Hey! Got any Angst in mind?? Maybe some Angst that involves Kidd??
Got one. It's the Penny x Kidd, type ship angst. It's been on my mind for a while. Btw, I know this scenario seems odd and weird. But I just wanted to draw something like this for a while. So here ya go.
Its been a while since I touched any BNHA content, but thanks to my sister, I have a muse to introduce another oc in my own story xD
Meet Yamamori! Or “Mori” for short! The microscopic visioned straight A med student in class 1-C. Top student in his class, and rival to Tsukiko (my main oc) 💕
a.k.a. “looking at the big picture of the BnHA manga”; a.a.k.a. “why BnHA is ending in 60 chapters”, and/or “why Horikoshi’s writing is, dare I say it, actually pretty solid.”
regarding that last part, please note that I wrote this post a few days ago -- i.e. before I read chapter 329 -- and so I would now like to amend that last part to, “Horikoshi’s writing for approximately 73% of his characters is, dare I say it, actually pretty solid.” as for the other 27%, we will not speak of that for now, but he knows he is on thin ice. you leave S&S alone, you heel. we only just got her. please don’t do this to me.
anyway but back to our main topic. so the three-act structure, if you’re not familiar with it, basically goes like this:
Act I - Setup (Exposition, Inciting Incident, Plot Point One)
Act II - Confrontation (Rising Action, Midpoint, Plot Point Two)
Act III - Resolution (Pre Climax, Climax, Denouement)
it’s most often referenced in the context of screenwriting, because the guy who popularized it wrote a bunch of books about that, but it really applies to almost any kind of story. there are other kinds of dramatic structures out there, in theory, but in practice they’re all different ways of describing the same thing, and I think the vast majority of narratives wind up following some variation of this structure whether intentionally or not. and today I want to talk about how it applies to BnHA, and what it tells us about how Horikoshi is planning to end the story.
so I guess we’ll start by breaking down the story of BnHA act by act, starting with:
Act I - Setup
Wikipedia actually has the best summary I could find on how a first act is structured, so I’m just gonna straight up steal it from them:
The first act, or opening narration, is usually used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in. Later in the first act, a dynamic incident occurs, known as the inciting incident, or catalyst, that confronts the main character (the protagonist). The protagonist’s attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first plot point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist’s call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?).
one thing this breakdown doesn’t mention is the length of this act -- typically about 20 to 25% of the total story. I think that’s important to establish, just as reminder of the kind of scale we’re dealing with, because that really helps in narrowing down which arcs BnHA’s first act is comprised of. for example, I think some people, if they were put on the spot without any time to think about it, might instinctively say that BnHA’s first act is only about 20 chapters long, from the start of the story up through USJ. but if that was the case, it would mean that the first act in BnHA only takes up about 6% of the story. so that kind of signals that we need to broaden our scope a little.
here’s my conclusion: the first act of BnHA actually runs for 97 chapters, all the way through to the end of Kamino. here’s how that breaks down.
first, the exposition takes place throughout the entire first act. these arcs contain the bulk of BnHA’s worldbuilding, and this is also when we’re introduced to the majority of the characters, and gradually learn about their backstories and motivations. you’ll note that some of the characters, such as Shouto, don’t really get fleshed out until the Sports Festival or later. and in a similar vein, some of the most important worldbuilding -- particularly regarding OFA and AFO -- doesn’t really get expanded on until chapter 59. and one of the manga’s core themes -- win to save, and save to win -- doesn’t really start to take shape until Bakugou’s origin chapter, more than a year into the series. so yeah, when you consider those kinds of details, it’s clear that all of these early story arcs are part of one big first act.
in contrast to this, the inciting incident does happen very early on in the series, and is very easy to identify. it is, of course, when Deku receives OFA from All Might, which launches him on his journey to become the greatest hero. this is the moment that changes our protagonist’s whole life, and sets up the rest of the story to follow. it is very clearly defined, and doesn’t really need more explanation on my part.
lastly, we have the first plot point, which bridges the gap between acts one and two, and raises the main dramatic question of the story. for BnHA, this point occurs when All Might finally loses his power for good at Kamino. this is the “no turning back” point for Deku, when the full reality of being All Might’s chosen heir finally hits him. it also marks a turning point in the world of the story, as the country is left struggling to find a new way forward without the Symbol of Peace. and it sets the clock slowly ticking towards the inevitable future confrontation between Tomura and Deku which will eventually form the climax of the story.
so that’s act one! we’ve established our plot and our characters, and introduced the main questions which will eventually need to be answered. how will Deku become the greatest hero? what will happen when he finally has to confront Tomura -- and possibly AFO? stay tuned.
Act II - Confrontation
the second act is nearly always the longest, usually comprising at least 50% of the story as a whole. this part of the story is characterized by rising action -- events in the plot that create more conflict for the characters, and build things up toward the climax. this part of the story also tends to be the least structured, and often contains the bulk of the story’s character development, because the purpose of the second act is to gradually bring the characters from point A to point B in terms of preparing them for the final act.
BnHA’s second act is comprised of the Provisional Exam arc all the way up through the War arc. it’s more than twice as long as the first act -- 209 chapters in all. this is when Deku’s hero studies really begin to intensify in the aftermath of Kamino. the kids get their provisional licenses, and have their first experiences with actual hero work during the Basement and Endeavor Agency arcs. there is also a ton of character development, particularly for Deku and Bakugou as they finally start to turn their relationship around, beginning with DvK2. the kids mature a ton and steadily grow stronger, both physically and emotionally. at the same time, however, this act raises the stakes with the ever-worsening villain situation. Deku and his classmates aren’t the only ones getting stronger -- Tomura is also coming into his own, and the League of Villains is becoming a true force to be reckoned with.
the midpoint of the second act is usually some big twist that happens right around the middle of the story that makes things even more complicated for the protagonist. for BnHA, I think that midpoint occurs with the awakening of the SIXQUIRKS during the Joint Training arc. not only does this give Deku a significant new hurdle to clear in his quest to master OFA, but it also deepens the mystery of OFA and its connection to AFO. this is something that will clearly be very important to the story’s climax, and it does occur right around what I believe to be the midpoint of the story, with the Vestiges first appearing in chapter 193, and Deku unlocking Blackwhip about 20 chapters later.
and of course, the second plot point, which marks the conclusion of act two, is the War arc, during which Tomura, AFO, and the LoV finally seem to get the upper hand. the second plot point is very often when the conflict starts to reach its peak, and things are almost at their worst. the protagonist is confronted with the reality of the final challenge that lies ahead, and has to step up to the plate. in much the same way that plot point I bridges the gap between the first and second acts, plot point II bridges the gap between the second and third, and sets the stage for the final confrontation between the protagonist and their main obstacle. in this instance, the War arc brings Deku face to face with AFO for the first time, and forces him to fully step into his role as the ninth heir of OFA, whether he feels ready for it or not.
Act III - Resolution
and so that brings us to the third and final act of the series. and this of course is why I made this post to begin with, because I wanted to analyze the story in this context, and use what we know about narrative structure to try and predict what we can.
so first of all, let’s talk about length, because that’s been the big topic of controversy over the past week or so. Horikoshi recently revealed that he originally planned for the final act of BnHA to be about five volumes, which naturally sent ripples of panic rushing through the fandom. however, Horikoshi also added that he “isn’t so sure” about that now, which led to many fans speculating that the series could easily continue for another hundred chapters or more.
as for me, I fall somewhere in between! first of all, I think we are about to enter the final battle, that much is clear (and no, I’m not expecting any fake-outs, as I can’t see any narrative purpose for that). and I agree that five volumes -- or three, if he was including the first two volumes of the Dekuangst arc in that estimate -- is not going to be enough time to wrap the story up conclusively. on the other hand, ten volumes feels like way too much time, and I don’t think his estimate would have been that far off. so for me, I’m going with 60 more chapters in all, both because that feels like the right length for a final battle which surpasses the War arc in scope, and because it would bring the total length of the series to about 390 chapters total. which is exactly in line with the three act structure, as it would mean the three acts were divided as follows:
Act I - 25% (97 out of 390 chapters)
Act II - 54% (209 out of 390 chapters)
Act III - 21% (83 out of 390 chapters)
this seems just about right to me. 400 chapters happens to be my ideal length for the series anyway, and has been my prediction for quite some time now. so this is right in that ballpark, and I for one would be very satisfied.
so moving on now to our other predictions, as far as breaking down the final act into parts, it usually goes like this:
pre-climax - this is exactly what it sounds like; that last lingering part of the story where everything is building up toward that final confrontation. oftentimes this is the part where the protagonist reaches their lowest point, and starts to doubt whether they can really succeed. the pre-climax can also sometimes overlap with the actual climax, depending on whether you define “climax” as being the final conflict in general, or as a specific moment during the final conflict when things reach peak intensity.
climax - the most important part of the story, where the protagonist faces their main conflict and decides their fate.
denouement - basically, the resolution of the main conflict.
so as far as BnHA goes, it’s clear to me that the DAA was essentially the pre-climax. this is the build-up to the final battle, during which the dramatic intensity gets ramped up to 21, and Deku has a bit of a breakdown, but ultimately bounces back with the help of his friends. pretty straightforward, I think.
so what’s left, then, is essentially just the climax and the denouement. meaning that as I mentioned earlier, we are almost certainly heading into the final battle now, for better or worse. there may be a few more chapters of pre-climax, depending on what things Horikoshi prefers to resolve (ETA: or make much, much worse) beforehand. but I think we’ve reached the point where almost all of the dangling plot threads that are left (U.A. Traitor, all of the mysterious Vestige stuff, and whatever the fuck is actually going on with OFA and AFO) are ones that Horikoshi is saving for either the climax, or the denouement.
it’s also worth noting that we should be expecting the writing in this last part of the series to feel a bit different from the writing in act two, and that contrary to popular opinion, this isn’t necessarily a mark of bad storytelling. each of the three acts serves a different purpose and has different goals to achieve. the first act was all about exposition, so it was naturally slower-paced, as the conflict isn’t supposed to feel heavy yet at that stage. the second act, by contrast, featured intensifying conflict, and so we got treated to some relatively darker arcs such as MVA, which wouldn’t have really fit in during act one. Horikoshi also focused a lot more on the character development than the plot at times, which I know many fans preferred. and it was also the least planned-out of the three acts, which was both an advantage and disadvantage, as it gave Horikoshi more freedom to roam and explore, but also occasionally seemed to leave him floundering a bit.
as for the third act, for starters the pacing is naturally going to speed up in comparison to the first two acts, because the third act is all about ramping up the intensity until we hit the climax. it’s also shorter than the second act, so that makes it feel faster paced as well. and it’s easily going to be the heaviest of the three acts, because the pre-climax is by nature the darkest part of the entire story. and so if any of these things don’t appeal to you, you’re probably going to be less engaged with the third act. and if you’re expecting more of the same based on the first two acts, those expectations are going to be impossible to meet. that’s just how it is. for a lot of people, myself included, the first two acts of a story are the parts they like best for exactly these reasons.
but everything has to end at some point, and BnHA is no exception. and in spite of my sadness (and it’s hard to tell which of the 5 stages of grief I’m currently at, because Denial and Acceptance sometimes seem remarkably similar lol), I’m also very excited to see just how the story will end. in the same way that there are things you can do in the first and second acts that you can’t do in the third, there are things you can do in the third act which are impossible in the first and second. we’ll finally get answers to all of the story’s mysteries. we’re getting all these huge, impactful developments like everyone finding out about OFA, and Bakugou finally apologizing to Deku. all of the things that Horikoshi was saving for the grand finale are finally going to be on the menu soon, and that is awesome. I want to see the final Clash of Todorokis! I want to see the U.A. Traitor reveal and resolution! I want to see Tomura turn the tables on AFO! and most of all, I want to see Bakugou and Deku -- because make no mistake, they will be at the center of this, just as Horikoshi originally planned for them to be -- resolve their conflict at long last, and face their destinies together.
I want to see Horikoshi, who is the biggest and most methodical superhero fanboy I’ve ever encountered, get to write his dream battle, and make his statement on what a true hero is. I want to see what this man, with his hodgepodge of Western and Eastern cultural influences, so many of which mirror my own to an almost unrealistic degree, brings to the table for his finale. I want to see him put the exclamation point on his magnum opus while his heart is still in it. I think he’s pushing himself to rush towards that point more than anyone else is pushing him, tbh. it’s in Jump’s interest to have the series run for as long as possible, so this idea that his editors are forcing him to rush feels off to me if I’m being honest. I think it’s Horikoshi himself, and I think it’s because he has a clear image of the ending in his head right now, and so he’s just trying to reach that point while it’s still clear, and before he burns out. and while the fruits of that urgency might be less than perfect, I respect what he’s trying to do, and I think that once the climax finally gets into full swing, and we get to the moments that really count, he’s going to deliver.
anyway, so thus ends my rant. if anyone’s interested btw, here’s a link to the little thingy I made in Excel which I’ve been using as a reference for the arc and act lengths and statistics. it doesn’t include chapter 329, because 329 is one of those annoying chapters that starts a new arc and thus throws all of the calculations off, but otherwise it’s up to date. anyway, so that’s all, and I don’t really have a cool or snappy way of ending this extremely long post, so I’m just gonna. ... ...... yeah.
No one asked for this, but I’ve decided to create a reference list of MHA characters who were born in the same year as each other.
To calculate this, I’ve grouped them by the age they would have been on December 31st of Deku’s first year at UA (not the age they currently are in the manga, since that’s always changing). This would ensure all birthdays for the year had passed, without anyone celebrating twice.
A big thing to remember is that some kids born in the same year will be in different school years. This is because anyone born January-March is put in class with the kids from the previous year. I’ve indicated this split with a “~” symbol. I’ve indicated this for adults as well, in case any fic writers are curious who they can make classmates.
I tried to include as many characters as possible, but if I missed your favourite I’m sorry. There are also some characters who we simply don’t know the ages of. I’ll try to keep this updated as we learn more.
Do me a favour and reblog this if you found it helpful/interesting. I spent a lot of time on it and I'd like for people to see it
Happy to say this is spoiler free, but there are characters in here who haven’t appeared in the anime yet (not that you can learn much from a name but whatever).
Last updated: May 3rd (Volume 34′s release AND Hawks’ Villain Report)
Endeavor/Enji Todoroki - August 8
Snatch - April 14
Ganma Asui - (Birthday Unknown)
Masaru Bakugo - March 15
~
Inko Midoriya - July 4
Cathleen Bate/Star and Stripe - July 4
Ectoplasm - March 23
~
Power Loader - September 17
Kyotoku Jiro - January 16
Beru Asui - (Birthday Unknown)
Mitsuki Bakugo - December 1
Sir Nighteye - January 2
Yokumiru Mera/License Exam Host - March 9
Mika Jiro - February 16
Slidin’ Go - March 1
~
Naomasa Tsukauchi - April 4
Best Jeanist - October 5
Centipeder - June 4
Gang Orca - October 29
Edgeshot - February 22
~
Hound Dog - November 15
Rock Lock - June 9
Stain - June 14*
Gentle Criminal - August 29
Mr Compress - October 8
*Birthday revealed in Hawks’ villain report
Tiger - February 29
Midnight/Nemuri Kayama - March 9
~
Ragdoll - April 8
Mandalay - May 1
Oboro Shirakumo - May 5
Twice/Jin Bubaigawara - May 10
Pixie-Bob - June 26
Present Mic/Hizashi Yamada - July 7
Tensei Iida - July 22
Eraserhead/Shota Aizawa - November 8
Vlad King - November 10
Kamui Woods - May 20
Fat Gum - August 8
Manual - December 5
Wash - December 18
Thirteen - February 3
Ms Joke - February 5
Cementoss - March 22
Overhaul/Kai Chisaki - March 20
Mirko - March 1
~
Ryukyu - September 22
Muscular - December 7
Burnin - January 18
Mt Lady - August 11
Dabi - January 18
~
Fuyumi Todoroki - December 6
Hawks/Keigo Takami - December 28
La Brava - February 14
~
Bubble Girl - April 23
Spinner - August 8
Tomura Shigaraki - April 4
Natsuo Todoroki - July 1
Look boy/Can’t You See Kid - January 8
~
Mirio Togata - July 15
Melissa Shield - October 1
Nejire Hado - October 6
Tamaki Amajiki - March 4
Bibimi Kenranzaki - March 5
~
Yo Shindo - May 13
Himiko Toga - August 7
Camie Utsushimi - August 15
Tatami Nakagame - January 23
Seji Shishikura - February 9
~
Mei Hatsume - April 18
Katsuki Bakugo - April 20
Pony Tsunotori - April 21
Neito Monoma - May 13
Kosei Tsuburaba - May 19
Mashirao Ojiro - May 28
Yuga Aoyama - May 30
Sen Kaibara - June 12
Toru Hagakure - June 16
Rikido Sato - June 19
Juzo Honenuki - June 20
Denki Kaminari - June 29
Hitoshi Shinso - July 1
Hiryu Rin - July 14
Izuku Midoriya - July 15
Hanta Sero - July 28
Mina Ashido - July 30
Kyoka Jiro - August 1
Tenya Iida - August 22
Ibara Shiozaki - September 8
Itsuka Kendo - September 9
Momo Yaoyorozu - September 23
Inasa Yoarashi - September 26
Minoru Mineta - October 8
Setsuna Tokage - October 13
Eijiro Kirishima - October 16
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu - October 16
Fumikage Tokoyami - October 30
Shihai Kuroiro - November 1
Yosetsu Awase - November 7
Kinoko Komori - December 2
Yui Kodai - December 19
Kojiro Bondo - December 23
Ochaco Uraraka - December 27
Togaru Kamakiri - January 7
Shoto Todoroki - January 11
Koji Koda - February 1
Manga Fukidashi - February 2
Nirengeki Shoda - February 2
Reiko Yanagi - February 11
Tsuyu Asui - February 12
Mezo Shoji - February 15
Jurota Shishida - March 26
Samidare Asui - (Birthday Unknown)
Mahoro Shimano - December 6
Eri - December 21
Satsuki Asui - (Birthday Unknown)
Katsuma Shimano - March 6
~
Kota Izumi - December 12
*Since I know someone is inevitably going to ask: We do not know the ages of most of the villains (Shie Hassaikai, Meta Liberation Army, some of the early Vanguard Action Squad members). If we ever find out, I will add them.
As well, there are certain characters for whom we only have an age range (Lady Nagant, Dr Ujiko, etc) and as such I have not included them.
In all honesty, I always saw Twice's death a tragedy on both sides
It's clear that Hawks doesn't want to kill him, but is unfortunately forced into it. The excuses sounds like "blue lives matter" bullshit because cops are gun-ho assholes who pretend to feel "forced" (sorry for that)
We know the context and intentions, Twice was a broken guy that fell into the wrong crowd and Hawks doesn't want to kill him for that, but he's too dangerous and he was forced to take a life to save a life
Is that right?
Well, I see that argument, but the story itself seems to show this isn't the case. I'd recommend this post by @transhawks, this one by @logicalbookthief, and this one by @thekingofwinterblog. The latter lays out, panel by panel, how many options there were during the attack to move away from the ending we got, yet Hawks didn't take them. Psychologically, of course, Hawks was hyperfixated on a certain point and neglected to think outside the box/system, which is his flaw.
Also... not to be too real-life, but I don't necessarily agree with you on cops--or rather, I do agree, but I also think there's a simplification there that makes it far more differentiated from what Hawks did than what Hawks did actually is in reality. I'm fully ACAB, but I also get how psychology works, and the majority of people are not so calculating and self-aware as to "pretend" to feel a certain way. (Though it is also true that law enforcement is going to attract people who either really want justice--rare--or people who want power--much less rare--and given the system's corruption, well... even if you enter with good intentions...) But in general, even people who want power think they are the hero. Most murderers in general feel justified; also note the term "most" because not always. But they aren't, and the illogic they use to arrive at this place of "this is justified!" is based in racism, arrogance, entitlement, among other things like toxic masculinity and that aforementioned hero complex that is further bolstered by the way American society treats cops. Hold them accountable and defuse their broken thought processes, because that's the way to make change.
(Actually, if you're interested, Bungo Stray Dogs does a fantastic job of portraying exactly this in its Hunting Dogs characters, particularly Jouno in recent chapters. He's fully human, yet also a perfect parody of cops in that he actually is self-aware of the fact that he just likes to make bad people suffer.)
