Tag: My Hero Academia

*YAWN!* Himiko Toga’s a “villain” now. Whatever, Horikoshi.

Toga’s been a villain from the very start of the manga. She’s just now being more strategic.

I figured Horikoshi would give us a flashback explaining what happened at the end of the last chapter, but I didn’t expect this chapter to be so boring. Yes, I’m bored. It’s Toga’s fated fight against Ochako and I’m bored. We barely saw Toga and Team Ochako fight on Okuto Island. I guess it doesn’t matter since nothing interesting happened except Toga drinking Twice’s blood. This is the final arc, Y’all. Why is this boring?

Okay, so, All For One, Dabi and Toga/Twice are all on the same battlefield. How will Endeavor and Hawks get out of this mess? Two possibilities:

Toga finally did it.

She drank Twice’s blood. One Twice is Toga and the other Twice is a Twice copy. Got it? Good. But can Toga use Twice’s quirk as well as the original? Well, so far, so good, I’d say. But there has to be a time limit on how long she can keep that form. Depending on what she does (Make only Twice copies? League of Villian copies?), Toga can cause some serious damage in a short amount of time.

Can’t forget about Kurogiri. Looks like he’s about to wrap Team Aizawa away from U.A., giving All For Shigaraki the opportunity hand Deku his ass. Uh-oh! I might just start caring about this fight.

Final arc character development. Sure, why not?

Nothing’s wrong with it, unless you hold off on a character’s full development until the very end. You couldn’t sprinkle Shoji’s past and feelings on heteromorph discrimination throughout the series, Horikoshi? No? You just wanna dump it all at the end for drama? Ugh! Between this and the manga flying to the end of the series, My Hero Academia’s pacing could be its biggest flaw.

Quirks: One Even Once!

Well, one is okay. The problem with Spinner is All For One giving him two quirks. Including his originial Gecko, Body Bulk and Scalemail gives Spinner three quirks. That’s not good, Y’all. Too many quirks inhabiting one body can mess you up unless you have the body and/or a special quirk (ex. One For All or All For One) to handle them. Spinner has neither.

I feel bad for Spinner. I consider him currently the most sympathetic League of Villains member, joining the malevolent group to make the world better for all heteromorphs. And now that he’s finally back on track to do something about it, AFO takes away his ability to think, to choose his own path. Tragic.

It’s also kinda lazy. Spinner and other heteromorphs have a valid point about being treated as less than human. But instead of showing both sides in a complicated gray way, Spinner’s a hulking blood-lusted monster needing to be put down by a hero. Spinner, bad. Shoji, good. Get it? Got it? Good. And also boring.

Can Horikoshi address discrimination in a mature and respectable way without having the conclusion feel like a copout?

I doubt it. But don’t get me wrong. I WANT Horikoshi to get this right. Heteromorph discrimination in the My Hero world has popped up several times and every time it left me wanting more. From the racist group (Creature Rejection Clan) the League of Villains killed to Deku not directly addressing a mob trying to kill a heteromoph (Giant Fox Woman) simply because of her looks, I’ve wanted more scenes focused on this issue. Unfortunately, I’m let down almost every time.

Let me back up a bit. I loved the LoV fighting the Creature Rejection Clan, but looking back, it was a total copout. Horikoshi didn’t address the discrimination issue. It was simply used to show the League killing people the audience wouldn’t feel bad about dying.

And Deku… I will never get over the main character of My Hero Academia not giving those mob meatheads a verbal dressing down for assaulting someone based on their looks.

What an epic(?) fight!

I guess it is. Horikoshi’s battle scenes can get muddy. This is one of them. So, basically, Deku’s using the Second User’s quirk: Gearshift to change his inertia instantly. It’s a speed boost quirk with benefits. Not flashy looking here, but it gets the job done. I bet this entire battle will look amazing in the anime.

Gonna need an explanation, Horikoshi.

Did the Second’s quirk, Transmission, slow down All For Shiggy or speed up Deku? Or is it both? At first I thought Deku teleported, but maybe that’s just from Shiggy’s slowed perspective. In any case, it’s an interesting power. But why the five-minute limit? You darn shonens and your five-minute power limits. Yeah, it raises the tension, but since time is relative in comics, “five-minutes” can be as long as the author wants it to be. I’m on to you, Shonen Jump! Can’t fool me anymore.

He’s here. He has gear. Get used to it!

I’m sitting here trying my best not to complain about how this entire chapter could’ve been condensed into half as many pages. Seriously, what happened? Deku arrived at U.A., All For Shigaraki taunted him, and Mirio calmed him down. That’s it. I’m so over this fight. And it’s supposed to be the biggest, most important battle in the series! Oh, well. At least the art’s good.

Deku’s back! …Now what?

We have a lot to talk about. Sike! No, we don’t. Shigaraki took every hero down one by one until Deku arrived. That’s it. Oh! And Mirio’s got a fat ass. How fat? Like DC Comic’s Nightwing fat? Which heroic posterior’s bigger? Let’s discuss.