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The Beauty and the Beast

I have never expected that knowing about the author’s story would ever affect my perception of something that he/she creates. I know that many of you would say that this is a no brainer, but it’s just the first time I see through a writer’s eyes. In this post, I will talk about how I felt about Overhaul’s arc from a slightly different perspective that someone else might have already seen the same way I do. For those of you who don’t know Kohei's story, a while ago when I first started watching Boku no Hero, I was really into this anime that I started searching for interviews with Kohei Horikoshi, but I was disappointed to find only one interview, which was partially subtitled into English. Thank goodness this part was about his beginnings, and how he came up with the idea that saved not only his career but also his life. Before Boku No Hero, Horikoshi sensei suffered from depression for two years that almost lead him to give up Manga, and if I remember correctly he was on the verge of suicide. He said that he was a great fan of the American comic books, and Batman was his favorite superhero; he even had a whole section designated for action figures from Nolan’s trilogy. Back in June, when I finally decided to catch up to the manga, I started reading Overhaul’s arc, and this when it occurred to me, and my mind started making connections; ultimately this arc became my favorite in the entire manga. Besides the cool look of Overhaul, which to me is one of the best concepts he has ever come up with in his manga, what he stands for in my eyes is just beyond the idea of a mob boss who wants to revive the yakuza and rid the world of the filth that is quirks. Basing his concept on plague doctors aligns perfectly with his germophobia, as well as alluding to the time of plague which hit England during the dark ages. This connotation of death and how he is completely in control of Eri’s feelings and fears made me see this arc as a way of catharsis that spreads awareness about people who suffer from clinical depression, drawing, of course, on his personal experience. The way Overhaul is always lurking at the back of Eri’s mind, the way he is depicted as a crow both prove my hypothesis. In one scene in episode 11, Overhaul addresses Eri in front of Midoriya saying, “It’s easier to be hurt yourself than to have others get hurt for you, huh?” I felt like Kohei doesn’t just use him to be the cause of her anxiety and her constant fear of causing harm to people who try to help her, but he also uses Overhaul perfectly to verbalize how Eri feels deep inside, without being able to utter the words. Eri is a girl who doesn’t know the meaning of happiness, she surrenders to him, only because she feels that no-one is going to help her, and that’s how Mirio states it during his fight against Overhaul. All of this is supported by many panels in which Kohei shows Overhaul as the death that lingers in Eri’s mind, refusing to let her go. When Eri finally meets Midoriya and Mirio, she gets a touch of love and safety which causes her to think about Midoriya’s soft embrace. It is as though Kohei is trying to say that it could only take a warm hug and a sense of security to make those who are clinically depressed feel better. That is why at the end of the arc when Eri feels safe again, she unleashes her powers to help Midoriya, not fully in control, yet Midoriya’s words might have given her some confidence to be in control when he says that her quirk is a blessing, not a curse, which causes her to cry. This is the first arc that we see Kohei go deep to explore some of the most crucial problems of this age, which makes this manga for me very outstanding among all other manga, not only shounen.

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Shigaraki vs Redestro

Every time Shigarak goes through an arc in which he is not the main villain, but rather fighting another villain, starting with Stain, then Chisaki, and most recently Re-Destro it not only becomes a battle between them but also a comparison of them as people. Shigaraki is not just fighting his own villains, he is up against his own shadows, people who are like him but not. A battle against them is a battle against himself in a way. Every single one of the antagonists Shigaraki faces is actually a foil with several things in common with him, I already wrote a similiar post on Chisaki here. 

Below the cut, the several things that Shigaraki and Redestro have in common, and the difference that will allow Shigaraki to grow in a way that Redestro hasn’t, making Redestro his stepping stone. 

Keep reading

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Here's why Overhaul should be considered the best villain in BNHA so far, from my humble point of view. For the past few years, the villain with a tragic backstory has become the most popular across various communities which promoted the idea that a villain should always be a victim to the pain inflicted upon them by society or a specific group of people. I must admit that I am a fan of this type of villains myself, especially when written in a perfect way the same as Shigaraki. However, it was about time we had a classic villain like Chisaki Kai. Kai is a part of an organization that follows a code, even though they are a group of outlaws, they follow the honorable, traditional methods of the profession. After he was taken in by the boss of the Yakuza who tried to discipline Kai's nefarious urges, Kai never seemed to believe in his boss's methods and chose to abide by his own ideologies and agendas to repay his debt for the guy who took him in. As far as we know, Kai was never the victim of any catastrophic event as a child that led him to believe the world needed purification which is his entire endeavor along with reviving the Yakuza. He is just a mysophobic who was inspired by a theory that the quirks came from a plague carried by rats, and to a germophobic, that must be hell on earth. This solely sets him out on a campaign to eradicate quirks because they impose danger on a society he deems dirty and impure. What's fascinating about Overhaul is that it all came from his own perception for the world. He gave me a sense of what the word "villain" truly means; just an egoistic person who sees himself as a messiah which emanates from a selfish, non-remorseful personality. Not to forget his character design concept that is based on plague doctors; which in its turn conveys a lot about his vicious personality. I could go on and on about Overhaul, but I think you already got the hang of it.