#deku - tenko parallels

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I know we talk a lot about the parallels between Touya and Shouto, or the ones between Deku and Tomura, but...

What about Dabi and Deku both being willing to destroy their bodies if that meant they could be heroes? What about them representing both sides of a fucked up heroic idea of sacrificing yourself like a martyr, either if there are other ways?

What about Shouto and Tomura both having a big trauma with their quirks thanks to the extensive abuse their dads put them through? What about the way people look at them like they are "special" and they don't know how to "socialize correctly", when in fact they are both really good at interacting and are very conscious about others needs and feelings?

Touya and Deku are parallels too, the same way Tomura and Shouto are. I don't see much people actually writing about this...

[hostica]

🩷 Starter for @mayhemmybeloved. The babies.

It  was  hard  being  the  son  of  one  of  the  most  famous  heroes  in  Japan...  The  guy  next  to  the  symbol  of  peace  himself.  It  was  even  worse  when  you  had  a  bad  quirk.  No...  Not  a  bad  quirk,  his  quirk  wasn't  bad  ━  it  was  just...  Different.  A  little  tricky.  But  he  was  the  son  of  Endeavor,  so  he  was  pretty  confident  he  could  handle  it.  Still,  it  seemed  like  he  was  the  only  one  who  believed  that,  and  that  was  probably  the  hardest  thing  of  all.  The  other  kids  didn't  want  to  play  with  him  ━  he  was  a  pipsqueak  with  a  bad  quirk.  Being  the  failure son  of  successful hero just  made  it  worse.  He he  was  sitting  alone  on  the  swing  set,  but  he  was  barely  moving.  If  he  was,  he  probably  wouldn't  have  noticed  the  boy  with  the  fluffy  black  hair  approaching  him  with his big  eyes  like  saucers. 

He  was  pretty  small. Then  again,  not  very  much  smaller  than  himself  ━  he  was  probably  in  his  younger  brother's  year.  A  pout  on  his  face  and  a  narrow  of  his  eyes  was  given  to  the  other  boy  as  he  realized  he  must  have  thought  they  were  the  same  age  cause  he  was  so  short.  ❝ What  do  you  want ? ❞  he  snapped  before  the  younger  boy  could  say  anything  to  him.

[helga-grinduil]

It's so weird to me that a lot of Shigaraki/LOV fans somehow overlooked and didn't get the fact that chapter 237 was all about AFO convincing Tenko that he has an innate desire to destroy and kill due to his quirk, and that this is why society would never save or accept someone like him (but he would). That THIS is why he believes that he wanted to kill his family, since he must've had that impluse when he destroyed them.

'It's more ReDestro/MLA stuff' - oh, I wonder who could ReDestro possibly be a parallel to? A child who was brainwashed into being a future cult leader and was raised to be the next coming of a great villain of old?

Forget ReDestro, think about ERI. ERI, who is the most blatant, clearest, closest parallel to Shigaraki a character can get. Remember why exactly it was so hard to rescue her? Why Deku and Mirio had to convince her that she deserved to be saved? Because Overhaul taught her that her quirk was cursed, and she was cursed for being born with that quirk.

[codenamesazanka]

assorted 408 thoughts

When I first saw this sequence of panes, I thought, wildly and hopefully, that’s Shigaraki Tomura. That could be Shigaraki Tomura, someone who holds the quirk All For One and who, despite everything, is kind.

＊

It reminds to be seen if Shigaraki Tomura can be stopped. As Deku says himself in Chapter 406, he still haven't come up an answer yet.

Since his first appearances, Shigaraki Tomura is infamous for being childish, talking about fights and battles as if he was playing video games. He's matured since then and his game metaphors have lessen in quantity, but his enjoyment of video games is still significant to his character.

But Shigaraki Tomura is also the one who created the League of Villains, a haven for outcasts and misfits. Twice considers the League the only place he belongs. Toga found life easier to live while with Shigaraki and others. The League is home to it's members, because Shigaraki made it that way.

Part of that is because Shigaraki Tomura is considerate of his teammates feelings and desire. This is core to Shigaraki - even as a child, he went out of his way to befriend those left behind, to include the children no one else wanted to play with. Underneath the layers of bitterness and rage caused by society's rejection, Shigaraki is still someone who cares a lot:

＊

One thing I really like about the new chapter is that All For One kept Yoichi's severed hand.

Why? Who knows. All For One isn't allowed any real human emotions by the story. But still - All For One kept a severed hand, a memento of a lost one and whatever significance is embedded in that; it's evidence of what he's done - killed his brother - and a symbol of his new purpose - to hunt down the other remnant of Yoichi.

Years later, he would do the same for Shimura Tenko, when he gives the boy the hands of the slaughtered Shimura family. And he intends for them to have the same meanings and purposes - for Shimura Tenko to remember the massacre, and for that memory to spur him onward.

That AFO repeats this gruesome gesture with Tenko, essentially reproducing the same horror he experienced onto the boy who he intends to be his heir. This recontextualizes The Hands a bit - instead of just what seemed to be a sort of unique psychological torment imposed out of revenge against Shimura Nana's descendant, it's also AFO just raising Tomura after himself. It's still a incredibly fucked up cruelty, don't get me wrong, but now it feels less because specifically Shimura, and more because AFO wanted an successor that mirrors himself, down to the same traumatic trappings.

＊

But of course, Shigaraki Tomura still greatly resembles Yoichi.

Overall, this panel of Yoichi does closely resembles the panel of Shigaraki from Chapter 221. Just— everything from the angle of the face and the direction of their gaze, to the position of the hand.

But based on Yoichi’s expression - the eyes, the slight smile, the whole demeanor - my first thought went to Shigaraki in Chapter 148, when he was telling Toga and Twice that he believes in them.

This is Shigaraki, revealing his face to Toga and Twice, when in the previous panels, it had seemed like he was insensitively ordering them around, without consideration for their feelings, telling them to work with Overhaul who had just murdered their friend Magne. But once the hand comes off - voluntarily, for the first time, facing them straightforwardly - we see a look that convey a lot of things - Shigaraki's resolve in taking down Overhaul, his trust in Twice and Toga, his sincerity in what he's saying. It's Shigaraki with probably his kindest expression in the entire manga.

It parallels the context somewhat too - in Yoichi panels, it had look at first like he was despondent, sad and weak, lamenting that he dependent and was unable to do anything against the evil that was his brother. But instead, with the face reveal, we're seeing Yoichi's own indomitable will and kindness, so much that he still sees the hopeful possibilities of All For One's power.

Both are victims of All For One, but both have always kept their strong sense of self and core sense and desire for kindness and justice.

＊

If you ask me what AFO and OFA combined would look like, I have to say: Shigaraki Tomura.

[class1akids]

Ch 418 leaks

Well, Hori finally delivered on Deku losing his arms (at least in Vestige form). This image is lovely though...

Shigaraki thinking of all the League, including Twice finally and wants to be a Hero for them - it's that moment from Tenko's origin chapter that I always hyper-fixated on:

I hope we will get a proper tie-in with the others all being stopped without killing them... Please Hori, don't let me down.

AFO is back to nobody's surprise, sipping wine with Kotaro. I'm interested how Hori will play this. It could go a few different ways:

Baby Deku protecting Baby Tenko or vica versa or both of them teaming to fight AFO

The "presumed to be dead Vestiges" reappearing (especially as Yoichi and vestige All Might didn't have much of a role yet) and helping the boys

There is also a question what is happening in the outside world right now? Is Tomura's body unconscious or is it going out of whack, threatening to destroy?

I'm personally hoping for an all out battle both inside and outside the vestige world with Deku + Tenko (+ All Might/Yoichi) vs AFO inside the vestige plane and everyone holding back Tomura's damage in the outside world.

It would parallel what happened with Toya and Toga - both of them went out of whack, and people were mitigating the damage until they could be saved.

Also, just for the record - Bakugou wasn't the only one with a death prediction in the 8th Anniversary Art - so I'm expecting a Deku death scare too (he won't die though).

[pikahlua]

what’s your thoughts about Tomura’s quirk being given to him by AFo? This theory has been in the fandom for a long time and I thought that was the case as well before it was confirmed? At this point I think the theory that Deku’s quirk was stolen might be true as well

I was always okay with the idea AFO gave Shigaraki his quirk. I just didn't talk about it much because it wasn't my theory and I was also okay with it not happening lol. It was just a matter of whichever way Horikoshi wanted to take that.

That said, I've never personally been on board with the idea Izuku had a quirk that was stolen. Especially now, it would ruin the parallel with Aoyama, but also it just has bad implications for the rest of the story leading up to such a reveal. Logically, being quirkless in his generation should be a little more common than it is if AFO was stealing that many babies' quirks. We saw AFO in the Tenko flashbacks, but we haven't seen any candidates for a potential AFO encounter in Izuku's backstory. It would be horribly not foreshadowed for something like that to happen now.

But if Horikoshi does throw it in there, I do hope he shows us where the foreshadowing was that we may have missed.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Izuku & Touya Parallels;

Thanks, anon ^^ and well, the biggest foil of Izuku is Tenko and the biggest foil of Touya is Shouto but there are definitely parallels between Shouto and Tenko, Touya, and Izuku. What makes them similar is that how both Tenko and Shouto were the youngest child, the center of the family's attention, and groomed by adults, treated as "special kids". And in Izuku and Touya's case, it's the opposite. Their story is about they are not enough, they are not chosen, they are invisible kids and their problems are overlooked by adults around them.

They also share similar characteristic traits, such as being passionate about their dream. They are vulnerable and sensitive and non-masculine. Both Deku and Touya are invisible children. They think they are far from their dreams but they never give up. They are so stubborn, no matter how much people told them they continue to try to achieve their dreams. They refuse to choose another way for life. They both are hardworking kids who are full of passion and tension. They are obsessive. Deku with Allmight, Touya/Dabi with Endeavour.

They are both hard workers who always do their best to achieve their goals. They seem to have good analysis skills when it comes to quirks. They both are crybabies. They are self-destructive, they think it is okay to get hurt. They have very low esteems. They tend to neglect their close ones when it comes to making plans, Deku's constantly focusing on the hero's job, instead of discussing with friends about his issues could be seen as similar to Dabi's own agenda. It is almost like there is always some part of them they don't want to show to other people, the side they feel insecure about themselves which is most likely they don't really much aware of it. Characters like Tomura and Shouto have their own agendas too but they don't really try to hide it. Shouto simply doesn't want to discuss his private life while Tomura doesn't even remember it. But Deku and Dabi try to do things on their own.

Both Izuku and Touya are 'disabled'. They both live with the same unhealthy mentality and everything they do is related to this mindset. Because the idea that they are not enough didnt go away. In a society where everyone have quirks, Izuku has no quirk and Touya has the worst type of combination quirk and his quirk is literally killing him. Hero-or-Quirk society treats people depending on their quirks, depending on their worth. Not only society, it also happens with people around them. Izuku is brutally abused by Bakugou and Touya is abandoned by his father Endeavour. Which lead them to internalize the idea that they are worthless and useless. To be worthy, they have to prove their worth. Which leads them to self-destruction. This is also the reason quirkless Izuku was obsessed with heroes and later he got his quirk, he breaks his bones every chance he has. And Touya/Dabi burning his own body. Everything they do is related to this mindset, that they are not good enough and they will never be so they have this constant need to prove themselves to others, to prove the world that they are wrong about them.

They desire to be a hero more than anything. It's almost like it is part of who they are as if they have to be heroes to be something. This also tells a lot about the hero society's kids and how heroes are perceived. Touya tells 'Kids in my school all want to be heroes' and Izuku and Tenko don't even have to be heroes to have a job that included helping people but they think they have to be one. Because heroes are seen as positive figures and telling them you can't be one, saying as 'You can't be a positive model for people'. No matter how much they are rejected, they won't give up on their dreams of being a hero. We also see how it messes up kids like Izuku and Touya.

And they don't want to be just any hero, they want to be the greatest heroes. Its literally same desperation. Izuku wants to be just like Allmight and Touya wants to surpass Allmight. Those two kids have their idol heroes too, they idolize them so much, so much that they inherit unhealthy behavior from their idols. Izuku's idol is Allmight, he is like a father to him, he inherits Allmight's idea of self-sacrificing; self-destructive behavior. Touya's idol is his father Endeavour, he inherits a lot of toxic behaviors, such as toxic masculinity, looking down on girls, and seeing people as worthy depending on how useful or strong they are, which makes sense since he was raised by his idol. At least, Deku also inherits positive traits from his idol, such as well saving people.

Another common point is Izuku and Touya were abused but they don't see themselves as victims while these common traits they share with other characters in bnha too but Izuku and Touya have very unhealthy relationships with their abuser. That they have admiration for them and view them as good heroes. Even though both Bakugou and Endeavour share many toxic traits and are one of the main examples of bad heroes (especially at the start of the series). Izuku and Touya take this admiration to the point they will excuse their wrong actions, that it is okay to be hurt by them, which is why Izuku doesn't mind being bullied by Bakugou during the series and Touya is okay with 'training'.

The only and main difference is Touya reached his breaking point. It is important to remember that even after being burnt to death, even after 3 years of coma and losing everything, Touya was still ready to forgive Endeavour, which he realized he will never change, that was the breaking point. This is why you would expect Izuku to snap at Bakugou at some point too but well, I think writing bullying and Izuku's feelings about his abuse is very flawed, unfortunately, otherwise, I think Izuku also felt/feel very angry (besides unhealthy admiration) towards his abuser, just like Touya and Tenko had/has.

They tend to idolize, and become obsessive of people, and follow people they admire and they are also copycats. Izuku is not hiding this side of himself, he always copies other people's moves and make them his own version, especially Allmight's moves. As much as he acts tough and masculine, Dabi is not different. First, he took Stain's ideology, and follow Shigaraki's orders, during the series he is copying Endeavour's moves, and recently, he even copied Shouto's move and make it his own version.

Note; They are not actually copycats since there is nothing wrong with learning new things from other people, especially for fights.

Deku and Dabi are not just self-destructive but they also tend to die dramatically. Deku desperately trying fit into society, he breaks his bones so that he can deserve to be a successor of Ofa/Allmight. This burden he carries is even leads him to distance himself from his friends. Dabi takes revenge on Endeavour and burns himself to death because just like Deku, he has no self-worth. He sees himself as a failure and thats why they both are suicidal. Both Deku and Touya are obsessed with training, they secretly go out their way to train their bodies. They don't trust adults in their lives because they have been failed by them constantly so they don't listen when someone tells them to stop killing themselves. Its not just not caring about himself, even in a situation where they can survive and find better ways, they will plan their death. Deku's plan to die by killing Shigaraki and Dabi's plan to die by killing Endeavour and others can be seen as parallels. Like a martyr.

Their journey is opposite of each other. Touya's origin started as a hero, he was born to be a hero, he was told that he is amazingly special and naturally talented. To the point, there was no life for Touya to live. Being a hero was his identity. And in Izuku's case, he was born into nothing and he is worthless and has no talent and despite wanting to be a hero, he was constantly told that he will never be one. They are both neglected by their fathers, Touya later abandonded by his idol and Izuku’s father isnt around and later he is kinda adopted by his idol Allmight. Touya's journey started as a hero only to later be abandoned and treated as a failure, and nothing. That he will never be enough for what it takes to be a hero. Izuku's journey started as a failure only to later meet with his idol so that he can be a hero. Touya was chosen, a child with full of potential but he was thrown away and Izuku was the unchosen one but he is given a chance into becoming the person he wants to be.

After inheriting one for all, Izuku's pushing his friends is similar to Touya's 'i don't need any friends! We live in different worlds' by a different world, Touya means other people can't understand the legacy he carries, just like Izuku who said similar things to Shouto. 'It is a fight between one for all and all for one. You guys can't keep up.' They are pushing other people because of the legacy of their idols, they think it's better to do it alone, though it is important to remember that they are conditioned to think this way. Endeavour told Touya that he is living in different worlds and that he is the one who isolated him from other kids and Allmight and others did the same. This is why Izuku and Touya believe others can't understand this burden. It is also interesting that even though their journey is opposite of one another, they still have similar mindset and behaviors.

I am sure that there are more parallels between them but for now, thats it. Izuku and Touya have a lot of parallels with Shouto and Tenko. Their journey is parallels with each others and well, Shouto is familiar with Izuku’s destructive side and ‘i dont need help’ attitude, he always notices his pain and he also notices Dabi’s pain so this might help him to save his brother too. Same with Izuku who is familliar with kids who dont want to be saved, it might help him to save Tomura too so yeah. I really wish we get more about them but well, anyway, its fun to analyze them and i think, their parallels are important too.

[doodlegirl1998]

I feel I have talked about this before but the most important characters of the story aka Izu and Shig, are forever linked to shitty names. Deku is a fucking slur...but Tomura Shigaraki is a horrible name.

I dont think people fully get this. (Even more as AFO made up the name) the name means to mourn...

Its the Dr who gave Shig the hands, yes. But AFO was there snickering...

Tomura Shigaraki is a horrible name and no one in the story mentions that. Not even Izu.

When Shig recover his memories, if he was to server the "conection" with afo...should have used his real name: Tenko Shimura. But 😒Hori.

Just to sum up, Tomura Shigaraki has a very mean spirit name and was ok with such name ....and being a npc of afo even when it is detrimental to him. Its another paralel with his soulmate aka Izu.

Hi @mikeellee 👋,

I agree. It's another way that Izuku and Shig parallel each other in that they are well known in universe and outside of it by names / monikers that are detrimental to them.

Izuku is known by "Deku" which means useless puppet.

Shimura Tenko was renamed by AFO to "Shigaraki Tomura" which means to mourn.

Under any other writer, these two encouraging each other to abandon their disparaging monikers given to them by their abusers and embracing their actual names - or a new more positive moniker could have been a powerful moment for them both but Hori wastes this opportunity.

[deadboyswalking]

Why The Overhaul Arc Matters

Strap the FUCK in I just realized the actual narrative significance of the Overhaul arc.

Eri-Tomura Parallel

At a surface level, Eri and Tomura have obvious parallels, right?

Visually, they look very similar with light hair and red eyes. Quirk-wise, they both have incredibly powerful, devastating Quirks that caused a fatal accident with their real families.

Eri hated herself because of the poison that Chisaki put in her head. Tomura hates himself for the same reason but with AFO.

They both were groomed to feel fully responsible for their traumatizing childhood accidents and for their only self-worth to be related to being useful towards their manipulative abuser and his goals.

Their parallels have been discussed at length by many people, so I'm not going to go into it except to say: no, they aren't literally blood related like some people argue. I also don't think AFO gave either of them their Quirks. Did AFO give Decay? Analysis Thread

Overhaul-AFO Parallel

That leads me to my next point: Overhaul and All For One are the same character.

As leaders, they prey on vulnerable people and buy their unquestioned loyalty (the Shie Hassaikai, Dr. Garaki, Machia, etc)

They will use these people for their purposes and then discard them at will, without any emotions or ethics to consider.

Their relationship toward their charge is NOT exactly parental. There is zero affection or even pretended affection towards Eri or Tomura and, in fact, others are doing their actual day-to-day care (various Hassaikai members, Kurogiri).

They speak in the same way to and about their charges. "You're a cursed human." "Another death on your hands." "Symbol of Fear" "You have within you the impulse to destroy that even you can't control." A huge part of their abuse is based in manipulating their charges to despise themselves and think they're inherently evil, so said charges give up on being a regular human. Further literary parallel: Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Deku's Connection

AND FINALLY, my point: the Overhaul-Eri situation is directly responsible for Deku's current empathy toward Tomura and drive to save him. When Deku saw AFO take over Tomura and use his body for his own purposes during the war, especially with what he saw in the vestige realm, I think the parallel with Eri clicked.

Tomura is what would've happened to Eri if she hadn't been rescued. I fully think that if Eri had survived to adulthood without being rescued, Overhaul would have groomed her to live entirely for his benefit with full live-or-die loyalty for him (like the rest of the Shie Hassaikai, but stronger due to manipulation from childhood onwards). She would have grown to hate society for not saving her AND for being against Overhaul's goals. I honestly think she would've been even scarier than Tomura since Tomura at least had Kurogiri (who has been show to genuinely care for him on some level) rather than random gangsters as his primary caregiver.

Don't you see? It's all connected to Deku's endgame: pulling Tomura away from AFO and saving someone else who has been damned because of their Quirk and abuser. Of course, saving Tomura, a grown man who has committed A LOT of violence, is going to be much harder than saving a wholly innocent little girl, but the SEED was planted during the Overhaul arc.

I believe this is also WHY Deku chooses to see the Tenko that still lives inside Tomura.

Final Thoughts

This might be super obvious but I'd been scratching my head for MONTHS about how the Overhaul arc is significant to the narrative since the Quirk bullets storyline went nowhere and I'm not a fan of the "Eri rewinds the villains or the whole world!" take. I was so quick to discard the Overhaul arc as unimportant when the bullets didn't impact the story much, but I just completely missed the big picture.

I SAW the Eri-Tomura and Overhaul-AFO parallels but I couldn't quite figure out how the pieces went together beyond the surface parallel of two similarly abused children and two abusers. Understanding this connection also fixes what I had considered to be a huge logical plot hole in the story: why did Deku have a sudden 11th-hour change of heart and shift his focus from defeating Tomura to saving him?

Overhaul-Eri to AFO-Tomura is a direct link for Deku's endgame and the total themes of the story, I just couldn't see it before.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I'm never forgiving Horikoshi for drawing that panel of Tomura mimicking Kotaro's last words and actions. He's about to get dismantled in a metaphorical sense the way Kotaro had fallen to pieces literally when Tenko confronted him.

He's come full cycle he is what he hated the most he is his bloodline he is cruel and scared and he doesn't want anyone to see what it's truly at his core he is not done punishing himself and the world for the events of his quirk awakening day.

More than anything I applaud Horikoshi's audacity to put Deku on Tenko's place and Tomura on his dad's place because that shows that even after all this time Tomura still denies himself through the ghost of Kotaro!!!!! Internalized hatred towards himself and all that!!! In order to truly free Tomura, Deku has to smash through that one memory of Kotaro pushing away Tenko for the last time!!!!!!!!!

So many layers in just one parallel 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

[siflshonen]

BNHA “Presentations” Meta Masterpost

Please review these before asking me specific questions about BNHA. This post will be updated as I feel it is relevant.

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA”: A Breakdown of Katsuki Bakugo | 1.0 | 2.0 | AO3 (updated to ver. 4.0)

This “presentation” post is a primer on Katsuki Bakugo’s character, influences, character arc, and meta. This post covers topics including Kohei Horikoshi’s manga influences, basic character roles in literature, a brief history of shonen manga and the real-world conditions in which the genre as we know it came to be, Japanese social and cultural references such as honne and tatemae, and other miscellaneous anime tropes.

Sequencing My Hero Academia’s “Manga DNA” II: A Breakdown of Izuku Midoriya (formerly titled, “Izuku Midoriya is Katsuki Bakugo's Destiny And It Makes Me Nauseous”)

This “presentation” post discusses Izuku Midoriya’s character and values from a broadly “conventional” Japanese cultural perspective. It also compares and contrasts Izuku and Katsuki’s status as narrative foil leads in a shonen series to other narrative foil leads in other classic, influential shonen series.

This presentation includes an in-depth discussion on platonic and romantic BakuDeku(Baku?) as well as my candid opinion about Naruto.

Eijiro Kirishima: Positively Reclaiming National Identity and Making Masculinity More Inclusive (with surprise guest Mina Ashido!) | 1.0 | 2.0 | Ao3 (updated to ver. 3.0)

This “presentation” post discusses Eijiro Kirishima’s character and arc as well as the real-life references his character’s aesthetic and “manly” actions and credo are meant to communicate. This post includes a discussion of Japanese delinquents and bosozoku, a brief and simplified history of the relationship of Japanese hypermasculinity and military/naval power, a brief discussion of kouha and nanshoku, and a brief general analysis of how Kirishima's early-series insecurities reflect those of an “emasculated” and outdated Japan in relation to Mina’s “effeminate” Japan of today. It also compares Kirishima and Mina’s history and character growth to Katsuki and Izuku’s.

Shoto Todoroki and the Middle Way (Formerly titled, “Original Character Do Not Steal: Why Shoto Todoroki's Best Quality Is Being Lame As Hell And the Fact That It Drives Katsuki Bakugo Nuts”)

This “presentation” post gives a brief overview of Shoto Todoroki’s character and arc, particularly as it relates to Katsuki’s. It discusses eastern notions of balance in all things and how Shoto’s personal quest for balance within himself and his turbulent family reflects upon Katsuki and Izuku’s interpersonal situation.

Todoroki: The Mountain, the Hawk, and the Haunted House | Part 1 | Part 2 | Ao3 (updated to ver. 2.0)

These “presentation” posts take a detailed look at the Todoroki family members and their stories, and provides a significant chunk of meta about Keigo Takami (Hawks). It covers the basics of Japan’s postwar western envy, the modern Japanese patriarchy, and ie family system as well as how these things relate to the characters and their motivations. These posts also discuss the parallels of several sets of characters including Keigo and Toya, Keigo and Deku, Endeavor/Enji and All Might/Toshinori, and Enji and Deku.

A Practical Solution to Ochako Uraraka and Katsuki Bakugo’s Mutual Problem (with surprise guest Himiko Toga!)

This “presentation” is formulated like a joke complete with some rough ribbing towards Deku. This discusses the similarities and differences in Uraraka, Bakugo, and Toga’s plots and relationships with Izuku Midoriya.

Trauma Doesn’t Make You Wrong or Right But it Does Make You Easier to Manipulate: Tomura Shigaraki and All for One (with surprise guests Eri, Tenko Shimura’s family, and the League of Villains!) | Ao3

This “presentation” discusses the similarities and overlap between Heroes, Villains and victims. It also breaks down how All for One is a personification of fascism throughout time and how he targets individuals, as well as what social or individual qualities he considers when choosing his marks. Oh, and this one discusses the nature of trauma and PTSD, how abuse perpetuates a cycle of itself, and how Shigaraki’s destructive rampage is really a cry for help.

From Shuichi Iguchi to Tomura Shigaraki and Bakugo Katsuki to Izuku Midoriya: With Love From Your Shadow | Ao3

This “presentation” discusses Spinner and his role in the story as well as how he and his relationship with Shigaraki parallels (or doesn’t parallel) Bakugo’s relationship with Deku.

[codenamesazanka]

"not the actual person, but the inner child he saw inside" is the impression I have as well, and although I keep holding onto the hope that Horikoshi has enough respect for his characters that the actual saving of Shigaraki will be more complicated than that, I am fearing that there is no way around fixing everything by saving the crying child <3 now. Just a very lazy and easy solution to the problem. Which is incredibly frustrating after all that build-up and because I still think that Horikoshi is capable of coming up with something smarter. I used to be very excited to see how the saving Shigaraki plotline would unfold, but now I almost dread it. :(

I hold the same hope, anon! That the actual saving of Shigaraki will be more complicated than 'save the crying inner child', and Horikoshi is capable of coming up with something more interesting and satisfying. Shigaraki is a character he's had for several incarnations - through the 'Tenko' oneshot and more loosely 'Shiina' from Oumagadoki Zoo - and with the way he developed Shigaraki Tomura as a antagonist in parallel the whole time through the story, I hope it means he cares enough for the character of Shigaraki Tomura to give him a good conclusion.

(What a good conclusion is, of course, is up for debate, but for me, it means respecting the journey Shigaraki and addressing his pain not as a brainwashed victim whose issues were made up, or a dismissable tantrum-throwing child that needs to find Heroes cool again, but as someone who has a right to be angry with the world.)

It's been frustrating! I do admire Deku for wanting to save Shigaraki so badly. He's stubbornly committed to it, if nothing else; no matter what the OFA vestiges think, and no matter what Shigaraki tells him, Deku does not want to kill Shigaraki and be done with it. That's great! The problem is that it feels like the biggest obstacle right now is actually Deku himself, in that he refuses to see the man in front of him and is instead fixated on the vision of a crying child.

One can claim that 'Shigaraki Tomura' is not actually a real person, just a construct created by trauma and grooming/an evil spirit that has grown around a innocent child, so the only thing real to save is Shimura Tenko. But from Shigaraki's own experiences and words, he acknowledges that he's someone that's grown from Tenko - he remembers seeing Nana's picture in Chapter 270, but decides to reject that past dream; he names himself as both Shimura Tenko and Shigaraki Tomura in Chapter 379; and despite what the official translation says in Chapter 412, Shigaraki says clearly 'that boy became me'. Perhaps he's not as over his traumatic past as he claims, but that doesn't mean he's not the same person.

So it just downright insulting when Shigaraki is saying all this stuff, talking to Deku, asserting himself and his goals left and right - moreover, him having expressed lots of times his discontent with Heroes (all might’s smile is a farce, heroes swept pain under the rugs, the rot has built up, everything i’ve witness, the dream will end, doing this partly for the league) - only for Deku to just keep harping on 'The Crying Child': "Not actually going to listen and respond to you! You're just a hurt child deep down, I'll make you reveal your damage to me so I can save you." How patronizing. How dismissive.

And like, it'll be good for Deku too - that he has to acknowledge the cute, crying child is the same person as the actual Villain, with all his anger and dreams and humanity - he has to deal with both Shigaraki Tomura and Shimura Tenko. That's a more interesting challenge. Like, in Chapter 348, he failed with Toga because while he can relate to Toga's admiration, in the next breath he also basically said 'but you do it weird', and then lost Toga completely. He hasn't dealt with the whole of a person. He should probably do that with Shigaraki.

Thanks for the ask!

[class1akids]

How do you feel about afo being the cause of shigarakis backstory, it's not surprising per say but it's rather disappointing.

Ppl like the villains in mha bc they have a point in their beliefs despite their incorrect methods. So taking that main villains backstory that pointed out everything wrong with society and blaming it an afo is not only just really boring but it also kinda ruins the whole point of the story

It's just feels like a really bad predictable move

It doesn't make much difference to me. Tomura was always the least interesting of the LoV Trio for me, because it was obvious for a long time now how AFO's grooming was at the source of him as a villain. He had very little agency and even all his power-ups came from AFO (even his quirk awakening came from believing what AFO gaslit him to believe). I feel like both Toya's and Toga's storylines had more compelling narrative of nature/nurture and personal choices.

I don't think last chapter added much to the AFO/Tomura dynamic. I long expected Decay to be given to him by AFO and well, AFO nurturing Kotaro's hatred lets Nana off the hook a bit I guess, but nothing changes much.

The indifference of civilians and heroes is still a valid point in his criticism of hero society. Tenko was a child in the grips of a monster and nobody helped him. So yes, AFO is at fault, but also society as a whole didn't prevent it (unlike in the case of Eri).

The entire final arc is quite predictable and to me, this fight has been super-underwhelming, but then again, Deku and Tomura are my personally least favourite hero-villain pair. I know many people like them and their parallels and it's probably just a personal thing, but I never really vibed with this aspect of the story, and generally the entire OFA-AFO subplot I think is one of the most ham-fisted and sub-par parts of the manga.

[grimalkinmessor]

*cracks knuckles* TIME TO GET INTO MY SHIGADEKUBAKU AGENDA

How Shigaraki is BOTH Midoriya And Bakugou's Main Villain And How They're All Tied Together: A Long Ramble

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First thing's first—parallels. Specifically the differences between thematic parallels and narrative foils.

Hori has set Bakugou up as Shigaraki's thematic parallel, and Midoriya up as his narrative foil by making Midoriya mirror Tenko while also having Bakugou mirror Shigaraki.

Both Midoriya and Tenko grew up abused and lonely, one thought to be Quirkless and the other actually Quirkless, and even then the first manifested a 'villainous' Quirk not long afterward. Both of them have experienced Quirk discrimination and the inequality of society.

Both were shamed and discouraged for wanting to be a hero to the point that others would get physically violent with them. And while all three of them idolized All Might as children, only Midoriya and Tenko (specifically Shimura) have direct connections to All Might.

Meanwhile, Bakugou and Shigaraki are more physically similar. Both of them have extremely destructive, hand-centralized Quirks, and both of them have the same sort of attitude about them—even their speech patterns are similar in that they both say brash things while simultaneously staying polite in their actions. They are both quick to anger and yet incredibly intelligent and strategic, as well as not-so-natural leaders.

Bakugou's learning curve mirrors Shigaraki's on that almost identically. They approach their set goals with a stubborn single-mindedness that's honestly impressive.

The only place that they really differ is in their mindset towards battle.

Where Bakugou has always fought and trained to achieve absolute victory, Shigaraki has grown up being told that failure is expected and should be turned into a learning experience.

And now in this recent battle this difference is even more important, because while Bakugou is now finding a sort of 'freedom' in failure, Shigaraki has victory in his grasp and yet ultimately remains trapped.

Where Midoriya recognizes Tenko and his pain, but can't understand Shigaraki's villainy, the reverse is true for Bakugou. Where Bakugou cannot relate to discrimination and discouragement, he can understand Shigaraki's villainous mindset.

Because Bakugou has a mirrored redemption arc.

Both he and Shigaraki have anger issues. They lash out and hurt people at the slightest provocation, and are obsessed with making sure that they get what they want. If anyone gets in their way, they're toast.

Or, that WAS the case, at least.

Because wouldn't you know it, Bakugou has since grown! He was confronted with his own weakness, and learned the value of teamwork and kindness by making friends—though his ultimate form of redemption came through Midoriya.

Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it?

My third point, which my bakudekus will love, is that Midoriya and Bakugou were always meant to be a team.

I always wondered why Bakugou didn't have a true villain of his own, before I realized that it's because Shigaraki is both Bakugou and Midoriya's main villain.

They are a matched set, a pair—you cannot have one without the other. Bakugou and Midoriya have each encountered Shigaraki once alone (Midoriya at the mall and Bakugou during his kidnapping), and every other time they've faced him together.

Because Bakugou was never meant to be his own hero with his own story. He's always been intimately tied in with Midoriya.

This goes all the way back to Deku vs. Kacchan 2, where the phrase 'win to save, save to win' came up, because it comes to fruition in their fight with Shigaraki.

Midoriya is not meant to fight Shigaraki, because he needs to save him. And only Midoriya can save him, because he's the only one who understands that Tenko needs to be saved.

Bakugou is not meant to save Shigaraki, because he needs to fight him. And, as we've seen in the new chapters, (what, you think a student would be the only hero to land a hard hit on the villain if it wasn't plot relevant?) only Bakugou can fight him, because he understands Shigaraki.

To beat ShigAFO, and to save Tenko, both Bakugou and Midoriya need to be the ones to face him. Together.

Both Bakugou and Midoriya understand helplessness intimately. They both know exactly what Shigaraki is going through right now.

In order for All For One to be defeated, and Shigaraki to be saved, you need them both. Because Bakugou couldn't do it on his own, and I guarantee you that Midoriya won't be able to do it on his own either.

And after Shigaraki is let loose, I'm willing to bet that it will take all three of them turning on All For One to defeat him. Not only because it seals Shigaraki's own redemption arc in place, but because it will finally be the three of them all together on the same side.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk! :D

[adventureofthedancinggirl]

Ch. 412 Thoughts

Ohhh boyyy. I'm running on a total of about 6 hours of sleep in the past 2 days and I've been stuck in the airport all day after my flight got canceled, so this might not be very coherent, but I have thoughts.

This really is the essence of who Izuku is at his core. Not just someone who sacrifices himself (though there is that too), but someone who believes that a person is still a person no matter what they have done, and that everyone is worth saving.

Interesting that we're specifically reminded of the 100 person limit of Ragdoll's "search" quirk. Is that limit going to come into play? (For instance, with all the quirk factors and vestiges?)

The callout of "people trying to interpret things through a narrow window" with the immediate cut to the civilians viewing the fight who can no longer see them because they're too far away

The complete 180 of Nana saying to give up on Shigaraki/Shimura was frustrating. I understand that it's to emphasize just how deep Izuku's desire to save everyone goes, but considering how relieved she was to hear that Izuku wanted to save Tenko during the vestige world scene after the PLF war, this statement felt very out of place for her. To be fair, her saying that, "there are some people who can't be saved," does align with how she presented her view on the world during her first conversation with All Might. But going to the extreme that she does by telling Izuku to end him is just...inconsistent. Unless it's another "test", which doesn't really make sense at this point.

Shigaraki repeating that he's fine, he's not a little kid crying anymore, that he doesn't need saving...sounds familiar, no?

Kudou is still so interesting to me and I feel like we need to know more about him. There are a lot of parallels between him and Katsuki, most notable here, that they both changed their mind and made the decision to trust Izuku and accept his decision to save the villains. It is a little odd that the panels only show Katsuki instead of...you know, one of the many actual villains Izuku reached out a hand to.

Ohh?? Star and Stripe reference? Is New Order finally coming back into play?

"OFAを手放すんだ" <--Is it happening? Deku giving up OFA? It's sooner than I expected actually. And what's Kudou's secret plan?

[itsnothingofinterest]

So here’s a thought: with the twin revelations that a) the child Tenko inside AFO was Tomura, not Tomura’s inner child/innocence/what-have-you but was just Tomura, and b) that Tomura was planning to break out and regain control on his own the whole time; why was Tenko interested in Deku back when fighting Star and Stripe?

Because the previous understanding was the he was waiting for Deku to be the one to save him from AFO; but it’s now clear that was not the case. Not only was he breaking out himself, but his recent dialogue seems to indicate he still doesn’t have the highest opinion of Deku in the world.

Not the lowest in the world either, but he’s not looking at him as a prospective savior. He’s mostly treating him like just another hero, to the point of referring to him as “hero” in a derogatory fashion twice now. So what is his interest?

If I may propose the idea, when Deku almost got OFA stolen, he saw into Tomura’s mind and saw Tenko. Suppose the reverse was also true and Tomura saw deku’s past and origin too. If so, that might explain the interest.

Deku’s childhood certainly has a similar vibe to to most of the League’s backstories; not to mention a few direct parallels to Tenko’s. Ruthlessly bullied, looked down on for what makes him different, authority figures in his life just let it happen or dismissed his wishes, and lest we forget that one time one of his only “friends” told him to jump of a roof.

And outside his mom not supporting his dreams, none of that’s ever really affected him much; he did quite well to just brush the harassment and the failings of his authority figures aside. And now that he’s a hero and that’s all past him; it can often feel like he just kind of ignores all that trouble from his past.

I think that might draw Tomura’s attention. Though whether that be to learn from this attitude or to criticize it, I can’t yet say. Either’s possible. Could even be both.