I'd rather he started off in a more gray manner and then proceeds to get worse and worse, and realizes what he's become to surpass All Might, as opposed to someone who was always an absolute piece of shit and had a come to Jesus moment because reasons.
I don't think anyone is arguing that Endeavor does not suck, including Endeavor himself. Just that he's less of a bad parent here than he is in the future. It doesn't erase anything he's done, so much as establish that at a certain point he wasn't overflowing with dickish energy. At this point, he's maybe just negligent as opposed to the reign of terror we know he inacts later.
I would be really hard pressed to argue that he didn't care about Touya for instance.
I mean, the reason he stopped training him to begin with was because while he had (or has the potential) the ability to put out more flames than Endeavor, he had absolutely no endurance to heat. Best case scenario he's as resistant to heat as any normal person, worse case, this is shades of Pokemon and he's actually more sensitive to flames than anyone else.
I mean, theoretically he could be stronger than Endeavor, he wasn't a 'failed project' in that he had no powers, or that he was a weakling, the problem was that it's not good for him. I think the chapter really sorta frames the problem in that manner, as opposed to lack of power.
He flat out says it's for Touyas own good, and I'm inclined to believe him given the doctor explaining Touya is a rare case of someone whose power set does not suit their body.
I mean, I think if he had kept training Touya, we'd be thinking he's even more of a dick than he already is, since he's disregarding the point that training Touya is not healthy and he knows it.
If he flat out didn't care, he wouldn't have kept trying to discourage him, and he certainly wouldn't be so traumatized by him 'dying' at one of his favorite training spots that he refuses to even go there anymore.
(I'm just saying I prefer Jerkass Endevour to Endeavor Hamna. It does maybe soften him up *slightly* but it also explains makes him trying to turn things around make more sense in the present. It also would help to explain why his family is even slightly willing to even remotely consider reconciling with him.)
He goes on and on about how Touya won't listen, and the whole chapter keeps talking about how he's getting burned from his training, and Endeavor is clearly concerned about this...I'm also led to believe that Endevour didn't tell Touya about his whole Pokemon breeding plan originally, so much as he figured it out on his own. His interaction with Rei sorta reads as 'he figured out what you're up to.'
(Obviously the entire 'I need a kid who is god tier is extremely problematic, and it's clear that tension weighed heavily, and the entire plan is.....not optimal to having a family even in the most ideal situation.)
While it's clear that the fact he's unlikely to surpass all might factored into his decision, it's also portrayed in a manner that makes it clear that Touya just wouldn't drop the issue. Like you said, we're in years later from the time that Endeavor stopped training him and he's still going at it.
At this point I don't think there are any good moves. Endeavor already fucked up before he realized it.
If you train him, he gets better, and wants to train more. He gets more powerful, which hurts him more and he certainly will want to go further. If you don't train him, well..We've seen where that goes.
I think it would have been a good idea to get the kid a psychiatrist or something, and knowing Endeavor he focused all his time on heroing or something and I struggle to imagine him as the type to spend all day fishing with his kids....
I'm half expecting to find out he....did not react well to Touya attacking Shooto and banishing him to the mines of moria, I'm also hoping he doesn't go full blown piece of shit that quickly.
I'm very worried about the next chapter lol.
Like you said though, this entire fuckup is on Endeavor. Even if Touya is naturally unstable, the 'be the best, don't want to be replaced' thing is pretty much a side effect of Endeavors plan, regardless of if it was intentional or not.
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