hatred towards someone innocent like Izuku makes him unfit to be a hero. He probably greatly regrets his former actions of bullying towards Izuku, now knowing that heroes donât do such things. In result, he tries to distance himself from Izuku so he doesnât do something unheroic. His explosive personality makes him distance himself from others as well, but mostly Izuku because of his deep loathing towards him.
Option no. 3 is a little hard to imagine with Bakugou in mind, but part of my thinking is that, possibly, as a child his affection towards Izuku was seen as odd. Like perhaps one day as a four year-old, he had been talking about Izuku to his friends or a family member and they commented on how weird he was to adore someone so much, especially a boy. This seems unlikely, so letâs consider some other ideas:
Perhaps (and this connects to the second option of being scared he will hurt Izuku) Bakugou is afraid that if he gets close to Izuku, he will get hurt. Bakugouâs goal is to be the No. 1 hero, after all, and in that line of profession it is quite possible that his loved ones may be targeted by villains. Through pushing him away, he is attempting to protect Izuku.
Yet another possibility is that he is simply in denial and unable to accept his feelings. Maybe he thinks the twisting in his gut is disgust and/or loathing. It wouldnât be hard to believe that Bakugouâs character doesnât understand/thinks that affection or romance is stupid (which could mean that heâs aro, but thatâs another conversation). Taking a look at his family, he probably doesnât understand conventional affection. Thatâs not to say that he has had a bad home life, but he is basically a carbon copy of his mother, who in turn doesnât seem like a very affectionate person. So itâs perfectly feasible that Bakugou doesnât know what he feels.
In conclusion, those panels could mean many things, but to me it makes a shit ton of sense.