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Watch out! |
Man, All For One is EVIL.
Not that we weren’t aware of it, but this week’s chapter brought to light how dark his strategies really are. “Hearts can be easily swayed. Which is why I made sure to prepare for her potential failure.” The man is ten steps ahead in the game, calculating, playing his pawns like a chessmaster. Otsuka Akio’s incredible voice acting resonates inside of my head (soundtrack included) whenever AFO comes up in a scene; it’s borderline criminal. Talk about a means to an end, and that last stab too. I love a mean villain, like a really mean one, you know what I mean? The brilliant ones that not only kill, torture and scare but also violate the mental health of others (the Joker and Ramsay Bolton being at the top of my list).
After an engaging convo in the comment section with yoloalchemist regarding Deku “extending a hand”, I’m really thinking that this is about acknowledging the unheard voices of society, the ones trying to be shut-off such as Nagant. These painful screams are so easy to cover-up, censor or kill. The really hard part is to address the elephant in the room: these voices exist because they are symptoms of something, the consequence of something that failed them somehow. And the way to remedy it is not by shoving it under the rug. Why did the Safety Commission release a statement that Nagant “killed a fellow hero” instead of the President of the Commission? Perhaps the answer to this question would threaten hero culture and its narrative.
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Take my hand ‘cause we’re walking out of here. |
This week also marked great development in Izuku’s quirk usage. He can fluently navigate three quirks in succession. And although he has a hard time with five, it’s still somewhat doable. With the way Horikoshi’s been drawing Deku’s eyes we can see maturity, weariness, but never the absence of hope. The entire scene prior to Nagant’s explosion was bittersweet; she could’ve killed him if she really wanted to. Deku recognizes this and reaches past the darkness, toward the hero he sees in her heart.
Considering Hawks’ timing and his shared history with Nagant, which we still don’t know much about, I believe she will survive.
” I believe she will survive.”
annnnnd she’s dead.
She’s most likely dead indeed…. but why did Horikoshi make her rescue Overhaul of all people, and to have Overhaul there with her during this fight? I have a wild theory of where Horikoshi’s going with this.
Ha ha! Maybe! Oda might’ve made me too comfortable when it comes to characters not dying. But I did find some reasons on why he could keep her alive (aside from her shared history with Hawks):
1) so we can understand her true intentions with Overhaul
2) she holds valuable information regarding AFO
3) opportunity for Eri to use her powers (possible turbulent reunion with Chisaki for the little girl too)
4) Nagant as a powerful ally to Deku (not their cause) and the heroes having someone with a different perspective amongst them
BUT she could just die too. Hahaha. And from her death there are many scenarios that could play out (as well as if she lives).
A lot of people saw Deku’s “talk no jutsu” coming, and I think Horikoshi knew what we would think too. So playing with our expectations like that…. now that’s a double-sadist for you. I love it!
“Perhaps the answer to this question would threaten hero culture and its narrative.” The irony is that, for all the dastardly measures the Commission had undertaken to preserve that false image, the villains still destroyed all their work rather spectacularly. If the Commission had anyone to blame for that (because they were too cowardly to blame themselves), it’s Endeavor. Not that they’re able to because they’re all gone now. Needless to say, without All Might and his power, the villains had society in the palm of their hands and nothing the Commission could do would change that. Because of their measures, they never truly had power over the villains, and certainly they can be blamed partially for society’s fall. That’s the reason the previous saga was called “Rise of Villains.”
We should definitely make talk no jutsu into a thing, if it’s not yet one.
I just went on a hunt on my tumblr because thanks to your comment I remembered this interview in which he said:
Horikoshi: When I read other manga or watch movies, I really like stories that have dark plots. I also like stories that don’t have happy endings and can totally stomach gore and horror. However, when I’m writing it myself, it gets really difficult. I’m someone whose feelings fluctuate depending on the contents that I am working on.
Ha ha ha! It’s so nice to see how an author grows and evolves with his story as well! That was one of the things that drew me into BNHA, there were times when it felt like he was very much figuring things out as a writer and it felt very human to me. Oh, and in case you’d like to read the translation of this interview, I got it from here.
The Safety Commission strategy = Whac-A-Mole.
Now watch The Rise of The Moles. They’ll come to bite you in the butt.