Girls Can Fight Too! [My Hero Academia]

Please, Hirokoshi. I’m begging you. Please give us kick-ass female characters!

My Hero Academia is a manga taking place in a world of heroes and villains. Many ideas for the series is drawn from western comics, mainly Marvel and DC comics. But, at its core it’s a battle shounen series, so it makes sense the popular manga will have tropes related to this genre. Unfortunately, we may be getting a trope many fans do not want, the weak female character.

I love One Piece. But, I hate how the two main female characters are rarely shown fighting. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t useless. In fact, I say Nami and Robin are some of the most competent characters in the series. But, why can’t we see them whooping ass? Sure, Nami helped fight off Big Mom and her cronies, giving the Straw Hats a chance to escape several chapters ago, but where’s her one-on-one fight? One Piece, more specifically Eiichiro Oda, doesn’t show many kick-ass women. Yeah, they get their moments of badassery against no-name throwaway thugs or a short scene that’s maybe a page or two but a true fight seems to allude them these days. And by these days I mean for YEARS.

I’d hoped Kohei Horikoshi, part of a younger generation of mangaka, would start a new trend where shounen females are shown kicking more butt than ever before. Uraraka’s fight with Bakugou is a prime example of what I want. It was a good fight and even though she lost it wasn’t because she was a woman or she was in love or some other girly bullshit. She just wasn’t as strong a fighter as Bakugou, period. I love that and hoped that was a signal to the MHA audience that this story, like in the vein of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Captain Marvel, etc., wasn’t afraid to show powerful women being powerful. But, the shounen trope is strong, possibly strong enough to override its superhero trope side.

At the current chapter of MHA (chapter 153), it looks like Uravity, Froppy and Nejire Hado will not get to fight this arc. Overhaul has entered final form mode and going back to any potential fight with the UA girls outside the yakuza base would break the story’s flow. I find this immensely disappointing. Why bring them here if they don’t get a fight? It makes no sense. Maybe Hirokoshi’s editor interfered with them getting a fight. At this point, this is all speculation. I just can’t understand why all three female UA students did not get a chance to fight, to do anything. They have done nothing this arc. Nothing!

I hope I’m wrong about all this. I hope I look like a fool because all three UA girls will bust into that underground room and help Deku kick Overhaul’s ass. Maybe they’ll fight Toga and Twice on their way out or…I don’t know. Just give me something, Hirokoshi. You seem like a progressive guy, break the mold. Don’t let anyone stand in your way. I know you can do it.