Something I want to point out is the hypocrisy of how the hero’s view shigaraki verse kurogiri. After they realized he used to be Shirakumo the heros immediately wanted to save him. When the found out shigaraki used to be Tenko they insisted he was still a villain that needed to be taken down. Even though both characters are puppets for all for one and have arguablely no control over their actions. No one could remain good after what happened to either of them yet only one is viewed as being worth saving. I hope that’s brought up in the future.
That's acutally an intentionally written character flaw with AIzawa, that I'm wondering if it will get adddressed as the story continues. Basically what has been set up so far is that there are two Aizawas, Aizawa the solo hero who works at night time taking down villains efficiently as possible acting as a pseudo batman / the punisher type character, and the Aizawa who is in front of his students and his focused on protecting them.
Basically while most characters are either firmly on one side or the other of the Save / Win heroics dichotomy. Aizawa is someone who represents both at once, and is split down the middle. Which is why I say there are two Aizawas. There is the Aizawa who only thinks about saving / protecting his students. Then there is the Aizawa who has emerged ever since the Kurogiri revelation, who is obsessed with revenge. More under the cut.
1. Save the Cat
Reading vigilantes is necessary for understanding Aizawa because most of his backstory is squirreled away there, basically Aizawa's characterization has always been more than just "a good teacher to his students who's a little harsh / a trickster mentor" it's gotten a few mentions in the manga, but it's important to remember what type of hero he is. He's a person who works at night time, entirely solo, taking down villains through any methods possible. It's the exact opposite of the image he presents in front of the students. Aizawa's natural tendency is to want to protect / save others, but how he operates as a hero is very fight to win rather than fight to save, focused on taking down villains.
His backstory is where we see this inconsistency with his character emerge. His original motivation was incredibly similar to Shinso's, he wanted to become a hero who saves others, despite the insecurity his quirk gave him that left him feelings incredibly weak and unable to help anyone because he didn't have a quirk suited for hero work.
His entire backstory revolves around this idea of saving the cat. Aizawa outlines why he doesn't just run in and save him when he's talking to Koichi, saving the cat also means taking responsibility for the cat. Aizawa who is a fundamentally insecure person who never believes he's good enough is afraid to take that responsibility on his own.
He doesn't believe he's an especially good person and always sabotages himself, despite the fact that we know deep down Aizawa is a very responsible and caring person who nurtures and takes care of other,s the Aizawa he presents on the surface is a much coler, darker version of himself. Basically, more or less. Aizawa doesn't see himself as the hero. So he plays dark avenger rather than hero. He's not All Might and too insecure to be All Might, so he doesn't believe he is enough all on his own to save people. Which is why Shirakumo was someone so special to him, someone who would charge straight in and save people, without worrying about the consequences.
Basically the metaphor is, Aizawa has a reason for why he would leave that kitten all alone in the rain. Despite liking cats, and wanting to save it, he thinks about all the respsonsbility he would have to bear afterwards, and he doesn't think he's capable of housing or feeding a cat, and worrying about that he decides to leave the cat in the rain. However, Shirakumo just saves the cat first and foremost because that's the right thing to do.
Aizawa puts Shirakumo on a pedestal after this, believing that Shirakumo is the right type of hero and he's the wrong one, but it's more like Shirakumo had something Aizawa was missing. Shirakumo has the self confidence to just save the cat. Aizawa missing that self confidence worries too much to save the cat, but because SHirakumo doesn't think things through he needs someone like Aizawa to help him in the aftermath.
This is why the dream for the three of them was to start their own hero agency together, where they would make up for each other's strengths and weaknesses. Aizawa's fundamental insecurity is that he's not good enough to protect others because, so if he tries to do something bold or stick his neck out there to save someone he'll fail. However, there's actually nothing wrong with Aizawa having a support type quirk, or being more of a strategist and hanging back in combat if he relies on the support of others. The two other boys in the group who have much more offensive quirks than his could cover for his wekanesses. Then Aizawa would be able to be the hero he wanted to be, which like SHirakumo, is one who focuses on saving others rather than taking down villains.
However, Aizawa's trauma of losing Shirakumo hit him in that exact insecurity. In one moment he wasn't strong enough indiidually and because of that he lost SHirakumo. Not only that it was Shirakumo's quality of being willing to charge in and save anybody, much like Deku, which made him die suddenly in an accident because he wasn't watching out for himself. These two things confirm to Aizawa his worst insecurities, that he's not strong enough to protect people, and if he tries, he'll fail which is why it's better for him to work alone. It's at that point Aizawa goes from a hero who wanted to save others with Shirakumo and Present Mic, to a hero who is only focused on taking down villains all by himself. It's a trauma reaction to not being able to save the person he wanted to save the most.
However, the thing is Shirakumo comes back, and this time as a villain, after Aizawa has spent years pretending to be a punisher type hero when deep down we know he's not. We see both sides of Aizawa re-emerge, both the punisher type hero he pretends to be, and the more sentimental person who wants to save and take care of others he really is.
This is also where the "save the cat" metaphor emerges once more. What clues Aizawa in to the fact that Shirakumo is still in there is the way Kurogiri says that it's not a pain to take care of others, and that he can't abandon someone in need like SHigaraki.
However, Aizawa believes this to mean that Kurogiri is the cat. He's the one who needs saving in this scenario. Where it's actually the other way around. Shigaraki is the cat. He is as much of a victim of All for One's grooming and possession as Kurogiri is.
AHe had about as much agency in becoming what he is as Kurogiri did. They were both children that AFO took in, experimented on their bodies unwillingly, and even groomed into becoming villains. However, ratyher than seeing Shigaraki as someone Shirakumo/Kurogiri cared for and attempted to save, he instead puts all the blame on what happened to Kurogiri on Shigaraki, and not even on AFO who is the one who's actually at fault.
In that moment rather than being a hero who saves, he decides to be a hero who punishes evil. One last thing I'd like to point out why Aizawa's desire for revenge on Shigaraki is wrong is because one it's misdirected, he says specifically he wants revenge for Kurogiri who... Shigaraki had absolutely nothing to do with. So his desire to punish is immediately punishing the wrong person. Two, the chapter where AIzawa faces down SHigarki he's pictured with a grown up version of the cat he tried to save during his high school days. The cat he didn't save and left in the rain instead. Shigaraki is that cat. He wasn't saved by heroes and he was left alone, and grew up, and now Aizawa has a second chance to save him. However, in order to do so Aizawa needs to stop believing himself to be the punisher and remember who he really is, a hero who wants to save and protect children. A hero who wants to be strong enough to save a cat lost out in the rain, whatever the consequences may be afterwards.
A while ago I was invited to work on @KacchakoProject . Working on this project with fellow artists and writers was both a pleasure and a privilege. Thanks a lot to the organizers and the people who got the book. I hope you guys can enjoy this pics I made 3 years ago too
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