#ngl I can see it being hard to maintain this parallel in English

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

Katsuki's Danger Sense

I've seen a lot of people talking about this line, so I wanted to mention, fun fact: the Japanese line in the anime is identical to chapter 293's script, and there's something pretty special about it.

Katsuki says, 「死地での危機感」 (shichi de no kikikan)

The subtitle in the anime screencap is more or less a literal translation. Shichi is nearly certain death, an incredibly dangerous place you might not come back from--its kanji is literally "death ground," as in the dirt you're gonna die on. Kikikan is a sense of danger or impending crisis.

Caleb Cook, the official translator for MHA English releases, chose to translate this line with the poetic English term, "on death's door," which I think is a great choice. This line is really visceral and vivid, and he did well capturing that.

But! There is a secret parallel I don't think Cook noticed.

Because the word Katsuki uses here, 危機感, is also part of the Japanese name for the Fourth's Quirk, Danger Sense!

Two chapters later, in chapter 295, Izuku realizes AFO mocking Katsuki's sacrifice triggered Danger Sense.

The Quirk is called 「危機感知」 (kikikanchi). The first two kanji, 危機 (kiki) mean danger or crisis; the second two, 感知 (kanchi), mean perception. These two words are nouns all by themselves, but 知 itself is also a word meaning knowledge or wisdom. To put it simply, this phrase can be interpreted as kiki kanchi or kikikan chi.

We see Katsuki think kikikan to himself while remembering his sacrifice for Izuku, and then two chapters later we see Izuku, also thinking to himself, say that the Quirk's name is kikikanchi.

To me, this parallel frames Danger Sense as literal knowledge that Izuku gains from Katsuki acting instantaneously to save him. And by extension, that kind of makes you think Katsuki's instinctive, just-in-the-nick-of-time rescue of Izuku was only possible because of some invisible bond between them.

Katsuki experiences kikikan and through that he saves Izuku; as a result, Izuku now experiences kikikan--the sense of impending danger.

There are theories out there that Izuku and Katsuki's bond is so strong that One For All--the Quirk that connects people's hearts--acts upon both their bodies, and that it may even be harnessed by both of them at once.

I'm just saying, the subtext is there.