Chisaki Kai And Yuko!

Chisaki Kai and Yuko!

Chapter 14 of Villain Arc is out!

Finally you understand why the villains redemption arcs feel unearned.

Please don’t insult me. I’ve understood it for a looonngggg time. It’s why I’ve always hated the character of Izuku Midoriya; it’s why I’ve ranted about Heroes again and again. I’ve never understood the decision to make Deku a foil to Shigaraki (2019); he has never been the kind and ‘desire to save that surpasses all common understanding’ that the manga liked to talk about (2019). It had never been acknowledge as a flaw and never addressed or developed. He’s barely thought about the ‘whys’ of saving a Villains as a Hero and when he does, it’s a forced psychic connection (2021). The story doesn’t work because Deku hasn’t put any single consideration into the flaws of Hero Society that would allow him to understand the Villains as the products of this society and it’s his duty as a government-sponsored law enforcer to give a fuck (2021). I’ve complained about the kids too, because all of them are the same (2022).

From a thematic perspective, the Heroes have utterly failed. They wanna save the Villains because the plot requires them too, not because they worked hard to come to this decision. I admit I’ve been solely focusing on that and not the character-centered aspect of the characters meditating this, in which it’s also lacking because, once again, the plot requires them to suddenly develop an awareness to move the plot along and not because of any internal journey. But that ties into the former, because they should’ve incorporated both of these elements into the one conviction to save.

It’s not that the Villains haven’t demonstrated enough sympathy to be deemed ‘worthy of being saved’. It’s that they should be helped even if someone believes they’re undeserving - and the story needed to be more convincing of this when it resolved to have Deku save Shigaraki.

The Villains have earned their role in the story. The heroes? not so much. I’ve held out for a long time to believe that Hero Society should consider Villains loathsome - but when we’ve got Tartarus guards calling Villains ‘beasts in human skin’, it really shows the gaping crack they’ve contributed to create the conditions for Villains to be made.

It’s a tough sell to readers that Heroes should care about the Villains, I get that; but that is what the story should’ve achieved in order to match it’s message and themes.

“Finally”? I’ve understood it in the meta, story-efficiency sense since before Deku even had he’s first thought of “Gee, Shigaraki looked like he needed saving :( Why did I never consider that he had once been a child who probably went through hell to develop such despair.” I foresaw this outcome, and I still resent it. If you’ve bothered to exert even an once of reading comprehension when reading my posts, you would’ve realized. ‘Finally’. Yes, indeed, I see that so far we’ve been forced to accept protagonist-centered morality and even then it was unconvincing.

Hojo: what time is it?

Setsuno: idk, give me a moment

Setsuno: *starts to play the tuba*

Chisaki: WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE TUBA AT 2 IN THE MORNING??

Setsuno: it's 2am

I’m just saying the Hassaikai-

Toga Himiko and Yuko!!

Villain Arc, Chapter 13

I’m really not sure where the idea came from that Izuku telling Overhaul to maybe try and remember that he hurt Eri just as much as Pops, yet not calling out Endeavor for his abuse is somehow inconsistent writing. As if these aren’t totally different situations.

Of course Izuku’s going to bring up Eri to Overhaul, when at that moment his only concern was his father figure. Overhaul had completely forgotten about her and when Izuku brought her up, Overhaul immediately started thinking about what she could do for him, not what he had put her through, showing that he still saw her as a tool, not a little girl.

By why doesn’t he bring up Endeavor’s abuse? 

Idk, maybe because even if it’s not in the way some people feel is genuine, Endeavor does admit that he hurt his family. Endeavor doesn’t have to be told “hey, what about these people you’re forgetting you hurt?” because he’s already freely admitted he’s hurt them. Even if he’s not going about helping them in a satisfactory way for some readers, he’s still making an effort and the story acknowledges that.  

So why would Izuku bring it up again? Endeavor would just agree with him. 

Plus Eri is, A) not there B) a very young child and C) so scared of Overhaul she probably couldn’t be in the same room as him let alone express how much he hurt her. She needs others to stand up for her. 

Before Endeavor started to change and he was calling Shoto a tool to Izuku’s face, Izuku did stand up to him. He told him that Shoto wasn’t him, which was what he needed to hear and about the most damming thing Izuku could have said to him at that point.  

Now, Endeavor is trying to change, and more then that the family feels safe in telling him off themselves. Shoto doesn’t need Izuku to stand up for him when he’s more then capable of telling his dad what he needs from him and what sort of actions he’d like Endeavor to take to atone to him personally. Natsu is incredibly outspoken about how Endeavor hurt him, Touya and the family–he doesn’t need a sixteen-year-old stranger to speak for him. And Izuku has seen first hand Endeavor except that criticism and listen to it.

So again is it really inconsistent that Izuku would tell one man that doesn’t even remember one of the main people he hurt, that maybe he should feel bad about what he did, but not confront a different man who admits to the hurt he caused? Especially when the people that man hurt have shown they are more then capable of standing up to that man themselves?  

I really don’t see it as inconsistent or Izuku seeing Overhaul as more abusive then Endeavor, or brushing Endeavor’s abuse under the rug. It’s just that the situation is completely different, so why would he treat them the same? It be really odd for him to demand Endeavor feel bad about what he’s done, when Izuku has seen that Endeavor already feels bad. And past that Izuku can’t really tell Endeavor what to do because moving forward that should be decided by his victims, who are more then willing to make those demands for themselves.