#about the uraraka vs toga scene

[shadowed-dancer]

Villains and Their Fates - A Tragedy Would Have Been Fine By Me

I've seen a lot of people who try to write off frustration with the league's fates by saying "you just wanted them to survive" or "you're just upset your favourite character died". And while that may be true for a few people, I know that it's at least not true for myself (which must mean there are others who feel the same way). So today I'm here to share my thoughts. Despite liking the villains and wanting them to be redeemed, I was also willing to accept a well written ending if they died. I just wanted to ramble a bit about the three main villains (mostly Toga) and how I felt a tragic ending could have been improved.

The only villain I felt should have lived is Dabi, but that's more because of the awkwardness his unconfirmed death caused for Shoto (read this beautifully written analysis for more). If Dabi had to die, he should have died on the battle field OR in the hospital surrounded by family where he gets a few last words in. Leaving his fate unconfirmed leads to the ruined Shoto arc, but is also just weird for a character who has existed for so long. You're telling me that even Overhaul gets a confirmed ending but DABI doesn't?

I've also talked a bit about how Endeavor's survival ruins the subplot, and in 426 he continues by making Touya's final appearance about him (rather than the two brothers) but that's something I've talked about too much. If Endeavor has to be alive and hogging screen time, the least Hori could do is imply Touya will survive rather than die, so at least Enji isn't literally stealing time from his other family members to have some interaction with Touya.

If Touya has to end up in that machine, an ideal ending would have been the doctor saying "it will be a gruelling and near-impossible uphill climb to recovery" and then Shoto can smile and say "he's done it before". Boom. Simple as that. Leave it open, but at least on a positive note so we can assume that the family will have plenty of time to reconcile, as opposed to an unknown (but limited) amount of time that Enji vows to use to talk to him (yeah I know it's supposed to be a sweet gesture but even Touya calls bullshit on it). Let Shoto and Touya eat their soba, damn it!

For Shigaraki, my grievances extend to the writing of the entire final battle between him and Deku. As such, I don't have much to say aside from that because it really is just a product of poor writing. Neither were really allowed to talk before the big moment (hell, the vestiges were narrating Deku's emotions half the time like "he must be upset, this quirk meant so much to him". Why not let him tell us???) and the back-and-forth of Shigaraki being destroyed and then not only to be destroyed again was too much. It felt sloppy and hard to follow, and once you figured it out it just felt dumb. It's as if each chapter needed some massive reveal, but the story had done it so much at this point that it just felt tired and like it was happening "because Hori said so", and that should never be what drives a story.

Speaking of "because Hori said so"...

Oh Toga. Out of all the villains, I actually liked her confrontation the most. (Lies. If Dabi vs Shoto was the end of Dabi's fight, THAT would have been the best. But the Endeavor fight ruins it). Despite having limited screen time, Toga and Uraraka had a surprisingly well-built dynamic. Their few interactions were actually meaningful and created a strong foundation for a fight, and at the very least they had more of a personal connection than Deku and Shigaraki ever did. I think that Toga giving her blood to someone she loves (as opposed to drinking/taking their blood like she had said the whole series) is a beautifully tragic end to her character, but still something that could have fit.

To me, the problem comes with how she died. Let me replay the scene for you: Toga stabs Uraraka in the stomach and Uraraka bleeds too much because she keeps moving around. Toga then realizes she doesn't want Uraraka to die. To save her life, Toga has to do a blood transfusion with herself as a donor and she dies because she has to give ALL her blood.

Now... sure. Ok. Fine. Yeah. Maybe by real-world logic this makes sense. I guess. Whatever. But within the world of MHA, this setup is laughable.

Here's a list of things characters survived (or at least, they survived LONG ENOUGH to get to a hospital rather than dying on the battlefield): Deku shattering his bones with 1 million percent, whatever happened to Best Jeanist when AFO attacked him, Nighteye getting a massive spike through the torso, All Might with "his entrails strewn across the ground", Bakugo becoming Swiss cheese, Grand Torino being punched so hard a crater forms beneath him, Touya being a literal flaming skeleton, Bakugo's heart exploding, Edgeshot becoming a worm. Mirko getting a limb ripped off and then running full speed at Shigaraki. That's just off the top of my head, I know there's probably more.

But you want to tell me that Uraraka getting stabbed and then moving was a fatal wound that required ALL TOGA'S BLOOD? ALL OF IT? The reason Toga's death bothers me is that the setup cheapens the actual moment of sacrifice. It feels preventable, so when she tells us that Uraraka is going to die without her blood, all I could do is roll my eyes because I'm not allowed to use critical thinking skills, I have to just accept what Hori says and take it at face value.

If the author wants you to live as Edgeworm despite saying you were gonna die, you can. But if the author needs a stab wound to be fatal and require ALL of someone's blood? Well tough luck bud, that's just how it goes. Mirko can run and move all she wants after having a limb ripped off, but moving a bit after one stab wound is fatal. Why? Because I say so.

If Uraraka's wound was actually serious then this ending would have been a beautiful tragedy. But as it stands now, the ridiculousness of her wound makes it all feel preventable.

Oh, there's also the fact that Toga switching blood types when she transforms was never established, but I've rambled enough.

That's it. Thanks for reading!

[pikahlua]

Not the same anon, but there was a thread on X summarizing problems with this chapter and how rushed it feels. I think these are pretty valid criticism if I am being honest. [link removed] I really love MHA and I want to enjoy this epilogue, but I really do feel like it is being rushed in some places.

I resubmitted this ask to remove the link. I'm not interested in sending critics flying at someone I disagree with.

The link you provided is for a criticism that is precisely the sort of commentary my blog exists to correct. Why are you guys judging the story based on a bad fan translation??? Is that really what the issue is here? If you're feeling like a chapter is rushed based on Rukasu's rushed summaries or my own disjointed, unnatural-sounding translations or the fan translations that just push along with awkward translations they clearly don't research that well, yeah, I bet it does seem pretty rushed.

Fan translation (left) vs official translation (right)

Some differences are stark and some subtle, but they all lead to totally different readings!

And as for this criticism:

And while I get what Horikoshi was trying to communicate here, the execution is just... Absolutely tone deaf

I don't understand how anyone could say something like they know what the author intended in good faith when they KNOW they're reading a fan translation.

Starting with the 1st page: now, I get Horikoshi is trying to this monologue more for the audience to highlight Uraraka's self sacrificial tendencies similar to Izuku in order to explain her behavior and showcase her flaws. [...] Because, in universe, Uraraka is breaking down with guilt and grief over someone she finally reached/understood sacrificing her life for her, something only SHE knows, and Izuku shows up, ignoring what's going on, and starts "explaining" her flaws and HIS feelings about it all. [...] Now, again, I understand that Hori is trying to communicate to the audience that Izuku has realized Uraraka's flaws and struggles and is deciding to become her support instead.

This reading completely ignores the fact that Ochako doesn't want to open up. Izuku is trying to convince her to! That's what's happening in this scene! He's not "ignoring" what happened with Toga--because he doesn't even know what happened! That's part of why Ochako is so upset!

I've explained before how the western fandom has a bad reading on these so-called self-sacrificial "flaws" Izuku and now ostensibly Ochako have. This is not the first time a character has realized they relied too much on another person's strength and let that person shoulder their burdens alone. All Might acknowledged the same thing with Katsuki after DvK2. I do not think what Izuku is doing here is "explaining her flaws and HIS feelings about it all." My reading of this scene is based on their conversation after she lost to Katsuki in the sports festival. He's saying the same stuff she said to him back to her. He's talking about HIS OWN flaws. He's saying "You are my hero, the way you've been since the beginning is heroic, I admire you, when you're hurting I'll protect you just like you protected me, I won't be a burden by relying on your strength to get you through and letting you handle your pain alone anymore, I'll pull my own weight and be here for you now that you need me, it will be easier to shoulder the pain together." That last part is coming from her UA speech, of course, and I don't know how it could be more relevant to addressing Ochako's pain. "Please open up to me, just like you encouraged me to do." That's what he's saying!

Now, the other criticism this person levies is that using Izuku as a vehicle of exposition is clunky. I don't disagree, but the thing is...this isn't new. This isn't unique to the ending. He's been like this really since chapter 1. I've criticized this before. This isn't a sudden change that makes the ending feel any more rushed than any other part of the story. To focus on this just feels like an attempt by the critic to FIND something to criticize.

I do think there is an emotional reaction at play in the fandom's general response here, but I'm not convinced that the criticism I've been reading actually gets to the heart of what's upsetting people. Something IS upsetting people. Is it BAD WRITING? I'm not sure. In some (not all) cases it seems to be a bad reaction to tragedy or anticlimax. I do also think there are people who have convinced themselves such and such will be addressed, that these two characters will talk about X, etc. etc. and they're panicking that there may not be any space allotted for that in the end, and that's why they feel things are being "rushed." I certainly have some criticisms I could levy at the ending, but I'd like to wait until the ending (the OFFICIAL ending) before I put them on the record.

The thing is, in the end, "what Horikoshi was trying to do" is entirely irrelevant to the final product. If all we do is just argue over what we each think Horikoshi was trying to do, we'll get no where. This was hammered into me in my education, that what an author intended is useless to literary analysis. When I find something in a story that doesn't make sense to me, I take a step back and try to figure out what reading does make it make sense. Sometimes I have to ask others their opinions to puzzle it out. I do appreciate that you sent me this criticism, but I am not yet convinced the fandom has truly identified any concrete issues with the actual writing of the ending as of now. I'm not saying the ending is perfect, just that the problems I see with the ending are very different from what the fandom so far keeps talking about.

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About Izuku Midoriya

As most of you know, Izuku is my favorite character in the show. But dismissing my bias for a second, there are a lot of issues with his character. Mainly, how it's handled within the story and the negative affect it tends to have on the overall plot.

What I think really dampens Izuku's character is a lack of depth. Fellow Izu fans hold your fire... let me finish.

The lack of depth wasn't always a problem. In season 1, he tends to have a lot of lines that indicate complex emotions. When he's walking home after Bakugou's suicide-baiting, he shows at least a little contempt for what was said even if he tries not to take it to heart. Hell, even during the suicide baiting itself, he reacts with anger and intends to stand up to Bakugou even if he is forced into silence by fear. During the bus ride to the USJ, Kaminari and Asui are (rightfully) observing that Bakugou is a dick and Izuku is surprised at the swap in their roles. In the Battle Trials, he's guilty when Bakugou accuses him of purposely hiding his quirk, but also confronts and outsmarts him, knowing that beating Bakugou (standing up to him) is the only way he can even start to become a hero.

(This is evidence that at some point Izuku was aware that Bakugou's actions weren't alright and wanted to condemn them, he just didn't have the strength or confidence to go through with it. This entirely disappears later in the series with no reconciliation of those feelings)

We don't get many scenes like this later on. Izuku takes Bakugou's insults and attacks with no reaction or just a nervous one. And we never, ever see him attempt to stand up for himself against him.

And no, I don't count Deku vs Kacchan Part 2. Izuku was practically forced to defend himself as Bakugou would have attacked him either way, and his entire role in the fight is going on and on about his admiration for Bakugou. Izuku isn't standing up to Bakugou, he's being placed in a situation where he's forced to help develop him. The entire episode is solely for Bakugou's benefit while shoving Izuku into a corner.

But even taking a step away from Bakugou for a minute, Izuku also becomes more one dimensional in regards to Uraraka.

I've said this before answering an ask, but in the beginning of the show Izuku was the one who was attracted to Uraraka. He was flustered by her kindness and reacted bashfully to her hero suit. And for some reason this... goes away. The last time he gets even slightly embarrassed around her is the licensing exam when she appears jealous of Camie (Toga). Not only that, it feels like all of that transferred to Uraraka. She was the one who ended up becoming bashful and flushed and embarrassed, which would make sense if Izuku's feelings didn't almost entire disappear. It does both their characters a disservice; Uraraka is reduced to a more one-dimensional love interest (don't @ me for this, she has her moments and I love her) and Izuku loses another aspect of his character.

I would even say this is present with Todoroki on some level. Izuku was supposed to be his first real friend and they barely interact. Which is even worse considering they're both part of the "main trio." It would have been so easy to play them off of one another since they're supposedly best friends and should be the closest two in that trio. Their friendship was one of the starting points of the entire series and their connection is an integral part of both their characters. Yet they both interact more with Bakugou than one another.

(For comparison, look at Bakugou and Kirishima. They're in a multitude of scenes together and we see how their relationship develops over time. We see their companionship and how Bakugou comes to trust and rely on him. We don't get anywhere close to that with Izuku and Todoroki.)

Over the seasons/volumes (whichever you consume), Horikoshi has dumbed Izuku's character down to crying, defending others, and being self-sacrificing. And these aren't inherently bad traits for a main character, but they weren't all he had in the beginning. He had more personality and he had stronger feelings. Taking that away from him cheapened his character.

Another failing of Izuku's character is how him being quirkless is blatantly ignored by the series.

This was an integral part of his character. It's what separated him from the vast majority of people in the show. It destroyed the only dream he ever had. He was discriminated against for it. It defined his entire existence for the first fourteen years of his life.

And it's never talked about.

Okay, I shouldn't say that. It is used to draw parallels between him and Shinsou (and Aoyama later on). But other than that, Izuku really doesn't acknowledge it. For someone who would grapple with not being good enough for OFA, him not really dwelling on being quirkless is odd.

In a series about the corruption of society, it's strange that the discrimination the main character faced from that society isn't talked about. In fact, outside of Melissa (she's legit the only character who was born quirkless and stayed quirkless, everyone else who's listed quirkless had their quirks taken away or received a quirk later), the series doesn't really introduce quirkless people at all even though they make up 20% of the population (and that isn't a small number by any means, that would be 1.6 billion people in 2023).

Yet this issue that was very present in the beginning of the show is just... swept under the rug. Like everything Izuku went through because of it just doesn't matter. A four year old came to the realization that he was beneath his peers by society's standards, but Izuku just doesn't talk or think about it ever again.

It not only ignores the very real trauma and struggle the main character went through, it also shuns a very important piece of world building. Having Izuku born quirkless was the perfect way to introduce this problem with society. But no, other than his dream being ruined and Bakugou's bullying, Izuku doesn't struggle with this in any other way. We only have vague implications of what he went through growing up quirkless so we can't imagine what it's like for the other 1.6 billion people.

This ties into his lack of depth, but a lot of the time it feels like Izuku's only relevance is to be a prop for other characters. Bakugou is obviously the main one and I went over this in the apology analysis. But Izuku doesn't respond to his apology in any way, we never get to see his thinking or how he was affected, and then he faints at the end. Izuku is a puppet in place to further Bakugou's development. This is also present in Deku vs Kacchan Part 2; all his thoughts are centered around admitting Bakugou and propping him up.

As much as I hate it, it somewhat makes sense for Bakugou. But it's utter insanity that this is extended to Endeavor as well.

Back during the Sports Festival, Izuku displayed disdain for Endeavor. He was aware of what an awful person he was and how he hurt Todoroki. Yet for some reason he then tells Todoroki that he thinks he's ready to forgive him.

This is completely out of character for Izuku. For one, he never inserts himself into others' business unless it's to defend them. And up until that point he hadn't said a word about Endeavor; not to comfort Todoroki and not to abhor his actions. So why in the world would the first thing out of his mouth about him be that Todoroki seems ready to forgive him?

It's almost like he's acting as a mouthpiece for Horikoshi, indirectly telling the audience that Todoroki no longer holds any resentment for Endeavor. Izuku's relevance in this scene as Todoroki's best friend should not have been to assume that he's ready to forgive his abuser.

He also verbally defends Endeavor against Dabi. Even though he knows how abusive and neglectful Endeavor was to his children. Condoning Endeavor while disparaging Dabi makes no sense for Izuku's character. He was defending Shoto too which makes sense, but there was no reason to add Endeavor into that. Just because Endeavor was his mentor (for like three weeks if that) doesn't erase what he's done.

To make Izuku ignorant of this was a slap to the face of his entire character.

Even in his own major arc, Izuku gets the shaft. Dark Deku was a major let down because there was hardly a deeper dive into his character. He was on his own with the past OFA holders for weeks and we barely see him talk to them. Him cutting contact with Toshinori when we didn't even get to see them interact much made no sense (Toshi didn't even try to find him afterwards which was so out of character). The top 3 heroes allowed him- a fifteen year old student- to run on his own without even trying to talk him out of it.

And what's supposed to be an honest attempt to get him to come back and trust him turned into 1A a) physically attacking and ganging up on him and b) allowing Bakugou to goad and insult him. And he wasn't even close with all of 1A for nineteen of them to do this. This should have been restricted to Iida, Todoroki, and Uraraka (and maybe Tsu and Aoyama). He has issues with showing vulnerability in front of people, why om Earth would it make sense to blindside him with his entire class?

(The only part of Dark Deku I truly enjoyed was Uraraka sticking up for him at UA and Kota and that woman he saved earlier running to comfort him and show their gratitude. Although Eri not being there is very weird.)

Like I said above, I love Izuku. But I absolutely hate the way he's been handled by his author. He deserved an actual well thought out character arc and a lot more focus and attention. He deserved to have more intricate, complex relationships with other characters that weren't his childhood bully. He deserved to be treated well in his own story.

[acedcoffee]

Not a meaningless crush: Ochako's crush on Izuku doesn't have much to do with Izuku at all

- Vague Manga Spoilers

Many people who watch My Hero Academia go through a similar process with Ochako Uraraka’s character: they think she’s the typical Female Lead That Could Be A Love Interest, then grow to like her when some of her motivations are revealed early in Season 1, and then get annoyed by her when the latter half of Season 2 – the Final Exam Arc – puts some focus on her crush on the main character, Izuku Midoriya.

While it seems like shallow and unnecessary fanservice, this crush of her serves an actual purpose in the plot and for her character, but not in the romantic sense. In fact, I'd argue that it doesn’t have much to do with Izuku at all.

Enter Himiko Toga. Here's a comment made by Horikoshi himself:

There's a lot of similaties between them, but here we're going to focus on the crush and romance aspect, to see why Ochako's crush on Izuku was a way to establish her relationship with Toga.

Season 2: Final Exams

The first proper focus we have of Ochako’s crush on Izuku is during the second half of season 2 - first during her final exam, and later in the final episode at the shopping mall.

Toga is also properly introduced to us during these episodes, although we see a glimpses of her (and Dabi) earlier in the Season.

Season 3: The Training Camp

This is where it really starts, as Ochako and Toga meet for the first time.

Tsuyu is also at the scene, and Toga shows an interest in both of then, referring to both of them as “cute”,

But she focuses more on Ochako, saying something along the lines of her sensing that Ochako has a crush on someone, which of course, was shown to us in the earlier episodes.

Tsuyu doesn’t have a crush on anyone, and thus recieves a little less of Toga’s attention.

A major point established about Toga’s character is that when she likes someone, she doesn’t only want to become like that person, but actually become that person.

As shown to us before, Ochako has a pretty high level of respect and admiration towards Izuku.

Toga notices this, and coupled with the crush, she assumes that Ochako also wants to be like Izuku “You want to be the same as the person you like, right?”

At this point, we’ve also learnt that Toga also has a crush on Izuku, and wants to become him.

So, it’s easy to understand that Toga thought Ochako would understand her in regards to this. [this is then confirmed in Chapter 289 and 348]

A conversation: Chapter 342

Toga is a villain that has killed a lot of people, and has no qualms about bringing destruction to the city.

Ochako has fought her a couple times, but only as a hero vs. a villain.

Their conversations [chapter 289] consisted of Ochako saying things that was obvious to her with the way her life has been up until now.

In her conversation with Izuku in chapter 342, she mentions how she realizes now that Toga is just a person too, and that what’s obvious for her doesn’t apply to Toga.

Izuku mentions how he feels the same with Shigaraki and the cying child inside him.

Chapter 394: Ochako vs. Toga

Yes, Ochako explicitely states that she fell in love in Izuku Midoriya.

No, that is not the point of the chapter.

The point is that her love and admiration made her want to be more like him, to see people’s hearts like he does. [re: chapter 342, Izuku trying to save Shigaraki’s heart]

As stated before, Ochako has realized that she hasn’t been trying to see Toga as more than a villain she had to defeat, and now she is reaching out, trying to save Toga’s heart even if it’s too late.

Love and Smiles

“Smiling is why we live our lives”. - Dabi to Toga, Chapter 341

This has always been their thing.

Toga, who has been cast out of society due her “weird” and “creepy” quirk, and the way she shows her love,

Toga, who wants a place where she can exist just the way she is, loving who she loves, and smiling when she wants to

Ochako, whose parents always happily encouraged her and made time for her even when they were struggling with money and tired from work

Ochako, whose eyes were drawn to the smiling citizens when a hero saved someone and defeated a villain, and wanted to be the reason for those smiles

Also reminder that as much as they are made for each other they also exist as characters outside of that

In conclusion,

People who think Ochako is nothing more than a heroine that has a crush on the main character are stupid and have no reading comprehension.

People who say that Ochako’s character “fell off” after the romance was introduced only care to see their bias about female leads proven right have no patience for the actual story.

Her crush is a way to establish her story with Toga.

[aashi-heartfilia]

BnHA 392: Ochako gets stabbed. No she's not dying.

Yeah so what if she got stabbed? With stabby pants Toga around this was bound to happen.

Doesn't mean that she is gonna die!

And even if it looks serious, I don't think it will have a serious consequence or anything. She might as well get a cool scar like All Might at most.

And I don't even wanna talk about that grab scene on the next page. I think it's a mistake that will be corrected during the volume publish, remember how inking on Ochako and Toga wasn't on point either in the last chapter.

With Hori's declining health, I think it's a very likely case.

Anyways, we'll have to wait now for two weeks to see if our babygirl is all right or not.

Contrary to popular belief, I think she's fine. Great infact, because now she'll fight more seriously.

Remember how in her battle vs Bakugo during SF, when even her friends underestimated her and thought she needed help?

But she proved to everyone that she's more than capable of handling herself when the time calls for it?

And this is a battle she cannot afford to lose, we have lives on the line. Not just her fellow heroes but Toga herself is also in danger and Uravity is a hero who wants to see everyone smile.

I think this is bound to come sooner or later. Like what kind of hero Uravity will be?

Like Ingenium is a hero who guides lost children to their home, Uravity will find a way to save Toga and the entire battlefield that is dealing with Sad Man's Death Parade.

Now, it's more important than ever because we've seen that Pixie Bob is down for the count. She was the main person containing the clones but now that she is down and Toga has created multiple doppelgangers of our beloved heroes, everyone is at a risk of getting stabbed.

Since the last two chapters were about Toga, I think the next chapter will be about Ochako.

Personally I would love an Ochako Uraraka: Origins chapter and then a Rising Chapter following it!

This will be one of the biggest moments of the series where a character gets an Origin and a rising chapter simultaneously.

A chapter that shows us Ochako's life before she joined UA.

Just like Toga, we only had a glimpse of Ochako's past. Bonus material suggests that she used to sleep to save money and bear the heat in summers because her parents could not afford an AC. But that's not all.

Horikoshi has been hinting at this dynamic for a long time. So I feel like there has been something about Ochako that has been hidden from us, as readers.

It was always hidden in plain sight, just like how those postcards were a foreshadowing for Ochako getting stabbed in the stomach.

The author said that there is a scene between TOGACHAKO that he is itching to draw.

Personally I don't know what scene it is. It could be Toga stabbing Ochako in the recent chapter, or it could be something entirely different. We won't know for sure until this arc concludes.

As for this arc, I think this fated battle will last for at least 3-4 more chapters.

Everything is in complete chaos and it will take time to wrap this up. Even if a miracle were to happen, I don't see a direct solution to TOGA's Sad Man Parade unlike Dabi where Shouto just reaching on time was everything.

Not only Ochako will need to convince Toga to stop her Parade but also deal with the existing ones that are running rampant around the battlefield.

Also, can I just say how much I loved Ochako just casually flying over the entire parade?

Also her jet boosters are finally coming in handy!

Also I just loved how much control she has over gravity now. She literally pulled both Toga and Tsu out like it was nothing! Plus the Twice clones surrounding her!!

Toga using the blood from the battlefield totally caught me off-guard. She really is playing 5D chess now.

Guess, it goes to show you how smart she actually was up until now.

Ochako and Toga are two faces of a coin. Of course, they're both smart.

Plus I think Toga is still not using her full power, as the Curious vestige suggested. She's still hiding her true self.

And maybe that's the answer to everything. Ochako will try to appeal to whatever goodness is left of her.

Ochako knows that Quirks are nature and just like Toga, she's been hiding her true feelings all along. And I think the feeling that she's been hiding is envy.

She was jealous of how 'normal' everyone else is and how they get to express their love and she doesn't. It is not a form that society will accept.

But in the world of MHA, how do you even decide what is normal and what isn't?

Her parents literally denied her humanity.

I also loved what Tsuyu said here about Heroes following the rules. If killing was the only way, Ochako and the heroes were more than capable of doing that.

But it's not about killing or arresting her anymore but rather about confronting a little girl who has been rejected her entire life, even by her own parents.

It's about a young girl with a big dream who wants to see everyone smile and yes that includes Toga too.

It was never a story about killing people because violence leads to even more violence, it's about understanding and sympathy, care and compassion and this is how true heroes are born.

Cheers! Sunshine!

~Thanks for reading

[delawaredetroit]

I guess depending on how you parse 430 and specifically Audi’s role in Uraraka’s charity focus, you could argue that Uraraka did tell her about toga after the fact? Which brings the question of whether that scene would’ve been more compelling onscreen vs. offscreen tho I guess at that point it was too late to talk about such things

That's a fair interpretation of Asui's role in the epilogue, yes. But that line about Eri that no one should hurt little girls was a missed opportunity given Asui had been intertwined with Toga's plotline to a lesser extent since her "villain debut" during the Forest Training Arc

[theloganator101]

I literally can’t understand the logic of this recent chapters and I actually just want to get to All Might throwing down AFO. And this is someone that loves Ochako as a character.

Ochako being jealous of Toga’s ability to openly express her feelings? What’s there to be jealous about? For one thing, Toga’s “ability” isn’t healthy and usually winds up with people dying. Also, I know Uraraka has a hard time expressing her feelings about Midoriya. But she’s talking as if she had no option of being able to quietly express her feelings and confide to someone about it. Like Asui doesn’t exist. Or Ashido. Or the rest of the 1-A girls. OR HER PARENTS. Sane people that she can talk about her feelings with. And not just love, but any feelings in general. Why does she need to be envious of a psychopath? It just makes “they are fools for each other” narrative seem even MORE forced.

And honestly, this fight has reminiscents of Midoriya vs Bakugou 2. Toga screams, makes baseless accusations about Uraraka, and trauma dumps on her. All the while also making her a punching bag and apparently a grope toy.

And while she does claim about forgiving Toga of all her crimes, she also goes on about Toga’s “amazing smile”. All the while all the scenes that we see of Toga is her constantly have a creepy ass smile. It makes Uraraka either delusional or a liar.

And of course the shippers are practically drooling at the mouth with lines like, “I’ll give you a lifetime’s worth of my blood” or Uraraka calling Toga “the cutest”. Cringy Twilight lines like that.

I just want this to end so I can see Uraraka back with Midoriya and the rest of her classmates. I’m so done with this shit.

Wow, you just brought up something in the "romantic" subplot that literally makes it fall apart.

And that is why couldn't Ochako confide in someone about her feelings for Izuku?

There were literally MULTIPLE choices! Her parents, the other 1-A girls, Midnight when she was alive, FUCKING RECOVERY GIRL!! Yet she chooses a psychopathic blood thirsty bitch who bitches and moan about the possibility of *gasp* facing the consequences of her actions!

And another thing that ties in with Izuku being given nothing but shit throughout the story! Why is it only HIS love interest that has to push aside her feelings and not mention them? It's not like any other hero or someone in their class that does this, why just Ochako?

I've seen @doodlegirl1998 mention a few times that this could've been used effectively if Ochako hiding her feelings away was the result of Aizawa's bad teaching where nothing but heroics matter and that anything else outside of that is illogical and unnecessary... but we don't get that because Aizawa has as much as plot armor as Bakugou when it comes to others not calling him out or his actions being seen in a negative light.

I'm just about over this as much as you khonaker, I'm over and upset that Ochako's plot has basically twisted to be this stupid love triangle plot and chooses to pander to this twisted brat instead of getting it through her that even though her life sucked, it's not an excuse to be a horrible person that murders people.

Also small note before I end this post! The image of Toga asking Ochako if she's cute with her smile... that could've used a redraw instead of using that creepy smile, like that's not charming or cute... that just looks like a sleep paralysis demon I'm gonna see someday.

[mamapyjama]

Bkdk is so incredible just for how full of ambiguity it is.

Like, it is so fun to look into these little hidden details and meanings to what goes around these two it's amazing, when many characters have a more straight foward relationship with each other, and bkdk themselves.

Like, Uraraka is Deku's friend, she has a crush, and is trying to figure this out while she has a similar desire to understand her own villain counter part, Toga.

Todoroki is friends with both of them, and he is very sure that he is. He is around them a lot, and is part of the "big three".

We know all these things pretty clearly, but NEVER get the same with bkdk.

Nobody currently describes them as "friends", but they do often point out their status' as "childhood friends", Bakugou is the closest person to Deku. Deku is the one that has chased him his whole life. He is "the guy" Bakugou is waiting for, the one who knows him best. Deku was striving to make ofa his own for him. He loses control of his heart for him. He YEARNS to be closer to him again. And at some point the idea of standing shoulder to shoulder with Bakugou "sent chills down his spine".

Like??? Those you can all excuse by saying it's just strong frienship or fondness but. The actual narrative NEVER said that it was the case.

My first anon ask! But not really an ask 😅.

Yes, it IS fun to look at hidden details, I love it too. I agree, there’s so much of their story that could be fleshed out more, like we don’t even know that much about the nature of their childhood friendship! Please indulge me while I ramble for no reason just because you invoked me.

We have a few single panel snapshots of their interactions as kids, but we never have a full scene/chapters like with the Todorokis, Tenko, Hawks etc. even though their relationship is so central to the narrative! There’s also a massive gap after the river scene and quirk manifestation right up to the final year of middle school—that’s like 8 or 9 years where we have no idea what their relationship looked like.

We know that Deku was often there when Kacchan was playing with his friends, but they’re both unreliable narrators so we don’t actually know whether Deku was part of their group, or if he just following them around. That makes me so sad to think about but it’s a big question mark. I personally think they’re both so dishonest with their feelings for each other that they both misrepresent the relationship in their memories. Maybe they were close but both twisted it after everything went wrong. Who knows! But it’s fun to wonder.

Let’s take the weirdly inconsistent forest scene where they get further away each time they remember it (thanks deleted Reddit user for the almost accurate image);

Ch 9 is Kacchan reminiscing during Dk Vs Kchn 1, Ch 117 is Deku’s flashback in the lead-up to their Ground Beta Fight and Ch 275 is Kacchan thinking while following Deku to lure Shigaraki away from the city (side note how tiny Deku is in this one!).

So each picture represents something:

A) ‘I’ve always seen Deku as behind me’

B) ‘I’ve been chasing/following Kacchan my whole life’

C) ‘I need to keep up, Deku’s not going to leave me behind’. Literally:

Essentially, they have always been each other’s yardstick, the thing against which their own success and value is measured. But the yardstick kept changing length and I think at this point in the manga they’ve both realised that relationships aren’t about who’s ahead or behind.

The panels after the one in 275 are some of my favourites. He remembers their childhood, he remembers their fight, and he GRINS as he finally gets to work side by side with Deku.

Look at that smile! Not for the first (or last) time, he thinks about how he had it wrong and now he’s letting himself just be at the same level. Of course he keeps his typical competitive bravado, because he’s still the same brat we love. ‘Losing’ isn’t losing to Deku anymore though. Based on the context, it’s not absurd to suppose he doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to be by his side, to fight with him, to keep him close. Aahhhh.

I’m gonna stop now, but thank you for sharing my excitement about the lovely ambiguity in the story. 🥰

[dekusheroacademia]

Yes, Ochako's character is more isolated than Bakugou and Todoroki

This is a sort of sequel to my old post about trying to analyze Horikoshi's female characters (no need to read it, tho, you can read this new post without).

In that post I was left with the question of how much Horikoshi isolates Ochako vs other characters.

Let me explain. (btw this post considers events up till chapter 354)

The main characters of MHA (in number and order of panels counted/presence) are Deku (of course), Bakugou, All Might, Todoroki, Shigaraki, Ochako and Iida. When we consider the class 1A, what I noticed is that many male characters (even less present, like Tokoyami and Kirishima) have important "outside" relationships, in particular mentorships. This is absent in all female characters but Ochako and Tsuyu, but for them this mentoship is almost overlooked. There is really no emotional moment that we can see between them and Ryukyu, and even during their "main arc", the big interaction we have is actually between Ochako and Nighteye (Deku's mentor).

I also sometimes receive some comments that tells me that "every character revolves around Deku, Ochako is no different than Bakugou and Todoroki". This is true, all of them (and Iida) revolve around Deku, but I always felt like Ochako never had the "freedom" to interact with the rest of the class when Deku was not involved.

Here some examples before I post a graph!

Ochako interacts mainly with Mina and Tsuyu, but many of these interactions seem to be about Deku (ex. Mina teasing her about the crush). I wanted to know if this is a common occurrence for all the main characters, or if Horikoshi really does allow Ochako to interact mainly when the stuff revolves around Deku.

To do so I collected all the interactions between Bakugou, Todoroki and Ochako (taken separately) and some of the main class 1a characters: Kirishima, Iida, Kaminari, Sero, Mina, Momo, Jirou and each others. For Ochako I also collected the interaction with Tsuyu and Toga.

Keep in mind that I was very generous in defining interactions. For example, Todoroki and Bakugou getting their license through multiple pages of their arcs has been counted as 1 interaction, comparable to Mina and Ochako being drawn together in a background panel. Or Bakugou vs Uraraka has been counted as 1 interaction. So I do not distinguish the importance of each interactions, I just count how many times Horikoshi decide to associate a character with another.

I also undercounted a bit the Uraraka&Bakugou, Kirishima&Bakugou and the Todoroki&Bakugou because I counted them a year ago more or less, so I might have been more strict.

My ideal thing would be, when I reread MHA, to catalogue all main characters' interactions to see if Horikoshi really does isolate Ochako. Also because we have Bakugou and Todoroki interacting a lot outside the class, while Ochako rarely is allowed to.

Returning to the current post, here is an example, I did my best to collect all the interactions but of course I might have missed/undercounted some, apologies:

As you can see, after counting the interactions I catalogued some as "involving Deku". For example, in the third scene we have Ochako speaking up to get Deku in UA. I counted it as Tsuyu, Iida, Kaminari and Kirishima interacting with Ochako (even if Kirishima and Kaminari just look at her), but involving Deku.

These are some examples:

And these were the results.

It is a bit messy, so let me explain. Each group of columns is called with a character name. In the first group we have "Kaminari". In orange we have the percentage of Bakugou & Kaminari interaction that were about Deku, in blue the % of Kaminari and Todoroki interactions that were about/involing Deku, in pink the % of Ochako and Kaminari interactions that involved Deku.

As you can see, in ALL cases, Ochako's interactions always had a higher % of involving Deku. She is also the only character were in many cases more than HALF the interactions she has with other characters are about Deku.

In Sero's case, for example, I counted 6 interactions and the pink bar (Ochako) is 100% as they were all about Deku. These interactions were:

Sero and Ochako finding Deku during the license exam after Toga (as Camnie) run

Sero and Ochako strategizing with Deku during the license exam

Ochako calling for Deku and Sero during the license exam

Deku looking at Ochako and Sero dancing after passing the exam

Sero and the others welcoming Deku, Ochako, Kirishima and Tsuyu after Overhaul

Sero, Tsuyu and Ochako helping Deku training

Just in case you were wondering if these % are simply because Ochako has so many more moments with other characters that Horikoshi puts half of them into the "about Deku"...

This is the total.

In general Ochako is much less present in the manga. She has more interactions with Mina than Bakugou and Todoroki, and with Tsuyu I suspect (I did not count the Bkg and Todoroki data for Tsuyu).

So yeah, while I agree that all characters revolve around Deku, I feel like the other protagonists are allowed to have meaningful and just more interactions with the class that do not involve or revolve around Deku himself, sometimes with even small arcs or important scenes (ex. Bakugou hyping up Kirishima, Todoroki & Bakugou license arc).

[mha-grievances]

Another character I’m interested in your opinion on. And if you already did her, feel free to say so.

I love Uraraka as a character and, even if the show itself fades into obscurity,I’m not sure that will go away, she leaves that positive of an impact on me. But to be honest, I feel opposite about certain things with her as opposed to how the fandom thinks of her. And do you have any ideas on how to improve or different ideas for her?

There’s one thing I still don’t get or understand, and maybe you can help explain (or maybe nothing to explain at all). In the beginning of the manga, Uraraka states she went to U.A so she can get a good, paying job for her parents. (And I think that’s such a realistic and relatable motive).

But after the Overhaul raid, there’s that scene where Uraraka says she wants to help people when she’s talking to Aizawa, which overtime paved the way to “Who Helps The Heroes When They Need Help?” (Something that’s also completely in character of her.) But I heard from a lot of fans saying how that’s peak character development for her, changing her focus being a hero for money to wanting to help others. Even Horikoshi went in on this, using Aizawa to comment on how Uraraka “grew up” after the 1-A vs 1-B fight.

And I’m over here thinking, “…has anyone been paying attention to her at all?” Our introduction to her is literally her saving a stranger from face planting just because. She’s always shown to want to care and look out for others. The flashback of her as a child showed helping people and making them happy and smiling is in her nature. She wants to be a RESCUE hero. This isn’t a shift in her character whatsoever, it’s been established from the first season who she is. Why are we all of a sudden treating like it’s something revolutionary? What’s wrong with her wanting to have both goals?

Another thing I feel in the minority about is her dynamic with Toga.

I hate it. Both Toga and their “relationship”, whatever that is.

I don’t understand how they are suppose to be each other’s foils. All I see in Toga is a collection of fetishes that’s given a name and a sad backstory that is suppose to shield her for her selfish desires and psychotic behavior, but fails miserably. The only connection they have is crushing on the same guy. And because Toga’s crush is the only thing she has that makes her relevant at all, Uraraka is forced into the situations where Midoriya is the ONLY thing they talk about, further pushing that she’s nothing more than a love interest. So if anyone should be blamed for Uraraka for becoming nothing but a L.I, you should turn your frustrations to Toga. Uraraka has been trying to become more than just a girl with a crush on a boy.

Anyway, do you have ideas on what can be done to improve Uraraka? Such as have it to where instead of finding inspiration solely in Midoriya, she learns and finds inspiration from others? Or viceversa: we see more instances of people being motivated and look to her for guidance? Should she have a different villian? Things like that.

As a character, I like Ochako. She’s not in my top ten, but I find her to be well written and very sweet. Now, I do feel her motives have always been a combination of wanting to help people to see them smile (which is why she wants to go into the rescue work field) plus wanting to support her family, but the second part seems to be focused on more in the beginning while the first part is touched in the second half of the series. I think both should’ve been touched on more in the beginning, or at least mentioned. I think the reason people see Ochako as some sort of gold digger is cause when asked about being a hero, she mentioned the money part first, and people focused on that rather than her actions as a hero which shows that there’s more than money that motivated her to be a hero. If she really wanted to, she could’ve gone and done literally anything else. A quirk that makes things weightless would be useful in any field involving physical labor. The fact she’s continuously risking her life instead of doing a much safer job speaks volumes about her as a person, but people ignore that.

So I like Himiko a lot, but Hori really dropped the ball with her to be honest. Now, her and Ochako connecting over their feelings a boy can definitely work, but it should’ve been expanded on way further. Family love, the love for friends, all that could’ve been tackled. The idea of love making you want to be abandon your own sense of identity so you can like the person you love (Himiko) vs love serving as motivation for being the best person you can be (Ochako) should’ve also been tackled. Instead, it’s written pretty weakly and like a fetish at times. It’s treated as a D plot when imo it should’ve been written as a C plot (Izuku and OFA’s story is the A plot, Katsuki is the B plot that shouldn’t exist, the Todoroki family is the C plot, and Ochako’s rivalry with Himiko is the D plot). As the C plot, I feel their rivalry could’ve been explored far better than it currently is. If you reduce Katsuki to the D plot and divide the screen time he gets between the Todoroki family plot and the Ochako/Himiko plot, there would be tons more room to explore Ochako’s character and the concept of true love vs toxic love.

[itsnothingofinterest]

Hey 👋 how's it going?

I'm not sure if I've asked you before but can I ask what you like about togachako?

Also what you like most about their plotline?

And maybe fanfiction too, like what do you think would be the most interesting premise for a story about them?

Well as a ship, they’re cute. I have 0 thoughts as to whether they’ll be canon though, and I haven’t even been keeping up with MHA fanfiction. (Although my prediction posts are basically bare bones fanfiction so there you go.) But I very much appreciate the aesthetic, and with shipping that's like half the battle (I think. I'm not actually a big ship guy in general.)

But as a character dynamic they are fascinating; where to start. I like how Toga most presents the challenge that her hero Uraraka needs to save her from the heroes; no 'saving her from herself' shortcut with this one. I appreciate how Uraraka so very much wants to understand her opponent, even if she might understand her villain the least of our leading heroes, because she's that empathetic. I like how Toga demonstrates the potential worst case for Uraraka repressing her own feelings and putting everything else first. I like how, in the process of putting her own feelings for her crushes aside, Toga ends up becoming more like them in this arc.

There's a lot to like about them.

I will admit though, probably like 60% of why I like Uraraka is how she foils Toga, the actual best written woman in BNHA; But with luck she'll get more interesting scenes to fix that. Same for the Togachako plotline as a whole. They’re one of the 3 major plotlines of the ‘final arc’ and it feels like they’re getting less focus than the Todofamily or Deku vs Shigaraki. (Although maybe the real problem is how much time is given to AFO, the lamest villain of the 4.) As such, it feels like there’s less to talk about with these two, even though I very much want too.

But I'm sure their big climactic chapters for the arc are coming up that'll hopefully fix that for them and give them the page-time for satisfying interactions they deserve.

[bnhaobservation]

BNHA Observations, speculations and assorted info: The facts taking place during BNHA second year: July

So, in order to write my fic, I spend much time observing canon scenes, comparing the manga and the anime version, take note of details, translations and info in them as well as finding out how are some things called.

Since what I noticed/speculated/found out can be of use for other fic authors I thought to share as well.

OBSERVATIONS, SPECULATIONS AND ASSORTED INFO:

You might notice a special focus on the Todoroki family as all their birthdays and statuses are listed. That’s because this timeline was originally meant to focus solely on them and then I included info about the other characters.

LEGENDA:

BNHA: “Boku no Hero Academia” manga.

MOVIE 1: “Boku no Hero Academia The Movie ～Futari no HERO～” [僕 (ぼく) のヒーローアカデミア THE (ザ) MOVIE (ムービー) ～２人 (ふたり) の英雄 (ヒーロー) ～ My Hero Academia: Two Heroes]

SB: “Boku no Hero Academia: U.A. Hakusho (僕のヒーローアカデミア 雄英白書 Lit: “My Hero Academia: U.A. White Paper”)” called in English “My Hero Academia: School Briefs”

TIMELINE (JULY)

JULY 1: Todoroki Natsuo turns 19.

FIRST WEEK OF JULY (A WEEK AFTER THE STUDENTS DECIDED TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES IN STUDY GROUPS - LIKELY MONDAY): Written part of the FIRST TERM FINAL EXAMS. [BNHA Chap 60. In Japan, during them, no regular classes are held so the same likely applies here too. Usually Japanese students are tested in English, math, Japanese, science, and social studies, plus health and physical fitness, home economics, music, and art. Also they usually last three days. If the same applies here this would mean they started on Monday and the practical was on Thursday. ]

FIRST WEEK OF JULY (LIKELY THURSDAY): Practical exam. Todoroki Shōto manages to pass it working in team with Yaoyorozu Momo. Todoroki Tōya, under the name of Dabi, along with Toga Himiko, joins the League of Villains. [BNHA Chap 60-68. The time is unclear here as the scene with the League of Villains might have happened the day after or even two days after as Shigaraki Tomura will meet Midoriya on Saturday... though it's also possible Shigaraki wandered for two days before meeting him.]

Pairing up in the practical exam are as follow:

Todoroki Shōto & Yaoyorozu Momo vs Aizawa Shōta/Eraser Head= WIN capturing Midoriya Izuku & Bakugō Katsuki vs Yagi Toshinori/All Might= WIN escaping Kaminari Denki & Ashido Mina vs Nezu= LOSES Uraraka Ochako & Aoyama Yūga vs Kurose Anan/Thirteen= WIN capturing Jirō Kyōka & Kōda Kōji vs Yamada Hizashi/Present Mic= WIN escaping Tokoyami Fumikage & Asui Tsuyu vs Ectoplasm WIN capturing Mineta Minoru & Sero Hanta vs Kayama Nemuri/Midnight= WIN escaping Shōji Mezō & Hagakure Tōru vs Snipe= WIN* Kirishima Eijirō & Satō Rikidō vs Ishiyama Ken/Cementos= LOSES Ojiro Mashirao & Īda Ten'ya vs Maijima Higari/Power Loader= WIN escaping

* In the manga it seems they won by escaping since they are outside the gate, though it's not really clear, in the anime they won by capturing

FIRST WEEK OF JULY (LIKELY FRIDAY): Eraser Head informs them they all will go to the Summer camp even if they failed the exam. [BNHA Chap 68. The scene with the League of Villains might have happened this day as well]

FIRST WEEK OF JULY, LIKELY SATURDAY (THE DAY AFTER): Todoroki Shōto goes to visit Todoroki Rei as he always does in his days off. The rest of class A minus Bakugō goes at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall (木椰区ショッピングモール Kiyashi-ku Shopping Mall) to buy things for the summer camp. Midoriya and Shigaraki Tomura meet. [BNHA Chap 68-70, SB 2]

FOREST TRAINING CAMP ARC

SECOND WEEK OF JULY, MONDAY: Eraser Head tells the students they cancelled their usual accommodations and won’t reveal their destination until the day they depart. Shinsō Hitoshi starts being trained by him. [BNHA Chap 70]

THIRD WEEK OF JULY, AROUND THURSDAY: Tamakawa Sansa learns that someone saw Dabi entering in a building that didn’t have any tenants, the building being Shigaraki Tomura’s hideout. [BNHA Chap 83 It was two weeks before the summer camp attack]

TWO HEROES ARC

JULY, AROUND THE 20TH, POSSIBLY ON SATURDAY: Summer Break. Midoriya and All Might go to I-Island for the I-expo and meet Melissa Shield and her father, David Shield. Uraraka, Yaoyorozu and Jirō, who're there because Yaoyorozu's father received an invitation due to him holding some of I-expo sponsors' stocks and had two extra invites for her friends, meet Midoriya and they all end up at the place where Kaminari and Mineta are working. Īda, who received an invitation to go there due to his family being one of Heroes, meets with them as well. We're told the other girls from class A are also on the island but not with them. They then meet Kirishima who's there with Bakugō who got invited because he won the sport festival and allowed to bring a friend along, and Todoroki Shōto, who was there in place of his father, Endeavor. They all go at the party when Wolfram's group attack it. [MOVIE 1 The movie is clearly placed before the Summer training camp. Summer break in Japan starts around the 2th of August]

JULY (THE DAY AFTER), POSSIBLY SUNDAY: By dawn Wolfram's group is defeated. The Academy's exibit opens to the public. Some of class A kids will go to the pavillon where the academy's exibit is or so they planned. David Shield, from his hospital bed, talks to his daughter. [MOVIE 1]

TO BE CONTINUED…

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About the Leaks

[Spoilers for recent leaks, turn around if you don't want to be spoiled]

So I usually don't do this as I don't keep up with the manga other than for research and I only really check in with the anime from time to time, but holy hell I feel like I just woke up in the Twilight Zone.

My fellow antis have been talking about this all morning, so I figured I probably should be too. So. I looked at the leaks...

Bakugou's Quirk There's so much wrong here. Not only because of his awakening (he's had like three at this point), but how he was brought back. Apparently a drop of sweat made it into his bloodstream and restarted his heart. First of all, a small explosion is not the same as a defibrillator. If this was Kaminari's quirk we were talking about, that would have made sense. But an explosion- even a tiny one- has way more of a chance of hurting the heart than restarting it. Second of all, that's not how his quirk works. Bakugou's sweat is only combustive on his palms. It isn't just the glycerin in his sweat, it's a reaction of that with the acid that comes from his palms. No other parts of his body have ever produced explosions because no other parts of his body produce that acid. So it makes no sense that his heart was restarted by his quirk. No amount of work or dedication is enough to change your previously established anatomy. ("Pain" being the answer also makes no sense. His sweat wouldn't seek out an injury and try to correct it, again that isn't how that works)

AFO's vs Bakugou There's no way. There's no way that Bakugou's gonna take down the big-bad of the series. First of all, Bakugou shouldn't even be a match for the Demon Lord. It's been stated multiple times that OFA is the only quirk that can stand a chance against AFO. That's literally the point of passing it down and finding successors and why only a few heroes even know about AFO's existence. No random explosion quirk should be able to match against AFO. Second of all, AFO. Sweetie. Sister. Why are you letting this random kid get your panties in a bunch? Because he looks like someone you had a hate boner for 200 years ago? Not to mention his body is barely being held together. Drive a spike through his heart or some shit and be done with it. It's really not that deep for you to be letting him get under your skin. (All Might literally ripped his face off. There's no way he hates Bakugou more, there's just no way) This match-up is also random as hell. AFO and Bakugou don't have a moral conflict. There's no clashing of ideals or a reason for them to hate one another past AFO likening him to Second. There's nothing driving this fight. Either Izuku or All Might (or both) should be the ones to defeat him. There's no emotion to this fight. Nothing compelling and nothing interesting. It just exists to boost Bakugou as a threat level to AFO and make him more important than he is.

Izuku Izuku girlies stay losing, bro. He's barely had a part in this war. Shigaraki's clearly toying with him and that's the extent of their interaction. No deeper conversations, no indication that Shigaraki even wants to be saved. So his role in "saving Shigaraki" is all for nothing and doesn't contribute to the war at all. It would be different if this was a fight in the making. If Shigaraki and Izuku were set up to have a huge emotional moment in the end. But beyond the mall scene, they've barely had any meaningful interactions. Hell, say what you want about Uraraka wanting to save Toga, but at least they have had more than one interaction. Uraraka is probably the only one who does understand her to a degree. It makes some amount of sense that she wants to save Toga. But Izuku doesn't understand Shigaraki nearly enough to save him. They're supposed to be parallels, but they haven't been built up to be. This interaction is meaningless.

So that's what's going on in the manga right now, take it how you will. There's more I haven't talked about but I generally don't have the energy. If you guys have anything to add please feel free to.

[ac-liveblogs]

Tbh I kinda lost interest in MHA when the focus went from the students to the pro heroes which wouldn't have been that bad if the series were longer and we eventually would've went back to them. I loved these kids, I thought they all had so much potential to become powerful heroes or be really successful in a certain niche yet the only characters that matter are Deku, Todoroki and Bakugo and aside from them ,the pro heroes...I know Horikoshi has health issues and he has been writing this manga for years it's just I think if we would've gotten like 3 or 4 arcs centered around the students it would've probably felt better for me personally.

Hmm, I think I'm sort of in the opposite camp. I agree with you that additional arcs developing the students would have benefited the story a lot, but I preferred the series when it switched focus to the pros. That's because the pros were better positioned to provide commentary on the state of BNHA's world, which... even if the manga is about Hero School, if the plot wants to talk about "heroes vs villains" being at least in part a social construct, the pros are going to be more valuable pieces to use than a bunch of completely normal school children.

Which is unfortunate, because you end up with a cast that largely doesn't have anything to say or unique to contribute. Like, you even see that with characters like Bakugou not having much to do outside of his role foiling and growing up with Deku. I like Bakugou, but man. Man.

Todoroki, Aoyama and Iida are the closest to that discussion, but they're disconnected from the problem, are paid off too late to capitalise on and leave the conversation early respectively. Uraraka has her storyline with Toga, which is great and I'm hoping that will pay off in a way that doesn't completely center Deku.

Or, Tokoyami is adjacent to Hawks, but mostly in the capacity of "I care about my mentor, no matter what dubious things he did I believe he is a good person" which is great for Hawks, but that's still about Hawks... because Tokoyami can't be the one doing what Hawks is doing, he can only comment on it...

I think BNHA ran into the problem, really early on, that if your students are first year high school students just starting to learn how to fight or save people, outside of really wild circumstances it's difficult to get them involved in the plot if it's happening outside of school.

It's not impossible obviously (Bakugou could have been asked to go undercover in the League of Villains instead of or alongside Hawks, just off the top of my head) but if Hori really does have health issues that require speeding up this manga I can see why so many corners got cut the way they did (it really would explain a lot). Class 1A kind of just... ended up being baggage. I can see how if Horikoshi had more time to cook, 1A probably would've been set up to take the places of characters like Miruko or Best Jeanist.

Also, and this is unfortunate, Horikoshi did design the vast majority of the class to have a huge spread of powers because he wanted to showcase a variety of different kinds of heroes. It's just that stuff like that really can make you dead weight in a war arc in a combat-oriented manga. Like, what's Koda gonna do. Unfortunately, I think Horikoshi did the best he could with a lot of them during the evacuation scenes with respect to the limitations he put on them, and the fact that Deku, Bakugou and Todoroki are kind of supposed to be monsters.

I think that's probably why he ended up falling back on Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire so heavily later on... who in 1A beyond The Main Guys could possibly plausibly join the Major Fights? It really sucks, but my god it all added up horribly.

I know this isn't really popular anymore, but I actually liked a lot of the filler episodes in Naruto part 1 that featured a random grab bag of Naruto + the other genin in the village. Maybe BNHA's anime would've benefited from some of that lol

[aashi-heartfilia]

BnHA ch 394: Ochako Uraraka vs Himiko Toga, 2021 exhibition references!!

Ever since his interview in 2021, it was teased that there would be an epic scene between Ochako and Toga that even Horikoshi was itching to draw. Now that this chapter is out, we finally know which moment he was exactly referring to.

Horikoshi is a man of symbolism!

Almost every piece of art that he has created has a meaning behind it.

When asked about the IzuOcha painting, this is what he said:

The one with Izuku and Ochako took the longest time. It's mostly aesthetic so I can't say there will be a scene exactly like that in the future. However, I drew it while keeping in mind how their relationship would develop if I explored it deeper, so it's not entirely unrelated either. I would like you to pay attention to them falling.

Horikoshi loves to tease readers. He teased a long time ago about their relationship and now he gave the exact same scene to TogaChako. It's such an amazing visual representation and contains so much symbolism behind it.

At the end of Spirited Away, both of the main protagonists part ways. If you have seen spirited away, you already know what I mean.

Plus, we have Toga as a monster symbolism from the exhibition art.

The theme of the 9th Anniversary spread is exactly the same as TOGA's uniform...

.

~I'm just really happy to see that Horikoshi had such a long term planning in regards to how their relationships would grow in the future and loved to see it unfold in this chapter!! Amazing, really!!

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Episode 44 “Roaring Upheaval”

mysterylover123

In which Deku’s panic about Kacchan gives me too many feels.

Poor Tokoyami. He looks like he’s being swallowed up by a monster. 

Deku has a hard choice to make and of course he makes the choice that makes me love him the most.

DAMN THAT LOOK IN HIS EFFING EYES!!!!

Back to TodoBaku bickering again. Any ship of Kacchan’s that doesn’t involve “like an old married couple” bickering is doing it wrong.

The faces of two guys who know they’re screwed.

Deku there are no words to describe how much I love you and your brilliant, kind, insane mind. You are seriously the smartest and best of all characters and I swear my undying loyalty to you for all time. (my reaction to Deku’s plan)

I love this peak into how Deku’s mind works.

Hey guess who figured out Deku’s plan right away and even improved on it?

Smoldering TodoBaku flames!

Tokoyami and Shoji angst and bromance! Kinda ship it.

OOH BOY CONFUSED KACCHAN! THIS ADORABLE IMAGE, THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN THIS ARC SHORT ONLY OF THOSE DEKU-TRYING-TO-USE-PARENTS-QUIRKS SCENE. HE’S SO CUTE AND KITTENY I JUST WANNA RUFFLE HIS HAIR.

“We could take on All Might” haha yeah right of course they immediately lose Kacchan after Deku makes that arrogant a statement.

Tsuchako vs Toga! This will be epic and bloody.

Toga is so freaking cute and crazy in all the right ways. Maybe she really is Deku’s best girlfriend, they’re exactly alike.

URARAKA AWESOMENESS!!!!

Uraraka’s annoying crush counter: 8 I think. And this is probably one of the most bizarre of all of them. Honestly, this scene just...freaks me out. Like, what are we meant to take from this scene? That Uraraka’s crush on Deku is like Toga’s obsessive, horrific murderlust? WHY? What does this add to their “romance” (which I now say in quotation marks, because I think romance needs to be mutual, and this has become completely one-sided now.)

My best takeaway from this scene is that Uraraka is not, in fact, in love with Deku, but rather wants to be just like him (and she does! Check out the Imitation essay for more), that she envies him his strength and power and wants to be like him the same way he wants to be like All Might, and that that desire is toxic to her - and therefore, she has to “put her feelings away”. That, perhaps, maybe why this arc really annoys me: not because Ochako “gets in the way” of other ships I like better (I do like Izuocha!) but because the story keeps implying that her relationship with him is toxic and obsessive while dressing it up like a cute love story. Why can’t she just like him and admire him, huh?

Toga is me here.

Oh fuck you Mr Compress

Poor Aoyama! Bb you saved Tokoyami later I don’t hold this against ya.

MOMO IS THE BEST YALL WOW SHE’S SO COOOL

Friendly reminder that Momo saved everyone and "group that could take on All Might” let him get snatched in about 5 minutes.

THIS IS THE FACE OF A MAN WHOSE SO HAS BEEN TAKEN AND WILL NOT REST UNTIL HE IS SAFE. NO ONE SHOULD EVER FUCK WITH DEKU’S VERY OWN KACCHAN UNLESS THEY WANNA DIE.

Holy shit he has the most beautiful eyes.

His other ships express their concern for him. Probably annoyed that he’s being ignored for Katsuki.

Ochako too. This, bTW, is the kind of Izuocha stuff I actually like. Just, nice friendship and taking care of each other (Well, OK, Ochako taking care of Deku. We need more of him taking care of her, please and thank you.)

And also Toga reminding us that she likes Deku too.

Speaking of. Yeesh he’s terrifying.

This one is intense as shit. I’m so enthralled by it, it’s hard to look away. Intense and really emotional all the way through, with everyone doing their best and still failing - you gotta admit, that’s one of the hardest things to watch in a show. To see characters you love in this much pain, it’s just agonizing. And it’s only gonna get worse. This arc is intense, no wonder I binge-watched through it the first time around.

BKDK CORNER

Behold the “Oh crap Deku got beaten up again how to express concern in my angry Bakugo way I don’t know does not compute” face.

HOW DARE YOU THATS MY KACCHAN

Holy Crap I was just kidding with the DBZ reference, that’s actually what he says! Compress calling him out for how devoted he is. 

He’s right, though. That is his Kacchan. Hands off, ya smug bastard.

BEST GIRL OF THE EP: No new best girls this ep. I think I’m just gonna turn this into a MVP Girl corner instead until new ones show up. For this ep and this entire arc, the award goes to Momo Yaoyorozu. We’d all be screwed without her.

RANKER: Favorite LOV Quirks

5. Compression - Mr. Compress

4. Blue Flame - Dabi

3. Copy - Twice

2. All-for-One - All for One

1. Transform - Himiko Toga