Not to sound too inflammatory, but how the HELL did Horikoshi write Bakugou vs Izuku 2 the way he did and think that's good writing?

This was supposed to be Bakugou's #BigMoment where he stops being a bully to Izuku and instead becomes his rival. This is supposed to be where he starts to actually develop past his abusive egoist (Hori's words, not mine) personality and realize that he's not the main character and needs to get his head out of his ass.

Instead of getting that, we get this utter hot mess where Bakugou is once again put on a pedestal over Izuku, and Izuku's the one having to make nice with him because of course he is.

To outline, Bakugou up to this point has:

Mercilessly bullied Izuku for 10+ years for being Quirkless, while simultaneously acting offended that Izuku never told him about OFA during the QAT

Was an ungrateful asshole to Izuku after he tried saving him from the Sludge Villain

Attempted to torture him and nearly killed him during the Battle Trials

Nearly got Thirteen killed when he ruined her plan to subdue Kurogiri at the USJ

Toyed with Ochako during the Sports Festival

Accossted an unconcious Todoroki during the Sports Festival, which got both him and UA immense public backlash

Was an ungrateful, aggressive asshole to Best Jeanist both in and out of public to the point where Best Jeanist remarks on Bakugou's complete lack of growth

Backhanded Izuku and outright said he'd rather fail his final exam rather than work with Izuku

Deliberately disobeyed orders to run back to camp and instead ran straight for the villains (twice!)

Had to be reminded over and over again to not use his Quirk due to collateral damage reasons (not that he understands or cares about that, but whatever)

Was an ungrateful asshole to All Might and the tean during the entire Kamino Ward mission

Failed the Provisional License Exam due to his horrible attitude towards civilians

You'd think that with how complex and three-dimensional we're supposed to believe Bakugou is, he'd realize that the public and his mother have a point in regards to his attitude. You'd think that he'd reflect on his behavior and realize that heroes SHOULDN'T act like this, especially as someone who's such an All Might fanboy (gag).

Similarly, you'd think that UA would realize that even if it's solely for PR's sake, they need to crack down on Bakugou's behavior and stop enabling him at the expense of Izuku and everyone else. It's already landed Aizawa and his teaching in hot water, since it makes it look like he couldn't care less about his behavior (which he proceeds to confirm is indeed the case). Should Bakugou vs Izuku 2 still happen, All Might could have given Bakugou a reality check and told him that:

OFA is none of his business

Bakugou doesn't have the attitude All Might wants in a successor

His bullying of Izuku is awful and needs to stop effective immediately

All Bakugou is doing is making himself and UA look bad with his attitude

Bakugou can get people - including himself - hurt and/or killed with his attitude and actions

Crying and pitching a fit about it isn't going to change anything

Have Bakugou and only Bakugou punished since he not only started the fight, he wouldn't let Izuku leave

But nope. We get this instead:

Bakugou coerces Izuku into breaking curfew

Bakugou demands to know why he failed his exam while Izuku passed his

Bakugou demands to know about OFA and why Izuku didn't stay inferior to him like he was "supposed to"

Bakugou then segways into his whiny proclamation that he made All Might retire

Bakugou then makes Izuku fight him

Bakugou pitches a fit to All Might about not being chosen to weild OFA and cries like a toddler being denied candy at the checkout line... leading to All Might COMFORTING HIM and leaving Izuku by the wayside

Aizawa proceeds to not even TRY to get the full story and Bakugou gets house arrest, but Izuku does as well which negates the whole fucking point

How the HELL is any of this good writing? How the HELL is any of this positive character development for everybody involved? All it does is further show that a) Hori really wishes Bakugou was the main character, b) Bakugou is a walking talking example of why Tell Don't Show never works, and c) everyone else's characterization suffers because of this.

Me when I'm in a getting screwed over by Horikoshi contest and my opponent is any of these characters:

Or, you know, anyone else who isn't Bakugou

Ah fuck it Changes I would make to mha if god came down, pt 2

Fuyumi Todoroki should have been a hero and the more I think about this the more I will die on this hill. A) there's a severe lack of important female heroes and while Fuyumi is a side character I would have her take Endeavwhore's place in almost ALL of the times they fight Touya, both to give her more presence and because Touya being 'taken down' in any capacity by his abuser kind of sickens me. B) I want Enji a lot less present in the Todoroki plot than he currently is, even if he still gets some kind of a redemption. Fuyumi being a hero could both take his role physically and ALSO would give Shouto an actual reason for wanting to be a hero. C) I've always wondered like... why exactly Shouto would continue wanting to be a hero as he distanced himself from his father. His admiration for All Might doesn't seem like a good enough reason if his entire life has just been so isolated to only a few people and the major presence in his life his is abusive father who he's only ever seen misuse the power he has as a hero for his own gain. Fuyumi being a hero would actually give Shouto another hero role model to look up to, another reason to only use his ice, and give him a CONTINUED reason to want to be a hero. D) Also, Fuyumi's supposed to represent the 'fawn' response to abuse, and so her actively trying to do exactly what her dad wants and make a hero of herself and STILL be overlooked and discarded by him could really hammer in how Endeavwhore doesn't actually give a shit about any of his kids, even if they do what he wants; unless they're strong enough to beat All Might *with fire* like he wants he doesn't care.

I'm changing the entire entrance exam. It emphasizes entirely the wrong thing - killing things - above what heroes are actually supposed to focus on: saving people. If your hero school and society puts such an emphasis on 'taking down the bad guy' as opposed to saving people as heroes are supposed to do, that should actually be a point of discussion. That said, even if hero society still emphasizes defeating villains and looking cool for the camera above saving civilians, I'm changing it anyway:

Paper portion is the same as we get very little detail on it. My only change is UA students are tested on three foreign languages as well: English, Chinese, and Korean. They're expected to have a high level in all of them, mainly to add emphasis on just how hard UA is to get into (1 in 300 acceptance rate is fucking INSANE)

Practical portion!! This is completely revamped. Instead of the robots, current UA students are used as stand in civilians during a villain attack in a simulated urban area (a la the canon exam). There's only one giant robot, a few smaller ones, and the zero pointer. Students are put into groups of ten and are tasked with working together to rescue as many people as possible and take down as many villains as possible. Villain points are still emphasized over rescue points (which can now be gained from rescuing civilians and taking down the zero pointer, though very few do the latter), and the UA students are given pathways under the simulated area they can escape to if need be for safety. The practical feels more well rounded and realistic this way.

Also, this gives Shinsou an actual reason to be pissy about not getting into the hero course; the reason he got so few points in the practical was because as soon as the other people in his group found out about his quirk they refused to work with him, tanking his chances of almost any villain points (the mini villains are also robots). It also actually shows discrimination against people with 'villainous quirks' in hero society, something Horikoshi bought up but conveniently forgot about.

Kaminari doesn't have Whey Mode, it's a huge weakness and it's insane no one ever takes it seriously because of how big a safety risk it is for him. He can give himself nerve damage or kill himself if he uses his power too intensely, yes, but that's it.

Iida Tensi actually dies after being attacked by Stain.

Inko Midoriya is told about One for All and All Might's identity. She deserves to be in the know and it gives both All Might and Izuku another person for their support systems; she's the main character's only parent and yet she's so uninvolved in everything. It's disappointing. She would get more of a chance to voice her worries to both Izuku and Yagi, and she and Yagi could actually develop a friendship, which in all honestly Yagi really needs.

Momo is Class President and Tenya is Vice President.

Also like... Momo actually gets a chance to show off how powerful and strategic she is before we see her weaknesses hurt her. She's one of the most potentially powerful character in the fucking show die to her ability to literally create anything and yet we barely see what she's capable of before she is functionally rendered useless due to the author's inability to write female characters. I do like her arc about how her insecurities can get the best of her in the worst times and overcoming it but I want to expand on that. I want several scenes of her being academically and physically fantastic, top of her class, winning spars and overall seeming like the perfect up and coming hero, and THEN in the Sports festival, where she's one of the last few players, that's when we see her freeze up for the first time when one of her plans goes completely out of wack. And then, later (bc I'm putting the first villain arc as the Stain arc so USJ happens after that) when they're attacked for the first time, totally unprepared, she freezes up again and is saved by Jirou. This establishes her weakness - when she's in a situation she hasn't planned for or can't control she freezes up and that gets the best of her. Her arc is then learning how to better improvise in the heat of things (possibly becoming closer friends with Midoriya due to his ability to do exactly this) which she gets to show off during the Final Exams.

Also GIVE NEJIRE MORE PLOT TIME. Her, Mirio and Amajiki are meant to be a TRIO. I want her to get just as many fight scenes and emotional scenes as the other two, and let her be an inspiration to some of her younger classmates as well who also may have less conventionally strong Quirks, like Uraraka or Hagakure!!

Speaking of which: let Ochako be overpowered god damn it. Gravity manipulation is ALWAYS op (just look at Chuuya from BSD) and yet Ochako's never allowed to be just as powerful as she really should be. She has the potential to be one of the strongest characters in the series - she could basically neutralize as many hits or weapons as she could touch, could crush people into the ground with gravity, make herself or other people faster by making their feet lighter, or any other number of things but we never get to SEE IT!!

Also Ochako's foil is now Twice and Hawks kills Toga instead. I love both of them but Twice is unquestionably the more interesting character between the two from a narrative stand point and makes a very good foil to Ochako.

Hawks should have been used as a scapegoat for the Commission. From the beginning we've seen how he was basically brainwashed and conditioned to see everything they did as right; yet even when given chances to go against them that people in situations like his did take he continued looking up to them and supporting their actions. Like maybe after Dabi released the video of him killing Twice; the Commission uses him as a way to be like "hey, see!! We're the good guys!! He's the bad one so he's gone now!" Hawks killed for them and believed in them till his end and his reward would be either dead or as good as, a scapegoat for a mission they gave him. A tragedy of his own making, because he had chances to step away from them but chose not to. It would also be used to show how while the Meta Liberation Front aren't the good guys... well, neither are the HPSC. Like, at all.

Nana Shimura was a vigilante not a legal hero

And I've reached post character limit. Damn

The All Might Bashing both in canon and fanon will never NOT piss me off.

Is All Might a man with flaws? Yes. Has he made some dumb and horrible decisions? Yes he has. But that doesn't mean he deserves to be demonized for it!

The show LOVES to point and pin blame on All Might when it's convenient! Like Aizawa saying he's playing favorites with Izuku or Bakugou saying that it was ALL MIGHT'S fault for Izuku's low self esteem!

Meanwhile the show LOVES to place Aizawa on a pedestal and brush off any flaws or red flags he has! Praising him to be the Einstein of Japan as he knows how to teach kids on how to be mini adults!

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

All of this. All Might has made some horrible decisions and has made mistakes but, unlike Aizawa, he has learnt from them.

All Might vows to do and has tried his best every step of this story whereas Aizawa has never tried his best or admitted, out loud, that he was wrong.

All Might has things he can be critiqued for yet it is easy to see that he is well meaning and wants to do better. Unlike Aizawa, who can come across downright malicious and cruel at times and has shown no willingness to change.

So, Canon upholding Aizawa as the Einstien of Japan while penalizing All Might for every little mistake is horrible to see.

Fanon goes one step further in Dadzawa and AM bashing fics - usually turning Aizawa into 'Dadzawa' a gruff yet caring teacher who isn't cruel in the slightest and Yagi into 'Hell-Might' an awful, quirkist and cruel bigot that only shares a name with his canon counterpart. (Canon!All Might would likely want to deck the bastardised fanon! version of him 'Hell-Might' in the face, but I digress.)

It makes you wonder if these Authors are just twisting the characters to fit their story (which is fine, they can write whatever they want) or if they truly are interpreting Aizawa and All Might this way...

If it's the latter, they need to reread canon instead of the many Dadzawa and AM bashing fics that are out there because All Might deserves better treatment than this.

People be like "horikoshi is a bad writer" because the manga has character dynamics they don't like? Like someone just said that Horikoshi is a bad writer because Izuku idolizes All Might too much...

Y'all someone isn't a bad writer because they don't emotionally interpret THEIR OWN characters the way you do. Bad writing is inconsistencies and poor worldbuilding and making it difficult to suspend disbelief.

"Horikoshi is a bad writer because Bakugou is favoured by teachers when he shouldn't be" that's not Horikoshi being a bad writer btw. That's him setting up a character's social surroundings and situation, much in the way they happen in real life- in unpredictable, often "unfair" ways.

"Horikoshi is a bad writer because he focuses on Bkg and Izu while stronger characters like Denki or Star and Stripe are wasted/ignored/killed off" actually that's called having a protagonist and a deuteragonist.

I literally saw someone calling Horikoshi a bad writer because he doesn't treat his MC "professionally". Literally, it's unprofessional because Izuku has to lose his quirk/maybe die/maybe lose an arm/not have the ending y'all's wanted. UNPROFESSIONAL. An author doing what he wants with HIS STORY and HIS MC is unprofessional now???

Like fr I get it. If he loses OFA I'll be devastated. But that doesn't make Horikoshi a bad writer. If anything, it makes a damn good one for being able to affect his audience in this way.

Horikoshi is not a bad writer because he doesn't do what YOU personally want with the characters and plot. Do you hate Bakugou? Well, then he's doing a damn good job writing an antagonistic character. Do you think All Might is a terrible teacher? That is DELIBERATE.

Very spicy salty and lengthy rant incoming. This is part 1 of 2, focusing on All Might (with Izuku and Katsuki), while part 2 will focus more on Ochako and the 1A reunion. I’m trying to help myself feel better about how deeply I dislike the “Dark Deku” and Star & Stripe arcs because I need to excise the real-life anxiety I’m feeling over this coming up in the anime. IMO, these arcs did not age well at all, and are absolutely no better in light of the ~35 subsequent chapters. It’s just that the subsequent chapters feel more cohesive and well thought-out despite Horikoshi’s physical pain and burnout.

While I’m not emotional over fictional characters, it is true that these arcs have impacted the fandom; namely, many people who were fans of All Might, Aizawa, Midnight, Mic, and the overall UA vibe dropped out. I get that sense from some LOV fans too. Overall, it means far fewer fics and art pieces with my blorbos, and it’s also meant far less interaction with my blog. (I don’t give a damn about “engagement” or followers, but I like talking about my hyperfixation with others who share it!). Obviously the story has to change as the series end draws near, but spending SO much time with Endeavor, Hawks, and Jeanist has worn me out, even if I think Horikoshi is handling Endeavor’s character growth well. (FWIW, I’m utterly disinterested in “Hawks the Optimist” who inexplicably became the expert on how OFA works, and Jeanist is…well…you know…a male model.)

Aside from everyone’s basic rant about how Horikoshi introduced two hot middle-aged women only to more or less fridge them (after killing Midnight!), my real complaint in this post is that the Dark Deku & Star arcs made a complete mess of All Might’s character arc and in-universe relationships. Don’t get me wrong — Chapter 326 with Stain seemed like something Horikoshi had planned since the early days of the manga, and that one hit HARD. But the rest felt like an improvisation. It’s horribly inconsistent on (1) when All Might speaks up and when he can’t bring himself to talk, and (2) how his relationship with 1A is handled compared to Star.

When it comes to All Might’s failure to speak up, it feels like Horikoshi was nerfing All Might and reducing what we know the former No.1 is capable of doing. I mean, in Chapter TWO he stops Izuku from overdoing his training. After Kamino, All Might helps Izuku develop Shoot Style by telling Izuku point blank that he’s trying too hard to imitate his mentor. In the Overhaul/Nighteye arc, All Might refuses to support Izuku’s desire to take on a work study because he thinks it unnecessarily exposes Izuku to villain activity AND Izuku needs to strengthen his Shoot Style first. (The awkwardness with Nighteye is his third reason.) When Izuku persuades him about getting stronger under Nighteye’s guidance, All Might carefully asks himself if Izuku is being impatient just because Izuku is his successor before agreeing to let Mirio do the introduction. When Izuku confronts All Might over Nighteye’s prophecy, All Might makes SURE Izuku is ready to hear an uncomfortable truth and then proceeds to tell him everything. In the next arc, All Might encourages Izuku to use whatever support items he needs, even though All Might always chose to fight with just his body. All Might is protective of Katsuki and Shoto too — when they want to jump out of the taxi and fight the Cider House gang, he tries to get them to slow down and “assess the situation first.” In all these situations, All Might can’t physically stop his students (and is usually on the losing end of the argument, as happens with argumentative teenagers™️), but he uses his voice to speak up and make his opinion known.

At the beginning of Dark Deku, things are looking okay. All Might gives up on the secrecy that defined him early on and tells Hawks and Jeanist everything when he realizes secrets didn’t keep people safe. That’s good, I think, but he didn’t seem to consult Izuku about it. Based on context clues, and how All Might initially wanted Izuku to stay at UA (again, he spoke up!) I think his motivation was to recruit the pro heroes to protect Izuku at the hospital and at UA. It sort of makes sense he would move fast and wouldn’t ask Izuku’s permission to do that…but in front of Inko after Izuku wakes up, All Might DOES ask Izuku’s permission to tell her. A minor inconsistency, but all right. It’s made clear All Might is worried sick about Izuku, warning him not to go overboard (once more speaking up!). Hawks even picks up on All Might’s hesitation, telling him that Izuku has the right strategy and it’s on All Might to keep the kid propped up. All Might does not look pleased about this as he looks up in the sky towards Izuku.

In helping Izuku, All Might fends off assassins and talks about how Izuku’s idolization of him weighs on him. It’s not just that he promised Inko he would live and look out for Izuku; he’s acutely aware his boy is just like him in ways good and bad.

Yet when All Might sees Izuku struggle and he begins to see why Nighteye wanted him to retire, he can’t bring himself to talk to Izuku. Even though he understands Izuku’s feelings, he just can’t say a word. You would think seeing Izuku get shot, or barely escaping AFO’s mansion explosion, would prompt a conversation. But no, he says nothing. (Then again, nobody seems to remember Izuku was shot; no mention in the bath scene either.)

At the same time, we see Nighteye pop up in All Might’s thoughts, but we don’t see All Might struggling with telling Izuku what Nighteye told him (that is, we have no idea if All Might still feels violated in some way by Nighteye’s actions). We also don’t see All Might worrying about Izuku realizing the Symbol of Peace was just a human being. All Might isn’t trying to keep up Izuku’s hope by hiding the real burden of being the symbol (besides, didn’t he pull back that curtain in, oh, CHAPTER ONE???) We aren’t given any solid motivation or thematic through line — he simply procrastinated on what he knew he had to do for an unsatisfying hodgepodge of invasive thoughts. That is inconsistent with the All Might we know.

Before anyone comes at me, All Might not telling Izuku about Nighteye’s prophecy is very different. In that situation, All Might honestly did not think Izuku needed to know because knowing would put MORE pressure on Izuku than necessary. In Dark Deku, it’s the opposite, and All Might knows talking to Izuku could help relieve pressure.

I understand this is supposed to be All Might’s low point to lead into the Stain conversation. All Might is supposed to feel like “doing his best” didn’t prevent society’s downfall and didn’t stop his boy from repeating his mistakes. But…it feels like Horikoshi tied his tongue because that’s what needed to happen for plot reasons, and Horikoshi just wanted it to happen quickly. We still don’t have a good character reason why. Would it have been so unbelievable that Izuku, in his panicked state, brushes off All Might’s advice to rest? Or would that “break” Izuku’s idolization of All Might in a way that Horikoshi is still saving for the finale, where Izuku finally becomes his own hero without imitating All Might at all? I don’t have an answer, but it feels like we still could have had the same basic story beats without the bizarre characterization.

The strangeness of All Might staying quiet also makes Katsuki’s argument to Endeavor in Chapter 319 feel funny to me. Katsuki is spot on that Izuku doesn’t take himself into account and All Might does the same thing. While Katsuki understands far better than Izuku that All Might is human, Katsuki doesn’t consider how protective All Might can be of Izuku. Katsuki doesn’t see (or understand, perhaps?) how All Might doesn’t want anyone else to be a Symbol of Peace the same way he was. Maybe that’s part of Katsuki’s idolization issues? Post-362, with Katsuki seeing All Might’s vestige and showing him the trading card, I think Katsuki never let himself appreciate that he had the former #1 in his corner, or that a person can, in fact, use their willpower to become a symbol that inspires a nation. Not to sound like Prince Harry in “Spare,” but maybe there’s also a tinge of lingering resentment over feeling left behind? There’s just something about Katsuki screaming to Endeavor, of all people, that you can’t leave Izuku and All Might alone together when Endeavor knows Izuku has already ditched All Might AND Endeavor and Hawks have already realized they’re “too slow” compared to Izuku. Of course it’s Hawks — who was saying Izuku made the right choice like Second and, uh, AFO — to announce that Izuku left All Might. There’s also Shoto yelling about how Endeavor “let them operate together,” but it’s not like Endeavor has enough credibility to control either Izuku or All Might.

How does a #2 protect their #1 when they’re too slow? Can you ever “run alongside” someone whose power vastly outpaces yours, or is idolization all you can do? I think these are fascinating thematic questions, and Dark Deku makes a mess of them.

These problems compound in the reunion chapter, 327, which is really cute when it comes to the bath scene and the 1A kids, but is inexplicably confounding when it comes to All Might + the kids. Izuku clearly calls All Might multiple times to reconnect, but the man doesn’t pick up his phone. (I think we’re supposed to assume All Might is talking to Stain when Izuku calls, but…he couldn’t use the Hercules speech-to-text feature to tell the kid he’s driving over?) Then All Might just happens to show up at UA as Izuku talks about him, and gives Izuku a deep bow while saying sorry “for being of so little help.” He says nothing aloud about how he feels towards Izuku, and nothing aloud about being proud of 1A (though he basically thinks that in this chapter and again in 335). When Mina asks for an apology because he just disappeared post-war and left 1A with the Wild Wild Pussycats, he briefly says he’s sorry for any anxiety he caused, but quickly pivots to the need to prepare for “the battle that will decide it all.”

Like the Stain conversation, I understand that this is supposed to be All Might stepping up and figuring out his place in the world post-retirement. He’s realized he passed the torch to Izuku and 1A, but that doesn’t mean he’s useless. He wants to join the fight with the kids; to catch up and run alongside them. And to do that, he….ditches them to join Tsukauchi and Endeavor. I do appreciate that All Might is open with Tsukauchi (and Sansa!!!) about his OFA experience. But he basically disappears from UA for two days to deal with Star and TomurAFO before coming back in 335 and then seemingly disappearing again before joining the UA faculty to discuss the Aoyamas. (As pictured above, Ochako and Tenya, then Katsuki, all rightfully call out All Might’s “I am not here” act in 335.) Are you really telling me that the man who cries over Aoyama’s reveal isn’t emotionally attached to the class and wouldn’t, you know, BE HERE for them?

What makes All Might’s absence from 1A even more problematic is that now he’s…Star’s mentor??? See, All Might sends out the call for help from his international super friends and Star comes riding in acting like she’s his successor. Chapter 364 later reinforces this, with Agpar’s monologue about “children observing adults and adults supporting the children as they pass it forward” showing a Prime All Might reach out out his hand to Star. It’s stupid because All Might has a direct successor already, plus two students (Katsuki and Shoto) that are direct heirs to other parts of his legacy, and another group of students that he’s been hands-on teaching for the past year. But Horikoshi decides to ignore all that setup and focus on “All Might + Star” rather than have him spend more time with 1A. Once again, if the point is to introduce thematic questions of inspiration and imitation, and how there’s a difference between someone imitating their idol based on their own interpretation vs actually receiving mentorship from the human behind the idol, it’s utterly lost in the execution. I just can’t bring myself to see Star as anything other than an interloper. I’m glad her pilot bros stayed in Japan to help out, and her sacrifice was heroic I suppose, but it suffered the same flaw as All Might. She tried to take on TomurAFO alone, and the best she could do is slow him down temporarily.

That’s all I can manage for now! In part 2, I’ll take a closer look at Ochako and the chain that leads to Izuku’s retrieval and where we are now.

Snagged this screenshot off of twitter, who got it from Reddit. I have to say I understand why this person has this impression—and that although that was not Horikoshi’s intention in writing All Might & Bakugou’s relationship, that was unfortunately the impression it gave off to many people, including me.

Majority of the time we see AM & Bakugou interacting it’s in relation to Izuku. The only times I can think of where AM does something of note directly “for” Bakugou’s benefit is when he consoled Bakugou following the Camino Ward incident and when he was driving Todoroki and Bakugou to and from their provisional license classes. Basically every other major interaction between them involves Izuku in someway. The OFA meetings, the trainings, even that pep talk he gives the two of them following DKvK2 involves Izuku and the both of them becoming the best heroes together. I think at some point early on he even admits that they both build each other up…? Meaning he accepts/understands that keeping Bakugou around Izuku guarantees the improvement/growth of his mentee.

I don’t think you’ll die if you admit that this is true, because I largely think this is Horikoshi sort of doing that thing where he fails to “look at the bigger picture” when it comes to his writing. I find he does this a lot. He wants to create an impression of one thing, but fails to set the pieces together to support it. As it stands, Bakugou & AM have a pretty detached relationship. I’m sure AM cares about Bakugou, but probably the same amount he cares about 1-A—which is to say not all that much based on what we’re shown… The truth is the relationships between AM & 1-A (excluding Izuku) simply haven’t been built enough for the audience to truly invest any emotions into them.

Saw the tags on the Toshinori post and do you have more to share?? Any insights? If so I’d welcome hearing them 😭 He really is so self-sacrificial and it hurts but it’s truly at the core of who he is

This has been sitting in my inbox for almost a week because I needed to make a futile effort at organizing my thoughts into something coherent--but this is as organized as they're going to get for now! Thank you so so much for the ask though bc I do love to yell about MHA <3

(Obligatory reminder that I'm watching this show in such a confusing order so if what I'm about to rant about has been addressed before and I'm harping on it unnecessarily I Am Sorry.)

(For anyone curious, this is the post btw)

SO. It feels relevant to mention that my sister and I were talking about All Might in the first place because we were talking about MHA Moments That Haunt Us. For me, it's the 'I am not here' sign hanging around the neck of the All Might statue in Kamino Ward after the Paranormal Liberation War. It literally lives in my brain rent-free 24/7 365 days a year, especially with the AM vs AFO fight being relatively fresh in my mind. The reversal of All Might's catchphrase and all it represents hurts, but to display it at the site of his 'last stand' in Kamino? That's brutal.

All Might vs All For One and how that rematch plays out is so so important to the story for so many reasons, but one of them is that the fight itself is a sacrifice. Toshinori gives everything he has, short of his life, to defeat All For One. He gives up his physical strength, his public image as the unbeatable Symbol of Peace, and, effectively his Quirk ("Goodbye, All For One. Goodbye, One For All" haunts my every waking moment, still!)

This battle is also the culmination of years of All Might's life and heroic philosophy (because Toshinori has been both practicing AND preaching self-sacrifice in the name of the greater good since we met him. It's what he thinks a hero does). Kamino is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, if you will. Yes, he does get to walk away from the fight with AFO, but he walks away irrevocably different, almost unrecognizable. He's forced to totally change his focus and his mindset and his life. Everything he has given up is made literally visible in the deterioration of his body.

But most most importantly, All Might's sacrifice at Kamino was... all for nothing. Even if AM defeated him in that moment, All For One is free less than a year later. The world is in shambles. People are afraid, and their faith in heroes is crumbling. Heroes are afraid, and this time, they have no idealized symbol to rally behind. When Dostoevsky wrote "Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing," he was talking about All Might btw.

Toshinori gave this fight (and his career, and being All Might) everything he had, and it still wasn't enough. He sacrificed so much of himself, and so much of how he perceived himself and his purpose, and he didn't even save the world. He just bought them time--and not much of it. I think that's why he's so desperate to keep fighting, no matter the cost, no matter what condition he's in--even 'quite literally half-dead.' He can't let Kamino be the Symbol of Peace's final stand, because Kamino was ultimately for nothing. Instead of saving the world, it has been reframed through the sign on the statue as All Might abandoning the world. And ever since then, he's been scrambling to prove that he is still here.

(There's also probably something here about Sir Nighteye telling him that he was going to die. Since Nighteye used his Quirk on him, Toshinori has been anticipating sacrificing his life for good. Knowing that his entire hero career is effectively a fight to the death has probably maximized his self-sacrificial tendencies.)

Reading mha fanfics and I gotta say some of yall don't really understand why all might refused midoriya at first and how aizawa would have done the same. I come across too many fics that bash all might for what he said and make aizawa someone who would have accepted midoriya. Let's get this straight:

We are told in the very first line of mha that people aren't created equal. This isn't a story about how you can still make it in a very dangerous field without having powers feel good type of story. It's about unfairness. It's about the reality that there will be things that are too dangerous for you if you don't process certain traits or skills. Going up against ppl with powerful quirks as someone without one is the number 1 way to die or become a victim that then needs saving.

This is what aizawa drills into midoriya's head the first time he meets him. So why would this man tell a quirkless midoriya that he can be a hero? He's realistic and blunt. He would tell him that he wouldn't get very far. He would have said the same thing all might said. All might even tells midoriya that there are other ways to be heroes and he isn't wrong!

After the sludge villain incident, all might changes his mind because he says a hero's soul in midoriya. Aizawa? He would be wary. He would also see that midoriya has a hero's heart but you know what happens in the incident? He helps bakugo and becomes someone who also needs to be saved. This is the exact thing aizawa warns midoriya about. He would acknowledge that izuku is a hero but reckless. He might even admit that izuku is someone who will continue getting intro trouble by throwing himself into fights to help people but recognize that it would get him killed. Would he then offer training to him? Idk. Realistically? Probably not but maybe he would have a word with inko about her sons recklessness.

I also see inko being made to look bad by not encouraging izuku's dream. What mother would encourage her child's dangerous dream?? Izuku is already a target for being quirkless, imagine he goes up against literal villains? The fact that she wanted to pull him from UA is realistic and understandable. This is her child who has had countless near death experiences, who's now a target!

All that to say is that horikoshi writes his adults as responsible (to a degree) yet fanon makes them irresponsible. None of these 3 in good conscience would have sent izuku to his guaranteed death. And I need yall to understand this cuz not all of you tag your inko or all might bashing in ur fics and too many of yall get aizawa wrong.

Also last thing I wanna mention is that I know there are fics where izuku becomes a quirkless hero. Those are fun! And I would understand his discontent against the adults in his life for not supporting him but fans need to understand it and adults izuku would def understand it given, like I said, his first words are: not everyone is created equal. So make your batman/fanon tim drake type midoriya izuku fics but keep canon characterizations in mind or please please tag properly 🙏

During the vigilante arc when Izuku abandoned All might, I lowkey wanted Izuku to separate from all might for a little bit longer. It would have been effective if he did some more self reflection and realised that he was the one who lit that fire in Izuku and encouraged his self-sacrificial nature + constantly letting him break his limbs. It just seemed that he “reunited” with Izuku all of a sudden with unresolved issues and he left without saying what he really wanted.

Toga, Ochako, Admiration, and Imitation - A Five Part Saga

Part l — Where Does Imitation Stem From?

Part ll — We Are The Same

Part lll — Stepping Into Your Own (It All Comes Back To Them — Part l) (you are here)

Part lV — Stepping Into Your Own (It All Comes Back To Them Part ll)

Part V — From Bakugou to Deku to Ochako to Toga

Stepping Into Your Own (It All Comes Back To Them) Part l

In the last part, we left off on Ochako’s worldview crumbling a bit due to seeing Toga cry, and after that altercation she’s doing her best to save the civilians who were trapped under the debris and destruction that the villains caused.

During this, she sees a hero lose their morale, and starts questioning his choice to be a hero.

Here, her worldview is crumbled even more. She’s covered in the blood of the civilians, and despite her giving her all to save them, other heroes do not have that resolve. At some point it becomes too much — the destruction, the civilians, CHILDREN, crying in agony for their loved ones. It can break a hero.

And then the final nail in the coffin — Deku leaving UA.

Once again, she sees a hero going off in order to save others despite the pain they’re in. After seeing a hero literally quit, and now someone she admires greatly as a hero putting his feelings aside once again and doing everything in his power to protect everyone, the question comes up — who saves the heroes when they’re in pain?

So now we reach Deku’s retrieval arc, where Ochako is no longer messing around. She’s determined and focused to bring Deku back. She’s not holding back from saving because Deku may not want it like with Bakugou’s kidnapping. She’s here as his friend, and most importantly a hero, to help him return to UA.

Ochako’s reaction to Bakugou’s apology/speech is what’s most interesting here. During Bakugou’s apology/speech, he does three things:

1. He acknowledges his rejection of Izuku out of a rejection of his own feelings of inadequacy, and through being faced with Izuku’s strengths and his weaknesses, he’s come to define, understand, and accept those feelings — and in turn, apologize to Izuku for his rejection/bullying of him

2. He tells Izuku that there isn’t anything wrong with the path he’s going down through his admiration/imitation of Allmight in order to save everyone, but those ideals of winning (alone) in order to save isn’t enough to get him over the wall he’s facing. It’s about winning together and saving each other in the process, because saving everyone, including Izuku, is how they win. It shows his growth as a hero, as they are supposed to be two halves of what makes up Allmight. If Izuku is going to win to save right now, then Bakugou’s gonna save to win right beside him. Their hero dreams are intertwined with one another’s — uniquely their own but also the same.

3. The use of the name Izuku. Him using his name humanizes him. After seeing in the war how “the Deku who does his best!” nickname became something that Izuku took to the extreme (From Bakugou’s POV, it became “the Deku who breaks himself constantly in order to prove his worth as not useless”), his use of Izuku is important. It acknowledges the Izuku WITHOUT A QUIRK to be a hero, simply because of who he is, as above Bakugou who once thought heroism was all about the outside strength. It values Izuku as a person to save, along with the rest of the civilians and their classmates.

And after it all, Ochako’s face is shown like this

And then we get this determined look afterwards

What does this mean? (Part lV)

The Izuku vs Bakugou 2 fight will always piss me off, but the one thing that gets my blood boiling is how Bakugou is the one treated as the victim in all of this.

He throws what is essentially a temper tantrum for failing his Provisional License Exam and not being All Might's successor, dragging Izuku outside to break curfew and not let him deescalate the situation or leave. He reinforces that he shows no remorse for how he bullied Izuku in the past, saying that Izuku was always supposed to remain interior to him.

And how does this fight end?

After supposedly "hearing everything", Izuku is literally left injured on the ground as All Might focuses his attention and comfort on BAKUGOU. Bakugou then strongarms himself into being let in the secret of One For All, using it to further belittle and bully Izuku.

And this is treated as a good thing.

All Might, I love you, but what the fuck?

There's a reason I completely skipped over this fight after reading spoilers on the MHA wiki.

last BNHA was like "oh no, time to make Varya Actually Care" and gave me Iron Might 😍🤤🥺♥️💔

Why was Izuku quirkless? Nothing ever comes of it beyond him having a hard time in school at first, and even then that’s never addressed. Its like the narrative forgets about that he was quirkless for almost his whole life, at least until he was given One for All. Why not have him remain Quirkless but still be trained by All Might or something?

totally reasonable development to the American Dream plan, don't even sweat it

(and the 24+ sentences i owe to the pollers)

Toshinori bounces on his heels, feeling lighter than air with the anticipation of tonight’s activities buzzing along his nerves. He’s dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt, denim jeans, and the sneakers Gran Torino had bought specifically for their high-quality rubber soles.

And speaking of, Gran Torino should be up on the roofs somewhere…

The front door to the Midoriya apartment opens, and Izuku slips out after a hasty farewell to his mother, which is paired with a lackluster promise to stay safe. Toshinori manages a single jaunty wave before Izuku shuts it, and then his attention is turned to give Izuku’s outfit a critical once-over.

“You don’t have any other shoes?” Toshinori asks, contemplating the red hue of his successor’s sneakers. The rest of the clothes are appropriately sturdy and dark in palette.

“No? Sorry…”

“Eh, it should be fine. There shouldn’t be a lot of traffic up top anyway. Come on, let’s move!”

They make their way to the stairs, but to Izuku’s obvious confusion, Toshinori leads them further up.

“Yagi-san, you said that this was going to be a special Basic Physical Fitness Training session,” the kid says. “Can I ask… who thought of it? You, or Gran Torino?”

“Oh, this is totally my idea,” says Toshinori breezily. “I know the beach clean-up is the ultimate goal, and it’ll stay as your focus before high school, but I realized today that there are some experiences that you just can’t replicate as a holder of One for All! Experiences that even our Quirkless bodies can manage!”

They head higher. Izuku gets more nervous, but gamely follows Toshinori up the fire safety ladder.

On the roof, Gran Torino greets them with a curt, “Boys. This is the stupidest thing I can imagine for you two to do, in the stupidest place possible.” He’s sitting on the ledge, and as Toshinori requested, two lengths of steel pipes are leaned up next to him.

“Musutafu’s perfectly safe,” Toshinori counters. “And with you here, Gran Torino, there’s minimal risk of, well...”

“Falling to your deaths?”

Izuku squeaks. He quivers beside Toshinori, and when Toshinori glances down, Izuku is staring at the pipes, aghast. “What are we doing, Yagi-san?”

“We,” Toshinori says with great dignity, “are training in the great art of parkour. The pipes are insurance for safety, supposing we see real trouble that a pro-hero won’t get to in time.”

“Legally speaking, vigilantism,” Gran Torino interrupts.

“But we’re not going to get caught.”

“Which makes you juvenile delinquents.”

“Gran Torino,” Toshinori complains, feeling delightfully young and unburdened now that he’s gotten accustomed to Torino’s incredible, mellowed-out approach to training Izuku. What trauma? What spars? Toshinori at fifteen didn’t know anything about that, and Gran Torino at his current age looked nothing like the pro-hero who haunted the end of his high school career!

“I’m enabling you, aren’t I?” the old man shoots back. “Don’t I get to express my own opinions?”

“Is it really safe, though?” Izuku asks.

“Of course!” Toshinori picks up a pipe, hefts it, and tosses it over to Izuku, who catches it while wearing a thoroughly beleaguered expression. Then he grabs the other. “Listen, Midoriya-kun. If it’s really going to be a year until you get One for All, then the American Dream plan can afford to be a little flexible! You want to be a U.A. student, right?!”

“R-right!”

“Then we can’t just train your body!” he cries, lifting the pipe like a torch. “We’ve gotta train your willingness to get into a scrap!”

A little more wobbly, Izuku repeats, “R-right!” And because his successor is more polite, Izuku turns to Gran Torino and executes a little bow, adding, “Thank you for letting us do this, Gran Torino! And for keeping an eye on us!”

Torino sighs.

Thanks for that answer and while I'm not fond of Toshi dying, I am curious about a canon divergence where he and AFO both go down in an act of mutual annihilation during their first battle (and AFO won't get recovered), if only for the consequences. If you're willing to do that one, I'd love to hear it, but if AM dying is a hard no, could you perhaps do an AU where AFO dies for real + consequences?

mmm, yes, how about some middle ground- AfO and All Might both die in the first fight, but Toshinori Yagi survives, barely.

1- Toshi drags AfO's corpse behind him as he goes to recon with Gran and Sir. One For All is fading, slipping out of his fingers, and he grips AfO tighter to try and hold it in. It doesn't prevent his strength from leaving, but it keeps AfO's body from being snatched. Sir is stunned and horrified by the sight, his trembling call of 'All Might?' ignored. Gran breaks through and takes the corpse from him only after he says in a voice more gentle than he's used in years that "It's done, Toshinori."

2- Gran leaves to take care of the body. Sir gets Toshinori to the hospital. He's in critical state for days. When he finally wakes up, the blood's been all washed off. He says that All For One is dead, and so is One For All. He meets Sir's eyes. "You looked?" He asks. Sir looks down. "Only to see if you'd wake up." Planning All Might's funeral, after all, would have required a lot of time. But Toshinori sighs, and says they'll still need that funeral, and Sir, as his sidekick, gets the agency. Sir says he'll just do the paperwork to get the money where Toshi wants it sent, and only for three years. Toshi wonders if he's been given a prediction, but doesn't ask.

3- Toshinori spends a lot of time on I-island in his retirement. David is one of the few people he has, after all, and once he is firm in his retirement and official death, Dave is just happy that he's alive and returning his hug to put other thoughts out of his mind for a while. Only a while, though- Dave knows the power vacuum and crime surge that's ramping up. Toshinori can't fight it anymore, but he's strategic and has a lot of intel on villains in japan, and the two of them make plans and send support to the heroes back home. It helps, a little bit.

4- But Toshinori can’t stay on I-island, even if he feels most helpful there, even if Dave and Melissa’s guest room is all but his. Nana died for Japan, and he sacrificed a lot for it too, and it’s easier to keep an eye on things there. So a lot of movement back and forth. He didn’t die after three years. Sir makes his own agency, and it’s strained but not without contact. Toshinori is tired. The world keeps changing and won’t let him rest. But, one visit to I-island, Melissa mentions that there’s a new student at the academy, a freshman who’s quirkless and from Japan. Izuku Midoriya, she thinks he and her uncle would get along.

5- so, the ripples: Because of increased crime, Inko and Izuku leave Japan to go join Hisashi working abroad, which is stressful but eventually Izuku wins entrance into I-island’s academy, the closest he could get to heroics as no schools near his new home accepted quirkless students and his parents refused to return to Japan. Endeavor, thrust into the Number One position six years early, has much less time to be home and Shoto is glad. When Fuyumi turns eighteen, she quietly asks her father for an allowance and an apartment away to watch her brothers in. Enji, two years into this change, agrees. Bakugou and Tsubasa are the two students from Aldera Middle to make it to UA High- they haven’t seen Deku since he moved away in other school, and haven’t thought about him for a couple of years. They’re close, though, as the orphanage Tsubasa lived in closed due to lack of funding and Tsubasa’s been crashing on his couch more often than not, which is not exactly a healthy environment but is better than going in the nomu soup. Mina comes across a giant man who’s sniffing around insisting that he smells All Might, that he's still here, still alive, he needs to find him. Mina watches him investigate a building that looks run down and abandoned until a short old man walks by, says he's dead, but the building is where he used to live, historic location, can’t torn down for it. The giant keeps insisting that he’s alive, the scent fresh. Mina tells him she wishes All Might was alive too, but she going to be a hero inspired by- the man lashes out, angry, and Kirishima can’t help but watches as the old man moves quickly, and the next thing he knows he’s sitting next to Mina as the police drive the giant away and the EMTs look over his friend, who’s alright but going to have a much more heroic scar than him. They promise to be heroes and have each other’s back. When they get to UA, their class looks different, fewer people each year take the entrance exam, though still more than most other schools. Hawks is exhausted as his rise through the top heroes is planned to emulate All Might’s. He had to make top ten before he was twenty, to beat Endeavor’s record, and sometime between his twenty fifth and twenty sixth birthday he knows he’s going to hit number one, burning through more and more official cases to get the number he needs. It’s not hard, with crime rates rising, even if it’s not going up as sharply as David and Toshi feared. The Yakuza is even making a comeback, as much as vigilante Stendhal tries to fight it, and Chisaki Kai’s sister is not allowed to leave the family to get married, too much risk. She resents this and slips some secrets to Giran, who’s curious about her adopted brother’s quirks- a shame his old patron isn’t around anymore, but he's got an annoying nineteen year old Tomura upstairs in his loft who tracked him down years ago, leading a mostly unresponsive Kurogiri by the hand, demanding to know why he’s been abandoned and how to fix the only caretaker he has left.