My Hero Academia Appreciation 2021

[Inversed]

No chapter next week, and not much story progression here, but at least we finally do get part of one of the most aching questions we've been waiting for.

spoilers:

After saving a giant animal girl being attacked by civilians, Midoriya tries to figure out what his next move will be. Flashing back to their time in the Vestige world, the first user of One For All, who's name is revealed to be Yoichi, converses with the two remaining users of OFA. We learn that they came from the same time as AFO's peak, and were part of a resistance fighting against AFO. The second user claims to not want to follow Midoriya, someone who wants to "save" their moral enemy, but Yoichi reminds them of how they had initially intended on killing him before saving him, which had allowed OFA to grow in the first place. They agree to follow suit as Midoriya, now backed by all of OFA, prepares to reach the power's peak.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Two huge revelations! Finally the First has a name, Yoichi Shigaraki, and most importantly, time travelling Bakugo theory is dead!!! Turns out that when people guessed the potential reasons they were keeping themselves hidden were because either they had regrets or didn't accept Midoriya, and the answer is actually both. The little glimpses of their history is really interesting and I especially love the imagery of the 2nd taking Yoichi's hand, because that probably is the most important consistent image in the entire series, how powerful a simple gesture like that can be. I also just recently read a Reddit post that theorized the third user is actually AFO's bodyguard (the one in the mask) from the flashback, and honestly seeing the similarities in their designs, and now with this new piece of information, I'm really believing this. There's also some good fun levity moments, like Banjo being great as usual, and Midoriya being so happy getting katsu from All Might shows he's not all 100% serious edge, he's still got that Deku-ness within him. Plus, the moment of Midoriya giving the umbrella back to the tall woman is really sweet.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Two huge revelations! Finally the First has a name, Yoichi Shigaraki, and most importantly, time travelling Bakugo theory is dead!!! Turns out that when people guessed the potential reasons they were keeping themselves hidden were because either they had regrets or didn't accept Midoriya, and the answer is actually both. The little glimpses of their history is really interesting and I especially love the imagery of the 2nd taking Yoichi's hand, because that probably is the most important consistent image in the entire series, how powerful a simple gesture like that can be. I also just recently read a Reddit post that theorized the third user is actually AFO's bodyguard (the one in the mask) from the flashback, and honestly seeing the similarities in their designs, and now with this new piece of information, I'm really believing this. There's also some good fun levity moments, like Banjo being great as usual, and Midoriya being so happy getting katsu from All Might shows he's not all 100% serious edge, he's still got that Deku-ness within him. Plus, the moment of Midoriya giving the umbrella back to the tall woman is really sweet.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I've seen that some people still think the guy is related to Bakugou somehow. Which would be the same type of pointless connection as AFO being Izuku's dad, but whatever. I am really enjoying the way Yoichi's story, and that of the other succesors, is being unfolded. It's like a wide tapestry with lots of different interconnecting parts. Besides the imagery of reaching out a hand to help, like you've mentioned, one can also see this as a different kind of instance of a hero acting without thinking. It's just that instead of heedlessly rushing into danger to help someone, the second let go of any animosity he might've initially had towards Yoichi to help him out. I'm glad that the second and third users don't outright dislike Izuku, they're just concered about him being the right person to take on the cruelty of AFO. Regarding the third being AFO previous body guard. It's certainly a possibility, though I do still prefer the idea that that bodyguard became Gigantomachia. I like that Banjo wasn't just being a riot for the sake of it, he noticed that Yoichi needed time alone with the second and third so he had Izuku and the others focus on how their quirks work. In short, Banjo is just great in general and I'm really glad we're just a few weeks away from hearing his voice in the anime. I'm always glad to see super heroes just straight up saving and comforting civilians like Deku does with the giant lady. The type of small heroic acts and kindness can get lost in certain types of epic super hero stories even though it's such a fundamental cornerstone of the genre. All Might coming in to help out too was a nice touch. So that just made me smile.

end of spoilers

[TheCape]

No chapter next week, and not much story progression here, but at least we finally do get part of one of the most aching questions we've been waiting for.

spoilers:

After saving a giant animal girl being attacked by civilians, Midoriya tries to figure out what his next move will be. Flashing back to their time in the Vestige world, the first user of One For All, who's name is revealed to be Yoichi, converses with the two remaining users of OFA. We learn that they came from the same time as AFO's peak, and were part of a resistance fighting against AFO. The second user claims to not want to follow Midoriya, someone who wants to "save" their moral enemy, but Yoichi reminds them of how they had initially intended on killing him before saving him, which had allowed OFA to grow in the first place. They agree to follow suit as Midoriya, now backed by all of OFA, prepares to reach the power's peak.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Two huge revelations! Finally the First has a name, Yoichi Shigaraki, and most importantly, time travelling Bakugo theory is dead!!! Turns out that when people guessed the potential reasons they were keeping themselves hidden were because either they had regrets or didn't accept Midoriya, and the answer is actually both. The little glimpses of their history is really interesting and I especially love the imagery of the 2nd taking Yoichi's hand, because that probably is the most important consistent image in the entire series, how powerful a simple gesture like that can be. I also just recently read a Reddit post that theorized the third user is actually AFO's bodyguard (the one in the mask) from the flashback, and honestly seeing the similarities in their designs, and now with this new piece of information, I'm really believing this. There's also some good fun levity moments, like Banjo being great as usual, and Midoriya being so happy getting katsu from All Might shows he's not all 100% serious edge, he's still got that Deku-ness within him. Plus, the moment of Midoriya giving the umbrella back to the tall woman is really sweet.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

My preffered theory is that 2nd and 3rd are former enfoncers of AFO that joined him because they thought that he was their best choice to combat the chaos of the Dawn of Quirks, but eventually went rogue once they realized how much of a bastard he truly was. I also think that they didn't know that First was there, they just knew that someone important for AFO was there and thought that killing him would be a devastating blow against him but changed their minds after seeing his state, 2nd probably thought "he looked like he needed help" and the rest is history. Also in a weird way the theory has some true because 2nd is very Katsuki-like, but not literally him, he is just Yoichi's Bakugou and is probably mean to parallel Deku and Kachan's bond (the Naruto school of parallels basically), to show the importance of.how trust and friendship was the true creation of One For All

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

A short but sweet chapter. Deku helping out the giant fox lady was nice and also shows that despite quirks being very common including animal mutation ones, there seems to still be some prejudice. Finally we get some info on users 2 +3 and why they were reluctant to aid Deku. Now we have another two week break, hopefully afterwards we will head back to UA

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

I am really enjoying the way Yoichi's story, and that of the other succesors, is being unfolded. It's like a wide tapestry with lots of different interconnecting parts. Besides the imagery of reaching out a hand to help, like you've mentioned, one can also see this as a different kind of instance of a hero acting without thinking. It's just that instead of heedlessly rushing into danger to help someone, the second let go of any animosity he might've initially had towards Yoichi to help him out. I'm glad that the second and third users don't outright dislike Izuku, they're just concered about him being the right person to take on the cruelty of AFO. Regarding the third being AFO previous body guard. It's certainly a possibility, though I do still prefer the idea that that bodyguard became Gigantomachia. I like that Banjo wasn't just being a riot for the sake of it, he noticed that Yoichi needed time alone with the second and third so he had Izuku and the others focus on how their quirks work. In short, Banjo is just great in general and I'm really glad we're just a few weeks away from hearing his voice in the anime. I'm always glad to see super heroes just straight up saving and comforting civilians like Deku does with the giant lady. The type of small heroic acts and kindness can get lost in certain types of epic super hero stories even though it's such a fundamental cornerstone of the genre. All Might coming in to help out too was a nice touch. So that just made me smile.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I was definitively in the camp of believing that bodyguard is Gigantomachia too, though thinking about it, that would mean he'd be well over 100 years old, and we know he doesn't have Life Force/wasn't re-engineered like the Nomu, so just adds more potential questions to how he's still alive all this time. The idea that maybe the 2nd or 3rd were loyal followers of AFO before betraying him when they realize how truly terrible he was makes them far more interesting of characters. Plus it would explain how they knew where Yoichi was in the first place. The little detail remembering that katsu is also Midoriya's favourite food just makes it all the more sweeter. Also, I love that the fans have dubbed the car All Might's driving the Dekumobile or Mightmobile, even funnier when you realize it's Best Jeanist's car.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Also in a weird way the theory has some true because 2nd is very Katsuki-like, but not literally him, he is just Yoichi's Bakugou and is probably mean to parallel Deku and Kachan's bond (the Naruto school of parallels basically), to show the importance of.how trust and friendship was the true creation of One For All

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Yeah, it's clear that the 2nd looking like Bakugo was in fact intentional, but not because it "literally is him" but because it's supposed to thematically connect with his relationship with Yoichi versus Bakugo's with Midoriya.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

Horikoshi had an interview in recent Jump Giga Spring 2021 where he answered several questions regarding the future of the story:
https://www.instagram.com/p/COK7A-iJ..._web_copy_link

When asked about what characters will be important in the final act, he remains coy saying that many characters' actions will converge together and to "keep an eye on all of them", but he specifically makes note to namedrop Hawks and Ochaco as the "light of hope", as well as mentioning Shinso, Monoma, Shoji, and Sero as getting big moments.

In reference to "that Exhibition drawing" (the Izuku/Ochaco one), he says that while that's not literally gonna happen in the series, it is still connected to how their relationship would be developing.

He relates writing the tragic Takami and Todoroki family histories to emulating the works of Sion Sonos, and tries to keep in his head not to write too many sad stories at once for the sake of his mental health.

He reveals that he started figuring out the specifics of this final act by around the time he was writing the Endeavor Vs. High-End fight.

He also adds that the scene he had the most fun drawing recently was Endeavor's expression at Dabi's reveal, how it correlates between his "duty as a hero" and his "duty as a father", and how that in that moment he basically becomes "an old fart". Also his favourite character to draw is Best Jeanist.

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

I was definitively in the camp of believing that bodyguard is Gigantomachia too, though thinking about it, that would mean he'd be well over 100 years old, and we know he doesn't have Life Force/wasn't re-engineered like the Nomu, so just adds more potential questions to how he's still alive all this time. The idea that maybe the 2nd or 3rd were loyal followers of AFO before betraying him when they realize how truly terrible he was makes them far more interesting of characters. Plus it would explain how they knew where Yoichi was in the first place. The little detail remembering that katsu is also Midoriya's favourite food just makes it all the more sweeter. Also, I love that the fans have dubbed the car All Might's driving the Dekumobile or Mightmobile, even funnier when you realize it's Best Jeanist's car.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

That's true. Quirks are a lot more specific in MHA that super-powers in most superhero fiction, so if you don't have a life-extending quirk you probably won't live longer than average. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Machia's initial endurance quirk wouldn't make him a little older than average at least. But I guess that the doctor's experiments probably hadn't reached the point where they could give one person several quirks like with Machia until relatively recently. The possibility of two previous inheritors also being closely tied to AFO is indeed more interesting and has more narrative possibilities, especially in terms of helping Izuku get to know what kind of person AFO really is. I'm now reminded of the opening scene from Two Heroes where All Might and David drive around town fighting crimes like Batman and Robin. I wonder if All Might ever considered doing that but abandoned the idea because, much like his additional equipment, it just couldn't compare to the raw power of OFA.

end of spoilers

Horikoshi had an interview in recent Jump Giga Spring 2021 where he answered several questions regarding the future of the story:
https://www.instagram.com/p/COK7A-iJ..._web_copy_link

When asked about what characters will be important in the final act, he remains coy saying that many characters' actions will converge together and to "keep an eye on all of them", but he specifically makes note to namedrop Hawks and Ochaco as the "light of hope", as well as mentioning Shinso, Monoma, Shoji, and Sero as getting big moments.

In reference to "that Exhibition drawing" (the Izuku/Ochaco one), he says that while that's not literally gonna happen in the series, it is still connected to how their relationship would be developing.

He relates writing the tragic Takami and Todoroki family histories to emulating the works of Sion Sonos, and tries to keep in his head not to write too many sad stories at once for the sake of his mental health.

He reveals that he started figuring out the specifics of this final act by around the time he was writing the Endeavor Vs. High-End fight.

He also adds that the scene he had the most fun drawing recently was Endeavor's expression at Dabi's reveal, how it correlates between his "duty as a hero" and his "duty as a father", and how that in that moment he basically becomes "an old fart". Also his favourite character to draw is Best Jeanist.

Saw this, very cool.

I have high hopes for Ochako, and her relationship with Izuku, with these comments, and I'm giddy with anticipation for Shinso and Monoma to get cool moments. Hopefully he's able to enact all these ideas. I remember when Kishimoto kept hyping up a year as the year of Kakashi and that just never really panned out in the story.

Always interesting to get some insight in his creative process, and what he thinks afterwards. The Endeavor vs. High-End fight did in retrospect set up a lot of story elements that have now paid off big time.

[Inversed]

spoilers:

That's true. Quirks are a lot more specific in MHA that super-powers in most superhero fiction, so if you don't have a life-extending quirk you probably won't live longer than average. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Machia's initial endurance quirk wouldn't make him a little older than average at least. But I guess that the doctor's experiments probably hadn't reached the point where they could give one person several quirks like with Machia until relatively recently. The possibility of two previous inheritors also being closely tied to AFO is indeed more interesting and has more narrative possibilities, especially in terms of helping Izuku get to know what kind of person AFO really is. I'm now reminded of the opening scene from Two Heroes where All Might and David drive around town fighting crimes like Batman and Robin. I wonder if All Might ever considered doing that but abandoned the idea because, much like his additional equipment, it just couldn't compare to the raw power of OFA.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I'm really hoping at some point we get another deep dive flashback into AFO's backstory, because there are alot of little details we still don't know about that would help greatly clarify things. When exactly Gigantomachia appeared, when the Nomu were being worked on, etc. I'm also definitively expecting we'll see what happened to him and his brother as kids and how he became like this too. I saw others talking about that too, since we know Prime All Might basically has the power to just leap from city to city with no effort, so that "Allmobile" is pretty much just there for David to keep up/capture villains.

end of spoilers

Saw this, very cool.

I have high hopes for Ochako, and her relationship with Izuku, with these comments, and I'm giddy with anticipation for Shinso and Monoma to get cool moments. Hopefully he's able to enact all these ideas. I remember when Kishimoto kept hyping up a year as the year of Kakashi and that just never really panned out in the story.

Always interesting to get some insight in his creative process, and what he thinks afterwards. The Endeavor vs. High-End fight did in retrospect set up a lot of story elements that have now paid off big time.

I am very curious to see most what's planned for Monoma. He was absent during the War (revealed in a Volume Extra to have been doing a separate raid with Vlad King and some of his classmates), and after everything that has happened, there's really no reason for him to be his overly competitive, a-hole self, so I'm wondering if there may be a spark or change in attitude for him.

And if the series is planning to conclude somewhere around the 400 chapter mark (if we got a year or 2 to go), then that would put Endeavor Vs. Hood close to the half-way point (about Ch. 190) of the story too.

[CJStriker]

While watching both last weeks and looking forward to this weeks episode and now just finishing it so far one of the students from class 1B have come to like and become a fan of is Kinoko Komori, aka Shemage!

I thought her mushroom quirk and how she utilized it towards her hero theme and personality was really enjoyable and cool to see characters like her take pride in their quirk that revolves around Similar expertise in an area, similar to how Froppy is, and Froppy is my favorite character of the whole to the series!

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

I'm really hoping at some point we get another deep dive flashback into AFO's backstory, because there are alot of little details we still don't know about that would help greatly clarify things. When exactly Gigantomachia appeared, when the Nomu were being worked on, etc. I'm also definitively expecting we'll see what happened to him and his brother as kids and how he became like this too. I saw others talking about that too, since we know Prime All Might basically has the power to just leap from city to city with no effort, so that "Allmobile" is pretty much just there for David to keep up/capture villains.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

At some point we will almost definitely get that flashback since Deku's whole thing right now is that he wants to understand what makes villains tick. And even though there's pretty much no chance in hell of redemption for AFO. It would be good to understand just how he became what he is. And we will almost certainly get more parallels to Deku and Bakugo with Yoichi and AFO as kids. I do hope that we get to catch up with David at some point, whether it's in a movie or some spin-off. I really want to know more about what happened to him after Two Heroes.

end of spoilers

I am very curious to see most what's planned for Monoma. He was absent during the War (revealed in a Volume Extra to have been doing a separate raid with Vlad King and some of his classmates), and after everything that has happened, there's really no reason for him to be his overly competitive, a-hole self, so I'm wondering if there may be a spark or change in attitude for him.

And if the series is planning to conclude somewhere around the 400 chapter mark (if we got a year or 2 to go), then that would put Endeavor Vs. Hood close to the half-way point (about Ch. 190) of the story too.

It would be cool to see a new side of Monoma after all this **** has gone down. Or maybe he's keeping up the douche-nonesene to give everybody a low stakes person to be annoyed at as a distraction from the bigger issues. Dude is a fairly capable leader after all so I am interested in what he's like right now.

I hope it goes a bit further than that. Just so Horikoshi can have as much time as needed to do all the things he has planned.

[Dark Soul # 7]

While watching both last weeks and looking forward to this weeks episode and now just finishing it so far one of the students from class 1B have come to like and become a fan of is Kinoko Komori, aka Shemage!

I thought her mushroom quirk and how she utilized it towards her hero theme and personality was really enjoyable and cool to see characters like her take pride in their quirk that revolves around Similar expertise in an area, similar to how Froppy is, and Froppy is my favorite character of the whole to the series!

Coolers.

I'm glad Kinoko resonated so well with you. She's fun, and she has a deceptively terrifying quirk that she uses in quite any efficient way.

[leokearon]

spoilers:

At some point we will almost definitely get that flashback since Deku's whole thing right now is that he wants to understand what makes villains tick. And even though there's pretty much no chance in hell of redemption for AFO. It would be good to understand just how he became what he is. And we will almost certainly get more parallels to Deku and Bakugo with Yoichi and AFO as kids. I do hope that we get to catch up with David at some point, whether it's in a movie or some spin-off. I really want to know more about what happened to him after Two Heroes.

end of spoilers

It would be cool to see a new side of Monoma after all this **** has gone down. Or maybe he's keeping up the douche-nonesene to give everybody a low stakes person to be annoyed at as a distraction from the bigger issues. Dude is a fairly capable leader after all so I am interested in what he's like right now.

I hope it goes a bit further than that. Just so Horikoshi can have as much time as needed to do all the things he has planned.

Yeah seeing a side to Monoma that isn't a diuchebag would be nice, in fact I hope class 1-B do get at least one more chance to shine, especially after watching the Joint Training Arc

[Inversed]

While watching both last weeks and looking forward to this weeks episode and now just finishing it so far one of the students from class 1B have come to like and become a fan of is Kinoko Komori, aka Shemage!

I thought her mushroom quirk and how she utilized it towards her hero theme and personality was really enjoyable and cool to see characters like her take pride in their quirk that revolves around Similar expertise in an area, similar to how Froppy is, and Froppy is my favorite character of the whole to the series!

Kinoko's a really fun character and has alot of great energy to her. Watching the episode reminded me how I keep forgetting just how terrifying her quirk can actually be. I also love how shy Kuroiro is around her, going from so confident against Tokoyami, to stuttering and whispering with her, it's always nice to see with these "canon crushes".

I do hope that we get to catch up with David at some point, whether it's in a movie or some spin-off. I really want to know more about what happened to him after Two Heroes.

So far the most we've gotten is in the Melissa chapter of Team-Up Missions where she mentions that David is "doing well", so I'd have to imagine the most likely thing is he's under some kind of house arrest/probation just taking it easy.

[Inversed]

spoilers:

After stopping a group of thugs, Endeavor faces a group of protestors, blaming him for letting Shigaraki escape, everything Dabi did, and for not revealing the truth about the "someone" Shigaraki is after. While on the road, they go over their plan regarding Midoriya and All Might, to keep their distance so as not to raise suspicions for the media, as well as wondering how best to draw the League, since they know AFO is waiting for Shigaraki's body to be complete before making a move. At this same time, Hawks questions why "hatred" is so important to override the will of One For All, wondering if AFO even had any "hatred" in the first place. Elsewhere, All Might's driving and keeping watch over Midoriya when suddenly his GPS goes silent and his car explodes thanks to a surprise grenade attack. Over with Midoriya, he is attacked by the mysterious woman from Tartarus (accompanied by Overhaul), with a giant sniper rifle coming out of her arm, telling Midoriya to come with her or else.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

We continue to get alot of good Endeavor moments still adjusting to the aftermath of everything. His "that's why I'm here" at the convict saying it's all his fault, and the public berating him but not saying anything back, since he knows all that matters is fixing this mistake, no matter how much is truly at fault or not. It's also kinda funny to think that even with all the chaos, the media's still able to figure out that Shigaraki is after "someone", which really just makes he think there's going to be a "leak" at some point. I really like that Hawks, once again showing himself to be the big thinker, spends a portion of this chapter just going "Wait a minute, AFO's plan don't make no sense!" He really wants to understand how this "OFA vs AFO" escapade is meant to go, especially when it has so many moving parts, like how exactly AFO intends to take over Shigaraki's body. He also brings up the really interesting layer into AFO as a character, that he can't steal OFA because he just simply does not have enough hatred within him, which just shows how one-track minded, or as they put it "soulless" this dude really is. And we finally got the return of mystery Tartarus woman which....I mean we already liked her immediately when it was just her face, give her muscles and a gun arm and now she's the best character in the series. Dammit Horikoshi! I am legitimately really excited to learn what her deal his, and even more intrigued to see what Overhaul is still doing with her too. I know Midoriya assumes they were hired by All For One, but I'm starting to believe those 2 may actually be independent of AFO, perhaps Overhaul wants Eri to regrow his limbs?

end of spoilers

[Gitagon]

I didn't know this thread existed here. Looks like I'll participate more when I have my thoughts in order.