I don't know if you've talked about this on your blog before, but do you have any thoughts on Mitsuki? I know that readers are pretty split about how good of a parent she is, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts. Love your meta!
I think the rush to judge how good of a parent Mitsuki is belies a...bias by a lot of the readership. We have very little to go on when it comes to judging Mitsuki in this way.
Here is the grand summation of her appearances in the story thus far (as far as I’m aware):
One off-screen line in one panel of chapter 44
Two-and-a-half pages and one off-screen line in one panel of chapter 96 (the anime adds another line to the final off-screen moment)
Two indirect mentions in chapter 165
One nonverbal panel of chapter 276
One nonverbal panel of chapter 306
And because there’s so little of her, I’ve gone and compiled all of it for you under the cut.
...and then I also may have gone into waaaaaay more detail with my thoughts than I originally thought I would.
(manga spoilers under the cut, but you can scroll past the sections labeled for chapters 276 and 306 and not miss anything)
Let’s knock out the easy ones first.
Chapters 73 & 171
I didn’t list these chapters above, but they bear mentioning in the interest of completeness. Some might consider Katsuki’s knife skills to be indicative of something about his home life. That is a possibility, but it’s also important to note that home economics could have been part of his middle school coursework. That said, Katsuki’s knife skills and general cooking knowledge do not necessarily mean he’s well-practiced in the kitchen; he has been shown to be naturally competent in many subjects to the point of trying anything for the first time at an impressively high level. Music, for instance, is also a subject he was likely exposed to in middle school.
There is no confirmation that Katsuki’s music lessons occurred outside of the school setting (unless there is extra content that states this, which I have not seen). The overall point here is that we cannot infer much about Mitsuki from Katsuki’s competency and exposure to broad subjects because his standard education and natural-born talent combined could make for a sufficient explanation.
Chapter 276
Mitsuki is shown among a collage of the students’ families unaware of the trials the country will have to face as a result of what’s currently happening in Jakuu. She’s shown looking at a photo album of her son in her spare time. We can infer that she thinks about her son without active prompting and reminisces fondly about his childhood.
Chapter 306
Mitsuki is shown as an example of Best Jeanist’s exposition that the families of U.A. students and students of other hero courses are moving in to the high schools as they are repurposed as shelters. We can infer that Mitsuki is convinced of the necessity of this action and that she appears to likely be on familiar, friendly speaking terms with Inko Midoriya.
Chapter 44
Mitsuki admonishes Katsuki for yelling loudly while brushing his teeth, ironically by shouting herself. I will point out that this particular translation isn’t a literal transcription. I think in Japanese she says something like, “Don’t wake up around noon and start yelling!”
For the lulz, here’s a funny callback from chapter 249:
Chapter 96
The bulk of discourse surrounding Mitsuki’s parenting comes from this one scene. This is by far her largest feature in the entire story.
There is something to be said for how Mitsuki reads like a stereotype of a particular “tough love” parenting style that would be recognized by a Japanese audience or a generic Asian audience. That trope is played for laughs in the story. Occasionally I will see people come down on Masaru for his behavior as well, but, more often than not, people only want to talk about Mitsuki. Therein lies a bias about the disproportionate responsibility placed on women over men when it comes to child-rearing, and by extension Mitsuki gets the most criticism as a parent.
I don’t think it’s completely fair to come to too many conclusions about the Bakugou household just from this one scene, especially given the humor interspersed throughout it. This scene is a snapshot missing a lot of context. While some behaviors certainly raise legitimate questions, I think the best we can do is try to understand what’s actually being imparted on us in these scenes.
When viewed in the best possible light, what values does Katsuki learn from his family?
Confrontation
Honesty
Trust
Self-reflection
Physical expression
Why is it important to view these in the best possible light? Because Katsuki’s behavior has never been portrayed as 100% good. Katsuki has an attitude problem. No one expected his home to be completely functional or healthy, even if we also didn’t know quite what to expect before we saw it. Plenty of characters will go on to comment on the dysfunctional nature of Katsuki’s family (All Might does it in the first panel of the following page), as I will discuss further down.
But the story has also done its part in showing that Katsuki isn’t 100% bad either. His perspective is unique, enlightening, and important. There’s always some grain of truth in what he says, highlighting the importance of diversity of thought. That diversity is showcased by his family life.
Take the above page for example. Mitsuki hits Katsuki while berating him for being kidnapped, for having "been so weak and gotten caught in the first place.” This sentiment is echoed by Katsuki later in chapter 118:
There is plenty to criticize about this perspective. It certainly seems like Katsuki has internalized the values Mitsuki espouses about strength and weakness. That’s a lot of pressure for an adolescent to bear, particularly over such a simplistic and reductive view of the situation.
But is it fair to say this value is worthless?
My answer is that it would be a matter of proper, nuanced perspective. In this particular instance, the value doesn’t serve Katsuki well. But a more mature Katsuki will do something with this value in chapter 166 that is worth mentioning later in the discussion.
So how about those other family values?
Confrontation: Mitsuki, Masaru, and Katsuki all speak their thoughts to each other directly without regard for who is watching, even if their thoughts would be considered inappropriate by others.
Honesty: At no point do we have any reason to question that the Bakugou family says things they don’t mean, even if they aren’t the best at clearly expressing themselves. In fact, the emphasis on how tactless they can be further supports their commitment to sincerity.
Trust: Mitsuki judges that Aizawa has made a real, successful effort to know and understand who Katsuki is as a student and as a person. She justifiably entrusts Katsuki to U.A., believing that they will fulfill their role as educators to Katsuki to further his dreams and personal development.
Self-reflection: Mitsuki speaks frankly and honestly about Katsuki’s shortcomings. These comments are not meaningless, rather they are identifiable areas of improvement that will serve Katsuki well once addressed. It’s important to note that it’s common in Japan for parents to speak deprecatingly of their children out of good manners. Bragging is frowned upon, and parents will commonly complain about their children out of courtesy, often only humble-bragging to mention their children’s accomplishments. Humble speech in general is considered polite. It’s also important to note that if it’s appropriate to speak to anyone of your child’s shortcomings, it would be to your child’s teacher. Mitsuki’s criticisms of Katsuki’s character are all valid and actionable, even if in some cases they really could stand to be worded differently.
Physical expression: Mitsuki hits Katsuki. I personally don’t think that’s a great way to interact, especially with one’s children, but Mitsuki wouldn’t be alone in such methods. We do not know how much of Katsuki’s life has been characterized by physical punishment, and I cannot imagine how rough it must have been raising an endpoint stubborn child who can literally blow up anything he touches. Parenthood in the era of quirks sounds like an actual nightmare. But Mitsuki also ruffles Katsuki’s head affectionately. That is physical affection, even if it leads into her shoving his head down into a bow. There’s only so much I can say about manhandling him into humility when bowing is so important in Japanese society (the most I can honestly say about that is that it’s an artistic expression of Katsuki’s pride and stubbornness that he has to be forced to bow in a socially-appropriate setting). The negative physical expression is concerning, but the full gambit of physical expression is on display in this family, which is important to note because of how repressed a lot of Japan can be when it comes to displays of physical affection.
And for the sake of completeness, here’s the final Mitsuki moment of the chapter:
You can read this as concern about following rules or being concerned with appearances, but I choose to read this moment as Mitsuki expressing concern for Katsuki. She’s just really bad about expressing it in a way that makes that clear...just like how Katsuki is with a lot of his own feelings.
Chapter 165
Finally, Katsuki’s parents are indirectly mentioned here by virtue of characters bringing up how he was raised. While the scene doesn’t directly explain what it is in Katsuki’s upbringing that is being criticized, we know from earlier chapters that a particular attitude on display here by Katsuki calls back to chapter 96. The attitude in question is that of Might Makes Right.
And while Katsuki expresses this viewpoint, the page above provides a criticism of Katsuki’s upbringing as well:
Katsuki’s approach is played for laughs
Mic’s commentary implies Katsuki’s approach is going too far
The children’s reaction to Katsuki’s approach is shock
The Boss Kid openly mocks Katsuki’s upbringing, judging his approach as “antiquated and violent”
Katsuki doubles down on his approach for the sake of appearance
The school teacher shows concern about Katsuki’s manner of approach
Mic narrates that Katsuki is not serious, just posturing
Camie calls out Katsuki for his attitude and “act”
Katsuki himself mentions his upbringing again a few moments later:
Katsuki even backs off a little when he considers what he knows about Shouto’s past. We could take this to mean that Katsuki sees his own family situation in Shouto’s abusive one, but I think it’s fairer to say that he’s being considerate of how his own approach may read to Shouto, especially with Shouto’s father watching from the stands.
While these two moments encapsulate the most Mitsuki could be considered mentioned in the chapter though, I don’t think that’s the end of the narrative commentary.
If there’s anything we should understand about Katsuki by this point in the story, it’s that he has a serious communication problem. Whatever comes out of his mouth is not exactly what he means; it’s just the crudest, most abrasive way possible to say what’s on his mind. There’s often some hidden, wiser message baked into his crass words.
If you’ve read a bit of my meta, you’ve probably seen me mention this thought:
Katsuki Bakugou is always right.
Even when he sounds like he couldn’t be more wrong, there’s always some context that makes him technically correct. Usually the context is literalism or a matter of reinterpreting his words in a better light.
In this case, Katsuki thinks the best way to get the children to behave is through direct, physical confrontation. He wants to show the children their weaknesses to give them a clearer perspective of the consequences of their actions. It’s just that the way this thought comes out of his mouth is, “#@&$*^@*&%$ FIGHT ME!”
That might actually work in the short-run. However, his choice method of showcasing the children’s weaknesses won’t reach their hearts.
But his general approach isn’t wrong, and his real perspective becomes evident in chapter 166:
Katsuki wants to fight the children in order to treat them as equals. He would showcase his own strength as well as the strengths of the children in a beneficial light. And, most importantly, he would make clear to them their weaknesses in a constructive way.
Katsuki knows how important it is to recognize one’s strengths and weaknesses. That is the best path toward change, toward improvement. This is the nuance I mentioned about chapter 118 earlier. It’s important to understand what strength and weakness really are.
Mitsuki should never have blamed Katsuki for getting kidnapped, but she never said he was kidnapped because he was physically weak. Katsuki was targeted by the villains because of his behavior at the sports festival. This fact was raised at the press conference as a possible reason for Katsuki’s kidnapping. While Katsuki isn’t at fault for being kidnapped, he benefits from considering how his own actions played a role.
And we’re back at self-reflection, which is Katsuki’s best tool for improvement if he wants to be the best hero. It would be important for being the best at anything.
The moral here is, Mitsuki isn’t perfect. Neither is Katsuki. But, as always, there is more to consider beneath the surface. There’s both good and bad to be found in just about any perspective, and I think that’s a pretty decent representation of humanity and diversity of thought.
