#Class 1A critical

[nutzgunray-lvt]

I knew I wasn't going to like the ending, but I wasn't expecting it to be so underwhelming and just ugh.

- Izuku and 1A fell out of contact once they graduated... but the "Deku Squad" goes and makes their own hero team while Izuku's over here talking about how LONELY it is that he's not a hero while everyone else around him is. Then when he gets to be Iron Izuku, they get back in touch. Yeah, found family my ass.

- The hero ranking system hasn't changed at all, despite it causing so many problems in the story. In fact, it's even WORSE now that heroics is solely concentrated on those with strong Quirks due to the low crime rate. Again, anyone can be a hero, but only if they have not just A Quirk, but a strong one at that. Eventually, another AFO or Shigaraki will rise up, and they're back to square one.

- Bakugou dropping in the ranks due to his aggression and attitude is both surprising and welcomed. I'd been dreading him being #1, but again, it shows that he's received NO character development in 8 fucking years. He'd be in his twenties at that point. Grow the fuck up.

- I guess Aizawa's "apology" to Izuku amounted to absolutely nothing, and Midnight might as well have never been Mic and Aizawa's friend, given how they don't acknowledge her death.

This series had so much potential and a lot of things that I liked about it, but I'm glad it's been put out of its misery. I just wish it could have been told by a better author.

[sapphic-agent]

Undeniable proof that the other MHA subreddits are better than the main one.

But for real, let's talk about this.

One of my main issues with the ending is Izuku losing OFA. Not because he necessarily needed it to be a hero, but because it was something he earned. Him being given OFA was a reflection of who he was as a person. Losing it in the end feels like the story is totally disregarding this.

If the whole story was leading up to Izuku being able to be a hero no matter what, Horikoshi should have started out the story that way. But the narrative of MHA panders to power just as much as the society attempts to call out. Doing it now at the end is just laziness.

Especially because a) the big battle is already over and b) he needs a fucking Iron-Man suit to do it.

He could have at the very least made Izuku more Nightwing-esque (I say Nightwing because Dick's personality matches Izuku more than Bruce's does and Dick did it with a much lower budget). Giving him these high artillery weapons defeats the point of Izuku being able to be a hero without a quirk because it's literally replacing a quirk. Whereas copying the Bat Clan relies more on the skill and intelligence of the person. Sure, they have gadgets and tech for support, but again, nothing like Iron-Man does.

It's still sending the message that Izuku can't be a hero without a quirk or something similar to a quirk. Why is it hard to understand why some of us might be upset about this?

I will say, the one thing I do like about the ending is Izuku being a teacher. He's so caring and patient with kids that it makes sense. But that's immediately undermined by Class 1A just leaving him behind for eight years.

I've seen people say that they didn't stop talking to him or abandon him. And while I'm sure they didn't drop communication completely, it says a LOT about them that they only come back into the picture when Izuku's suit is finished. Like, huh?? What conclusions are we supposed to draw from that?

I'm usually all for an author ending a story how they want, but this ending doesn't even make sense narratively. I will criticize it into the ground idc

[bibibbon]

I've seen a lot of posts about how much 1A have been terrible friends for Izuku, but I was wondering if 1B would be any better in that regard and if they were, who do you think would be Izuku's closet friends in this timeline?

Personally, I think 1B would be better in that regard, and I don't think it was ever intentional to demonise 1A and make them seem toxic, but it came out that way due to a variety of reasons.

I have talked about the issue of 1A and their superficial bond to me before, and I know other people like @mikeellee have talked about it before.

To me the reasons why 1A's bond seems so shallow to begin with is because :

Most of their bonding and comedic moments are centred around horrible gags, which reduce the chemistry of the cast.

Class 1A's behaviour towards bakugo does a quick 180 after the usj/sports festival arc without bakugo changing and still being quite rude and aggressive to them and, by extension izuku.

The lack of screentime they have for the characters to bond together, and this could be chalked up to the lack of filler within the show.

The lack of acknowledgement to what they went through was traumatic and how it has impacted them as a whole and individually. The vigilante arc does try and tackle this topic, yet it seems to hold a little consistency as we reach chapters 430 and 431.

However, I personally think that 1B would be better because even with the small amount of screentime they seem to have their bond is heavily illustrated through the show don't tell method which isn't given the same treatment as 1A which suffers a lot more from telling instead of showing.

From the small interactions and glimpses we get from these characters we see that they have a lot of chemistry with one another and their bond feels natural.

Moments like this are small but quite Impactful when one is paying attention. For example, you can see the chemistry so well between characters that the kuromori ship was confirmed and everyone agreed with it. The thing is, these two didn't even share as much development or scenes as some of the major confirmed ships in mha like izoucha, but I and many other individuals find them to be much more enjoyable.

There's also little platonic moments between 1B, like yanagi and her unique comments, which her classmate seems to understand and communicate it to shinosu, who had difficulty understanding her. Or through kendo and monoma who have a huge comedy thing going on thay doesn't feel abusive even if it consists of her hitting him in the neck because that's not all she does and they actually interact.

So, to really address your question, I feel like izuku would get along well with 1B, especially because from the little we see, they seem to have great chemistry and a deep understanding of one another without judging one another's differences and actually adapting to them instead.

In this timeline, I see izuku's closest friends being:

Monoma

Kuroiori

Yanagai

Kendo

[doodlegirl1998]

I'm honestly appalled at the ending of this manga.

It's so mean-spirited of Horikoshi to drill it into the narrative that Izuku can't be a hero without a Quirk, and when he does have a Quirk, he's only a liability with it so he should just give up. Then for him to take that Quirk away from him when that's all he ever wanted is just a slap in the face to Izuku and what little character development he had.

Not only that, but for how much 1A is supposedly close to one another, they sure were quick to forget about Aoyama when discount Goob replaced him. He's been nothing but an asshole to them, so why are they so excited to see him?

Why can't the adults get off of their asses and be the primary ones helping with rebuilding? Why rope the second years into it? Furthermore, why the fuck are they having school so soon after a near apocalyptic war?

Also, I love how Bakugou is supposedly praised for his "effort" when all he did was nearly get himself killed because AS USUAL, he charged ahead without a plan, and just waited for AFO to rewind out of existence. Meanwhile, Izuku's just left by himself with All Might, because God fucking forbid anybody actually give Izuku the time of day for the right reasons.

Bakugou can go fuck himself for making Izuku's Quirklessness about himself and their "rIvAlRy", and Horikoshi can go fuck himself for making Izuku's attitude towards losing the thing he dreamed of having for 12 years: 🤷.

PS: So much for Aizawa's "apology" towards Izuku meaning anything. All he said was sorry, used Izuku's first name without earning the privilege, and then onto the next scene.

Hi @nutzgunray-lvt 👋

You and me both.

Hori hates Izuku. It is as plain a fact as the sky being blue at this point. It is intensely mean to have Izuku suffer for being quirkless (especially at the hands of Bkg*), gain OFA and work so hard with it only to lose it by the end of the story and then Hori doesn't allow Izu to have any form of upset about this. Instead, he is forced to comfort BAKUGOU about this*- the same Bakugou who calls him Deku (useless) for being quirkless! The same Bakugou who abused him for a decade largely for this!?! What the fuck is this Hori? Get boo-hoo'ing Bak-U-Go out the damn door! Focus on Izuku for once! This is traumatising! Let Izuku actually feel it instead of being puppeteered to make Bkg look good!

This is one of the reasons Izuku feels kind of flat now (I hate to say it as an Izuku fan but he doesn't react in a way that makes sense and we haven't seen in his head in so long...)

I don't buy "Class 1A is a Family," not after they chased down Izuku in the Dark Deku arc and certainly not now. Look at how easily they let Aoyama go! No crying or anything? Like wow...

And for Shinsou? Who has canonically only been an asshole to all of 1A this whole time? And no one has a problem with him or is gutted about Aoyama leaving? Nah... that's some B.S. right there.

To add Ochaco, making fun of Izuku's new hair and saying not to talk to her with that hair was in very poor taste. They were all in a WAR, Izuku didn't just have poor luck with barbers. She comes off like a bitch here not gonna lie...

Having school so soon after a whole WAR and floating UA occurring is so unrealistic... 😑 The fact that students are helping proves the school shouldn't be open yet. But Nedzu gives no shit - who is one of Japan's smartest beings, apparently...

Bakugou being praised for his "effort" over Izuku is simply laughable but sadly nothing new.

Aizawa's "apology" was hollow, simply an item on the checklist for Hori, and it shows. Also, using Izuku's first name was OOC for him and rude for him to use without asking.

In addition, we have seen the Bakugou's, but where is Inko? Hori gives no shit to her, clearly. At least she isn't there for Izuku to be forced to comfort alongside Bakugou - about a traumatic thing that happened to HIM! What is this mess Hori?!

[unknownbird0]

This is painfully accurate.

This image summarises the relationship of Izuku and Class 1A

[nutzgunray-lvt]

It really leaves a sour taste in my mouth how 1A really does fuck all to be there for Izuku while does everything to be there for them.

They sit by and let Bakugou bully Izuku.

While watching Izuku (and ONLY Izuku btw) trying to make sure Eri had a good time at the School Festival, they call him disappearing to get candy apples troublesome and problematic.

Instead of examining WHY Izuku believed it was safer for everyone if he struck out on his own and pushed himself to his physical and emotional breaking point, they take Bakugou of all people at his word that it's All Might's fault, ambush him, and then quite literally beat him into submission.

While Izuku's grappling with the trauma of losing OFA and having killed Shigaraki, no one checks up on him or reassures him that he's not some horrible murderer. I understand that they all had their own traumas, but if they could rightfully be there for Ochako, there's no way in hell they couldn't have done the same for Izuku.

Once Izuku loses OFA and graduates, 1A falls out of contact with him while his supposed first ever actual friends make a hero team on their own. Technology exists. They could have at the very least texted him, especially considering how sad and lonely those 8 years were for him. To make matters worse, they only get back in contact with him once he has the means of being a hero again through Iron Izuku (for that matter, did Tokoyami wind up getting Dark Shadow back?). To make matters even more worse, it's implied that they're all still in contact with Bakugou, who has done absolutely nothing to change his behavior and is a-okay after being told he wouldn't be able to use his arms again.

Really, for such an amazing found family, they're a bunch of fake ass friends to him in canon. I've seen fanfics that are infinitely better than canon at making 1A and Izuku's bond a more mutual thing.

[sapphic-agent]

Hi,not sure if I ever mentioned this but...not a fan how Monoma acts towards A1. Why? Bc I don't get it.

In my fics I tend to make B1 be seen as the lesser one to justify the animosity Monoma feels.

But canon...B1 is not looked down, I think maybe that is general eds.

"he hates A1 bc of bk" it's a justification I saw and could have worked but he also ...calls Izu arrogant, Izu the boy who clearly thinks he is worthless...is arrogant.

Why Monoma even has a beef with A1 in the first place? Just to be a mouthpiece for BK? Maybe but why take out on the others? Too many questions and no answer since Hori admits he created Monoma thinking on an annoying person he met and he doesn't like Monoma (bold claim here Hori) my point is...I don't think it makes sense Monoma have a issue with the students of A1.

If he was beffing with Aizawa and BK only. Yes, that would make sense.

But the rest? No. And I say this as a person who detest A1 now.

I don't care either way because Monoma is only mildly antagonistic so it isn't a huge deal for me, but I'll attempt to explain some of his behavior:

1A does nothing to call Bakugou out. They allow, and even enable in some cases, his behavior. This even includes Izuku, as (I believe) he even defended Bakugou against something Monoma said once (I can't remember if it was to his face or not)

After the USJ, Bakugou acted like he was better than the other students because he easily beat real villains. This was the rest of the school's first introduction to 1A. So Monoma, incorrectly, assumed that 1A shared Bakugou's behavior. Dumb on his part, but again, 1A didn't really condemn his behavior so they didn't help their cases there either

1A is, rightfully, annoyed with Monoma's behavior, but is fine with Bakugou's. Most of the people who condemn Monoma are Bakugou's friends (Kirishima and Sero mainly). This also replicates his childhood. He was treated differently for his quirk while people like Bakugou were praised. So I can see why he continues to antagonize 1A even if I don't agree with it

It really comes down to 1A as a whole being bystanders and hypocrites, which we know they are. They allow and defend Bakugou's behavior, even though he's been awful to them and other people. I can't blame Monoma for having a distaste for them, even if he does go too far with it.

(Also, it wasn't just Monoma who thought like this. The rest of UA resented 1A too)

Monoma's an asshole, but that's not really a problem for me. Because a) he's called out and condemned for it and b) it's really not that serious. He's not malicious or cruel, he's just an overzealous jerk

[doodlegirl1998]

your response literally made me realize that they need Izuku more than he needs them despite what Hori wants us to think.

Because think about it, nobody ever acknowledges Izuku unless he does something that benefits THEM! And fuck whatever he needs or wants!

They even make fun of his interests as if he’s the inpy one who does that sort of thing! So again, how am I supposed to believe they actually give a shit about him and his wellbeing?

Hi @theloganator101 👋

All of this. 👆

Now I like the idea of Izuku having friends, I like the idea of Izuku having ride or dies (such as Shoto.)

However, canon has left all of Izuku's friendships with the 'DekuSquad' and Class 1A as a whole to rot or actively does it a disservice in the name of 'comedy', for Bakugou's benefit or because Hori gives no care to them.

Class 1A, we know, never stand up for Izuku against Bakugou, so Hori's golden boy doesn't look bad. However, by consequence, it also looks like they don't care for Izuku apart from some key members like Tokoyami who never stand for Bakugou's shit. (Bless you, Tokoyami!)

However, with Izuku's main friendships in the 'Deku Squad', we have:

Izuku & Ochako - a friendship/budding relationship that is left to rot and actively done a disservice for 'comedy' and Bakugou's benefit.

Izuku & Iida - a friendship that is left to rot and actively done a disservice for 'comedy' and Bakugou's benefit.

Izuku & Shoto - a friendship that is actively done a disservice for 'comedy' and for Bakugou's benefit.

Izuku & Tsuyu - left to rot and done a disservice for Bakugou's benefit.

Izuku & Aoyama - left to rot.

How are we meant to buy that Ochako cares for and 'loves' Izuku when she calls him 'plain' and is so set on hiding her feelings?

When she doesn't stand up for him when he's being abused by Bakugou and when she looks freaked out whenever Izuku is shown to enjoy his hobbies?

Or when she 'who loves Izuku' barely spends any time with him?

From what we see in canon, we can't.

How are we meant to buy Iida cares for Izuku when he barely appears with him now?

How are we meant to buy Iida is Izuku's "best friend" yet when he is so quick to call Izuku "Mr House Arrest" and take Aizawa's side without hearing out Izuku?

Or when Iida is so quick to hit him* after Izuku getting out of the hospital?

Logically, we can't. *Yes, Iida apologised for doing this. However, this moment does rub me wrong, and even if this punch is nullified by the apology, the other criticisms still stand.

How are we meant to buy Shoto cares for Izuku when he thinks nothing of Bakugou verbally and physically berating Izuku now*?

*Yes, Shoto is an abuse victim, and some become desensitised to this behaviour as a result - however Shoto did not begin the series acting this way, so what conclusion can we draw?

How are we meant to buy that Shoto is a close friend of Izuku when he is chasing after Bakugou's friendship (Bakugou, who is openly hateful of Izuku?)

It looks like, through Hori trying to glorify Bakugou, that Shoto doesn't care as much for Izuku as we would like to think.

Tsuyu and Aoyama are barely even there anymore, let alone bond with Izuku.

Tsuyu used to stand up to Bakugou and his bullshit openly - now? Not a peep. She's only here to be an accessory to Toga vs. Ochako and Ochako as a whole. Izuku, who?

Aoyama has strong parallels with Izuku due to both starting the series quirkless and being given a quirk by AFO and AM, respectively. Yet this friendship is barely given any focus by Hori. Hori doesn't want Izuku to think about his own past during Aoyama's backstory, so he fails to give Izuku any introspection and fails to deepen their connection and Izuku's character as a result.

Class 1A as a whole are also done a disservice by Hori having them all gang up on Izuku with Bakugou leading the charge.

To conclude - Hori hates Izuku and it is clear looking at just how dirty he does all his connections in 1A and major friendships.

[sapphic-agent]

1A not bothering with Izuku until the minute he's "useful" again sums up the issue with MHA as a whole

Weird how the class could barely ever see each other when Midoriya was just a teacher, but as soon as he gets this suit and can be a hero again, all twenty-one of them are all conveniently in the same place to answer a single call about a road being blocked by a landslide.

Just saying... eight years.

[ambivalent-amphibian]

sometimes I wonder if I'm too old to post that this or that pervy gag character doesn't deserve rights, but then I remember their existence was, and continues to be, basically a greenlight by the author for adult fans to normalize the sexualization of underage characters and even real minors.

[delawaredetroit]

It's "surprising" there was basically no reaction from anyone from class 1A about bakugos behaviour in bullying izuku (not really, because bakugo never really gets held to his actions by others regarding that), especially from kirishima and shoto. Not that i'm blaming them of course, but i'd expect the two of them out of everyone to at least react to that, with shoto being a victim of abuse and kirishima having been shown to trying to stand up for others being bullied (while also being in a place where he's "equal" or friends with bakugo). It's a popular topic of discussion but it always frustrated me how no one seemed to call out bakugo on his behaviour. Not the teachers, not toshinori, not class A, it was always passed off for laughs or 'welp, it's bakugo', despite the bullying plot being not only completely tied to bakugos character and his character development, but also izuku and his view of himself.

To be charitable, there was acknowledgment of Bakugou's bullying during the Battle Trials. Ochako called him Izuku's bully. Kirishima and Mina pleaded to All Might to stop the match.

Some of it seems like Horikoshi rapidly changing the direction of Bakugou's character after the Battle Trials without taking the time to acknowledge everything previously established about his character.

Part of the lack of response from Class 1A in general is the lack of response to Bakugou's behavior from the teachers - particularly Aizawa and All Might. By the Sports Festival, Bakugou acts in a similar way, but the audience is instructed by Aizawa to have the opposite response from the Battle Trials to the same behavior.

Kirishima is one of the characters I'm least surprised didn't notice the bullying. Middle school Kirishima went after bullies for the sake of his own ego. He felt insecure and weak, and so he went looking for situations to prove himself. Bakugou is strong, acts intuitively, and rarely shows fear outwardly. To a guy who feels as insecure in his masculinity as Kirishima, Bakugou is a walking power fantasy. And Kirishima isn't much of a thinker either. Bakugou has traits that he admires, and unless something that contradicts that was blatantly spelled out in front of his face, he wouldn't notice Bakugou's abusive behavior. It's easily in character for early Kirishima to ignore Izuku's situation.

Shouto is a tougher one. On one hand, I get what you're saying. He grew up in an abusive household, so he should recognize the signs. On the other hand, Shouto has no basis for what any healthy relationship looks like to make a comparison. For Bakugou as well as most social situations generally, Shouto takes his social cues from watching Izuku. And Izuku has repressed everything so tight and has a fawn response to trauma in a way that Shouto gets mixed signals. And so for Shouto, if Midoriya says they're childhood friends, then he must be right.

What I don't understand is how little reaction 1A had to anything involving the Bakugou situation in Act Three. There is some argument that they had too many other things on their plate with society collapsing, but that is such a cop out. They completely misunderstood the relationship between two of their classmates for a year and they just had to fish out the one who was the victim from the brink of death. And no one had any thoughts about that somehow?

[themoonwitch-mustspeak]

I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MHA.

No, it's not the fandom. It's not even the show or manga direction.

It's an inherent theme in this entire series.

Grooming.

And no, I don't mean sexually. Although that is a topic I'll try and talk about. I'm really gonna try and make sure this is coherent, but it's me, so don't expect much.

Lemme point out some obvious examples-

This poor baby.

And these babies are two obvious examples.

But I raise you this-

Every. Single. Person.

Hawks. Class 1A entirely. Every single hero student and citizen in this world has been groomed and pulled into a propaganda campaign that being a 'Hero' is something fantastic.

LOOK AT ME IN MY METAPHORICAL EYEBALLS WHEN I SAY THIS-

THAT IS NOT OKAY.

PLUS-

The amount of sexualization *sobs into hands*

THESE ARE FUCKING CHILDREN. MINORS.

And look, if, for example, Midnight as a teen:

Her as an adult:

I HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM WITH HER TEEN COSTUME.

Like, look, you wanna wear that as an adult? Okay. You are a consenting adult. As a teen??

NO. Please, Gods, I do not care if she designed it, you can wear cargo shorts, a tank top, and a belt if you want to have skin for your quirk.

REPEAT AFTER ME-

YOU CAN SHOW SKIN IN A NON-SEXUAL WAY.

But look at all the class 1A girls.

Sorry, I could only find a pic of some.

Look, having boobs and curves as a teen happens. BUT, accentuating them as teens- as minors who have no right to consent to that at WORK.

This is not them deciding to wear crop tops and shorts on their free time, this is a career. And it's not just the girls either...

This whole thing just upsets me.

[harukamitsuki]

Here's something the entire MHA critical fanbase can agree on: Bakugou did not have to be anyone important.

Originally, he was supposed to be the first minor antagonist for Izuku to overcome, then he would fade into the background. Which would have been great, to see him become an 'extra' as he calls everyone else.

Bakugou fans like to say that Izuku forgave him, but did we ever get vocal confirmation, or even internal? After Bakugou 'apologised', all Izuku did was ask about everyone's wounds, and get unwillingly dragged back to U.A. He never said that he forgave him.

Also, to add onto your point, even if Izuku did forgive him, what about the rest of Bakugou's victims? We know there are others from the opening cutscene, where Izuku is hurt protecting someone else from Bakugou's harassment. People who claim Bakugou only targetted Izuku have completeky forgotten about that scene.

You're completely right that many of Izuku's issues are the fault of Bakugou, and society as a whole. He stutters and stumbles over his words in front of anyone, sees himself as less important than everyone, (leading into his self-sacrificial stunts), and refuses to accept help because nobody reached out to him.

Izuku's moment was completely taken over by Bakugou. We have no idea how he felt when all of 1-A where trying to drag him back, (apart from Tenya because he's great sometimes), and we have no idea how he felt in the aftermath.

Horikoshi loves Bakugou and hates Izuku - this is a notion many in the MHA critical community agree on. Izuku is hardly given the attention and introspection that he needs as the protagonist. He becomes boring as a result, and it annoys many readers to see nothing from the main character.

There were so many ways to bring Izuku back, yet the 'right' way, according to Horikoshi, is to fight him? Izuku is already exhausted from countless battles and no sleeping or eating, he left in the first place to protect them, and they decide to gang up on him?

It could have been so easy to just have Izuku overwhelmed by an enemy, and have some from 1-A help him, both to show how this isn't good for him, and to prove that 1-A doesn't need his protection.

Because, in the manga, we don't see him actually struggling against enemies - not even Muscular who he broke both of his arms to fight previously. We see a toll take affect with his exhausted eyes, but we don't see how he truly feels about all this.

There is no indication that he really does need this, both to him and the readers.

And the keyword, the italicised word, is 'some'. Only some of 1-A needed to be there for him. Specifically, Ochako, Tenya, Shouto, and Tsuyu. The closest friends he made in 1-A. Who he helped massively, and now it's their turn to help him.

All of 1-A did not have to be there. Especially when it wss the same song and dance.

The IzuCrew, (as I like to call them because I hate calling him 'Deku'), were his closest friends, and it would have been so easy to just record everyone else speaking about how Izuku inspired them and helped them, and show it to him when the IzuCrew help him relax.

It doesn't hurt that all four of them are powerful in their own rights.

TLDR; Bakugou didn't have to be there at all. The enture ending of the arc was horrible, and the fighting wasn't needed.

Now, as for the duality of 'rely on others' and 'rely only on yourself', you're right, absolutely. I believe Horikoshi was trying to achieve a middle ground of sorts and failed completely.

A place where individualism and reliance meet. Some things, you can do by yourself. But others you should rely on your friends.

How could he have explored this properly? Well, let's look at the Hosu arc for a moment, where we see the first example of this happening.

Tenya tries to take everything on for himself and attacks Stain to avenge his brother. However, he fails completely, as he's too caught up in his own mind and mental collapse to think straight.

It is Izuku and Shouto who help him come to terms with both himself and his brother's recent disability. By accepting outside help, he is able to overcome his mental block and, together, they beat Stain.

This is a good way to send the message of, 'Relying on others gives you strength.'

But then we're hit with the Training Camp arc. Izuku faces a mighty opponent and, by himself, defeats him although he sacrifices his arms to do so. While it could be argued that he could only do it to protect Kouta, it's easy to see that Izuku just wanted to beat Muscular.

What would I have done? Have Izuku run. Pick up Kouta and get the hell out of there, to the teachers he knows are seasoned pros who could be able to handle it - especially with Aizawa's quirk.

It would be a great way to show how even the main character can't do everything on his own. Even better if Izuku did end up helping take Muscular down with other people, teachers or students.

Of course, that's just what I would have done. There are other ways to do this - have a friendship is magic moment where his bonds give him strength, or have him try to retreat but is unable to, or anything really that proposes the idea that 'one is strong, all is mighty'.

We see this reliance on others again with Bakugou's rescue, as he accepts help from Eijirou. But then we see the 'rely on yourself only' when All Might faces One for All alone.

And again when Izuku faces Overhaul alone.

And again when Mezou faces Spinner and x-many villains alone.

And again when–

See? There is a balance at first, where Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta work together to escape the villains at the USJ, but All Might fights the Noumu alone and ends up seriously injured. When Shouto accepts Izuku's help, as does Tenya later on, but Izuku didn't even try to run for help.

But then, after Kamino, there are little to no moments of people accepting help. I can think of only two: Shouto and Inasa needing Izuku to tell them to shut up and focus on the victim rather than their fued, and Izuku being forced into accepting help - which isn't exactly a good thing.

I guess the final exams, (vs. the teachers), also count, but I hated that arc because of Bakugou, so...

There needed to be a balance. Where characters slowly realise that accepting help isn't a mark of weakness, it's acknowledging that handling everything by yourself isn't exactly a good idea.

It would have been cool to see a parallel between the villains and the heroes, with the villains refusing any help and insisting on doing everything themselves, and the heroes learning to rely on others.

Okay, I went on a long spiel, but this is my half-in-depth response to this.

In short, Horikoshi is a bad writer, Bakugou sucks, Izuku deserved better, the messages conflict so often, and always wear a seatbelt. Peace ✌️

MHA Volume 33...not going to enjoy most of this I bet

Why does Bakugou get to have an opinion about Izuku? Many of Izuku's issues are Bakugou's fault! Society as a whole bears some responsibility but for real...Bakugou was the on-site bully...and not only toawrds Izuku.

Also...trying to bring Izuku in by attacking him? Way to make him feel "loved". Maybe it's not the "right" call for him to be a loner, but it's Izuku's choice.

Plus this whol series has been a confusing mass of "don't rely on others" and "rely on others" with Izuku forever being the one punished for not picking right each time.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Rewatching S1E8 it's a shame Kaminari (and everyone else) didn't keep that same attitude when it came to Bakugo. Maybe if everyone had made it more clear he was a piece of shit he would've actually had development.

[khonaker]

That ask you submitted about NO ONE being happy/giving encouragment to Izuku during the interview exercise made me way angrier than I thought.

Like you said, it would have been one thing if a few of 1A didn't (Sero and Kota since they're canonically not as close with Izuku, maybe Jirou since she just don't give af), but for EVERYONE including Tokoyami and the Deku Squad? Absolutely not.

Like Jesus fucking Christ, Hori can't just throw Izuku a win every once in a while? All Might's the only one who consistently praises him and gives him encouragment, and the narrative likes portraying as this being wrong because it "encourages Izuku's self-sacrificing tendancies."

It's bad enough that Izuku has no other talents or hobbies to speak of, he can't even have his friends in his corner?

All this does to me is paint Hori as indecisive about what he wants to do with these characters that aren’t named Midoriya or Bakugou. And it���s absolutely infuriating because Hori wants us to think 1-A is a complete unit and family together yet scenes like this tarnish that idea.

Moments when Midoriya rallies the bulk of 1-A during the provisional license exam and they all back him up with NO hesitation, and Iida and Todoroki wanting to let him know if he needs someone to talk to when they see him stressed about something during the Overhaul arc. I LOVED those scenes because they demonstrated how high of an opinion most of 1-A had of him. At the bare minimum, even those who didn’t canonically interact with him a lot or at all, like Sero or Koda, they trusted and respected him. That’s why, while I understand the feeling and can get where people are coming from, I can’t get behind the notion that Midoriya doesn’t have friends. They are simply acting out of character for dumb reasons, such as, like I said in my post, a very cheap laugh.

Honestly, it’s like the entire dynamic between Midoriya and the majority of 1-A shifted by the time you know who started to get more and more unnecessary screen time.

[doodlegirl1998]

This is part of the why "Class 1A is a family" is a false narrative - just look at how easily Yuuga is let go by 1A for Shinsou (a kid who has been nothing but cruel to them!)

Maybe it’s a good thing that aoyama left class 1A cause the second Shinso steps foot in that class immediately aoyama is forgotten, they really just don’t care, huh?😿