So… Himiko Toga. Start her theme song and let’s chat about her a bit, shall we?
No, let’s start with Toga’s shitty parents. We still don’t know whether or not Toga’s Transform quirk is hereditary or a new quirk not yet seen in her family. Doesn’t matter in the long run, but still, why couldn’t they treat her better? The answer: Because it wasn’t about Toga’s quirk. It’s about them. They weren’t trying to understand their daughter and her blood urges due to her quirk. It was all about keeping up appearances. Be the average girl, live an average life, think average thoughts. They didn’t help Toga because they didn’t want to help her, they wanted to “fix” her. And, look how that turned out. Yeah, it’s implied she had Quirk Counseling, but, as we can see, that doesn’t always work. Supportive parents could’ve been the missing piece Toga needed to live a genuinely happy life without suffocating her personality. Now, does this mean Quirk Counseling is garbage and the Meta Liberation Army is right? Not necessarily. Sure, it’s not perfect, but the whole process needs to be reexamined and changed to better help more people. If not, there needs to be an alternate. Basically, don’t ignore the problem and actively try to fix it.
I’m very interested to learn Toga’s complete backstory but now’s not the time. Or, I should say Horikoshi is waiting to give us everything. Expect that from every League of Villains member this arc. We’ll get enough to keep out interest but won’t be getting their full stories until it’s closer to the manga’s end.
We get confirmation the bracelets worn by top Liberation members are indeed support items. Good to know.
I’d like to address some fans’ displeasure of Toga’s quirk now gaining the ability to use a transformed person’s quirk. Like it or not, it didn’t come out of nowhere. Yeah, that specific power was mentioned by Horikoshi when talking about her design origin. But, I’m talking about an in-universe explanation. At that is, quirks don’t evolve, a person simply has to unlock their quirk’s full potential. What’s the difference? What I’m saying is quirks don’t “change”. Everything a quirk can do is there from the start, but it’s up to the user to train and understand the quirk in order to unlock it.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence Toga leveled up soon after constantly fighting Gigantomachia. Maybe her body couldn’t handle using other quirks. I’ve said it before, but maybe it was a strength or stamina issue. She couldn’t use other quirk powers because she was too physically weak to handle it. Now, she’s stronger and can. Again, this isn’t new. Deku, Todoroki, Kirishima, Koichi (from My Hero Academia: Vigilantes), etc., it all comes down to fully understanding what your quirk is and training it to unlock its full potential.
Kizuki’s dead. Yep. You don’t fight a killer and expect to walk away if you lose. Well, maybe Redestro. I can see him escaping, but everyone else who fights the League this arc is a goner.
A fantastic chapter. Looking forward to the next fight. I’m putting my money on Mr. Compress fighting the Hearts and Mind party leader. He’s long overdue for a backstory. And, stronger deodorant. But, don’t tell him I said that!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 