Enji Todoroki's story is the most controversial part of MHA. I don't think that there is much debate for that. In spite of being introduced as a man who both abused and neglected his family for his petty desires, the story goes on to try and explore him more as a person. Needless to say, this had very contentious reactions from the fan base. Though the loudest part of it seems to decry this choice. That trying to get us to understand and even forgive a confirmed abuser is rather questionable. Once again, I disagree with this.
I think a lot of the issues with Enji come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of him as a character, specifically what the story says and shows, and what his arc is about. For starters, there are a lot more beats and character work that goes into it. It puts in a lot of work and new context to who Enji is as a person. At least, who he was before all of this. It's not a retcon. It's a recontextualization. It's an expansion from Shoto's and the reader's limited perspective on who Enji is. And at no point does it expect you to see Endeavor in a favorable light. That includes anyone outside the family. Any praise given to him isn't about him as a person. The most that he is given is that "Hey, he's trying to better himself and that is admirable." Because, yeah, you can be a good pro hero and not be a good person.
Then there is the actual work done with Enji's family. It treats him as the core problem with everything that happens, including the actions of Dabi. That line about everyone being to blame is more about everything that lead to Dabi than everyone being equally blamed. Though the most important part of this is that none of them welcome Endeavor back. No one is forgiving Enji for what he did. The most anyone talks about forgiveness, such as Shoto during the dinner scene, is in the context of self-fulfillment. Not forgiving him for Enji's sake, but their own, so they can move on with their lives. None of his family members are running back into his arms and calling him dad. Which I do think would be a massive botching for this plot line, but that isn't the case.
And the reason I bring up the lack of forgiveness is because Enji's story is not a redemption arc. It's not even about redemption. It's about atonement. Redemption is about trying to seek and earn forgiveness. Atonement is about trying to make up for what you did in the past. Enji does change and he works hard to see that change through. Sometimes, it does improve things and shows that he has changed, like trying to remove himself from his family so they can meet on his terms. Yet none of what Enji does fixes anything. It still doesn't absolve Enji or bring him meaningfully closer to the people he hurt. Even Enji himself says that he doesn't want to be redeemed. He doesn't see any kind of future for himself with his family.
And part of that atonement is how much he is punished. Which I've seen fans get upset about. That wasn't punished or condemned by the rest of the cast. Because Japan was in the middle of an apocalypse and there were way more pressing concerns. Yet Enji gets punished in other ways. Enji gets his dream on a technicality, fails to live up to the standard set up by his rival, has his legacy tarnished by all the terrible things he's done, nearly gets murdered by the son that hates him, and gets mangled by several different people throughout the war. In the end, all he's remembered as a great pro hero, but not a good person. It's an empty prize for what is an ultimately wasted life. And he ended up where he would always be: alone. He just did what good he could do before he got there.
Enji's story is a man who is trying to repair the damage he's done. His will burned everyone around him and left him nothing but ashes. A man who wants to do right by the family he destroyed. Who realized what he had done far too late and now needs to suffer with that. He knows that. Yet no matter what, he is going to try to make himself a better person. That is his Endeavor. And I wish people would at least try and understand that about him. I can understand not liking Enji as a character for whatever reason. I just ask that people to at least try and see what the story is saying and doing with him. Rather than just act like he's the same character he was back in the Sports Festival. Some bad man who is there to be evil, lacking any real depth to his character beyond that perspective.
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