bnhaobservation

[bnhaobservation]

THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN BNHA - PART 3 (CHAP. 98 TO 193)

So we continue with my analysis about the Justice system in BNHA. For who's curious here there's Part 1 & Part 2.

With this said, let's start.

XX PROVISIONAL HERO LICENSE EXAM ARC (98-121)

THE POLICE: In Chap. 116 Tsukauchi drives All Might away from Tartarus, apologizing if he carried him there on schooldays but the hoops one gotta jump through to visit Tartarus are hellish. This implies All Might’s visit to AFO was orchestrated by Tsukauchi/the police, either on the police’s request or on All Might’s suggestion. All Might seems to want to talk to AFO, so the idea might have been both of the police and All Might. From how Tsukauchi was hoping for intel and All Might’s questions we can guess that the police is still investigating on AFO, even if now the man had been arrested.

This also implies that if All Might of all the people has troubles seeing someone jailed in Tartarus when he’s trying to help a police investigation, there’s no way Uraraka, a Hero student, would be allowed to visit Himiko in prison to give her some blood.

Anyway All Might admits he got no intel from AFO beyond him merely speculating Shigaraki and Co. will remain in hiding, expanding their organization. Tsukauchi says he agrees, as he thinks they’ll be crazy to take another attack now. I’m honestly confused. Not many Chapters ago the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency spent quite a bit telling us how much of a danger Shigaraki was and now Tsukauchi instead supports the idea it would be foolish for him to carry out another attack?

Tsukauchi then says he didn’t have time to set it up due to all the paperwork he had to do, but asks All Might if he would like to have a meeting with Stain. All Might won’t get to reply. I’ll jump forward and tell you that yes, All Might was meant to meet Stain but their meeting got delayed. Considering we are at the beginning of September and Stain will escape from Tartarus at the end of March… I do wonder if they ever really cared about making it happen. Stain wasn’t one who would try to hide his crimes and both he would deny being connected to Shigaraki the same way as Shigaraki has denied being connected to him… and Midoriya reported it to Tsukauchi who seemed to believe it… so I’m not sure what do they hope to get by having All Might meet Stain.

THE LAW: //

THE PRISONS: In Chap. 115, we see that, at the same time as the provisional license exam is taking place, in Tartarus All Might is meeting up with AFO, who’s in a straight jacket, tied on a wheelchair and beyond a glass. There are no microphones, the voice carries from a side of the glass to the other thanks to 5 holes on the glass. The wheelchair also has AFO’s life support system attached to it. Turrets are also pointed at him.

In Chap. 116 we see that in order to reach Tartarus a long bridge must be passed, Tartarus being apparently an artificial island in the sea. AFO complains the place is so restrictive that, if his back were to get itchy and he were to try to scratch it against the chair, all the turrets would lock on him, as people constantly monitor his vital signs and brain waves, so the second he thinks about using a Quirk, his life would be forfeit. He explains they’re in the deep underground, constantly monitored, guarded by a layer upon layer of security, as this is how they dispose of the broken ones, like him and that’s why their society calls the place ‘Tartarus’, a deity from the Greek mythology representing Hell itself. He admits even he would have a tough time struggling against this particular god. All Might retorts he can’t get out. From a glass window at AFO’s right, guards are also keeping AFO under surveillance.

All Might asks him where Shigaraki is, to which AFO replies he doesn’t know. All Might claims AFO surpassed his human limits and with such a body he might have lived forever but chose to waste his gift on manipulation, exploitation and toying with people so he asks him what he hoped to archive.

AFO claims he did it because, while All Might admired Heroes he admired Villains, held onto his ideals and acquired the power to embody them as he wanted to live in a world shaped by those ideals.

All Might asks him why he set up a successor to which AFO reminds him he stole everything away from him and that now he’s surviving only thanks to those tubes.

From how a guard tell All Might he only has three minutes more, we can figure that time to talk is limited. All Might is also told there’s an embargo on all information from the outside world so they ask All Might not to divulge any information.

AFO still guesses the situation outside Tartarus and blames it on All Might, on his retirement and the public face he used to wear and asks him how it feels, upsetting him and making him stand and move closer until he’s told he moved too close.

All Might retorts he understands AFO’s plan and won’t let Shigaraki kill him and that he’ll smash the future AFO dreams of before being told his time is up and that he should leave. We then see an iron door automatically opening behind All Might allowing him to leave and then closing.

According to the anime their exchange lasted less than 7 minutes.

Later Tsukauchi will comment the hoops one gotta jump through to visit Tartarus are hellish.

In real life, Japanese prisons violate human rights but here they’re doing it even harder and yet All Might (and Tsukauchi) doesn’t react to this at all.

THE HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: in Chap. 99 Eraser Head talks about the test to get a provisional license (which, we’ll learn later, is organized by the HPSC). He claims the test is incredibly difficult with on average a 50% success rate.

In Chap. 102 Vlad King explains the standardized Hero licensing test is held every year at three different locations around the country in both June and September. In order to avoid direct competition between students from the same school, it’s common practice at all schools to have different classes register separately, at a different time or place. Eraser Head explains only a small number of students usually manages to gain their provisional licenses as first-years and that the exam contents are unknown.

National Takoba Arena is one of the sites where the provisional Hero licensing exam takes place and the one to which Class A goes.

In Chap. 103 at National Takoba Arena, Mera Yokumiru (目良善見) introduces himself as a member of the Hero Public Safety Commission (ヒーロー公安委員会 HERO kōan iinkai) whose favorite type of sleep is non-rem sleep.

He claims that work is so busy that he barely gets any sleep and that they’re terribly short staffed then he then explains how the exams at which all 1540 examinees (77 classes) will take part, an exam that changes each year. This year it’ll be a massive-free-for-all exercise. He also adds that since Stain’s capture plenty of people have raised doubts about the role Heroes should play, but that telling those who risk their lives in order to save others to ask for nothing, would be rather harsh especially in modern society and that regardless of it being done for compensation or out of dedication to the cause they’ve no shortage of Heroes and that the amount of time taken to solve any given incident is incredibly short so who gets his provisional license will be confronting such situations that unfold at a breakneck pace and whose who can’t keep up are doomed to fail. Hence they’ll test their speed and have only the first hundred who’ll pass. In order to be defeated all of the three targets each examinee has on his body needs to be hit. In order to pass one will have to defeat two other examinees, meaning they’ll have to be the person who hits the third target of another examinee with the ball (the English manga version seems to imply one has to hit 6 targets to pass but that’s not the case). Each examinee will only have 6 balls. Once 100 examinees will have defeated two other examinees, the first test is finished.

Ms. Joke explains the exam always starts with the U.A. high crush as U.A. high is the only school which reveals its students Quirk in the school festival shown nationwide.

In Chap. 104 Eraser Head observes in order to pass the exam what is required are unity, cooperation and intel gathering. As for Mera, first he warns the examinee he’ll be doing play-by-play announcements from the broadcast booth (放送席 ‘hōsō seki’) as he watches the exam, then he’ll hurry the students, asking if they feel like passing the test as he yawn. He’s then surprised when Inasa manages to knock down 120 examinees on his own. This means that somehow the balls Inasa stole from his adversaries with his wind Quirk were then reassigned to him and that his throws were considered valid even AFTER HE PASSED.

In Chap. 106 Mera continues to watch the test along with other men and comments that things are now moving right along as they’ve 52/53 students who passed and many are claiming more than two victims each. Apparently he announces Shouto as the 54th who passed. Through Shouto’s targets we learn that when one passes all his targets light up and a voice warns they owner that he has passed and can proceed to the reception room. They are the ones that pass the data of who passed and who failed, sync up with their hosts and balls and measure things like distance and motion in order to determine who’s doing the hitting and who’s getting hit. Also, once attacked they need a special key to be removed. The reception room is called anteroom and people can eat there.

In Chap. 107 Mera comments the kids are bursting with youthful energy but there’s a weird anomaly emerging this time as every year it’s an uphill battle for U.A. high, but this year they haven’t lost a single examinee yet so he tells the ones who’ll take part to round 2 to move.

Chap. 107 also shows Mera Yokumiru’s official profile.

In Chap. 108 Mera announces that the first part of the test is over and asks the ones who failed to leave. The ground where the exam was taking place gets destroyed and Mera announces round 2 will have the examinees venture into the ‘disaster scene’ as bystanders and rescue ‘victims’.

Chap. 109 has Mera clarify they’ll act as people who has earned their provisional Hero licenses and so they will be tested on how they’ll respond in rescue situations. Highly trained professional rescues in very high demand from the “Help Us Company (H.U.C.)” will play the role of victims, feigning injuries but also scoring examinees, who will be scored on how well they’ll perform those rescues. Those who’ll have the required points at the end of the test will pass. A member of HUC will explain they will be the one to help the scoring system by deducting points and that the first thing that must be done is to assessing the victims’ conditions and that Heroes might have to fill in for fire brigades and police officers until other professionals will take over and that Heroes must sound reassuring. As he watches the examinees act, Mera comments things won’t go as easily as planned. In Chap. 110 Gang Orca asks Mera how the students are doing and, looking at Bakugou and Yoarashi’s results, comments it looks like most won’t make the cut, still the HUC people aren’t handing out as many deductions as they expected so not bad on the whole. In regard to Gang Orca (who’s playing the role of Villain during the exam) Mera comments he was asked to join the Kamino mission and that he’s a strong one, number 10 in the Hero ranking and Number 3 in the Heroes who look like Villains ranking. Mera then tells the examinees since the Villains have shown up, their role will be to suppress the Villain incursion while continuing the rescue operation.

In Chap. 111 we’ve a flashback taking place 4 days after All Might vs. AFO at the Heroes Public Safety Commission HQ/main building Hero Public Safety Commission HQ (ヒーロー公安委員会本部 ‘HERO kōan iinkai honbu’), where they’re having the provisional license exam planning conference (仮免取試験企画会議 ‘kari menju shiken kikaku kaigi’).

Around 14 people discuss how the exam will be. It’s revealed that testing the examinee teamwork more than their individual abilities was a suggestion from the top brass at the National police agency (警察庁（うえ） ‘keisatsuchō (read: ue)’), which asked them to revise their criteria and standards for the provisional licenses in a manner that felt more like an order than a request. As a result, in addition to having the examinees set up evacuation stations and treat the wounded so as to test their individual knowledge, they’ve to focus on judging how they collaborate and cooperate as teams. That’s because All Might had power and charm to win people over and this made a huge gulf between him and the perennial runner-up (Endeavor) and they doubt they’ll find someone as equally charismatic again anytime soon, so, while they wait for the next All Might, Hero squads will have to focus on team unity as a way to fill the gap and therefore this proposition is a stepping stone toward that. We don’t see Mera at the conference but if he knew what was said there he probably was there.

Mera then explains that in this part of the exam each examinee gets a set number of points (100) from the start and all the scoring is based on the deduction that follow, with HUC being responsible for judging the rescue efforts but, beyond that, when it comes to maximizing Quirk efficacy via positioning, they’re also evaluated by 100 of Mera fellow Hero Public Safety Commission members each equipped with scoring manuals and comprehensive data of the 100 examinees (ヒーロー公安職員100名 HERO kōan shokuin 100-mei “100 hero public security officers”).

One scorer is assigned to each kid down there, and if the examinees fall below 50 points, they fail. One of the Hero Public Safety Commission members think the evacuation center where the victims are all gathered is the linchpin of the rescue operation so making it a top priority is smart and this is the perfect role for Yoarashi and Todoroki who has overwhelmingly powerful Quirks. Mera and his men are disappointed when they instead start arguing.

In Chap. 112 Mera merely watches the battle.

In Chap. 113 Mera checks the situation and see that only 3 victims still needs to be carried on safety and when this will be done he’ll put an end to the test so mentally encourages the kids not to give up. As the last 3 are rescued, as he said, Mera put an end to the test and announces the results will be shown once all scores are tallied. The ones who are injured should proceed to the medical area while everyone else should get changed and stand by for instructions. Mera then announces it’s time for the result and explains the scoring system and how the members of the Heroes public safety commission and the members of HUC were deducting points and judged them on their ability to act flawlessly in a crisis. He then shows those who have passed the test in alphabetical order.

In Chap. 114 Mera says since the examinees have seen the results, they now will hand out the score sheets and that, since the examinees now know how the scoring system worked, they should read them carefully. The scoring system was a punitive one, with a threshold of 50 points, and they can see on their score sheets how many points they lost for each given action. Mera then explains those who have passed the exam have the legal right to act as Heroes without a professional Hero’s guidance, but only during emergencies, aka fighting Villains and rescuing people in disaster scenarios. They’ve to remember though, their actions come with a heavy responsibility to society. Mera also remembers them All Might is out of commission and how his presence served as an important deterrent to crime. Without him, more Villains will show up as the balance has shifted and the world is bound to start changing in a big way. As the next generation they’re the central pillar of society and will set the standard and become the new bulwark keeping crime at bay. The licenses they will receive are provisional and their road is still long so they should still study hard. As for those who didn’t make the cut if they sign up for and complete a special three month training course and pass the individual test at the end, they’ll get their provisional licenses too, as they need as many Heroes as they can, so the first round was a qualifier and those 100 were all chosen to move on as all them have a potential worth cultivating, which is why they were monitored till the end. Failing this exam doesn’t mean all hope is lost, if they go back and work their deficiencies, they can surpass those who won today. Also attending the training course while maintaining the regular course will make for a packed working schedule. Alternatively they can wait until April of the next year when the next test will take place.

We can also see that all who passed the exam had their provisional licenses issued immediately.

In Chap. 121 Nezu mentions the work studies, or more exactly a Hero internship (ヒーローインターン ‘HERO INTERN’) work. While it’s not said out loud, those things are regulated by the HPSC.

CULTURAL INFO: In Japan inmates can be put in solitary confinement for three months if the inmate violates the prison’s rules; provided, there is a particularly necessity to continue the isolation, then wardens of penal institutions may renew the period for one month upon expiration thereof, and every month thereafter. In short, they can keep that person isolated as long as they deem it necessary. They must obtain the opinion of a medical doctor on the staff of the penal institution about the condition of the health of the sentenced person periodically at least once every three months. Hence AFO is in solitary confinement from when he was arrested and won’t be left out of it. We don’t know if, at this point, AFO underwent a trial. Detainees awaiting a judicial decision, if there is a risk of hindering the prevention of destruction of evidence of a crime, are permitted to mutually interact with others, even in the outside of the detainee's room.

Also wardens of penal institutions must, as much as it is practical to do so, make efforts to provide inmates with access to information on principal current affairs through media such as newspapers kept at the penal institution and news report broadcasts and make books, etc. available in the penal institution, though they are to determine the means of access to the books, etc. made available. This means that banning AFO from any news coming from the outside goes against the current Japanese law.

In real life, as far as I could find, Japan doesn’t use strait-jackets on inmates but they can be restrained with leather and/or metal handcuffs which are secured tightly to a metal-strengthened leather belt so that the prisoner’s hands are fixed securely at either the front or the back of the body and prisoners may also be restrained with an additional pair of metal handcuffs which are not removed at any time, even during mealtimes, or when the prisoner needs to sleep or use the toilet when they’re placed in what is called “protection cells” as a punishment. Inmates can be kept there from a period that goes from 2-3 days to more than a week and, during this time they are monitored continuously and forced to eat food from a plastic bowl like an animal.

Now Amnesty International’s “Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners” says in Article 33 that “Instruments of restraint, such as handcuffs, chains, irons and strait-jackets, shall never be applied as a punishment” and they believes that the use of leather handcuffs and body belts in Japan has the same effect as a strait-jacket and must never be imposed as a punishment… but in Tartarus we see AFO (and other inmates like Stain) being kept in strait-jackets and completely immobilized, AFO being kept under surveillance constantly. Basically, is in real life Japanese prisons already violates Amnesty international’s rules, in BNHA they do it EVEN HARDER.

In most Japanese detention centers, a prisoner may receive one or two thirty-minute visits a day, and in three centers, up to three meetings a day are authorized. Generally though, it can’t be more than three persons per visit. Yes, visiting time might be limited due to overcrowding but in the story we’re talking not of AFO receiving a visit from a family member but from All Might who’s questioning in hope to aid the police. The fact that All Might is allowed 6 minutes to visit him feels ridicule… especially since AFO was put there as an emergency measure but he should still be investigated by the police. True is though, that since prisons and police are under two different authorities, this could cause troubles and Tartarus is explicitly stated as a place in which is really hard to manage to get visiting permission… so again, it has another violation of human rights.

AFO was arrested around the beginning of August and now we’re at the beginning of September. If he was put to trial, since he’s not even attempting to deny his crimes, his trial could be solved in as few as two hearings and would end with sentencing him to death and should be executed six months after sentencing at the latest… though Japan has a bad track at keeping up with such times (we see this being true with Moonfish, who was already on death row when he escaped and joined the League in August and who’s still alive when AFO will cause a massive jailbreak in Tartarus). Prisoners are informed of their execution on the very day it is to be carried out, in some cases upon waking up. Executions always take place in the morning around 8.30 a.m. while close relatives and the media are informed once the sentence has been carried out. According to the United Nations Committee against Torture “refusing to provide convicted persons and family members advance notice of the date and time of execution is a clear human rights violation.” It causes needless psychological suffering.

Internships in Japan were initially advertised on campus for students from well-known universities, with a ten-day period and a daily bonus of about 10,000 yen provided by foreign companies. In the 2000s, some Japanese companies started using internships as a way to recruit talent during the economic downturn, and offered to university students as a way to spend the summer of their third year. By the late 2000s, it was considered the norm to have an intership and that job hunting would begins with it. Currently though internship are also available for high school students, and some participants are even given informal job offers. Although some companies do pay students, the perception is that it is basically a form of social learning and not labor.

It’s worth to mention though that high schools are usually instead AGAINST having their students have part time jobs, especially if the student is below 16 as it’s illegal for people below 16 to work.

XX SHIE HASSAI KAI ARC (122-162)

THE POLICE: In Chap. 124 Tsukauchi is in an office, likely in the “special investigation headquarters” (特別搜査本部 ‘tokubetsu sōsa honbu’) created to investigate the League with Gran Torino, working on a case, likely related to the League and tracking Shigaraki down.

In Chap. 126 Bubble Girl reads a report about how Chisaki made contact with the League of Villains. This report will later turn out (Chap. 135) having been made by the police.

In Chap. 130 Nighteye tells Midoriya about how the police arrested a band of robbers whose truck crashed with Chisaki’s group but there were no injuries or fatalities. The robbers reported that they felt an intense pain before they blacked out and that they awoke without a scratch, even preexisting ailments completely cured. Due to no one being hurt, even though the Villains were arrested, their wrists put in handcuffs at which a rope was attached so the police could pull it, the police couldn’t question Chisaki for any crime, since they also claimed the stolen money burned up.

The result was the police decided there was nothing about the incident worth investigating, which is why Nighteye and his sidekicks are instead doing it independently. And since Nighteye is right for wanting to investigate the incident, again the police shows its lack of competence compared to the Heroes. This though also remarks how Heroes are versatile, they don’t just beat up Villains but also do investigations, investigations that the police neglects to make and, when they do, they don’t have to ask for the police’s permission or anything, which makes them also independent from the police.

In Chap. 131 we see the police reporting a fight between two Villains with gigantification Quirks which are risking to destroy Espa avenue and call for Heroes. They then watch the Villains after the Heroes has defeated them and knocked them on the ground, basically revealing themselves of zero help.

In Chap. 133 the police arrests the gang Suneater, Fat Gum and Red Riot stopped, after their body was tied. They claims Fat Gun’s group had been a big help because that gang’s been selling illegal drugs and goods so they’ve been looking for a chance to catch them.

In Chap. 134 Fat Gun claims he used to work with the cops to catch drug dealers. The police reports to Fat Gun about the perpetrator’s gun. Sadly its Quirk shredded it and there are no bullets though they can tell it’s not an ordinary gun and so they’ll investigate it more.

In Chap. 135 we are reminded the police wrote off as an accident, an incident involving a band of thieves called Reservoir Dogs, even though there were some inconsistencies which prompted Nighteye agency to start an independent investigation on a designated Villain group known as the Shie Hassai Kai that lead them to discover they had been making contact with outsiders and underworld dealers throughout the past years in order to expand and accumulate fund and that,, shortly after they began investigating them, they made contact with Twice of the League of Villains They couldn’t tail them but the police provided further assistance in the sense they finding confirmed some sort of conflict between the Shie Hassai Kai and the League.

Centipedes says he couldn’t tail Chisaki and Bubaigawara but the police provided assistance and their finding confirm some sort of conflict between the two groups.

Gran Torino, realizing this could involve the League, understands that’s why Nighteye should have reached out to him and Tsukauchi (Tsukauchi is part of a task force created in response to the League of Villains and Gran Torino is working with him) and explains Tsukauchi is absent because he’s following up with more eyewitnesses… and I facepalm again at how, even though the police has established a special task force for the League…  and when the police finds out the League came into contact with Overhaul, they don’t inform them immediately, no, they inform Nighteye and let him do the job at his own pace. A good police organization would have immediately sent a warning to Tsukauchi as soon as the name of the League were to come up (even the anime caught up on this changing up the way the sentence was said and removed the pause, so that it looked like Gran Torino was already aware of the situation).

Gran Torino ‘Rengō ga kakawaru hanashinara… to iu koto de ore ya Tsukauchi ni mo koe ga kakattanda.’ グラントリノ「連合が関わる話なら…ということで俺や塚内にも声がかかったんだ。」 Gran Torino “It could be something that involves the League... that's why me and Tsukauchi were asked to join in.” [Chap. 135]

Gran Torino ‘Rengō ga kakawaru hanashinara to iu koto de ore ya Tsukauchi ni mo koe ga kakattanda.’ グラントリノ「連合が関わる話ならということで俺や塚内にも声がかかったんだ。」 Gran Torino “Since it could be something that involves the League, me and Tsukauchi were asked to join in.” [Ep. 69]

In Chap. 136 Nighteye basically asks to Heroes only to help with the investigations. Yes, Tsukauchi was invited to the reunion and yes, Gran Torino will very likely rely to him what the investigation details but the point is Nighteye called and mainly counted on specific Heroes and not the police for investigations. So far investigation was mainly a police specialty in fact, even though Endeavor figured out on his own that Stain was still in Hosu and went to investigate there, we can assume he only meant to patrol there, nothing more but now we’re presented with an investigation started by Heroes because the police dismissed something, Heroes who entrust other Heroes to help with the investigation while the police is not even present to the reunion in which they discuss the matter and plan things over. This makes the police mostly redundant.

In Chap. 137 too the reunion will involve only Heroes, Nighteye will be in charge and he is the one who discovered where Eri is and how to reach her, again making the police redundant.

In Chap. 138 in front of the police station the police finally gets a role in the whole thing. They hand to the Heroes a list of all the Hassai Kai members they could find who have a registered Quirk. The policeman talking, which I guess is a detective in plainclothes like Tsukauchi, now acts as if he’s in command, giving instructions.

He wears an armband on his left arm, in the manga it seems white, in the anime it’s red with yellow borders. Other policemen in plainclothes also wear an armband. We see that there are plenty of policemen with him, around half of them in riot squad uniform.

We also see Asui is impressed by how first they had to do detective work and now they’re cooperating with the police (the English version of the manga calls it a “full-on police operation” but the Japanese version merely calls it a ‘keisatsu to no kyōryoku’  警察との協力 “cooperation with the police”) with Ryūkyū explaining she wasn’t taught this at school so in her first years as a Hero she had a hard time… meaning back then school didn’t consider important teaching its students they would cooperate with the police. Considering how often we see Heroes working solo I do get why the school might not have thought important to teach future Heroes about cooperating with the police.

Tsukauchi and Gran Torino won’t take part to the raid because Tsukauchi learned of a big development in the League of Villains case. We’re told Tsukauchi was frustrated he couldn’t be there but the police has enough manpower already so it’s not a big deal. Honestly I agree that not having Tsukauchi wasn’t a big deal, the one who could have been useful having was Gran Torino.

The policeman then tells the Heroes that if the Hassai Kai try resisting or doing anything funny he’s counting on the Heroes to deal with it as they’re against a Yakuza group that managed to survive up till now. Again, the role of the police is marginal since it has to be expected the Shie Hassai Kai won’t go down pacifically and the ones expected to deal with them are basically solely the Heroes, the police is not instructed to do anything, they’re likely there to read the warrant and do the arrests once the Heroes have subdued them. Basically, they’re mostly decoration.

Keiji ‘HERO! Tashō teara ni natte mo shikatanai. Sukoshi demo ayashī soburi ya hankō no ishi ga mietara sugu taiō o tanomu yo! Aite wa karini mo kyō made ikinobita gokudōmono. Kureguremo ki o yurumezu ni kakuin no shigoto o mattou shite hoshī! Shutsudō!’ 刑事「ヒーロー！多少手荒になっても仕方ない。少しでも怪しい素振りや反抗の意思が見えたらすぐ対応を頼むよ！相手は仮にも今日まで生き延びた極道者。くれぐれも気を緩めずに各員の仕事を全うして欲しい！出動！」 Detective “Heroes! It can’t be helped if things get a little rough. If you see even the slightest suspicious behavior or signs of resistance, please respond immediately! We're dealing with a Yakuza criminal organization which has managed to survive until today. Please remain vigilant and complete your work! Mobilize!” [Chap. 138]

When they’re about to enter the detective says once he has read the warrant things are gonna start moving so they should try to end it quickly.

Keiji ‘Reijō yomi agetara da──tsu!! To! Ikunde! Sumiyaka ni yoroshiku onegai shimasu.’ 刑事「���状読み上げたらダ──ッ！！と！行くんで！速やかによろしくお願いします。」 Detective “Once I read out the warrant dash!! And! Charge in! Please act quickly.” [Chap. 138]

Hearing him repeat this again Rock Lock accuses him of not trusting them.

ROCK LOCK ‘Shitsukoi na. Shinyō sarete nee no ka?’ ロックロック「しつこいな。信用されてねぇのか？」 Rock Lock “You're so persistent. Don't you trust us?” [Chap. 138]

The other Heroes though, defend the policeman scolding Rock Lock. Hard to say if Rock Lock is right or wrong since Rock Lock has been presented with an unpleasant character. As he doesn’t look Asian though, the idea is probably that Rock Lock lacks the ‘Japanese ability’ to read the atmosphere and therefore he’s less tactful than the other Heroes.

This doesn’t mean he’s right or wrong. The detective could be repeating the same things over and over because he lacks in faith of Heroes or because he’s a nervous rockie. Hard to say since this guy is so under characterized we don’t even get to know his name.

The Yakuza has Katsukame Rikiya, one of the eight bullets, attack them before the detective can do so much as ring the bell, and send two policemen (the ones who weren’t in riot squad uniform) fly so they need to get saved by Midoriya and Eraser Head while others are moved away by Fat Gum so they don’t get hit.

I guess here I should talk of the placement of the policemen here as, since they expected resistance, it would have been better to place the ones in riot uniform in front of the ones who weren’t. While they probably would have sent flying just the same, they would have had less chances to get injured by a direct attack. Even better, they could have just placed the Heroes ahead of them.

Ryūkyū, a Hero, deals with Katsukame so that Heroes and police can enter inside the Shie Hassai Kai Headquarters. Other members of the Shie Hassai Kai face them and the detective announces them as the Heroes and the police and claims the Hassai Kai is suspected of the production and sale of illegal substances so they’ve a warrant to search the place. His effort amazes Kirishima. The Yakuza are not impressed and still attack them with their Quirks and the Heroes take care of this.

In Chap. 139 the police continues taking part to the raid… and continued to be saved by the Heroes. As the Yakuza are trying to slow them down in a coordinated way Suneater worries about a leak, however the detective denies it, claiming it’s normal for a mob to act with a real sense of unity and hey, at least they do know how Yakuza work. The detective also guesses it’s Irinaka Jōi aka Mimic, the Headquarters director (本部長 ‘honbu chō’), who’s controlling the reshaping of the building. Thanks to him only 4 policemen and the detective can continue advancing with Fat Gum, Nighteye, Kirishima, Suneater, Eraser Head and Lock Rock.

In Chap. 140 the police and the Heroes find themselves face to face with 3 more Shie Hassai Kai bullets, the detective recognizing Setsuno Tōya and warning his men not to try to pull a gun on him as his Quirk allows him to take any object that their target possesses, bringing it into his hands. I’m impressed he would warn his men not to pull a gun on someone, so far the police hadn’t tried to shoot a single bullet, letting the Heroes do all the work, so I don’t know why he thought his men would try to do it now instead than let the Heroes do their job. Eraser Head though erases Setsuno’s Quirk so the police points their gun at the bullets, the detective telling them to surrender. Predictably though, they’re ignored and it’s Suneater who deals with the Shie Hassai Kai men.

In Chap. 142 we see Nighteye’s group advance followed by the detective and the police. At the same time Bubble Girl is tying up some Shie Hassai Kai guys with rope while the police watches.

In Chap 147 the police continues to tail Nighteye’s group (which had been forced to part ways with Fat Gum and Kirishima), the detective commenting on how Irinaka is like some sort of whacked out mole. Then Eraser Head and Midoriya are also parted by the police and Nighteye and Rock Lock also ends divided by them.

In Chap. 148 the police watches as Nighteye knocks down the clone of Rappa Twice made.

In Chap. 149 Mimic tries to crush the police but he’s discovered by Midoriya and stopped by Eraser Head.

In Chap. 153 the detective complains that although the living labyrinth is over they can’t know which way to go, to which Nighteye replies he knows in which direction they should go, impressing a policeman. The detective orders Irinaka, which the police has tied with ropes, to turn the place back to normal but Irinaka can’t, as the drug wore off. I also would point out there’s to wonder if Irinaka would have obeyed them had he be allowed to use his Quirk, or he would have tried to use his Quirk against them or not lift a finger. The detective complains Toga and Twice of the League should still be around there, and this causes Irinaka to call the two of them traitors. Nighteye asks then where are the other members of the League to which Irinaka replies he doesn’t know but that he’ll kill them if he’ll fine them. The police has now out his guns and is looking around, as if expecting Twice and Toga to just attack them even though they comment they don’t feel like they’re about to attack even though they clearly aren’t on their side. The detective stated that the League is wanted by the police so as police officers they can’t just ignore them… which honestly, no one suggested and I facepalm as they make it sounds as if the police now would like everyone to drop the Shie Hassai Kai operation to chase two members of the League. Rock Lock in fact tell Midoriya, Eraser Head and Nighteye to forget about the League and pursue their main objective. If they have to they can leave the League to the cops and he’ll also stay behind as he was wounded by Toga and must remain here to help make sure Irinaka will stay put. The detective realize he’s right. What I’d like to point out is that the police has no hope against two members of the League, even if they’re just Toga and Twice, and they even need a wounded Rock Lock’s help to make sure they can control Irinaka. Really, tell Nighteye and Co to leave the League to the cops seems more like an excuse for them to be free to leave the cops behind as they had been of no help at all and more of a bother so far.

In Chap. 156 we see the police having tied and arrested an unconscious Katsukame after Ryūkyū has defeated him.

Ryūkyū tells the police to put him in isolation. However due to the Quirk boost he got before being defeated by Ryūkyū finally kicking in, Katsukame manages to suck the police energy as well as the one of Asui and Uraraka and free himself  from his binding so he can fight again. BTW this is the first Villain who manages to break those bindings. Ryūkyū and the other Heroes still manage to protect the police and keep on fighting.

In Chap. 159 Suneater stabs Chrono’s arm to stop him from stabbing Eraser Head. The police is behind Suneater, pointing their guns at Chrono, telling him to surrender.

Why Chrono doesn’t use his Quirk to slow them is anybody’s guess. Ryūkyū brings the police outside of the hole done  when fighting Katsukame. We then see Ryūkyū instruct the police about what to do. They should call for the ambulances as they’ve a large number of wounded and comb the area for members of the League. The police, along with Bubble Girl and Centipeder, also find the place where Fat Gum, Kirishima, Rappa Kendō and Tengai Hekiji are, as well as the one in which the old boss of the Shie Hassai Kai is. They direct the people on the ambulances toward where the wounded are, the detective looking at Eri as Midoriya, who’s holding her, explains she’s feverish.

Later we see 2 vehicles transporting 11 members of the Shie Hassai Kai, including Chisaki (who’s tied on a bed with his hand in some sort of contraption) at Takodana Villain hospital. We see that the vehicle in which Chisaki is in also has another person tied on a bed and contains at least 3 iron maidens. The vehicles are driven by the police when a van with the League on it appears.

In Chap. 160 it turns out Snatch, a Hero who is on a police car ahead of the vehicle on which Chisaki is, tries to stop it when the League attacks. When the car is turned over though, Snatch manages to save the policeman inside it who was driving it, while the one that was driving the vehicle over which Chisaki was is decayed by Shigaraki. That vehicle turns over while the police car slams against the one behind it, causing it to turn over as well. It’s unclear if the policeman who was supposedly driving it, died. All we know is no one stops the League when they dispose of Snatch, pull out Chisaki from the vehicle he was in, retrieve the bullets and take Chisaki’s arms away from him. Spinner urges the League to leave as they’ll be after them soon but we see no one coming. Apparently all the escort those two vehicles had was a lone police car. By the way in the anime we only see one vehicle.

In Chap. 161 we are told that half of the police officers were brought down by Katsukame’s Quirk while the remaining ones helped the Heroes to conduct damage assessment.

In Chap. 162, up in the mountains Gran Torino captures Kurogiri. With him are also Tsukauchi and other agents. Gran Torino claims they found Kurogiri thanks to lot of eyewitness reports in the past few days and that if they captures Kurogiri who for Gran Torino is the League’s peskiest member, the rest will easily fall. Tsukauchi, pointing a gun at Kurogiri, claims Kurogiri can produce gates around his hands and head so Gran Torino should be careful and getting Kurogiri cuffed won’t be easy. I should probably mention they usually don’t cuff Villains but wraps them in bindings around their body so I don’t see the problem. While Tsukauchi is pointing his gun at Kurogiri, the other two policemen hadn’t done it yet but are about to do it (because it’s not like they should hurry to do so) as Kurogiri, instead than using his warp gates, just lie down and claims that around these parts there’s a rumor about a wild man who appears unexpectedly, one he has business with and asks Gran Torino if he’d heard about him. Gran Torino wants Kurogiri to sit down and tell them about the guy when they hear Machia stepping closer. Kurogiri tells them Shigaraki Tomura wasn’t the only one AFO molded and that they are about to meet Gigantomachia, another of AFO’s loyal servants. Honestly there’s plenty of wrong in this bit that I don’t know if to blame it to the incompetence of the police or to Horikoshi. It’s absurd the police missed how Gigantomachia was seen on the mountains and will lose track of him later, but it’s also dumb how Kurogiri instead let himself be spotted multiple times, apparently over the course of more than one day, and captured so easily. The past time they captured him, not only they had Kamui Wood restrain him but they used Edgeshot to knock him unconscious so that he couldn’t use his warp gates but here there’s just Gran Torino hovering over him, he’s awake and he doesn’t even try to use his gates to escape. And conveniently Machia, whom he had been searching for days apparently, appears right then and… well, I’ll discuss it in the next chapter but the rest of the scene isn’t good as well.

Going on with the chapter we learn the day after the League attacked the convoy transporting Chisaki the police had to apologize on TV as the case of the attack as the criminal were being transported represented an unprecedented failure and with confirmation that key pieces of evidence were lost, criticism of the police was only ramping up.

I can’t really blame the criticism as there was no reason to transport the bullets along with Chisaki and the vigilance of a convoy transporting 11 criminal was really low as they had only 1 police car with 1 Hero with themselves. It’s interesting though how it’s the police that’s taking the blame and not the Heroes, meaning it was up to the police to either make a request for more Hero assistance or just handle the matter themselves.

THE LAW: //

THE PRISONS: In Chap. 125 Chisaki mentions AFO is now locked in Tartarus.

In Chap. 159 we are told the Shie Hassai Kai members who were wounded are being taken to Takodana Villain Hospital (鮹棚の敵（ヴィラン）病院 ‘Takodana no teki (read: VILLAIN) byōin’). As this could be the equivalent of a real life Medical prisons (医療刑務所 ‘iryō keimusho’), a Japanese prison established to house people who require medical treatment, it felt fitting to place this info here.

THE HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: In Chap. 122 Aizawa explains how the work studies work. It’s an opportunity generally given to second and third years and a more immersive version of the internship or better “work experience” (職場体験 ‘shokuba taiken’) the students already had. In order to secure their work studies the students will be using their networking connection from the sports festival and the students can choose if to have a work study or not. Who didn’t have connections thanks to the sports festival would find hard to have a work study. In the past though every agency in the country would seek out applicants but the competition to win over U.A. high students caused a lot of issues so that’s why things are as they are now. I would argue that agencies did that after the sports festival and there weren’t troubles but that’s how Eraser Head explains it. Of course the students can take part to them because they earned their provisional license but Eraser Head warns them there’s virtually no precedent for licensed first-years taking part to work studies. However, with the sudden outburst of Villain activity the possibility of first-year work studies is being given cautious consideration. Later the Big Three will also talk to Class A about their work study experience.

In Chap. 124 Lemillion explains during their work studies they weren’t just guests but genuine sidekicks treated like Pro who dealt with life-and-death situations but gained experience they can’t get at school.

The whole arc basically will deal with the work study of some members of Class A but I won’t report what will happen in it chapter by chapter because that’s more a personal adventure of each character involved and not really something the HPSC organized.

CULTURAL INFO: Armbands are worn in Japan as a way to display a person’s role. I couldn’t find any info about the police wearing armband beyond the green and white one that’s meant to imply they’re working as traffic policemen. However, since in this case they’re worn by policemen in plainclothes, they might be there to imply said plainclothes people are actually policemen.

In Japan it’s not illegal to be a Yakuza member, which is why the police knows the Shie Hassai Kai is a Yakuza organization and which are its members but, as long as they do nothing, they can’t barge in and arrest them. They needed to wait to have proof of producing and selling drugs to get a warrant against them.

In Japan the use or possession of small amounts of drugs may result in a prison sentence of between one and ten years and Japanese law allows for a fine of up to 5,000,000 yen. The most severe drug penalty – life imprisonment - is reserved for the production, exportation or importation of amphetamines or heroin with intent to supply. While the Quirk cancelling drug is neither, I guess it can fall into the same law.

XX REMEDIAL COURSE ARC (163-168)

THE POLICE: In Chap. 163 Gran Torino informs All Might he and the police caught Kurogiri but they had to let go Gigantomachia. We see a wounded Gran Torino carrying away Kurogiri, a wounded Tsukauchi and possibly another policeman. While the police, as usual, was of no help at all in this, it’s weird how they managed to take away Kurogiri so easily since the latter wasn’t knocked down and they also had to fight Gigantomachia. They then claim Gigantomachia has gone in hiding but, honestly, Gigantomachia has never been much subtle so I’ve hard time believing this.

In Chap. 164 Mera mentions there was an ongoing investigation regarding how Illus-o-Camie lost her memories. Her teacher will then comment on how there were discrepancies between her account of the facts and what the others saw, plus anesthetics were found in her system and U.A. high testimonies which lead Shiketsu to believe that she was impersonated by someone from the League, so both the police and the Heroes’s predictions were wrong and they need to take preventive measures as soon as possible.

THE LAW: //

THE PRISONS: //

THE HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: In Chap. 163 we see that the remedial Hero license course takes place somewhere different from Takoba arena.

In Chap. 164 we meet again Hero Public Safety Commission “tired Mera” (ヒーロー公安委員会” 疲れの目良” HERO kōan iinkai “tsukare no Mera”) who explains they’ve rented out that fully equipped sports center for the students’ training and adds recently he’s scared of sleeping. He explains only 10 students were attending to the course but today they’ll be joined by student number 11, Utsushimi Camie/Illus-o-Camie. Mera continues explaining how Illus-o-Camie had the right to take part to the course as she made it to round two but she lost her memories starting from a few days before the test to the whole test, so her participation was delayed due to an ongoing investigation. Mera doesn’t say he knows Himiko was impersonating her during the test but Shiketsu knows about it so the HPSC likely knows as well. Mera then calls Gang Orca who starts the lesson. Mera is watching how the lesson is going with other two men, when Present Mic steals his microphone.

In Chap. 165 Mera complains on what Present Mic says, claiming that’s a training course so he should have some respect but still let him speak, Present Mic now seated near him. It’s unknown where the other HPSC member went. In the next scene we’ll see seated between Mera and Present Mic there’s Ikoma Komari, the Masegaki school teacher taking care of the kids who’re taking part to the lesson to which Present Mic asks if she has requests. As Mera doesn’t stop him, we can guess this also becomes part of the training course.

In Chap. 166 we see that the men who used to sit near Mera has disappeared, Mera has remained the only one watching the course, and seated next to him are first Ikoma Komari and then Present Mic. Meanwhile Shishikura Seiji/Shishikross joins Present Mic in making a live commentary of the course, Mera not even attempting to stop him.

In Chap. 167, at the end of the lesson, we see Mera talking with Gang Orca. It’s unknown what they say.

CULTURAL INFO: //

XX U.A. SCHOOL FESTIVAL ARC (169-183)

THE POLICE: In Chap. 170, in Hosu, Tsuragamae Kenji is informed another video of Gentle Criminal popped up and complains they’ve not a single lead to track him.

He order his men to try to pinpoint the location from which he uploaded the video, but he’s told he always bounces the signal around. Tsuragamae still insists for them to try. Seeing the video though, he wonders if Gentle Criminal is serious or or he’s just joking.

In Chap. 173 the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency goes to U.A. high to talk with Nezu with 2 of his men, demanding he’ll voluntarily cancel the school festival.

Nezu is surprised to see the man paying him a visit. The Commissioner General claims there are more Villains than ever while Heroes are on shaky ground so if something were to happen there again they might not be able to stop it, which is why he wants Nezu to avoid risks (aka not to the school festival) and keep on raising new generations. Nezu tries answering back but he’s shot down with how he shouldn’t make this an easy target for Villains. Nezu insists as he claims his students need this type of events exactly because they’re in such times and that they will take precautions, then bows lows and begs him. Nezu worked hard to make the school festival happen and even had a dispute with the higher-ups. The result is they’ll have the school festival but security will be tighter and if an alarm goes off, even by mistake, the whole thing will be off and everyone will get evacuated. It’s interesting to see though how the Commissioner General couldn’t summon Nezu nor really order him to cancel the festival. He had to go visiting him and tried to pressure him in doing so, where the HPSC can summon Heroes and can order them things.

In Chap. 177 Midoriya claims he has already called the police, although it’s just a bluff to scare Gentle Criminal. This is also a consequence of the strictness of the rules the police set, so that Midoriya can’t really call the police, as otherwise the school festival will be cancelled, which could have terrible consequences were Gentle Criminal to be a dangerous criminal.

In Chap. 179, in a flashback, what I assume is the police, informs Gentle the man who fell will need 6 months to make a full recovery and he even prevented an Hero from executing the rescue. Hence he’ll be charged of obstructing public duties.

In Chap. 181 Gentle Criminal claims he wants to turn himself in and he’s carried to the police station by Hound Dog as he’s told he’ll explain there the detail.

In Chap. 183 the police asks La Brava if she taught herself how to do all the things she does with the computer and she confirms it. They ask her what she does for a living and she says she’s La Brava and asks her if she never thought to use her talents to do good in the world. She says never as all she wanted was to help Gentle.

In another room Gori (ゴリ), a police detective, tells Gentle there’s a simple test to check if La Brava was brainwashed or not, so he doesn’t believe he has brainwashed her but thinks she’s just in love with him.

Gori claims that plenty of Gentle Criminal’s crimes were only attempted ones but the sheer number tells him she was in on it. Gentle Criminal insists she never took part to them. Gori points out how he’s a high school dropout formerly in a Hero course, who went astray and started committing crimes on video. Gentle claims he recalled his dream but it frightened him and so he dashed forth, maybe down on the wrong path. Gori says it’s good he gave up today as he believes the only people who can’t turn their lives around are the ones with no real desire to change, who are too impatient and wants result right away then asks him if he wants tea. Gentle Criminal asks for black tea but he’s told they only have normal one.

I don’t know if Gori’s message is meant to represent the police’s message or just Gori’s but I facepalm at it. Gentle ended up in troubles when he tried to help someone and it failed, and there was no way out from the hole he fell and the same is true for many of the other characters who’ll become Villains, like Twice, Toga, Spinner, Dabi and so on. It wasn’t a matter of being too impatient and wanting results right away, it was a matter of knowing results would never arrive. Twice would forever remain homeless, Toga would be forever banned from using her Quirk, Spinner would be forever discriminated, Dabi would never receive his father’s attention and support and, if things were to change, it would be due to a lucky coincidence, like Enji becoming Number 1 and deciding to go on an atonement path, not due to slow but sure chances for things to change. It’s not really a matter of being in a hurry, it’s a matter of not seeing a way out and if this is the approach the police has with Villains, that they’re just people who can’t wait, they aren’t going to solve things at all but will keep on telling to people who’re in troubles to wait patiently.

THE LAW: //

THE PRISONS: //

THE HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: //

CULTURAL INFO: In Japan “Obstructing official duties” is called ‘Kōmu shikkō bōgai’ (公務執行妨害) and broadly means hindering or increasing the burden of the officer in carrying out official duties. Circumstances around arrests in such cases are often unclear and arbitrary (as such charges are often used against protesters and journalists). In fact while Gentle Criminal went in the way of the Hero attempting to perform the rescue, he clearly didn’t mean to hinder him, his actions aimed at saving a person from falling and only accidentally ending up in the way of the Hero. If I understood things correctly, since Tobita didn’t use force to get in the way of an official, he would just be punished with a fine but it’s possible he would first be arrested and detained before a trial would establish a fine would be enough. Being arrested is a big deal in Japan and lead to the person being arrested and his family to be ostracized and bullied by society. We see Tobita gets expelled from school, the gate of his house vandalized with insulting graffiti and paint, his mailbox filled with trash. Often the family prefers to distance itself from a family member who has been arrested so as to avoid repercussions, in fact we see Tobita being chased away by them.

XX PRO HERO ARC (184-193)

THE POLICE: In Chap. 186 Hawks claims he teamed up with the police once to investigate about rumors about the Nōmu being sighted but they kept the investigation under wrap to avoid panic and nothing turned up. As this is a story he’s telling to Endeavor, it’s possible though this never happened. If it had though, it would be especially bad that Tsukauchi’s group wasn’t informed by the police about this.

In Chap. 191 Hawks reveals to be aware there’s a search team for the League which includes Gran Torino, a team of which he supposedly should have known nothing about. The scene is played to imply Hawks is good at discovering this sort of things but actually Tsukauchi didn’t exactly made it a secret as he told Midoriya and then we also had the detective who joined the Heroes in the Shie Hassai Kai raid who also knew about it and talked about it so I don’t know if this is a case of police inefficiency in keeping a secret or it’s just the executive guy who thinks that’s a reserved matter when it’s not.

In Chap. 192 Hawks, talking with Enji, claims he wants to get in touch with the police team searching for the League. It’s probably either a lie or a cover as Hawks’ endgame is another but it’s possible he contacted Tsukauchi and Co. even though the story will never mention if this happened.

THE LAW: //

THE PRISONS: In Chap. 184, the Pussycats tell Class A that in Tartarus, AFO, still tied on a chair and in a straightjacket claims that when he sees a good Quirk he needs to have it, even if he knows it’s not right. He claims he’ll love to return the Quirk he stole to Ragdoll but it’ll involve him using his Quirk and asks if he should. As he’s still being pressed to find out which and how many Quirks he has stolen, he’s still being kept completely immobilized.

THE HERO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: In Chap. 184 we are told the Pussycats are about to return in active duty because they’re about to announce the year’s second Japanese Hero billboard chart. In the Japanese Hero billboard chart, incident resolution rate, contributions to society, public approval rating are all that matter when determining the official Hero ranking twice a year and, for the first time, Heroes will take part to the presentation. The whole thing is another of the things handled by the HPSC. We see an appropriate theater/arena has been chosen to host it and that the press is allowed in as well as public, though it’s hard to say if the public is composed also by civilians or they’re all Heroes. The ranking, as announced is, from ten to one: Dragon Hero Ryūkyū, Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha, Laundry Hero: Wash, Wood Hero: Kamui Woods, Shield Hero: Crust, Rabbit Hero: Mirko, Ninja Hero: Edgeshot, Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist, Wing Hero: Hawks, Flame Hero: Endeavor.

In Chap. 185 we are explained the HPSC looks over the past year of heroism and, using a proprietary formula to quantify incident resolution rate, societal contribution and public approval rating, presents the results in the form of ranking. As incident resolution rate is the most important factor and Heroes who tackle bigger incidents end up with even more public support, those involved in major crises quickly find themselves climbing in ranks.

We meet an unnamed woman who’s revealed to be the ‘HERO kōan iinkai kaichō’ (ヒーロー公安委員会会長 “Hero Public Safety Committee President”).

She will explains they decided to make such an elaborate ceremony because they’re at a critical juncture for our times as it’s been three months since All Might’s retirement and the word on the street is that their society is still missing an icon but the Heroes are ready to take on that mantle so she asks everyone to join them in their quest for a peaceful society. The Heroes say some words, Hawks fires up the short and Endeavor manages to answer in tune. Later Hawks claim he did what he did because Endeavor will never be idolized the way All Might was, but they need a new leader and Endeavor was cool as he answered his words. He then asks Endeavor to team up with him in an investigation about Nōmu. Hawks will be later revealed being also an Hero directly working for the HPSC, so it’s unclear if what he did was of his own volition or it was done at their own request to give Endeavor a chance to shine. What’s instead known is that he asks Endeavor to team up with him in an investigation that’s part of his infiltration plan into the League as per request of the HPSC. It’s worth to mention for the sake of this meta I’ll report Hawks’ actions when they appear to be connected to the will of the HPSC and not when he’s just acting as a Hero.

In Chap. 186 as per his plan, Hawks meets Endeavor in Fukuoka and calls him to a Yakitori joint called Yoritomi and tells him he was planning to scout Shōto at the sport festival but instead got Tokoyami. As Chap. 199 will reveal Hawks questions Tokoyami a lot about the League’s attack at USJ it can be wondered if his plan of scouting Shōto was also due to a request from the HPSC so as to get info directly from him. There’s to say though that Hawks was chosen for an infiltration mission AFTER Kamino, and Tokoyami interned under him after the sport festival, therefore prior to Kamino, so it can be that Hawks’ curiosity about the League was just his own. Back to Hawks and Endeavor, Hawks then starts spinning a story about rumors regarding the Nōmu appearing all over the country, not big enough to make it into the news but enough to make housewives and schoolkids gossip about them and that he even investigated on one of those supposed sighting with the police. He claims the idea can be that those rumors are an attempt at spreading panic and that he wants Endeavor to look into them and reassure the people they’re unfounded. This story is likely false as it’ll turn out Hawks, in order to infiltrate with the League, is working with Dabi who asked him to bring there a Hero on which to test a Nōmu. Supposedly the testing should have taken place the day after but Dabi, seeing him with Endeavor, sends the Highend Nōmu to attack them on that same day.

Chap. 187 shows Hawks’ official profile though in it there’s no mention of his connection to the HPSC.

In Chap. 189 we see no sight of the police, it’s just the Heroes doing rescue work, though Hawks notes how 3 Nōmu ended up near the police box. There’s maybe 1 police officer asking to the escaping people to keep calm.

In Chap. 191 Hawks wants to be the one facing Dabi, claiming he only has his tiny feathers but they would be enough. This is likely due to how he still wants to cultivate relations with Dabi so that he can use him to get introduced to the League of Villains. In fact, when he’ll meet Dabi later, it’ll turn out he has a long feather he can use as if it were a Katana. Hawks protests on how this was meant to happen the day after and not downtown but at the factory by the water and that Dabi didn’t mention how strong the Nōmu was. Dabi clearly doubts Hawks but Hawks insists he’s on their side and that he’s just keeping up appearances and acting in the League’s best interest and the more people have faith in him the better intel he can give them. Still Dabi doesn’t believe him. Later Hawks remember how the Hero Public Safety Committee President, along with the executive officer which appeared in Chap. 95 asked him to join the League of Villains.

As Hawks protests there’s already a team searching for them which includes Gran Torino he’s asked where he heard it and the Hero Public Safety Committee President claims that’s why they want him, because he has sharp eyes and ears. The executive officer claims that at the Kamino fight they had to consider the safety of the kidnapped victim and so they rushed in and since they didn’t have enough intel they misread their opponents’ strength. To win they need intel, especially about the Nōmu, as they want to discover if they’re something that can be made solely using AFO’s power or not. They believe if they don’t get more intel about the League they’ll keep on making the same mistakes. Hawks asks what he’s supposed to do if they hurt people and if he should turn a blind eye to it. The executive officer tells him they’re asking him because they believe he’s someone who can ignore it. Hawks is indifferent to honor or accolades and can set his eyes on the long game and act accordingly so he’s the best for this. The executive officer talks a lot more than the Hero Public Safety Committee President and I really would love to know if he’s an executive officer for the police or for the NPSC. The manga never says so and the anime is unclear on this so, unless Horikoshi himself will reveal it, we’ll never know.

In Chap. 192 we see a continuation of the previous discussion. Hawks asks if it’s necessary and the president claims they wouldn’t suggest it otherwise. If Hawks infiltrate in the League they can attack it from inside and outside easily cutting off any chance they’ll have to escape. Hawks points out it’s funny they say they’re suggesting it when he can’t refuse. The president claims she won’t deny it and that they got lucky that Hawks wasn’t in Kamino. Hawks claims that if by getting his hands dirty he can bring everyone peace of mind he’ll gladly take on the task as he wants create a society where Heroes can enjoy boredom. The way Hawks says he can’t refuse and that the president claims she won’t deny it, seem to imply Hawks is more bound to the wills of the HPSC than any other Hero. As if to explain why we get a flashback in which we learn that as a child Hawks saved 6 people from a high speed accident so, learning about it, people searched for him (in the anime it’s implied the order to search for him came from the Hero Public Safety Committee President but this isn’t done in the manga) and, once they tracked him down, they commented he had real talent and was definitely Hero material so they promise they’ll provide to his family.

CULTURAL INFO: Not really a cultural info, just a medical one. If you keep a person completely immobilized for months, this will have serious consequences on his health. To give you an example if you’ve a fracture the limb shouldn’t be kept immobilized for longer than 4 weeks to avoid poor flexibility. Muscles start to atrophy due to disuse within two to three weeks. Pressure ulcers can start to form as fast as 20 minutes due to the pressure of the body weight on a small area of skin stopping the blood flowing properly through that area. That’s why comatose patients should be repositioned every couple of hours (sometimes as little as every 30 minutes) and throughout the day to reduce their risk of developing these sores. And now we’re told that AFO was arrested in August and now we’re in November and he’s still being kept in a straightjacket and completely immobilized in a seating position. This makes three months of that life, a clear violation of his human rights as it would endanger him, never mentioning he’s kept seated and with the light turned on all the time, which doesn’t help his sleeping schedule. Basically what’s being done on him constitutes torture.

[bnhaobservation]

Is there any new info on Aizawa or Present Mic in ultra age?

As far as I can tell there's not really much.

The fanbook is pretty disappointing in this regard as there are very few new info and it's mostly a recap of the info given in the manga for almost all the characters EVEN WHEN IT WOULDN?T REQUIRE SUCH A BIG EFFORT TO ADD SOME EXTRA INFO (for example they could have revealed Geten's real name instead than listing it as unknown and the same goes for Touya's bloodtype and so on).

In fact, in Aizawa and Yamada's case, as far as I can see in the profiles they didn't add new info but made just a recap of info you can find in the manga.

In the post final battle chapter we're told Aizawa and Yamada continued to be teachers at U.A. high. Yamada is ranked 45 (which is a info also included in chap 431 so it's really not new if you got to read chap 431).

We've something new in the FAQ:

Q.36 Shinso-kun had long hair in the final chapter. Is that because he admired Eraser Head and is growing it out?

A. 36 It’s a sign of respect for Aizawa. Actually, I was planning to have him with his hair down when he reappeared in volume 34, but I wanted to draw him hanging upside down, and as a result I wasn’t sure in what state his hair would be in, so I left it as it was.

Q. 47 In the final episode, Aizawa-sensei’s hair was short. Is there a reason for cutting it?

A. 47 Aizawa keeps his hair long because he thinks it’s irrational to cut it regularly. So he only cuts it once every few years. It was just the right time.

The fanbook also contains a little story in which Eri visits U.A. and therefore drops to see hello to Aizawa and Hizashi, bringing them Manju from Mandalay (Eri moved to live with Mandalay after the war)

And that's all I could find. Sorry if it's not much and thank you for your ask.

[bnhaobservation]

[bnhaobservation]

lead up to clink your glass memory.

[bnhaobservation]

game all day memory unlock.

[bnhaobservation]

lov beach shenanigans.

[bnhaobservation]

building sand castles with the lov.

[bnhaobservation]

imagine tomura buying manga to entertain you.

[bnhaobservation]

building sand castles with the lov.

[bnhaobservation]

It depends by what you aim to comunicate with your writing.

You just want to vent on how horrible it was? Fill it with passion, pain and/or rage. Shows the readers the wounds it left on your soul, expose your angry heart and let it howl

You want to explain why everything turned out disappointing? Offer the readers the good premises, the potential they had and where the story deviated so that it ended up giving out the feeling it betrayed its premises. A joyful ride ended up in a trainwreck, let the readers know when the train took the wrong turn and ultimately crashed into a dead end.

You want to discourage people from reading it? List what it ultimately lacks, or how the morals/messages aren't good, compare it with other works who instead feels more satisfying and with works who equally failed so that readers will get the information and an idea of the mess this is. In short, print your WARNING label and let they know what they risk if they still want to read it.

You want to analyze the wrongness of it all? Tackle it both from a Doylist perspective and a Watsonian one. Why the author wrote such things? How the author's circumstances, his culture and beliefs affected the story he wove? Does what he did mess up with the timeline? With the characterization? With the cultural values of different cultures like yours? With the message of the story itself that becomes confusing/contradictory? Show you did your homework and know what you're talking about, you aren't just venting here, you're analyzing, you're making a point, you're putting the story on trial and persuading the jury it's guilty of being disappointing not just with your oratory abilities but with overwhelming proof so that they won't have doubts.

Of course you can mix all of the above for a really long meta, or chose one goal and then give it a sprinkle of all of the above to add it a more refined taste or a taste that will please a larger audience. It really depends on how you want to cook your meta, after all.

Lastly, mine are just all suggestions, everyone can have his own ways to write a meta and no way is wrong.

Let your heart and your mind lead your pen because, ultimately, YOU are your first reader and the one who first needs to be pleased with what you write. If you feel what you write is satisfying you'll surely find people who likewise will think so.

I hope it helps!

question for bnha meta writers: How to write about something you're so disappointed in/feel you got so wrong?

[bnhaobservation]

How it feels watching the heroes miraculously survive things that the villains end up dying to through sheer plot armor.

[bnhaobservation]

Don't worry, no offense taken as I also think Hero society is bleak and dark.

I very much feel that Lady Nagant's feelings were legittimate, Hero society was shiny only on the outside.

On the other side, it's not that they refer to themselves as 'heroes' it's their job which is called as such, very likely for propaganda reasons. The name came up in a chaotic era in which people were against Meta and a part of the Meta just didn't want to swallow it peacefully, remember?

Very likely the state decided that by splitting the Metas who used their Quirks in something as good soundings as 'Heroes' and in something as bad sounding as enemies/Villains (I think you know this already but Villain is written as enemy in Japanese), they would manage to trace a divide between good and bad Meta using their Quirks and control things.

Destro's claim about society being all on suppression wasn't completely wrong... and something that's lost in translation is that the Villains remarks there's a difference between being a 'Eiyū' (英雄) which means "hero" in Japanese and being a (Pro) "HERO" (ヒーロー) a loan word written all in Katakana that's used in the story to call the job of the ones fighting Villains with a state license, in short that the Pro Heroes aren't necessarily "heroes".

Now, regarding your example... we see that sometimes Heroes act to stop crimes that don't involve Villains when it's an emergency.

A woman being about to get raped would qualify as an emergency so they could and, I think, should act (though Vigilante has well... Vigilantes jump in when this happens instead than Heroes). When Eraser Head let Knuckleduster go there's to say the guy he was targeting escaped, so he might have thought he averted the problem even though it wasn't up to him to sedate a fight.

in Shouto's case though there is no emergency. The Child Guidance Center would have all the time to act should he judge something should be done to save Shouto's life from his father's abuse.

Honestly though, since they're having Shouto and his classmates take part to a war TWICE, I tend to think society is very, very bad.

Enji had no intention to murder Shouto, the Villains did and yet the CGC allows it, the HPSC ordered it and the schools and Heroes just complied.

Himiko is a minor and yet the story talks as if she could be executed, which is a big NO in real life Japan.

BNHA universe doesn't care about kids. Horikoshi has created a society that's even worse than his own, I've complained about it when I talked of how in BNHA human rights are violated even harder than in real life.

Ryukishi07 was 100 time better in dealing with social issues than Horikoshi is, and didn't shy from sinking into tragedy when the situation called for it, showing compassion for his characters and respect for their trauma.

Horikoshi instead tosses in plenty of horrible things like bullying, abuse and discrimination that culminated in beating and scarring the people discriminated just to create drama. There's no real pondering on those issues and the only (cheap) solutions offered to improve society are an improvement at Quirk counsueling and a sudden, instinctive rush in people to be more socially active because somehow Midoriya inspired them to do their best.

Sure, this is a shounen for young readers but I really think it could have done much better and instead I can't really see its ending as a happy one.

Sorry, I'm probably venting but I'm really disappointed by how the story was handled.

Horikoshi's refusal to approach society critically despite tossing in plenty of social issues really rubbed me the wrong way.

It was always really creepy to me how All might and Gran Torino too never seemed to take an interest in how Tomura ended up in Afo’s hands. Or to what happened to Koutaro. I don’t think I remember them doing any research on the Shimuras, which… is horrifying. They just found out the son of their dead mentor/friend was horribly killed, and then they never mention it again? Besides, they thought Afo was dead for five whole years, and neither of them thought about checking on Koutaro before? Really?

Then they find out that his child was likely kidnapped and turned into a Villain by the guy they were trying to protect the Shimuras from and still nothing? Not even some sense of guilt?

Instead we get Gran stating that it’s basically all Tomura’s fault.

What’s even more ridiculous is that his mentors researching what happened would have been the perfect link for Deku to grow some interest earlier on Shigaraki. And also to finally realize Heroes are fallible.

A child with a heroic heritage, becoming a villain. All of his old kindergarten teachers and neighbours state that he used to be a perfectly normal, even kind child. What could’ve possibly happened?

They don’t care because already back then BNHA revealed its stance about Villains.

In the hospital All Might thinks at Tomura and is troubled by how ‘his master’s own kin lost himself so much in evil’ aka he doesn’t think he could have been a poor kid that got manipulated by an expert manipulator, no, he can’t accept someone related to his master isn’t on a righteous path.

He still wants to find the boy but then it’s clear he’s unsure about what he’ll do after. Gran Torino tells him he must not search for him because if he sees him as anything less than a Villain no good will come from it because no matter who his parents are, he’s a dangerous Villain.

In short neither of the two is seeing Tomura as a manipulated kid, they’re seeing him as ‘Shimura’s grandson’ and as a ‘Villain’. They don’t care about how or why Tomura has became a Villain, they don’t care how All for One had clearly lead him to that path, they only care he’s a Villain now.

All for One tells him Tomura hates him and that he has engineered Tomura and All Might’s meetings. It’s clear All for One has manipulated the situation and very likely has manipulated Tenko but they don’t care. It’s the same thing that Horikoshi has Shouto saying ‘dad was a madman! Our family was screwed up” but when you burned all those people to death… that was your choice.’

Basically for them Tomura chose to become a Villain, all that All for One could have done to encourage/manipulate him into this direction is irrelevant.

Gran Torino searches for Tomura with the express intention to murder him.

He tells him he has to ‘quit trampling all over Shimura’s memory and that his very existence hurt Toshinori so much and made everyone suffer’ (Chap 277). Later, with Midoriya, he’ll lament it should have been him the one who made the kill and that killing can be another way to save someone so Midoriya shouldn’t forget that (and therefore should kill Tomura). (Chap 309)

Gran Torino only has a brief moment in which he realizes he and Shimura made a mistake with Kotarou, because it’s Kotarou who implanted his own hate for Heroes in Tomura but that’s it (Chap. 281).

In the end even Nana will encourage Midoriya to kill Tomura and note that if her original plan was to have him arrested, well, at that point that would always lead to Tomura’s death as Tomura killed people and so he would be sentenced to death.

Long story short, there was never the intention to let Tomura live, there was only a minor discussion if Gran Torino should do the kill, justice should do the kill or Midoriya. And All might conveniently washes his hands clean of all this and let others deal with it. Not even his vestige will help Tomura, it’ll be only Nana’s vestige who’ll do so and, in the end, only to use his soul against AFO because Tomura was going to die anyway.

As for them believing AFO was dead… In Chap 57 Gran Torino speaks of him being back like of an obvious fact and while All Might complains he can’t understand how he survived with such wounds, he doesn’t really argue much. He doesn’t tell him ‘hey, but we checked his vitals and he was dead!’ to the point it was possible to assume they never retrieved his body, hence they couldn’t really check his status and possibly this was the original plan and only afterward Horikoshi decided to show that they indeed retrieved his body and could tell he was dead but it’s not the first time the story makes poor decisions about its continuity.

Anyway yes, they washed their hands clear with Kotarou, they feel they did the right thing by respecting Shimura’s decision and, as said before, this part already showed BNHA stance toward Villains. It’s all their fault if they became Villains, there are no extenuating circumstances and society and Heroes are definitely not responsible for such things.

It didn’t matter what happened to Tomura, if he was manipulated, blackmailed, threatened or whatever, he shouldn’t have given up to evil, he should have chosen to die. After all we see it also with Aoyama. Tsukauchi says he feels sympathy for him but hey, the boy turned his back to decent society when AFO told him if he weren’t to obey he would kill him and his parents! He should have totally left himself and his parents killed and stick up for society! It’s all Aoyama’s fault! (by the way the FAQ said Aoyama still turned himself in to the judicial system, which is why he had to leave U.A. high. Basically even though he risked his life he still did some juvenile detention)… and Himiko couldn’t survive without going to jail because otherwise she won’t take responsibility so much better to kill her off.

BNHA isn’t a story that has compassion. If you’re a Villain, you’re a Villain. Tomura was right in his speech, the system rejected them and the Heroes don’t understand what this means, don’t understand how could this push him into becoming a Villain (Chap 281). The scene in which Midoriya tells him he can’t forgive him and Tomura tells him he can’t forgive them is emblematic of this…. But then Horikoshi sided with the Heroes and just wanted Tomura to be wrong and so we got the ending we got.

So yeah, it’s sad and it’s horrible no one cared for Tenko or Kotarou but that’s basically the logic behind the story. At the end society is a little more caring because it has understood a little better the concept of collective responsibility but that’s it. There’s nothing done for who’s a Villain, there’s just prevention so that less Villains will be created but society DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for the harm it has done, there isn’t a single reform in this direction, not even in the jail system which was declared by the manga to violate human rights. But hey, it was the party connected to Villains who claimed this so let’s ignore it.

I personally hate all this but I guess there’s no helping. This is the world Horikoshi created, one that didn’t really care about helping/reforming his Villains and where if someone does so much as be willing to hear them out (before they’re sentenced to death) it’s viewed as a GIANT SIZE deal.

Thank you for your ask!

[bnhaobservation]

@paesagex said:

What’s even more depressing is that Tenko was shown to have resisted quite some time to his violent impulses and Afo’s encouragement. In the flashback where he finally kills again (the two men) he doesn’t look like a toddler anymore. Besides, there was a post by codenamesazanka if I’m not wrong pointing out that his height compared to Afo’s correspond to that of an average 10 yo. That’s… quite some resistance coming from a child.

Yes, the Tenko we see in chap 222, when he was just brought there by AFO, looks much shorter than the Tenko we see in chap 237 when he's encouraged to murder the guys who bullied him and afterward when he does it.

What's more, we see in chap 237 that at first he didn't want to do it, that he resisted to the impulse of decaying them but felt sick afterward, in his room, probably due to something AFO did or say since when he resisted the impulse while being with those jerks he didn't fall sick.

I wouldn't be surprised if AFO tried to manipulate Tenko using something similar to the Ludovico Technique from "A Clockwork Orange".

For who's not familiar with the movie/book the technique was a form of aversion therapy in which the main character was injected with nausea-inducing drugs while watching graphically violent films, eventually conditioning him to become severely ill at the mere thought of violence.

AFO likely didn't use drugs but he probably triggered the nausea in Tenko with words, possibly conditioning him to become ill if he restrained himself. We see Tenko throwing up, after all and trying to scratch himself. He already suffered of a psychosomatic itching and AFO likely only worsened it, playing with his trauma.

All Might and Gran Torino don't care though.

I'm not even sure they checked what happened to Kotarou and his family or when Tenko disappeared. They just avoided Kotarou and then puff, his son showed up and he was a Villain.

The horror! How could he choose to follow AFO?

No matter what, he should have resisted and if worse comes to worst chose death instead than become a Villain.

We're back to the theme of the story that wants people to remain pure, perfect victims like Eri or Heroes like Midoriya, and not break.

I guess we should have figured how it would end just by watching All might and Gran Torino here but, silly me, I was thinking the idea was new generations would show how wrong that approach was, understand Tomura and save him.

Instead tomura dies but we're told he was saved because his soul apparently died at peace.

Such a great thing.... -_- I'm so disappointed... -_-

It was always really creepy to me how All might and Gran Torino too never seemed to take an interest in how Tomura ended up in Afo’s hands. Or to what happened to Koutaro. I don’t think I remember them doing any research on the Shimuras, which… is horrifying. They just found out the son of their dead mentor/friend was horribly killed, and then they never mention it again? Besides, they thought Afo was dead for five whole years, and neither of them thought about checking on Koutaro before? Really?

Then they find out that his child was likely kidnapped and turned into a Villain by the guy they were trying to protect the Shimuras from and still nothing? Not even some sense of guilt?

Instead we get Gran stating that it’s basically all Tomura’s fault.

What’s even more ridiculous is that his mentors researching what happened would have been the perfect link for Deku to grow some interest earlier on Shigaraki. And also to finally realize Heroes are fallible.

A child with a heroic heritage, becoming a villain. All of his old kindergarten teachers and neighbours state that he used to be a perfectly normal, even kind child. What could’ve possibly happened?

They don’t care because already back then BNHA revealed its stance about Villains.

In the hospital All Might thinks at Tomura and is troubled by how ‘his master’s own kin lost himself so much in evil’ aka he doesn’t think he could have been a poor kid that got manipulated by an expert manipulator, no, he can’t accept someone related to his master isn’t on a righteous path.

He still wants to find the boy but then it’s clear he’s unsure about what he’ll do after. Gran Torino tells him he must not search for him because if he sees him as anything less than a Villain no good will come from it because no matter who his parents are, he’s a dangerous Villain.

In short neither of the two is seeing Tomura as a manipulated kid, they’re seeing him as ‘Shimura’s grandson’ and as a ‘Villain’. They don’t care about how or why Tomura has became a Villain, they don’t care how All for One had clearly lead him to that path, they only care he’s a Villain now.

All for One tells him Tomura hates him and that he has engineered Tomura and All Might’s meetings. It’s clear All for One has manipulated the situation and very likely has manipulated Tenko but they don’t care. It’s the same thing that Horikoshi has Shouto saying ‘dad was a madman! Our family was screwed up” but when you burned all those people to death… that was your choice.’

Basically for them Tomura chose to become a Villain, all that All for One could have done to encourage/manipulate him into this direction is irrelevant.

Gran Torino searches for Tomura with the express intention to murder him.

He tells him he has to ‘quit trampling all over Shimura’s memory and that his very existence hurt Toshinori so much and made everyone suffer’ (Chap 277). Later, with Midoriya, he’ll lament it should have been him the one who made the kill and that killing can be another way to save someone so Midoriya shouldn’t forget that (and therefore should kill Tomura). (Chap 309)

Gran Torino only has a brief moment in which he realizes he and Shimura made a mistake with Kotarou, because it’s Kotarou who implanted his own hate for Heroes in Tomura but that’s it (Chap. 281).

In the end even Nana will encourage Midoriya to kill Tomura and note that if her original plan was to have him arrested, well, at that point that would always lead to Tomura’s death as Tomura killed people and so he would be sentenced to death.

Long story short, there was never the intention to let Tomura live, there was only a minor discussion if Gran Torino should do the kill, justice should do the kill or Midoriya. And All might conveniently washes his hands clean of all this and let others deal with it. Not even his vestige will help Tomura, it’ll be only Nana’s vestige who’ll do so and, in the end, only to use his soul against AFO because Tomura was going to die anyway.

As for them believing AFO was dead… In Chap 57 Gran Torino speaks of him being back like of an obvious fact and while All Might complains he can’t understand how he survived with such wounds, he doesn’t really argue much. He doesn’t tell him ‘hey, but we checked his vitals and he was dead!’ to the point it was possible to assume they never retrieved his body, hence they couldn’t really check his status and possibly this was the original plan and only afterward Horikoshi decided to show that they indeed retrieved his body and could tell he was dead but it’s not the first time the story makes poor decisions about its continuity.

Anyway yes, they washed their hands clear with Kotarou, they feel they did the right thing by respecting Shimura’s decision and, as said before, this part already showed BNHA stance toward Villains. It’s all their fault if they became Villains, there are no extenuating circumstances and society and Heroes are definitely not responsible for such things.

It didn’t matter what happened to Tomura, if he was manipulated, blackmailed, threatened or whatever, he shouldn’t have given up to evil, he should have chosen to die. After all we see it also with Aoyama. Tsukauchi says he feels sympathy for him but hey, the boy turned his back to decent society when AFO told him if he weren’t to obey he would kill him and his parents! He should have totally left himself and his parents killed and stick up for society! It’s all Aoyama’s fault! (by the way the FAQ said Aoyama still turned himself in to the judicial system, which is why he had to leave U.A. high. Basically even though he risked his life he still did some juvenile detention)… and Himiko couldn’t survive without going to jail because otherwise she won’t take responsibility so much better to kill her off.

BNHA isn’t a story that has compassion. If you’re a Villain, you’re a Villain. Tomura was right in his speech, the system rejected them and the Heroes don’t understand what this means, don’t understand how could this push him into becoming a Villain (Chap 281). The scene in which Midoriya tells him he can’t forgive him and Tomura tells him he can’t forgive them is emblematic of this…. But then Horikoshi sided with the Heroes and just wanted Tomura to be wrong and so we got the ending we got.

So yeah, it’s sad and it’s horrible no one cared for Tenko or Kotarou but that’s basically the logic behind the story. At the end society is a little more caring because it has understood a little better the concept of collective responsibility but that’s it. There’s nothing done for who’s a Villain, there’s just prevention so that less Villains will be created but society DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for the harm it has done, there isn’t a single reform in this direction, not even in the jail system which was declared by the manga to violate human rights. But hey, it was the party connected to Villains who claimed this so let’s ignore it.

I personally hate all this but I guess there’s no helping. This is the world Horikoshi created, one that didn’t really care about helping/reforming his Villains and where if someone does so much as be willing to hear them out (before they’re sentenced to death) it’s viewed as a GIANT SIZE deal.

Thank you for your ask!

[bnhaobservation]

So I hope it's okay if I reply to both @kite2013 and @candycandy00 with this.

Let's split the problems you raised.

First: should Heroes do something in Shouto's case?

Pro Heroes aren't what we would call 'heroes', they're more an 'anti-Villain and emergency help' squad.

They aren't obliged to act, it's actually not their duty to act if a Villain isn't involved or if it's not an emergency/natural disaster.

A Villain is someone who use his Quirk to commit a crime, if Enji doesn't use his Quirk to do something he shouldn't do, what he does isn't a Hero's business. That's probably why Hawks checked if it was Enji who burned Shouto and stopped caring when it turned out it was Rei who did it. Rei doesn't have a fire Quirk so she couldn't have used her Quirk to burn him.

We've a good example of how Heroes do not act if a Villain is not involved in Vigilantes. We've Eraser Head seeing Knuckleduster attack a person and act, then he realizes the guy is Quirkless so he apologizes for getting in his way and let him go.

In short if Knuckleduster was using his Quirk to attack a person it was a crime and Eraser Head, being a Hero, was obliged to act, but if Knuckleduster is Quirkless Eraser Head is in the wrong for trying to stop him... even though he was still attacking a civilian.

Should Shouto's teachers do something in Shouto's case?

In japan they're obliged to act (as in to report the abuse) ONLY IF THEY WITNESS ABUSE, though if they don't report it there are no repercussions on them.

By the way you report the abuse not to the police but to the the Child Guidance Center. They will assess the report and the first responses to the report will usually be within the first 48 hours. Action from the CGC varies from visiting the home of the child, conducting family assessments, or gathering information from settings like schools or hospitals. The CGC can also provide emergency protection and custody for the family if necessary, as well as providing other methods to support the family. The children are generally taken away from parents only if their life is judged in serious danger.

As Shouto isn't in serious danger it's unlikely the CGC will do something.

Should Enji be punished for what Shouto went through?

Let's split things again.

Marrying someone with certain genetic characteristic in hope to have a certain type of baby is not a crime in Japan, nor is having a child to push on him your expectations (as in expect he'll fulfill your ambitions), quite the contrary, it's just something that's getting less commonly done each passing year. This means that 10 years ago, in 2015, when chap 31 was printed, Japanese people were even more prone to shrug it off than they are now but they would still shrug it off.

In short Enji can tell the whole world why Shouto was born. Some people won't approve but that's all that can happen.

What about the physical abuse Shōto received?

In 2019 Japan enacted a law banning parents and other guardians from physically punishing children following several fatal cases of abuse dealt out in the name of discipline. The most notable thing is that, despite parents being banned from physically punishing children… there are no penalties for offenders and, as said before, the biggest action that can be taken would be to move the children away from the abuser.

BNHA started in 2014 with chapter 39 and 202 being printed before the law was in action hence Enji wasn't breaking the law back when those chapters were printed.

What’s more Enji isn’t punishing Shōto or beating him at random he is ‘training him’.

While abuse of children is prohibited in Japan, there are still no laws that explicitly extend this prohibition to the world of sport.

In the world of the sport abuse isn't forbidden is just 'not recommended'.

BNHA tends to compare Hero training to sport training so I guess that if the beating happened when Enji was training Shouto (and the story hints that's what happened), he's again not committing a crime.

So yeah, Enji could play with eugenetic and beat Shouto during training and no one would think to punish him for that.

That's why in a manga like BNHA that makes a big deal of taking responsibility for your crimes and going to jail for them, no one does a thing against Enji in regard to what he did to Shouto or Touya and his biggest crime is considered not looking AFTER Touya and therefore causing him to become a Villain and a threat to decent society.

And of course all this sucks big time but as Horikoshi had no interest to improve society and this was the society he lived in, this is what we get in BNHA.

It was always really creepy to me how All might and Gran Torino too never seemed to take an interest in how Tomura ended up in Afo’s hands. Or to what happened to Koutaro. I don’t think I remember them doing any research on the Shimuras, which… is horrifying. They just found out the son of their dead mentor/friend was horribly killed, and then they never mention it again? Besides, they thought Afo was dead for five whole years, and neither of them thought about checking on Koutaro before? Really?

Then they find out that his child was likely kidnapped and turned into a Villain by the guy they were trying to protect the Shimuras from and still nothing? Not even some sense of guilt?

Instead we get Gran stating that it’s basically all Tomura’s fault.

What’s even more ridiculous is that his mentors researching what happened would have been the perfect link for Deku to grow some interest earlier on Shigaraki. And also to finally realize Heroes are fallible.

A child with a heroic heritage, becoming a villain. All of his old kindergarten teachers and neighbours state that he used to be a perfectly normal, even kind child. What could’ve possibly happened?

They don’t care because already back then BNHA revealed its stance about Villains.

In the hospital All Might thinks at Tomura and is troubled by how ‘his master’s own kin lost himself so much in evil’ aka he doesn’t think he could have been a poor kid that got manipulated by an expert manipulator, no, he can’t accept someone related to his master isn’t on a righteous path.

He still wants to find the boy but then it’s clear he’s unsure about what he’ll do after. Gran Torino tells him he must not search for him because if he sees him as anything less than a Villain no good will come from it because no matter who his parents are, he’s a dangerous Villain.

In short neither of the two is seeing Tomura as a manipulated kid, they’re seeing him as ‘Shimura’s grandson’ and as a ‘Villain’. They don’t care about how or why Tomura has became a Villain, they don’t care how All for One had clearly lead him to that path, they only care he’s a Villain now.

All for One tells him Tomura hates him and that he has engineered Tomura and All Might’s meetings. It’s clear All for One has manipulated the situation and very likely has manipulated Tenko but they don’t care. It’s the same thing that Horikoshi has Shouto saying ‘dad was a madman! Our family was screwed up” but when you burned all those people to death… that was your choice.’

Basically for them Tomura chose to become a Villain, all that All for One could have done to encourage/manipulate him into this direction is irrelevant.

Gran Torino searches for Tomura with the express intention to murder him.

He tells him he has to ‘quit trampling all over Shimura’s memory and that his very existence hurt Toshinori so much and made everyone suffer’ (Chap 277). Later, with Midoriya, he’ll lament it should have been him the one who made the kill and that killing can be another way to save someone so Midoriya shouldn’t forget that (and therefore should kill Tomura). (Chap 309)

Gran Torino only has a brief moment in which he realizes he and Shimura made a mistake with Kotarou, because it’s Kotarou who implanted his own hate for Heroes in Tomura but that’s it (Chap. 281).

In the end even Nana will encourage Midoriya to kill Tomura and note that if her original plan was to have him arrested, well, at that point that would always lead to Tomura’s death as Tomura killed people and so he would be sentenced to death.

Long story short, there was never the intention to let Tomura live, there was only a minor discussion if Gran Torino should do the kill, justice should do the kill or Midoriya. And All might conveniently washes his hands clean of all this and let others deal with it. Not even his vestige will help Tomura, it’ll be only Nana’s vestige who’ll do so and, in the end, only to use his soul against AFO because Tomura was going to die anyway.

As for them believing AFO was dead… In Chap 57 Gran Torino speaks of him being back like of an obvious fact and while All Might complains he can’t understand how he survived with such wounds, he doesn’t really argue much. He doesn’t tell him ‘hey, but we checked his vitals and he was dead!’ to the point it was possible to assume they never retrieved his body, hence they couldn’t really check his status and possibly this was the original plan and only afterward Horikoshi decided to show that they indeed retrieved his body and could tell he was dead but it’s not the first time the story makes poor decisions about its continuity.

Anyway yes, they washed their hands clear with Kotarou, they feel they did the right thing by respecting Shimura’s decision and, as said before, this part already showed BNHA stance toward Villains. It’s all their fault if they became Villains, there are no extenuating circumstances and society and Heroes are definitely not responsible for such things.

It didn’t matter what happened to Tomura, if he was manipulated, blackmailed, threatened or whatever, he shouldn’t have given up to evil, he should have chosen to die. After all we see it also with Aoyama. Tsukauchi says he feels sympathy for him but hey, the boy turned his back to decent society when AFO told him if he weren’t to obey he would kill him and his parents! He should have totally left himself and his parents killed and stick up for society! It’s all Aoyama’s fault! (by the way the FAQ said Aoyama still turned himself in to the judicial system, which is why he had to leave U.A. high. Basically even though he risked his life he still did some juvenile detention)… and Himiko couldn’t survive without going to jail because otherwise she won’t take responsibility so much better to kill her off.

BNHA isn’t a story that has compassion. If you’re a Villain, you’re a Villain. Tomura was right in his speech, the system rejected them and the Heroes don’t understand what this means, don’t understand how could this push him into becoming a Villain (Chap 281). The scene in which Midoriya tells him he can’t forgive him and Tomura tells him he can’t forgive them is emblematic of this…. But then Horikoshi sided with the Heroes and just wanted Tomura to be wrong and so we got the ending we got.

So yeah, it’s sad and it’s horrible no one cared for Tenko or Kotarou but that’s basically the logic behind the story. At the end society is a little more caring because it has understood a little better the concept of collective responsibility but that’s it. There’s nothing done for who’s a Villain, there’s just prevention so that less Villains will be created but society DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for the harm it has done, there isn’t a single reform in this direction, not even in the jail system which was declared by the manga to violate human rights. But hey, it was the party connected to Villains who claimed this so let’s ignore it.

I personally hate all this but I guess there’s no helping. This is the world Horikoshi created, one that didn’t really care about helping/reforming his Villains and where if someone does so much as be willing to hear them out (before they’re sentenced to death) it’s viewed as a GIANT SIZE deal.

Thank you for your ask!

[bnhaobservation]

Judging by his overall treatment of Midoriya’s trauma, I don’t think Horikoshi ever loved his MC at all, especially since Midoriya seems to be isolated in recent art. Horikoshi never actually let Midoriya have a major win at all and the Deku vs Kacchan fight becomes apparent becuase the only reason Bakugo won is a way to prove that he’s still has over him. In fact, a lot of his actions can and does comes off as deeply manipulative with the biggest example being the apology scene due to the following factors:

1- Bakugo did it in front of everyone creating an enormous pressure to accept the apology.

2- Bakugo apologized while Midoriya was in poor physical and psychological condition.

3- Bakugo is extremely vague and proceeds to victim blame him.

Honestly I don't think the problem is Horikoshi's lack of love for Midoriya, otherwise the problem of the story would be Horikoshi's lack of love for all his characters.

This is something I've discussed in the past already, Horikoshi doesn't look at his characters' trauma in the same way as many of us do.

To him what we label as Midoriya's trauma (but we could talk of Shouto's trauma or Shouji's trauma or Touya's trauma or Rei's trauma and so on) is just something the character has to overcome if he wants to become a Hero, otherwise the character will end up becoming a Villain.

For Horikoshi what we call Midoriya's trauma was mostly solved in the first Deku vs Katchan, in which Midoriya faced Bakugou and even Bakugou acknowledged he suffered a crushing loss against Midoriya and even cried over it.

Midoriya, in order to be the exemplary Hero Horikoshi wanted him to be, has to move over his fear of Bakugou and not resent Bakugou AT ALL nor feel anger for what Bakugou did to him. Actually, since in Japan Bakugou and Midoriya are seen as 'childhood friends' even though Bakugou was all but a friend to Midoriya from when they were 4 or earlier than that, Midoriya is supposed to mend his relationship with Bakugou.

Japan also has a different vision on apologies.

If you receive one you're socially pressured to accept it even if it's just you and that person. Holding a grudge, no matter how righteous, is not seen as a good, fair thing, Japan prioritizes social armony to personal feelings. So it doesn't matter if there's people around them, if Midoriya is in a good psychological state or not or what Bakugou says, since Midoriya is supposed to be the Hero and our example of good behaviour the moment Bakugou apologized to him, he should have forgiven him... even though in the story this was never a problem because Horikoshi wants us to believe Midoriya was so good he forgave Bakugou without Bakugou needing to do anything.

On the opposite side a public apology is extremely shameful for who's doing it. Horikoshi having Bakugou publically apologizing and therefore admitting he did something wrong is shameful for Bakugou, is "punishment"/atonement for Bakugou.

Horikoshi doesn't have Bakugou to say all that to wash midoriya's trauma away, as, In Horikoshi's mind, Midoriya's trauma was overcome long ago. Bakugou's apology has the purpose to humble Bakugou and show he has changed.

So that scene, in Horikoshi's mind, doesn't mean to manipulate Midoriya in accepting Bakugou's apology, since Horikoshi doesn't even believe Midoriya needed it because he's such an amazing Hero he has already overcome his trauma and forgiven Bakugou.

As said before Midroiya isn't the only one whose trauma is handled in such a way.

The best case is Shouji, scarred by a mob because, in order to save a kid, he dared to touch said kid.

Does Shouji resent those people? Of course not, actually Shouji nobly hides his face so as not to make people uncomfortable due to his scars and tells the other abused and discriminated Heteromorphs they should just not rebel but be the best version of themselves despite discrimination.

Do Shouji's abusers apologize to him? Do they get put in jail since scarring a child is a crime? Nope but this in Horikoshi's mind doesn't matter. Shouji is so amazing that he moved over his trauma and his scars.

And what about who can't move over?

In the story they all become Villains.

Long story short, it's not that Horikoshi hated Midoriya, it's about how Horikoshi views people should react to trauma.

In his story Midoriya is the main character and the one we should take as an example because he overcame trauma on his own and forgave his abuser.

Tomura is the main atagonist because he can't overcome his trauma on his own and won't forgive his abusers.

As I've said in the past I don't really like this kind of message, but I think that's the idea behind Horikoshi's story.

Thank you for your ask and sorry for my lateness in replying to it.

[bnhaobservation]

Yes, the Heroes (and the story in general) are all about respecting the law.

Remember how the students went to save Bakugou?

Asui told them if they were to break the law they would be no better than Villains, no matter how righteous their feelings were.

In a way the series is kind of slowly destroying part of its premise. In Chap 1 Midoriya jumped in action to save Bakugou and, even though the Heroes scolded him, All Might rewarded him telling him it was proof he had Hero spirit.

Now we're told taking action to save Bakugou would be Villanous.

I get this is about how they can't use their Quirks, Midoriya in chap 1 was Quirkless so what he did was risky and could have gotten in the way of the Pros but it wasn't as criminal as using his Quirk without permission but THE STUDENTS WON'T USE THEIR QUIRK.

I get All Might scolding Midoriya because what they did was reckless but Aizawa tells everyone they would have been expelled because they didn't follow procedures and therefore betrayed their trust.

THEY WEREN'T ACTING LIKE VIGILANTES despite what Iida said when he punched Midoriya.

Still they get a lot of criticizing for what they did because they should have just conformed and sit down and not go to help Bakugou.

Asui cries because she couldn't stop them even though AGAIN they didn't break the law, they just tried to help a friend.

Again I could understand it if it was for how reckless they had been. All for One could have killed them, could have taken them too captive. But this isn't about them being reckless, this is about them breaking rules.

Almost each Villain is pinned against a kid who the story tried hard to presented as being in a similar situation as him but still not breaking rules.

Midoriya is bullied but he never reacts with violence while Tomura murdered his father.

Shouto also was mistreated by Enji but didn't become a Villain like Touya instead this.

Uraraka also has instincts but she repressed them and didn't let them lose like Himiko did.

Shouji was discriminated too but he didn't become a Villain like Shuuichi instead did.

Hawks wanted to help people and was in a disadvantaged situation and yet he didn't become a Villain like Jin instead did.

And noble Yoichi still remained noble instead than becoming a Villain like Zen did.

And the story tries hard to tell us that those situations were exactly the same but, despite everything, the Heroes chose, well to be Heroes while the Villains chose to be Villains.

The story doesn't really accept that the Villains reached a breaking point where they couldn't swallow things up anymore while the Heroes didn't. The story doesn't care it presents the Villains as more psychologically damaged and disadvantaged than the Heroes, hell, Tomura snaps in the middle of HORRIBLE TRAUMA as, after having had an abusive childhood and having been beaten, he accidentally just murdered his dog, sister and mother and his father, instead than reassuring him, just beat him and told him to stay away, all this while he was just 5.

Touya, who was inflicting himself self harm in hope to regain his father's love, burns himself alive, wakes up 3 years after scarred in an institute where they tell him he'll never be like before (and being like before already wasn't great) and try to keep him captive there, comes back home and comes to think his family didn't care he dies, lives in the streets for years, continuing to self harm himself in hope to regain some semblance of value.

Himiko isn't just suppressing feelings, she's called a monster for having them and she too resort to self harm as she ends up biting herself to satisfy her craving of blood.

Jin, who had been orphaned early and had ended up in troubles for something that was another person doing, spends plenty of time as a homeless before snapping.

Shuuichi had a weak Quirk that gave him no hope to become a Hero and therefore leaving his home for a better future. To compete with Shouji he needs AFO to give him 2 Quirks and he still can't beat him.

And so on so while the Heroes were having it bad, the Villains were litterally being broken by what they were going through and this caused them to snap, yet the story seems to insist they shouldn't have broken, that they should have resisted and remained good people.

In this story something can be unbearable only if it hurts other people, not if it hurts you.

The story then remarks that 'hey, but if we were to help people before they reached the breaking point, maybe they wouldn't reach the breaking point and stay good' but it's completely willing to blame who instead ends up snapping because no one helped him.

They should have resisted, like Yoichi, like Eri. For my culture though the story pulled too much the rope. I just can't accept they should have been resisting, it's Eri who's abnormally/fictionally too nice, it's not Tomura who's too prone to snap.

To me him snapping makes more sense than Eri being willing to sacrifice herself, I find it more human. I can understand Horikoshi might still want to criticize Tomura because we can't go around killing people... but being like Eri is just not how a normal kid works.

So, when the standard is established by a small child chosing to sacrifice herself so as not to cause troubles to the others, the story basically ends up rejecting whatever reason you might have to not respect law, it doesn't matter if you and your parents will be killed by AFO, you just have to comply with law. People can be sad you were blackmailed but still you should have respected law.

That's it.

The way the Pro Heroes are all about punishing villains

I wonder how they'd feel if they were around during the period of when people with quirks were hunted down

Probably wouldn't like being punched down by the state, wouldn't they?

I'm just venting, you can ignore

Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, I was just away from home for a travel and typing with my phone is hell.

I think the trick here is that I think in the BNHA world the state has never hunted what at the time were the Meta because they were Meta, it was just mobs of angry, bigoted people who did it.

In chap 232 we've Re-Destro saying society was in chaos with plenty of prejudice against Meta who suffered abuse and discrimination. However Destro's mother didn't see her baby being jailed due to his Meta ability, she just saw him being 'attacked' as in 'discriminated/abused' and it's an anti-meta mob who kills her.

Destro is hunted by the government solely when he rebels to it, before he was only tormented by people who were discriminating Meta.

In fact the government probably hunted the Meta solely if they were to break law, which might have been easier back then because since Meta were being discriminated they could have been blamed of doing things they didn't or might fail to control their ability and accidentally cause damage they didn't mean to (never mentioning the law forbid the use of Meta abilities so they could be punished if they went so far as to use it... even if we see that by the time the story takes place the rules are lax enough they wouldn't punish Midoriya's mom for using her Quirk in public as long as she doesn't harm anyone/doesn't use it to commit a crime).

At the same time we see that when we speak of a time of chaos... well Horikoshi went overboard, the world seems the result of a war more than of a chaotic period. There are buildings ruined, empty streets, cars destroyed, fires and so on (Chap 407).

It's in this mess Vigilantes appear and they're later legalized as Heroes. According to "Vigilantes" Chap 12 though many of them weren't recognized as Heroes so they had two options, either stop being Vigilantes and let just all the work to the official Heroes or continue and risk being labelled as Villains.

I think this is the point in which we could have a situation that's close to what you describe, in short the moment in which some of those who were previously just Vigilantes doing things for good were labelled criminals by the state.

If the Heroes had been Vigilantes who refused to stop, then yes, they would have been hunted by the state. Otherwise the state would let them be.

Still, the fact that Meta were discriminated would lead them in situations that are similar to what the Villains experienced in their youth before becoming Villains.

I mean, they would be forced to hide the fact they've Quirks if they don't want to be discriminated, which would be similar to how himiko had to hide her fascination for blood, if discovered they could be kicked out of their work and people could refuse to hire them same as what happened to Jin and, very likely, their situation wouldn't have been different from the one of Heteromorphs in small cities, with them being beaten and hurt like it happened to Shuuichi or to Shouji.

The problem is... well, we've Shouji, so if Horikoshi were to make a story in which they end up back in the past, they would all nobly suffer persecution in silence and not become Villains.

They wouldn't really understand what leads Villains to become Villains because they would think, like Shouji does, they should just bear it and be the best version of themselves.

So if Horikoshi were in charge of a story in which the Heroes end up back in the past... well, probably they wouldn't learn much by being on the bullied and persecuted side. They would just think they've to put up with it and once back in their time they would likely hit the Villains harder for refusing to do so.

Which is sad, really.

Sorry again for the late reply and thank you for your ask!

[bnhaobservation]

The way the Pro Heroes are all about punishing villains

I wonder how they'd feel if they were around during the period of when people with quirks were hunted down

Probably wouldn't like being punched down by the state, wouldn't they?

I'm just venting, you can ignore

Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, I was just away from home for a travel and typing with my phone is hell.

I think the trick here is that I think in the BNHA world the state has never hunted what at the time were the Meta because they were Meta, it was just mobs of angry, bigoted people who did it.

In chap 232 we've Re-Destro saying society was in chaos with plenty of prejudice against Meta who suffered abuse and discrimination. However Destro's mother didn't see her baby being jailed due to his Meta ability, she just saw him being 'attacked' as in 'discriminated/abused' and it's an anti-meta mob who kills her.

Destro is hunted by the government solely when he rebels to it, before he was only tormented by people who were discriminating Meta.

In fact the government probably hunted the Meta solely if they were to break law, which might have been easier back then because since Meta were being discriminated they could have been blamed of doing things they didn't or might fail to control their ability and accidentally cause damage they didn't mean to (never mentioning the law forbid the use of Meta abilities so they could be punished if they went so far as to use it... even if we see that by the time the story takes place the rules are lax enough they wouldn't punish Midoriya's mom for using her Quirk in public as long as she doesn't harm anyone/doesn't use it to commit a crime).

At the same time we see that when we speak of a time of chaos... well Horikoshi went overboard, the world seems the result of a war more than of a chaotic period. There are buildings ruined, empty streets, cars destroyed, fires and so on (Chap 407).

It's in this mess Vigilantes appear and they're later legalized as Heroes. According to "Vigilantes" Chap 12 though many of them weren't recognized as Heroes so they had two options, either stop being Vigilantes and let just all the work to the official Heroes or continue and risk being labelled as Villains.

I think this is the point in which we could have a situation that's close to what you describe, in short the moment in which some of those who were previously just Vigilantes doing things for good were labelled criminals by the state.

If the Heroes had been Vigilantes who refused to stop, then yes, they would have been hunted by the state. Otherwise the state would let them be.

Still, the fact that Meta were discriminated would lead them in situations that are similar to what the Villains experienced in their youth before becoming Villains.

I mean, they would be forced to hide the fact they've Quirks if they don't want to be discriminated, which would be similar to how himiko had to hide her fascination for blood, if discovered they could be kicked out of their work and people could refuse to hire them same as what happened to Jin and, very likely, their situation wouldn't have been different from the one of Heteromorphs in small cities, with them being beaten and hurt like it happened to Shuuichi or to Shouji.

The problem is... well, we've Shouji, so if Horikoshi were to make a story in which they end up back in the past, they would all nobly suffer persecution in silence and not become Villains.

They wouldn't really understand what leads Villains to become Villains because they would think, like Shouji does, they should just bear it and be the best version of themselves.

So if Horikoshi were in charge of a story in which the Heroes end up back in the past... well, probably they wouldn't learn much by being on the bullied and persecuted side. They would just think they've to put up with it and once back in their time they would likely hit the Villains harder for refusing to do so.

Which is sad, really.

Sorry again for the late reply and thank you for your ask!