Boku no Villain Academia

reread

[nalmull]

Extremely important that I remind everyone Gigantomachia is completely naked here. No pants, nothing.

[nalmull]

the hands! slapped back on. I really like how Shigaraki is drawn cradling them as he runs and wears them. Something about the cradle hurts.

In the background-ish, Toga’s also putting on her gear, ready for battle, ready to fight alongside Shigaraki. Twice is following Shigaraki, running towards him <3. Mr. Compress is ready to go as well. Only Spinner and Dabi seem to have not moved yet, watching everyone take off.

Clear divide of who’s fully thrown in their lot with Shigaraki, and who hasn’t. Twice, Toga, Mr. Compress - Shigaraki won them over during the Overhaul arc. Spinner and Dabi, not yet.

[nalmull]

Shigaraki’s hand-mask is off - no wall, no barrier, nothing obscuring or hidden. He’s been so with the League nearly the entire chapter, a great visual cue that he’s gotten closer to them. Trusts them more than before.

Now that we know what the hands represent, it’s even more meaningful - in the presence of the League, he’s ‘taken off’ his rage, his most identifiable trait of ‘Shigaraki Tomura’, Symbol of Terror, the being that AFO had created. The hands are still close to him - in a pile on the couch next to him - and he’s ready to put them on in seconds at a moment’s notice, but right now, he’s himself, whoever that is.

Tired, chewing on energy bars, chatting with people, getting correctly accused of being a broke, homeless, aimless guy.

And this is the Shigaraki that Spinner confronts, face to face. mano a mano. tête-à-tête. It’s personal, it’s genuine, it’s raw. Spinner is asking Shigaraki, and Shigaraki must answer back. He’s looking straight at Spinner, eyes clear and— well, the emotion isn’t quite clear, but he doesn’t look like he’s annoyed, or angry, or shocked, or dismissive. Spinner talks - and it seems Shigaraki listens, hears him, considers.

Then we get this beat to break the tension:

It’s the rest of the league, unimpressed with Spinner’s outburst. Toga and Twice aren’t listening; the blank look on Dabi’s face and literally on Compress’s seem to tell us they aren’t very affected, tho they are paying attention. they’re not swayed, they have no strong feeling. We can guess their thoughts now knowing what we know - Mr. Compress comparing Shigaraki to Harima maybe, Dabi considering what this means for his plot. Still, They aren’t on Spinner’s ‘side’, but neither are they on Shigaraki’s exactly; they’re watching, observing.

With that, it’s Shigaraki’s turn to reply,

except we’re immediately interrupted. Not time for the dramatic monologue and reveal just yet.

I wonder sometimes about what Shigaraki would’ve said here. Now he’s getting annoyed; now he’s about to fall back to previous old explanations. It likely would’ve continued to disappoint Spinner. Fun AU to think about.

[nalmull]

Ah, the beginning of romance

[nalmull]

Established here was just an great, immediate, intriguing dynamic. Will Shigaraki prove himself to be worth following? Will Spinner stay, or will he leave? Can Shigaraki become the type of man that Spinner is willing to devote himself to - and Spinner is willing to really devote his entire being. Either Shigaraki wins Spinner over, or not.

inherently, that’s just kinda gay. But it also paralleled the plot, us watching Shigaraki grow, becoming interested in him the same way Spinner will. It opened up the opportunity for Shigaraki to gain a follower that will be extremely loyal to just him - not AFO, not Stain’s legacy, nor the League exactly, but Shigaraki, as himself - and as we see, this will become relevant later on, Shigaraki having a loyal ally. Because we also know both Shigaraki and Spinner are gamers, we can easily imagine the two of them bonding over this, wondering if they’re be friends, even. And these two lonely losers are in desperate need of friends.

Tension; the promise of seeing a relationship develop on-screen; the hint of mundane silliness the two can get up to; strong emotions that are bound to pop up, be felt, and resonate - instant possible ship. I intuited it when this chapter first came out, but never actually imagine how far it would go. or how homoerotic Spinner panels would get.

[nalmull]

This is the desperation of a drowning man looking for something, anything to hold onto. A raison d'être, a purpose; meaning. At his most passionate, shouting from his heart, Spinner reveals that it’s not quite Stain he wants to follow - it’s anything that will give him something to live for. Stain might be gone, but here was the League, here was Shigaraki. He’s begging Shigaraki to give him an answer. He’s willing to follow Shigaraki if Shigaraki proves himself - if Shigaraki inspires him, if Shigaraki can provide direction, Spinner will stay.

This was the wonderful question that hung over the entire arc, from beginning to end. Will Shigaraki prove himself? Is Shigaraki worth following? Spinner is sort of setting the standard here, asking what the audience is asking about the character of Shigaraki Tomura and his potential, providing the goal, the main thesis of the arc.

Spinner ends up serving as the audience surrogate - he’s ideal for it too: he’s sympathetic (victim of fantasy racism, an aimless young adult), he’s got ‘good’ reason to fight against society (where were the Heroes while the CRC were having their meeting?), and though we don’t know it yet, there’s already a sense that he’s the most average guy in the League, way in over his head. Relatable.

While the League being Plus Chaos is fun to watch (esp. Twice and Toga antics), we’re reading HeroAca for a story. We need that logical progression, we need a satisfying beginning, middle, end. same as Spinner, we’re looking for ‘purpose’ and meaning. MVA main thread is Shigaraki growing and maturing, and Spinner is the meta-framing for this.

BONES completely screwed up by cutting this. While the story was still told, it ended up being just an detour to see what the Villains are doing. Randomly, here’s Shigaraki fighting Gigantomachia. Randomly, here’s a Other Villain Group to serve as punching bags. Good, cool, now you’re caught up with our antagonist. the emotional depth got lost.

[nalmull]

Ah, the beginning of romance

[nalmull]

Also Spinner just had a big ol' gay crush on Stain. That was the first gay awakening.

[nalmull]

Sorry for posting the whole page, but I wanna point it that despite how often, even now, people still seem to think Spinner’s main motivation is word for word Stain’s ‘True Hero’ ideology,

Spinner doesn’t mention a single word about ‘True Heroes’ here. He doesn’t even talk about Heroes indirectly. Other than mentioning Stain the man himself as an influence, Spinner’s emotional outburst here focuses on

Being discriminated against because of his quirk.

Stain’s ‘final stand’, and the point that ‘he was trying to change the world on his own’.

Realizing he couldn’t bear to live with the current conditions of society and the world anymore.

His true feelings comes out. Spinner hated that he was treated as less than. He felt suffocated trying to accept this supposed ‘fact’ that emptied out his heart. He saw Stain as someone who has a problem with the world, but actually did something about that - and it inspired him. And so dons he the Stain apparel.

But, as he says in agreement to Dabi’s jab, he’s just an empty cosplayer. He‘s empty in that he doesn’t actually grasp Stain’s ideas (as opposed to Dabi, as we later find out, who truly does target specially Heroes), he’s not the real deal, he’s copying someone. Putting on a costume the way other people do for fun in the general term of the word.

We can infer that he goes after Heroes after that because perhaps he blames them for allowing discrimination to run rampant; or he thinks following Stain’s every word and idea will bring about this changed world he wants - but, again, makes no mention of Heroes, but rather a world he won’t suffocate in, where people won’t call him a lizard freak. Either way, it’s clear that he was following Stain the man himself, no quite grasping the true essence of the guy’s beliefs.

I don’t doubt that Spinner has retained some of those ideas, though! He’s always been one of the more mild Villains, he don’t have the seething hatred of Heroes we see in Shigaraki or Dabi, and he still wears the Stain cosplay. But I think this whole page really shows that his main thing was doing something about a world that hurt him. It’s why he would later quickly get influenced by Shigaraki and support the ‘destroy everything (including presumably true heroes)‘ plan.

[nalmull]

forever loving this shot of Shigaraki

[nalmull]

That big speech bubble is Dabi’s, and i’m giggling at how it kinda shows some of his issues.

A favorite disciple/golden boy? Being ignored? Being left to starve? Unfair.

-

Meanwhile I love the visual of Spinner being crowded by the bubbles, right before he finally speaks up and confronts Shigaraki.

[nalmull]

I feel off my groove because with the anime’s cut of this entire Chapter 220, I feel the need to go back and re-comment on everything again to mourn and explain in detail why cutting even one panel was a mistake, much less like 17 pages out of 19 or something.

But maybe later, for now, continuation:

Its really a huge pity that the anime missed this opportunity (again) to establish the relationships between the League, to establish small character movements, to just establish the Villains as people who tease each other and freely ask questions and complain and just. talk.

Shigaraki doesn’t react to Toga’s comment that he misses Kurogiri, but for him - as Toga and Twice(?) point out - it’s is rather revealing that he doesn’t scoff or snap, and they tease him about it - and he lets them! What a wonderfully cute scene, to show how much more familiar they’ve gotten with each other since the Overhaul arc.

Back then, Shigaraki just ordered Twice and Toga to go work for Overhaul (Chapter 148). When Twice speaks up, Shigaraki straight up ignores him, walking past him to keep talking.

It’s only when Twice briefly takes off his mask to tell Shigaraki ‘he’s human too’ and Toga points a knife at Shigaraki, that Shigaraki finally talks to them, and really starts building up trust. (Previously written meta: this confrontation made Shigaraki realize he had to treat the League as his equals and work with them.)

A month or so later, Shigaraki keeps this bond between them going strong, evident in how Toga asks about the mysterious Doctor, and Shigaraki answers her with no evasion or vagueness - gives a little more than just the basics too.

And of course, the hand mask is off as well. No ‘wall’ between him and the League - he’s made them part of his ‘in-group’.

How much Toga/Twice/Shigaraki have grown and developed! Later also lending more weight to Shigaraki’s statement that Toga can keep what she likes, and why Twice felt so badly the League is his home.

too friendly and nice i guess for the anime who wants to keep the villains scary and 2D so they said no friendship no humanizing nothing for you villain stans RIP

(These are tiny moments, it’s true, and maybe i’m reading way too much into them, but like. As established Villains, cruel and crazy and destructive, introduced as such in their first appearances, these scenes are just all the more poignant.)

[nalmull]

Minor detail, but Shigaraki’s already wearing his cool long-coat here in this flashback!

-

random timeline stuff:

Kamino happened in early-mid August; the next time we see Shigaraki, it’s about half a month later, late in the last week of August or early early September, where he’s with Mr. Compress checking up on Toga who just got out of the licensing exam she infiltrated. And he’s also got his coat there already as well (Chapter 114).

About that same first week of September, the League still have their disastrous meeting with Overhaul. Notably, Kurogiri is not there - the first time he’s not by Shigaraki’s side when ‘business’ things are happening (previously, Kurogiri had been there with Shigaraki during Stain meeting, Toga and Dabi interaction, Bakugou recruitment). Safe to assume that Kurogiri was already out looking for Gigantomachia, which suggest that the above ‘it’s all for you, Shigaraki Tomura’ flashback happened before the Chapter 114 scene; maybe in the immediate few days after Kamino.

Shie Hassaikai compound raid and Overhaul Highway De-Arming and Kurogiri captured all happens on the same day in late-ish September, around the same time Kurogiri finds Gigantomachia as well. (Took about a month to find Machia, even with Kurogiri’s portal abilities? Well-Hidden indeed.)

One month after that - Shigaraki says that’s about how long Kurogiri since has been caught - makes this Chapter 220 scene in late-ish (3rd or 4th week) October.

Therefore, important note: Mr. Compress celebrates his 32nd birthday (October 8) after he lost his arm.

[nalmull]

Flashback! So we still don’t know what house this is, and why Shigaraki and Kurogiri was squatting in it.

It’s a wrecked, seems to be long abandoned place, which is par for course for Shigaraki’s preferred hideouts - but this isn’t a warehouse, or a construction site, or an old hospital (anime had the scene where Shigaraki tells Toga and Twice they’re being rented out to Overhaul in an abandoned hospital apparently) like any of his previous haunts. Instead this looks like a traditional-Japanese styled living room of a house-that-you-live-in house.

Back at the time before the Tenko flashbacks, I had thought it was the old Shimura house. It could still be it, I guess, but that seems unlikely since Tenko seemed to have flattened that residence (plus would a wealthy neighborhood just let such ruins remain?)

Maybe it doesn’t matter! Just another wrecked location for the vibes and atmosphere. But i wonder.

[nalmull]

I love this image!!! I love all images of Shigaraki, but this is a particularly good one. He eats.

Apparently he’s eating a CalorieMate cookie, which is a Japanese energy bar.

It’s a “balanced food block.” … Nothing fancy, folks. … The ingredients are mainly wheat flour, margarine, sugar, and a thousand vitamins, plus whatever mild flavor note has been added to your choice. Is it healthy? No, but that’s not the point of Calorie Mate. The point of Calorie Mate is to fill you up for many hours, without requiring you to spend time or money preparing a meal. You don’t even need utensils to eat it. You barely need a napkin. It’s the “friends with benefits” of foods: satiating and reliable, without being overly stimulating.

Note that down, fanfic writers. This is like, the only thing we see Shigaraki eat in the manga so far. (Remind me to make a post about the stuff Shigaraki eats/seems to like to eat, as seen in manga/anime/Smash!)

[nalmull]

There he is! Dabi, known sexist and fantasy racist*, finally showing up.

I remember feeling a sharp twinge of being pissed at him the first time I read this via Jaimini’s scanlation iirc:

Where he does sound a lot more dickish. But yeah, geez, first words out of his mouth are snide, rude towards his allies, and we know from the Hero Billboard/High End arc a couple dozen chapters ago that his main recruitment so far is… Hawks. ‘Hero Spy To Infiltrate The League And Bring It Down’ Hawks, and I was never part of the ‘Hawks Will Betray the Heroes’ theory camp, so... Not exactly doing excellent work himself, Dabi, and in no position to talk.

Here we also see more of his contempt for the ‘common’ criminal, first seen in Chapter 115, where he does exactly what Twice accuses him.

Dabi’s got his eyes on something greater - he’s got ambition, he’s got big plans, he’s aiming for something more. And it’s true. He’s not here for petty crimes and street fights and dumpster diving, he’s ready to bring down the new No. 1. Which is probably why he considers himself above the ‘trash’, and that’s an attitude he’s got since he was younger.

(As opposed to Shigaraki, who I’ve always felt generally just considers himself part of the trash as well. Everyone is scum, and so is he. He might dislike others and tries to one-up them, he wants to be king, but he’s never seen himself as superior. His feud with Stain was to prove that Stain was just another crazy murderer; he despised Overhaul for being high and mighty; and later in this arc, he takes ReDestro to task for being up high on his tower during the Deika fight. That’s the nature of Decay, after all - everything collapses, everything breaks down, everyone’s the same in the end. Dead and gone, dust to dust.)

Anyways! Back to Dabi: I think even now, currently, in the story so far up to Chapter 322, Dabi still thinks himself higher, living in a different world from the rest of the League and hence his aloofness - though he does consider the League as also above the rest of the Villain world, so there’s that at least.

And so, time for him to learn he’s not hot shit and has to depend on his allies?

*I call Dabi these things in the most affectionate way possible, honest to god.

[nalmull]

“We do a disservice to all those who idolize us and what we stand for.”

Mr. Compress (half-jokingly?) concerned about the image of the group, ready to inspire a bunch of other terrorists and Villains. Tracks, now that we know about Harima. Methods of the League as appropriate or not aside (or, not quite - Shigaraki hasn’t given his ‘destroy everything’ speech yet) (tho he is alright with ‘terrorizing the nation’), here is the first hint in MVA of Mr. Compress thinking about the larger picture, about the League’s affect on society, the influence they have and what that’ll do for others - probably all for carrying on Harima’s goal.

Funnily enough, we’ll see the Spinner fanboys as an example of those who got influenced. I think those fanboys might be the first example of villains paying direct homage to the League? Good for them!! Good for Spinner!!

[nalmull]

Angry Spinner is great Spinner. <3

Evidently, here, he’s sick of Shigaraki’s bs. From the League’s creation back in July, to now in October, Spinner has never been impressed by Shigaraki Tomura. didn’t even liked him as a coworker/boss, probably 😛.

The Stain fanboy that he is, he ignored Shigaraki’s ‘Hit List’ of the UA students he wanted dead (in contrast to Magne, who took it seriously) in Chapter 78. In Chapter 160, he sulking behind the wheel about not fully abiding by Stain’s will - who, after all, never said anything about purging police, just fake Heroes.

Now there’s no Stain, no missions, and they’re squatting in a run down building breathing in asbestos and mold. Spinner probably could’ve done this at home without the troubles of being on a nation’s most wanted list.

So far, Spinner’s also been stand-off-ish from the League in general.

Besides the ‘arms-crossed, glaring, standing away from everyones’ way he’s drawn, Spinner hadn’t really spoken to the League much. There was Big Sis Mag during the camp raid - really just bickering - and on the highway ambush, he only 1) yells back at Dabi for insulting him; and 2) questions his leader’s decisions, in which Shigaraki only gives a half-hearted platitude. Notably, he’s also missing from the disastrous first meeting with Overhaul where the League experienced their ally’s first death that affected everyone there.

The League are people he runs with, but three months of crime-ing together, Spinner still haven’t warmed up to them, it seems. The lack of bonds, the ideological differences - Him confronting Shigaraki was an expected, natural course of events. What will he do? What will he say? And crucially, what will Shigaraki do?

-

Meanwhile we get the best convo ever between Mr. Compress and Shigaraki.

Compress: I want sushi.

Shigaraki: Are you kidding me. *proceeds to commit this request to memory*

It was a delight, the first time reading this banter. Still a delight. Fans said ‘please give mr. compress his sushi’ and wondered how Shigaraki would go about it. The League Goes To A Restaurant. Good joke.

Which makes it all the more wonderful that this silly off-handed moment becomes like a delicious symbol of Shigaraki’s victory and triumph and his genuine care for the League. And maybe the funniest joke in the story.