crossinglilylake

[crossinglilylake]

Dabi's Clothes: Some Thoughts

(Featuring Touya's tits and stomach)

At first I was just going to make a compilation the different outfits he's worn, but I had comments to make and little things that I've noticed about them, so I guess this post sorta turned into an analysis/meta in a way.

Pre-League Try Outs & First Appearance

His first outfit differs between the anime and the manga. While the general scene is still the same, the anime re-used the jacket/over-shirt he wears during his first meeting with the League. In the manga, however, we can tell it's definitely a dark colored jacket featuring two straps with buckles across the collar. Other than that, there's not too much to note here except for the fact that Dabi had already begun dying his hair. So sometime after his escape from the "nursery" but before he became a villain, he'd dyed his hair black.

Next we his icon first main look that appears to possibly be his attempt at dressing nice/more formal for the League of Villains try outs. There's quite a few things to note here. The over-shirt he's wearing, much like the rest of the outfit, is very tattered. The collar in particular but also the rest of it is tattered and torn, and the sleeves are much too short due to being torn.

The white undershirt he has on looks like it's stained up toward the collar. The neckline also appears to be pretty stretched out, and it's a bit tricky to tell due to the shading, but it looks like the shirt is rather short and ends right above his belt (at least in the manga version). The anime made some slight adjustments to the undershirt and it doesn't look like they included the stains, but made the neckline of the shirt slutty-- his tits are practically out.

And then we get... whatever is happening with his belt here. And his pouch! It looks like he's either wearing 2 belts, or has the belt wrapped around his waist twice. Notably, it's the same style of the white double grommet belt he wears later on, but I'm guessing he either learned to wear it properly or gone one that fit him better later on. Moving on, we see that the dark dress pants he has on are way too short, putting his ankles on full display, and that he's not wearing socks. He's also got on what looks like dress shoes.

Given that Touya was presumably living on the streets, I think it's safe to assume these were clothes that he found, which would explain why they're pretty ill-fitting and not in the greatest condition.

Villain Costume V1

Next, we get the 1st iteration of his official villains costume, which keeps a lot of the same elements as his other clothes-- same color scheme of navy blue and white, same white/gray double grommet belt, and a very similar white undershirt that might be the same undershirt as before, but it's difficult to tell. Again, in the anime version, his tits are out. The shirt also seems pretty flowy?? And it ends right above his belt so while it definitely fits, it's pretty short and his stomach show when he stretches or when he moves quick, which seems to be a re-occurring thing with his shirts. Is it a women's shirt??

The cuffs of his sleeves were inspired by stove burners, according to Hori, although it's important to note that it was specifically stated that that was Hori's inspiration, not Dabi's. The stitches on the shoulder make them look like foe-shoulder pads, but Dabi's shoulders are pretty narrow, so it doesn't really have the same effect. Instead of a plane overshirt, this time he opts for a trench coat, cut and stitched in the back.

We also get what I like to call his black go-go boots for the first time. These are notably different boots than he gets later on as they lack the white zipper, but we'll get to that later. Obligatory mention of the fact that Bones drew him a lot taller than he actually is (he's the same height as Shoto when Shoto was 15-- 176 cm) so it appears the short king wear heels and/or puts lifts in his boots (note that this is a headcanon though, I don't think there's any canon evidence of it). The boots do have a bit of a heel, so there's that. He also kept his little pouch thing from earlier-- I don't think we ever learned what he carries in this. Staples and medical supplies for if he over-uses his quirk? That's my theory.

Villain Costume V2

This one is definitely my personal favorite. It's very similar to the first edition, just with a bit more flare... and edginess... and stitches. He's consistent lmfao.

Although he kept the same idea as the original, the coat is definitely brand new. The gas burner sleeves are still there along with the cut and sown back together pieces than sorta function in a visually-similar way to pleats, but this time he gets a few fancy upgrades: lapels, a higher & pointier collar, and buttons! It looks like he got new pants as well, featuring more of his iconic stitching pattern.

His new (Even Shorter) shirt is actually sleeveless, as shown in the HR sketch (we'll get to that in a second), and it doesn't close all the way at the bottom. This is definitely my favorite shirt hehe. While I appreciate the way the other one showed off his cleavage, I like the sleek design of this one, not to mention the fact that it's even shorter and frequently shows off his tummy as a result. He also keeps the hip pouch from before.

It is interesting that in some of the official art, the belt is brown and the trim of the shirt is a gold color instead of silver/gray, but similar things have happened in the past. I've noticed a lot of the official art, especially on the covers, gives him gold piercings instead of silver, and makes the detailing on his jacket gold as well. Personally, I prefer the silver... but anyway-

This is also my favorite version of the "go-go boots". They're kinda tricky to get a good screen shot of since we don't really see his boots all that often, but these ones zip up and have a little circle on the zipper tab, which I don't recall ever seeing on the previous version so it looks like he got new boots?

It looks like there were some small alterations made since the previous sketch didn't include the stitches around his waist and on the pockets, but they're pretty much the same, so I don't think I'm gonna call this v3. His trench coat is pretty similar, but with the addition of more stitches around his waist and around his pockets. It describes his jacket as being patchwork-like and made from "raw leather," which is interesting since the other jacket was described as being flame-retardant and I don't think that applies to leather, but hey maybe they've got special flame-retardant leather in the world of MHA.

The Funeral Outfit

I think most people focused on the fact that his tits were out for real this time with this outfit, which is fair, but what's most interesting to me is that the vol 35 extras specifically denote that it's inspired by traditional Japanese burial clothing-- a reference to it being the "perfect place to hold [his] funeral" and symbolic of his murder-suicide plan.

The whole thing is noticeably very tattered, however, which I think serves as a visual call-back to his first appearance. He keeps his same belt and similar go-go boots, but this time in white!

Honorable Mentions

My two honorable mentions go to his couch video outfit (which is just him shirtless) and his incognito outfit. I've already brought up how Bones changed him to be quite a bit taller than he actually is, but that wasn't the only thing they changed about his appearance. They made him more muscular-looking in the anime version and pulled his pants down a few inches to show off his v-line (changing the characters' body types/proportions is something I've noticed a few times, which could be a whole other post but I digress). Anyway, abs-less Touya you will always be my babygirl <3

We can see more of the stitching around his knees and thighs here, but also button and little bands things around his waistline since he doesn't have his belt on.

His disguise/incognito outfit is... certainly something! It looks like he's got a rain coat on, which works since he probably needs to cover the scars on the lower portion of his face. The sunglasses not only hide his eyes, but the scars under them as well.

So, in conclusion, he seems to have an affinity for high collars, shirts that show off his cleavage, and... short fitting shirts? I'm not exactly sure what to call them since they're not mid-drifts. According to Google images, the closest thing I can find is "cropped boxy tops" but that's obviously not an exact fit. Anyway, I'll be dying on the I think it's a women's shirt hill until it's confirmed otherwise.

[crossinglilylake]

I am so sad. They gave this Dabi vs Shouto panel to some B-studio.

There are so many things wrong with this shot, but the most infuriating part is that it shows that its creators do not have a clue what this fight is about.

The composition. The composition matters. This is Kamino. Shoto and Touya are having a showdown in Kamino. All Might's last stand, the place where Endeavor realized he destroyed his family for nothing, the moment where the reason they were created, they have suffered for became moot.

All Might's statue is looming over them. All Might was the goal - they were little toddlers when Endeavor told them that their worth is coming from being able to surpass All Might. Their existence was conditional on that goal. It's the reason of the wedge between them.

"I am not here". It has so many meanings. But also for this particular fight the "hero" who created this family, these two boys to surpass All Might is once again not here. As AFO rightly calls him out for it, once again, he fails to show up for Touya.

Shouto does show up and he's looking at Touya who is not looking at him. "Watch me" is like the desperate cry for self-worth in the Todoroki family.

Shouto's pose in the manga radiates his determination. He who is always so full of doubt is so sure here. He stands firm. But the fire and ice at his feet are a reminder of his "masterpiece" status, due to his perfect quirk. In the anime, his pose is floppy, the ice and fire are missing too.

Touya who looks away is so full of disdain for Shouto. His swag shows what he thinks of this 3rd son. In the anime? Nothing.

I'm not only mad because the artwork is lazy and looks bad. I'm mad because every choice they made here, every corner they cut tells me the people who made this did not understand a single thing about this fight.

[crossinglilylake]

wait hey. i have an idea. they split someone elses quirk in half, and gave the destroying half to tenko, right?

(we know that this is chisaki because this panal is cut directly from chapter 158)

well. i think i know where the healing half went. it went to eri.

think about it- everyone said her quirk was a sudden mutation unlike either of her parents quirks.

i think eri and a few other children like touya and chisaki were backup plans. we already know touya was one of those 'backups,' and we have evidence of chisaki being the source of the destorying/repairing quirk that was split.

eri was just a more recent backup plan in case things went south at the LOV attack at USJ. since AFO was arrested shortafter, she kind of got lost in the shuffle and was just written off to be a similar "seedbeds of ferocity and hatred" as she grew up under chisaki's care.

she even has a similar backstory to Tenko already, having killed a member of her family by accident

that could be why her quirks so weird to- it takes time for it to remember how to "fix" things since its also not "destroying" things as a blueprint. since the quirk is split, it doesnt know how to "fix" things because theres nothing"destroying" things. so it has to rely on time itself to "fix". thats how i think overhaul's quirk works anyway- something needs to be ''destroyed" before being "fixed". its even said that her quirk is similar to chisaki's.

she also suffers from the same control issues tomura had. i bet that her being placed in the care of someone suspected to be another AFO project was not a coincidence. she could have been a very fitting replacement for tenko- she killed her parents with her quirk and was raised in an environment where she was seen as nothing more then a tool for things to end. it was only her determination that she was able to escape his grasp.

just like how chisaki was saved from the same place where Touya woke up from. I wonder if Touya's breakout triggered Chisaki's escape and into the hands of the yakuza.

and of course, saving Chisaki from an even worse fate

[crossinglilylake]

Tenko Shimura's ‘allergies’ and the implications thereof

I think most people always agreed that Tenko's allergies were - in some form or another - emotion-based.

Back in 235 we get the infamous "it only itches at home line" line.

It's also emphasized again later in the chapter when we see that the itching gets progressively worse after Kotaro yells at Tenko (meaning that it gets worse when Tenko is sad and/or in distress).

Back in the day, I saw a lot of people theorizing that the itch was a sign of Decay and that it was the early stages of the quirk manifesting within Tenko. But given what we know now, about AFO giving Tenko the quirk and especially when he gave Tenko the quirk, I don't think that this is the case.

We can pretty much pinpoint exactly when AFO gave Tenko the Decay quirk.

These two panels are from 235 and 419 - and I firmly believe that these panels take place only minutes apart from each other. This is also clearly the moment that AFO gave Decay over to Tenko, as shown by the small glow of his hand.

Before this point Tenko Shimura was quirkless.

Tenko got his original quirk stolen from him when he was just a baby - meaning that during the time between being an infant and being 5-years-old, Tenko was officially quirkless.

This makes a huge difference if we then look back at his allergies and why they appear.

This panel is from just before AFO takes Tenko's hand and gives him the Decay quirk. Look at his face. This boy already has irritated skin around his eyes (it looks like he's just been scratching at it too).

With the knowledge that Tenko at this point in time still is quirkless, I think it's fair to say that the allergies are not an early symptom of Decay.

It only itches at home.

Because the itching is purely psychosomatic. Because it's a stress-response/anxiety-response to the environment this young boy is forced to come home to every single day.

This boy is 5. He's 5. It's not normal for a 5-year-old to think thoughts anywhere near "does my father hate me?"

Kotaro has already put a fear in this little boy, which doesn't stop or go away as soon as his punishment does. The trauma in this boy is already so big that he thinks about these things in the moments when his dad isn't even actively scolding or punishing him.

It doesn't take a destructive quirk to cause a physical response like itching. All it takes is being constantly afraid of when you're going to be yelled at next, when you're going to be punished next, all by the hands of the parental figure you aren't sure even loves you at all.

It only itches at home.

Especially when the four walls of your house are a prison.

[crossinglilylake]

These panels from chapter 419 kind of suggest that AFO also had a hand in Tenko’s friendships. I’m assuming that these kids are Mikkun (the German translation uses Mitsu here?) and Tomo from chapter 235.

We don’t have any information on what AFO could have said to the two, but considering what Tenko says two panels later and how AFO says “gave you ambition”, maybe he at least planted the idea of letting Tenko play All Might in the boys’ heads, hoping (or probably rather sure) that would inspire Tenko to want to be a hero.

The panels can also be interpreted as AFO telling the two of them to run off so that he gets a chance alone with Tenko.

Either way it's creepy.

[crossinglilylake]

It’s sad how Shigaraki Tomura's life is so completely eclipsed by AFO. His grandmother gave her son away to fight AFO, which led to Kotaro’s resentment for heroes and created the perfect breeding ground for AFO to sow his “seed of hatred” or whatever you may call it. Had Kotaro actually managed to have a happy family without so much tension between him and his son (and the rest of the family members), maybe none of this would have ever happened. But as it was AFO smelled the opportunity like the bloodhound he is and moved to action.

When his plan comes to fruition he swoops in and plays the saviour for a traumatized child who has just become another tool in his shed.

And when Shigaraki doesn't act like he wants to anymore, he rips his sense of self out from under him. He was there before the beginning and he was planning to be there after the end and it makes for such a cruel narrative.