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| Ahh– |
Hey fellas!
Let’s delve right into it, shall we?
These past four chapters have given us quite a lot into the psychology of the opposing parties getting ready to strike war against one another. In 341 – The Story of How We All Became Heroes: Part Minus 1 we visit the old Toga residence where a nonchalant Himiko strolls through the ruins of what was once her childhood home–now vandalized with profanities and personal attacks on both her and her family. None of which seems to perturb her, with the exception of her old furniture, no longer there. “No one will accept you, the way you are” whispers the memory of her parents. Indeed no one did, not even them.
Born differently than most, society wanted Himiko to smush herself into an acceptable mold. No one ever tried to understand her shape or the melody of her existence. Heck, I’m not even sure I truly understand her character yet. I think Horikoshi is saving a lot for when she finally gets to face Ochako 1×1.
Touya’s and Himiko’s exchange and the burning of her old house could be interpreted as him being empathetic towards his teammate, but I think Touya is still too reactive to his own fears to be thinking about anything or anyone other than himself. He burns Himiko’s house because he sees her ‘attachment’ as a weakness and in his world view, burning weakness (creating chaos and mayhem) is how he projects his strength and independence from his fears. But I’ll be throwing his own words back at him: “The past never dies!” And suspect we’ll see all of our favorite villains having to face their demons and childhood traumas, whether they’ve burned their childhood homes or not.
I found Skeptic’s and AFO’s dynamic with Spinner pretty sad to watch. All of these young adults and teens being emotionally manipulated for these adults agendas, it’s sad but also an actual realistic portrayal of political movements. AFO and Skeptic don’t give a flying flip about Spinner, or the people who find inspiration in his journey–everyone is a chess piece.
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| I’m here standing on the edge~ |
Yet even though they are being emotionally manipulated, seduced by lies or reacting to their own traumas which stem from how society and their families have failed them, does that absolve them from blame? Do they deserve forgiveness? Those are thoughts that plague Uraraka’s mind in 342 – The Extreme Quiet Before The Storm. They’ve been calling them villains, but they are also people.
It’s a heartfelt and sensitive moment that (in)directly shows what kind of heroes both Uraraka and Deku are. Because it is a hero’s job to help people, to save them–in some cases it seems, even from people themselves. It’s not weird, it’s the “save to win” mentality.
Little hearty eyes from me and the wholesome few panels of Todoroki receiving some moral support from Kacchan, Iida and Kirishima in his room. It’s lovely to see how the boys have bonded while we were away during the Deku Vigilante arc and to see Todoroki so open and grateful to be on the receiving end of this support, he’s come a long way.
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| Look! It’s Lord |
Well, well, well. 343 – Let You Down most definitely did not let me down. We finally got to hear AFO’s masterplan, and boy I was not disappointed! OG Shigaraki’s plan to destabilize society and then make himself an indispensable solution is ingenious, it’s extremely realistic and clever and fits his character perfectly. It definitely sets him up alongside my favorite villains in anime and manga. I wonder if in a way this has anything to do with his childhood memories, those we saw from him during his fight with SS, the flashbacks of reading comic books and knowing what would happen at the end, that the hero would always win. But what if in the end the villain becomes the hero? Because that’s what he would become, if he destroys and saves the world, he becomes its demise and its solution. In the end the villain wins.
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| *Tite Kubo has left the chat* |
Even the most powerful of characters have their shortcomings and in 344 – The Protagonist our heroes finally catch AFO by surprise, his overconfidence throwing him off his horse. This chapter served as a window to explain the architecture of our heroes’ plan, crafted by Aizawa, Toshinori and Naomasa who brought in the two key players who made it all possible: Shinsou and Monoma.
Damn, Horikoshi is giving me all of the feels and I really hope we get to see more involvement with these two characters. So far Hori has been doing a great job in the area that Kubo (most unfortunately) struggled with: properly utilizing his side characters and their strengths to further advance the plot and their own personal development–Kubo instead just kept throwing us new characters all the time, leaving a lot of potential behind with what he’d already written.
To have Shinsou mind control Aoyama’s parents and Monoma learn how to master Kurogiri’s quirk was a brilliant come together of this plan. It was the only plausible way that this could’ve happened!
Wow, this is it guys, I guess we’re at the endgame now.
On a little personal note: I know I don’t get a lot of readers over here, but I wanted to apologize a little for the inconsistency with the chapter coverage. I’ve managed to stabilize my own schedule now and I’ve set myself to the weekly goal again. This is already too many words since I want to evoke Endeavor’s spirit (show through your actions, not words), but I wanted to acknowledge this nonetheless :3
AFO definitely took notes from Megamind on making an entrance.
**agreed on Kubo
I AM DECEASED LOL
I just typed Megamind on google and I definitely have to watch this now. That premise is so much what we’re dealing with here xD
<3
I loved the villain chapter and wish there was more. Seeing Toga with the blood of Twice has me scared but also excited (let’s hope Hirikoshi doesn’t waste it like the quirk destroy bullets). I feel bad for Spinner too. He knows AFO doesn’t care about him or the league but all he can do now is support Tomura. This makes me wish Compress was still around because he be good emotional support for Toga and plan his own little coup against AFO.
I like the talk between Deku and Ochako. It shows how much each have matured and how their views on villains have changed. Ochako especially feels conflicted. She knows Toga is a villain but she is also human and no one has ever trued to truly understand her. This will make their final fight very emotional.
I must admit they had me in 343. I thought Yuga turned but instead he gave an Oscar worthy performance! He is not just fighting fir his family and friends but for himself.
It was great see Monoma and Shinso play vital roles in the final battle. I like tye speech Vlad gave to monoma and reminds him that everyone has a part to play. Hopefully the rest of class b will return to help as well.
Overall these 4 chapters were good but I still gave a few magging issues. The pacing is still ridiculously fast and I really wanted another villain focus chapter, I wish Deku spent a bit more time at UA since he just got back, abd I still cannot stand AFO. I still do not know why he fucking came back and I wish Tomura would kill him already. Tomura should be the final boss!
Bringing AFO back and making him the final boss throws all of the development for Tomura out the window!
I wonder what is the true potential of Toga’s quirk. Imagine if she can actually access like memories or even some type of “conscience” through ingesting someone’s blood? I wouldn’t be too surprised since we’ve seen she can use the quirk from the blood she’s ingested (which she couldn’t do in the beginning). I’m really curious to see how Hori will develop her ability. Twice’s blood will play a huge part in this war.
Unfortunately Compress was too much of a mature figure to be around, he would’ve been very skeptical of AFO and Skeptic I think.
One nice thing about anime adaptations, like One Piece and Heroaca is that we get expanded scenes, so the pacing doesn’t feel as rushed. Hopefully you’ll get to enjoy it more once it’s animated. I can’t help but think Hori might get some pressure from WSJ, I don’t know how well Japanese readers would take to him focusing more on the psychology of the characters rather than the actual fight that’s been looming. But I’m with you that I would definitely love to see more of that, but yeah :`(
Aw, yeah man. I thought about you actually, I know you’ve been pretty bummed about Tomura not being the final boss and all. I think he’ll still get a lot of screen time and his character will come back to the spotlight and we’ll deal with his trauma and development, but AFO really is “the” villain of the story. Especially since Deku keeps mentioning the ‘child’ Tenko he saw–it brings him closer to his humanity, as opposed to AFO.
Tomura is the dark side if Deku. The plot is about the parallel journeys of Deku and Tomura. AFO being the final “villain” ruins the parallel.
One thing that I particularly enjoy about Hori’s story is that even though he writes about a superhuman society, he really does try to make things as plausible and real as possible–everything has a science or explanation or an architecture behind. And the truth is:
Shimura Tenko wouldn’t be what he is today without AFO, he’d never be Shigaraki Tomura. And in the same way that All Might is the hero ideal for many generations, AFO is the ultimate villain side of the coin. Don’t get me wrong, I still think Tomura x Deku will be one of the most emotional and intense fights of the upcoming line-up (much more so than against AFO).
And I do think that Tenko is Deku’s greatest antagonist. Which doesn’t take away his importance from the story at all 🙂
Have faith in Hori! I think you will not be disappointed, but that’s just my opinion of course.
Thanks for your post!
We got a glimpse of AFO plan from Chisaki’s agenda to create both the problem and solution albeit in a less grander scale. With All Might’s new strategy, it is now to show the world that Japan is still very much in fighting shape and that hope is always on the horizon. The hero side do not need to completely neutralize the Villain threat, but they need to just show that they still have the upper hand against the villains.
I very doubt that this is the final conflict of the series and I predict that some of the villains, namely Tomura, Dabi, Spinner and Toga will manage to get away at the conclusion of this fight. I believe this is where AFO will finally fall and Hero Society would be able to begin the healing process for the common folk. I would think that Hori would give Deku and Tomura the 1 to 1 engagement to crystalize the ideology that has motivated them thus far and how outcasts like Toga and Spinner would be able to fit into the future society that will come to pass.
Lastly there is the quirk singularity issue that has not been resolved that I hope we will revisit at some point. As quirks become more stronger, there will come a point where it will be too much for the individual or society to be able accept, I look forward to Hori’s take on this issue.
Lastly, do not worry about the release schedule Gabie, I very much appreciate your post and thoughts on the subject and maybe covering a few chapters in one go gives new insight for further dicussions.
Hey Flappy! Bringing in great insights and additions to the conversation… I see what you’re doing here and it is much appreciated 🤩
That’s so crazy, I had completely forgotten about how Chisaki’s agenda was a foreshadowing of sorts to AFO’s ultimate plan. It really shows what a great villain he was. I miss his character dearly.
Your predictions also seem very plausible, I agree that this specific encounter will not be “the last fight” but rather branch out. With AFO’s OG body’s downfall, we still have AFOmura’s situation to deal with and that in itself will be an interesting conflict too. Could Tenko completely decay AFO’s existence from inside of himself? Through S&S we found out that the possibilities go way beyond what we thought was possible 👀
I know from reading one of Hori’s interviews that Toga’s ultimate fight will be against Uraraka, and we’ve known Dabi’s deal has always been with his family. Do you have any predictions about Spinner’s future adversary?
Absolutely true, we still have to cover the quirk singularity issue. If quirks become too much for the individual and it starts to affect society in a manner that it becomes destructive, what will be the solution to this? Was Chisaki perhaps onto something? Will people have the option or be forced to let go of their quirks? This sounds a bit too problematic to be a real solution 🤔 does Hori plan to introduce us to an entirely new type of society as a solution? Sounds fascinating! I’m really curious to see how he’ll play this out.
And thank you for your kind words of encouragement and support! Covering a few chapters in one go does give a breath to think deeper about the content, I won’t deny that.
I think it is highly plausible that AFO will be destroyed by Tomura at some point, leaving his conflict with Deku be uninterrupted, good call.
Uraraka has much to discuss with Toga and honestly I believe Toga is not too far gone, unlike Dabi. I just do not see Dabi being able to come around to forgive Endevour or to see a world where the Todoroki’s are able to come to terms with their shortcomings.
For Spinner’s case, I predict that society as a whole has to admit that they had a bias against Heteromorphs and that they would need to bring about Zootopia like changes to accommodate them. I do not see any easy solution for Spinner’s case and thus am excited of where Hori will take this issue.
Lastly with the quirk singularity issue, I hope Hori does deal with the issue at some point but I am not able to fathom a satisfactory resolution on that part. With how the series hinting that Deku might very well the last carrier of OFA, how the advent of quirks actually set society back as a whole, the appearance of Eri’s quirk, how it was Deku’s spirit and bravery that makes a hero. I might take a crack that the natural conclusion for this issue is the disappearance of quirks as a whole and that people like Spinner and the Heteromorphs have a chance to rejoin society. It has never been OFA that made Deku a hero, but his resilience, bravery, quick wit and his compassion that makes him so. Even with the loss of quirks everywhere, Deku will still be a hero at heart.
I admit that this is a rather underwhelming conclusion to the quirk issue, so I am hoping that Hori can surprise me with something unimaginable.