#dkbkdk brain rot

[rowanwithaz]

The importance of self love in BNHA

Bnha has themes of forgiveness,redemption,friendship,and love (not just romantic! Platonic and family love too),but I think one of the most important aspects of the series is the lesson of self love and self acceptance. The first characters I think of when I say this are Toga and Katsuki,but it's very apparent in a lot of the characters and their development.

Katsuki's journey of self worth:

Katsuki's arc of self acceptance is something I've talked about before,but I think it's important to bring up self love just as much. Because,obviously,Katsuki hated himself in the beginning of the series. Like most bullies insecurity was the biggest reason behind his mistreatment of others. (This doesn't excuse or justify those actions though! It's an explanation,not an excuse) But,he's come a long way from this,he's grown to see other's worth and his OWN. I think one of the most underrated Katsuki moments is in chapter 358 (it's probably because he died a couple chapters after this that it wasn't as talked about as much)

Katsuki himself knows he's different,he understands that he's grown to be better. He's accepted himself. And he doesn't HATE accepting himself,if anything he's proud of it. This is where self love comes into play. Obviously Katsuki's been on a rather difficult journey in accepting his weakness/shortcomings,but with chapter 404 that's when I feel we start seeing the real,100% authentic,Katsuki.

Since Katsuki saved All Might he's been able to accept himself,love him self. And this is IMPORTANT. With Ochako's goal to show how heroes/villains are humans and need to be treated as such,that they deserve love and support,self love would be important,because Katsuki isn't just accepting himself as a hero,but as a person.

Hand Hold:

This is one of the reasons the hand hold between Izuku and Katsuki is SO important. Izuku doesn't think of himself as a human,he's so selfless that it's a negative trait for him. When Katsuki and Izuku have the hand hold in the movie,it's Katsuki taking Izuku's lead,to SAVE to win,this hand hold would be Izuku following Katsuki's lead to seeing himself as human,accepting himself,and loving himself. If we think of the past chapters and when it brings up Katsuki,Izuku is following his lead.

When previously Katsuki was following Izuku's lead. That's why 'save to win' is so important. They're two halves of one whole. They embody the extreme of both sides of the heroic spectrum. One of them wants to win,the other wants to save,and they're the strongest when they do both. The only time they're even stronger than that is when they're working together. This wraps up BOTH of their character arcs. Since Katsuki first started his self loathing when a quirkless Izuku reached out to him,and to completely accept his weakness and past,he has to take quirkless Izuku's hand.

And for Izuku to feel comfort and support as a human,to feel self love,and to see himself as more than a hero but as he has to take the hand of the person closest to him. Katsuki's hand. (Not my words,Afo/shiggy said it!)

Ochako's Hero Journey:

Ochako started being a hero for monetary gain,since she grew up poor and wanted to help her parents. But,she's matured and grown up a lot since then (NOT SAYING WANTING TO HELP YOUR PARENTS IS CHILDISH,I'M JUST SAYING SHE HAS MORE PERSPECTIVE NOW) and now she wants to save/protect the heroes and the villains,to show their humanity. (Which is such a beautiful message that gets overlooked for Ochako's character a lot).

But,of course,Ochako isn't only teaching self love,she's learning it. I feel her crush on Izuku made her want to be selfless,just like him,but she realized Izuku was a HUMAN,not just hero Deku,and she wanted to save him. She admired Izuku so much she felt she had to be like him,which of course she ended up hurting herself because of.

I feel her falling out of love with Izuku shows how much she's become her OWN person and hero,which is what I think Horikoshi's approach was when writing her. Unlike the usual female character who's only important because she's a love interest (in shonen most of the time),Ochako has proven herself as a hero,not just a love interest. Which,instead of being in love with Izuku,she has self love. Now,Toga! Her being in love with Toga is important to the concept of self love as well. Since they're supposed to parallel one another,Ochako falling in love with a villain,someone she wants to protect and save,this is Ochako's hero story,and Toga completes this for her.

With Toga saving Ochako looking like a mix of them is showing Toga's love for Ochako,and vice versa,so it's them loving themselves,accepting themselves.

Toga calling back to the whole "I'm weird" is them both accepting themselves and each other. I mean,their whole fight was about talking about and accepting their feelings. About loving themselves and each other.

These four really show the arc of self love and acceptance that makes this story so GOOD. I also feel this is why so many queer people enjoy Bnha and resonate with these characters.