This was the first time All Might outright stated that his vision of a singular beacon for society/A Symbol of Peace was flawed. However, because All Might does not value himself as a person, he believed the problem was how he hurt others by cutting them out of his life. In reality, the problem was that All Might commodified himself to such an extent that he could not care about himself as a person, and he cut out anyone in his life that valued him more as a person than as a symbol.
Now it was important for Endeavor to hear this message because this position was what he was striving towards for over two decades. He envied the adoration and belief in his absolute power that the public had for All Might. And All Might told Endeavor to use him as a cautionary tale to find his own way forward.
But the person who needed to hear this speech the most was Izuku. Endeavor needed to hear the message of not losing himself in a role, but Endeavor's extreme selfishness made the specifics of this cautionary tale less applicable to his own journey. Izuku, partially due to All Might's own encouragement, was the one heading down a path to sacrifice himself as a person to fulfill a symbolic hero role. And it's unclear whether that was due to All Might's sensitivity towards how much Izuku admired him or because at this point in the manga All Might still believed someone needed to bear that burden and it should be the One for All successor.
OK, I just love it... I love how Shouto is using his heart literally as the center of his ultimate move. Like, being literal sometimes is such a big part of his character but it’s masterfully subverted.
Previously on BnHA: The kids began their supplementary lesson for the day. Tired Mera (upgraded to his final form from just plain old Mera) introduced Camie from Shiketsu and said she would be joining the lessons moving forward. Gang Orca showed up and flung Bakugou, Todoroki, and Yoarashi around some just for the hell of it before announcing that the three of them plus Camie would have a special assignment for the day. Cue the arrival of about 25 screaming children. They immediately set upon the lot of them and stole Bakugou’s grenade gauntlet and piled onto both Todoroki and Yoarashi and we’ll probably never see either of them again. Present Mic got all hyped up and stole Mera’s mic to start narrating all of the action. Meanwhile, Endeavor quietly asked All Might just how the fuck one goes about being a Symbol of Peace anyway.
Today on BnHA: The babysitting squad struggles to figure out how to “win the hearts” of this vicious group of six-year-olds. Bakugou proposes that they single out the kids’ leader and break their spirit to establish dominance. Inasa tries to bond with them. Todoroki tries to show the kids what kind of person he is by giving a five-hour oral presentation of his entire life story up to this point. Shockingly, none of these approaches is very effective. Meanwhile Endeavor opens up to All Might (I know guys, shit’s crazy) and says he’s obsessed his entire life over trying to be stronger than everyone else, but he knew from the start that he would never be able to top All Might. All Might says that he simply wanted to be a symbol the people could believe in to give them hope and help them not to be afraid. He says that he and Endeavor are different and that Endeavor should try to find his own way of doing things. Meanwhile the babysitting mayhem continues as the kids face off against the young heroes and activate their quirks.
(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that. I accidentally spoiled myself for something huge related to Deku and I’m so mad lmao. so now I’m going off on a frustrated reading binge and so help me god I will catch up with this manga if it kills me.)
our new squad!
“win the brats’ hearts” omg
I’m telling you guys, Kacchan has this in the bag. he has so much experience with being a brat. he knows how to reach the hearts and souls of brats. he is a natural leader. like Steve Harrington before him, he is a babysitting legend and doesn’t even know it yet
that’s it Katsuki. assert your authority. remember, they can smell fear
how did they get both of them??
this boy fought off six grown villains at once, and yet he has been completely outmaneuvered by four preschoolers in a matter of minutes
and yet, please note how even as he tries to get this under control and also finds the time to yell at Todoroki (who makes an excellent point btw), he effortlessly dodges this one kid who was trying to sweep his legs
Camie is all “I have no idea what to do next” and over in what has now become the announcer booth, Present Mic is all “I can just tell they have no idea what to do next”
he can just tell
now he’s handing the microphone over to the sobbing kindergarten teacher so she can clarify what exactly the hero kids’ task is here
“basically I want them to do my job for me k thanks byyyyyyyyyyye”
so she wants them to inspire these kids somehow
wow Shouto and Inasa are so moved
meanwhile Bakugou is just like (╬◣益◢)
well at least he’s motivated. you really want to go get yourself flung around by Gang Orca some more huh
now he’s ranting about how this is what happens when the teacher fails to carry out their role as the leader of the kids, and that the kids have sensed that weakness and taken advantage of it
and that somewhere out there is an alpha kid “who sets the mood for the rest of the class” and they just have to find them
like you, you little thug? speaking from experience are we?
he knows just how to deal with them once they find them too
this is all very Lord of the Flies
and now he is demanding that the strongest child come out to fight him lmaooooo
and he’s being called out by the Monoma child
more like he never mentally matured past the age of six. this right here is the lawless jungle of schoolyard politics. your civilized rules have no place here
the kindergarten teacher is asking Mic if this is really going to be all right lol
and actually, Mic seems to have a surprising amount of faith in Bakugou, stating that he’s “just doing a little side show” that’s all
yep. sure he is
meanwhile Camie is informing Bakugou that delinquents are out of fashion
and he’s all “WELL THEY SHOULDN’T BE”
delinquents in general are, but Delinquents With A Heart Of Gold are still as popular as ever, so you’re good, Kacchan, don’t you worry
now Inasa’s stepping up to the plate!
he says the fast track to becoming best friends is just to get to know each other. I assume he also turned to wink at Todoroki and I just missed it
“who wants to be a hero?! raise your hand!”
ooh, it’s working!
CAN HE FOLLOW THROUGH?
wow he’s a natural
okay in all honesty, Inasa would be a great dad. frankly, looking at his performance here just drives it home how absurd it is that he didn’t manage to pass the provisional exam the first time around. he has all of the qualifications and then some. it’s just that he’s Dumb
holy shit
THESE KIDS ARE CALLING THEM OUT LEFT AND RIGHT
looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off againnnn nnnn nnnnnn... *ping*
at this point should I be concerned for Todoroki
like, I’m starting to sense a pattern here
so now Inasa’s smashing his head onto the ground in his trademark deep bow from a standing position, and apologizing to the kids and saying he had no right to preach at them from his high horse
Camie is all “wow these kids are pretty fucked up huh”
and Bakugou is all “THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING”
he says sometimes you need violence to “put ‘em in their place” and that’s how he was raised
oh boy. so this is why everyone is all “Mitsuki is abusive”, isn’t it
goddamn you Horikoshi and your throwaway lines. does this mean I’m gonna have to do a Mitsuki meta after all
well for now I’m just gonna say that I don’t believe this line is meant to imply that Bakugou is being seriously abused at home in any way. it’s like... this, to me, is the same as when they had him all chained up on that podium at the end of the sports festival arc. something that was done for comedic effect. like, yes, if this was real life, that would be pretty fucked up and would definitely warrant some looking into. but this is a shounen manga where they had children battle each other to the point of unconsciousness for sport, and everyone was cool with it and cheering them on. when Bakugou says he was raised in a violent household, it’s clearly meant to be comedic sitcom violence where no one actually gets hurt. I’m not saying it’s not something that can’t be interpreted more deeply, because that’s half the fun of reading a manga. but I’m just saying that I myself am choosing to take it in the more zany/cartoonish tone in which I believe it’s intended, because in this case I think reading too deeply into it would lead to projecting issues onto Bakugou’s character that I don’t actually think are there. giving him angst I don’t think he actually has, in other words
I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of explaining this, though, so like I said, I really will end up having to post that meta I think
(ETA: so yeah, I posted that yesterday. thank you for everyone who took the time to read my rambling thoughts on this very touchy subject!)
anyway!!
meanwhile this kid absolutely was abused at home, though, and that’s a certified fact. and this is what he has to say about that
and immediately Bakugou is thinking back to the conversation he overheard at the sports festival
oh my god
this fucking kid omg
just. look at this shit though. he understands immediately that Todoroki is referring to his own violent upbringing, and he’s like oh snap, and then he actually backs down in his own way and doesn’t try to argue the point and is just like, fair enough, why don’t you give it a go then
and yet the way he does it is just. so exquisitely obnoxious. “let’s see... how can I try to be understanding, but like, in the rudest fucking way possible”
just. it’s magnificent. dammit Katsuki why are you like this
oh hey we’re cutting back to Endeavor and All Might
Endeav says he’s entrusted everything to Shouto
he says that he had already climbed to the number two spot when he was only twenty years old, and that he immediately understood that number one would always be out of his reach
okay, gonna press pause for a second now here. so just a reminder that we know Endeavor is 45 years old. maybe 46 now, idk. anyway though, so this means that he’s been the number two hero for 25 years. and that means that All Might must have been active for at least the same amount of time, and that he was already number one even 25 years ago. not just that, but he was well-established enough that Endeavor already knew he would never be able to beat him
so the question is, how long do we think it took All Might to become that established. could he have done it just two years after graduating U.A.? I think in all likelihood this means he’s probably a little older than Endeavor. I really can’t see him as any older than 50, though, so it’s hard to say. maybe he just ages like Paul Rudd. at any rate, he has obviously been around for quite a while
(ETA: to add onto this, we know from chapter 185 that no one had ever reached the top 10 as a teenager before Hawks did. so at minimum All Might would have had to be at least 20 years old before he became #1. so yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and say he’s definitely older than Endeavor by at least a little bit. honestly would it kill Horikoshi to go ahead and give this man an official age already.)
anyway, Endeav says he didn’t just want the title (which is obvious enough, given how he reacted when it was just handed to him following All Might’s retirement). otherwise he could have just gone around “foolishly smiling at everyone” the way All Might did
okay man, if you’re seriously trying to change your ways though, you might want to start with reconsidering that particular part of your attitude there
(ETA: though it seems his fans don’t like when he does this lol. no one wants a friendly neighborhood Endeavor apparently)
anyway, so yeah, he says he wanted to be the strongest
All Might’s saying this isn’t like Endeavor at all, and Endeavor is all “>:( JUST TELL ME THE ANSWER ALREADY”
All Might says he has no idea what to say to him. but All Might is a fucking liar, because you just know he’s about to go off into inspirational speech mode though
yeeeeep
basically he just tried to be a good, strong hero who could reassure people that everything would be okay. he won their trust. the reason why Endeavor is struggling is because no one trusts him in that same way. he’s just not a reassuring guy. people don’t feel safer just with him being there. he’s strong, yes, but more in a don’t-mess-with-this-guy way than a putting-your-mind-at-ease type of way. he doesn’t comfort people, he puts them on edge
anyway. while I went on my little tangent, All Might was continuing, and he mentioned how he ended up pushing away most of the people around him, and that was the path he chose
and there’s a flashback to Nighteye, and Endeavor is actually picking up on that
All Might says he know what kind of situation Endeavor is in and what people are saying about him
yeah we just got a nice demonstration of that less than a chapter ago
he says people keep comparing the two of them, but that they’re different
hmm
part of me is like “because he already has another successor in mind lol”
but he’s saying that Endeavor simply needs to find his own way of doing things. “and there’s no need to rush it”
wow, where did this chill, no-worries attitude come from all of a sudden I wonder. I seem to recall the six-years-ago All Might shouting at Nighteye that he had to continue carrying on even as a wounded Symbol of Peace, because even a small interim without that symbol would be disastrous
but now we’re all “it’s cool man, you just do you and you’ll figure it out, no rush.” it’s not like there’s a whole league of villains out there plotting or anything
though on the other hand, All for One is currently behind bars, and as for Tomura, All Might currently thinks of him as “Shimura’s grandson, so he can’t be that bad! I just have to get through to the misguided little tyke.” so maybe we’re not on the same page right now as far as urgency goes
now Mic’s commentary is drawing their attention back to the Baby-sitters Club over here
this is it, Shouto. all eyes on you my man
I have no idea what’s about to go down, but Endeavor is again aggressively showing his support
honestly, it’s very possible that even if Endeavor had actually not been a dick this whole time and had actually tried to be a good parent before now, Shouto would have still come out of it traumatized. Endeavor strikes me as the kind of guy who would have signed Shouto up for Little League and worn a shirt with his face on it to every single one of his games. “THAT’S MY SON!!! SHOUTOOOOO! DO YOUR BEST!!”
is that your dad, the other kids ask. in mortification, baby Shouto creates a little igloo with his quirk and ends up just hiding in there and refusing to come out for the rest of the game
you guys
I feel like. he actually has no clue what to do next
he’s thinking to himself that first he needs to show them what kind of person he is, and until he does that “everything I say will fall on deaf ears”
...please don’t break your arms. felt like I needed to say that. this is not a “what would Midoriya do” type of situation. he would get punched in the nuts is what
sfdalhkdhf
I fucking can’t with this dramatic fucking family
lol what
this is “showing them what kind of person you are”??
and the kids are not having it omg
lol he’s apologizing
YOU BLEW IT KID
lmao Camie is all “it seems like the three of you have been trying to do things the normal way this whole time”
not sure what chapter she’s been reading that she thinks all of this is normal
she’s suggesting that they use their quirks
you know what, I’m on board with that! because WHAT IS YOUR QUIRK, ANYWAY. I want to know omg
Kacchan is all “I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAY THAT”, but were you. were you really
but wow, though
who does this nerdy gung-ho take-charge analysis remind you of? because I’ll tell you, it reminds me of a certain gung-ho take-charge green haired nerd
oh my god they got in a huddle
this really is my new squad. omg. look at them formulating their nerdy gung-ho take-charge plan to take on these two dozen six-year-olds
meanwhile said six-year-olds are gathering their power
did this one kid really fucking unhinge his jaw and produce a fucking cannon wtf
and then there’s rabid Pacman kid, Akatsuki jacket kid who appears to be sprouting moss, triangle eyes kid who’s producing some sort of hula hoop wave, some kid with antennae who really has no business being all “OUR GENERATION IS BETTER” when all he has is a fucking antennae quirk, and lastly this sixth child who isn’t doing anything at all except hovering above all of the other children in such a way that I can’t tell if it’s just wacky panel design or if that’s actually his quirk
at any rate though, these kids better watch out, because these high schoolers appear fully prepared to Stoop To Their Level
can anyone tell what Camie’s quirk is from this panel. I can’t make out a damn thing. is this something where when I come back to look at it later it’ll be obvious and I’ll just be like “how the fuck did I miss that”
(ETA: oh man you guys. I can’t fucking wait for tomorrow’s chapter lol)
anyway. we all already know that Bakugou will take virtually any challenger seriously whether it’s Deku, Ochako, All Might, a bunch of villains, or Deku again. so it’s not all that surprising that this would extend even to a bunch of literal grade-schoolers
but what is surprising is that the others are following his lead here. well, maybe not so much surprising as just hilarious
why don’t you come down here and try your hand at it then if you think you’re so smart, Mic
he’d probably just offer to sign autographs and then wind up devastated when they don’t all fall over starstruck because none of them listens to the radio
will our heroes be able to impress the group of jaded small children?? will they actually end up resorting to violence after all and to hell with Todoroki’s earlier objections?? will we ever find out what the fuck is wrong with these kids’ parents?? STAY TUNED
once again there is no bonus page. there’s only one more of them (since I always skip the staff introduction pages), and it goes with chapter 167 I think. but it doesn’t matter much since this recap is already super fucking long good god
