#Himiko critical

[justatalkingface]

can I ask you what you think of ochako as a character in bnha? I know that in theory she was 'developed to match toga', with all the things toga has going on with her character and where she is in the plot. But when I think about ochako a little deeper I don't really get her 'goal development' exactly, because don't they kind of conflict with each other rather than evolve together?

Because first ochako wanted to make lots of money for her family, then later it became 'who saves/protects the heroes?' But if she runs with that goal and continues to rock the proverbial boat in hero society, that probably won't lead to her making a lot of money right?

And her third emerging goal likely being something about saving/helping the villains in some way, which is definitely better/more interesting for the overall plot, but even more conflicting with her previous goals.

Which would be cool if it was really focused on in her head about how that all might work out or not but we never really get that with ochako. Can I ask you what you think about all this?

As a series, MHA has reached a point where every character can easily be labeled with 'wasted potential', but Ochako is a special case because she's a main character that was sidelined.

I always knew that, to some extent, 1A as a whole would be sidelined over time (though I couldn't have predicted how fast it would happen), but Ochako was part of the main trio, she was one of the more important characters in the early narrative. Even more, compared to Sakura, for example, or Orihime, she wasn't just the girl teammate, or someone's love interest. She had her own goals and ambitions. Most importantly of all though, and what made her so interesting to me, is that she decided to put aside her own feelings.

Manga is... let's be honest here, manga is broadly sexist. Shonens like this are worse. When a woman in shonen is in love? It defines her character, drives it. Their entire character arcs for the entire time they're in love, if not beyond it, hinge on that basic fact.

Sakura, Hinata, and Orihime are all broadly driven by their love for their men at first, and even when they grow past that being their sole motivation to fight, it still remains a fundamental core of their drives. Sakura's big growth early on, for example, is that she wants to marry Sasuke and become a proper ninja, when before her primary purpose in living seemed to be to unironically to have his babies. It was a good step, but it was kind of an insulting step, is the thing, and she never gets beyond her love of Sasuke even when both of them are trying to kill each other after he abandons her for years.

Ochako, though? She has goals first, then gets a crush, and then weighs being in love with her own ambitions and chooses her ambitions over love.

I shit over almost everything Hori does with anyone that isn't a man, because it's pretty much always shit, and the more I think about it the more I almost want to applaud him, just for this, because this? This isn't just a main heroine uninterested in love. This is one who explicitly rejects it for her own agenda, and as pathetic as it is to phrase it this way, that's a huge improvement for a shonen manga.

I mean, I've seen people say that she didn't need to do that, that she could both train to be a hero and chase her love interest, and when you think about it UA students do seem to have enough free time for her to pursue it, but you know what? Who cares?

Maybe there's actually not that much free time, maybe she just doesn't realize how much time she has, maybe she's exactly right! Does it matter? She decided she's not ready for a relationship at this portion of her life and she'd rather do something else with her time; good for her! Chase your dreams! Do what you want when you want!

And for a time, Hori seemed content to treat her as an actual important character, who develops as a combatant (which, as much as I like to say 'power ups aren't character development', I'm not blind to basic facts that mangas like this orbit around a lot of fighting, and you need to be able to fight to stay relevant to the story line) as well as develop as a person.

Actually, let me stop here and pivot a bit to better handle part of your question: her development.

Early on, Ochika training to be a hero was a basiclly a poor kid going to be a sports star to support their family; it wasn't about the job itself, per say, so much as that the job would pay well, and they could get in without getting crippling debt in the process. She had the talent, so she wanted to use it to support her family because she loved them. This was a lot more modest than, say, Lemillion's goals, but it was still noble, and she'd still do a lot of good while supporting her family. At the same time, though, she also just wanted to help people just to see them smile and what not, and so becoming a hero was really a multifaceted goal for her.

The problem with the later development, though, is the same thing that happened to everything about her post her learning Gunhead Martial Arts or so (let me take a brief aside to kind of laugh at that, because 'Gunhead' Martial Arts, rather than just martial arts or whatever just seems really ridiculously to me, but whatever): she was replaced, then her development was largely just given to her by the author happened off screen so we couldn't really connect with how it happened.

That replacement was bad for a bunch of reasons, really: because Bakugou was being promoted from classroom bully to rival character, he needed more focus with his 'rival' so he replaced Shoto. Shoto, who had all the build up of the rival character at first, needed to be in the story since he was so important to later plotlines, but didn't have a place anymore, so he needed to be put somewhere else still in the audience's eyes. The eventual fallout of all this, plus Endeavor's heavy character salvaging attemptings by Hori, is Izuku's core friend group of Ochiko, Iida, and himself was replaced by New Trio of Shoto, Bakugou, and Izuku.

Or, if I'm being even more honest, The Duo of Shoto and Izuku and then Bakugou is there too for some reason.

Something I want to point out here, while we're on talking about it; then new trio isn't a friend group, like the original one was, they're more... work associates. Shoto and Izuku are friends, by this point (and for some reason Shoto is hanging out with a person channeling the traits of his father he despises the most (cough cough, to try and salvage Bakugou)), but we don't see the three of them, like, hang out: they're together at first because they were all interning with Endeavour (for some god forsaken reason (cough cough, to salvage Endeavour)), then after that because they were heavy hitters and honestly just them being put there by the author. There's every indication that the original three are still friends, we just... don't see it, anymore.

But I'm off topic: point is, with the focus shifting from school life to 'let's save the world as first years!', the friendships took the backseat, and Ochika was just... ignored by Hori.

Eventually, she started being put back into the story, since she was still somewhat important, but by this point we had reached The War Arc (and shit, I don't think there's a post where I haven't dunked on that, is there?), and, well.

Everything Changed When The War Arc Attacked.

Everybody's characterization went to shit after that, not just her, and it's not surprising her story went down the cracks.

So, part of her changes, and part of the reason they're confusing with her original goal, is that at least part of them is mixed with her largely dropped but still weirdly there romance plot. Izuku is the origin of her thinking, 'who saves the heroes', because, well, Izuku needs saving from his own idiot self all the time later on, and he's heroic.

I'll point out that this isn't, fundamentally, a conflict with her original goal of supporting her family: she wants heroes to be treated better, she doesn't want heroes to stop being monetized (because that's too far against the status quo for any hero to support!). Even if that impacted her career (which, logically, makes sense as a possible concern and probably part of why you were confused, yet I don't think she thought about once) she's not Mt Lady; she's not going to be paying thousands in damages everytime she does anything. A rescue hero like her is always, unfortunately, going to find someone who needs to be saved by having heavy things lifted off them. Maybe she'd never be rich if this backfired on her, but she'd certainly be well enough to support her parents, at least, since we've never seen a poor hero (sighs, gestures vaguely in a, 'gee, wouldn't that have been nice to see to help develop the profession in literally any way!' sort of fashion).

The second point of 'development'... now that is honestly shit. I've mentioned before how, after a certain point, MHA's plot started turning more and more from the complex and fascinating topics that they presented to us (and got so many of us engrossed in the first place), to a more cliche format that I fondly call a 'Full Shonen'. Part of a Full Shonen plot is, unless an important villain is truly, absolutely evil (so, basiclly AFO) they aren't beyond redemption, no matter how little sense that makes. If they're not beyond redemption, The Good Guys(TM), are therefore obligated to at least try and save them from themselves. Another typical Full Shonen plotline is, if there's a female bad guy, the female good guy will have to be the one to fight them.

Following that logic, Himko, the crazed female serial killer, is not beyond salvation, and so it fall to Ochako, the female hero, to save her, no matter how little sense that makes on a character or narrative level, because, you know, cat fight or something.

*sighs for forever*

Problem being everything post-War is so quarter-assed that this entire new plot line is built off, and really isn't held together by, the fact they both love Izuku. Or rather, Himiko is vaguely in love with Ochiko because she's cute (or 'cute', by whatever arcane and ill-defined criteria she uses to target people) and feels a bond with her because she also loves Izuku, and Ochiko is just... there, basiclly, and fights her because, you know, she's a villain. The connection is beyond forced, and yet we all know that somehow she'll be essential to 'saving' Toga.

While we're talking about these two, I'm going to point out that people saying Ochaka in the latest chapters wanting to talk about love are dramatically missing the point. She didn't want to go girl talk with Toga about their mutual crush, no matter how hilarious a meme summary that was. Toga was leaving via warp portal, while turning into Twice, and Ochkaka wanted to stop her because, you know, Twice-Toga is going to make their temporary existence everyone else's problem. She couldn't physically stop her from where she was, so turned to the one thing that has always distracted Toga in the past: talking about love. Even a mere thirty seconds of Toga gushing about Izuku, after all, is thirty seconds less of a one man army fucking up the heroes plans, not even mentioning duplicating AFO or SFO or some other nightmare scenario; anything she could do to run the clock on Twice's blood at all is priceless for the heroes.

And before anyone says it, that's not some brilliant insight on Ochako's part, it's not some sign of their 'deep connection'; anyone who spends two minutes around Toga would know that much. Anyways, because of Toga's... random ass character development just before all this happened, she's finally able to control her impulses like a normal person, and leaves instead. Ochaka's comment at the end, 'she didn't want to talk about love', isn't sad that she didn't get to talk about some threesome or whatever bullshit, it's surprise, because that's not how Toga works.

So, yeah, Ochaka's great start early on fell apart after she lost the spotlight, and it's a shame. The evolution to 'saving heroes' could have easily been handled better just by, you know, focusing on her at all, and we could have seen rising concerns about how heroes are treated in their cutthroat line of work (obligatory screaming at failed heroic society development) over time, and grow more organically in her mind and motivation. Saving Toga... Toga is so unreasonable as a character that, barring a drastic redesign of her characterization, or more reasonably, something for Ochika to connect with her and make her care beyond being a female who, gasp, likes Izuku too!!!!!!, that... that was never going to work well. It, and she, are too much of a mess, and Ochaka is too good of a person.

#ask #mha critical #bnha critical #urakara ochako #wasted potential #ochako chose her own path #too bad she was left behind on it #hori's chronic loathing of women #bakugo critical #Everything Changed When The War Arc Attacked #the failure of the development of heroic society and corruption #Full Shonen #Himiko critical #quarter-assing the plot

[solarskips]

she is just a big kittygirl

the DND DR Zine is LIVE now!!! go check it out, and go support all the amazing contributors!!!!!!

#danganronpa #drv3 #himiko yumeno #tenko chabashira #drv3 himiko #drv3 tenko #art stuff #my art #doodles #danganronpa critical dice #danganronpa zine #zines

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

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

#my hero academia #bnha #mha rewrite #mha critical #mha #boku no hero academia #yagi toshinori #all might #izuku midoriya #inko midoriya #twice #jin bubaigawara #himiko toga #touya todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #shouto todoroki #enji todoroki #endeavour #anti endeavor #anti enji todoroki #kaminari denki #momo yaoyorozu #nejire hado #ochako uraraka #iida tenya #iida tensi #nana shimura #hawks #takami keigo #shinsou hitoshi

[sapphic-agent]

There's one thing I wanna ask Hori about the narrative that I'm surprised isn't talked about more.

Why weren't any of the characters allowed to question their society and heroes function as a whole?

Because when kids start off with hating heroes (Kota and those brats from the second movie), they're treated to be in the wrong and has to see how great heroes can be.

Which given the context that this is a society that turns a blind eye to it's corruption and how the minority suffers, it just comes across as putting rose tinted glasses on them to keep them away from the truly bad stuff.

Like, I get it with Kota, because his hatred of heroes stems from watching his parents die and believing they chose work over him, and that this hatred could grow into a problem later to where he might end up as a villain.

But at the same time, how come this didn't let Izuku to think about the society that shunned and berated him for being born different from everyone? How come no one else stop and think that this society is on the path to collapsing on itself if nothing is done?

In a story like this, characters should be allowed to question things around them and wonder if there's anything they can do make it more bearable for others, to seek out the change they wanna see so others wouldn't have to suffer like they did.

Kota is a great example, but I raise you Stain and the LOV.

Stain made sense. He went about it in entirely the wrong way, but he was right about false heroes and how much of a problem they were. But he's a murderous psychopath so we're supposed to take his words as out of touch rambling because he attacked Ingenium who was one of the good heroes.

(We're also given no proof. He says heroes are corrupt but we aren't shown why he thinks that and we don't see it beyond Endeavor. Even more reason not to take what he's saying seriously)

Hori could have really sold this by making Tensei perhaps not so virtuous. Maybe he had or started with good intentions but ended up contributing to toxic hero society in some way and Iida was blind to it because he was the big brother he admired. That would have made Tenya's character development hit harder in my opinion. Having Tensei confess this to Tenya would have made the Stain arc even better.

Which brings us to the LOV.

I feel like Hori forgot that Dabi and Toga also joined the LOV because of Stain, not just Spinner. They, on some level, absorbed his words and wanted what he did even if they were also fueled by other motives.

That's why a lot of Dabi's later character doesn't make a whole lot of sense. For those who knew he was Touya, it was implied that he was abused similarly to Shoto and was angry at Endeavor's treatment of his children. And then was inspired by Stain to call out his father as a false hero and take down the system that (indirectly) destroyed his family.

But no, he wants to kill Shoto, doesn't give a shit about Rei or Fuyumi, and almost got Natsu (the brother he was close to and presumably cared about) killed. And all to get back at Endeavor and make him suffer. Dabi's motives were a major let down and it reduces him to a one-dimensional villain, one who only wants to hurt people for the sake of hurting them. There's no hint of the influence Stain apparently had on him.

Toga is the same. She, presumably, admired Stain because of the similarities in their quirks. It's implied she joined the LOV to be with people like her (which is why she- as Camie- asks Izuku what kind of hero he wants to be, she's trying to see if he's one of those people). Who were outcasts and wanted to be able to do what they wanted with no persecution from others. She wanted to be free, even if she had a warped perception about what that meant. But over time, Horikoshi made her a creepy, predatory yandere type (seriously, what the fuck was the point of having her grope Uraraka??) with no depth to her actions.

Both Dabi and Toga never mention Stain or his ideals again. They're just psychopaths who need to be stopped. It dehumanizes them and uses mental illness for further antagonize them.

Spinner is the only one who still attempts to embody Stain's ideals. But of course, he never gets any focus. He's a "coward" who never stands up the the LOV (except when he stopped Magne from killing Izuku) even though he feels guilty about what they do. So most of the time, he isn't portrayed in a way that makes us stop and think. It's all too easy for the audience to dismiss or forget about him.

Anyone who (rightfully) questions or criticizes or openly despises the corrupt society in this universe is portrayed in a negative light. Even if what they're saying is technically right, we throw it away because they're doing something bad.

Really, there's only one character who's the exception. I'm, of course, talking about Lady Nagant.

Listen, me and Hori got beef all day everyday. BUT Nagant is one of the most exceptional characters I've ever seen in anime.

What I love about her is that she's someone who genuinely started out with good intentions and wanted to do the right thing but was torn down by society. It destroyed her from the inside out. The actions she took aren't even that extreme, they make sense considering everything she went through. Her problems with society aren't inane or hypocritical ramblings, she's 100% correct in her assessments because she was an unwilling participant in the corruption.

The problem with Nagant, however, is that she's with us for such a short amount of time that we don't get to take a deep dive here. We don't get to dissect why, exactly, society is so corrupt or find a solution to it.

It sucks because Hori was SO CLOSE to hitting the mark with Nagant. I think introducing her- or someone similar to her (missed opportunity with Hawks)- a lot sooner would have really improved the story

#mha critical #bnha critical #ask #league of villains #toga himiko #mha dabi #spinner #stain mha #lady nagant

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Hot Take On BNHA Chapter 394: I've Seen Gayer

Okay, so I'm seeing everyone go on and on about this Togachako stuff, and hey that's cool, ship who you want you guys. Definitely hype up what you want and say it's your favorite gay ship, it's valid! Your ship is valid.

Hell, I keep hearing people say it's the "gayest thing ever".

I'm just here to share my opinion, because I'm thinking, nah, I've seen gayer.

Now for my critical take on the writing aspect of it all. This chapter was so spur of the moment it's honestly hard for my personally to feel anything for it. I don't buy for a second that there's anything that deep into this mess of a relationship between Ochako and Toga. I'm actually kinda proud that Ochako showed genuine sympathy and compassion for Toga... but what did that cost?

The rest of her sympathy and compassion for the people Toga hurt, and killed and impacted for the rest of their lives.

Why are people forgetting that?

I'm a Toga fan, I feel bad for her, she's a tragic villain and that's why I love her as a villain! She's an excellent villain with troubling motivations that would make her dangerous in real life, and watching her on screen is a delight.

But as someone who enjoys her villainous antics, I've made it a point to notforget that she's killed quite a few, some innocent people and just people in general who didn't really deserve it, Curious and her Squad is debatable but still comes into question. Even though Ochako says she isn't going to forget either, here she is, telling her that she's got the cutest smile?

That's kinda bullshit?

Or am I crazy?

This very disturbed girl who has shown NO remorse for attacking people, killing them and drinking their blood without any of their consent, has "the cutest smile"? Okay, I know there are fans who like the unhinged x cinnamon roll ship, but this is ridiculous.

I don't know. I guess there was no other way Hori could have written the end to this weak-as-hell Ochako and Toga final endgame conflict. I mean if it were me I would have tried something a little different that includes NOT... this. Not telling the girl who murdered people with no true remorse that her smile is cute. Especially since this is the same girl who attacked and hurt some of her friends.

To make matters worse, Hori strikes again with his 'crying child' imagery to invoke easy sympathy from readers and it's clearly working since everyone and their grandma is sobbing over it while forgetting that Toga is a murderer and Ochako now suddenly feels sorry for her despite how many people she's killed.

Whatever. I don't like it.

And just for emphasis, I've seen gayer. I greatly prefer Momojirou, an actually healthy lesbian pairing. And Tsuchako! A sweet friendship that is both healthy and heartwarming, because even though I'm not an Ochako fan at all, she deserves better than what she's getting in this story.

#bnha critical #i don't like this #toga himiko #urakara ochako #anti togachako #i don't ship it #at all #it's a shame because it could be a cute ship #but ultimately in canon it's not #no hate #i just don't like it #bnha crit #mha crit #bnha spoilers #bnha leaks #bnha manga spoilers #i'm not okay with this #mha critical

[bibibbon]

Characters with wasted potential : Himiko Toga

Honestly it's such a shame she really was one of my favourite villains but was done absolutely dirty by the plot.

I have a few problems with togas character which a lot of them are caused by horikoshi himself:

HER INTERACTIONS. What I mean is that her interactions with characters tends to be inconsistent for the most part I really love her relationship with the league and how she views them as a family but it made no sense to me how her relationship with Izuku is gone/non existent and how her relationship with ochako is. I get that hori made toga specifically for ochako but I don't see the appeal in togaochoa or how they're supposed to be Parallels?

HER BACKSTORY. Don't get me wrong I love the idea of toga's backstory and how it shaped her as a person but i think it could of been expanded on earlier like why did it have to be the last arc for her to shine and then get almost everything stripped away? Also there are some inconsistencies in togas backstory since it is implied that she had siblings so what happend to that?

HER SCREEN TIME. What I mean by this is as the manga continues her score time decreases a lot and it comes to a point where she almost always shares her screen time with ochako which harms both of them

THE WAY SHE IS SEXUALISED. I don't know I blame this on both hori and the fandom but why is that she has to be clothless in majority of the scenes like their definitely could of been another way to avoid that.

HYPOCRISY. A lot of the time toga can come of as a hypocrite. I mean she loved people like twice and the league yet she never tried to kill them or consume them while she does that with the people like toga. TO FIX THIS MAKE HER BE CONSISTENT and treat everyone in a similar way. ALSO THE CONCEQUENCES AND HER FEELINGS FOR TWICES DEATH ARE BAREKY EXPLORED AND ARE PUT ASIDE FOR TOGAOCHA!!! WHICH SUCKS

As you can see there really isn't many problems with toga's character and she really is one of Horikoshi's best characters and villains. This is what I would do to improve her :

Give her more of her own screen time and monologues - horikoshi can already do this very well considering her whole fight with curious and her relationship with twice focused a lot on her as a character and helped developed her.

Have her interact with more characters and give us more moments with the characters she already interacts with - what I mean is that we get more with toga and the league and her feelings about them. We can also get more about how toga views izuku and ochako well I do understand her views of ochako I would of liked to see both of their relationships develop a whole lot more.

Fix the inconsistencies in her backstory - Toga has some major inconsistencies in her backstory that could be fixed or addressed. For example, it is implied that she has siblings so show us the siblings, show us how her family felt. I used to be a fan of the monoma being related to toga theories because I feel like that would of been an interesting dynamic especially if explored in canon but I do understand if it clashes with the todoroki family plotline but I still like it and it could add more depth and complexity to both of them.

Give her and ochako more Parallels- maybe Iam stupid but I really can't see the parallels between them except of both of them having a crush on izuku and wanting to become the person they have a crush on

There are two routes you can go with Himi's character which is the original route that horikoshi took which actually is a pretty solid route or the other route which is to actually redeem her and make her someone who shows others that you can change for the better when given the chance and opportunity

Toga is a brilliant character who seems like the most redeemable villain but I like the ending she got it made sense for her character. Toga is someone who tried to love the world around her but the world never appreciated or liked the way she expressed herself. While there were definitely problems with the way she expressed herself instead of getting help with learning how to use her quirk safely and quench her thirst for blood she was just abused and beaten into putting on a mask to hide who she was. As we know that mask broke ( her mask breaking can also be something related to her canonically having a crush on ochako making her a bi character however I DO THINK THAT PLOT POINT COULD OF BEEN BETTER) and left toga insane and obsessed with the idea of love and becoming someone loveable. Hori is also smart with her character design as it can be hinted or implied that toga does self h@rm and the way she dresses tries to make herself more youthful and cuter so she can appear as someone who is easily loveable. I also love the sneaky ways hori utilises spider lilies symbolism with her character as in multiple character pages and manga panels when she is talking about blood and her quirk there is always spider lilies. Also the ending, when one of her buns is undone it symbolises her death as she sacrifices herself to become one with the one she loves.

In conclusion, Toga is a very solid character who is a symbol of those who are critiqued and discriminated for being different in society yet she lives the way she wants to and finds her own happiness in a strange place and in a unexpected way even if she ended up dying for it.

#mha critical #bnha critical #toga himiko #hori actually done something good with her character #horikoshi critical #anti togachako #anti toga himiko

[darkcircles4lyfe]

labor of love

Thinking back on the books and shows that have captivated me most over the years, I’ve noticed that a significant part of my enjoyment comes through glimpses of the creator themselves. The human, fallible, subjective, personal, and unique perspective that bleeds through. I'm forever trying to see things from the other way around instead of as the audience. As I become more familiar with a person’s work, I almost imagine myself as the close friend who can see bits and pieces of their loved one in everything the write. 

When I deal with fandoms or read and listen to media criticism, I inevitably get slapped in the face by the absence of this habit in other people. Maybe it’s because of concepts like “entertainment” and “consumption” making art into a product we spend our money on, and therefore we feel it owes us something. Maybe it’s the trend of pretending arbitrary differences in taste are actually somehow a basis for objective criticism. Regardless, even though I see plenty of reminders all over fandom spaces encouraging people to just enjoy things without worrying about whether they have some sort of intellectual merit, I don't see much acknowledgement of the creator’s point of view here. 

So let’s talk about creative work as what it is: somebody’s dream, which brewed in the dark and solitary chambers of their mind, real but invisible to the outside world. By some miracle of good fortune and incredibly hard work, that dream is made accessible to us, the audience. It’s difficult to express how surreal that really is. Not all media is like this, of course. But sometimes you can see when a story is made with love, that the creator is so in awe of this miracle that they bring all of themselves into it. When that happens, I too fall in love, and preference no longer seems to matter. It’s not, “I enjoy this thing because it’s so ME,” it’s more, “I enjoy it because it’s so THEM.”  

I worry sometimes that I have rose-tinted glasses on, but here’s the thing. We seem to over-associate criticism with logic, and praise with delusion, when in reality they are both limited. What I’m talking about here is neither. Sorry if this sounds cheesy, but I think “to love,” means “to know.” It’s where flaws and strengths blend together into a whole that is understood as it is cherished. 

All these various observations have been tumbling around in my head more and more since I’ve gotten into this funny little thing called Boku no Hero Academia. It’s so popular, so polarizing, it draws in such a wide range of opinions from so many different kinds of people. I find it fascinating to watch, but, like I just said, it also tends to slap me in the face. Not out of personal offense, mind you. More than anything I’m stunned by how disconnected a lot of people are from this human element, whether they are being negative or positive. Even if they know enough to invoke the name of Horikoshi, they treat him like more of a figure than a real person. 

It’s true none of us can actually truly know him. However, I think that while the author/audience relationship is a somewhat parasocial one, it’s worth acknowledging the mutuality of it as well. Let me take you all on a little journey to bring “the creator” down to Earth. 

First, a few plain facts: Before bnha, Horikoshi was able to get two other manga into serialization: Oumagadoki Zoo and Barrage. The former lasted 37 chapters from 2010 to 2011. Barrage lasted 16 chapters, in 2012. Juxtapose this with Boku no Hero Academia, which as of writing this, has been running for over 370 chapters spanning 8+ years since 2014. Horikoshi is currently 36 years old (born in 1986). 

Now let’s go back even further. His first one-shot was published in 2007, when he was 21. It’s called Tenko, and you can read it in English here. Most obviously, we can see that this Tenko character was later adapted to the Tenko we know in bnha, with a similar power, backstory, and appearance. But I actually think there are a few other ways we can draw comparisons from this genesis of Horikoshi’s career, all the way to the present. 

Here is the intro that prefaces the 2007 one-shot:

^I get chills looking at this, and it makes me grin, no joke. Please take a moment to read all the little tidbits. It sounds like the intentionally foreshadowing first scene of a famous person’s biopic, but no one had a clue back then. I just find that so hilarious and moving at the same time.

So think of the Tenko one-shot as a window into who Horikoshi was as an artist and a storyteller pre- pro industry, with the assumption that certain aspects of his work are probably simultaneously a bit more upfront but also underdeveloped. You know, like a kid. There’s both honesty and naivety there. I can also think back to being around 21 myself (only a few years ago lol), about the stories I was writing in school, the workshop classes I was in with other people my age, what they were writing, the things that were important to us that we discussed informing our work. It’s a formative time, right?

One of the primary things I notice about the Tenko one-shot is that it centers themes of power, heroism, and trauma, and has a resolution which involves bridging misunderstandings. 

It’s all very ideological, but also full of raw emotion. I read somewhere (sorry can’t remember where) Horikoshi saying that in formulating his idea for the ending of bnha, he has kept asking himself, what does it truly mean to be a hero? It seems he started asking that question way back in 2007, through this little story about swords and their wielders. The Tenko one-shot acknowledges that people and power are morally complicated, as is the idolization of heroes. The ending is hopeful, and looks ahead to times changing for the better by the will of progressively-minded and determined people. 

This reminds me of the current arc of the bnha manga, and how the whole story might eventually end. Horikoshi has shown us that the villains are worthy of sympathy, that they are a product of society’s willful ignorance, that “heroes” have also done abhorrent things. But he has also embraced the pure optimism of youth. He seems eager to ask the big questions about right and wrong, and present us with both ambiguity AND certainty. The final fights are not at all a contest of strength, and there are no winners and losers. I’m very curious to see how far he takes this. I’m sure it will ruffle some feathers, and leave some people unsatisfied, but that’s probably a good thing.

The other major thing I notice in the one-shot is the character Hana. Now, as she shares her name with one of the main characters in Oumagadoki Zoo, and they are also similar in personality, that could be where the comparison ends. However, that’s nothing to say Horikoshi didn’t continue her themes elsewhere. The Hana in the Tenko one-shot is primarily preoccupied with her goal of becoming a warrior, and she was inspired some time ago by a warrior who saved her. This other warrior, conicidentally, turns out to be a brutal, a-moral, self-proclaimed demon, and he actually doesn’t take Hana seriously. In some ways, this reminds me of Hawks with his own idols, Endeavor and Lady Nagant, and more generally the idea in bnha that someone you look up to might not be all you imagine them to be. Like All Might and his hidden suffering. Or like Ochako looking up to Izuku up until his solo arc, after which she proclaimed, “special powers are one thing, but there’s no such thing as a special person.” 

Speaking of Ochako. Hana’s primary source of angst in the story is that since she is a woman, her “masculine” ambition is laughed at and dismissed. Her dialogue with other characters is very direct about this, which I find pretty interesting. 

You can really feel her frustration and see the blatant misogyny in how she’s treated. Even though things are stated kinda bluntly, it feels genuine, ya know? Note that she also wears men’s clothes, and nothing about her appearance is catered to the “male gaze.” I mention all this because to me it contextualizes Horikoshi’s more recent female characters. We can infer that he carried this perspective on, but in subtler and more nuanced ways that might not be immediately noticed. They may sometimes look like shonen stereotypes and be influenced by a misogynistic world, but this is likely an act of parody and/or criticism on Horikoshi’s part. For example Ochako’s fight in the sports festival illustrates a similar point to Hana’s struggle as Katsuki is the only one who takes Ochako seriously while other male classmates see her and other female opponents as inherently weak or potential love interests. 

Hana remains ambitious, fostering her own motivation beyond her previous idol, and her ultimate goal is to help people. She reminds me so much of Ochako’s recent convictions. Ochako is fully herself now, and I’m confident her fight with Toga will show this even more, in a way that is much more direct. Since ch 374, I anticipate we may be getting confirmation of things pretty soon, so I wanted to restate that ASAP. 

I’ve said this before, but it really does trouble me how a lot of people assume so much about bnha based on other shonen, disregarding the fact that Horikoshi is his own person. This either leads to undo criticisms or expectations that will likely not be delivered on. It makes me sad because I want people to enjoy this story for what it is. I hope this is a reminder that although it may seem on the surface like Horikoshi is rehashing the same old thing, his work really is a labor of love, of knowing. It is an homage, which both celebrates and deconstructs. Please remember that for the day when folks will be scrambling trying to figure out how we got here. Ironically, the signs were there all along, from the start of Horikoshi’s career, if you only care to look. 

#Im back? kinda #please be advised that I am busy and tired etc etc #bnha 374 #bnha 375 #bnha 376 #bnha manga #bnha meta #media criticism #shonen #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #uraraka ochako #toga himiko #bakugou kastuki #shimura tenko #lin speaks #long post

[stillness-in-green]

Bring It All Back (Part 1/4)

~A Tone Poem on Returning to the Status Quo~

Warning: IMAGE-HEAVY. A Webtoons-style vertical scroll comic using rearranged and recontextualized panels from My Hero Academia.

Deku keeps saying he'll bring everything back to normal. But what does "normal" actually mean...?

(Part 2)

#bnha #bnha tone poem #bnha critical #my writing? #no 2. green #bnha ordinary woman #shigaraki tomura #shimura family #toga himiko #bubaigawara jin #bnha overhaul

[wildwolf-fandoms]

Yeah, we had to reserve your fave's character development to fit them to their shipping partner, sorry. We had to sexualize or draw them with a famous shipping partner at any and every fanart/fic, sorry. We had to turn them into a cowardly, useless bitch even if they can use weapons or have powerful abilities in their canon, sorry. We had to portray them as a cruel, sadistic dick despite that's the opposite of their Canon personality, sorry. We had to turn them into a meek, anxious person despite them starting to find their confidence at the end of the series, sorry. We had to call them mean things and demonize them for showing their trauma and disorder symptoms in a non - uwufied way, sorry. We had to romanticize and uwufy them for showing the signs of trauma and mental illness in an "aesthetical" way, sorry. We had to label people who criticize snd call out these things Homophobic, Transphobic, ableist and P3do, sorry.

#1: Nagisa #2: Kokichi; Shuichi and Nagito #3: Liu Woods; and from what i've seen; She-Ra #4: Sonia Nevermind and Kaede; and from what i've seen; Willow of ToH #5: Nagisa Shiota; Makoto Naegi and Shuichi Saihara #5: also Starflight #6: Miu Iruma; Mikan Tsumiki; Tenko Chabashira; Sully Woods; Himiko Yumeno; Byakuya the first #6: also Asano Gakushu and Kazuichi Soda #7: Kokichi; Mikan; Nagito #both 6 and 7 are Mapleshade as well #the last one: all the fandoms above; but plus HH and HB #other than ToH; She-ra and Vivzie Pop stuff ofc #but i can't even look at fanfics or fanarts of my faves without cringing hard #fandom critical #fandom criticism #assassination classroom #assclass #ansatsu kyoushitsu #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa fandom #danganronpa v3 #wof fandom #wof #wings of fire #wings of fire fandom #creepypasta fandom #BECAUSE SOMEONE SCREAMS AT ME 'IF I DON’T LIKE IT I SHOULDN'T WATCH/READ IT': #I CAN LOVE A MEDIA AND FEEL BAD ABOUT THE PROBLEMS IN IT A N D CALL THESE PROBLEMS OUT AT THE SAME TIME #idk i'm tired #badger posts shit

[doodlegirl1998]

I remember reading a post somewhere on Tumblr, I don't remember the exact one, I know it involved how Uraraka's plot was handled and how it could've been handled better.

One part is saying that Twice should've been her villain since they both dealt in poverty, one had support while the other had nothing.

And I think that would've been way better than what we got. Because if Uraraka and Twice were to have more genuine interactions with each other, she probably would've seen some of herself in him and how she could've turned out if she didn't had her parents or her friend's support.

Twice also probably would've been touched that a hero had suffered something similar but is able to keep moving forward despite the hardships and not having as much.

So what do you think? You think it would've worked better than the stupid love triangle that's happening?

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

Yes!! Twice as Uraraka's villain would have worked so so much better narratively.

In fact, this will be an unpopular opinion, I feel like because of how Toga and Twice were set up by Hori, their roles in the narrative being switched would also work better if one of them had to die.

Hawks killing a minor (Toga is seventeen) would be harder to excuse and brush under the carpet for him. So more consequences.

Twice would feel extremely guilty because now his worst fear has happened and his best friend has died because he trusted the wrong person.

Twice having a big moment of going full villain in the final battle would be more impactful and jarring than Toga who was honestly a full villain before she joined the LOV. Since he would go from a kind, goofy guy led into villainy and crime through his circumstances, mental illness, poverty to someone consumed by the need for revenge (rather like Dabi.)

Speaking of Dabi, there was more of a friendship between him and Twice and him and Toga. So having Twice fighting Uraraka getting more distraught because he was thinking he lost another friend while fighting her would be more impactful.

Also his fight with Uraraka would be more focused on his grief, his circumstances (that are rather like Uraraka's sans support) - the parallels between them both would be interesting to explore. Uraraka would have an easier time empathising with him.

Hawks would not have a fun time - could imagine Twice sending a legion of Toga clones his way, and only calling off the attack when Uraraka gets through to him.

Plus we would see more Twice asking the honest questions to her like "How do you keep going?" "How do you stay so positive and strong? I admire you, dude." "I was so stupid I trusted the hero who went and killed Toga-chan. How do I know youre not like the guy that killed my buddy? Toga-chan just wanted a place to belong like me..." Uraraka I could see providing him with the answers, support he needed as well as helping him forgive himself for what happened.

Toga (other than her sweet moments with Twice) was set up as an unrepentant blood yandere. Her friends? Her family? No mention of them (no build up of a mysterious past like Dabi either.) She's also a mass murderer prior to joining the LOV - so that's harder to redeem than Twice who wasn't and to my memory only committed burglary.

In my opinion, the Toga/Uraraka fight as it played out in canon was a mess. Hori seemed to try to do too many things at once and failed to give any of them real depth in the process.

Not only that by he failed to explore Toga's vengeance for Twice in more depth by distracting it with the love triangle B.S.

Hori doesn't allow her to really go all out trying to kill Hawks like she could have with the clone army.

He failed to explore Toga's backstory properly (I.e did her parents actually hit her? Her kissing her friends wound better - what happened there? Did she actually just press her mouth to the wound and suck? We don't know but she's covered in blood.)

Uraraka just her 'bond' with Toga, calling her the "cutest" and saying she wants to talk about romance now is all SO forced. Whereas the parallels with Twice were all already there.

TLDR - Twice should have been Uraraka's villain instead.

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti togachako #Anti Toga Himiko #Koala dont look

[moonsb1996]

FAN :Toga Himiko can be a bit of a self-harm.

It might not be that long. I was just reading for fun and came across a fan of Toga saying, “Tōga wears a shirt, or she wears clothes that cover her wrists. Wear a bracelet, etc. because there may be scars from self-harm.”

They “think” that because of Toga, she hates herself and therefore harms herself. and make her want “Sucking the blood of others” so as not to be oneself And you are so pathetic, wah wah But what do you know?

How are you going to explain this picture to me when I don't see anything resembling bite marks or scars? And do you know why Toga likes to wear clothes that are bigger than her size? Until the wrist was closed and her little fingers were visible.

They look small and cute when they wear them, right? And now tell me They wear it as fashion. Or are they wearing it because they don't want anyone to see the scar? This story has been bothering me for a long time so I brought it up. You can imagine, but don't go overboard. It would be better.

Don't get me started on Stan. That guy has a knife armband there. Do you know what he's doing? Trick the hero's eyes into thinking he took out all his knives.

#bnha critical #mha critical #anti toga himiko

[problemswithbooks]

With the tentative and rough translations out, i have to say, yeah, Hori really doesn't get what he's actually writing and if he was trying to make Toga's entire deal a metaphor for queerness, he's ended up being quite offensive.

Like first off it seems he has Toga say she falls in love easily with boy and girls and...animals. Which, I always felt the bird thing as a kid could have negative connotations, but wrote it off as 'she was a little kid and this was before her desire for blood was wrapped up in her romantic feelings' type things. So having Hori reinstate that yes, she does still love animals to the point of blood drinking desire--a desire Hori coded as sexual/romantic is not a good look.

It also just makes me question if she could ever own a pet or if she'd end up killing it because she loved it to much and she needed to drink it's blood.

Also getting her perspective on the boy she attacked isn't great either. The translation is rough and basic so it could change, but I don't think there's any translation that could make the situation not read poorly.

In the rough translations she says something along the lines of "I didn't ask to drink his blood because I was afraid he'd hate me and think I was a decent monster."

I could see an alternative translation being "I asked for his blood and he called me a deviant monster, and I sucked his blood."

Again if Hori is trying to make a queer metaphor with Toga, this is a huge issue. Her attacking the boy was always a big problem, but if he didn't bring it up again I think a lot of casual readers would have forgotten it. But now it's front and center again and brings back bad connotations for Toga and a queer reading of her character.

Because again if we read her blood drinking as queerness, and Hori has already coded it in the past as lust while just last chapter confirming that Toga sees it as kissing in the very least we get two equally bad reads.

A) Due to fear of rejection Toga did not ask for consent and decided she'd just make sexual advances toward someone she had a crush regardless.

or B) She got rejected and told no, and then made the sexual advance anyway.

With a queer reading this only becomes worse because it pays into the really negative and even dangerous idea that same sex attracted people will go after anyone regardless of consent or the other persons orientation. It continues to perpetuate the idea that queer people are sexual predators, who target straight people or in the very least do not care about consent, or are unable to control themselves long enough to get it.

But even without a queer reading what Toga did is wrong. It sucks that people don't get her way of showing love, but consent is still needed regardless. You can't just do what you want to someone because you were to afraid to ask them out. You can't just do what you want with someone after they tell you no. Even if the boy had called her a monster that would not make it ok for Toga to, essentially sexually assault him (yes, kissing someone against their will is sexual assault, which is what Toga sees her blood drinking as).

And I think that's why Toga's character is really hard to get behind for some people--because at the end of the day she's literally just saying "I can't help but sexually assault people (and animals apparently)', and the solution to this is to give her exactly what she wants and apologize for not seeing how much pain she was in when she was actively trying to sexually assault people.

#bnha critical #anti toga #anti himiko #bnha spoilers #bnha 394 #this isn't me saying all queer stories or romances have to pure #but it's not framed as toxic or negative and Toga is the only openly queer character we have that's still alive #(Tiger was confirmed trans in a character blurb not in the text. Any one who only reads the magazine wouldn't know he's trans) #it's also just hard to get behind because the way Hori draws and frames them it feels more that he does it because he thinks it's hot #like the way naked toga is hugging ochako with her legs spread is bad #I mean he could have drawn it with ochako in front to hide toga's body or have toga with her legs closed #or he could have not had Toga's power remove her clothes to begin with #it also doesn't help that we don't get much build up for these characters #like i don't believe either of these girls actually understand or genuinely care about each other #like there was an opening with Twices death for Ochako to start to care about Toga and feel genuinely bad for her #but instead she just kind of decided to care for toga and her smile because Hori said so #like she thinks of her during the speech #but wouldn't it have been better and made more sense if she saw dabi's vlog and heard Twice died and then she understands why Toga was sad #not just randomly think 'man i want that girl who tried to murder me with a smile to smile again' #it also would have helped wrap up the twices death better too

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Dabi & Toga’s Arc;

This is most likely an unpopular opinion buti think Dabi and Toga’s character arc/hero-villain interaction could’ve been written better.

Like, i love the whole speech between Toga and Ochaco, despite its flaws and the fact that it happenned in a few chapters (lol), it was till good with great art but at the same time, its weird for Toga to act like Ochaco is the only one who made her experience love. Romantic, plationic, doesnt matter, love is love. She experienced that love with league and i hoped Ochaco to make Toga realize that she already found love in league. Not in Ochaco. Dont get me wrong. I still think Ochaco’s acceptance matter in a different way than league but still, it would be nice to see both Toga and Dabi to give up on their obsessions for the sake of league/Shigaraki (since he is their hero). But instead, story gave them what they ‘wanted’. Like;

Do you want your dad to see you, Dabi? Let me give it to you. Let’s give your abuser a redemption arc, without properly adressing the flaws of society and every great point you made.

Do you want to be loved by Ochaco/Izuku, Toga? You bet, girl! Ochaco thinks you have the cutest smile and you found love with her and she even said she is gonna give her blood to you! Even though, Twice, Shiggy, league already did/do that for you and you found love with them but lets focus on yuri, togaochaco scenes.

My problem with this is that its like Dabi cant be saved without being seen by abuser and its like Toga didnt find love/bigger love with legaue than she has with Ochaco. Its like cheap writing to me because focusing on their inner world, adressing all that great speech about society and their familly bond would be harder. I wish story made those two force to choose between league and revenge/obsessions first, then make Shouto and Ochaco realize that they are family, then they can reach out to them. Not after their obsession accept their love, not because of that. Endeavour didnt need to be that important for Dabi’s story, it could be small part of it, without focusing on entirely on his acceptance and the love of league could be the main focus, instead of yuri interaction (i dont blame people for it, because author writes them in a weird way, whether make izuochaco canon or togaochaco after they become friends, not like this). (Not even mentioning Spinner/Shoji, Hawks/Twice and others).

Anyway, i think in both hero-villain interactions, story omitted a few important steps to make them get their current position. It could’ve/should’ve written better. I hope we get better writing with Shiggy-Deku.

#bnha 394 #bnha 395 #mha 395 #bnha analysis #toga himiko #dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki shouto #uraraka ochaco #writing criticism #endeavour #endeavor #todoroki enji #todoroki family #mha meta #unpopular opinion

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Hello how are you doing? What is your opinion about Tomura, Toga and Dabi?

Hello, I'm going good! Sorry this took me a second to respond to.

Dabi: I actually like Dabi as he is in the manga but I really don't like how the story around him has formed. I think a lot of people lost sympathy for Dabi when it was revealed that he wasn't the perfectly sad victim with torture porn people envisioned, which is disappointing. Horikoshi did this weird thing where he tried to make the LoV sympathetic by doing things such as have them kill a bunch of bigots and show them having genuine bonds and reasons for their actions, but then abruptly changed his tune and did something like depicting them as unhinged mass murderers, mainly to reestablish the whole black and white morality of the series when he was getting a bit too lose to implying there were serious flaws in hero society and the villains gasp had a point?! Anyway, I like him, but now that Endeavour is basically heading the Todoroki family plot, he's been kinda cast aside and made to take the blame for a lot of the issues they're facing rn when it's... literally all Endeavour lmao. Like I don't think he really had to be portrayed as particularly caring or nice for the narrative to acknowledge that he did have a point, and that similar patterns in the Todoroki family are being repeated again, with condemning him for being obvious about and exposing their dysfunction, instead of Endeavour for causing it. Also literally why did he need an ice Quirk as well the whole fucking point was he was an 'imperfect creation' why did he need that what was the point-

Toga: She's cool, kind of boring. Her character is pretty clearly based on some of Horikoshi's weird fetishes, but she's far from the only one, so whatever. I'm really not a fan of hers and Ochako's arc honestly - it feels like they're trying to queerbait without putting in any of the narrative work as to why Toga and Ochako would connect beyond girl and sure, Ochako might feel sympathetic towards Toga, but like her specifically? Villain hero relationships are cool because usually, the villain reveals a new side to the hero, maybe a foil that causes them to question their morality or the person they could have been (ex: Shigaraki for Izuku and Dabi for Shouto). Toga is... not this for Ochako, and Ochako is not this for Toga. Her implied backstory is interesting but I all in all think she's one of the least interesting League members and it's a pity, because we're not really given enough about her.

Shigaraki: I fucking loved his arc for a while there, then they ruined it. Seeing a villain who actually grows from an immature, whiny kid to a legitimate leader who even seems to care about his subordinates was fantastic, and his backstory builds up very well to who he is as a person now. Though, then they regressed him, bought in the inner child that's crying or whatever, and I lost interest. Shigaraki has a compelling character design, was a main villain who grew into the position which is rare, and his Quirk is awesome, and his motivation? Has merit! He had the potential to be a great main villain had they just let him actually grow past AFOs influence, like a mirror to Izuku growing past All Might. But well. They didn't do that. Imo they wasted Shigaraki - for a while there his writing was great and he was one of the best parts of the manga for me.

#sorry this took me forever #mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha criticism #tomura shigaraki #tenko shimura #shigaraki tenko #shigaraki tomura #dabi #mha dabi #touya todoroki #todoroki touya #dabi todoroki #toga himiko #himiko toga #thanks for the ask!

[mha-grievances]

Alright, I’m bored, so I’m gonna tell you my opinions of the various MHA villains. This isn’t a dee analysis on any of them. Just my vague thoughts on them. I won’t be tackling any of the Nomu (including Kurogiri), spin-off villains, or movie villains:

AFO: He’s just there for me. For a Big Bad he’s kinda lackluster. He lacks the charisma of the archetype that he’s trying to be a part of when compared to other members of his archetype (giant looming threat) such as Darkseid and Thanos.

Tomura: Meh. I know people didn’t like him initially when he showed up cause he was a man-child, but I didn’t mind that. However he’s not really interesting to me. Sure his backstory’s sad, but his grand plan is to just disintegrate everything… just cause? While this is nothing new, it was kinda lackluster seeing as the narrative was putting Tomura down the path of being the next biggest villain. Like I get it, fuck society, but what does destroying everything accomplish? I dunno, his story feels weak to me.

Dabi: He’s definitely overrated by the fandom, but I like his character. He’s also got a kickass design and quirk. Dabi’s motives are a bit more than “fuck the world, let me destroy it” as his beef is with his abusive father. I can buy into this more-so than Tomura’s motives

Himiko: Definitely one of my top villains in the series, but I feel like she wasn’t explored as well as she should’ve been. Himiko’s definition of love is to literally become someone else, which can serve as a metaphor of people who aren’t able to accept who they are and aim to change everything about themselves. You compare this to Ochako’s experience with love which fuels her to be the best possible version of herself. I also would’ve loved to see more of her relationship with her quirk, how it has dominated every portion of her life. Finally, I do agree with those who say she’s often fetishized.

Spinner: I like him, but he’s been severely underutilized. His arc about mutant quirk discrimination was quickly wrapped up in like one issue and that’s it.

Mr. Compress: One of my favorite MHA villains. I love his quirk, his personality, and design. However, he struggles with a clear lack of motives, his only boiling down to the fact his ancestor was one of the greatest villains to ever exist. Why did Mr. Compress choose to follow his footsteps? Was it for fame? Because he agreed with his ancestor? Or maybe for another reason? At most we can say he hates society like the rest of the villains, but that doesn’t really give us much insight to his character.

Twice: My favorite MHA villain. If there’s anything from MHA that can be considered great, it’s the writing of Twice’s character. Twice is someone anyone can relate to, a person cast aside by the world and is willing to do anything to make friends. His quirk has caused him great anguish and he constantly grapples with his self identity. Out of all the LoV members, he has the biggest heart, but easily the most fragile one, and that’s why he’s a villain. It’s why he refused Hawks’s hand when told he could be a good guy. He saw his friends, the people who accepted him for who he was, and chose to fight besides them even if what they were doing was wrong. Twice is without a doubt the best character to come out of MHA and I will die on this hill.

Dr. Garaki: one of my favorite villains concept wise. A man who is canonically smarter than Nezu (who has an intelligence enhancing quirk) who makes Frankenstein like monsters could’ve been a super cool idea for a main antagonist. He could’ve served as a parallel to Izuku as Dr. Garaki’s quirk provides no offense utility. He’s essentially a quirkless person who lives longer. He is kinda a walking plot device though.

Magne: As many people would agree, she was wasted potential. A trans character who could’ve helped with MHA’s world building. I do wanna know why she chose to be a villain, but unfortunately after the Overhaul Arc she’s never brought up again.

Mustard: I like Mustard a lot but he’s yet another character with wasted potential. A kid as young as 1-A who hates heroes, a lot could’ve been done with that.

Moonfish: Unpopular opinion but I really like Moonfish. Why? Cause of his design. It’s very Lovecraftian like and I’m a sucker for those sorta things. Moonfish isn’t a deep character but he doesn’t need to be. He’s just evil and that’s fine. His creepy factor more than makes up for a lack of character.

Muscular: Serves as a physical obstacle Izuku has to overcome. Does his job well in that regard. Unlike Moonfish his appearance or quirk doesn’t make him stand out to me.

The Eight Bullets: Categorizing them all together. I like them. I can empathize with their struggles and how they wish to be needed despite being social outcasts. Obviously I wish more detail was put into them, but that’s pretty much it. I will say Rappa kinda doesn’t belong in there cause unlike the others, his motive is just that he wants to fight Overhaul, but that’s not to say I dislike him. I just feel he should’ve swapped places with one of the other Yakuza who weren’t the Eight Bullets.

Overhaul: In terms of presentation, design, and quirk, he absolutely is one of my favorite characters. His motives suck though. Man is in possession of one of the strongest quirks in the series and his motive is “ew, quirks are cooties”. Wanting to create quirk erasure bullets to cripple heroes so that the Yakuza can rise again is more than a fine motive for him. The “quirks are a disease” thing comes off as dumb. Maybe if he actually had a quirk that affected this behavior, this motive would’ve made a lot more sense.

Re-Destro: Boring. He could’ve been a neat Magneto type character but he’s immediately thrown to the side despite somehow having a city’s worth of members and spies layered throughout Japan.

The rest of the MLA: Couldn’t care for any of them, except for Geten, but that’s only because he has a cool design and quirk. The girl who can place mines had a cool quirk and design, but she got on my nerves.

Giran: Sometimes I forget he exists 😂. He’s basically a walking plot device.

Edit: I forgot someone 😭

Stain: I felt his message was extremely important to the themes of MHA and I like his design. However I feel that they neutered his message by having him target any heroes who weren’t All Might. There are other heroes, like Tensei, who are great heroes, just not at the caliber as All Might in terms of fame. Doesn’t mean they’re any less of a good hero. Imo he should’ve been more selective with his targets.

Edit 2: Forgot about another person 😭

La Brava: I like her. I think she’s cute and her relationship with Gentle is both genuine and well written. Her being a hacker’s really cool.

Edit 3: Forgot yet another person 😭

Gentle: thought he was cool too. A more human villain compared to the others we’ve gotten, and while not evil, is still someone who fits the bill of a villain.

#bnha critical #mha critical #tomura shiragaki #himiko toga #twice mha #spinner #bnha dabi #league of villains #meta liberation army #eight bullets #overhaul #dr garaki #all for one #stain mha

[bnha-more-like-bnh-gay]

I got a prompt for you! Prompt: Tired of the daily abuse he suffers, Izuku makes the choice to run away, hoping for his mother's life to get better once he's gone. Keep in mind this Izuku isn't blinded by the flashiness of heroics and gave up on it a long time ago.

So as Izuku wanders the streets alone, he meets up with some of the future LOV members such as Dabi, Toga, Spinner, Compress, ect.

Together they form a found family with a mission to work their way up to expose hero society and change it for the better (instead of whatever the hell the LOV were doing)

HELLO, I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, SCHOOL AND MY BRAIN FUCKED ME OVER, BUT Y E S!!!!! I LOVE

Okay, imma be honest, a large part of this is going to involve toga, because I love her so much and she deserves so much better than she got, and she and izuku would’ve been such good friends if they had met earlier

Tw: for bullying and self esteem issues (a lot of self blaming) and as a general rule for my headcanons,,,,,, ✨angst✨

Kaachan and his ✨henchmen✨ had been getting worse lately. Well, ever since his “diagnosis,” it had been getting worse and worse, but izuku was about to reach is breaking point

Every day, he heard about how it was his fault that his father left, that no one loved or cared about him, that the world would be better off without him, that his mother would be better off without him.

He could see how tired she was, he could tell that the bills were starting to stack up, and that kaachan repeatedly busting his hearing aids was Not Helping.

Really, izuku knew they were right (they’re not, I’ll fight them). If he wasn’t such a burden on his mother, she’d probably be a lot happier. She’d probably smile more. Sing more. Hell, her husband wouldn’t have left her if it hadn’t been for him!

His mom worked long hours, so he’d often wander through the streets if he didn’t have too much homework. It was rather peaceful in the early hours of the morning when his mother had the night shift and izuku would find his only friends in the alley cats

That being said, izuku also knew it was rather dangerous in dark alleyways during nightfall. Especially for a quirkless kid. But, that had never stopped him before, and so, when he hears muttering from a few streets over, he silently, curiously, stupidly! Izuku, turn back now! The rational part of his brain reprimanded.

He didn’t listen

Eventually, he found a girl in one alley, only a few turns away from his, she seemed to be taking to herself?

Well. Izuku wasn’t one to judge. Especially when he did the same thing!

But she seemed to be in distress. Her muttering was getting louder, and seemed to be turning into a full on beat down of her own misgivings

Again, izuku could relate

He approached her, asking if she was okay. He made sure to stay several meters away, he might not have much self preservation, but he wasn’t stupid

She looked at him frantically. Oh kami, why did she have a knife?! (Please imagine the vine there) she was telling him to stay back, too

But again, when has izuku ever done what people tell him to?

He tells her his name and tries to reassure her that he’s not going to hurt her, that she’s safe

It takes a while, but she is eventually able to calm down a bit

It’s strange really, two kids who couldn’t have been out of middle school out in the middle of the night. But, they started to talk.

For the first time since he was 4, izuku had someone he could consider a friend? Well. Aside from the cats, of course!

Toga was so kind! And she was just as excitable as him! She really liked cute things, so he decided that he had to show her all the pictures of his alley cat friends!

She. Loved. Them.

He taught her how to get close with them! You just had to be a little patient! She wasn’t the best with that, but that was okay! She would do anything for a friend, and her new friend really liked these cats! So, she could totally be patient for them!!

It was worth it too! They were so cute, and izu-Chan looked even cuter holding them!! (Not an izutoga ship, she just loves cute things)

The two young teens (I imagine they’re like,,, 13 and 14 around now? Maybe 14 and 15? Toga runs away after she graduates middle school at 15, so like,,,, around there), as the weeks go on and they get to know each other, toga begins to open up about her family’s hatred and suppression of her quirk, and izuku tells her about his quirklessness, the bullying, and the stress he puts on his mother

She is incredibly protective of him. That’s her little brother/best friend/only person who cares about her/her person.

He’s the same with her, really, just shows it a bit differently. Has 1000000% written 100+ page PowerPoints on how once she is and that she can do anything she puts her mind to

She’s more action and physical based. She’s very affectionate, she hugs him as often as she can. They’re both touch starved, and she knows she’s not the best with words. So, she steals shit for him.

He doesn’t know that it’s stealing at first, when she shows up with a new notebook after kaachan burned another one. She doesn’t get why he’s so worried about her stealing at first. It’s only from big companies and corporations that could afford to lose a few notebooks every now and then. He just doesn’t want her to get caught though. But she’s safe! Really!!

They find Dabi a few months later. He’s older than them by 7 and 8 years respectively, and he’s kind of an asshole. But toga likes his spunk and disregard for the rules. And izuku likes that he doesn’t care about quirks

Dabi and toga shit talk katsuki and I will not be told otherwise. Izuku feels bad at first, but they kinda put it into perspective of like, “how would you feel if he was doing/saying this stuff to/about us?” And izuku just like >:0

Obviously it took a while, and he still doesn’t know that they made shirts with katsuki’s face in the 🚫 sign, but I like to imagine that they show up to pick izuku up from school wearing them and bakugku had a conniption

Toga and izuku don’t actually run away until toga’s graduation from middle school

Some of her classmates pulled a really asshole prank on her and she had a panic attack. She ran away from the ceremony thing and was later found by a frantic izuku and dabi (her brothers)

She told them that she couldn’t go back. That her parents were mad at, no, disgraced by her

Dabi was mad. “More bitch ass parents. The worlds just fucken’ full of them”

- dabi, 2xxx

He offers to kill them for her. Izuku tells him no :( shame.

Let’s just say that this is around the time bakugou says his infamous “swan dive” comment and the sludge villain incident (I know I think both toga running away and that whole deal would happen around the relative same few months, so let’s just push them together! Why not!)

And the three decide to pull a little disappearing act

Well. Mainly toga and izuku. Dabi pulled his disappearing stunt a while ago. He gives them pointers. Dramatic bitch

Let’s be real, the three of them are all dramatic bitches

Izuku leaves a letter to his mom, explaining that he’s sorry for putting her in such a difficult place, and that he hopes she can find happiness, and that he’ll miss her.

:((((((((((((

They end up crashing a couple towns away in an abandoned building. Not very safe, but. Abandoned. Sooo

Toga says that the building is just like them

Abandoned

Dabi tells her not to look too deeply into it, but izuku thinks about that statement a lot

Spinner and dabi both have like… 0 respect for heroes. -10 actually. But, spinner is quite interested by these three vagabond’s plan to expose corrupt heroes and make society a better place, so, he tags along.

Mr. Compress catches dabi trying to pick pocket someone.

It goes badly </3

Dabi’s slight of hand just needs a bit of practice, and who’s better to teach him than a world class thief?

No one. That’s who.

Mr. Compress cannot believe he’s going to have to parent these teens and young adults. Fuck man. Can he leave now? He didn’t ask for this, he just wanted to share some tricks to the next generation of thieves, now he’s listening to this green child explain their plot for world domination?!

Oh, what’s that? It’s not world domination? Fine. Guess he’s going to teach these four how to steal shit because he will not be caught dead with criminals who don’t know how to complete a heist

Obviously, they go after endeavor first.

They take great joy in destroying him.

What?? Just because they aren’t the league of villains doesn’t mean our vigilante crew doesn’t enjoy some sweet sweet revenge on those who have hurt their little make shift family!

Mr. Compress is not a dad. He’s just not.

Did he show izuku all his masks and listen to the boy nerd out about them and their different histories and design origins? Yes. Did he think it was adorable? Yes.

That means nothing though and you can’t prove anything!

Spinner and dabi are the “cool” big brothers

Read: fucking dumbasses with issues with authority

It’s fine

Toga and izuku are feral sinanon rolls with issues with authority

Mr. Compress went from following his father’s footsteps in living life as a thief to overthrowing the hero commission with these kids who are all over a decade younger than him

Love that for him.

Dabi learns how to make katsudon for izuku when he’s homesick

Izuku helps dabi and toga deal with their quirk issues

They have a few run ins with stain, (spinner fanboys)

Izuku starts making them gear!

I don’t know why I love izuku making gear and tech, but he’s just such a smart and chaotic lad that I think it’s perfect for him

Definitely hacks into U.A. And plays online chess with nezu

He’s getting better

Nezu has heard whispers of their little group, and is quite excited to see how everything plays out!

I hope you liked thisss!!! Again, I am SO SORRY that this took so long. I had it in my drafts for about a week and worked on it when I could, but brain and homework were djsjcinsignaj

I love this thoughhhh!! Sorry if spinner and mr. Compress are ooc, I really don’t remember their personalities too much 😅 but I hope it was okay anyway!!!

#thank you for the ask💙💙 #tw: running away #tw: abuse #tw: self deprecation #bnha #mha #league of villains #vigilante deku #vigilantes #midoirya izuku #feral izuku #toga himiko #izuku problem child midoriya #spinner #mr compress #bnha dabi #toya todoroki #bakugou critical #endeavor critical #nezu