I realized that I've talked already so much about this chapter that I omitted writing a chapter post.
Anyways, my heart is very full now, because my year-long pain finally got answered and Shouto got emotional support - and even though it was just a one-page long scene, it was perfect with every way. This journey. These parallels. This joke. With these people. A laugh and smile. Whatever else happens, we'll always have this. TDBK friendship canon. Q.E.D.
You mean there were other things in this chapter? Moving on.
So apart from Aoyama, AFO did have more insiders in UA among the civilians and tells them to cause trouble to make Deku leave, but they don't cause trouble and Deku leaves anyways. It feels a bit pointless, but I'm guessing these guys may come into play later.
Pooped-out Class A is coming back from the search party, Kaminari and his forehead flopping at the door, until All Might's dramatic entrance yeets him across the common room.
Anyway, they are here to discuss battle plans with a select few that includes a zoom-conference of at least 5 locations:
UA with Class A (above Hawks' head), Edgeshot, 2 more screens with people I don't recognize
There is also Aizawa in the hospital with Kurogiri and what appears to be Monoma (and it totally makes sense if they get Monoma copy Kurogiri's teleportation).
Neither Endeavor, nor Shouto look happy post-discussion, so I'm thinking it does not look good for Touya. On the other hand, it's hard to pay attention with this Bakugou panel...
So whatever the discussion, the kids very visibly and publicly leave UA:
We are treated to some cute good-byes (and the Bakugous doing whatever...). I'm enamoured of the Todoroki panels - Shouto being so touched that they came, Natsuo's torn expression, Fuyumi's protective hand on Rei's back. Very nice.
Recovery Girl looks very bad, feels like the post-war took her toll. Mic co-parenting Eri with Aizawa is confirmed.
Is that Death Arms between Star guy and Umbrella Boy? How does it feel to watch literal children march into battle?
So the kids move into a building 30 kms away from UA (Search's reach?) that looks exactly like UA and is named Troy? Then they wait around in their hero costumes? Hmmmmm, what are the chances they'll be smuggled back in just like the Troyan horse?
Since they are waiting - Deku finally has a discussion with Uraraka, where they mutually confirm that they feel conflicted about their villains and bond over their own weirdness.
Haha, if only they thought of including Shouto in their discussion, they probably would feel more normal. They are only wondering - Shouto is making dinner reservations.
Just let me include this panel too. I haven't been fed for a year.
Yes, Shouto. I'm fine now too.
(Katsuki flopping on that bed is a sight for sore eyes).
BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??
Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all âplease tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.â Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all âif only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, weâve tried nothing and weâre all out of ideas.â Ochako was all âLISTEN UP PEOPLE.â The mob was all, âgod??â Ochako was all, âNO, ITâS ME, OCHAKO. IâM REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HEâS JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.â Letâs see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.
Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all âso I have this speech planned out, and itâs really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but Iâm gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.â Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and itâs all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.
âbut I thought about how I needed to say thisâ
a.k.a. yet another meta dissection of The Apology. I actually wrote most of this up on Friday night based on the original Japanese (@pikahluaâ has an excellent translation up here, and I also used @hanashimasâ translations as a reference as well), but I wanted to wait until the official release, though that turned out to be a mixed bag to say the least lol.
I would also recommend reading @pikahluaâ and @class1akidsââ breakdowns of this scene (here and here, respectively), because they are excellent, and because if any scene deserves to have as many meta breakdowns written about it as possible, itâs this one.
Previously on BnHA: Endeavor was all, âKirishima please take Hagakure and Aoyama and put them away somewhere out of sight until weâre finally ready for the U.A. Traitor Plot.â Shouto was all âHEY DEKU DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE YOU WANDERING THE STREETS LOOKING LIKE A GOTH PRAYING MANTIS IS EXACTLY WHAT AFO WANTS.â Deku was all âIâM SORRY I CANâT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY CRUSHING MATYR COMPLEX AND ACCUMULATED TRAUMA.â Mineta was all âHEY DEKU YOU SWEET THANG, IF I COULD REARRANGE THE ALPHABET IâD PUT âUâ AND âIâ TOGETHER, ANYWAYS HMU đâ, or at least thatâs what fandom apparently thought he said. Everyone was all âWELL SINCE WEâRE BACK HERE IN KAMINO WE SHOULD DO THE THINGâ and did the whole âlaunching someone into the air to save someone by dramatically grabbing their handâ thing that everybody fucking loves to do in Kamino so damn much. Iida was all â[bombards me and Deku with feels].â Deku was all, âŕĽ(ĘĚ´ĚśĚˇĚ .Ě ĘĚ´ĚśĚˇĚĽĚ ŕĽ).â I was all, â(;*âł*;).â Horikoshi was all, âmy work here is done.â
Previously on BnHA: Endeavor tried to talk some sense into Deku but failed on account of having the charisma of an automated voice contacting you about your carâs extended warranty. The Vestiges were all âwell heâll at least have to listen to us because weâre literally disembodied voices kicking around in his head.â Deku was all â[doesnât listen to the Vestiges].â The Vestiges were all, â( âáˇâ˘Ěťâᡠ).â Deku was all âwhy is everyone so afraid of me, I wonder if itâs because I look like the Cloverfield monster tried to transform into a werewolf and got stuck halfway.â Some puppet guy was all âhey there, Iâm just here to cause trouble for two seconds before getting my ass kicked.â Back in OFA Land: Galaxyâs Edge, OFA Dos was all, âyou know what you guys, I bet I know who Deku will listen to.â Fandom was all, âwait, I know this one⌠itâs Toga, isnât it.â Anyway so yeah, welcome back, Toga.
Today on BnHA: FLASHBACK TO U.A. AHHHHHHH. KACCHAN AND SHOUTO AND OCHAKO AND IIDA AND RAT PRINCIPAL AHHHH. Kacchan is all âlet me get this straight, these assholes really let Deku run off on his own under the so-called supervision of the three fucking stooges and the guilt-ridden skeleton man??â and spends the next several days painstakingly explaining this concept to escalating levels of management until he finally gets approval to go out and fix the situation. The other kids are all âwhat he saidâ and join in too. Back in the present day, Deku is all, âthanks guys, but you see, Iâm actually fine (â˘_â˘) so yeah, uh⌠ah fuck who am I kidding, weâre gonna have a fucking throwdown arenât we.â Right you are, Deku. Happy anniversary kids.
Previously on BnHA: The Hawksquad+Lurkers were all âwell this sucksâ and sat around a bit talking about how maybe they should actually come up with a new plan that is actually good, but then in the end they were like ânah.â Deku was all, âTHEREâS SOMETHING INSIDE ME THAT PULLS BENEATH THE SURFACE!! CONSUMING, CONFUSING!! THIS LACK OF SELF CONTROL I FEAR IS NEVERENDING. ITâS HAUNTING HOW I CANT SEEM TO FIND MYSELF AGAIN. MY WALLS ARE CLOSING IN.â Just, literally that whole entire song. All Might was all âDeku you should take care of yourself, try eating a thing,â and Deku was all âBYE, ALL MIGHT,â and just LEFT. He left!!! What the fuck!!!
Today on BnHA: Endeavor is all, âmaybe if Deku didnât listen to All Might heâll listen to me instead.â Deku is all, â[doesnât listen to Endeavor]â because, well, yeah. The Vestiges are all, âsurprisingly, even we are a little concerned â maybe you should get some rest, kid.â Deku is all, â((à ⸠Ă)).â The Vestiges are all, âholy shit.â Deku is all, â[wanders the ruined city streets terrifying the populace on account of him looking like Shelob had a baby with one of the Nazgul].â Some shriveled-up puppeteer villain asshole is all, âHORIKOSHI SAID ITâS MY TURN TO ATTACK DEKU TODAY SO I AM GOING TO SUMMON MY FRIGHTENED HELPLESS ATTACK MOB!!â Kacchan is all âWHADDYA MEAN THEY FOUND THE NERD!!! â oh wait, thatâs me, I found him. I found the nerd, you guys.â And just in time, too. I was about to owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of dollars.
full disclosure, the title of this post is clickbait lol. this isnât really a post about Bakugou; this is a post about Horikoshi and about the manga-writing process.
anyway, so I just wanted to talk a little bit about the reason why this latest arc has felt so extremely rushed in places. I know thereâs been a fair amount of criticism directed at Horikoshiâs latest editor, and thereâs also been a lot of speculation about Horikoshi himself being worn down or sick and/or otherwise just not feeling himself. however I think thereâs another explanation for all this. and the good news is that if Iâm right, we might see Horikoshi return back to form in these next few upcoming chapters.
so before I start, let me just quickly say that on the whole, I have very much enjoyed this latest arc, and I think that Horikoshi was very successful in achieving what he set out to do, which was to slowly bring Dekuâs character to this current place where his fears and burdens have transformed him into this dark version of himself which is so strikingly different from the hero he originally set out to be. I also really enjoyed the battle with Nagant, all of the delicious angst, and of course this last chapter especially which broke my heart in about a dozen different ways.
but that all said, the fact that Iâve enjoyed this arc doesnât mean Iâm blind to its flaws. and they are there, and there are quite a few of them, and I think itâs fair for people to point them out as many have been doing. a lot of this arcâs developments have felt very hurried. the pacing has felt very out-of-whack, and a lot of things have just felt abrupt, with next to no build-up. hence why the new editor is taking a lot of the blame, honestly.
however, Iâm pretty sure that itâs not his editorâs fault. if you really want to know whose fault it is, brace yourselves lol.