I think about this moment a lot. It fascinates me.
A big part of My Hero Academia is unraveling the mystery of Katsukiās thoughts. Katsuki is such a compelling character because he provides a unique and meaningful perspective on the story thatās kept secret from the audience via Izukuās unreliable narration and Katsukiās tendency to not put his own thoughts into words.
This scene is All Mightās infamous āsave to win, win to save,ā advice. Here, All Might tells Katsuki that he and Izuku need to learn from each other, that each one has something the other doesnāt, something thatās necessary in order to become the best heroes they can be. As viewers, we hear what sounds like excellent, constructive, insightful advice that advances the narrative. Itās something that the story between Izuku and Katsuki has been naturally approaching.
If you are dependent on Izukuās perspective, then Katsukiās reaction in the above screenshots is anti-climactic, inspiring a sense of flat, exasperated humor. Katsuki is just being good olā obstinate, stubborn, petulant Katsuki. Katsuki just isnāt Katsuki if he isnāt being unnecessarily difficult.
But Izuku is an unreliable narrator.
Objectively speaking, All Might being a good teacher? Thatās out of character, at least at this point in the story. Weāve just sat through flashbacks of other advice All Might has given Katsuki, highlighting how what sounded like decent advice somehow made everything worse. But itās not spelled out for us whatās going on in Katsukiās head. Why is All Mightās advice so terrible? Why does it upset Katsuki so much?
Katsuki believes he is weak. Katsuki has an inferiority complex.
All Might: You have all the abilities necessary to become a hero.
What Katsuki hears: You arenāt strong yet.
All Might: Level 1 power and Level 50 power canāt improve at the same rate.
What Katsuki hears: Yes, Izukuās improving, and youāre not.
But then, All Mightās āsave to win, win to saveā advice should be welcomed by Katsuki, shouldnāt it? Itās actionable advice. All Might told him what heās missing. Now he just needs to work on that, and heāll be the best hero, even better than Izuku!
Katsuki didnāt ask how he can surpass Izuku. He asked why All Might chose Izuku.
Their conversation basically boils down to this.
Katsuki: Why did you choose Deku?
All Might: Because he was weak, and you were strong.
Katsuki: But you were wrong. Iām weak. (Implied: Deku is the strong one now.)
All Might: You are strong, but not strong enough by yourself. In a sense, you are both weak and need to learn from each other.
Katsuki: So weāre both weak? Thatās even worse.
Time and again, All Might fails to address Katsukiās real concerns. Every piece of advice he gives is just more fuel for Katsukiās insecurities, which the fight before this moment illustrates. A big part of the fight is about Katsuki trying to understand why Izuku was chosen based on his assumption that All Might judged Izuku as superior to Katsuki, as the stronger of the two.
Remember, Katsuki doesnāt have the full explanation about One For All yet. Based on the information he has, Katsuki only knows that All Might gave his power to Izuku. He implies he thinks All Might sought out All For Oneās help to pass on his quirk, that āAll Might knew the guy who could do it.ā He doesnāt know One For All can pass on itself or that All Might was on a time limit. So from Katsukiās perspective, either All Might risked getting help from a known villain for Izukuās sake, or, maybe more likely, All Might was friends with AFO until AFO betrayed that trust. Thereās even the potential that AFO betrayed All Might specifically when he decided Katsuki was an exploitable weakness and kidnapped him.
Katsukiās presence on the battlefield inhibited All Might, and Katsuki couldnāt get out of the situation on his own. He was weak, and so he dragged All Might down. Thatās why he accepted help to get out of there. Did AFO know that would happen, that Katsuki was as weak as that? Why wouldnāt AFO target Izuku, All Mightās successor? The only thing Katsuki could logically conclude is that Izuku is strong, and thus safe, while Katsuki is the exploitable weakness.
While fighting Izuku, Katsuki wonders āWhy?ā with each flashback he has of All Mightās past advice. That advice, paired with Katsukiās insecurities about his weakness, implies what heās been worrying about all this time: āWhy canāt I improve? Why canāt I get stronger? Why did All Might see no potential in me?ā Katsuki slaps away Izukuās hand when offered help and shouts, āWhy wonāt you fight? Whatās wrong with you?ā From Katsukiās perspective, it must be because Izuku is that strong and thinks Katsuki is so weak in comparison.
Katsuki expects Izuku to win the fight from the start. Katsuki just wants to find the answer to his question:
Why is Izuku strong while I am weak?
And yet, All Mightās answer, his advice of āsave to win, win to save,ā is the exact opposite thing Katsuki wants to hear:
So, Katsuki tells Izuku, āDonāt lose.ā
Before this moment, Katsuki assumes Izuku is safe. His idea of the ultimate hero is a hero who never loses. He thinks All Might got help from AFO for Izukuās sake. Whether AFO betrayed All Might or All Might knew AFO was a villain all along, All Might isnāt worried about Izuku because heās strong. Thereās no way All Might would involve Izuku with a dangerous supervillain unless he thinks Izuku could handle it.
But if Izuku is actually weak, Katsuki could end up in the same position again. Katsuki is still an exploitable weakness not only for All Might but now also for Izuku.
I know plenty of people will want to extrapolate from here that Katsuki is worried about Izuku (and anything I could say about this is manga spoilers, so I wonāt touch on that here). However, I think it would be a mistake to say his concern at this point is, āIzuku is weak, so I have to get strong to protect him.ā Katsukiās character arc up until this point in the story has focused mainly on his feelings regarding victimhood. I donāt think itās a stretch for me to say one of his worst fears is being a victim, particularly as a means of getting to someone he cares about such as All Might (just look at his trauma over what happened with the sludge villain in middle school). After all, Katsuki believes All Mightās downfall could have been avoided if only he had been strong enough to not be victimized by AFO and the League of Villains.
So itās not that Katsuki wants to protect Izuku; Katsuki doesnāt want to be the reason for Izukuās downfall.
Katsuki promises to keep OFA a secret because, āItās just too big a risk with too many drawbacks for me to spread this around.ā The risk? Katsuki could be made a target again just by virtue of knowing about it. āThere would be confusion about where the power is,ā meaning people would attack Katsuki for that information assuming he either has OFA or knows who does. If the secret gets out, Katsuki becomes a weak point for All Might and Izuku. So he has to get stronger before that happens.
You can see when Katsuki bows his head in acceptance. He hasnāt heard what he wanted, but he accepts that he has to grow stronger in order to prepare for when the OFA secret gets out. Heāll follow All Mightās advice and do what he has to do to be ready, and heāll hold Izuku to the same standard. When the time comes, Izuku cannot lose.
When Katsuki hears the full story about OFA, he says, āIt doesnāt change what I have to do.ā It doesnāt matter which of them is All Mightās successor. He has to surpass All Might, surpass Izuku, surpass One For All. He has to be the best. He canāt be the weak link again. He canāt be the reason they lose.
Heāll grow. Heāll get stronger. Heāll take All Mightās advice to heart and become the ultimate hero who wins and saves. Heās planning their victory strategy, and heās making sure theyāll be ready.
If thereās one thing Katsukiās a genius at, itās victory.
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