okay so yeah i have literally no intention of coming back here to write and i don't even know how many of my old friends are still here but considering the content of this week's leaks i clearly have a responsibility to address it. we're at the end (three more chapters to go!) so it would feel weird if i didn't talk about how everything shook out.
so as we know, back in may, shigaraki died, and his final words to deku were asking him to pass on a message to spinner: that he fought to destroy until the very end. the fact that shigaraki's dying thoughts were of spinner β and the message was only for spinner β is a whole other thing but hoooooly shit.
so, now let's talk about this chapter.
i made this post a year and a half ago, and i honestly have never been so happy to be proven wrong. i really thought spinner wasn't going to make it out alive, but honestly, i should have known better. he has always been important, he's always been a favorite of horikoshi's (i know this, because i can just tell these things. i don't give undue importance to characters who aren't relevant. i just see it in the subtext before anyone else does).
spinner survived, and deku did actually come to pass on his message. it was a relief to see him in a hospital rather than a prison, and not super chained up, either. i would have loved to see how that came to be, because it would have been really easy for them to just throw him in prison (even if he was still being treated) and lock him up like a monster. but that's not what we're seeing here.
spinner calls deku a murderer, and i honestly love that deku didn't deny it. i certainly can see the nuance in the situation even if spinner can't, but from his pov, deku is the reason shigaraki is dead, and deku allows him that space to grieve. it's also worth reminding everyone that we have never seen spinner kill anyone. and while it's possible that he has, and it just happened offscreen, horikoshi is too intentional for that, imo. so spinner isn't being hypocritical in his accusation. i think that's important to point out.
spinner is obviously skeptical of deku's intentions, but ultimately, he's shocked that shigaraki's message is only for him. but it's kind of amazing. it just emphasizes everything i've been saying, which is that shigaraki's bond with spinner was stronger and deeper than anyone else's. (i can say this because like no one is active anymore but this is the funniest possible 'fuck you' to everyone who thought dabi was shigaraki's best friend/most important person to him.) and it's so clear that spinner is incredibly moved by this. to have concrete proof that he mattered to shigaraki as much as shigaraki mattered to him... i'm so normal rn :)
then we see spinner call shigaraki his hope, and reflects on the moments that gave him that hope. he calls back to deika specifically which as we all know is the moment he fell in love. chapter 239 my fucking beloved. so it's so satisfying and honestly vindicating to see that come back.
now, i actually kind of love that he still grows in size/looks more monstrous when he gets worked up. i think it's a really satisfying compromise β the doctors were able to help him keep the extra quirks at bay, but he's volatile. it's honestly perfect, and i love that it happens when he gets emotional/starts thinking too hard. it goes along with what i said in that post linked above, about his cognitive difficulties post-nomu-fication. and i love that despite these changes starting to happen, he keeps going, because it's that important.
and he tells deku about what he says in chapter 233, about how he had just started to accept that the way he was treated as a heteromorph was normal, but that shigaraki allowed him to see a different kind of future, one where he was respected, where he belonged. i'm so glad he had the chance to say that to a hero. my god. and for spinner to say "tomura shigaraki was my hero" i'm going to fucking cry man wtf. THEY GOT TO BE EACH OTHER'S HEROES WHAT IF I CRIED!!!!!
then we get some absolutely stunning storytelling from horikoshi where we see someone on the television say shigaraki was "a villain with no ideals who only wanted to destroy" while at the same time spinner is continuing to tell deku not just the good things about shigaraki, but the human ones: he loved video games, the same ones spinner loved. he was his first friend. y'all. HE WAS HIS FRIEND. do you understand the weight that carries?
and the fact that deku is able to confirm to spinner what shigaraki thought and felt: that he loved the league, that he wanted to be a hero to them, that he felt the same way about spinner that spinner felt. it's just beautiful.
and i love that spinner can reflect on the arc he's gone on. i'm not 100% sure which moment he's referencing, but i hope it's this one from 220 where he calls shigaraki out, the moment that things really start to change. and of course he also references the moment in the cave from 341 which is one of my favorites (again, talk about being each other's heroes!!!).
and then, once more, spinner is being candidly honest and correct: the world will forget the nuances of shigaraki's story. he'll go down in hero and civilian history as a storybook villain, but one who ultimately was vanquished. deku says he won't forget, and i don't know how much i believe that, but the point is: spinner says he's going to write a book about him.
and honestly? i cannot think of a more fitting tribute. it all starts to make sense. even if it does end up being a comic like deku suggested (which, i think, is what happens β because that comic is MVA). if the whole of my hero academia is deku's story and narration, then MVA is spinner's. it was always spinner's, even if the anime fucked us over by cutting out his narration. deku told his story, and spinner told shigaraki's. i've literally never been so happy to have a conclusion like this. i never could have dreamed that horikoshi would end spinner's story like this, but again, i shouldn't be surprised. it's exactly as it should be.
(i also would like to draw a very interesting parallel here, which is the last time a villain manifesto was written and sparked a movement, it was destro's for the MLA. and i've talked extensively with my friends and on this, but spinner's relationship to re-destro is one of my favorite underrated dynamics in the series. i have no doubt that spinner's book is going to create change. hopefully it will be more productive and effective than what re-destro did with the MLA/PLF. hopefully spinner will be able to spark a movement that can be recognized without being labeled as villainy. and i do believe it is possible. after all β in 341, he has this conversation with skeptic, and though it was not the ideal situation at the time, there is truth to it. spinner will do the thing re-destro could not. and the thing shigaraki could not. and he's going to do it well. i truly have every confidence in that.)
and the final note the scene ends on β spinner asking deku to tell shouji to do his best. i didn't love the spinner/shouji scenes that much, as i felt spinner's story was much more interesting in all its other elements than comparing him to the other 'monstrous' mutant-quirked hero, but i honestly really like this little nod. it's proof that being a villain wasn't what spinner cared about β he really does just want change, and the betterment of society. shigaraki didn't succeed, and spinner knows that his own time fighting on the front lines like he had been is done. he still doesn't believe hero society is good... but he believes in the potential of individuals. he always has believed in individuals over a cause. that's why he even bothers telling this to deku. and that's why he gives that message to shouji. he knows it's hard out there. the world beat him down. but if shouji's made it this far... spinner just wants him to do his best with the hand he's been dealt. shigaraki gave him hope, and maybe he can share that with the next generation, too.
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