Mha Critical - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
Where Hori went wrong with Bakugou
So, a day or two ago I saw an old reddit post quoting Hori explaining why he started to change Bakugou's character.
(I did't save it, because, 1, I don't really do that, and 2, even if I did... I don't actually attach things to my rants? I'm far too lazy to put the work in to try and do that. So.... My source is that I made it the F@#& up, I guess?)
The gist of it was that when Bakugou lost, he cried, right? That was... apparently a moment Hori realized he could have more depth? And basically, because of that realization, he decided he could give Bakugou more any development, and presumably from that point on decided to make him a more important character.
Alright, I... *sigh*
*deep breath*
Alright. Let's start with this:
Bakugou cried because he lost... and this was Hori's great sympathetic, 'I can fix him' moment? I just... I just... what? Why???
*recalls All Might going out of his way to comfort Bakugou and cheer him up, despite the murder attempt he had done a few minutes ago*
...Was he self-inserting in All Might at that moment then?
....
*deeper breath*
Alright.
So there's that. And beyond that... this is connected to something I mentioned before... I'm not sure Hori really knows how to make bad guys with sympathetic traits?
Like, he can make bad guys. And he can give characters sympathetic traits. But when he tries to do them both at the same time, it's like he can't balance the elements right, because he keeps ignoring a point:
Sympathetic character traits do not make a sympathetic character. But Hori seems to assume they do? So he always ends up making a bad guy, who does bad things, and acts in bad ways, but will have random moments where they act radically different for no apparent reason, and are often treated by people around them like they're not acting in horrifying ways all the time.
Because, like, if I spent my life, like... going out murdering people, but when I got home at the end of the day I was... really nice to my pet hamster Fluffles, or something, that's a sympathetic trait. But that doesn't make me a sympathetic person, because... you know, I'm still a serial killer, Fluffles or not.
The problem isn't that he tried to develop Bakugou, or that he wanted to give him traits against his current characterization, because, well, people are complicated. Everyone is complicated, everyone has depths to them.
The problem is he saw 1 (One) sympathetic trait (or, rather, 'sympathetic', because that moment was literally him just throwing a fit over losing, but OK, Hori, you do you), and instead of either, A, using that trait as a launching point to meaningfully change Bakugou's behavior, or B, keep Bakugou as the same character despite this extra information we received, with other characters acting the same way in response to him since they didn't have that information....
He made a radical third option: where Bakugou wouldn't change his behavior, and yet everyone changed how they treated him as if he had changed, and this is the point where things started to go to shit.
Because there were already concerning things with how Bakugou was being treated before this point, true, but it was.... contained. Manageable. His presence in the story made sense, if was over hyped, and how people treated him was somewhat in line with his actual behavior.
After this point? That started to change, and by the time we hit the Sports Festival, Bakugou was a 'new man' who somehow acted almost exactly the same as he did before, which was a theme that would continue to repeat for the rest of the series.
I saw your post about Black Whip and I wanted to get your opinion on something that to me, is so damn obvious, but maybe I am looking at it differently than others.
When Midoriya is explained how Black Whip works, why isn’t the first thing in his head is, “Hey, I should talk and pick at Tokoyami’s brain to get some insight from him on how to keep it under control!”? Because when Banjo explained Black Whip, my mind immediately went, “That’s literally Dark Shadow, just not sentient.”
And it would have been a perfect segway into Tokoyami possibly becoming a more defined character if he’s hanging around Midoriya and they chat and Izuku gets to know Tokoyami better. Because for the most part, Tokoyami is around Hawks a lot, but he acts a bit like a blind fanboy to him and we never explore Tokoyami more, it’s always about Hawks.
Then it could have started a trend. When Midoriya unlocks Float, then introduce Uraraka into the meetings. And both her and Tokoyami can replace Bakugou because he was absolutely useless and obnoxious in Midoriya’s “training”. And for the other quirks, Midoriya will gradually gain his own circle of trust with OFA and the stored quirks through their help of similar quirks or advice from other brainy students like Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Todoroki. Such as how All Might had his own circle that knew the actual truth about OFA when he was it’s wielder.
I don’t know, I just think Horikoshi squandered an opportunity to flesh a few more prominent characters and instead stuck to the boring, tedious BakuDeku scenes.
*tilts head*
That... that is actually a really good point? I never thought of it, probably because he wasn't really even a character at that point, but it makes a lot of sense.
Both of them are dark, shapeshifting energy, and both of them require self control... somehow. Not quite sure how that works for Tokoyami since they never really got into how he 'self controls' a separate entity, but, damn. This would have been a great way to get into it. I mean, hell, in the war arc Izuku uses Black Whip to get past his body's limitations by supporting himself and cushioning impact of OFA (which I'm... eh on), but that's really similar to how Tokoyami uses his Quirk later on in the story with Black Abyss. That being a collaboration idea between them is great character development, and makes these newer power ideas feel more organic than they are when a big fight rolls around and Character X deploys New Power Y seemingly out of nowhere.
And using that as a segway into introducing OFA to the rest of the class, rather than just finding out in a note (I mean, considering how disconnected all of that felt by that point, I'm kind of confused to why Izuku even told them at that point, you know?)? Using Izuku as the glue to bind 1A together (like he was implied to at one point, before they stopped being relevent)? That's honestly inspired, it really is.
So much of the drama thus far in the Final Arc is built around 1A, but they're so out of focus, so undeveloped, and such strangers that it makes it all fall flat...er. But if we get an arc or two of Izuku binding them all together, making them relevent again, then the stakes would feel that much bigger to us (and you know, we could avoid the Dark Deku arc all together, or at least make it feel more... anything, really. And less dumb.)
Hori squandering opportunities to waste them utterly, or drop some fraction of the idea on someone else isn't a new thing, but damn, now I'm really regretting this was never a thing.
What's your opinion on Izuku getting One for All? Like, I understand that part of the fandom doesn't like it, since he's quirkless, but for my point of view, I don't care about that, besides, I think One for All is important for Izuku, since he's the protagonist and I think it would be meaningless if he didn't receive the quirk, of course Izuku should continue to remember his past and such, but I think it's kind of silly for the fandom to criticize this, to be honest there are things that I think the fandom exaggerates in question of criticism. Plus I always imagine Izuku being Superman or SpiderMan.
I can see both sides of the argument.
I absolutely understand why some of the fandom takes issue with him being told, "You can only achieve your dream if you modify your body." It's hard not to label that as ableist. Horikoshi's execution of this certainly doesn't help.
But I think the problem at its root- that people who make this argument don't understand- is that heroism in MHA is a profession. It's easy to point out characters like Batman and Iron-Man because they've worked around not having powers. However, forgoing the fact that both are filthy rich, they aren't limited by regulations and standards (well, sometimes in Iron-Man's case, but Batman is a vigilante who literally works outside the law).
Heroes in MHA are bound by regulations, they adhere to a system. While there might not outright be a law that prohibits quirkless people from being heroes, that system is created to bolster power above all else. They didn't even let quirkless people into UA at all until Izuku was in middle school, not to mention the hero course.
So while I think Izuku could have been a capable hero without a quirk, it's a matter of the system not letting him become one. That's something no one- not All Might and especially not Inko- could have changed. The most Izuku could have become was an illegal vigilante. I feel like not enough people recognize that.
As for One For All, I actually like to compare Izuku to Captain America. The Super Soldier Serum simply enhanced what was already inside him. Good became great. Izuku wasn't just handed OFA, he earned it. So that someone good could become someone great.
The past users also had to choose whether to give him their quirks, which also reinforces that he had to earn their respect. He had to prove he was worthy of their power.
Earning One For All has always been about his heart, not his body
Horikoshi is a terrible writer
God, I wish I was kidding, these last couple of days I've been analyzing the whole damn manga and I finally understood where this guy is going with it and how it fails.
I'm going to make the post with spoilers and talk in random order about different things that he fail at, because honestly it's unthinkable to make an order in this manga chaos.
The League Without Goals:
I really can't understand how people look at this group and say "they have a plan" or "they're good antagonists" when neither of those things are true.
The league was founded by Tomura wanting to show the world that they live in a false peace, at first he wants to kill All Might for being the symbol that brought this false era of peace...
The claim is fair, I'm not going to lie to you, but after the Stain arc, instead of reflecting on how he can show the danger to society, he goes a step further and decides to destroy all the heroes, and the league "adopts" Stain's mentality with its new members.
You think it could improve, I mean, here they should tell us the reasons of the new members of the league about their mentality towards the heroes, but no, nothing, absolutely nothing.
Dabi introduces himself stating that he's there for Stain, Toga too, Spinner obviously too, but they don't reveal why they agree with Stain.
As time goes by we see glimpses of everyone's personality and past, and the first thing that comes to mind when I think back to the entire history of the villains, is that they don't have a group spirit here, in fact, not even a hint of personalities, Dabi and Toga are serial killers, Spinner is a mutant and Compress is a thief. Twice is a disturbed guy who lost his place in society by no longer being able to control his quirk, but he also has no qualms about kidnapping and killing children and god, Magne, Mudstard, Muscular and Moonfish are forgettable
The league's goal changes from "Show society the false peace" to "Let's do whatever we want" after the liberation army arc, here there is no direct reason, but Tenko says that he wants to destroy everything that breathes.
They show us their pasts but there is not really a more appropriate answer to "these people are crazy"
Spinner, who is the one with his head on his shoulders, should question why but he doesn't, He don't tell us what he wants to do other than "follow Shigaraki", and then in the final war they put him almost into a Nomu and leading an army of mutants without any plan of what to do when the world is his, there are no community plans, nothing, just find Kurogiri and destroy Japan.
Toga was deprived her entire life of living the way she wanted and she wants to do that, but when Twice dies she wonders if the heroes don't see her as a person when she can't even wonder why the heroes would see her that way, she kills people and animals without any shame and is plotting to destroy the world.
Dabi wants dad's attention, that's why he's going to destroy everything dad built including his mother and siblings, but he could go one by one, first Natsuo, then Fuyumi, then Rei, then the "Masterpiece" Shoto, or better yet, broadcast the video of Endeavor after the battle against High-End Hood, but instead he waits for the damn climax of the story to try to detonate himself. Not only could he have saved Twice and didn't, but he also has reasons to follow Stain but still sticks to "let's kill whoever gets in our way"... and that's it.
Tomura already came to this story in an extremist way and has reasons to hate society, at the beginning of the story I thought his motivation was going to be to reveal the imperfections of civilians and heroes, but his motivations grow to commit acts of terrorism to ACADEMY STUDENTS. And they are not even varied, it is the same academy and the same damn class
And when I thought that Horikoshi could not make it any emptier, AFO reveals that he always planned to take his body and orchestrated everything that happened to Tenko. AND THE WORST THING IS THAT HE DOESN'T EVEN REFLECT AFTER THAT, IF IT WERE UP TO HIM HE WOULD DESTROY EVERYTHING ANYWAY.
How do Hori expect me to feel bad about their defeats and deaths? They literally grew up in the opposite way to how they should have, and that's when I realized: Hori didn't want to give this group of clowns any redemption at any point.
Before you ask me "then why did Horikoshi make Midoriya, Uraraka and Shoto want to save them?"
No, here Horikoshi is writing 2 things, but he writes them so badly that the fandom interprets something totally different:
1-A hero is a human being, and villains born in their mistakes: The members of the league, if we look at their origins first, arise from the fault of people (not just heroes
Toga must be one of many who has their biology affected by their quirk, at no time do we have reference to the fact that there are specialized centers to help this type of people, because if that were the case, her parents would have accompanied their daughter in that way instead of repressing her.
Spinner is a mutant, so he hasn't grown up in a conventional way (as we're told, he was always alone). But that's the incomplete picture, being a mutant and following Stain's ideology, you add 2+2 and notice that Spinner suffered mistreatment even from heroes, but it's something he doesn't mention, and Horikoshi didn't delve into either his history or the mutant plot.
Dabi is the son of an arranged marriage (know how to differentiate it from a forced marriage) and that's already a lot to say, but his origin resonates with Stain's words about heroes only seeking fame and power. If the top heroes didn't exist or worked differently, things in the Todoroki family would have been different.
Tomura is the mark of an imperfect society, as his problems are not only his own, they come from generations ago. His grandmother left his father for adoption after his grandfather's death, and there is already a big red flag about the safety between heroes.
Then, his father grows up hating heroes because he never knew about the danger that his mother and he were in. And he hits his son every time he says the word "hero" just because he never knew how to properly deal with his father's death or his mother's abandonment.
And after what happened to his family, people look the other way hoping that a hero might appear, when that is not the job of a hero, it is something that everyone can do. Tomura marks the total and combined result of a society that has made heroes into nothing more than a service instead of people, while people simply go on with their lives.
Society in general after the dawn of power remains the same: discrimination, power and ignorance continue to be the daily life of people.
The biggest problem? is that Horikoshi shows us the league at first wanting to point out these injustices, but little by little they get to "let's destroy everything because Tomura is upset."
2- The origin of true heroes
The arcs that resonate the most with the soul of the manga are Uraraka and Hawks' arcs, two of which in my opinion are the best in the work
Uraraka enters the academy with the wrong intentions, but her heart is in the right place, she wants to help people and little by little she realizes something that many people ignore, that heroes and villains are also people.
Hawks is trained directly in the commission as a human weapon, but he does not fight against this because his desire is to be a hero, as he grows up between so much training and work, he realizes that despite being a hero, he is not allowed to be a person, and this is reflected in all the other heroes thanks to his phrase "I just want a world where heroes have free time"
Uraraka is the one who initiates the change to society by asking the civilians to let Midoriya rest in the academy, the civilians are scared but notice for the first time that the heroes are not in good shape either.
And they are not even heroes yet, they are children who still have the spirit to stand in front of the bullets when they should be crying for what happened, they lost teachers and classmates, in addition to being mutilated by people older than them.
In these epilogue chapters, civilians and heroes began to work shoulder to shoulder after this event and the battle in which Midoriya gave his all to prevent everything known from disappearing, and he succeeded by very little.
In chapter 429 we see a child who escaped from hell, and for the first time a civilian helps someone without having to request support from a hero, and it is the same woman who did not help Tenko years ago who still carries the guilt.
But what is the problem with this point?
Two small details, one being that Horikoshi isn't giving dialogue to those who started this change, and if he did, he did it incorrectly.
Uraraka feels bad for not being able to save someone who didn't want to be saved, when she doesn't reflect on how Toga got to that point of no return, or what made the heroes get to where they are now
Midoriya calms her down by telling her that she's his heroine (which isn't bad at all) but it's a very short dialogue for two characters who saw through all the flaws of this system and fight to change that same system for the better.
and Hawks is in a position to restructure the hero system for the better based on the things he knows, taking a correct step in creating a Top that is defined by the actions in the place of power... BUT YOU DIDN'T ELIMINATE THE OLD TOP? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
And now I know why he doesn't do it, because of someone who has taken up more than enough pages in this work, the damn Katsuki Bakugo, another damn symbol of the old society that glorifies power over heroic actions.
Horikoshi himself didn't know what to do with the character beyond the first tests arc and HE SHOWS IT, because it is so contradictory with this character and everything that surrounds him in a disgusting way and the fandom doesn't want to accept it.
He literally doesn't get any attention when he does wrong, when he attacked Kurogiri with Kirishima, when he acts arrogant at the sports festival, when he hits Midoriya at the final exams and verbally abuses him in front of everyone, when at the camp he ignores Mandalay's instructions.
There is only one consequence for him in the manga, ONE, AND THAT IS THAT HE FAILS AN EXAM AND THAT'S IT.
Then he has a nervous breakdown saying "it's my fault that All Might retired" when he doesn't reflect on the danger he put his teammates in or the way he acts.
Here everyone is useless when it comes to Bakugo; Aizawa lets him go with a pat on the arm when he tries to attack Midoriya, 13 should have reported Bakugo and Kirishima to the principal after Kurogiri, Aizawa justifies Bakugo's behavior to heroes who are obviously outraged by his attitude during the festival, All Might ignores that his disciple bled from a punch from Bakugo and also that Bakugo almost killed him in the team tests.
When he is kidnapped, no one points out that he disobeyed a direct instruction in an emergency like the camp, instead Aizawa grabs a microphone and says "He's a great hero."
And in the provisional license exams, the Commission should have intervened and called him to attention, or at least Aizawa, but NOTHING.
Horikoshi makes him absent for a couple of arcs and then Bakugo reappears at the cultural festival where he doesn't change a cent, he just plays the drums, then he passes the provisional exams making the minimum effort possible while Todoroki, Utsushimi and Yoarashi do all the work with the children, and he tells the leader of the children "don't be an idiot" and that's it.
Then the Endeavor arc, he sneaks into Midoriya and Todoroki's internships and disrespects half the world, again without consequences and his appearance in this arc is to justify the disaster of power increase in the next arcs, wasn't it that he had already mastered his quirk? wasn't he a prodigal?
Then there's the war and he only serves as a human shield, receiving a lethal wound and SURVIVING to then wake up in the hospital and ignore that everyone is injured or in mourning and start screaming.
Then in the Dark Deku arc he mocks Izuku who is at his lowest point and makes the emptiest apologies I've read in a manga, with an apology comes a change and HE doesn't change.
His death and resurrection is totally useless to the plot other than to nerf (not kill) Edgeshot, who turns from a paper man into a surgery man to repair his heart and vital organs that are shown to have EXPLODED BY SHIGARAKI'S PUNCH.
He gets up and fights All For One at his weakest point and eliminates him, which has no real value because AFO then possesses Shigaraki anyway. And to make this more regrettable Bakugo KILLS KUROGIRI WHO WAS ON HIS SIDE.
What makes me the most angry is that Izuku is losing OFA and HE IS THE ONE CRYING
At this last point Midoriya has already completely lost the spotlight because Horikoshi never tires of inflating the Gary Stu that is Bakugo. And God forbid Midoriya to do even a little of what Bakugo did.
Midoriya at the end of each arc has no recognition, in fact, the recognition that Horikoshi gives him is reduced as the arcs go by
The story started with Midoriya saying that this would be like him "he became the greatest hero" and in the last arc he changes it to "we all became the greatest heroes" and it doesn't feel like a true victory once they achieve it, because Midoriya is not even the shadow of what he was.
With Horikoshi's decision to preserve the previous Top of Heroes it is obvious that he will give it to Bakugo, it is a worthless title because it is not defined by heroism, but by statistics that come from power and solved cases.
and this last one ruins Endeavor's ending even more
Speaking of Endeavor, he doesn't have his family anymore, he already lost his position, he's disabled and his money won't be his anymore, since he's going to put it at the disposal of his children. I was wondering if Horikoshi would make him face something legally but with everything that's happened I think it would have been the same result, with him paying monthly damages to his family.
and his family, god, what a family.
Rei needed more introspection and perspective on the situation, especially with Shoto and Touya if she was going to be included in the final battle. And yes, she stays with Endeavor, good for some and bad for others, but I want to know what led her to that, Horikoshi didn't justify it.
Fuyumi was fired not because of Endeavor's abuse, but because of the things Touya did. Again, this information is useless without a proper explanation. What information do you want to leave me with, that she got a new job? Will she work at the UA library or what?
Natsuo will be a Kotaro 2.0 because of his attitude, and honestly I never really liked him, especially because he didn't put any energy into getting to know Shoto or trying to reconcile with Touya after the final battle.
Shoto... poor Shoto, it feels like he was orphaned after the last family talk. In fact it feels disconnected from the story since the Dark Deku arc.
Well, I only have to talk about Eraser, because I already pointed out everything, empty villains, Midoriya's lack of introspection, Bakugo Katsuki's superfluous character... and there's this incapable who must be Horikoshi's self-insert.
Shouta Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, underground hero and the worst teacher in the known universe.
This guy never knew what he did, and just like Horikoshi, he tipped the scales towards Bakugo in every situation he could. He forced his students to give their all, but he didn't help at any time in the evolution of their powers... WHILE HE WAS TRAINING SHINSO.
He's not a teacher, he's just a security measure in case a quirk gets out of control, nothing more, and he even does wrong, he ties up students with his capture weapon and attacks them with his quirk threatening expulsion in any situation that bothers him
Present Mic points this out and many other things but is continually silenced by Aizawa and the fandom, even worse
The Fandom ships them.
and since we're mentioning the fandom, this is one of the worst fandoms in the universe.
90% of them seem to have gotten the story wrong and don't have a cent of criticism towards Bakugo or the league, and don't value the moments of the manga in the proper way.
There can't be a second without them believing that this is Shoujo, because they focus on Bakugo and Deku in the same panel and take it completely out of context (a bad habit that Rukasu created by translating the leaks absolutely wrong on purpose).
Now everyone is angry with Horikoshi not because he wrote a story in the most absurd way possible, but because the league of assassins did not have a happy ending and they just discovered that this was never a shojo.
Horikoshi was right to fear that the manga would be cancelled, because he clearly excels at drawing, not writing. Now we're getting a fan-made Attack of Titan Requiem 2.0 of Bakugo and the league making this twenty times worse than it already was.
I've also noticed that there are some creative people who are writing arc by arc either on tumblr or ao3, which gives me some faith that this nightmare is bearable.
Well, I read opinions, but not from fans of Bakugo, BKDK or the League of Villains.
I need Bakugou stans to realise that it's not that I hate him as a person. It's that I hate him as a character.
A lot of my favourite characters are unrepentant assholes, or assholes who are set to or have already been redeemed. Vegeta from DBZ, Ouma Kokichi from DGR: V3, Dio from JoJo, Laxus from Fairy Tail, Greed from FMA: B, Bill from Gravity Falls, and the list that goes on.
If a character is a terrible person, that's fine by me. But if the author tries and fails to redeem them, yet still acts as though they are suddenly this amazing person, that's when I have an issue with it.
Bakugou was originally written to be a minor antagonist, and that would have been fine, if Horikoshi didn't suddenly go "I drew him crying so imma fix him".
Redemption is such a complex yet simple thing to do. So when you try to do it and fail spectacularly, um, yeah, I do not enjoy that character or your writing.
That is my main issue with Bakugou. I do not think he deserved any redemption, not because he's a bad person, but because there is nothing to convince me that he could change.
He gets one scene where he goes, "boohoo I lost and everyone is stronger than me" then cries, and that's supposed to be enough for him to become a better person? That is nowhere near enough.
There was no moment that made me believe he genuinely regretted and took accountability for the abuse he put Izuku through in middle school.
"He changed!" That's not my issue. I don't care that he's changed. I care that I don't believe in it. If there was a plausible reason as to why he changed, then I would be fine with it. Maybe I'd even enjoy him!
The fact that he's changed doesn't mean shit if it's not believable.
"That was in middle school!" Okay. This one pisses me off the most. That was a year pre-canon? Oh, wow, I guess that's completely fine! It's not as if characters are the way they are based on their past. Oh, Itachi killed the Uchiha clan before canon! Okay, maybe comparing a massacre to bullying is a bit unfair. Still, just because it happened a year ago, it doesn't mean it never happened. It doesn't mean that he's changed considerably.
"Izuku doesn't have any lasting damage and forgave him!" And? Just because your friend forgives their bully, it doesn't mean you have to forgive them. And, again, I do not believe Bakugou's apology was good in anyway. He was trash-talking Izuku, blaming All Might for Izuku's behaviour, and didn't accept any culpability for what he did to him. He didn't tell anyone else what he did to Izuku. Also, if Izuku really didn't have any lasting damage from the bullying, then why did Bakugou's apology make him calm down? If he didn't care about the bullying, then why is he so relieved by the apology? BECAUSE HE WAS AFFECTED.
"Bakugou was being abused!" ... NO HE WASN'T!! Mitsuki is not abusive. Yes, she hit him round the back of his head. After he threatened her. Anyone with Asian parents can tell you that her hit does not hurt. Not only is it somewhat normal in Asian families, but it also doesn't hurt. We have no evidence that she is abusive. Horikoshi knows how to set up abusive families, as seen with the Todorokis. This not that. Either way, even if she was, being abused doesn't mean it's okay to abuse others. You can hurt without hurting others.
"It's the school and teacher's fault!" No, it's not. Part of the fault lies with them enabling him, but Bakugou is already fifteen when the series starts. His mother clearly doesn't agree with his attitude. The school is only partially to blame. Bakugou should have learned by himself what is right and what is not. In fact, he clearly does know considering he doesn't want any of that stuff on his records in case U.A. rejects him.
Again. I don't care if he's a terrible person. I care that he's a terrible character.
So the next time someone says that I'm stuck in Season One, take a moment and think about what you're saying. Bad people in fiction are entertaining. Bad characters are not.
Do you feel Overhaul with his Yakuza and the Meta Liberation Army make better Villians then the LOV.
Also do you think they were more competent in their goals compared to the LOV.
Well let's look at each of them.
Overhaul wanted to get rid of quirks and bring the Yakuza back into power for the boss that he had put into a coma. He committed horrible crimes in pursuit of this goal, but he did successfully find a way to remove quirks from people under the power of his own organization.
So he was absolutely the most competent, and I wonder how he would act if he found out that Midoriya was originally quirkless. It also could've been really cool to see like, Looking to the Future(heroes and quirks) vs Living in the Past(No quirks and the golden age of the Yakuza)
The MLA were quirk-supremacy, might makes right, kind of people, and that's pretty much just the world's view at large taken to the extreme. The idea of the original founder wanting free quirk use in a time where everyone was terrified of them could've been a cool theme to explore, instead they folded to a group of exactly six people. Gigantomachia also showed up, but the end result would've been the same if he hadn't.
Incompetent. Maybe thematically interesting. Most of their leaders don't even have powerful quirks of their own, they're only in charge because of the influence/money they have. Automatically proving that their own philosophy of quirk supremacy is meaningless.
The League of Villains overall, just wanted to do whatever they want and be free from consequences. Shigaraki wants to destroy things. Dabi wants to kill Endeavor and whoever else he chooses. Toga wants people's blood(consent optional). Compress was just a thief that wanted to Robin Hood-style deal with corruption, and ended up not doing anything like that. Twice just wanted somewhere to be accepted, he's the exception. Spinner was a victim of discrimination that jumped in the first ideological extreme that popped out at him. Their individual goals all turn into "tear everything down and leave nothing(except maybe the stuff we like)."
The League was also pretty incompetent. Nearly all of their successes were built off of what All for One had built. Doctor Ujiko and the nomu, Gigantomachia, hell, even Kurogiri. The League didn't do shit by themselves, but somehow they were the main villains of the series.
UA Sports Festival Arc
I've been waiting to get my hands on this arc (this is a long one so be prepared).
Despite the USJ incident, the Sports Festival is still going on. However, Aizawa, Midnight, and Present Mic vehemently protest against broadcasting it nationally. They remind Nezu that the school is very clearly being targeted and that exposing the weaknesses of their students- especially their first years- is not a good idea. Nezu acknowledges their concerns and agrees, but tells them that the HPSC has demanded that the Sports Festival goes on as planned. That the country needs to be reassured that UA- and the hero world- is as strong as ever.
(Me trying to make UA a competent school be like-)
All Might stays quiet during the discussion, but internally realizes that security concerns never even crossed his mind. He wonders why that is and why his younger colleagues seemed to recognize that while he didn't. He's starting to realize that there's a lot that goes on around him that he fails to recognize.
(Deconstructing All Might's toxic ideals around heroism is a very important part of the story as they're usually perpetuated through him. He's the poster boy of toxic hero society even if that isn't his intention and he doesn't realize it. Changing All Might's way of thinking- especially because of the affect is has on Izuku- is very crucial)
In the days preparing for the Sports Festival, Izuku notices how focused Uraraka is. She's been quiet, scribbling in her notebook and not being as talkative. When he asks about it, she admits to him and Iida that she needs to succeed at UA and feels like she's behind compared to the two of them. Her parents have struggled financially all her life and becoming a hero is her only chance to do right by them. She knows that it isn't a selfless, noble goal but it's been important to her all her life.
Iida assures her that wanting to provide for her parents is a noble end goal. Izuku agrees, but begins to think about his own mother. He had always had everything he needed, but Izuku knew they didn't have much money to spare. Inko had wanted to move to get him out of Aldera due to the bullying she knew about, but it just wasn't possible. His father refused to send more money from America and she could only do so much on a seamstress' salary.
He never wanted to be a hero for monetary gain, but he would like to make his mom's life a little easier, if he could.
Lunch with All Might goes about the same (it's so wholesome). The one difference is that All Might asks Izuku about his relationship with Bakugou. Izuku wasn't expecting that question and stumbles over his words, answering that they're childhood friends. But when All Might points out that Bakugou seems to be very aggressive towards him, Izuku replies with, "That's just how Kacchan is."
All Might's concerns are not alleviated by this.
The school day ends with 1A being confronted by the other classes. Bakugou is being his usual self, but Uraraka- who has found herself growing more and more annoyed with his attitude- tells him to stop being such a jerk. This stuns Izuku, who has never seen Bakugou being called out directly. But before he can process what's happening, Iida agrees, reprimanding him for his unsportsmanlike and pretentious behavior. Yaoyorozu chimes in that his actions reflect on the rest of the class and calling people "extras" is childish and not befitting a hero.
(Izuku.exe has stopped working)
Bakugou is about to rage at the three of them. Kirishima, however, brings up that while Bakugou's attitude sucks, it's unmanly for the other classes to gawk at and gossip about them. The kid in the front of the crowd- a general department student- scoffs and says that he has the chance to take one of their places in the hero course. He declares war on their class and tells them to watch their backs.
(Oh Shinsou, as pleasant as ever)
A class 1B student is also there, remarking on how unimpressive 1A appears to be. He warns 1A not to embarrass them during the Sports Festival since the audience is mostly going to be looking at them.
(Monoma being a bastard as usual)
The first event of the Sports Festival and everything leading up to it goes relatively the same. Todoroki confronts Izuku in the locker room and Izuku maintains that he'll try his best. Because Bakugou came in first during the Entrance Exam, he confidently and seriously declares that he'll win, which continues to make 1A a target.
Izuku wins with Todoroki and Bakugou coming in second and third. I'm keeping this because it's one of the best moments of the Sports Festival (the only thing I'm changing is Mineta on Yaoyorozu's back). And it sets up the Third Event well. I don't feel the need to change the Cavalry Battle that much either. I thought about having Monoma's team win instead of Shinsou's, but decided against it.
I'm also having Yaoyorozu confirm with Midnight before listening to Kaminari and Mineta about the cheerleading uniforms. She tells them that no, of course that's not a requirement for the female participants. Yaoyorozu, silently furious, scolds Kaminari and Mineta and tells them that she's reproting them to Aizawa.
Battle Tournament: Round 1
Round one basically goes the same. Except, I do have a few minor changes and one big change.
Izuku Midoriya vs Hitoshi Shinsou: I was going to change this fight, but then I realized that the OFA users snapping Izuku out of Shinsou's control was the first contact he made with the OFA users. And that's preeettty important. So I'm only changing it slightly.
Instead of OFA breaking Izuku's finger, a voice intervened before Izuku can snap at Shinsou. It's a woman's voice, reminding him of what Ojiro said and warning him not to lose his head.
She tells him that his quick thinking and ability to stay calm under pressure is one of his most valuable abilities. She tells him that keeping a level head in every situation is important. So Izuku, despite being upset as Shinsou's taunting of Ojiro, easily knocks him out of the ring.
(Nana gets scolded by the other users for intervening so soon. But she shrugs and defends that he was doing so well and just needed a little nudge in the right direction. Izuku reminds her so much of Toshinori- who she misses immeasurably- that it's hard not to get attached)
Izuku is snapped at by Shinsou, who accuses Izuku of having it easy because of his quirk. He assumes that Izuku had it easy his whole life and doesn't know what it's like to be outcast and labeled.
Izuku, who understands more than Shinsou could ever know, simply smiles. It's both kind and heartbreaking, which shocks Shinsou to his core. Izuku thanks Shinsou for the fight and tells him he can't wait to see him in the hero course one day.
Shinsou doesn't know why, but he gets the feeling that Midoriya does understand. But he doesn't know how that could be possible.
Momo Yaoyorozu vs Fumikage Tokoyami: This fight doesn't change much, but I thought I would get into Yaoyorozu's head a little here. Her entire life, she was the smart one. The one with the plan. She thought that she could face anything as long as she was smart and careful. It had worked all her life. It impressed her teachers, it made her parents proud. How could it not?
But for some reason, it never occurred to her that sometimes, she wouldn't have time for a plan. She was completely thrown off by Tokoyami's relentless assault. He didn't give her time to think or process, just kept dealing blow after blow that she couldn't counter in time.
Yaoyorozu was forced out of the ring. And she had never felt the sting of failure until that moment.
Ochako Uraraka vs Katsuki Bakugou: Uraraka has... a plan.
She distracts Bakugou as best she can. Using the smoke from his explosions, she attempts to attack him from all angles, diverting his attention from her real attack. She knows that it's risky and even a little foolish, but she has to try.
All this time, she's watched her classmates push themselves and give their all. That's something she's never done in her life. She can't be left behind, she has people counting on her. She has to succeed.
But much to her dismay, Bakugou figured out her plan. He blows up every bit of rock she had sent into the air, crushing any hopes of victory with it. Uraraka falls to the ground in dismay, fighting off tears. She's exhausted and hopeless and knows that she's going to lose. So why bother? She can't beat Bakugou.
She's been on the ground for too long. Midnight starts counting down.
5... 4...
Bakugou advances, telling her that she knew she would lose and that she should have quit earlier. He stands right in front of her, ready to deal the final blow and ring her out.
3... 2...
But something about his words make Uraraka angry. She's seen how he talks down to people. She's seen how he treats everyone as below him. She's seen how he targets Izuku who never fights back or defends himself. And she knows he's been looking down on her this whole fight.
And she's sick of it.
1-
In a fit of rage, Uraraka's arm shoots out and she grabs Bakugou's ankle. Making him weightless, she flips him over her shoulder and towards the edge of the ring. Bakugou, completely thrown off since he assumed she was defeated, falls to the ground.
Ochako Uraraka wins.
This was so, so satisfying to write this y'all don't even know. I told you guys that Uraraka's underdog story was coming. Idk what Aizawa's on about, but trying to say that Bakugou didn't look down on her was BULLSHIT. He literally told her she should have given up. So I thought, what better way to have her beat him than to use his own arrogance against him?
Every other round one fight stays the same.
Humiliated and angry, Bakugou confronts Izuku after the fight. He, through tears, accuses Izuku of telling Uraraka to fake him out and is upset that Izuku would use his weakness against him. But Izuku firmly tells him that Uraraka refused any help from him and that she won completely on her own. Bakugou doesn't believe him and tries to attack him, only for Iida to intervene and tell him to back off.
Izuku, who's never had someone stand up for him against Bakugou, is extremely touched, but also guilty when Bakugou runs away. He hadn't wanted to upset him, but he was telling the truth. He'd had nothing to do with Uraraka's victory.
And he wasn't going to stop himself from being happy for her.
Battle Tournament, Round 2:
Izuku Midoriya vs Shoto Todoroki: This fight goes relatively the same. The only thing I would change is that Izuku tells Shoto he's free to be his own hero and that what Endeavor wants doesn't matter. He encourages Shoto to reclaim his fire for himself. That's essentially what he does say in canon, but apparently Izuku haters need everything spelled out for them (eyeroll).
He loses this round, but he's not upset by it. He's just glad he could help Todoroki.
Toshinori is both proud and incredulous. Proud because Izuku helped his classmate. Incredulous because it had cost him his win. Nevertheless, Young Midoriya has impressed him greatly. This calls for a treat after the Sports Festival!
Ochako Uraraka vs Eijiro Kirishima: You know, at first I thought that Kirishima would be the winner of this fight. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Uraraka could easily win. Kirishima can't fight without touching her, which immediately gives her the advantage.
It's hard to touch Kirishima with all give of her fingers due to his quirk and attempts to rush her out of the ring, but Uraraka isn't giving up. She's determined to push herself as much as she can. Grabbing hold of his jagged flesh, she makes him weightless and kicks him square in his chest. This is enough to push him out of the ring.
Because she actually likes Kirishima, Uraraka apologizes profusely. But Kirishima is completely impressed and admires her manliness. Uraraka isn't sure how to take that, but thanks him anyway.
All the other fights stay the same.
Battle Tournament: Round 3
Ochako Uraraka vs Fumikage Tokoyami: Unfortunately, Uraraka is unable to effect Dark Shadow with her quirk. It's solid, but it seems to be able to regulate its own mass with negates her quirk's functionality.
However, she doesn't allow the fight to end quickly. She holds off against Tokoyami, dodging his attacks and targeting his body. She's able to kick his feet out from under him and gain the upper hand for a split second.
(Yaoyorozu watches enviously from the audience. How could Uraraka do that and not her? What was she missing?)
But while she did that, she momentarily forgot about Dark Shadow. It wraps around her and while she struggles futilely, it gently places her outside of the ring. Uraraka was disappointed to lose after coming so far, but she was met with an admiring smile from Izuku as she joins him in the audience. He commends her for getting so far and tells her she did a really good job. Uraraka blushes and compliments his performance back.
They sit back and watch together as Iida loses to Todoroki. He joins them in the stands as they offer apologies, but Iida waves them off with a smile. His phone rings and he goes to answer it.
Izuku and Uraraka don't see him again for the rest of the event.
Battle Tournament: Round 3
Shoto Todoroki vs Fumikage Tokoyami: Even though Todoroki doesn't feel the same disdain towards his left side, he still hesitates to use his fire. It still came from Endeavor, no matter how much he wishes he could reclaim it as his own like Izuku advised him to.
He thinks that maybe someday he could manage to use it without seeing it as what drove him mother away. But for now, he's unable to stand bringing the heat to his palm. It burns, even though it realistically shouldn't.
Tokoyami is thankful that Todoroki doesn't use his fire. If he had, then he might have negated Dark Shadow resulting in his victory. But because Shoto is exhausted from his earlier display of power against Sero, it gives Tokoyami the upper hand. He's able to maneuver Dark Shadow around Todoroki's defenses of ice and slam it into him.
Todoroki gets knocked away and falls outside the ring. He collapses from the emotional and physical toll and passes out.
Fumikage Tokoyami has won the Sports Festival.
FINAL RESULTS:
1st Place - Fumikage Tokoyami
2nd Place - Shoto Todoroki
3rd Place - Ochako Uraraka & Tenya Iida
All Might hands out the medals to the winners, though Iida is suspiciously absent. Izuku is happy for his friends, though he wishes he could have performed a little better. But he's cheered up by a call to his mom, who's simultaneously worried about and proud of him.
Izuku knows his mom loves him and knows that she would do anything for him. But to hear those words from her in support of his dream... It breaks something in him. He starts crying, thanking her and quickly hanging up.
He's so glad to hear those words from his mother, but he can't help but wish he had gotten those words of encouragement from her sooner.
Notes:
Of course it's right after I say I was struggling with this arc that it all comes to me. Idk, rewriting Hawks got me motivated
I seriously debated having Uraraka beat Bakugou. I wondered if it was even possible at this point. But the more I thought about it, the more I realize she didn't have to overpower him. Bakugou's biggest weakness is his ego. All she had to do was target that. My original plan was to have Bakugou lose to Todoroki but you know what? Fuck that, this is Uraraka's underdog story
So the thing with Izuku vs Shinsou. I did think that OFA breaking his fingers out of nowhere was... dumb. Like, it just came out of nowhere to get Izuku out of that situation. I think the OFA users gently guiding him throughout the story before revealing themselves makes a lot more sense. Also, I love Nana
I actually do think Tokoyami could have beaten Todoroki at this point. Tokoyami had relatively easy fights before this. He only lost to Bakugou in canon because Bakugou had an inherent advantage. Todoroki not using his fire + him using all his energy against Sero and Izuku means that the fight was in Tokoyami's favor
I intentionally didn't give Iida a lot of focus because all of his major characterization is being saved for Stain
There was no glazing from Aizawa or booing from the heroes in the Uraraka vs Bakugou fight. Both were dumb and plot manipulation in canon
You wanna know who the #1 beneficiary of the tech power creep is in this series? Momo. One thing this mech suit shows is that Momo totally wasted her time trying to beat people with sticks. The idea of trying to create items in a battle as a form of problem solving is stupid, or at best, should be done as a last resort. Her power was always meant for technology. That's the true power in this world. She should have been trying to be Ironman. You know how All Might spent his fortune on the suit, and that was meant to be a limiting factor as to why this tech can't be widely used? Well, guess who has the ability to generate materials with no cost. Even the idea of her inventions requiring studying to make things more complex stops holding water when you look at the torture device she tried to strap Midoriya into during Class A vs Deku. She made that in an instant and it posed an immediate threat. What could she make if she wasn't trying to do it during stressful battles with enemies right in front of her? So, her limiting factor really is her ability to study advanced concepts and have people explain them to her, and most importantly, what an author is willing to let her do. The path forward for her was always to pay people smarter and more educated than her to invent things and then she can have them explain it to her so she can recreate it. If her family had paid the cost to design that Iron Might suit, then she'd pay it. Once. And then be able to use the schematics to create as many of them as she wants. Or better yet, make killer robots except use the tech inside of the suit. Create an entire army of them so she never has to be in any sort of danger at all. Control them remotely. UA has been shown to have advanced AI robots who have personalities. Said bots have enough restraint to never kill any of the kids in the sports festival or entrance exam. This could be used for hero work. This also gets into what a valuable resource Mei Hatsume is and how if you wanted Momo to be a god, you could just have them meet in middle school. Mei just has to design a working device, once, and then Momo can study it and forever use it. What could she come up with, if the idea was that Momo would hide somewhere, perhaps in an APC, while she uses drones and robots to fight at a distance? Energy/food costs for her also aren't a concern. She's clearly able to output more energy than she takes in, given she can create cannons and things that weigh more than her. So she could use up all of her lipids creating a dead meat cube that contains as many calories as she's capable of packing into an object, then eat it. And repeat this process as needed.
This is definitely interesting.
Momo absolutely has the potential to be the most OP in the series. Horikoshi originally wanted to give her quirk to a pro but recognized that someone experienced would nerf the entire story.
I don't necessarily think that making things for problem-solving is the issue; I think it's way more that Horikoshi just didn't have the creativity for it. Like you said the entrapment device she made during 1A vs Izuku was maybe her most effective creation. Instead of disinfectant, imagine she made poison gas and simply knocked Kendo and the other 1B students out (not sure if she can create chemical reactions, but she could theoretically cause one by using components right).
I doubt she would be comfortable doing next to nothing as a hero. I do wish we knew her motivations, but relying purely on her money while doing minimal work doesn't paint a great picture for her. I like that in canon she doesn't rely on her status or wealth for hero work, she relies on her intelligence.
Momo should be an underground hero. She could be the equivalent of Batman (no this isn't my love for Batman over Iron-Man talking), strategizing and having any gadget she needs at her disposal. I would love to see more tech incorporated into her work as a hero. I also wouldn't mind the bo staff if she was allowed to actually use it like a bo staff (seriously she barely does anything with it what's the point of giving it to her. Nah give my girl a sword and let her cut people)
Tokoyami: (Blatantly insults Bakugou)
Bakugou: (Angry at the disrespect) You don’t have a filter, do ya, Bird Boy?
Tokoyami: Actually, I do. (Points behind him) HE, however…(Dark Shadow is smirking wickedly at Bakugou)
Iida and Tokoyami are so funny because you know neither one of them can stand Bakugou's ass but Iida will hold his tongue for Izuku's sake and Tokoyami will openly insult Bakugou for Izuku's sake
with the latest episodes of mha, can I just say I do not care for toga at all. yes, her backstory is tragic and her parents were awful but at some point she had to realize she was also part of the problem. people aren't scared of her because she likes blood, people fear her because she lacks boundaries and enjoys killing people.
imagine being izuku and having someone you met a total of three times(training camp, the provisional exam, and the shie hassaikai raid), and all three times included her attacking you, declare her love for you in the midst of a war. this complete stranger who has only tried to hurt you just drags you from your spot, ending in preventable deaths/injuries, to ask you to be her boyfriend. of course he thinks she's crazy. that is crazy.
i saw someone saying that toga was an example of queer romance, since her love isn't accepted by society. that's so stupid. i'm sorry. toga's idea of love is stabbing people, painting them in their own blood, obsessing over people who don't know her and when they rightfully freak out at her advances, she takes it as a personal attack against her.
maybe try not stabbing people and visit a blood bank
But NOBODY wants to have that conversation…
since toga's form of love/expressing love is drinking blood, when she does it against people's wishes isn't that SA? is she really going around assaulting people and complaining that she's demonized because nobody likes how she shows love? do you realize how messed up that is? 'her parents abused her' 'she's traumatized' 'she's an allegory for queerness' she's forcing herself and her 'love' onto other people regardless of how they feel about it. regardless of if they want it or not.
if she were a male character, she'd be seen for what she truly is; a rapist.
Man, I think I might be the only one saying this: most of the LOV is nothing but a waste. Their potential to show that they are victims of hero society? Its there, but as the series goes on, they become nothing more than the bad guys turned terrorists.
Were they captured and repented for their crimes? Nope, aside from Spinner, Dabi, and...maybe Mr. Compress? Most of them died without facing the consequences. (Not counting Magne because she died early on)
Shigeraki loses his autonomy as a character during the final fight and gets replaced with AFO. Not only that, but AFO was manipulating his life from the start. Really dude? So what we saw from Shigeraki's downfall was all because of AFO? Really dude? What a way to kill off any sentiment I had for Shigeraki.
Toga...I don't feel bad for this girl. She shows no remorse for the shit she has done yet wants other people to understand her "love?" Her love is not only twisted as fuck, but wrong on so many levels! You don't get to have a break down because both Midoriya and Uraraka disagree with you! Stop playing victim!
Spinner was okay up until the very end. He said Shigeraki was his hero and even praising him. Dude, you were second-guessing yourself multiple times while in league, yet you stayed out of loyalty. He should have bailed when he had the chance, or even better, acknowledged what he has done. But nope! Let's make him sing songs about Shigeraki and have him blame Izuku for killing his "hero." Pathetic.
Dabi was cool, up until the Paranormal Liberation arc. There, he turned into a psychopathic man child with daddy issues. The creator was sooo close with Dabi, he even made Dabi expose his father's crimes to the public. Why did he have to lose his character as a result of his exposure? Was it really that hard to keep him collected? Good god.
The only LOV villain that was well written in my eyes was Twice. I legitimately felt bad for the guy. His backstory, personality, and his motives struck a core with me. Just wanting to be accepted for who I am and wanting to be useful to others, it's so damn relatable. Truly a shame that he was killed.
What a damn waste of antagonists to such a fun series.
Funny you mentioned Mic calling out Aizawa's behavior because Mic seems to be a representation of the audience calling out the plot holes in the story.
Isn't it a bit that weird after Mic starts calling these plot holes out, he was pushed to the sidelines? While he was still a side character in the beginning, he was a lot more prominent and appeared a lot more often than later on in the series.
As much as I hate the last chapter of MHA, it did give us Izuku calling out Aizawa on his complete lack of cleaning up Bakugou's act, which I think is beautiful (even if Aizawa ignored and deflected as per usual).
On one hand, this is funny as fuck. Aizawa does get called out at some points and it's always great when it happens.
But on the other hand, it's actually kind of annoying. This seems to me that not only is Horikoshi aware of how much Bakugou didn't change, he's also aware that Aizawa is a bad teacher.
Which, to be honest, I feel like he's always known that. Hell, he even has Mic say it in the Sports Festival. But one thing I've noticed is that Horikoshi will point these things out and just... Never do anything about them. Like, he can't ever be bothered.
To have Izuku be the one to call these things out at the very last minute feels... almost cruel. Like Izuku knows that Bakugou is still terrible. And he knows that Aizawa enabled him. But he's just... Resigned himself to it. Just like he resigned himself to losing OFA and not receiving the same praise as everyone else.
Izuku is always just made to accept the things around him and it's honestly really sad