#arguably bakudeku

[siflshonen]

It doesn't bother you that now all the bakugo character is deku deku deku

No, because it always was, was always going to be, and also how dare you not realize he’s also thinking about All Might, his dream, and his friends and larger community, too. For Katsuki, Izuku is at the center of all that and was, even at the manga’s start, always Katsuki’s touchpoint for understanding a world larger than himself - and yet it’s still a paradox in a way. In order to get close to Izuku in the first place, Katsuki had to learn to work with others and learn from others, and then to be able to help Izuku realize he needs to do the same thing. The biggest change now is that he can BLATANTLY say what he’s focused on is Izuku instead of it always being obvious but unstated. You see? It’s a one-part-of-the-whole situation that mirrors itself. The manga has gone to great lengths to show us this indirectly and now, finally, directly.

Yes, there’s a part of me that always kinda thinks it’s unfair how much Katsuki does in service to Izuku, but that’s also the point and BEEN the point in most cases. But this outcome was NEVER a mystery.

First, Katsuki’s interactions with Izuku (AND THE CAST!) were about how and why he pushed away others. Then it was about Katsuki and exploring how he viewed himself. Then it was about Katsuki and how he viewed peers, friends, and teammates. Then it was about Katsuki and how he viewed mentors or others who could teach him stuff. Then it was about Katsuki and what he can do for others, and why he’d be willing to do it. Izuku is directly relevant in all of these conversations all at once, all at the same time, even when he’s not the character with which Katsuki is interacting. At the same time, Katsuki’s interactions with Izuku illuminate his feelings and dynamic towards All Might, Todoroki, Kirishima, Denki, Jeanist… it’s all related. But Izuku is the crux, and he is the one “even closer to [Katsuki] than All Might.”

[marimeeko]

The post earlier about both Ochako and Katsuki carrying AllMight merch bc it's a token that reminds them of Izuku and how romantic that is slammed me into the realization that this story is so so so close to being a LOVE TRIANGLE

And how I never really saw that coming

[problematicbyler]

an incomplete history of byler sexuality discourse

and how widespread fandom purity culture and homophobia created a flourishing nsfw sub-fandom

some may call me chronically online, but i call myself a fandom historian. i've been a member of some fandom or another since i was about thirteen, and i've always been interested in the rise and fall of fandom discourse. though it's annoying in the moment it's happening, i think it's very interesting and telling to look back at the overall arcs and trends.

so, let's talk about the many times the fandom has cancelled people over byler sexuality, and how each level of "hornygate" has contributed to the growth of the proship/byler smut community.

(i use the term proship in its intended definition, which is to say, not "problematic shipping," but rather being pro-fiction, anti-censorship, and anti-harassment; it is a position of believing the fiction one creates or consumes doesn't reflect a person's real life beliefs or morals.)

i have been a stranger things lover since season 1, a byler shipper since season 2, and an active part of the byler community on tumblr since season 4. i'll mostly be focusing on post-season 4 discourse because that's what i've really been most present for and that was the period that really marked a turning point in the fandom.

seasons 1-3

i wasn't as plugged into fandom discourse back in the day, but the broad strokes of early discourse was mostly thinly veiled homophobia. claiming that it was sexualization to assume will or mike could be queer despite blatant queer coding, implying that analysts were no better than will's bullies to assume his sexuality, etc etc. people were criticized for shipping byler at all because they were so young (but these people naturally had no issue with mileven, so, again, homophobia).

season 4 (may-july 2022)

now, season 4. this is where byler was brought to the attention of a lot more fans, and stranger things' viewership reached wider than ever. the byler fandom on tumblr booms from 4k to 100k over the course of season 4's release.

this brought a lot of new people who have never been in fandoms before, people who never learned don't like don't read or your kink is not my kink and that's okay or ship and let ship.

or, a lot of times, people who had only been in fandoms for celebrities and bands, which tend to have different rules when it comes to shipping and sex, because they're real people. hence a lot of young antis' conflation of character with their actors, but that's a different rant.

so with a rapidly growing fandom, a show ripe for analysis, and the art of media literacy bleeding out on the ground in front of us, the hellscape of the fandom post-season 4 in 2022 followed as such:

august 2022

jo/kendra gate where two extremely popular analysts were called out for "sexualizing" byler while being adults (early to mid 20s). they were dogpiled and harassed because one of them said that will was giving mike "bedroom eyes" (he was) and one of them said mike was checking will out (he was):

pyshiie and moogate. the proship side of byler twitter rose up and started to divide itself. i'll credit my own joining-the-dark-side to pyshiie and moo, formerly barbjeanisms, who were two popular artists called out respectively for sexualizing byler and generally being proship. similarly, people were called out and criticized for even following or interacting with those accounts after this discourse.

september 2022

hosegate is the most famous across the byler fandom, and it's when some users proposed that the scene in the pizzeria uses phallic imagery to imply mike turns will on (or vice versa) and a lot of people thought that was too sexualized, it caused a divide, and more fanpolicing, etc.

october 2022

the artist noodlesandtea was harassed for having liked arguably nsfw bakudeku art (they were shirtless, it wasn't explicit) on the same account where they draw characters who are minors. they also drew byler kissing, which was a problem for some? anyone who defended them was also called a pedo, naturally. noodles also got called out for having drawn fanart of the popular e-rated fanfiction....

the unmarked mixtape. a massively popular sequel to a massively popular fic, the red envelope. for a long time, those were the most widely recommended byler fics, but it very soon became taboo to even admit to reading them because the sequel has explicit sex and the first has them making out.

sonnet116 gate is another fic that was beloved and then rapidly turned on by byler twitter because it had implied, fade to black sex scenes. it was about them hooking up but had no smut. and even the non explicit idea of that was offensive and pedophilic of anyone who dared read it. around this time, another fic was called out for having will moaning into a kiss, because writing a teenager moaning was also offensive and pedophilic.

i'm told i (jana / troublebyler gate?) may have influenced a lot of people joining twitter for byler smut after writing illicit affairs and some other smutty oneshots in rapid succession, seeing a lot of byler shippers moving to the proship side of the fandom just to discuss and write byler smut. i also hosted a little fandom gossip column on my curiouscat where a lot of folks confessed to reading or writing smut while pretending to be "normal" in the "main" fandom. it basically revealed/implied that a large amount of popular authors, artists, and accounts were secretly pro byler smut, and that many proshippers were "undercover" in the "main" fandom.

the blocklist era. around this time the "main" fandom also created a "st twt safety" account on twitter which was basically targeted harassment and mass reporting of proshippers. the account does warn of some genuine bad actors sending gore images via dms, being racist, etc. but by far, the majority of it was simply calling out proshippers for sexualizing byler, sharing screenshots they thought were "gross," which only resulted in spreading nsfw content to unintended audiences of minors that likely never would have seen the nsfw accounts otherwise.

november 2022

practice kissing gate is where a handful of popular fic writers were criticized for writing practice kissing fics (such as undertow), and in fact, any amount of byler making out, because adults "fantasizing" about teenagers kissing was "gross."

the proship corner of st twitter continued to grow a lot thanks to so many lovely fan creators, all of whom i couldn't possibly list but who have done a lot for the community! but we continued to get bombarded with endless callout posts and block lists and witch hunting. people were unabashedly policing people's following lists and likes on twitter to call people out for engaging with any questionable users or content. (if you search byler twitter now you can still see the wreckage of so many witch hunts.)

onward through 2023

over time things have mostly calmed down, or at least enough of the folks on "opposing sides" of the fandom have mutually blocked each other to survive. this is likely also influenced by the hiatus leaving the fandom to quiet down, the collapse of twitter-turned-x having many users migrate their fandom content elsewhere, and the mass exodus of many people from the fandom for political reasons. if i had to guess, the ramp-up to season 5 will see all new conflict as more "casual" fans return to the fandom. but who's to say.

which brings us to now:

spicybylerpolls gate, wherein the byler tag on tumblr collectively had to reckon with the fact that people want byler to have sex and it doesn't make them creeps to vote in silly polls about it. people criticized the blog for being overly sexualized and pure fantasy versus more "acceptable" analysis, with many making sweeping moralizing statements about anyone who dared interact with the blog.

this has kicked off tumblr's own sort of horny revolution in encouraging folks to be more open on here, whereas previously we were confined to our corner of twitter.

so in summary:

people over and over again put fan creators on a pedestal just to turn on them when they're "betrayed" when a person's views did not one-to-one line up to theirs.

teens in the fandom especially were "betrayed" by adults in the fandom they thought were "safe" (and i would argue that self proclaimed "safe" adults in fandom are far more dangerous to real life minors than the proship fans who sexualize fictional characters but dont interact with real teens)

most everything has been fueled by widespread ageism at any fan over the age of 18, widespread homophobia and puritanism in regards to exploring queer sexuality or discussing sex at all

so much hate has been over what are essentially "thought crimes", with people watering down serious accusations like pedophilia into a petty insult over disagreements on fiction

and the cycle repeats itself endlessly until things devolve back into witch hunting and policing peoples following and likes etc

the best part to me is that every single cancellation just resulted in more people flooding to the horny side of the fandom to post more freely and without shame. every time a person on twitter posted screenshots of my account to say how "gross" it was (while simultaneously exposing my 18+ nsfw content to their audience of minors) i had a surge in followers. the more the fandom squeezes, the more people slip from its hold.

but that doesn't make the harassment campaigns okay, and it doesn't mean the fandom didn't do massive amounts of harm to real people in an attempt to protect fictional characters.

my hope going forward is that the fandom can coexist as a community where people don't have to like or agree with certain content to treat the people who create it with respect and dignity. and i hope that, while this side of the fandom might grow more on tumblr, we don't have to relive the same old discourses and go through the same cycles we went through on twitter.

and remember kids, the block button is both free and fun.

[thatmilkshakedragon]

Gonna talk about this guy for a second because I genuinely feel like no one is talking about this/ not enough coverage about the Deku headcannons made in the bnha/mha fandom.

I'm gonna spit it out now, I think Bakudeku is the most overrated ship I have ever seen, in any fandom, period. I also think that Deku is one of the most shit on characters by a fandom that doesn't really deserve to get shit on. There is so much I can say about this, but for the purposes of you, the reader, I'll try and keep this as short as I can.

ALSO GONNA SAY THIS NOW, MY OPINION IS NOT GOSPEL. SHIP BAKUDEKU IF YOU WANT, MAKE DEKU SAD EMO BOY IF YOU WISH, THATS YOUR CHOICE. IM JUST NOT GONNA WATCH YOUR CONTENT AND IM SIMPLY SAYING THE REASONS WHY.

OFFICIAL CONTENT WARNING FROM HERE : I will be talking about alot of sensitive topics in this post but the main ones I will be covering are Underage Sex, SH, depression etc. Also there will be slight spoilers for the show ( I haven't watched it so don't expect anything massive )

So let's talk about Boku no Hero Academia/ My Hero Academia. Alot of you know about this show already, but for those who don't :

Boku No Hero Academia/ My Hero Academia is an Manga Series turned anime, originally illustrated and written by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, we follow a Teenager called Izuku Midoriya (Deku for short) , who is a "quirkless" boy lives in a world of "quirks" (superpowers). He still dreams of being a superhero, and he gets scouted by his hero, "All might", who bestows his powers onto him after seeing his potential, and also helps to get him into a prestigious high school for superheroes in training.

Now in this anime, there is another boy called Katsuki Bakugo, who has bullied Deku ever since he was a child. When they were in middle school, the bullying did not stop, and now in high school they continued to be rivals/ Deku being bullied by Bakugo.

Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with headcannons/au's, in fact, I think headcannons/au's are one of the building blocks of fandom. But there is a certain point in which these Au's can cross a line, and unfortunately in the Bnha/Mha fandom, that line is crossed a fair bit.

Let's start with bakudeku, the thing that sparked this whole post in the first place. At the start of this post I said it was overrated, and I stand by that. The amount of hype I see of these two getting in a relationship fills me with absolute agony. THESE TWO AREN'T COMPATIBLE IN THE SLIGHTEST. Yes, Katsuki may have character development that I have not seen, since I do not watch this show ( the reasons why can get a post on its own ), but from the clips I've seen of Katsuki, he just seems like a huge jackass towards EVERYONE. The only people he does respect are adults who can beat the shit out of him, and that's really sad. Now let's get to Izuku. I'm not very sure but personally I don't think he will be shipped with anyone, at least not for the time being. Izuku seems focused on becoming a hero at the moment in the series, so I'd highly doubt that he will be getting into a relationship.

Now lets get into another reason for why Izuku is shit upon. The amount of Batsuit insane stuff that the Bnha/Mha fandom has produced. This segment doesn't just run for deku either, this can be for arguably every character in the show (besides grape guy everyone agrees he is a dick) Fanfiction is in my opinion, the core part of a thriving fandom, alongside Fanart and Headcannons, but the amount of fanfiction that has Izuku as a cat maid for todoroki or some shit along the lines of that IS INSANE. A bunch of these characters aren't aged up either, which makes it even more fucking gross. Like youre writing 2 teenagers fucking each other in their rooms which they still have like stuff up from when they were 10 or some shit. I do know about Japan's fucked up sex culture quite a bit, and how the age of consent is lowered there, but this is still a huge problem regardless.

Let's stop with the CP, and now go onto depressed Deku. I also see in the Bnha/Mha fandom, that there is a lot of content about Deku being depressed or like not mentally ok. In alot of these headcannons, there's usually an event where a character will find Deku's arms with giant slits on them, or they will find blood on Deku's clothes, and Deku will try and deny that he is depressed, or go into a massive breakdown. These headcannons usually involve Deku going to a mental institution to seek help, and along the way fall in love with a character ( I lied there's more ship content ) . My personal opinion, these are disgusting headcannons. Yet again, this guy is still in his teens, and you're putting him into crazy scenarios not many teens have.

The last point I have to make is the plague that this character made upon fandom. From Gacha, to Ao3 to Tumblr, the shittyfied Deku has taken over fandom spaces like these. The amount of gacha content surrounding Deku (usually in a relationship with a character) is fucking insane. For every 20 videos you can find on YouTube of Bnha/Mha, at least 15 will be bakudeku. There's not much normal content anymore on the fandom, because the shitty deku has taken over, and I find that really sad.

It's a genuine shame that Deku has been tested like this, because he seems like suck a great character for this anime, but the fandom has just betrayed him. It's saddening seeing the showrunners get harassed for not shipping Deku with anyone, rather then actually critiquing things wrong with the show ( like directing, writing, comedy etc ). Idk man, this whole thing just makes me really sad.

if you do need some guidance for your mental health, you're under 18, and you live in Ireland or the UK, then call ChildLine, they are a brilliant organisation who listens and lets you vent and lets you be heard. To find out more go to www.childline.co.uk for more info.

Please for the love of God reblog this I spent over an hour on it and it's 20 past 1 in the morning kill me 🤠

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

I posted 1,251 times in 2022

That's 1,251 more posts than 2021!

1,230 posts created (98%)

21 posts reblogged (2%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@anti-bakugou-memes

@baku-fessionals

Third is some BakuStan who tried arguing against me regarding whether I care or not about if people ship BkDk. They then proceeded to try to tell me that I didn’t separate what makes a fan or a Stan DESPITE me doing so, and then when I showed proof that I did, they then said that they “had better things to do” despite constantly lurking in the anti Katsuki tags. Haven’t seen this person under any anti post since then so they might’ve turned tail and ran. Folks, if you’re going to start a debate/argument, please read about the other side before bothering to engage. Otherwise you’ve lost the argument and have proven yourself to be dumb. Censored their name as so no one bothers them, and if you find their post, don’t do so.

I tagged 1,016 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

#anti bakugo - 893 posts

#anti katsuki bakugou - 893 posts

#anti bakugou - 891 posts

#anti bakugo katsuki - 889 posts

#mha critical - 484 posts

#anti bkdk - 428 posts

#anti bakudeku - 426 posts

#bad memes - 75 posts

#anti aizawa shota - 56 posts

#anti eraserhead - 45 posts

Longest Tag: 25 characters

#norm of the north twitter

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Stans: BaKuBoO iS a ViCtIm Of SoCiEtY aNd gOt HiS vIeWs FrOm ThE aDulTs.

Katsuki after receiving the most generic ass compliment ever:

Fucker was practicing Social Darwinism at four just cause some lady said he had a neat quirk 😂

136 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

#4

He really is a bitch 😭. Easily the biggest bitch in MHA and the bitchiest rival in all of Shonan.

143 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

#3

Any opinions on Fuyumi? I want to like her but... she just keeps pushing for "being a nice family" and I dunno, it seems like she's always invalidating her brothers feelings/experinces?

Fuyumi’s an interesting character to me. I always felt that her “being a nice family” mindset was her dealing with her trauma in her own way. Whereas Dabi, Shoto, and Natsuo react to Endeavor with anger and Rei reacts with fear, Fuyumi reacts with a sort of desperation that feels realistic to me. She wants to keep her family together but doesn’t have a healthy mindset as to what that means. She’s the type that thinks that if everyone talks things out, everything will be resolved and she can have a normal life she was unfairly robbed of. Problem is that Endeavor was an abuser, no matter what you think of him, and the best way to deal with an abuser is to leave them. Fuyumi however seems to feel that Endeavor is necessary to help live out her ideal family as he is her father, which shows an unhealthy sense of reality yet one that a lot of abuse victims who never receive proper help develop. It’s also interesting when you realize that she’s seen as the nurturing one and is a teacher. Hori probably didn’t think this far when writing her, but Fuyumi being an elementary school teacher could be her wanting to care for a family of her own in some way and/or living vicariously through the kids, as none of the Todoroki children had childhoods to begin with.

Her ideals however clash with that of her three brothers, her desperation to keep her family together and rebuild it going against Natsuo and Shoto’s desires to simply leave Endeavor behind and have nothing to do with him (and Dabi trying to kill Endeavor, but she didn’t even know he was alive until recently). To me, it’s pretty realistic as to how an abused family will sometimes clash with one another.

The problem I have with Fuyumi though is a problem I have with MHA as a whole and that’s the fact Hori never really dives deep into any of this. He sets up such themes and introduces characters integral to these themes, but we hardly get any insight into the Todoroki siblings’ mindsets with the arguable exceptions of Shoto and Dabi, so we barely see this side of Fuyumi and are left with some surface level stuff that makes it seem like she’s being selfish at times “just cuz” when it’s far more than that. It’s a problem with a lot of things in MHA. Now I’m not expecting masterful writing here, but if you’re going to introduce such themes and advertise them as integral to the story you’re trying to tell, I expect to see them being handled with at least some care. Instead everything’s so lackluster to the point where it feels like it’s offensive at times. Just look at Izuku’s relationship with Katsuki. The bullying is never addressed nor is Izuku allowed to feel anything about it except for blind admiration for Katsuki.

In conclusion, Fuyumi’s a complicated and interesting character that Hori once again fails to explore thoroughly and with the care needed to explore such a character. Under a better writer she’s the kind of character that would really flourish but what we got was missed potential, like with the majority of MHA.

182 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

#2

Should be common sense. Don’t know why it’s not 🤷‍♂️

213 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

bruh please get into why you don't like shota I'm genuinely interested 🙏

Reasons why I don’t like Shota:

- Is easily the worst teacher in MHA: we never actually see him do his job. Every time we see him in a school setting, he’s either asleep or he pawns off his work to other teachers. He doesn’t give his students any advice except “do better” and he’s shown to be willing to drop students on THE FIRST FUCKING DAY OF CLASSES if they don’t suddenly improve. Izuku’s the biggest example of this. If Shota was good at his damn job, he’d read about his students ahead of time and learned that Izuku only had his quirk for a few months so it’s obvious that he won’t know how to use it properly. A real teacher would see this and offer aid, only expelling Izuku if he shows absolutely no improvements after a month or two. He managed to pass the entrance exam which means he’s more than worthy of being given a chance compared to the Gen-Ed students who failed to get into the hero course (looking at you Hitoshi). Meanwhile, Katsuki attacks Izuku on the first day and even sabotages his score yet Mr. “Logical” here doesn’t expel him. Adding to this, when Katsuki nearly kills Izuku, all he tells him is to “grow up”. These instances show him as outright neglectful and lazy. It gets even worse when you realize that the only time he actually tried doing his job, he fucked up big time by forcing an abuse victim to work with his abuser. Oh, and don’t get me started on him using Eri to further Katsuki’s growth in one of the light novels. Shota, it’s not the responsibility of those abused to help an abuser grow. People love to rag on All Might for his teaching, but while All Might sucks at his job, he at least tries. Shota is neglectful, abusive, and just an outright asshole at this point.

- Is a mouthpiece for Katsuki: despite Katsuki being a student Shota should’ve expelled right off the bat based on what we’re told about him, he instead praises Katsuki and is used by Hori to wank him off. He tells the people rightfully booing him during the Sports Festival that he was “giving it his all” against Ochako when all he was doing is just standing there and swatting her away when he could’ve easily took her out in one or two blows. Katsuki even says that it’s “time to get serious” after Ochako’s final attack, which meant he wasn’t taking her seriously to begin with. When people rightfully question Katsuki’s behavior after his kidnapping, Shota says that “Katsuki deserves to be a hero because he tries hard”. Bruh, just because you try hard doesn’t mean you deserve shit, especially when you’ve repeatedly proven that you can’t handle the responsibilities that come with being a hero.

- Doesn’t care about the mental health or the future of his students: One of the first things he does in the series is tell Ochako that knowledge of the school’s various facilities, including the guidance counselor, isn’t important. He then proceeds to use his little “logical rouses” which all that does is make sure none of his students can trust him with anything. He singles out Izuku and calls him a liability in front of his classmates instead of taking him to the side. His little “expulsion game” is also very harmful. In Japan, grades and academic records are highly valued. Any blemish can fuck up a kid’s future. By suspending his students, he screwed them over in the long run, especially since they’re in an “elite school” like U.A. Any kid who’d rather take a different path in life is fucked because Shota suspended them on the FIRST DAY of school. And for what? Not being at the level of a sidekick or pro hero? Except for those who had to take quirk counseling due to uncontrollable quirks, none of them had formal training, so who is he to say they can’t be heroes on the first day? All they had is one day to prove themselves on some shitty fitness exam that doesn’t even test their character or willingness to learn. Shota preaches about life being unfair but he’s actively making things unfair just because he’s got a God Complex.

- Is a hypocrite: Shota hates people who spam their quirks and only rely on them, so what does he do? Takes in a kid who does exactly that as his mentee just because he reminds him of himself and of his dead friend (Hitoshi’s my third least favorite MHA character in case you were wondering). He dislikes All Might for supposedly playing favorites but he does exactly that. We actually see him training this kid over his class, said kid who hasn’t done anything to achieve his dream.

-Narrative wanks him off: Never is Shota’s actions called out. He’s never made to be in the wrong. Every character loves him and those who don’t (like his previous class) are made to be in the wrong or are made to be assholes. However, unlike Katsuki, he at least isn’t completely covered by plot armor, having lost his leg and part of his eyesight due to battles he’s taken part in.

- He dropped a FUCKING BUILDING on his students during one of the OVA’s. Enough said. Somehow he’s been more successful nearly killing his students than the villains have at killing 1-A.

At the end of the day, Shota’s an abusive, neglectful, hypocritical, and egotistical asshole with a God complex who never gets called out on his bullshit. He may be a decent hero, but that’s really not something that overrides all his shitty traits. I see what Hori was going for, but like with a lot of things, Hori misses the mark and forgets what makes characters of Shota’s archetypes work in the first place.

271 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[starsaber10]

I am not trying to attack anyone I just want to give my honest truth on the ship of BakuDeku. It should be noted this is my opinion and even if you don’t disagree I ask you respect it.

To be noted that this is a continuation of @thatoneanimequeen post on it as well

I will preface this by saying I don’t actually hate the ship in an of itself I hate the main ways that it is executed and I especially hate the idea that this a viable ship at all if canon isn’t basically rewritten which says a lot that I only am willing to accept it when you rewrite basically the entire story.

This ship would be outright toxic. Bakugou has bullied Izuku for at least 8 years and a max of ten years of his life. That means Bakugou has bullied Izuku for around two thirds of his life by the time of the first episode of canon. Bakugou verbally assaults Izuku basically every time he talks to him. Calling someone literally useless is messed up plain and simple. Bakugou also has been attacking Izuku for as long as he’s been bullying Izuku so eight to ten years depending on the timeline. I know some people say that oh he doesn’t usually use his quirk on Izuku and when he does it’s not as bad as what we’ve seen. But we saw Izuku as a child get beat up by Bakugou for doing the right thing. We know that him attacking Izuku in the middle of a classroom with his quirk isn’t uncommon. No one even bats an eye when he does it the teacher couldn’t care less. So this ship at its most basic level is between a jack ass with an aggressive and explosive personality and his verbal and physical punching bag for ten literal years who he suicide baited.

Speaking of suicide baiting let’s go to that. Bakugou suicide baited Izuku with no remorse at the moment. When Bakugou’s cronies asked if he maybe he went to far Bakugou blew then off. Some may argue this is Bakugou being Bakugou but he still to this point has not apologized for it so that’s not even a decent argument or excuse or reason.

Finally let’s get to the meat and potatoes of everything that happens in UA. Bakugou has at this point got Izuku to the point of flinching at every time he even looks at him weirdly. Bakugou tried to attack Izuku in the quirk exams Aizawa made, was so self centered he assumed Izuku was willingly going through suffering for up to ten years of just to look down on him which is stupid. Bakugou tried to kill Izuku in the battle trials and knew he could kill Izuku it wasn’t even accidental he literally shouts he won’t die if he dodged even though Izuku has basically nowhere to dodge. He punched Izuku in their final exams, dragged him out to fight for his own self interest getting Izuku in trouble and just overal he was being an absolute menace to Izuku 24/7.

The idea of these two getting together after all this is insane. He may have changed but Bakugou has a literal decade of shit to make up for. This ship is literally just “wouldn’t it be cool if Izuku got together with the person who you could argue out right abused him for a decade.” It’s utter madness and infuriating.

This all on top of the fact that Bakugou’s reasoning is beyond stupid and petty. It’s literally either one of two things. Either Bakugou was jealous and genuinely thought that somehow a scrawny quirkless child would be a better hero than him which makes negative logical sense and honestly incorrect if Bakugou was even a semi decent human being which apparently he would be if he wasn’t jealous or Bakugou for some reason thought Izuku was looking down on him 24/7 since they were four which makes arguably even less sense but is probably an overall better reason for what he did sense it just means he an emotionally constipated idiot with anger issues instead of a jealous asshole who for some reason saw fiction/potential future as reality and set in stone in which he proceeded to absolutely ruin a friends life over it for a reason that basically amounts to you might be as good as me so you must suffer. So he’s damned if he does damned if he doesn’t in both reasons.

[meeko-mar]

The more I think about it, the more I might be signing on to the theory that Izuku KNOWS his trigger is Kacchan, and he just hasn't admitted/confronted it yet...At least, that we have yet seen.

Hold my non-alcoholic beverage.

Once again, let's preface with the fact that we have SEEN with our own eyes, that Kacchan has been the trigger of two specific incidents, being Monoma insulting Kacchan and Izuku becoming angry enough to manifest Black Whip.

And second, Kacchan following him into danger, and then getting impaled and nearly dying to protect him, which then triggered possibly the most RAGE we have ever seen Izuku possess, AND the manifestation of Danger Sense, AND caused him to literally throw himself at AFO/Shigaraki which put him immediately under threat of having OFA stolen. Obviously, the vestiges protected the Quirk, but the fact still stands that the rage the a Izuku felt was enough to drive him LITERALLY into Shigaraki's hands, despite how very very dangerous that was. Izuku LOST HIMSELF so badly that he could have lost the entire war right there, if The Vestiges hadn't protected him and the Quirk.

The moment when All Might and Kacchan are trying to coach him and find the connection that brought about Black Whip. The mention of an external factor, and Izuku's avoidance of saying what that factor was(Kacchan being insulted, as we ALL know and explicitly saw), and arguably his words of "It's not something I can handle right now" seem a bit suspicious.

(NOTE: I've said before, that I had slight skepticism that this line about not being able to handle it and putting a lock on something, was meant to refer to the power he unlocked, however, watching season 5 has made me remember that, after the chaotic manifestation, and talking to Lariat, and realizing that Black Whip was part of his Quirk and therefore there to HELP him, and he had successfully used it without losing control because he ACCEPTED that it was a power that was there to help, not hurt him. I am not so sure that Izuku's "lock" is referring to the power anymore, but rather, his feelings for Kacchan.

But, I have new perspective that maybe, like others were pointing out, maybe it IS referring to the actual TRIGGER. IE, his feelings for Kacchan/his anger on his behalf.

I could be wrong, of course? But stay with me because this is a part of a larger context)

So, after the War arc, after Kacchan got gravely injured on his behalf, after hospitalization, we are given one thing before Izuku suddenly leaves. But it was KACCHAN's perspective, Kacchan waking up and being desperate to get to Izuku, and getting DENIED at the door. We are shown Kacchan's desperation to make sure Izuku's ok, but so far, even well after waking up, we are NOT SHOWN Izuku's worry over Kacchan's condition. We are suddenly FLUNG into a brand new world where Izuku is a drop-out "vigilante" working on the villain activity outside of school, cleaning up villains and questing to find out how villains come to be in their own minds.

We've seen him talk to his mom before he leaves. We've seen him talk to Gran Torino.

But we haven't seen him talk to ANY of his friends yet, ESPECIALLY KACCHAN. When there has been such a fantastic amount of tension placed on that particular relationship, after not only the sacrifice Kacchan made, but also, and particularly, the FOCUS that was placed on Kacchan trying to REACH HIM and FAILING.

We've all been forced to inhale a deep breath as Kacchan charged down that hallway yelling for Deku, and we are STILL HOLDING THAT BREATH. There is a huge, poignant LOOSE END there that is hanging over our head. We are still waiting for the payoff.

So like that scene, in theory, Izuku is still avoiding how he feels so strongly about Kacchan that he can be triggered into rage over him being hurt?

Actually, no, I think this sudden change to Izuku is very much him finally acknowledging it and acting on it.

The reason we have so much unresolved tension still hanging over Kacchan and Izuku's non-reunion, the reason Hori set up this big conflict that hasn't been resolved yet, why he showed us Kacchan trying to see Deku and not an ounce of Izuku wanting to see Kacchan before he leaves,

is that Izuku is actively trying to distance himself from Kacchan.

He did say that the reason he won't be returning to UA is of course because AFO could find him at any time and he would place everyone around him in danger.

But Kacchan? I think Izuku is still very much traumatized by the fact that he witnessed Kacchan taking a would-be fatal blow for him and falling out of the sky, drenched in blood.

I think he probably realizes that if Kacchan follows him into battle again, there's a real chance it could happen again... Or worse, AFO/Shigaraki, now knowing what a touchy button that is for Izuku, could actively target Kacchan on the battlefield, kill him, and/or use him against Izuku.

And Izuku is in the literary stage where the protagonist thinks that the love they have for someone else is a weak point and a danger/liability to those he loves, and so tries to shoulder all the burden themselves an shut the other out. He doesn't want his friends involved, he doesn't want Kacchan involved.

Because he knows that his love for Kacchan is his weakness. He's finally acknowledging that when Kacchan is hurt or slighted, he tends to lose himself. He loses control of his heart, and this is not something they can afford at this point in the game. Defeating AFO is now or never. (and he just desperately doesn't want Kacchan to be hurt for him anymore.)

He is going to have to learn, however, that, like Kacchan says to him, he can't keep playing the Hero on his own. And that their love can be their greatest strength, instead of a weakness.

So he's left, probably without a conversation with Kacchan. Hori is holding out on showing us this, building onto that tension, and I feel like he has some very significant pay off coming up. We haven't been shown any such conversation because he wants us to keep holding that breath for a little longer.

And if I'm right, it's gonna be dramatic when Izuku breaks down about this to Kacchan, finally. There was also some theories that Kacchan v. Deku 3 is going to follow the progression of their relationship and have this one center around Izuku's feelings being laid bare and Kacchan "accepting his feelings" as Izuku had done for him in KvD2, I think I'm a fan of this theory.

So yeah, Izuku knows that Kacchan is his trigger and purposely left without him for that reason.

That's basically my theory. Probably not the first one to think this, but I thought I'd write about it anyway. to get it outta my head, lmao.

Alsooo, yeah this is tagged for my Bakudeku peeps, and I use the word "love" in this, but you can read that as you will, either platonic or possibly romantic, not here to say this theory calls for canon romantic feelings between BKDK because that's not really my point, but at this point denying that they love each other in SOME capacity is being blind.

Ship or don't ship, but I legitimately think this is the psychology of Izuku's decision right now.

[petersthimble]

I’m not sorry: bakudeku is arguably one of the best ships in MHA

[deadwriter16]

Opinion on Kacchako?

ooh boy i've been waiting for this one. thanks for asking!

for this ask: send me a bnha ship (or multiple, platonic or romantic) and I'll tell you my opinion on it

kacchako: i think y'all know this one already

i ship these two so much, and naturally my opinions got extremely long so im adding a cut. otherwise this post would be way too long.

to those who do read all of this, i appreciate that. thanks :)

(and remember, this is just my opinion! please respect it!)

my kacchako opinions are under the cut

i feel like if you follow my blog you already know i ship these two. they're my second favorite bnha ship, and honestly sometimes they're more of a comfort ship to me than bakudeku. of course bkdk is like my otp of all otps, but there's something about kacchako that just gives me comfort and happy vibes. i dunno. anyway. bakugou and uraraka are my favorite bnha male and female characters, and it's pretty much inevitable that i ship them together. i love them.

as for, like, a coherent explanation, i am well aware there's barely any justification for them. they don't have a lot of scenes together, but the ones they do have are really damn powerful. the omake where uraraka confronts bakugou about deku is one of my favorites, and honestly it fits them so well i see it as canon. bakugou vs. uraraka is my favorite sports festival fight, and quite possibly my favorite uraraka characterization in the entire show. for me, kacchako isn't about what we get of them in the series, it isn't about what they already are. for me, kacchako is about what they could be.

uraraka is my favorite female character because behind the situations in which she's only used as a love interest, when we get scenes in which she is her own person, with her own goals and desires, those are the scenes that make me love her. i mean i also love her immense capability to love, but that's about all kinds of love, not just romantic. but I really do love uraraka. i love her determination and her not often seen but definitely existing desire to win, as well as her desire to save people. and uraraka shows that side of her when talking about her parents, when fighting toga, during the most recent manga arc, and, most notably, her fight with bakugou.

i love kacchako because of what they bring out in each other. uraraka and bakugou's fight shows more of that teased at side of uraraka in which she not only wants to save people, be a hero for deku and her parents and every other hero, but she also wants to win. and i think bakugou just brings out that more feral side of her, the side of her that is determined and does things for herself, the selfish side of her that deserves to come out more often. uraraka gives her all against bakugou, because he brings out the side of her that isn't afraid to voice what she wants and do what she has to to get it. bakugou brings out the traits uraraka has that also happen to be things bakugou admires in people. meanwhile uraraka is arguably the first person in Class 1-A bakugou actually comes to truly respect. i would argue that kirishima is different because while bakugou does respect him, it's in a bit more of a growing friendship context. but at the time of their fight, uraraka and bakugou are not friends.

it's canon that uraraka does like bakugou, thinks he's pretty cool, and she really wants deku and bakugou to reconcile and be friends. but uraraka and bakugou are not friends. and yet. during their fight, bakugou doesn't hold back. at first he underestimates her, thinking that her plan was deku's, but it's obvious that around the time of the meteor shower he starts to see that she's really fucking strong, admirable, and amazing. not too much later he calls her by her real name, the hugest sign of respect when it comes to bakugou. when she's down for the count bakugou sees that she's trying to get up, and he's in fighting stance waiting for her to get up. he doesn't laugh, goad her on, tell her to admit defeat, he just silently waits for her to get up, respecting her enough to know that they both want a fair fight where neither party wants an advantage. uraraka brings out this side of bakugou that's really wonderful. he's still teasing her, being his usual cocky self, but it's almost encouraging. he has faith that she'll get back up. uraraka brings out bakugou's respectable, honorable side that people act like he doesn't have. uraraka brings out bakugou's integrity, and bakugou brings out uraraka's determination.

they bring out the best in each other.

i think an analysis of their fight would be enough to explain why i ship them. i might do that someday, a scene by scene analysis. now i kind of want to. but the point here is that i don't ship kacchako because i think they're in any way canonically viable. they don't get enough scenes together and that annoys me, but they're often seen liking or admiring each other. once bakugou realizes uraraka's plans were all hers, he comes to respect her even more. he often calls her by her real name and he acknowledges her strengths. uraraka is inspired by bakugou to get stronger and and try new things to become a better hero, deciding that losing to bakugou simply means she has to do better. she's a lot like deku there, taking a defeat against kacchan as a win. maybe that's just a bakugou thing, every important person he's beaten walks out of the ring wanting to improve and do better.

especially uraraka.

uraraka and bakugou are mostly connected through deku, but in their fight against each other uraraka mentions deku once. they have moments outside of the fight, but in the fight itself she thinks about deku once because, of course, he inspires her to keep fighting. and bakugou is deku's inspiration in the same way. so yeah, uraraka and bakugou are connected through deku, but they understand each other in a way nobody else does. uraraka sees through bakugou's walls and really gets him, and bakugou sees uraraka's real desire to win and be strong in order to be a hero for heroes, and he respects her enough to, albeit subconsciously, get her there. anyway, i could talk about these two forever but i think this might be getting pretty long. so i guess I'll end it here by saying that for me, kacchako is about the potential they have as a dynamic and how these sides of them that are so rarely explored are just brought out in full force when they're with each other. they're great influences on each other.

for me, kacchako is about how uraraka and bakugou bring out the best in each other. they have a connection outside of deku that is only acknowledged once or twice but is still very important, and i really hope we get some kind of event or team up with the two of them again because their dynamic is amazing. if izuocha becomes canon, they'll become deku's two most important people. and honestly, i think uraraka and bakugou are pretty high on each other's most important people list. they may not be friends, but they are friendly rivals, to some extent, and they left some really lasting effects on each other. bakugou inspires uraraka to get stronger, and uraraka shifts bakugou's point of view and gives him a newfound respect for deku's best friend. now he sees her as something outside of deku's best friend, his first friend since bakugou. now he sees her as a person outside of deku, and she sees him as a person outside of deku. they don't see deku's childhood friend and ex-bully and deku's new best friend, they see bakugou and uraraka. katsuki and ochako.

the symbol of victory and the symbol of hope.

kacchako is about two people who are not afraid to call out the other's weaknesses, and in that way bring out each other's strengths.

so, yeah. this did not turn out brief at all, it's 1.2k words (and i could've said more. wow) but that's my opinion on kacchako.

thanks so much for asking!!! <3l

[makeste]

Have you seen the take that the official VIZ translator is biased? Because I'm still trying to process that, given with the stuff he's gone through with people sending him leaks and being overall disrespectful to him regarding translating (which is not an easy job)

Caleb’s biggest strength as a translator is also arguably his biggest weakness -- he has an excellent grasp not only of Japanese, but of English as well. meaning he’s very adept at translating Japanese dialogue into smooth-flowing, natural-sounding English. this is a different approach than what some fan translators use, because he doesn’t always go with the literal direct translation, e.g. “here’s exactly what this person said, word-for-word.” rather, his approach, which is the one most often used at the professional level, is to approximate what the person said, but in a way that flows naturally in the adapted language. e.g. “here’s how that person would have said this if they had been speaking in English.”

this type of translation has a lot of advantages, the biggest one being that the dialogue often sounds better/crisper/sharper than the somewhat-stilted dialogue often found in more literal translations. another advantage is that if done properly, this type of translation is easier to understand, because rather than trying to to reproduce exact sentences, the translator often strives for more simplicity while still preserving the essence of what the person was saying, and so the resulting dialogue gets the meaning across in a simpler way. one good example that shows how effective this style can be is “Catch-a-Kacchan”, which perfectly captures the playfulness and wordplay involved in the original dialogue by taking the pun that was originally used (see here for an explanation), and translating into something that is unique to the English language, but perfectly captures the spirit of the original. this is the kind of thing that Caleb is very good at, and it’s why he’s a professional.

however, the major flaw inherent to this style of translation is it relies very heavily on the translator’s understanding of what the original author intended to convey. you’re basically taking what they wrote and putting it into your own words. and so if there’s even the slightest difference between what you think Character X was saying, and what the author meant for Character X to say, the resulting translation is going to be off. this means the translator has to be dead-on in their interpretations 100% of the time in order for their translations to be 100% accurate. which basically means that they will never be completely accurate, seeing as that’s impossible.

so this is where the problem really lies, imo. to answer your original question anon, yes I have seen that take, and I do think he’s biased. but not any moreso than anyone else. every single person who reads the manga is biased in some way or other. we think the way that we read and interpret the series is the correct way, and that people who don’t see it that way are wrong. every single person has felt like this at some point or another. we all have our biases; they’re unavoidable, and the best we can do is try to be aware of them and avoid saying “this is objectively the only right way to interpret this” as much as possible.

so the problem isn’t really that Caleb is biased. the problem is that unlike most of us, his biases when left unchecked have a vastly wider reach than just about anyone else’s in the English fandom, because he is the official translator. and unfortunately, Viz’s particular style of translation means that even if Caleb tries his absolute best to be as objective as possible, some of his biases are still inevitably going to seep through anyway, because he’s essentially rewriting dialogue at times, and so his perception of the characters is going to affect that.

I know in recent weeks the discourse on this has mostly been about his translations of certain lines said by Best Jeanist, Dabi, and more recently Deku. but if we go back a bit, I think Bakugou is an even better example of this tbh. Caleb, like many people, wasn’t the biggest fan of him at first (i.e. he thought he was a giant asshole, which to be fair wasn’t exactly wrong), and as a result he was slower to pick up on the hints of his eventual redemption arc. he also didn’t quite grasp the nuances of Bakugou and Deku’s relationship at first. chapter 63 is a good example of this.

compare this to Fallen Angels’ version:

it’s abundantly clear, in the wake of Kacchan vs. Deku 2, that FA got it right here. this is a perfect example of how mastery of the Japanese language can still only get you so far. because Caleb’s understanding of Bakugou and Deku’s relationship was clouded by his biases, he went with words that lined up with his interpretation of them. “disgust” rather than “antipathy”; “inferiority” rather than “pursuit.” and of course, the completely warped Bakugou analysis of “awe, conceit, and rejection” rather than “fear, pride, and denial.” he literally couldn’t conceive of Bakugou fearing Deku in any way, so he went with a totally different word (which to be fair was still one of the possible meanings of the word used, but only rarely as far as I understand). also note the inherent put-down in the use of “conceit” rather than “pride.” and lastly, because he thinks Bakugou hates Deku’s guts, “rejection” rather than “denial.” so yeah. completely dropped the ball on that one lol. thankfully he has improved since then with regards to these two, though.

“wow makeste, you really took an ask about translator discourse and turned it into a post about BakuDeku” I think you mean I took a post about biases and used it to show off my own biases lmao. anyways lol my bad. so yeah, Caleb is biased. however I think it’s unavoidable, and he’s overall an excellent translator in spite of that (and literally anyone else would have the same exact issues, just with a different flavor). I think he does his best to be as accurate as possible, and I also admire that he strives for clarity and accountability by posting translator notes up on his Twitter every week. all in all I’m happy to have him as the translator for BnHA, even if he isn’t always perfect. also, completely unrelated to anything, but y’all should check out the Legend of Zelda town he made in Animal Crossing earlier this year if you’re into Nintendo at all, because dude put some serious work into that shit and it is honestly really cool.

[shortnotsweet]

Bakudeku: A Non-Comprehensive Dissection of the Exploitation of Working Bodies, the Murder of Annoying Children, and a Rivals-to-Lovers Complex

I. Bakudeku in Canon, And Why Anti’s Need to Calm the Fuck Down

II. Power is Power: the Brain-Melting Process of Normalization and Toxic Masculinity

III. How to Kill Middle Schoolers, and Why We Should

IV. Parallels in Abuse, EnemiesRivals-to-Lovers, and the Necessity of Redemption ft. ATLA’s Zuko

V. Give it to Me Straight. It’s Homophobic.

VI. Love in Perspective, from the East v. West

VII. Stuck in the Sludge, the Past, and Season One

Disclaimer

It needs to be said that there is definitely a place for disagreement, discourse, debate, and analysis: that is a sign of an active fandom that’s heavily invested, and not inherently a bad thing at all. Considering the amount of source material we do have (from the manga, to the anime, to the movies, to the light novels, to the official art), there are going to be warring interpretations, and that’s inevitable.

I started watching and reading MHA pretty recently, and just got into the fandom. I was weary for a reason, and honestly, based on what I’ve seen, I’m still weary now. I’ve seen a lot of anti posts, and these are basically my thoughts. This entire thing is in no way comprehensive, and it’s my own opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. If I wanted to be thorough about this, I would’ve included manga panels, excerpts from the light novel, shots from the anime, links to other posts/essays/metas that have inspired this, etc. but I’m tired and not about that life right now, so, this is what it is. This is poorly organized, but maybe I’ll return to fix it.

Let’s begin.

Bakudeku in Canon, And Why Anti’s Need to Calm the Fuck Down

There are a lot of different reasons, that can be trivial as you like, to ship or not to ship two (or more) characters. It could be based purely off of character design, proximity, aversion to another ship, or hypotheticals. And I do think that it’s totally valid if someone dislikes the ship or can’t get on board with his character because to them, it does come across as abuse, and the implications make them uncomfortable or, or it just feels unhealthy. If that is your takeaway, and you are going to stick to your guns, the more power to you.

But Bakudeku’s relationship has canonically progressed to the point where it’s not the emotionally (or physically) abusive clusterfuck some people portray it to be, and it’s cheap to assume that it would be, based off of their characterizations as middle schoolers. Izuku intentionally opens the story as a naive little kid who views the lens of the Hero society through rose colored glasses and arguably wants nothing more than assimilation into that society; Bakugou is a privileged little snot who embodies the worst and most hypocritical beliefs of this system. Both of them are intentionally proven wrong. Both are brainwashed, as many little children are, by the propaganda and societal norms that they are exposed to. Both of their arcs include unlearning crucial aspects of the Hero ideology in order to become true heroes.

I will personally never simp for Bakugou because for the longest time, I couldn't help but think of him as a little kid on the playground screaming at the top of his lungs because someone else is on the swingset. He’s red in the face, there are probably veins popping out of his neck, he’s losing it. It’s easy to see why people would prefer Tododeku to Bakudeku.

Even now, seeing him differently, I still personally wouldn’t date Bakugou, especially if I had other options. Why? I probably wouldn’t want to date any of the guys who bullied me, especially because I think that schoolyard bullying, even in middle school, affected me largely in a negative way and created a lot of complexes I’m still trying to work through. I haven’t built a better relationship with them, and I’m not obligated to. Still, I associate them with the kind of soft trauma that they inflicted upon me, and while to them it was probably impersonal, to me, it was an intimate sort of attack that still affects me. That being said, that is me. Those are my personal experiences, and while they could undoubtedly influence how I interpret relationships, I do not want to project and hinder my own interpretation of Deku.

The reality is that Deku himself has an innate understanding of Bakugou that no one else does; I mention later that he seems to understand his language, implicitly, and I do stand by that. He understands what it is he’s actually trying to say, often why he’s saying it, and while others may see him as wimpy or unable to stand up for himself, that’s simply not true. Part of Deku’s characterization is that he is uncommonly observant and empathetic; I’m not denying that Bakugou caused harm or inflicted damage, but infantilizing Deku and preaching about trauma that’s not backed by canon and then assuming random people online excuse abuse is just...the leap of leaps, and an actual toxic thing to do. I’ve read fan works where Bakugou is a bully, and that’s all, and has caused an intimate degree of emotional, mental, and physical insecurity from their middle school years that prevents their relationship from changing, and that’s for the better. I’m not going to argue and say that it’s not an interesting take, or not valid, or has no basis, because it does. Its basis is the character that Bakugou was in middle school, and the person he was when he entered UA.

Not only is Bakugou — the current Bakugou, the one who has accumulated memories and experiences and development — not the same person he was at the beginning of the story, but Deku is not the same person, either. Maybe who they are fundamentally, at their core, stays the same, but at the beginning and end of any story, or even their arcs within the story, the point is that characters will undergo change, and that the reader will gain perspective.

“You wanna be a hero so bad? I’ve got a time-saving idea for you. If you think you’ll have a quirk in your next life...go take a swan dive off the roof!”

Yes. That is a horrible thing to tell someone, even if you are a child, even if you don’t understand the implications, even if you don’t mean what it is you are saying. Had someone told me that in middle school, especially given our history and the context of our interactions, I don’t know if I would ever have forgiven them.

Here’s the thing: I’m not Deku. Neither is anyone reading this. Deku is a fictional character, and everyone we know about him is extrapolated from source material, and his response to this event follows:

“Idiot! If I really jumped, you’d be charged with bullying me into suicide! Think before you speak!”

I think it’s unfair to apply our own projections as a universal rather than an interpersonal interpretation; that’s not to say that the interpretation of Bakudeku being abusive or having unbalanced power dynamics isn’t valid, or unfounded, but rather it’s not a universal interpretation, and it’s not canon. Deku is much more of a verbal thinker; in comparison, Bakugou is a visual one, at least in the format of the manga, and as such, we get various panels demonstrating his guilt, and how deep it runs. His dialogue and rapport with Deku has undeniably shifted, and it’s very clear that the way they treat each other has changed from when they were younger. Part of Bakugou’s growth is him gaining self awareness, and eventually, the strength to wield that. He knows what a fucked up little kid he was, and he carries the weight of that.

“At that moment, there were no thoughts in my head. My body just moved on its own.”

There’s a part of me that really, really disliked Bakugou going into it, partially because of what I’d seen and what I’d heard from a limited, outside perspective. I felt like Bakugou embodied the toxic masculinity (and to an extent, I still believe that) and if he won in some way, that felt like the patriarchy winning, so I couldn't help but want to muzzle and leash him before releasing him into the wild.

The reality, however, of his character in canon is that it isn’t very accurate to assume that he would be an abusive partner in the future, or that Midoryia has not forgiven him to some extent already, that the two do not care about each other or are singularly important, that they respect each other, or that the narrative has forgotten any of this.

Don’t mistake me for a Bakugou simp or apologist. I’m not, but while I definitely could also see Tododeku (and I have a soft spot for them, too, their dynamic is totally different and unique, and Todoroki is arguably treated as the tritagonist) and I’m ambivalent about Izuocha (which is written as cannoncially romantic) I do believe that canonically, Bakugou and Deku are framed as soulmates/character foils, Sasuke + Naruto, Kageyama + Hinata style. Their relationship is arguably the focus of the series. That’s not to undermine the importance or impact of Deku’s relationships with other characters, and theirs with him, but in terms of which one takes priority, and which one this all hinges on?

The manga is about a lot of things, yes, but if it were to be distilled into one relationship, buckle up, because it’s the Bakudeku show.

Power is Power: the Brain-Melting Process of Normalization and Toxic Masculinity

One of the ways in which the biopolitical prioritization of Quirks is exemplified within Hero society is through Quirk marriages. Endeavor partially rationalizes the abuse of his family through the creation of a child with the perfect quirk, a child who can be molded into the perfect Hero. People with powerful, or useful abilities, are ranked high on the hierarchy of power and privilege, and with a powerful ability, the more opportunities and avenues for success are available to them.

For the most part, Bakugou is a super spoiled, privileged little rich kid who is born talented but is enabled for his aggressive behavior and, as a child, cannot move past his many internalized complexes, treats his peers like shit, and gets away with it because the hero society he lives in either has this “boys will be boys” mentality, or it’s an example of the way that power, or Power, is systematically prioritized in this society. The hero system enables and fosters abusers, people who want power and publicity, and people who are genetically predisposed to have advantages over others. There are plenty of good people who believe in and participate in this system, who want to be good, and who do good, but that doesn’t change the way that the hero society is structured, the ethical ambiguity of the Hero Commission, and the way that Heroes are but pawns, idols with machine guns, used to sell merch to the public, to install faith in the government, or the current status quo, and reinforce capitalist propaganda. Even All Might, the epitome of everything a Hero should be, is drained over the years, and exists as a concept or idea, when in reality he is a hollow shell with an entire person inside, struggling to survive. Hero society is functionally dependent on illusion.

In Marxist terms: There is no truth, there is only power.

Although Bakugou does change, and I think that while he regrets his actions, what is long overdue is him verbally expressing his remorse, both to himself and Deku. One might argue that he’s tried to do it in ways that are compatible with his limited emotional range of expression, and Deku seems to understand this language implicitly.

I am of the opinion that the narrative is building up to a verbal acknowledgement, confrontation, and subsequent apology that only speaks what has gone unspoken.

That being said, Bakugou is a great example of the way that figures of authority (parents, teachers, adults) and institutions both in the real world and this fictional universe reward violent behavior while also leaving mental and emotional health — both his own and of the people Bakugou hurts — unchecked, and part of the way he lashes out at others is because he was never taught otherwise.

And by that, I’m referring to the ways that are to me, genuinely disturbing. For example, yelling at his friends is chill. But telling someone to kill themselves, even casually and without intent and then misinterpreting everything they do as a ploy to make you feel weak because you're projecting? And having no teachers stop and intervene, either because they are afraid of you or because they value the weight that your Quirk can benefit society over the safety of children? That, to me, is both real and disturbing.

Not only that, but his parents (at least, Mitsuki), respond to his outbursts with more outbursts, and while this is likely the culture of their home and I hesitate to call it abusive, I do think that it contributed to the way that he approaches things. Bakugou as a character is very complex, but I think that he is primarily an example of the way that the Hero System fails people.

I don’t think we can write off the things he’s done, especially using the line of reasoning that “He didn’t mean it that way”, because in real life, children who hurt others rarely mean it like that either, but that doesn’t change the effect it has on the people who are victimized, but to be absolutely fair, I don’t think that the majority of Bakudeku shippers, at least now, do use that line of reasoning. Most of them seem to have a handle on exactly how fucked up the Hero society is, and exactly why it fucks up the people embedded within that society.

The characters are positioned in this way for a reason, and the discoveries made and the development that these characters undergo are meant to reveal more about the fictional world — and, perhaps, our world — as the narrative progresses.

The world of the Hero society is dependent, to some degree, on biopolitics. I don’t think we have enough evidence to suggest that people with Quirks or Quirkless people place enough identity or placement within society to become equivalent to marginalized groups, exactly, but we can draw parallels to the way that Deku and by extent Quirkless people are viewed as weak, a deviation, or disabled in some way. Deviants, or non-productive bodies, are shunned for their inability to perform ideal labor. While it is suggested to Deku that he could become a police officer or pursue some other occupation to help people, he believes that he can do the most positive good as a Hero. In order to be a Hero, however, in the sense of a career, one needs to have Power.

Deviation from the norm will be punished or policed unless it is exploitable; in order to become integrated into society, a deviant must undergo a process of normalization and become a working, exploitable body. It is only through gaining power from All Might that Deku is allowed to assimilate from the margins and into the upper ranks of society; the manga and the anime give the reader enough perspective, context, and examples to allow us to critique and deconstruct the society that is solely reliant on power.

Through his societal privileges, interpersonal biases, internalized complexes, and his subsequent unlearning of these ideologies, Bakugou provides examples of the way that the system simultaneously fails and indoctrinates those who are targeted, neglected, enabled by, believe in, and participate within the system.

Bakudeku are two sides of the same coin. We are shown visually that the crucial turning point and fracture in their relationship is when Bakugou refuses to take Deku’s outstretched hand; the idea of Deku offering him help messes with his adolescent perspective in that Power creates a hierarchy that must be obeyed, and to be helped is to be weak is to be made a loser.

Largely, their character flaws in terms of understanding the hero society are defined and entangled within the concept of power. Bakugou has power, or privilege, but does not have the moral character to use it as a hero, and believes that Power, or winning, is the only way in which to view life. Izuku has a much better grasp on the way in which heroes wield power (their ideologies can, at first, be differentiated as winning vs. saving), and is a worthy successor because of this understanding, and of circumstance. However, in order to become a Hero, our hero must first gain the Power that he lacks, and learn to wield it.

As the characters change, they bridge the gaps of their character deficiencies, and are brought closer together through character parallelism.

Two sides of the same coin, an outstretched hand.

They are better together.

How to Kill Middle Schoolers, and Why We Should

I think it’s fitting that in the manga, a critical part of Bakugou’s arc explicitly alludes to killing the middle school version of himself in order to progress into a young adult. In the alternative covers Horikoshi released, one of them was a close up of Bakugou in his middle school uniform, being stabbed/impaled, with blood rolling out of his mouth. Clearly this references the scene in which he sacrifices himself to save Deku, on a near-instinctual level.

To me, this only cements Horikoshi’s intent that middle school Bakugou must be debunked, killed, discarded, or destroyed in order for Bakugou the hero to emerge, which is why people who do actually excuse his actions or believe that those actions define him into young adulthood don’t really understand the necessity for change, because they seem to imply that he doesn’t need/cannot reach further growth, and there doesn’t need to be a separation between the Bakugou who is, at heart, volatile and repressed the angry, and the Bakugou who sacrifices himself, a hero who saves people.

Plot twist: there does need to be a difference. Further plot twist: there is a difference.

In sacrificing himself for Deku, Bakugou himself doesn't die, but the injury is fatal in the sense that it could've killed him physically and yet symbolizes the selfish, childish part of him that refused to accept Deku, himself, and the inevitability of change. In killing those selfish remnants, he could actually become the kind of hero that we the reader understand to be the true kind.

That’s why I think that a lot of the people who stress his actions as a child without acknowledging the ways he has changed, grown, and tried to fix what he has broken don’t really get it, because it was always part of his character arc to change and purposely become something different and better. If the effects of his worst and his most childish self stick with you more, and linger despite that, that’s okay. But distilling his character down to the wrong elements doesn’t get you the bare essentials; what it gets you is a skewed and shallow version of a person. If you’re okay with that version, that is also fine.

But you can’t condemn others who aren’t fine with that incomplete version, and to become enraged that others do not see him as you do is childish.

Bakugou’s change and the emphasis on that change is canon.

Parallels in Abuse, EnemiesRivals-to-Lovers, and the Necessity of Redemption ft. ATLA’s Zuko

In real life, the idea that “oh, he must bully you because he likes you” is often used as a way to brush aside or to excuse the action of bullying itself, as if a ‘secret crush’ somehow negates the effects of bullying on the victim or the inability of the bully to properly process and manifest their emotions in certain ways. It doesn’t. It often enables young boys to hurt others, and provides figures of authority to overlook the real source of schoolyard bullying or peer review. The “secret crush”, in real life, is used to undermine abuse, justify toxic masculinity, and is essentially used as a non-solution solution.

A common accusation is that Bakudeku shippers jump on the pairing because they romanticize pairing a bully and a victim together, or believe that the only way for Bakugou to atone for his past would be to date Midoryia in the future. This may be true for some people, in which case, that’s their own preference, but based on my experience and what I’ve witnessed, that’s not the case for most.

The difference being is that as these are characters, we as readers or viewers are meant to analyze them. Not to justify them, or to excuse their actions, but we are given the advantage of the outsider perspective to piece their characters together in context, understand why they are how they are, and witness them change; maybe I just haven’t been exposed to enough of the fandom, but no one (I’ve witnessed) treats the idea that “maybe Bakugou has feelings he can’t process or understand and so they manifest in aggressive and unchecked ways'' as a solution to his inability to communicate or process in a healthy way, rather it is just part of the explanation of his character, something is needs to — and is — working through. The solution to his middle school self is not the revelation of a “teehee, secret crush”, but self-reflection, remorse, and actively working to better oneself, which I do believe is canonically reflected, especially as of recently.

In canon, they are written to be partners, better together than apart, and I genuinely believe that one can like the Bakudeku dynamic not by route of romanticization but by observation.

I do think we are meant to see parallels between him and Endeavor; Endeavor is a high profile abuser who embodies the flaws and hypocrisy of the hero system. Bakugou is a schoolyard bully who emulates and internalizes the flaws of this system as a child, likely due to the structure of the society and the way that children will absorb the propaganda they are exposed to; the idea that Quirks, or power, define the inherent value of the individual, their ability to contribute to society, and subsequently their fundamental human worth. The difference between them is the fact that Endeavor is the literal adult who is fully and knowingly active within a toxic, corrupt system who forces his family to undergo a terrifying amount of trauma and abuse while facing little to no consequences because he knows that his status and the values of their society will protect him from those consequences. In other words, Endeavor is the threat of what Bakugou could have, and would have, become without intervention or genuine change.

Comparisons between characters, as parallels or foils, are tricky in that they imply but cannot confirm sameness. Having parallels with someone does not make them the same, by the way, but can serve to illustrate contrasts, or warnings. Harry Potter, for example, is meant to have obvious parallels with Tom Riddle, with similar abilities, and tragic upbringings. That doesn’t mean Harry grows up to become Lord Voldemort, but rather he helps lead a cross-generational movement to overthrow the facist regime. Harry is offered love, compassion, and friends, and does not embrace the darkness within or around him. As far as moldy old snake men are concerned, they do not deserve a redemption arc because they do not wish for one, and the truest of change only occurs when you actively try to change.

To be frank, either way, Bakugou was probably going to become a good Hero, in the sense that Endeavor is a ‘good’ Hero. Hero capitalized, as in a pro Hero, in the sense that it is a career, an occupation, and a status. Because of his strong Quirk, determination, skill, and work ethic, Bakugou would have made a good Hero. Due to his lack of character, however, he was not on the path to become a hero; defender of the weak, someone who saves people to save people, who is willing to make sacrifices detrimental to themselves, who saves people out of love.

It is necessary for him to undergo both a redemption arc and a symbolic death and rebirth in order for him to follow the path of a hero, having been inspired and prompted by Deku.

I personally don’t really like Endeavor’s little redemption arc, not because I don’t believe that people can change or that they shouldn't at least try to atone for the atrocities they have committed, but because within any narrative, a good redemption arc is important if it matters; what also matters is the context of that arc, and whether or not it was needed. For example, in ATLA, Zuko’s redemption arc is widely regarded as one of the best arcs in television history, something incredible. And it is. That shit fucks. In a good way.

It was confirmed that Azula was also going to get a redemption arc, had Volume 4 gone on as planned, and it was tentatively approached in the comics, which are considered canon. She is an undeniably bad person (who is willing to kill, threaten, exploit, and colonize), but she is also a child, and as viewers, we witness and recognize the factors that contributed to her (debatable) sociopathy, and the way that the system she was raised in failed her. Her family failed her; even Uncle Iroh, the wise mentor who helps guide Zuko to see the light, is willing to give up on her immediately, saying that she’s “crazy” and needs to be “put down”. Yes, it’s comedic, and yes, it’s pragmatic, but Azula is fourteen years old. Her mother is banished, her father is a psychopath, and her older brother, from her perspective, betrayed and abandoned her. She doesn’t have the emotional support that Zuko does; she exploits and controls her friends because it’s all she’s been taught to do; she says herself, her “own mother thought [she] was a monster; she was right, of course, but it still [hurts]”. A parent who does not believe in you, or a parent that uses you and will hurt you, is a genuine indicator of trauma.

The writers understood that both Zuko and Azula deserved redemption arcs. One was arguably further gone than the other, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are both children, products of their environment, who have the time, motive, and reason to change.

In contrast, you know who wouldn’t have deserved a redemption arc? Ozai. That simply would not have been interesting, wouldn’t have served the narrative well, and honestly, is not needed, thematically or otherwise. Am I comparing Ozai to Endeavor? Basically, yes. Fuck those guys. I don’t see a point in Endeavor’s little “I want to be a good dad now” arc, and I think that we don’t need to sympathize with characters in order to understand them or be interested in them. I want Touya/Dabi to expose his abuse, for his career to crumble, and then for him to die.

If they are not challenging the system that we the viewer are meant to question, and there is no thematic relevance to their redemption, is it even needed?

On that note, am I saying that Bakugou is the equivalent to Zuko? No, lmao. Definitely not. They are different characters with different progressions and different pressures. What I am saying is that good redemption arcs shouldn’t be handed out like candy to babies; it is the quality, rather than the quantity, that makes a redemption arc good. In terms of the commentary of the narrative, who needs a redemption arc, who is deserving, and who does it make sense to give one to?

In this case, Bakugou checks those boxes. It was always in the cards for him to change, and he has. In fact, he’s still changing.

Give it to Me Straight. It’s Homophobic.

There does seem to be an urge to obsessively gender either Bakugou or Deku, in making Deku the ultra-feminine, stereotypically hyper-sexualized “woman” of the relationship, with Bakugou becoming similarly sexualized but depicted as the hyper-masculine bodice ripper. On some level, that feels vaguely homophobic if not straight up misogynistic, in that in a gay relationship there’s an urge to compel them to conform under heteronormative stereotypes in order to be interpreted as real or functional. On one hand, I will say that in a lot of cases it feels like more of an expression of a kink, or fetishization and subsequent expression of internalized misogyny, at least, rather than a genuine exploration of the complexity and power imbalances of gender dynamics, expression, and boundaries.

That being said, I don’t think that that problematic aspect of shipping is unique to Bakudeku, or even to the fandom in general. We’ve all read fan work or see fanart of most gay ships in a similiar manner, and I think it’s a broader issue to be addressed than blaming it on a singular ship and calling it a day.

One interpretation of Bakugou’s character is his repression and the way his character functions under toxic masculinity, in a society’s egregious disregard for mental and emotional health (much like in the real world), the horrifying ways in which rage is rationalized or excused due to the concept of masculinity, and the way that characteristics that are associated with femininity — intellect, empathy, anxiety, kindness, hesitation, softness — are seen as stereotypically “weak”, and in men, traditionally emasculating. In terms of the way that the fictional universe is largely about societal priority and power dynamics between individuals and the way that extends to institutions, it’s not a total stretch to guess that gender as a construct is a relevant topic to expand on or at least keep in mind for comparison.

I think that the way in which characters are gendered and the extent to which that is a result of invasive heteronormativity and fetishization is a really important conversation to have, but using it as a case-by-case evolution of a ship used to condemn people isn’t conductive, and at that point, it’s treated as less of a real concern but an issue narrowly weaponised.

Love in Perspective, from the East v. West

Another thing I think could be elaborated on and written about in great detail is the way that the Eastern part of the fandom and the Western part of the fandom have such different perspectives on Bakudeku in particular. I am not going to go in depth with this, and there are many other people who could go into specifics, but just as an overview:

The manga and the anime are created for and targeted at a certain audience; our take on it will differ based on cultural norms, decisions in translation, understanding of the genre, and our own region-specific socialization. This includes the way in which we interpret certain relationships, the way they resonate with us, and what we do and do not find to be acceptable. Of course, this is not a case-by-case basis, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who hold differing beliefs within one area, but speaking generally, there is a reason that Bakudeku is not regarded as nearly as problematic in the East.

Had this been written by a Western creator, marketed primarily to and within the West (for reference, while I am Chinese, but I have lived in the USA for most of my life, so my own perspective is undoubtedly westernized), I would’ve immediately jumped to make comparisons between the Hero System and the American police system, in that a corrupt, or bastardized system is made no less corrupt for the people who do legitimately want to do good and help people, when that system disproportionately values and targets others while relying on propaganda that society must be reliant on that system in order to create safe communities when in reality it perpetuates just as many issues as it appears to solve, not to mention the way it attracts and rewards violent and power-hungry people who are enabled to abuse their power. I think comparisons can still be made, but in terms of analysis, it should be kept in mind that the police system in other parts of the world do not have the same history, place, and context as it does in America, and the police system in Japan, for example, probably wasn’t the basis for the Hero System.

As much as I do believe in the Death of the Author in most cases, the intent of the author does matter when it comes to content like this, if merely on the basis that it provides context that we may be missing as foreign viewers.

As far as the intent of the author goes, Bakugou is on a route of redemption.

He deserves it. It is unavoidable. That, of course, may depend on where you’re reading this.

Stuck in the Sludge, the Past, and Season One

If there’s one thing, to me, that epitomizes middle school Bakugou, it’s him being trapped in a sludge monster, rescued by his Quirkless childhood friend, and unable to believe his eyes. He clings to the ideology he always has, that Quirkless means weak, that there’s no way that Deku could have grown to be strong, or had the capacity to be strong all along. Bakugou is wrong about this, and continuously proven wrong. It is only when he accepts that he is wrong, and that Deku is someone to follow, that he starts his real path to heroics.

If Bakudeku’s relationship does not appeal to someone for whatever reason, there’s nothing wrong with that. They can write all they want about why they don’t ship it, or why it bothers them, or why they think it’s problematic. If it is legitimately triggering to you, then by all means, avoid it, point it out, etc. but do not undermine the reality of abuse simply to point fingers, just because you don’t like a ship. People who intentionally use the anti tag knowing it’ll show up in the main tag, go after people who are literally minding their own business, and accuse people of supporting abuse are the ones looking for a fight, and they’re annoying as hell because they don’t bring anything to the table. No evidence, no analysis, just repeated projection.

To clarify, I’m referring to a specific kind of shipper, not someone who just doesn’t like a ship, but who is so aggressive about it for absolutely no reason. There are plenty of very lovely people in this fandom, who mind their own business, multipship, or just don’t care.

Calling shippers dumb or braindead or toxic (to clarify, this isn’t targeting any one person I’ve seen, but a collective) based on projections and generalizations that come entirely from your own impression of the ship rather than observation is...really biased to me, and comes across as uneducated and trigger happy, rather than constructive or helpful in any way.

I’m not saying someone has to ship anything, or like it, in order to be a ‘good’ participant. But inserting derogatory material into a main tag, and dropping buzzwords with the same tired backing behind it without seeming to understand the implications of those words or acknowledging the development, pacing, and intentional change to the characters within the plot is just...I don’t know, it comes across as redundant, to me at least, and very childish. Aggressive. Toxic. Problematic. Maybe the real toxic shippers were the ones who bitched and moaned along the way. They’re like little kids, stuck in the past, unable to visualize or recognize change, and I think that’s a real shame because it’s preventing them from appreciating the story or its characters as it is, in canon.

But that’s okay, really. To each their own. Interpretations will vary, preferences differ, perspectives are not uniform. There is no one truth. There are five seasons of the show, a feature film, and like, thirty volumes as of this year.

All I’m saying is that if you want to stay stuck in the first season of each character, then that’s what you’re going to get. That’s up to you.

This may be edited or revised.

[siflshonen]

Not the same anon, but if you don't mind me chiming in, I think, at least for me, the whole "it bothers me that Bakugo's only about Deku now" is not about narrative or thematic purpose, which I get, and which I like. For me it's just that I don't get why this progression can't coexist with Bakugo having meaningful interactions/moments with other people, just like Deku still does, plust the fact that it just doesn't feel reciprocated. And he's done and given up so much for Deku, yet Deku... well.

“Yet Deku… well.” To me this is kinda the point and is a big draw for me, personally, in sympathizing with Katsuki. The uneven reciprocation is a feature in this (still developing instance), not a bug.

If this status quo does not change by the end of the manga I may be more inclined to see it your way, but right now the story isn’t over and I don’t feel like that’s all there is to it for Katsuki and all we’re gonna get. It’s also not actually all we’ve gotten, either. I thought Katsuki and Todoroki’s relationship was pretty solid throughout this whole ordeal, in particular! The “udon, obviously” crack was a little moment, but meant big things! Katsuki getting dunked in the bath by the other boys was so sweet and cute! The boys making fun of Katsuki with the stupid “Change!” gag is worth something (and is fittingly backhanded - that small sense of unevenness is, again, meant to be a feature, I think since it’s so core to everything about him and relating to others.) I also think Katsuki coming to terms with how he pushed Toshinori away despite wanting to be close to him, too, is a big fuckin’ deal!! Like a massive deal!!! While the concepts of All Might and Izuku are related to Katsuki, there are differences! They are different individuals to him with which he has a distinct relationship! And what about Mirko and Katsuki bickering??? It’s small and quick, but it’s cute and there!

AND I MEAN, EVEN MONOMA FREAKING THE FUCK OUT WHEN KATSUKI FALLS IS A BIG DEAL WITH VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH IZUKU!

Do I want more Katsuki-and-others 1v1 or even just in the fringe of others? YES! We were robbed of a Monoma-v-Katsuki fight, we were denied Mirio-and-Tamaki-and-Nejire witnessing the hot mess that is Katsuki Bakugo, fronting, self-hating, lovesick osana najimi in permanent “friendship purgatory”, WE WERE DENIED SIR NIGHTEYE WITNESSING KATSUKI AND HIS BAGGAGE REGARDING ALL MIGHT AND IZUKU, we did not ever get Midnight, Mic, and Aizawa watching tsundere-after-Aizawa’s-own-heart Bakugo make friends with his classmates, particularly Kirishima and Shoto and Denki, and giving Aizawa shit about the similarity in their situation, WE DID NOT GET TOGA GETTING A GOOD WHIFF OF THE BAKUDEKU DYNAMIC, only a short moment when he’s kidnapped. I also think Katsuki and Momo should have a fun mini adventure. I also want to see Katsuki and Hawks or Katsuki and Endeavor try to navigate a conversation between just the two of them. I want to see him go head to head with Gran Torino, socially speaking. With INKO MIDORIYA.

But you know what? Including those scenes or delving into them also runs the risk of extinguishing or too-quickly accelerating, you guessed it, the drama of the Bakudeku situation even as they might create new relationships for Katsuki separate from Izuku. They’re all related, these things, and potentially always will be, but they don’t have to negate each other.

[marimeeko]

I have a sudden, unsolicited opinion on the moment where Ochako admits that she fell in love with Izuku. Since it has been going around as one of those context-less, surface level articles on Google(I spotted it too)

So it's talking about the moment when Ochako is fighting Toga and she tells her that she fell in love with Izuku.

Does she use the exact wording? Yes.

Does that mean it's an end all declaration? Does it mean she is endgame with Izuku? I do not think so.

I don't think it's the final nail in the coffin to the argument for any other ship involving Izuku or Ochako. Here's why:

The admission is so anticlimactic.

We have known for a while that Ochako has complicated feelings about Izuku. We know that it has been a bit of a crush. And that has led to ANTICIPATION to see what becomes of those feelings.

But along the anticipation, we have also seen her going through some feelings of discomfort about the whole thing...unusual, for a supposed love interest of a Shonen manga!

So the audience has been waiting for a LONG time for something, anything, to happen between Ochako and Izuku that rewards that anticipation and that waffling on Ochakos part.

And for something like a supposed love confession, a line like "I fell in love with Izuku Midoriya", to heppen....

But NOT in a moment between Ochako and Izuku themselves, just also does not reward the anticipation that was built up.

She did not confirm and admit these feelings TO izuku. She admitted them to Himiko.

And that is the first time the audience hears her positively confirm that she had those feelings, blatantly.

But it TAKES AWAY from the actual relationship because Himiko received that confession...not Izuku.

We didn't get a charged confession between Ochako and Izuku. The relationship was STILL not mutually developed. It's still just a quality of Ochako, it says nothing about Izuku. The anticipation of Ochako having a crush, and changing, complicated feelings for Izuku and where that would eventually climax, where it would reach its peak for Ochako and Izuku both, instead is diverted. Kind of literally. Because it didn't happen at either chance they had to talk it out, to confess, she sent Izuku away when Himiko tried to trap him into a love discussion. She didnt bring it up before the war began even though they had such a calm moment to be able to do so. It didn't come out in the logical places. And now in the endgame, they have split up to fight different battles...Ochako has even exhausted everything she has right now to save Himiko and likely is out until we receive the wrap up.

So, the anticipation I mentioned, again, does not have a payout in the form of even a rushed battlefield confession because the two of them are fighting different battles.

Instead the audience is given the confirmation of "I fell in love with him" when he is not even present, when Ochako is not confessing to him or confronting him. It comes out with Toga, when she Is trying to reach out and level with her, it almost could read as a "I had a crush on the same boy" kind of statement. It comes out when saving Himiko is Ochakos main priority.

What I'm saying here is that Ochakos love confession for Izuku, which is usually a big deal in any story, is in the back seat to prioritize each of their other relationships and goals. Which is great that it is not forced upon us when there are bigger things happening, however it just does a disservice to the pairing itself when most of the feelings are expressed onesidedly, and an actual statement of love, if it's not even outdated because of changed feelings, means a lot less when it's not filling the gap between the two people in question. When the confession doesn't reach the other person.

(And I will go ahead and say that is kind of similar to how bkdk is right now as well, bc we have SO MUCH material on Katsukis side, about how he feels and how much he cares about Izuku, but not a lot on what Izuku feels or allows himself to feel about Katsuki. I will call that out as well.)

Like at this point, the best we could hope for, for Ochako and Izuku being a couple, is a very open note about it in the aftermath. Like maybe Ochako asks Izuku if he would like to get crepes with her. That's just enough given context clues to suggest to the audience that yes there are still some feelings there, she heard what he said about crepes and holding hands and took note of it, but also that Izuku himself is willing to explore those feelings as well. It would be Ochako finally choosing her feelings for Izuku, but without it being too sudden for Izuku to accept. This whole time we are not shown Izuku crushing on her at all it would be strange to have him suddenly initiate.

But anything more romantic and profound than that? Any dramatic reveal/confession of feelings, any chance for them to have a moment in the midst of war to have the "i love you" discussion? That has been bypassed time and time again. Horikoshi COULD HAVE WORKED IT IN, IF IT WERE A PRIORITY TO HAVE THEM ENDGAME. While no, romance doesn't have to be a priority in a Shonen, and Ochako has flipped the script on how she handles her feelings as a shonen love interest, Hori has demonstrated that threads and concepts of romance ARE part of his narrative.

And right now? Hot take, but the most romantic thread that Izuku, his main character, finds himself in, is whatever the hell is going on between him and Katsuki Bakugou.

You'd just think if the mc was going to be with a romantic partner, a girl, by the end of the story, something would have happened.

I feel like I'm going in circles past my point, but it boils down to Izuku not having any indication of interest in Ochako besides friendliness....the fact that the audience received confirmation of Ochako loving Izuku from her telling a 3rd party and NOT her subject, and the anticipation of that confession, built up for YEARS of this manga and animes run, of supposed feelings not really being paid off, if the two are meant to be the romantic end game. It also boils down to the fact that the anticipation of the confession had a CHANCE to occur with Izuku, the subject, multiple times. It boils down to again, ochako and Izukus relationship being romantic in anyway being little more than an after thought.

AND! it doesn't even guarantee that her feelings of love for him are still the same! We don't know for sure if she STILL loves Izuku!

So yeah. I hope this made sense, but it sure feels anticlimactic to have a love confession(supposedly) not even occur while the subject is present, where the audience can view it and celebrate that long awaited conclusion.

As always, these articles that pop up on Google leave a lot of context out, and are very face value. They saw Ochako say the L word and called it endgame. There is a reason I don't read them.

[shouta-aizawow]

I don’t think quirklessness is a disability

I mean, this series shows a population that grew from “quirklessness”. People without quirks were the norm, so why are they considered disabled now that others have quirks?

Next, it was mentioned that society’s technology hasn’t advanced because people were so focused on quirks (which doesn’t make sense at all, but I digress). This means that the world hasn’t changed to fit people with quirks, and quirkless people have just as much access to things as they did before (and in fact, I’d argue that they have more access than some with quirks. I’ll elaborate next)

Lastly, there are so many different quirks. Just in BakuDeku’s middle school, everyone has something unique. There’s a kid that can remove his eyes from his sockets. There’s another that can swell up his face. A girl can make her hair grow long and shoot up. How would quirklessness be a disability when there are quirks that are worse than not having one and quirks that inhibit daily living?

For example, Shigaraki’s quirk. Deku could touch anything with all five fingers, Shigaraki can’t without decaying anything.

Tsuyu hibernates in the cold, Deku would be completely fine.

Aoyama’s stomach problems, having to wear a special device constantly or he’ll be in pain. General discrimination against mutant quirks and logical inaccessibility for them. Dabi’s quirk hurting him.

What about those people with actual disabilities? All Might, Twice, characters I can’t mention without spoilers.

Once again, the world is still suited for quirkless people. It’s still catered to quirkless people.

In the episode where Deku remarks on the size of Class 1-A’s door being large for larger people, what about people whose quirks make them wider? The door is too narrow. When walking in, the classroom is small with normal sized/height desks and boards. What about the tall people that the door was for?

With so many useless, harmful, or overall inconvenient quirks, it doesn’t make sense for quirklessness to be considered a disability (when it was the norm before, doesn’t have an effect on quality of living, and society hasn’t advanced technologically past superficial things, so quirkless people arguably benefit the most)

And if you use the definition for disability, “a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.”, then it makes it even more complicated, but still helps prove my point.

“Well, Deku doesn’t have as many abilities” Shigaraki, Tsuyu, and Aoyama (see above)

This also means that everyone is simultaneously disabled and abled! Person A can glow and Person B can float things. They’re both abled, but wait! Person B can’t glow and Person A can’t float, so they’re both disabled!

The next definition says “a disadvantage or handicap, especially one imposed or recognized by the law”.

“Well, Deku has a disadvantage!” How? In becoming a hero? In getting certain jobs?

I’m black, I’m queer, I’m afab. That’s three disadvantages there, but it doesn’t make me disabled.

(And Ojiro, Hagakure, and Mineta are right there. Sure, they have quirks, but they have just as many physical abilities as Deku that would help them during the entrance exam, so even without OFA, Deku would be able to pass the entrance exam if he just trained.)

Now, I’m not saying that there’s not discrimination. There is. There’s discrimination based on quirks, not specifically quirklessness (which is backed by canon), so to say Deku was discriminated against is accurate, and I’d definitely agree with that.

I just don’t think it can be considered a disability.

If someone relates to Deku because they have a disability and they see themselves in him or smth along those lines, cool! You do you!

For me, though, there’s just too many factors to say that quirklessness is a disability and that just having a quirk is not.

[a-crimson-lion]

A Look At Bakudeku’s Development (Based On That One Instagram Post): A Photo-Narrative Analysis

Word Count: 4,287 (Yikes…)

[This got long. Like, REALLY long. Don't expect too many colors. There's a lot to get through...]

For those out of the loop, I recently came across this Instagram post during unhealthy hours in the morning. The purpose of this post, I’d assume, was to debunk any negativity aimed at the Bakudeku dynamic/ship, claiming it was indeed not abusive and that the antis in question are ignoring canon in favor of playing Bakugo’s suicide instigation on repeat. Before addressing the post in question, I would like to state two things:

I am not stuck on Chapter/Episode 1 in the series. I have been caught up proper with every story arc up to the JT Training Arc and am roughly familiar with everything past that point. I don’t just take Katsuki’s now essentially forgotten suicide instigation into account; I’m taking every part of his actions well beyond that moment and how they reflect on him, internally justified or otherwise.

While I’m among the people who believe that Bakudeku as of the latest incarnation of the manga (up to Ch. 280) is indeed abusive, I am open to discussions on why it is not. In any case, however, I cannot ignore the fact that the dynamic/ship is incredibly problematic besides the skeletons in both Izuku and Katsuki’s closets.

So, in order to address this issue to the best of my half-awake brain’s abilities, I will review the screenshots within said post and break down how they factor into the Bakudeku dynamic and the overall development. Be aware that there are some manga and movie spoilers, and this is just MY OPINION. I could be wrong, and I’m okay with that. If you wanna talk without patronizing me, the comments are open. I also apologize in advance if I myself come of as patronizing. All the screenshots I’ll be discussing can be found in the video link above (or here).

Well then, no point in beating around the bush...

1) Izuku Taking Katsuki Out Of The Final Exam Gate (Anime Screenshot)

The first piece of “evidence” used to show the merit of Bakudeku comes from the Final Exam arc, shortly after Katsuki succumbs to All Might’s assault, only for Izuku to come in and deck the #1 Hero in order to grab Katsuki and carry him to safety, allowing them both to pass.

However, this photo marks a recurring trend throughout some of the other photos: they speak more about IZUKU as a character than Izuku AND Katsuki.

Izuku getting to save Katsuki is a major development… for Izuku. One that we’ve seen before. Think about it. The first time Izuku saves Katsuki towards the beginning of the exam, he has to punch Katsuki in the face because he was considering throwing the match just for working with Izuku. And after he’s been saved, Katsuki blows up (figuratively and literally) before aggressively kabedoning him. In this scene though? Katsuki got knocked the f*** out, so he really has no room to protest if Izuku comes in to save him a second time.

Plus, this isn’t really anything NEW with Izuku. We know that he’s aware in an abstract sense that what Katsuki did to him was “wrong,” but he doesn’t hold a grudge or any animosity to him towards that. He’s one of Katsuki’s biggest defenders and supporters, assuming Katsuki allows it. So really, him saving Katsuki isn’t really surprising or a major step forward, ‘cause he was always willing to do it from the get go. And again, Katsuki isn’t conscious during his second rescue, so we don’t really know if he would have let Izuku save him again or if he would have protested.

There’s nothing new here, and nothing balanced to the overall dynamic. Just Izuku being Izuku.

2) All Might Acknowledges The New Bakudeku Rivalry (Anime Screenshot)

Deku vs Kacchan 2 was a big moment for the Bakudeku dynamic. I’m not saying it’s a positive moment, nor am I saying it was necessary, but it was big. And in the aftermath of that fight, where Izuku and Katsuki are having a back and forth, All Might thinks to himself that the two have become true rivals now, or something along those lines. And it’s nice that he’s willing to spell this out for the audience and all, but uh…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: show, don’t tell.

All Might is essentially telling us that Izuku and Katsuki are rivals now. What does the story have to show for it? A brief conversation during their house arrest, followed by a massive stall due to the Shie Hassaikai Arc and Cultural Festival Arc (albeit with one more instance we’ll cover later), and then what essentially equates to Katsuki yelling at Izuku a lot during the Joint Training Arc.

...that’s ...not much.

And yeah, you could expect me to be a good bean to the author and wait until the later arcs, but even then, the execution… just falls kinda flat, at least for me. Going back to that particular moment with All Might’s thought process, it kind of reminds me of Eraserhead essentially acting as a mouthpiece for the Ochako vs Katsuki fight during the Sports Festival, but that’s a can of worms I won’t be indulging today.

What I’m getting at is this: All Might letting the audience know that Bakudeku have reached rival status is great! Now if only the series could deliver more on that...

3) Standing With Two One For Alls (Heroes Rising)

Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen Heroes Rising yet, I implore you, GO. WATCH IT. It is an incredible film and I would recommend it with warm words. And I’ll admit, it gives us a better incarnation of Bakudeku compared to the rest of the series.

Yes, I said “better,” not “great.”

Look, I’m all for Izuku and Katsuki working past their differences and the clusterf*** that was their childhood, and maybe Horikoshi not being as integrally involved with the film’s writing as people think he is has something to do with it, but uh… you do not say “put myself as low as to working with Deku” or something like that and expect to be casually tossed aside, at least if you’re me. And while I’m glad there was some genuine emotional tension as Izuku gave Katsuki OFA, some part about it feels… off. Like, nothing was really truly resolved. Katsuki wasn’t given OFA as a sign of forgiveness, as an acknowledgement. Katsuki was given OFA because there was an AFO level villain about to wreck the place and kill some peeps and oh look, the narrative made it so that Katsuki was the only convenient holder around! It kinda stings when you look at it that way.

Not that it matters, because a big thing most people forget is that at the end of this movie, THE ENTIRE THING IS ESSENTIALLY SWIPED ACROSS THE DESK AND ON THE FLOOR. Even if it was going to have some level of effort towards the development of the dynamic, that effort is essentially GONE because Katsuki doesn’t remember SQUAT, and what happens to OFA after the fight is NEVER DISCUSSED. It’s just a hard reset, BOOM, back to normal. *Sigh*

Really, the whole double OFA thing was for convenience, less so for any emotional leveling up that could have been done. And even then, Izuku is still somehow the one putting more emotional input into the entire thing than Katsuki.

4) “I Thought You Were Gonna Get Ahead Of Me!” (Anime Screenshot)

Katsuki’s methods of motivation are… admittedly not for everyone. They seem to work fine for Izuku, as seen sometime after the Cultural Festival Arc, but again, that’s just Izuku. We know how he takes Katsuki’s words and turns it into motivation, but why does Katsuki bother at all?

Well, maybe this comes with desperately trying to find reasons to like a character but progressively despising him and his narrative placement more and more as time progresses, but here’s my angle on it: Katsuki just doesn’t want Izuku dragging his weight for nothing.

Keep in mind, we’re talking about the same Katsuki who held a grudge against Shoto for holding back during the Sports Festival. The same Katsuki who wanted the #1 Hero to go all out and would continuously press to fight him. The same Katsuki who wanted to fight a deadly villain even after being instructed to get back to camp for his own safety. The same Katsuki who challenged Izuku to a fight to finally determine where the gap was, and who was frustrated when he won because the power Izuku possessed was All Might’s, so clearly he shouldn’t have lost.

In short, Katsuki doesn’t like it when people don’t give it their all. And I believe it’s been stated once or twice that once Izuku makes One For All his own, there’s a good chance they’re gonna fight again. So it’s in Katsuki’s best interest to make sure Izuku isn’t half-assing anything, because he wants to prove he can beat Izuku at his best, thus proving that KATSUKI is the best.

So it’s less so for Izuku’s benefit as it is for Katsuki’s own.

5) One Giant Leap (Heroes Rising)

Arguably one of the best moments of the entire Heroes Rising film amongst the fandom is the big handhold scene between Katsuki and Izuku as they make a last gambit effort to take down Nine with two One for Alls. Admittedly this is one of the best if not the best moment throughout the entire progression of the Bakudeku dynamic thus far. I’ll give it that much.

...which makes it all the more frustrating because again: MIND. WIPE. The audience knows it happened, but in canon we never know if Izuku discusses it with Katsuki or if anyone else was aware of the moment in greater specificity. IT ESSENTIALLY NEVER HAPPENED, and I’m starting to legitimately wonder whether or not it was for the best...

6) Datte Atashi No Hero (Anime Screenshot)

First off: how? Second off: huh?

Believe me, the second ending of Season 3 is an absolute bop, don’t get me wrong, but uh… again, it provides NOTHING balanced for Bakudeku, once again relying on Izuku’s perspective on the entire matter. I once read an interesting meta about this ending and how it could be interpreted (take this with a grain of salt), but the biggest contender is that this is in fact Izuku’s fantasy. Think about it:

Izuku is a humble traveling warrior, with nothing to distinguish himself in his own opinion.

Ochako is a magician because she’s alien to Izuku, an unheard of phenomenon.

Tenya being a knight, Shoto being a prince, and Momo being a warrior princess all correlates to their high standings in society, heroic or otherwise.

The reason Katsuki is a barbarian king is because he’s familiar to Izuku in an ancient sense; he’s known him for a long time. The list goes on, but you get the jist.

With this in mind, it’s not difficult to understand that even Katsuki willing to work with Izuku would be another aspect of Izuku’s fantasy: to be able to stand beside his childhood friend once more. And remember the ending of that scene, when Izuku does that big sword slash? That’s him having fully mastered OFA. Both are things that could happen given the manga’s recent direction, but still have yet to happen because this is, again, a fantasy.

And apparently Datte Atatshi No Hero is a reflection on Izuku’s feelings towards Katsuki. Take that as you will, but again, this does not speak for Bakudeku as a whole. Just Izuku’s feelings on the matter.

7) Win to Save, Save to Win (Manga Screenshot)

Since I’ve already penned myself into a short story at this point, might as well take the time to look at this famous phrase from the story.

Personally, I consider it bulls***. It harms both characters overall; yes, I said both. It excuses Katsuki’s need to be a blunt powerhouse that only targets villains, and it redundantly demands Izuku do more of what he was already doing, albeit with less sympathy. I know it sounds corny to say saving is more important than winning, but in the heat of the moment, what gets to the civilians in danger more often? Seeing a guy in a cape deck the latest disaster right in front of them or from a distance? Or said cape guy risking life and limb making sure that this person gets to see life another day?

There’s no perfect answer to it, but that’s my stance.

And this quote, “Win to save, save to win,” justifies the one thing that keeps Katsuki from truly outgrowing his past: his need to be the best. If winning is on the same level then saving, and Izuku has an innate capacity to save, then that means it’s okay for Katsuki to have to win all the time, right?

No. It’s not. And that’s not speaking for all the “Gary Stu” crap, either.

Because being pressured into being the best is what caused Katsuki to hate any kindness offered to him by Izuku. The desire to be the best had him bully Izuku for a decade to ensure that Izuku remained the loser and Katsuki remained the winner. That desire characterizes arguably the worst aspects of Katsuki’s character, and those aspects aren’t gonna fly in the Pro Hero world. Because if Nana Shimura, Shota Aizawa, the Pussycats, Mirio, Sir Nighteye, and a handful of other incidents have taught us anything, it’s that even at their best efforts, heroes don’t win all the time.

Katsuki needs to learn this, or it will crush him in the long term. But he hasn’t. The narrative has kept letting him rack up wins, and his current actions in the manga were spurred on by the fact that he still has yet to truly take a loss.

Say what you will, but I don’t like this line. For what it says about Izuku or Katsuki.

8) The Only One Who Can Accept His Feelings… (Anime Screenshot)

Me @ #7: Wanna see me go off?

Me @ #8: Wanna see me do it again?

Izuku’s perspective on the entire Bakudeku situation is a major reason why most fans condone it. “Izuku doesn’t appear obviously bothered by Katsuki, so that clearly means it’s not abusive/problematic, so just shut up!” or something like that. Well, I’m no psychologist, so I won’t go into a spiel about people ignoring their pain for the sake of others or people trying to excuse others in order to place fault on themselves whether or not it be accurate.

Really, all I can say is that NONE OF THIS should be Izuku’s responsibility.

I’m not blaming this on Izuku because he hasn’t had actual friends or a healthy support system in a long while, but the fact that he decides to take on and enable Katsuki in his element just… doesn’t sit well with me. The logical conclusion would be talking, not throwing hands. I don’t care if they’re “distressed teenagers,” neither of them should be doing this, and Katsuki was fully aware that the teachers would stop them in the first place; that’s not simply adults meddling in what isn’t their business. Katsuki should have really figured out by now that maybe the best course of action is to actually vent to someone without blowing their face off, and I get that he’s absolute s*** at feelings, but really, that’s more of a red flag that he needs to actually get help. And if you think a little too hard on Izuku’s feelings of the matter, well…

Imagine being ostracized for so long that you lose all sense of self worth.

Imagine being told time and again that your worthless, which checks out for you because clearly if your worthless, the guy that enabled that mindset is obviously better than you, and he’s entitled to use you for his own ends.

That’s what I get from this scene.

And again, this is all from IZUKU at this point; virtually NOTHING from Katsuki.

9) Double Detroit Smash (Heroes Rising)

I’ve already said my piece about the film. At this point, it’s beating a dead horse with a stick. Moving on.

10) Word of God (Miscellaneous)

Here’s the thing about Word of God in fandom: the general consensus is that it’s nice to get confirmation from a credible source, but unless it is portrayed in canon, it’s just more words which may or may not be true.

In this case, Kohei Horikoshi, the mangaka for BNHA, is saying that eventually, Katsuki will have to apologize to Izuku. Eventually.

As in, it still hasn’t happened yet.

As in, Katsuki still has yet to decide that what he did in the past was wrong and he should try to fix it.

As in, it currently shows no bearing towards Katsuki’s current character nor the overall Bakudeku dynamic.

Sure, it MIGHT happen, but in another interview (or mayhaps it’s the same one), Horikoshi stated that Katsuki originally wasn’t intended to get as much screen time as he did. Both of these situations are different of course, but with the recent turbulence of the War Arc shaking up the manga, is it really so hard to believe that an apology might slip away from Katsuki’s thought process?

On the bright side, an apology could happen. But until it’s canon, then it’s only a possibility, and therefore can’t be used fully for the intended argument.

11) X-Catapult Handhold (Heroes Rising)

I bet some people working on the movie and some fans on the movie felt spoiled when they included not one, but two handholding scenes for Izuku and Katsuki.

And while the first handhold is certainly a marvel of battle tactics, again, there isn’t much else going on with it. Is it nice to see Katsuki working with Izuku again? Yes, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t go past that. Katsuki’s just willing to work with Izuku, full stop. He’d probably be willing to work with anyone because Nine is f***ing tank. And sure, getting a handhold tease is nice, but it’s only to facilitate Katsuki’s subsequent yeeting of Izuku at Nine in an attempt to do damage. Nothing more pressing about the circumstances of their past or anything like that.

12) A Bit of Advice (Anime Screenshot)

Look, this is one of the tamer, better looks at Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship. He’s willing to put his pride aside and give Izuku some advice. But remember what I said earlier in #4?

It’s not just to make sure Izuku gets better, but so Katsuki can feel like it’s a complete win when he beats his ass.

And if we take the line “It pisses me off” into account, we can look at that flaw from the same angle. Remember, Izuku has All Might’s power, the #1 Hero’s power. To Katsuki, that means he shouldn’t have the luxury of making mistakes. But Izuku does. He makes mistakes, and Katsuki sees them and he doesn’t get to exploit them. He still wins, but not because of those mistakes. And part of that pisses Katsuki off. Izuku shouldn’t get to slack. So, Katsuki gives him some advice. Advice that will no doubt help Izuku in the long run, for his (and Katuki’s) sakes. It’s a good outcome from a not very good reason...

13) Have You Made That Borrowed Power Your Own? (Manga Screenshot)

Yeah, no.

I don’t care if Izuku is used to this treatment, it still isn’t reinforcing an overall positive tone.

I don’t care if Katsuki acknowledges at some level that Izuku’s power is becoming his own, he still has the gall to say it was no wonder he passed BECAUSE of his power. Which may be true, but it’s not like Izuku was relying on it 100%, and lowkey comes off as Quirkist.

All it tells me is that Katsuki is starting to acknowledge Izuku, in the “gadfly I can’t get off my back” sort of way. Is this the “best development” y’all are rooting for? Basic acknowledgement of another human being?

14) Outta My Way Punk! (Manga Screenshot)

Katsuki reflexively tells Izuku to get out of his way.

Izuku is used to it, again, that does not excuse it.

Once again, Katsuki reverts back to his usual behavior instead of showing a more subtle approach to show the audience that maybe he’s changing beyond what a chorus of other characters saying “he’s changed!” has to offer.

...even if it’s not abusive, you can’t really say that’s a “good” relationship, either.

15) Blackwhip Training (Manga Screenshot)

Katsuki willing to train with Izuku to help him master his Quirk(s) is nice.

Still blatantly in his element with lots of needless yelling and dominance assertion, but still nice.

And keep in mind, right after it’s clear they aren’t getting anywhere and Izuku tries to rationalize it, Katsuki decides to dip seeing as it’s not worth his time anymore. And even before that, at least in my translation, Katsuki seems to be more interested in beating out Blackwhip instead of having Izuku get a handle on.

Again, maybe not abusive, but not exactly supportive, either.

16) ??? (Anime Screenshot)

I personally have no idea what they were going for with this screenshot, but if I had to guess, that’s after Katsuki gives Izuku an escape window whilst he faces off against All Might alone during their Final Exams.

While I understand that this is early on in their dynamic’s development, the fact still stands that Katsuki still wants to fight for fighting’s sake. He may have been willing to at least give Izuku a chance, but he still sees Izuku’s retreat as cowardly, even though it’s a perfectly valid way to pass the exam. He still just wants to fight.

There’s no mutuality in that sense.

17) Quote from Justin Briner (Miscellaneous)

I don’t have much of an opinion for Izuku’s English VA, but for what it’s worth, I think overall he’s a really cool dude. The same, however, cannot be said for his quote.

I can buy into Izuku wanting to get stronger because of Katsuki, since that is a major plot point. I can’t do the same for Katsuki seeing the good in people because we don’t ever see it, really? In fact, it’s more like people latch on to Katsuki and he just tolerates them until they’ve completely wormed their way into his life. There’s no scene where Katsuki considers someone a good person because of something Izuku did, or anything even vaguely along those lines, at least to my knowledge.

As for their relationship, there have been more downs than ups, and it isn’t relatable to me in the slightest. Maybe that’s just ‘cause I don’t get the overall appeal, but their friendship never really strikes me as a… well, friendship. You could argue that’s the point and that’s what makes them different and interesting, but I would much rather we see more concrete proof of their relationship being at more understandable highs and lows while actually demonstrating it was mutual.

But again. That’s just me.

18) Joint Training Pep Talk (Manga Screenshot)

I’m basically repeating myself at this point. Katsuki might be keeping tabs on Izuku, but again, it’s not entirely for Izuku’s benefit. He just wants to make sure his new “rival” (successor to the #1 Hero, I might add) isn’t dragging his feet through the mud and actually getting s*** done so their eventual third clash will actually be worth his time.

...this relationship is so one-sided in two entirely different ways, I swear.

19) Speaking With Kacchan So Naturally (Manga Screenshot)

Why are we congratulating Katsuki for adding one more person to his already (surprisingly) sizable tolerance pile?

Why are we congratulating Izuku for bridging a gap other people managed to cross with little to no effort even though he didn’t do anything wrong?

Izuku is essentially saying “Good job on me for finally getting the same treatment as everyone else from that one person after over ten years.” Good on him, but uh… that’s not exactly a landmark worth framing the way the fandom does...

The relationship might not be outright abusive, but HOO BOY the bar has never been set lower...

20) “You’ve got a good friend in him” (Manga Screenshot)

And finally, the pièce de résistance. Which is really more narrative mouthpiece-ing.

Even before that, Katsuki yet again can’t take a compliment from Izuku for whatever reason. Yet again, Izuku just shrugs off all of Katsuki’s discouragement, intentional or otherwise. And I love me some Dadmight as much as the next guy, but really, does he have a good grasp on relationships? His only friends in his life were David and Naomasa, and he’s been shown time and time again to not be the infallible man many think he is due to being the Symbol of Peace? But suddenly he goes “Bakudeku rights” and y’all jump on that with no room for argument?

Katsuki has yet to prove what All Might has been saying. Again, telling rather than showing, therefore removing the meaning from the entire thing. Unless Katsuki proves otherwise, I call bulls***.

-------------------------------------------------------

So, my final verdict? Bakudeku is fine. It’s just not as great as the rest of you are making it out to be. I’m not gonna dictate whatever you ship or what you enjoy, that’s not my place, but at least keep these perspectives in mind. You don’t have to believe them, but just… stay aware, y’know?

Alrighty, I’ve wasted enough of your time. If you’ve read it until the very end, then… thanks. Carry on.

-Crimson Lion (10 August 2020)

[swampyswan]

Bakugo’s character in the Fallen Angels manga translation is fundamentally misunderstood and here’s why:

Warning: mentions of slurs and curse words

Bakugo’s character stems from the idea of a subversion of a Japanese delinquent. He is supposed to act and look like a troublemaker, but is actually a genius and a good student in spite of how he looks, dresses, and acts. In Japan, he’s a walking contradiction. In the west, we interpret him as a variation of an Antihero, a gruff guy whose good at what he does.

But here’s the thing: the version of Bakugou that curses every other sentence? That guy doesn’t really exist in the story at all.

In Japan, there aren’t a lot of curse words, and Bakugou uses a sort of catch all bad word (I believe it’s pronounced “teme”) that is seen as rude and unpleasant. But Bakugo’s rudeness was expressed less on his word choice and more of its content. What makes Bakugou unpleasant to a Japanese audience isn’t his language, but his general hostility.

The infamous Fallen Angels scanlation came out and was the first real translation of the Manga. For whatever reason, they translated a lot of Bakugo’s language to be WAY harsher than he ever was in the Japanese version. I despise that translation with a passion, especially since it casually uses words like “r*tard” and “tr*nny” on a whim. If you want an example of how bad it is, the translation has Shigaraki refer to Magne with the T slur. It doesn’t even add anything, because Shigaraki doesn’t misgender her in the Japanese version, calling her that adds nothing to the plot, and just serves to make the language... edgier? I don’t know what they were thinking. Plus we got weird dialogue like this:

Todoroki isn’t exactly a “no cursing” kind of guy, but seeing someone portray him like this is a bit funny. This isn’t the worst example of this translation, just something I thought was a bit strange.

Bakugou gets the worst of it though, with a bunch of weird, unnecessary additions to his previously much tamer dialogue. Compare the more accurate translation from the manga of “sh*tty nerd” to the worst translation of “sh*tty f*cking r*tard”. A ton of Bakugo’s dialogue is morphed into this, but when you compare them side by side out of context, it looks like dialogue from two different characters.

And you might be thinking, “why does it matter? It’s just a bad translation, it doesn’t hurt the story too badly.” However, I think it does because it regresses what people think of Bakugou as a whole. Unfortunately, this bad translation has shaped how people see his character; the poorly translated Bakugou were many fans’ first intro to the character, and what they got, rather than a nuanced, hotheaded, prideful child whose hostility alienated him from others, we get a vulgar bully whose dialogue seemingly overwhelms a lot of his characterization.

I’ve seen people claim Bakugo to be abusive towards Deku and get on the backs of BakuDeku shippers using these translations as evidence, but the thing is that these translations purposefully make Bakugou seem WAY harsher and crueler to Deku than he’s supposed to be. Not to downplay the bad things he’s said or done to Deku, but it’s clear that the translation has had an impact on how the fans view him. The translation I think gives off a different impression than the original translation:

The translation even gives him some weird romantic tension with Ochako that wasn’t present. Don’t get me wrong, Ochabaku fans can ship it, but dialogue between them is changed to imply he has a crush on her in situations where he shouldn’t really care about ANY romance. During their tournament, he refers to her as “Angel face” rather than “round face”, implying that he’s complimenting or hitting on her. It’s pretty much completely missing the point of the fight; Bakugou doesn’t respect her because he has a crush on her, he respects her because she tries as hard as him and is smarter and tougher than people assume her to be (which is probably ship worthy in and of itself). Also, Bakugou would NEVER flirt in a competition, he takes himself too seriously. It’s arguably more respectable of Bakugou to respect a girl that he isn’t romantically interested in than only respect cus he thinks she’s cute.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people write Bakugou as a huge potty mouth that curses every other word. This is prominent with practically every ship that involves him too (bakudeku, Kiribaku, ochabaku, etc). So many fanfic and artwork show Baku saying “f*ck” or “sh*t” every other sentence. And I theorize that this translation has a large part of why.

So, to anyone who wants a more accurate manga experience, I would not recommend Fallen Angels.