#Hori really wanted to flog the fans with little reading comprehension over the head with this

[mamashenanigans]

I’ll have this in my analysis, but…

I love Izuku being the one to finally break down AFO by seeing him for what he truly is. Not an inconceivable, born evil monster, but a lonely old man. A man wracked with guilt and grief, but unable to complete the 5th stage of acceptance.

It’s telling that, for the first time, AFO begs Izuku “not to see him” when he has said countless times how he wants everyone to look at him forever. The demon lord persona is shattered just like Izuku shattered him physically. The immediate shift to the vestige world and AFO finding what little remains of Yoichi is an awesome way of completing Izuku’s statement. AFO has tried so hard to pretend he’s completely evil, incapable of feeling anything, but the truth is that Yoichi is his world. He is interdependent with his twin and he honestly is nothing without him. These very real feelings of guilt and grief, those he’s been in denial about, those that he never wanted anyone to see, especially himself, are finally at the forefront. And Yoichi was a perfect distraction for the other user’s to aid Izuku in finally destroying what remains of AFO.

He died a sad, lonely man because he simply couldn’t accept that he accidentally killed the one person in this world that mattered to him. Not a possession like a toy, but as the only person in the entire world that he could and does love more than anything.

And honestly…

This makes AFO the most relatable villain in the entire story. We have all felt guilt. And I’d say the majority of us have all felt grief. The grief never goes away. It’ll always be there in the back of your mind, but acceptance of that grief allows us to continue our daily lives. AFO couldn’t do it. Yoichi was at the forefront of his entire mind since he was born.

He is the saddest, most relatable villain in all of My Hero Academia.