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sapphic-agent · 9 months

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Let's Talk About the Bakugou Problem

I've been enjoying the Bakugou slander here on Tumblr, but I haven't come across anyone that gets to the root of the problem with Bakugou's character yet. I think it goes further than him having anger issues, being annoying, or even how violent and abusive he is. Why I think Bakugou is a bad character is due to the effect he has on the plot, world-building, and the rest of the characters. There's a lot of layers here, so I'd like to take the time to talk as in-detail as I can while typing on mobile.

*Note: I'll be following the anime as it's easier for me to follow and pick specific examples. Manga readers if you have anything to add I'd love to hear it, even if it's against what I've listed here*

*Note: Bakugou fans you're more than welcome to read, though I warn you might not like what you see. I tried to keep this as constructive as I could without letting my own biases seep in (whether I succeeded is up for debate) so that everyone could read it whether you like Bakugou or not. I'm fine with criticism towards my points, I only ask that you remain respectful. I won't engage with anyone who disrespects me or other users*

1. Consequences

This is a big one among Bakugou critics, so I think it's a pretty good place to start. Bakugou has almost never faced actual consequences to his actions (there's a difference between something bad that happens to happen to him and the world around him not accepting his behavior). There are two instances that I can think of that there was a direct ramification to something Bakugou has done. The first was during the Deku vs Kacchan fight where Bakugou does get suspended for four days while Izuku gets suspended for three days. The other is when he and Todoroki fail the provisional licensing exam. However, there's a problem with these two instances I mentioned.

With the D vs K fight, Bakugou was the one who goaded Izuku out of the dorms and instigated a fight. Izuku was trying to get him to go back to the dorms so they could settle their "issue" under adult supervision. He was trying to do the responsible thing. For Izuku to only receive a day less of punishment seems unfair. Though, you could make the case that he should have ignored Bakugou, it's still very clear that one was way more at fault than the other and there was barely a difference in their punishment.

The provisional licensing exam actually did well with failing Bakugou. It was almost a great lesson; that he can't say and do whatever he wants and expect the world to roll over for him. Unfortunately, it's undermined by Todoroki failing as well. Yes, Todoroki failed because of Inasa. But a) Inasa attacked him first which should have resulted in disqualification (what was Todoroki supposed to do, not fight back when he was being assaulted?) and b) Inasa's entire character seems shoehorned into the story. He doesn't really add anything to Todoroki's character as most of his problems with Todoroki were already resolved back in season 2. He also contributes nothing to the overall story. Shindou, for example, has a hand in testing 1A and forces them to work together congruently. Inasa seems like he was put in the story simply to make Todoroki fail. Why does Todoroki have to fail? Because Bakugou does.

It seems like Horikoshi always softens the blow for Bakugou in a way, if he's dealt any blow at all. By not allowing Bakugou to face consequences on his own, he might as well not be facing them at all.

Why are consequences so important? Because Bakugou's privilege is a problem.

I don't think I've seen anyone address this. The root of Bakugou's behavior comes from the fact that he was allowed to do all those terrible things because the world around him was tolerant of it. Teachers turned a blind eyes when he bullied Izuku because he had a great quirk and Izuku was quirkless. He's allowed to do and say whatever he wants because he has a great quirk. While people seem to be harder on Izuku because of either having no quirk or not being able to fully control his quirk. This is a huge part of the story that was set up in the beginning, but was almost never addressed despite being persistent throughout. And it's the most present with Aizawa.

Bakugou attempts to attack a fellow student the first day of class? Simply restrained, no repercussions. Bakugou uses excessive force against a classmate despite his teacher telling him to stop? Nothing more than a few not-so-nice words. Bakugou assaults his partner and refuses to cooperate? No words at all.

Now look at Izuku. Doesn't have full control of his quirk? His teacher attempts to humiliate and expel him in front of his classmates on the first day of class. Saves a classmate in an admittedly risky rescue mission? Said teacher proclaims he lost his trust and labels him a problem child (despite the orchestrator of said mission- Kirishima- being in the same room and not getting spoken to at all).

(I don't know if Aizawa's projecting, but pandering to the kid with the strong quirk while simultaneously disliking All Might isn't a great look.)

Even before UA, Bakugou is praised by the heroes for his strong quirk against the sludge villain despite the fact that his quirk made everything worse while Izuku is scolded even though they were the ones who did nothing while he did what he could to save someone.

"All men aren't created equal." That's one of Izuku's very first lines and a central point of the story. It's something you expect it to address multiple times, especially in regards to Izuku and Bakugou. But Bakugou being spared from consequences every single time he does something terrible means that the statement is validated, but the problem still persists and is never rectified or solved. Even if you think Bakugou "changed," that doesn't make his privilege go away.

2. Plot Compensation

The story goes out of its way to make Bakugou seem like a better person than he is.

My first example is the Sports Festival, specifically his fight with Uraraka. In this fight, Bakugou is met with booing from the audience for not going easy on her. And right off the bat, this is weird. Because not only have we never seen this attitude toward women heroes before or after this, the show is trying to tell us something when Aizawa tears the crowd down. Almost as if saying, "The crowd is dumb and wrong and if you think like the crowd, you're dumb and wrong." Aizawa claims that Bakugou is treating Uraraka like a real opponent by not going easy on her.

...is he though?

Because we never see Bakugou stand still in a fight like he does with her. Bakugou's fighting style relies a lot on mobility. During his fight with Tokoyami, who he knew he had an advantage over because of the light from his quirk, he isn't standing still. During his fight with Todoroki he isn't standing still. He only does this with Uraraka. Because this isn't Bakugou showing respect, it's him still looking down on her. He doesn't see her as a serious opponent, just an obstacle in his way.

And I know this sounds like a bold claim. But if you recall, Bakugou immediately confronts Izuku after the fight and accuses him of giving Uraraka the idea she used during their match. He assumes it was a ploy from Izuku, implying that he didn't think Uraraka capable of coming up with a plan with the potential to work against him. This isn't respect for an opponent.

(Note: the only thing in Bakugou's favor is it's probably not because she's a girl. He just naturally looks down on everyone who doesn't immediately stand out to him with a show of power like Todoroki)

Then we have the revered scene with the League or Villains.

This scene is praised because it "subverts expectations." That the violent, angry kid doesn't want to be a villain. He wants to be a noble hero. Aizawa- again- silences claims against Bakugou, citing that he wants to win and he knows he can't do that if he's a villain.

My thing is, however, the League targeting him in the first place. Why would they do this? Bakugou clearly has a heroic quirk. He scored first on the entrance exam. If they did any research at all beforehand, they would know that Bakugou was at the top of his class before UA and is in the top five currently. And they'd know he has wealthy parents.

(You would think Dabi especially would draw parallels to Endeavor and would be aware that Bakugou's ambition and heroic quirk don't make him similar to the League who have been discriminated against, shunned, and abused for most of their lives. Even with his behavior at the Sports Festival, Endeavor isn't the noble and kind type like All Might and most other heroes. So I'm not sure why Bakugou's behavior immediately screamed villain potential)

Nothing about him suggests he's had a hard life like most of the League. Nothing about him suggests he'd want to leave his comfortable life and secured future to become a villain.

This scene sets up Bakugou's redemption, right? It leads us to the Deku vs Kacchan fight and All Might's advice is what makes him take on his "save to win" mentality.

But not only does this seem like a convenient plot device, it decidedly ignores the uglier part of Bakugou's decision.

Bakugou rejected the LOV because he saw them as losers. But what if they hadn't been losers? What if they had been doing as well as they were at the end of season 5? Merging and becoming the MLA front, organized teams, wealthy, successfully recruiting members right under the heroes' noses.

Maybe Bakugou wouldn't have outright joined them. But at this point before shifting his perspective, his answer might have been very different.

But the story goes out of its way to hammer in Bakugou's scarce good traits to take your focus away from his overwhelming bad ones.

3. Bakugou's Character Shift "Development"

The way Horikoshi wrote Bakugou in the beginning is very different to how he is portrayed later in the show. No, I don't mean his development. I mean the major shift in his character between seasons 1/2 and season 3/4.

Bakugou in the beginning of the show is cruel, meanspirited, and violent. And he's still all of those things throughout the show. The one difference is that it's played for laughs in later seasons.

Bakugou's actions and words in seasons 1 and 2 are portrayed a lot more serious than in later seasons. He's an antagonistic force, one that Izuku has to strive to overcome not just to be a good hero, but for himself as Bakugou has been one of the most prominent obstacles in his strive to become a hero.

Look at his behavior during the battle trials. It's something serious, something that has even All Might worried. Bakugou knew he could have very well killed Midoriya and didn't care. It's brutal and almost hard to watch because at this point in the show Midoriya is weak and tiny (visually, we know he's never really been weak) compared to Bakugou and can really only outsmart him to win.

We never see Bakugou display anything close to this level of violence in later seasons. Not in the Sports Festival or 1A vs 1B or D vs K or the licensing exam or even against literal villains. Season 1 went out of its way to show Bakugou's cruel behavior even using it as something Izuku has to learn how to overcome even if he has to risk everything.

By season 3, the perspective has changed. Bakugou name calling people, belittling people, yelling, and his acts of violence are now exaggerated for comedy. None of his actions are taken as seriously as they were before, despite some being almost or just as bad.

(It's worth mentioning that this was also around the time Bakugou began to get popular among fans)

A great example of this is in season 5 when he throws his headpiece at Izuku and makes him bleed. His casual act of his aggression towards his lifelong victim is present to make the audience laugh, despite the fact that Izuku was bleeding and the 1A boys are (rightfully) horrified.

(I'd like to add that there was no real reason to do this. Nothing he was saying would have exposed OFA and even if it had, he was done talking by the time Bakugou threw it)

If Bakugou had really changed at this point, this would have never happened in the first place. I can't call this changing or development, I call this his actions shifting into comedic relief and away from the serious connotations they previously held. By taking that away, it allows Bakugou to continue to do the same things he has all his life while under the guise of development. It undermines what's supposed to be his redemption arc.

4. Other Characters

Bakugou isn't the only one who gets a character shift. It's approximately the moment that Bakugou begins to get more attention that the other characters lose the substance they had at the beginning of the show.

The ones hit most notably by this are obviously Uraraka and Iida. They were Izuku's first friends, his original trio. More than that, they are set up as interesting characters with their own arcs and paths for becoming great heroes.

Even though I did have my complaints about her fight with Bakugou in the Sports Festival, it does turn Uraraka onto improving past her goal of becoming a rescue hero. She wants to become better in other aspects of being a hero so that she can succeed and keep up with her stronger classmates. She proved herself capable of this during her fight with Bakugou and it was the catalyst of her character development.

Iida was not only resolving himself with caring for Midoriya as a friend as well as being his rival and wanting to surpass him. There's also this darker side to him that no one expects from goody two shoes, straight-laced Iida that had so much potential for exploration.

Both of them are tossed to the side in favor of Bakugou. I would even go as far as to say that after season 2, they're almost irrelevant until season 6 and even then they're limited (before season 6 Uraraka's only character trait is that she ignores he feelings for Midoriya to become a better hero, which came out of nowhere and does nothing for her character). And they barley ever get moments with Izuku during time despite being his first friends.

Todoroki is a similar yet very different case. At the beginning of the show, he was intense and has strong feelings. (An interesting parallel is that if Iida was his friend becoming his rival, Todoroki was his rival becoming his friend and both relationships speak to Izuku as a character) Even if he didn't express them, we as the audience knew they were there. But as times passes he becomes flat and dull. Even though he's supposed to be part of the new trio, he's barley present (the dynamic between the three of them is uninteresting all around as it's basically Bakugou yelling at Izuku with Todoroki in the background. They never have any deep or heartfelt moments nor do they have good chemistry) and barely gets any one-on-one interaction with Izuku despite them being very good friends.

(I can't blame this all on Bakugou as the show also shifts from focusing to Todoroki to focusing on his own abuser which is part of the issue with his lack of character, but Bakugou's character does contribute to this problem of making the abusers more sympathetic than the victims)

Most if not the rest of 1A fade into the background after this, save for a few who have notable moments sprinkled in throughout the show. You can take this as a Bakugou prevalence problem, or it can be seen as Horikoshi just not knowing how to balance characters.

However, the character that suffers the most because of this is Izuku himself.

I don't think it's a bad thing that Izuku admires or looks up to Bakugou. I don't think it's a problem that he doesn't see anything wrong with Bakugou's behavior against him. Izuku grew up in an environment where that was normalized. That he's worthless because of his lack of quirk and Bakugou deserves to be on top because of his great quirk. Of course he internalized that, even though he knows that a quirk doesn't determine someone's worth. He was never given the tools or the means to beat that mindset.

What I despise is the fact that everyone around him enables it.

As I stated above, Aizawa is definitely the worst when it comes to this. Not only shoving Bakugou and Izuku together and making it Izuku's job to get Bakugou to cooperate, but hardly if ever condemning Bakugou when he lashes out against Izuku. Even without their history, what Bakugou does is wrong and should be treated as such.

Unfortunately and even though I love All Might, he's also guilty of this. It's true that he might not know the full extent of their toxic relationship, but All Might sees Bakugou instigate a fight with Izuku and decides it's okay to tell Bakugou about One For All. Bakugou did nothing to earn this honor: he hasn't shown Izuku support and hasn't been a reliable ally he could depend on. But even disregarding that, Bakugou had just been captured by villains who work for All For One. He was the last person on Earth who should have been entrusted with this secret.

The adults in Izuku's life enable and reward Bakugou's bad behavior and urge them into forming a relationship and partnership that frankly shouldn't exist (and only does to make Bakugou a better person and hero, it does nothing for Izuku). It's to the point where almost Izuku's entire character revolves around his relationship with Bakugou and how he improves because of it and how he helps Bakugou improve. And he further projects this when he "subtly" implies that Todoroki should forgive Endeavor, which feels like a justification towards the audience of his own feelings towards Bakugou.

5. Accountability

I mentioned consequences as my first point. But what many who want this miss, it goes hand-in-hand with accountability.

Unlike consequences, Bakugou more or less does take accountability in the form of his apology. But the apology was lackluster for a couple of reasons. The main thing is that it feels like a list of excuses rather than simply owning up to the fact that he was shitty and there's really no good reason for it. But simply explaining why you hurt the person you hurt isn't giving them the apology they deserve. It's making it about you.

Another thing, though, is that the apology is very scarce. It skips over the worst of Bakugou's actions. Nothing he said was anything 1A didn't already know. They don't know about the s*icide baiting which is one of the worst things he's done to Izuku (and that's only what we saw, who knows what Bakugou's been saying for years?). It also ignores everything he did in UA, which was a very big part of the problem. He treated Izuku poorly months prior to the apology and that shouldn't be ignored.

As far as accountability goes this apology isn't that great. But it's something. No, what's worse is that the other characters don't hold Bakugou accountable.

The other characters more often than not turn a blind eye to Bakugou's behavior. We've already covered Aizawa, but the rest of 1A is guilty of this too. No one says anything about the Battle Trials. Hardly anyone condemns Bakugou when he attacks or insults Izuku. Sometimes they'll chime in like Uraraka or Kirishima, but other than that no one outright tells him off. This is out of character for Iida in particular because he's such a stickler about rules and courtesy for others (he literally told off a six year old when he punched Izuku and tried to stop Mineta from perving on the girls, why wouldn't he do the same when it comes to Bakugou?). It's almost like the characters are blind to Bakugou's behavior.

What's weirder is that Mina and Kirishima- who were both stated to hate bullying- are friends with him. Why would the show go out of its way to tell us this only to saddle them into the "BakuSquad?" It doesn't make sense.

It's hypocritical that everyone in 1A is so tolerant of Bakugou but get annoyed with others; like Monoma for example. Or even Mineta because as much as I dislike him he's constantly being called out by 1A. It means that they know certain behavior is wrong and/or shouldn't be entertained, so we know they aren't completely unaware. But the fact that they largely ignore Bakugou's behavior and condemn Monoma's is so weird. You can't excuse one and not the other.

Conclusion

There's certainly more than this to my dislike of Bakugou. But I think I've mostly covered his negative impact on the story. Doing a deep dive into his awful personality is something I wouldn't wish on anyway. Many others have done that anyway, so I'm content to leave it out. But I hope you liked my little breakdown!

#anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugou #anti aizawa shota #bnha critical #bhna criticism #bhna #mha #mha critical #criticism

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anti-katsuki-lounge · 8 days

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Character Flaws vs Writing Flaws:

While catching up on some of the stuff people have commented/sent to me, I noticed someone mention how Katsuki being a bully is a flaw of his and that not every character needs to be a good person.

First of all, when did I ever say that a character has to be morally correct to be a good character? Some of my favorite characters are villains who’ve done worse things than Katsuki.

So what’s the difference between them and Katsuki?

Well, the villains have a reason for existing. Joker is meant to serve as a parallel to Batman, challenging his morals while also showing what an unhinged Batman could look like.

On a much lesser scale, despite his extremely limited screen time, Moonfish’s bloodlust, lack of sanity, and cannibalism serve two purposes in MHA: to showcase Fumikage’s power and to give the readers an example of what the heroes of this world have to deal with.

Katsuki’s flaws are meant to show the flaws of a world that values raw power over morals, but he fails at this. The reason why? His flaws are never allowed to be flaws.

Katsuki’s aggressive and hostile nature should have him struggling to make friends, yet he has the two pillars of 1-A, that being Ejiro and Denkias described by Hori, immediately befriend him with no issues. His inability to empathize with others should have people wanting to steer away from him, but his instead 1-A loves him, Eri loves him despite being the last person who would, and anyone who doesn’t love him is seen as being in the wrong.

Katsuki is meant to be a big fish in a little pond, someone whose ego isn’t challenged until a certain point, and the Battle Trials were meant to show this. While yes, Katsuki has a mini-breakdown over the fact that he’s no longer in a class of people with weaker quirks, he has no issue claiming a spot as a Top Dog and he still continues to demean the people around him.

Katsuki’s aggressiveness is meant to be both a flaw and an asset. His aggressive nature is what motivates him to defeat the villain, but it’s supposed to cause him to have a one track mind when it comes to hero work. Rescue, teamwork, all of that is ignored by him to fight the big bad. His ego caused everyone to have a tougher time during the USJ, but is that ever touched upon? Nope. It’s just ignored. When Katsuki saved Kyouka, there was no buildup to it. It just happens. We never see him struggle with teamwork because everyone else follows him like a lost puppy.

Meanwhile, Izuku is meant to be Katsuki’s parallel in this department. He’s meant to showcase why too much selflessness isn’t good while also showing that a hero is more than just their raw power. Problem is, Izuku gets completely shat on no matter what he does. He goes after a villain to protect U.A? Gets criticized. Does his best to work with Katsuki? Gets blamed despite it solely being an issue on Katsuki’s end. Does everything perfectly? Nope, still not enough. Compared to Izuku, who always seems to be in the wrong, Katsuki’s placed as this paragon of heroic virtues despite the fact both characters are supposed to be two halves of a whole. They’re supposed to learn from one another. Problem is, Katsuki’s flaws are always ignored while Izuku’s positive traits are demeaned.

Finally, Katsuki being a bully is supposed to serve as a starting point for his character. He’s meant to grow and develop as a human being. Again, he doesn’t, or at least he doesn’t do so in an organic way. He never suffers consequences for his behavior, he’s constantly propped up and coddled instead of criticized, and he’s given some heroic moments despite there being no buildup to them. In the span of a month he goes from nearly killing Izuku to risking his life for him. Where the hell did that come from? Honestly, I wouldn’t care if Katsuki being a bully is his sole purpose for existing, but he’s meant to be more than that. This is supposed to be a well developed and fully fleshed out character who grows from his selfishness and is meant to show that anyone can be a hero, no matter their starting point. But when the development is crap and he hardly changes outside of some OOC moments, then his flaws cease to be flaws that he’s meant to overcome. Instead MHA treats it as him being quirky and misunderstood.

In conclusion, you just can’t present something as a character flaw and expect it to serve as an excuse as to why a character exhibits said flaw. You have to think of the following: what purpose does this flaw serve? Is it meant to be used to teach a lesson? Does it set something in motion, whether it be the development of this character, another character, or does the flaw cause the character’s downfall? The only thing Katsuki’s flaws does right is that they set up Izuku’s story, which again would be fine if that’s Katsuki’s purpose, but it’s not. Him being a bully isn’t something that he overcomes in a natural way. His redemption story is the equivalent of filling things out of a checklist without being fleshed out. Every time he screws up, it’s never treated as a screw-up. Oh he failed the hero license exam? Well so did Shoto so he’s not unique there, and the proctors still suck his dick even while he’s “failing”. Him being the reason for 13’s injuries? Never brought up.

Katsuki’s flaws don’t piss me off because they are flaws, but because the writing of his character IS so deeply flawed despite being a centralized character in the story.

Oh, and as always, someone can dislike a character for whatever reason they might have. If people don’t like Katsuki because he’s a bully, then they have every right to. What I wrote is a response as to why I think Katsuki’s a shit character and how it’s not because of his flaws themselves, but how Hori goes about writing these flaws.

#anti katsuki bakugou #anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugo #anti bakugou #mha critical #anti bakugou katsuki #bnha critical

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bluerosety-blog · 4 months

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Middle school Izuku would have a stroke if he saw his future self treating Kacchan this way lol! 🤭

#bakudeku #my hero academia #bkdk #izuku midoriya #katsuki bakugo #katsuki x izuku #Remember when antis said we were reading too much and Izuku wasn't pulling his tie #Oh how wrong they were lol #Middle school Izuku would be so fluster telling his future self to let go of Kacchan meanwhile his mind would be going a mile a minute lol #The fics write themselves I swear 🤣

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bluecurachan08 · 6 months

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Either fanfic writers are seers or Hori is writing plain ao3 scenes at this point.

#bkdk #mha 406 #bnha 406 #mha spoilers #bakudeku #nah bcuz wdym by kacchan bakugou #even if it's platonic it's still peak content #antis will say that bakugo still hates izuku at this point #or should i say kacchan bakugou

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nutzgunray-lvt · 7 months

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I will FOREVER be salty about how Hori paints his characters with valid criticisms against the status quo as in the wrong:

Monoma - hates Bakugou, therefore hates 1A by association and is painted out to be some over the top arrogant asshole who freaks out every time they so much as breath (Monoma's not my favorite, but he's 100% right when it comes to Bakugou).

Rock Lock - doesn't want the first years (maybe also the third years, idk?) involved in the Shie Hassaikai raid due to how dangerous it is and due to having recently had a newborn son, is painted as someone who's being overprotective and unfair to these heroes in training.

Inko - isn't comfortable with Izuku continuing at UA after the Forest Camp Attack, is painted as being overprotective (I have my issues with Inko, but she had an incredibly valid point here).

The media - rightfully criticizes UA's utter inability to protect their students and reign in Bakugou's behavior (the hill I will die on), is painted as trying to unfairly persecute UA/Aizawa.

Present Mic - uses common sense to deduce that there's a traitor in UA's midst, is portrayed as being a shit stirrer who's quick to distrust his colleagues and students (another hill I'll die on).

Gran Torino (a minor one) - calls Aizawa's high expulsion rate as what it is: nasty (showing that even he has standards), is immediately corrected by Present Mic that the expulsions are "only on paper" and Aizawa truly cares deep down (which actually makes it WORSE since it stays on their permanent records regardless).

Other students taking the Provisional Exam - call out Bakugou for being an obnoxious asshole, are immediately painted as "not understanding how hard he works."

Pro Heroes and Present Mic - call out Bakugou for not taking Ochako seriously in the Sports Festival, are told to RETIRE for not understanding how Bakugou clearly works harder than anybody else to be a hero (but then Bakugou proceeds to get the second highest amount of internship offers, so idk what the fuck point Horikoshi was trying to make here).

Vlad King is a weird one because while his one-sided rivalry with Aizawa/1A is obnoxious and unprofessional, he IS a better teacher than Aizawa is and it's a point not focused on aside from an off hand comment by Aizawa. You'd think this would make him examine whether or not his beliefs are truly benefiting his students or have Nedzu call him up and say, "what's up with your class consistently underperforming against 1B?"

Best Jeanist is perhaps the ONLY Pro-Hero to see Bakugou's behavior for what it is and takes him as an intern to rectify it... but proceeds to focus on all the wrong things (his style being the main one) and not really get to the core of his goal.

Society as a whole doesn't trust heroes for a myriad of reasons (some unreasonably, some for extremely valid reasons) and are painted as being unfair and incredibly biased against heroes as a whole.

Izuku leaves UA due to AFO having Ragdoll's Quirk, is essentially ganged up on and beaten/shamed into submission by Class 1A who completely disregard his POV (I don't agree with him putting himself in this position, I'm just pointing how it makes sense narratively).

Me, trying to make sense of all of this -

Like... how is your story supposed to be nuanced and your characters three-dimensional if you paint the complainer as always in the wrong?

#mha critical #bnha critical #horikoshi critical #anti bakugo katsuki #anti shota aizawa #present mic deserves better #rock lock deserves better #neito monoma deserves better #izuku deserves better #best jeanist deserves better

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rayshippouuchiha · 21 hours

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Ray-Ray, it seems really petty, especially since this is a fictional character, but there are no words to describe just how much I do not like Katsuki Bakugou

This guy drives me nuts and I hate the plot armor that is happening with him. Like we are told that One For All is one of the most powerful Quirks in existence and it makes Izuku insanely, to the point of literally breaking himself, powerful. This kid has had this quirk for a year at most and had managed to gain a hold on it thanks to his dedication to the training various mentors have helped him with.

Yet I am expected to believe that Bakugou can keep up with and is on the verge or beating him because he is more dedicated to becoming stronger????

And how he treats other people!!! Not just Izuku either!!!

Just arrgghhh!!! He drives me nuts, which sucks because he is normally a prominent character in most BNHA fics

I have made no bones about how much I dislike Bakugou so I feel you. Like with all characters I dislike I send no shade to anyone who loves him, I get it, and to each their own.

But for me?? I dislike the way he interacts with the narrative, how the narrative interacts with him, how the characters who should/would treat him one way based on their established personalities just Don't, etc etc

Just, my dream would have been a MHA that focused on Izuku, Todoroki, Uraraka and Iida.

#RayRambles #BnHA #MHA #anti bakugo katsuki

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theloganator101 · 27 days

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Me after seeing Bakugou winning the polls AGAIN!

I'm completely convinced the polls are rigged as hell.

#bnha critical #mha critical #anti katsuki bakugou #anti bakugou #anti bakugo #bakugou critical #bakugo critical

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blank468 · 1 month

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One of things that fans bring up when talking about Bakugo’s development is that Bakugo knows Deku well than anyone else far beyond his bullying. He’s supposedly feels sorry/guilty for Deku for not only bullying him but for the fact that he’s going through a downward spiral since the minute he was given OFA. While at the same time he hates himself for his behavior and realizes how he acts is not the traits of a hero and is probably why All Might didn’t choose him as his successor.

Let’s say Bakugo has always felt this way post Kamino, specifically after his rematch with Deku, what does he do to fix this issue, while knowing the problems Deku is facing ?

Jack s**t.

Bakugo’s actions and behavior barely differ than before. Most of his presence after Kamino is honestly pointless and shallow because he has no real contribution to the story. Him being shoved along with Deku and Shoto to do the internship with Endeavor doesn’t do any thing but give us more annoying moments with him. He acts incredibly aggressive and inappropriate when he’s with the Todoroki family. He’s only in that arc so he can have power progression. His involvement with OFA doesn’t amount to anything other than mindless yelling, guilt tripping and him being incredibly obnoxious. While at the same time he insults the deaths of the previous users and All Might doesn’t see this as an issue. Bakugo and Deku don’t even have any interactions that’s not about heroism, OFA or about them trying to surpass each other. Having these two interact about some general stuff would give them a chance to improve their relationship. I honestly wished there was a conversation between these two after Deku returns to UA where Deku talks about their relationship and how he truly felt.

But of course this doesn’t happen and we get the exact same slop as before and Bakugo continues to projects his anger towards Deku thinking that’s it’s his victims fault for him bullying him.

Granted he has been shown to have some regret for how he treated Deku but he barely does anything to fix behavior towards him and only waited at the last minute to give his half assed apology.

You can say that him training with Deku when he unlocked Blackwhip is proof that he is helping, but this doesn’t mean anything because Bakugo instantly gives up all because him constantly trying to injure Deku isn’t working. It’s only later in chapter 336 we see these two training together along with Class 1A, but it’s late in the story and what was given was too little too late. We’re just supposed to believe that they have been training and understanding each other together on a positive level off screen.

This series can go on all it wants about how their favorite wonder boy has changed as a character and how he now has the traits of a true hero. But nothing about what he does and how he interacts with others ever conveys that claim in a way that looks believable. The story has shown us that Bakugo’s villainous behavior makes things worse for himself and around other like Class 1A, and he never once felt guilt

Bakugo has never had a real reason and any saying for his actions towards his so called best friend and towards everyone in general. His reasonings for being an asshole and to why he hates Deku either doesn’t do anything or just make him look even more petty and also come across as if he is emotionally manipulating everyone around him.(EX. The moment when Deku tells Bakugo that he got his quirk from someone happened because Bakugo made him feel guilty about hiding his quirk to him during the Ground Battle Trial.)

I seen people say that Bakugo’s line “I’m sorry Izuku for everything” means that he’s always felt haunted by his constant guilt for what he did and the long term affects of it, but he’s also sorry that things ended up the way they did.

The thing is; Bakugo I would think would have the curtsy to put some effort into how he treats Deku before and after his apology.

I think it’s fair to say that Deku’s self destructive behavior is because of Bakugo’s bullying and him treating Deku like a failure. And I know this is also because of All Might’s heroism and how Deku viewed him, but if you remember in his rematch with Bakugo, he made it clear that while he was inspired by All Might it was Bakugo that he looked up to the most.

Instead of having it where he realizes that action are petty and taking accountability during Villain Hunt, he’s chooses to not only puts the blame his victim but also puts all the blame on Deku’s destructive behavior and his issues of self worth on All Might. Meanwhile he has the nerve to say he’s the only one that knows Deku more than everyone else and people like All Might, Endeavor, Aizawa, Uraraka, Iida and even Shoto can just piss off.

Bakugo is supposed to have changed as a better person; he supposedly now has a better understanding of Deku is now caring to him and yet he’s still acts the same as he did before and continues to antagonize others to satisfy his ego. Meanwhile fans continue to excuse this as a subversion of our expectations. Granted the way he treats everyone is not as awful as he was Pre- Kamino, but that still doesn’t excuse his behavior and how lazy his development is. And no, him telling a child not to look down on others otherwise you won’t recognize your own weakness doesn’t work because he himself can’t even take his own words to heart.

This is just the creator’s attempt at trying to paint his favorite character in a good light without doing anything with him to have him earn it. I can care very little about him feeling guilty about All Might’s retirement. I personally don’t think it’s Bakugo’s fault for his retirement; I blame him for starting the rescue mission and making things worse during the Forset Camp Training Arc. I probably would have cared about Bakugo’s dynamic with All Might if most of their interactions weren’t him being incredibly selfish and down right being a prick to his idol for no reason.

#bnha critical #mha critical #anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugou #anti katsuki bakugou

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hopeymchope · 2 years

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Oh man, I love Juzo and do think he's suitably complex, but he is a GIANT bully! He literally beat up Hinata for just trying to go into the main building if I remember right? And Hinata did that to prevent a MURDER. It makes me wonder how Natsumi got in the main building to be murdered. Is it just that Hinata doesn't come from an influential family so he gets to beat him up while letting Natsumi do the same thing? Oh my god, I hate Munataka sometimes too. I mean, I feel bad for him? I feel bad for him. But he literally told Makoto to k/ll himself. I mean sure, he thought Makoto might be the one who started the killing game—which is ridiculous and I'm not even sure he believes that at all, to be perfectly honest, because why would a traitor do what he suggested what's even the point in suggesting it, but even if we were going to take that claim in good faith, uh, still probably shouldn't say that. I will say I personally like Natsumi, even though her actions are inexcusable—I find her somewhat sympathic in the fact that a lot of her actions are rooted in insecurity. I mean, you could also be like, cool motive, still bullying to that and I think it'd be super fair, but I definitely sympathize with her a lot better than say, Hiyoko. I do think that since she's a kid (or was when she died I mean) she has the potential to grow out of it a bit, if she can just get her head out of her ass, since I don't think we should give up on kids, full stop. Like, obviously Natsumi isn't real so if you don't like her that's obviously fine, but I think I come at it through the perspective that, if she was real, she should be given a chance to change and get better. Which would mean an adult telling her off and inforcing real consequences, I think. While still remaining sympathetic and keeping a big eye out for abuse since a lot of bullies (especially elementary and younger) are just mimicking behaviors from adults in their lives. Teach the kid to be better and give them a real chance. But of course, this should be done by adults, not the kids in the situation because kids (especially the bullies victims) should not have that pressure and responsibility put on them. Honestly, I find the adult characters like Juzo who act this way way more upsetting, because they should know better. They're no longer a kid. I do still think Juzo's motivations make him sympathetic, but it in no way excuses what he did. Natsumi's actions aren't even excusable, even if I think she probably has the motivation I sympathize with the most. She definitely didn't deserve to die (and neither did Sato).

I don't know if you've ever tried to watch/read this, but I think you'd hate how BNHA handles Izuku and Bakugou's relationship. I know I do. It keeps putting the responsibility of making Bakugou into a better person on Izuku, his bullying victim. Not a great look, imo.

Note: The bit about Juzo is referencing this post.

Hajime was attempting to enter the main building to talk to Mahiru AFTER Natsumi and Sato were already found dead. But otherwise, yeah; he was trying to get into the Main Building, and Juzo beat the shit out of him and gave him a speech about how he needed to "know his place." He later claimed to Yukizome that he was just trying to protect Hajime from getting involved in the murder case and getting hurt as a result, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of people could've done that WITHOUT physically assaulting him while totally degrading and devaluing him. To make matters worse, his little speech would be the final tipping point that would make Hinata decide to sign on for the Kamukura Project.

UNHELPFUL.

I always kind of thought that Sato must've killed Natsumi in the Reserve Course Building, though. After all, we see Mahiru have no problem visiting the Reserve Course to see Sato, so clearly Main Course students could swing over at any time. Or, on the flip side, you could always assume that guests are allowed in the Main Course building so long as they were escorted in by Main Course students. That way, it's easy enough to assume that Natsumi was taken there by Fuyuhiko and Sato was taken there by Mahiru, and uh... events unfolded from there.

Hm. If we assume that the basics of what we're told in DR2 Chapter 2 regarding Natsumi's death are largely true, then I wonder how well Sato knew Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Tsumiki?

Munakata's basically the real antagonist of Future Arc IMO. The "mastermind" is ultimately irrelevant compared to Munakata's aggressive slide into — let's just call it what it is — despair. I don't mean the capital-D "I'm a remnant and a Junko devotee" kind of Despair, but rather, the lowercase-d "I'm devoid of hope of all hope" kind of despair. I suspect that Chisa was slowly working on his corrupting his way of thinking over their years together between Despair Arc and Hope Arc, and this is where all those chickens come home to roost.

He becomes very Black/White in his worldview, deciding that anyone who does aid or even could potentially aid the cause of Despair must be destroyed. Which is kind of ironic for someone who we’re clearly supposed to feel “gray” about by the end. .... And sadly, living in modern America has increasingly made me feel sympathetic to his worldview. I, too, am coming around to the idea that the only way we can deal with the hate and oppression of the other side is to give them no fucking quarter or forgiveness, ever. When shit gets THIS goddamn bad, and the other side is THAT fucking twisted, I guess that’s just how it starts to feel.

Thankfully, Naegi was able to still see that the “Remnants of Despair” had the potential to be restored, redeemed... and maybe one day, forgiven?

I guess Natsumi does deal with a lot of insecurity, but there are certainly plenty of other insecure DR characters who don’t lash out and create a toxic environment all around them. Shuichi, Makoto, Tsumiki, Chihiro, Mitarai, Seiko, Kazuichi, Hajime, and Ryoma aren’t making others feel like shit or threatening their lives, right? Uh, except for when some of them were still Remnants/brainwashed. :P

However... I guess Natsumi has some like-minded company in the form of Ruruka. She, too, projects absolute confidence outwardly but is actually internally insecure in a manner that is utterly destructive and toxic to those around her. I wonder if there’s some kind of parallel to draw between these trios. Natsumi = Ruruka, Mahiru = Seiko (or is Hajime the Seiko?), and Sato = Izayoi? Those last two are both in the “twisted love drives them to take terrible actions” camp... and both situations are ultimately tragic for everyone involved. OH SNAP, there’s another “trio” we can parallel in this story - Munakata, Sakakura, and Yukizome! But in THAT particular trio, everybody involved is ultimately a toxic presence... so I’m not sure how that necessarily applies. I guess Chisa is probably the Seiko/Mahiru, and uh, Juzo is the aggressive bully so he’s probably the Natsumi/Ruruka? Which makes Kyosuke the Sato/Izayoi... OOHHH SHIT that totally works. His twisted love for his (unbeknownst to him) brainwashed girl ultimately drives him to his terrible actions! I think we have a winner here!

Cinematic Parallels?

But okay, back on-topic now: It’s definitely easier to accept these kinds of characters as inviting their own fates within the realm of fiction. With better communication and — as you suggest — an adult who could step in and steer the most toxic members into a form of treatment, things didn’t have to go as badly as they did for any of those people. A little understanding from someone in authority and the ability for them to self-reflect could’ve saved five or six lives here. The sixth one being that, if Natsumi hadn’t been killed, Hajime never would’ve received that fateful dressed-down and pummeling from Sakakura. Which might have given him pause about the Kamukura Project for long enough to bow out, but who can really say? Ultimate, in a perfect world, maybe none of them had to die.

And hey, none of this is me saying that Natsumi and Ruruka aren’t responsible for their own fates. They definitely invite what is brought down upon them in tons of ways. But I can blame them and say that they majorly suck without also saying they were beyond any hope, you feel?

For that matter, I’m also not saying Natsumi and/or Ruruak would become good people all of a sudden if they were cared for and listened to. Personally, I’ve never seen bullies actually grow up into good human beings in adulthood. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen just because I haven’t seen it, and more importantly, this is fiction! Such redemptions are much more believable/possible in fiction, IMO. Just look at Fuyuhiko’s turnaround in DR2.

As a final disclaimer: I am ALSO absolutely not saying that every vicious character is always potentially redeemable. Because, for example? Endeavor from BNHA is just so far past the Moral Event Horizon that there’s no point in even trying. The way he treated women/his wife and his children are just beyond the point of forgiveness. (Naturally, Horikoshi wrote him a “redemption arc” anyway. Motherfucker should be forced to walk the Earth alone forever, eternally attempting to find peace by aiding every person he meets, doing good deeds until the day of his death in a vain attempt to make up for the psychological, emotional, and physical damage he caused.)

Yeah, I did used to watch/read My Hero Academia before I couldn’t take it anymore. And there’s even a pretty healthy “Anti-Bakugo” tag on this Tumblr to prove it. :P So you’re right, I DO hate how that was handled. Although Horikoshi is supposedly FINALLY going to make Bakugo express remorse, I’m told.

Wow... it only took eight fucking years.

#danganronpa #asks #anon #anti-bullying #anti-bakugo #anti-endeavor #anti-natsumi kuzuryu #anti-ruruka andou #longread #longreads #essays #bnha

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