The Kamino Arc really did rewire Shigaraki’s brain as to the role of the “Demon Lord” and the function of hero society from its symbol to the lines between heroes and villains.
Shigaraki did not in any way understand that All for One harmed him at this point. He did not want to be like All for One anymore because his defeat at Kamino destroyed Shigaraki’s image of him as an all-powerful demon lord. He interpreted the defeat as All for One not having sufficient power to achieve his goals, so Shigaraki sought to surpass him.
Act One Shigaraki hated All Might largely because he believed All Might was single-handedly responsible for holding up hero society. He thought killing All Might would end everything he hated. This misconception was shattered by hero society maintaining itself after the reveal of All Might’s true form and his subsequent retirement. Shigaraki wanted to kill the Symbol of Peace, so he didn’t bother to attempt to kill the retired Yagi Toshinori. His failure to recruit Bakugou also convinced him that it was impossible to get heroes to leave hero society. As a result of these challenges to his simplistic Act One worldview, Shigaraki’s goal in Act Two gradually mutated into just destroying everything.
She's honestly one of the few LOV characters who has consistently had a relatively coherent systemic critique of hero society while actually believing in a future. It's actually not surprising she follows Stain even if she doesn't exactly share his ideology.
Shigaraki and Dabi's systemic critiques are muddled by the involvement of All for One and Endeavor in their stories. In that Shigaraki was groomed to see only the worst in everything and prevented by All for One from experiencing anything that wasn't misery. And Dabi in both what created him and his current goals are tied up too much in Endeavor specific neuroses. There are systemic critiques in there, but you have to pull back a few layers of scheming and circumstances that wouldn't apply to even most disenfranchised people in their society.
Toga doesn't have that problem. She was a "normal girl" from a "normal family". She (and Twice) are the examples of the psychological toll of their society's suppression of all quirks outside of heroics.
Due to the nature of Toga's quirk, she connects to people by drinking blood. This didn't inherently have to include violence. People routinely get small injuries in their day to day lives. Blood banks exist. Even the narrative directly acknowledges this - baby Toga didn't attack other children, she "kissed their booboos".
But because they live in a society based in suppression, she was treated poorly every time her quirk - her individuality - affected her relationships with people. And the fact that her parents, her quirk counselor are faceless - they could have been anyone. The reactions she received by those around her are typical of their society.
And kid Toga did her best to put on that faceless mask too, but it didn't fit right. In a moment of weakness - one bad day you could say - she attacked her crush after seeing him bleed in a fight. And she likely felt connected to another person for the first time in years. But Saito died. And then she was a villain. And thus the connection was established. She could only feel connected to people through violence - through causing harm to the people she wants connection with.
In the end though, Toga wants acceptance and believes a future like that is possible. But her experience has told her that the only way to accomplish that is through violence. Stain also killed to establish a future he wanted. He had a significant fanbase despite having a "creepy" quirk that necessitates the ingestion of blood. This might be the first time Toga saw society interact with a person with a quirk like hers in a way other than outright disgust. It's not a surprise she was also inspired by Stain.
the thing to me about the todoroki siblings is that they all have different relationships with their "purpose" because they were all born in different families actually.
shoto was born to an abusive family where becoming who his father wanted him to be implied suffering and pain for himself and his loved ones aka his mother as well as isolation from his peers. so of course he would reject it entirely, of course he would grow up to search for another sense of purpose that was healthier and better.
natsuo was born to a neglectful family. he failed to meet his father's expectations before he was even aware of himself, so his father was largely absent from his life, and his mother was emotionally unavailable. he was basically raised by his siblings, and between touya pushing him to be angry at their father and family dynamic, and fuyumi pushing him to leave that burden to her and focus on himself, it's no wonder he could walk away from it all. he has no attachment to the "purpose" he was created for, so he can move past it and focus on creating his own.
but touya and fuyumi...... touya and fuyumi were born in a family that, while founded on misogyny, toxic masculinity, and traditional gender roles, felt peaceful, and loving, and safe. so for them, their "purposes" for existence (being his father's successor, being a support for her brother/family, and the gender roles inherent to both) were constantly reinforced positively by their environment during their earliest development years. the deterioration of their family unit and subsequent overt abuse happen parallel to their perceived failure at fulfilling said purposes (enji rejecting touya, touya rejecting fuyumi's concern), so deep down, for them, the roles that were imposed onto them since birth weren't the problem as much as their inability to fulfill them. thus, if they can get back on track and succeed in carrying out that purpose (touya burning himself to get his father's acknowledgement as a child and as dabi, fuyumi not moving out and constantly trying to push their family into being a "real" family) then everything will be okay the way it was when they were infants. to the very end of their presence in the story they can't let go of their assigned purposes or consider the possibility of finding another one, because the best era of their family and their childhood is forever associated with living up to what they were creted for.
I feel like the ppl who hate shoto's appearance in the timeskip bc he lost his baby face or "looks too much like endeavor" missed the whole point of his character arc where he learns to accept that even if he does look like his dad and has his same quirk, that doesn't mean that he is him and it doesn't mean that he's cursed to go down the same path of abuse
Aw, I gotta say, I like this line a lot more than some of the fanlations and debates I’ve seen floating around. “I’m optimistic to a fault.” I think that does a good job describing Hawks’s attitude about his position in life, especially when it immediately follows the panel with him hugging his Endeavor doll as a kid.
Like, he knows that his optimism for the future and how things will turn out is excessively hopeful compared to how most people see things - especially people like the LoV and Lady Nagant, that are disenfranchised by society and the heroics business due to having experienced similar life difficulties to Hawks himself. Being taken advantage of by the HPSC or being left behind by heroes who overlook their struggles? Hawks has suffered both of these things, and he’s deliberately chosen to react to them with hope and optimism despite his harsh circumstances.
The framing makes it look like he’s including the fact that he looks up to Endeavor in that, actually. Like, he’s not blind, he’s aware of at least a large portion of what Endeavor’s done to his family by this point, and he’s a victim of child abuse himself. He has awareness of the seriousness of the situation…
And maybe it’s a fault that he was so optimistic as a kid that he looked up to Endeavor (not realizing in his naivete that he’s yet another abuser), and maybe it’s a fault that he continues to look up to the positive traits that Endeavor has now (despite the atrocious actions he’s committed), but the big point being made between Hawks and Lady Nagant is that his misguided optimism has gotten him to where he is today, and that’s not nothing. It’s important that he’s had that hope and optimism, because otherwise he would have become embittered and resentful and - well, like she’s saying, just another version of Lady Nagant, or the Shigaraki, or Dabi. Just another person taking out their misery on the rest of the world, perpetuating the cycle of personal abuse they experienced on a much grander scale.
Hawks’s long-term goal is wanting the world to be such a safe place that heroes are no longer needed! He can’t accomplish something like that without believing in the good parts of mankind and maintaining hope for the future.
Hello! Forgive me if I misunderstood anything while reading your posts, but it seems like you've read the light novels — or at least one of them? I bring it up because I wanted to know if they contain anything interesting or noteworthy that people who haven't read them wouldn't know.
Sure. Until a few months ago, I had only read bits and pieces. Now I've read up until Light Novel 5, so I've read all of them but the most recent one. They have a lot of interesting trivia, but instead I'll answer with what parts of the School Briefs light novels should have been in the main story.
LN 1
In general, the light novels make Izuku's interest in early heroes/hero history more obvious. It makes his choice to teach the subject later feel more natural. pgs. 30-31.
Shouto's scene with Rei before Parents' Day is important. It demonstrated how difficult it was for Shouto and Rei to repair their relationship. Their conversation is stilted and she only remembers what he liked as a small child. She can't be there for Parents' Day even though Shouto wishes she could come. Shouto spends pages telling his mother about his bestie Midoriya to fill the silence. pgs. 36-47.
Per Kaminari and Mineta, it's considered completely normal for quirks to go haywire when they first manifest. It adds to the worldbuilding, especially concerning Eri, Shigaraki, and Toga. pg. 143.
Ochako was one of the few students who lived alone from the beginning of the school year until the dorms. She rarely saw her parents because they couldn't afford to come see her. It adds more to Ochako's characterization and explains why she was so concerned with her parents' financial situation. Also, it adds to her parallel with Toga. Toga was kicked out of her home after her outburst at her middle school graduation, so both Ochako and Toga were made to live on their own at the same age, though under very different circumstances. pgs. 151-152.
Aizawa gave them an assignment to write about their gratitude to their parents. Shouto wrote his Parents' Day letter to Fuyumi. pg. 189.
LN 2
Izuku thinks Monoma is an impressive person because of how he is able to fearlessly approach Bakugou. The light novels in general do a much better job on giving Izuku the opportunity to think about the Bakugou situation. pgs. 173-178.
LN 4
The light novel is clearer on the public's response the the Shie Hassaikai raid. Izuku did not get credit because the public saw it as a failure that the League got away.
UA's different tracks have separate applications. Shinsou expected there would be problems with his attempt to get into the hero course, so he completed two applications for the hero course and general studies. pgs. 56-57.
The entire beauty pageant chapter should have been in the manga. It wasn't even about a beauty pageant as much as everyone having to drop everything before it started because Hatsume decided to cause chaos. The chapter had good Nejire characterization and would have been the better place to include her backstory, considering it should have been closer to the other members of The Big Three. It had Kendo agonizing about her gender identity and expression. It explained that the beef between Nejire and the Eyelashes gal from the support course mostly wasn't about who people thought was prettier. Nejire refuses to commission Eyelashes for her support needs because Nejire thinks she is too flashy, so Eyelashes has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about it. pgs. 147-185.
The thoughts of Izuku's friends about Izuku, particularly Shouto and Iida, are clearer in the light novels. They worry about him running off without his phone and wish he trusted them more. At the school festival, when Izuku ran off without telling anyone to make a candy apple, Shouto suggested GPS tracking him. pgs. 215-219.
LN 5
After the school festival but before Endeavor Agency Arc, Rei and Shouto share a meal for the first time since her hospitalization. This is important due to the symbolic meaning of meal scenes to the Hellish Todoroki Family subplot. Also, there was no soba, so Shouto and his mother eat Izuku and Iida's favorite foods in the hospital cafeteria, katsudon and beef stew. pgs. 126-127.
Natsuo also prays to Touya's shrine at New Years prior to the Endeavor Agency Arc. Given that like Fuyumi, he sees Touya's death as the tragedy of the Hellish Todoroki Family, it should have been included. pg. 132.
In general, the fifth light novel gives Natsuo's character a lot more room to breathe. Before Shouto's birth, he tried to get Enji's affection but never succeeded. Rei was Natsuo's support system until Shouto was born, but she became distant with him after Shouto's birth. While Touya resented Shouto for taking Enji's attention, Natsuo resented Shouto for taking Rei's support. Natsuo was close by enough to hear the screams from the kettle incident. Natsuo's experience from the kettle incident caused him to let go of his resentment towards Shouto. He still didn't approach Shouto after abandoning his resentment because he was ashamed and because he had some fear of Shouto's eyes that rejected everyone and everything. pgs. 131-140.
Izuku confirms that Bakugou and Izuku have never shared a meal together prior to Endeavor Agency Arc. Again, symbolically this means that they had never come to a mutual understanding/made peace with one another. pg. 173.
It doesn’t seem like Dabi was as all-knowing as he portrayed himself in this scene. Given this dialogue about typical heroes and his honestly surprised expressions in this chapter, it doesn’t appear that Dabi thought Hawks intentionally killing Twice was in the cards.
This means that the information Tomie gave Dabi was incomplete. All that is certain is that she gave away his name. Dabi could have figured out Hawks’ relation to Thief Takami on his own from there. If he didn’t think Hawks choosing to kill Twice was a possibility, then he didn’t know anything specific about Hawks and the HPSC. He comes across as unaware of the Hero Commission’s assassinations or special hero programs overall.
There are two ways to interpret this: (1) Tomie chose to protect her son in a small way by not giving more information than the minimum that would assure her safety or (2) Tomie sold her son to the Hero Commission without bothering to look into what circumstances she sold her son into and didn’t have that intel to give Dabi.
this was such an incredibly raw moment for hawks, i just hate how they did it in the anime. this wasn't about supporting midoriya or wanting to see their side win, it was about the emotional connection between these two characters. and that isn't a shadow behind hawks, thats a fucking bloodstain from dragging himself to tokoyami's side. i know it was such a small panel, but this is the most vulnerable moment we got from hawks in the entire manga, its such a shame it wasnt animated
hawks was the one who suggested getting the kids involved in the war. the HPCS were the ones who pushed it onto UA and the other heroes, but they likely wouldn't have deemed it necessary if it werent for him. and i dont think he ever forgot that.
he always wanted to be a designer in Tokyo, but his parents were content living in the countryside. you can't tell he wasn't born and raised in Tokyo until he's had a glass or two of wine.
debuted at 20, after taking 2 years of additional classes in structural engineering. it helped him better understand how to support failing structures, and gave him more time to learn his very complicated quirk
he is absolutely awful at hiding his expressions, which is why he hides his face in his hero costume. he typically doesnt at home or in casual wear, so his face isn't a secret to the public.
can only control non-living fibers.
one of his insecurities as a hero is his lack of speed. he can catapult himself with his threads, but can't go nearly as fast as the other top heroes of his caliber. he tries to make up for it with a fast car and plenty of pilots on speed dial.
due to his sensory quirk, fabrics are often a way he understands the world. his clothing puns and metaphors are often an extension of that.
is inspired by old west aesthetics. his first couple of hero costumes were very cowboy-esc
for his first few years as a hero, his outfits were composed of more materials than just jean. he would instead carry around a bolt of jean, which would slow him down considerably but allow him to use much more material. switching to an all-denim look is what earned him the best jeanist award 8 years in a row
gets a new costume far more regularly than any other hero, around every month and a half. he has to make multiple of each so they can be washed, and he makes each ever so slightly different. its a challenge for fans to see what he did differently, whether its stitch color or the color/style of the metal embellishments.
his laundry room has multiple different washers and dryers for different materials. he and Wash are big washing machine enthusiasts, and it's a frequent topic of conversation between them
he and edgeshot are close friends, but living in the same city and having alternating shifts makes it hard to meet up regularly. they try to get together at least once a week and talk about designs or their interns (or watch TV if theyre particularly tired)
his fashion shows typically feature high-fashion, experimental designs. his fashion lines, however, are mostly ready-to-wear clothes for the average person, especially working clothes. They're affordable, but on the higher end due to the quality of the materials.
after he lost a lung, he often keeps a nasal cannula and portable oxygen generator on hand.
the drug hawks gave him took a few months to fully leave his system. the main symptoms were: bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth when exerted; light-headedness; feeling like his body is heavy (takes more strength to move); sleeping too deeply (difficult to wake); gray-ish skin; exhaustion
he didn't take an intern for a few years after the war. it kept him up at night to think about failing another kid the way he did to bakugo. it took a long time to work through in therapy, and he still has a lot of anxiety about his interns
deciding whether to be open or private has always been a hard decision for him. as far as his identity goes, he never speaks publicly about his sexuality or gender identity, and is generally assumed to be a gay man. behind the scenes, hes confided in a select few close friends about being bigender.
since moving to Tokyo and getting involved in the fashion scene, he has always struggled with weight and body image. this was drastically improved by starting estrogen in his early 30s.
The start of Act II introduced a bunch of new and interesting characters, so I can totally understand how attention was directed off the core cast of class 1-A. The stakes are rising, and so we're shifting from looking at friend groups to looking at teams. But it is palpable how many characters seemed to get left behind.
Momo, Asui, Tokoyami, Ochako, and Iida were all demoted during this shift, leaving their characters to develop in the background (off screen) or just stagnate. After so many arcs without much attention on class 1-A, I think the Joint Training Arc was really strange decision.
Much of Class 1-B was barely introduced at this point. I don't see the point in introducing an extra 20 characters to the story when you could give so much more depth to your main cast. Apart from a few characters like Shinsou, Monoma, and Kendou, no one was dying to see these characters in action. If they had been included in the background of the Provisional License Arc, I think we could've gotten the same result for the 1-B characters that are central to the story.
That would leave a lot of breathing room for the Class 1-A training arc. Even though it would be a bit of a cheap trick, it would be a great opportunity to have a few flashbacks to show off these characters development.
vigilantes's anime gave oboro more of a seafoam green undertone in his color palette instead of blue undertones he has previously been color with in the past, which makes him resemble yoichi a lot more than he originally had.
so from what you have noticed, what are the parallels that kuroboro and yoichi share?
Both Shirakumo and Yoichi are the “dead wives” haunting the narrative Eurydice style. Neither of them are fully alive or dead throughout most of the manga, and they exist in an uncomfortable purgatory where their living connections try to futilely pull them back into the land of the living. Although, they’re “dead” in opposite ways in that Yoichi’s body died and his vestige with a record of his will remained while Shirakumo’s body continued to exist while most of his will was overridden by the noumu programming.
More on the Orpheus and Eurydice reference, Yoichi died while being pulled along by Kudou through some kind of sewer/tunnel underground, and he fell to pieces when Kudou turned around to look at him. Orpheus failed to save Eurydice from the Underworld because he turned around and looked at her, and so she could not return to the living. Aizawa believed he heard Shirakumo cheering him on during the fight that had killed him, but he was dead when he finally looked back. Beyond the repeated looking back to find death, Eurydice kept calling out to Orpheus to look at her during their ascent from the Underworld. Aizawa believed Shirakumo was calling out to him to get him through a tight spot, but reality set in when he turned around.
But unlike Eurydice, both Kurogiri and Yoichi choose their own fate of permanent death in the end. Both refuse to return. Yoichi shatters his own vestige to stop his brother rather than bending to any of his wishes. Kurogiri/Shirakumo chooses to die for the connections he made as Kurogiri in a futile attempt to save Shigaraki.
So Chapter 259 of BNHA was the most controversial in the series. Let’s talk about it.
What Happened: The original magazine version of chapter 259 revealed that All for One’s doctor’s name was Shiga Maruta 志賀 丸太. Maruta was the derogatory word used to describe the victims of the WWII human experimentation of Japan’s Unit 731, but Maruta was also the name of the project itself as it literally means log and part of the cover was a lumber mill. The Chinese government got involved making statements and censoring BNHA. Horikoshi and Shounen Jump released official statements claiming there was no connection to Unit 731 or other real events and it was a name chosen because it can also be read like round.
Due to the fact that writing about this requires discussion of Japan's WWII war crimes, I’ll leave my analysis of this controversy under the cut.
But tl;dr: Horikoshi and Shounen Jump most likely lied when they said there was no connection to Unit 731. However, there is reason to believe that Horikoshi may have only known about the name of the project rather than Maruta as a word to degrade victims, especially if his knowledge was solely based on Japanese sources. Unlike many popular manga from the past few years, BNHA doesn’t read like Japanese WWII apologia; the character he originally gave a name associated with Unit 731 is one of the most despicable characters in this manga. Horikoshi’s real sins here were cowardice and a lack of research before alluding to highly charged, sensitive topics.
BNHA is written in a way that it isn’t believable that Horikoshi was unaware of Unit 731.
Chapter 259 revealed that Garaki’s network fronted as benign medical centers across the country, like Unit 731. None of the named characters experimented on by Garaki survived to the end of the manga, and no victim of Unit 731’s maruta project survived. Both BNHA and Vigilantes explain that the noumu were often originally people society didn’t care about like criminals and the poor. Many of Unit 731’s direct victims were dissidents, petty criminals, or POWs. Horikoshi introduced a villain named Mustard in the Forest Training Arc, who wears a WWI style gas mask and is named after a frequently used chemical weapon during WWI. The leadership of Unit 731 and Japan’s other biological warfare programs were initially inspired by Germany’s use of poison gas in WWI. One of the main villains of Vigilantes, who was created by All for One and Garaki, spread drugs and her parasites to the public through bees. Unit 731 killed 200,000 people at a minimum via biological warfare, and one of their methods was the release of insects/pests infected with disease into population centers.
Beyond the textual evidence, Horikoshi is known for putting a lot of thought into the naming of his characters. Ones who have some relation to quirklessness tend to have names with associations with emptiness/uselessness, like Izuku with Deku, as a reference to the wooden dekunobou puppet. Horikoshi has also plucked other controversial historical elements like the KKK and included them in his manga with the subtlety of a battering ram, so there is little reason to think he didn't do the same here.
2. However, this use of Maruta in BNHA does not appear to be intended as WWII apologia under the circumstances.
All of the above potential references to Unit 731 were actions taken by the villains, and generally by the ones who are most one dimensionally evil. Knowing about the program generally doesn't mean Horikoshi knew about the derogatory use of Maruta in that context, especially if he relied on Japanese language sources which likely try to downplay the atrocities. There are other reasons to infer from BNHA’s writing that Horikoshi isn’t in agreement with the Japanese nationalists who do WWII apologia. (For example, Horikoshi making his most prominent hero heteromorph/heteromorph adjacent characters like Shouji and Hawks from hometowns that imply they are Ryukyuan, a minority ethnicity colonized by Japan that Japanese nationalists usually refuse to acknowledge. The character who represents traditional Japanese masculinity/family values abused his wife for so long she was institutionalized for a decade. Etc.).
There could still be an argument that making Garaki (and All for One) alone responsible for the noumu without any state support and then making a reference to Unit 731 is apologia to some degree. In reality, the Japanese government supported Unit 731 and there were hundreds of Kyudai Garakis running around. A counterpoint to that argument is that BNHA seems to buy into the Great Man Theory of history across the board. Another counterpoint is that some former members of Unit 731 did go on to do further human experiments in a less formal/not state sponsored way while hiding among the Japanese medical community in the decades after WWII.
3. Horikoshi should have just apologized for not doing sufficient research and admitted to the Unit 731 reference, and choosing not to do so was cowardly and unheroic.
Much of the Chinese sensitivity to this issue is that most of those killed by both Unit 731 and the resulting biological warfare were Chinese civilians, and China feels both the Americans and the Soviets were far too lenient with the perpetrators. Japan's acknowledgment of any of these crimes has been minimal, though it seems there have been some favorable court cases on at least acknowledging what happened. China's government was not going to have a positive reaction to any Japanese media discussing this issue. But Horikoshi denying any knowledge of Unit 731 in context of such a clear reference was obviously going to be received poorly. Claiming not to know about Japan's most infamous WWII crimes was just going to add insult to injury.
Denying everything was the safer move for the domestic audience, where acknowledging Unit 731 in any way could have made him persona non grata with Japanese nationalists, and it probably would have hurt BNHA's sales.
Even if Horikoshi was brave and explained that he was referring to these past evils as the kind of evil that should be eliminated by heroes, it wasn't going to make China happy. It's not because someone mentioned WWII Japan in media; China makes tons of WWII media focusing on China and Japan. Other than assuming any reference by a Japanese person to WWII is going to be apologia, China likely doesn't want Japan to have an open dialogue about their past atrocities. Mentioning Japan is an easy way to rally around the flag in that part of the world. A Japan that is actually remorseful for their past would make that strategy more difficult to maintain in the long term. (It's also a little strange why netizens act as if BNHA alone is beyond the pale when anime/manga that includes blatant Japanese WWII apologia like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan were massive around the same time.)
It likely would have hurt him professionally in Japan, but Horikoshi should have admitted to the reference and gotten a mainstream conversation started on this issue. It would have been a brave and heroic thing for such a prominent mangaka to acknowledge the crimes that most Japanese institutions will not. Instead, he chose to hide behind ignorance. The conclusion isn't that Horikoshi is a hidden nationalist making fun of the victims of war crimes, but he is a coward who refused to stand by his own work and the ideas it presents under the slightest pushback.
Yes I know I just did the AFO/Asano Meta, but I feel like I need to do this too
To clarify: this is not me bashing on Bakugou. I want to like Bakugou. If you like Bakugou, you aren't wrong. You just deserve better for him.
Let's begin.
For at least a week now, I have had a picture open in a tab on my browser. This picture is something that I was beginning to think was made up by an Ao3 author because I had only ever seen one mention of it. And now that I've found it for myself, I found myself holding on to it and trying to figure out how to feel about it.
But now that's led to me finally having a way to verbalize the issues I have with how Bakugou has been written throughout the series.
On paper, Bakugou has one of the most interesting character arcs in manga. He goes from being a self-absorbed asshole with a superiority-inferiority complex who only wants to be a Hero because they win fights to the genuinely Hero Midoriya believes he can be.
In practice... well.
Let's play a game really quickly. I'll describe a scene from My Hero Academia, and I want you to guess what chapter it is. It doesn't have to be exact, just a general idea. Here's the scenario:
Midoriya manages to use a Quirk that's destructive to him without seriously hurting himself, and is proud of this accomplishment. In response, Bakugou gets incensed and physically attacks him.
Thought about it? Got an idea? Keep that in mind for later.
So here is my issue with Bakugou: there are two Bakugous. I know that sounds weird but let me explain what I mean. I'll call them Interim Bakugou and Dramatic Bakugou.
Dramatic Bakugou saw his classmates at the Battle Trial and realized that he wasn't the Big Man on Campus. He was furious with Todoroki for not using his fire at the Sports Festival, and infuriated by his internship with Best Jeanist. Dramatic Bakugou was kidnapped by the League because he's an asshole. He blames himself for All Might retiring, and he failed the Provisional License Exam because he's a asshole. Dramatic Bakugou told a kid that he needed to acknowledge his own weakness, took a hit for Midoriya in the War Arc, and apologized to him.
Dramatic Bakugou is improving as a person and a Hero.
Dramatic Bakugou also barely appears in the manga.
We are instead left with Interim Bakugou, the Bakugou who exists in the interim between dramatic moments. Interim Bakugou has not changed from his first appearance on the first page of Chapter 1, when he was five, beating the shit out of Midoriya.
Interim Bakugou tried to attack Midoriya on Day 1, and tried to kill him on Day 2. Interim Bakugou listened in on a private conversation about how Endeavor's obsessions broke him and learned nothing. Interim Bakugou told the League of Villains that he wouldn't join them because he likes how Heroes look when they win. Interim Bakugou told the Help Us Company actors to fuck off. Interim Bakugou dragged Midoriya out to Ground Beta to beat the shit out of him because he was butthurt about his exam and making it all about him. Interim Bakugou won the Joint Training Battle because he wanted to be the Undisputed Best. Interim Bakugou never calls people by their real names.
Interim Bakugou called himself Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. Interim Bakugou told the class that Deku is fucked in the head and doesn't care about what happens to himself, while ignoring that he called Midoriya 'Useless' so often Midoriya responds to it like his own name. Interim Bakugou uses Deku right up to the moment that Dramatic Bakugou apologized for inventing it in the first place.
Interim Bakugou never changes, no mater how much Dramatic Bakugou tries.
Here, let me prove it. You remember that game I had you play a few paragraphs ago, yes? What chapter did you say? Chapter 7, during the Quirk Apprehension Test?
Well, I have to admit that I lied a little. That picture I've had on my browser for the past week or so? It's actually a screencap of the manga.
This is from Chapter 253, after Midoriya shows his progress with Blackwhip.
This is five chapters away from the start of the War Arc.
This is 69 chapters before he apologizes, most of which aren't focused on him at all.
This is within the Final Saga, as Horikoshi puts it.
And Interim Bakugou is indistinguishable from Orientation Day eleven months ago
I will freely admit that this is clearly meant to be a joke, and that he did not hurt Midoriya as severely as the class is acting, but the behavior is still there. It hasn't changed a bit. Interim Bakugou hasn't changed a bit.
Dramatic Bakugou, in a flashback, confessed to All Might that he used to bully Midoriya.
Interim Bakugou still does.
This is why I don't like how Horikoshi writes Bakugou. I want to like Dramatic Bakugou and follow his journey, but for every step forward he takes, Interim Bakugou takes two steps back. All of his apologies feel hollow because Interim Bakugou is demonstrably the same.
And that's why his apology rings hollow. Here's a transcript of it from my fan translation of choice:
Do you remember what I told you after Shigaraki stabbed me? (...) "Don't even think about winning this alone!" After yelling that out, my body moved on its own, and I was impaled. Yet I knew that I had to tell you those words.
I always looked down on you, just because you were Quirkless. You were always far away behind me, yet, I felt that you were somehow miles ahead of me. I hated that. I didn't want to feel like that. And I didn't want to recognize that. It's why I grew so distant from you and always tried to beat you down.
I opposed you and tried to show my superiority over you. But I always lost. After entering UA absolutely nothing went as I thought it would. I spent all my days trying to figure out your strengths and weaknesses.
It probably doesn't mean anything telling you all this but that's what I really think. Izuku... I'm sorry for everything I've done up until now.
The path you took as a successor of One For All is exactly what All Might did. Your choices weren't misguided at all. But as of now, you can barely stand on your own. Your ideals alone can only take you so far. If you ever encounter a road bump, you can always count on us for help. To surpass All Might, your ideal Hero, we would all have to protect UA and the civilians in there together. It's the only way.
There are three parts to an apology.
You have to be sorry for the harm you caused. Bakugou says that he is.
You have to understand how you hurt them. Bakugou... acknowledges that he "grew distant" and "beat Midoriya down."
You have to either ask how to make it right, or promise never to cause that harm again. Bakugou... promises that they'll all surpass All Might.
Though I will give him credit for acknowledging the protection of civilians, good job Dramatic Bakugou.
Dramatic Bakugou seemingly can't apologize for Interim Bakugou, because Interim Bakugou isn't sorry. Interim Bakugou is the same as always.
So the truth is that I love Dramatic Bakugou's character arc, and I hate Interim Bakugou for not having one
hawks, as always, is just looking at this practically. he sees people's desire to get from point A to point B, but misses the importance of how they get there. he is, again, overlooking the emotional side of rescuing someone.
endeavor probably fell into these same pitfalls for years. he prioritized caseload over anything, after all. but he was able to connect emotionally to his interns (at least midoriya) and understand their motivations, so he knows he needs more than to be physically saved. if he was just dragged back to UA, he would never accept putting a burden onto his friends.
through the dark hero arc, endeavor was one of the only characters who really acknowledged and grappled with what they were putting midoriya through. its nice development from a character who, months prior, would've treated this as the trials and tribulations a good hero has to go through.
