My Hero Academia Appreciation 2022

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Alot of good imagery in this chapter, like Deku swinging off the path of fighter jets (which did just make me think of the funny crane scene from The Amazing Spider-Man). Deku going into his feral state again just like in the War is another great visual, and I like Mirio being able to talk him down by getting him to regain control of his emotions, though I wish these two had another interaction in-between the War and now cause I think that would've made this interaction more impactful. And the final image of Deku with the OFA users is also really great (plus I'm pretty sure Deku's making Wolverine claws out of Blackwhip and that's damn cool!) It's going to be really exciting to see how he's going to react to whatever this AFO/Shigaraki is and what he plans to do with the answer. Also we got a nice colour spread page in honour of Season 6 starting up of the characters gathering around the TV to watch the anime. These cozy pieces are always great to see, though it is really funny just seeing Dabi and Twice chilling with everyone (gotten used to seeing this kind of art with Toga and everyone so that's more normal lol). We're supposedly getting another colour spread next week so hopefully that'll give us another weird fun set of characters watching TV too.

end of spoilers

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I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking about the crane scene form the Amazing Spider-man, I wonder if it's even a direct reference since Horikoshi is a big Spidey fan. While I typically enjoy a good "hero goes into feral beast mode and stomps on the villain"-scene, I'm really glad that Mirio was able to calm him down. The inspiration and support line doesn't just begin and end with the main characters, and I always appreciated that. Would it have been more impactful if they'd gotten a few more scenes together, yes. But they've been through enough together that it still works. Either way, I'm glad we got the possibly going rage mode question out of the way. This has been built up as a confrontation Deku has been thinking about for quite some time. He needs his head on straight to go through with all that he's learned. The color page is delightful and it's kinda bittersweet to see Twice is such a relaxed setting, surrounded by friends. But it's really cute. Also, while it may seem like a random collection of characters most of them do have big scenes in the arc that the anime will cover. ...no idea why Mineta's there though.

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First off love the colour pic, it looks like some strange Alternate Reality where some of the League of Villains were UA students.

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My first thought was that it was some kind of actor AU where the cast is chilling behind the scenes while between takes.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

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I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking about the crane scene form the Amazing Spider-man, I wonder if it's even a direct reference since Horikoshi is a big Spidey fan. While I typically enjoy a good "hero goes into feral beast mode and stomps on the villain"-scene, I'm really glad that Mirio was able to calm him down. The inspiration and support line doesn't just begin and end with the main characters, and I always appreciated that. Would it have been more impactful if they'd gotten a few more scenes together, yes. But they've been through enough together that it still works. Either way, I'm glad we got the possibly going rage mode question out of the way. This has been built up as a confrontation Deku has been thinking about for quite some time. He needs his head on straight to go through with all that he's learned. The color page is delightful and it's kinda bittersweet to see Twice is such a relaxed setting, surrounded by friends. But it's really cute. Also, while it may seem like a random collection of characters most of them do have big scenes in the arc that the anime will cover. ...no idea why Mineta's there though.

end of spoilers

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My first thought was that it was some kind of actor AU where the cast is chilling behind the scenes while between takes.

end of spoilers

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Considering how many deliberate references there's been to all the Spider-Men, even just recently he revealed Monoma was directly modelled off of Dane DeHaan from ASM2, I would definitely believe it. We did also already get to see him go full feral rage mode in the War arc, and then reckless during Villain Hunt, so now having him be more controlled, but pissed and determined is the good next direction. Just to see how much he'll be able to truly overwhelm Shigaraki/AFO, not just strength wise, but also in playing the field. And yeah that's what I saw it as too, that these are the "real people" who then act in the manga/anime. Horikoshi even has these little drawings in the flaps of the volumes where the characters talk about the cover page and refer to him as "the director", so that might just be the "true canon interpretation" hah.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

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Considering how many deliberate references there's been to all the Spider-Men, even just recently he revealed Monoma was directly modelled off of Dane DeHaan from ASM2, I would definitely believe it. We did also already get to see him go full feral rage mode in the War arc, and then reckless during Villain Hunt, so now having him be more controlled, but pissed and determined is the good next direction. Just to see how much he'll be able to truly overwhelm Shigaraki/AFO, not just strength wise, but also in playing the field. And yeah that's what I saw it as too, that these are the "real people" who then act in the manga/anime. Horikoshi even has these little drawings in the flaps of the volumes where the characters talk about the cover page and refer to him as "the director", so that might just be the "true canon interpretation" hah.

end of spoilers

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Momoma is designed to look like who??? LOL. I'm having trouble really seeing it but it mostly makes me wonder if it in any way reflects how Horikoshi feels about that interpretation of Harry Osborn. One other major advantage Izuku has over Shigaraki is in terms of relationship with their respective vestige. Izuku has at worst a working relationship with the people inside his quirk, and at best they really dig this crazy little kid. On the other hand, Shigaraki and AFO are only together because it was a forced connection. I'm really interested in seeing how this disparity manifests during the fight. All right then! Actor AU confirmed. And Toga clearly has the hots for Izuku in that version as well with the way she's looking at him.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

First episode of season 6 is here and I love it.

This is no recap episode. There's just a quick update about the story so far at the start and then it's straight into the new arc, which is perfect. There's some additional content, best part being Midnight comforting Komori. And I really like how they did the confrontation with the doctor. Next episode is Mirko's big scene. Gonna be great.

I really like the new opening. The comic book visuals in it are really striking.

[Inversed]

First episode of season 6 is here and I love it.

This is no recap episode. There's just a quick update about the story so far at the start and then it's straight into the new arc, which is perfect. There's some additional content, best part being Midnight comforting Komori. And I really like how they did the confrontation with the doctor. Next episode is Mirko's big scene. Gonna be great.

I really like the new opening. The comic book visuals in it are really striking.

Good solid stuff to start off. Most obvious additions I noticed other than the Midnight scene was the scene with Natsuo & Fuyumi and showing the Police HQ reporting in on the operation, which adds an extra level to the whole War planning process that's welcomed. The Nomu stuff at the end of this episode also done very well, of course the highlight being that one striking shot of Mirko fighting the Nomu that everyone has been sharing (and if you remember from Joint Training that one Kaminari shot that was strangely so fluidly animated? Same guy).

And yeah, now that I've listened to the full song in the opening, really like it, and the opening in general is visually one of the best in the series.

[Inversed]

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After Deku's question, "TomurAFO" claims that Shigaraki is no more, as the two have perfectly melded into a new being, with AFO as the one primarily in control. However, after Mirio points out about Shigaraki lashing out the more he's provoked, and Nana recognizes her son's face on his hand, they realize that he is still in there. "TomurAFO" unleashes his full power at Deku but he is able to counter with a Blackchain. Then, Deku activates the Second User's Quirk, Transmission, allowing him to control the speed of whatever he touches, completely overwhelming "TomurAFO" with devastating blows he can't defend as they prepare to finish him for good.

end of spoilers

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Firstly...Horikoshi...what is up with that cover? It just feels so exploitative and unnecessary, especially since Toru has nothing to do with the chapter. It's really uncomfortable and honestly might be one of the worst things he's drawn, not in drawing quality, but in just good taste. Which especially sucks cause it's nice to finally get a full body colour shot of Toru, and if you *HAD* to do this (even though you really still shouldn't have), at least wait until it's relevant. OTHER THAN THAT the chapter's good. I really liked the moment of Nana looking at Kotaro's face, those simple glances say alot on their own. The Second's Quirk is really cool, I like the gear shift gimmick and how he's able to shift himself to go faster, while shifting "TomurAFO" to go slower, which in turns overloads his power to extreme levels. We know the Second says he has to finish it in five minutes, which is presumably the reason for it being a "last resort", the power eventually going to overload his body. This whole fight has had alot of "This time we've got him--lol JK" so I'm not expecting this will be the end, and we'll have to see what the plan to "awaken Shigaraki" is, if it isn't just "beat him up long enough for AFO to leave".

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

After Deku's question, "TomurAFO" claims that Shigaraki is no more, as the two have perfectly melded into a new being, with AFO as the one primarily in control. However, after Mirio points out about Shigaraki lashing out the more he's provoked, and Nana recognizes her son's face on his hand, they realize that he is still in there. "TomurAFO" unleashes his full power at Deku but he is able to counter with a Blackchain. Then, Deku activates the Second User's Quirk, Transmission, allowing him to control the speed of whatever he touches, completely overwhelming "TomurAFO" with devastating blows he can't defend as they prepare to finish him for good.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Firstly...Horikoshi...what is up with that cover? It just feels so exploitative and unnecessary, especially since Toru has nothing to do with the chapter. It's really uncomfortable and honestly might be one of the worst things he's drawn, not in drawing quality, but in just good taste. Which especially sucks cause it's nice to finally get a full body colour shot of Toru, and if you *HAD* to do this (even though you really still shouldn't have), at least wait until it's relevant. OTHER THAN THAT the chapter's good. I really liked the moment of Nana looking at Kotaro's face, those simple glances say alot on their own. The Second's Quirk is really cool, I like the gear shift gimmick and how he's able to shift himself to go faster, while shifting "TomurAFO" to go slower, which in turns overloads his power to extreme levels. We know the Second says he has to finish it in five minutes, which is presumably the reason for it being a "last resort", the power eventually going to overload his body. This whole fight has had alot of "This time we've got him--lol JK" so I'm not expecting this will be the end, and we'll have to see what the plan to "awaken Shigaraki" is, if it isn't just "beat him up long enough for AFO to leave".

end of spoilers

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Yeah that cover was just messed up. I didn't even realise it was Toru until I noticed the gloves. I think this shows that Toru should get a costume that comes invisible with her rather than go around naked. Still the chapter itself was great. I'm betting that Deku wouldn't defeat Tomura in the 5 minutes but push himself to keep going and then defeat him.

end of spoilers

[greatmetropolitan]

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A fun chapter, and the Transmission quirk is really cool with a lot of potential. I'm expecting Deku to effectively win this, but the regenerated All For One will show up to save Shigs and possibly lead to a break in combat for a little while to prepare for the final showdown. I do have a theory though about Deku's quirks. This is now the story about how they all became the greatest heroes. They're supposed to do it together, not just Deku loaded with quirks and taking care of business (which is still great to see, I love that boy. So what if Deku can selectively give individual quirks to his friends? Iida with float becomes a torpedo and even more mobile. Ochaco with blackwhip gets rid of her wrist cables. Bakugo with fa jin, storing the energy from his explosions, would be lethal. I know there would need to be some explanation as to why people born with quirks can now handle more than one, but I still think this is a possibility to get all of 1A's big hitters in the final fight at the same time.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

A fun chapter, and the Transmission quirk is really cool with a lot of potential. I'm expecting Deku to effectively win this, but the regenerated All For One will show up to save Shigs and possibly lead to a break in combat for a little while to prepare for the final showdown. I do have a theory though about Deku's quirks. This is now the story about how they all became the greatest heroes. They're supposed to do it together, not just Deku loaded with quirks and taking care of business (which is still great to see, I love that boy. So what if Deku can selectively give individual quirks to his friends? Iida with float becomes a torpedo and even more mobile. Ochaco with blackwhip gets rid of her wrist cables. Bakugo with fa jin, storing the energy from his explosions, would be lethal. I know there would need to be some explanation as to why people born with quirks can now handle more than one, but I still think this is a possibility to get all of 1A's big hitters in the final fight at the same time.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I doubt we will see Deku giving his quirk(s) to other people. That was done in Heroes Rising and it was pretty controversial, also that was based on some of Hirokoshi's ideas for the finale. It would be better for Class 1-A (and maybe even CLass 1-B) to unite and all work together against AFO, using what they have. People can't handle more than one, unless it is their actual Quirk (like AFO) or they have been modified to accommodate it like Tomura was. The fourth holder already showed what happens to people who have multiple quirks when they shouldn't

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Firstly...Horikoshi...what is up with that cover? It just feels so exploitative and unnecessary, especially since Toru has nothing to do with the chapter. It's really uncomfortable and honestly might be one of the worst things he's drawn, not in drawing quality, but in just good taste. Which especially sucks cause it's nice to finally get a full body colour shot of Toru, and if you *HAD* to do this (even though you really still shouldn't have), at least wait until it's relevant. OTHER THAN THAT the chapter's good. I really liked the moment of Nana looking at Kotaro's face, those simple glances say alot on their own. The Second's Quirk is really cool, I like the gear shift gimmick and how he's able to shift himself to go faster, while shifting "TomurAFO" to go slower, which in turns overloads his power to extreme levels. We know the Second says he has to finish it in five minutes, which is presumably the reason for it being a "last resort", the power eventually going to overload his body. This whole fight has had alot of "This time we've got him--lol JK" so I'm not expecting this will be the end, and we'll have to see what the plan to "awaken Shigaraki" is, if it isn't just "beat him up long enough for AFO to leave".

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Yeah, that cover is way too skeevy for no good reason. I'm ok with the title page not having anything to do with the story, but if you're gonna give us a full color page of the Invisible Girl then do something fun with it. Like have the other girls marvel at her really colorful hair. Don't do something exploitative with her. It also highlights how Toru needs a costume that turns invisible with her! But yeah, the chapter is really cool. Some nice back and forth dialogue, Shigaraki's creepy family arm serves a narrative purpose besides looking creepy and some cool action scenes. I love seeing Izuku be so confident and free with his quirks, combing two of them on the spot and all. The one thing (besides the cover page) that I didn't really like was the second's quirk. It's just another layer of stat enhancement that pushes Izuku's body even further. Yeah, it being able to also slow down other people is a nice wrinkle and keeping Izuku's power set relatively simple even with seven quirks probably works best in the long run. But I was still hoping for something a bit different. Oh well, I'll probably warm up to it in time, but I hope we get a closer explanation next chapter. As for the fight going forward. I don't think that this will be the end of the fight. But I do hope that something changes from Izuku's assault so that it can some forward momentum. Mainly I hope that Shigaraki and AFO's mind are seperated so that Shigaraki can run around and do **** for a bit.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

A fun chapter, and the Transmission quirk is really cool with a lot of potential. I'm expecting Deku to effectively win this, but the regenerated All For One will show up to save Shigs and possibly lead to a break in combat for a little while to prepare for the final showdown. I do have a theory though about Deku's quirks. This is now the story about how they all became the greatest heroes. They're supposed to do it together, not just Deku loaded with quirks and taking care of business (which is still great to see, I love that boy. So what if Deku can selectively give individual quirks to his friends? Iida with float becomes a torpedo and even more mobile. Ochaco with blackwhip gets rid of her wrist cables. Bakugo with fa jin, storing the energy from his explosions, would be lethal. I know there would need to be some explanation as to why people born with quirks can now handle more than one, but I still think this is a possibility to get all of 1A's big hitters in the final fight at the same time.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I don't think that Deku sharing his quirks among his classmates will be a thing for a few reasons. 1. It was a pretty hard set rule that having multiple quirks will kill most people. Going back on that would be pretty cheap, as would giving the classmates the quirks and then giving them back to Izuku. 2. There are only a few quirks Izuku could distribute and to pick just a few important classmates would cheapen the effect I think. If they're going with "We became the greatest heroes." it can just be a few select members of the class in the final battle. It should be the entire class on the frontline of the final fight.

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spoilers:

I doubt we will see Deku giving his quirk(s) to other people. That was done in Heroes Rising and it was pretty controversial, also that was based on some of Hirokoshi's ideas for the finale.

end of spoilers

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That too. Thank god Hori got that idea out of his system. Bakugou being given OFA in the series finale would've been awful.

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[leokearon]

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Yeah, that cover is way too skeevy for no good reason. I'm ok with the title page not having anything to do with the story, but if you're gonna give us a full color page of the Invisible Girl then do something fun with it. Like have the other girls marvel at her really colorful hair. Don't do something exploitative with her. It also highlights how Toru needs a costume that turns invisible with her!

end of spoilers


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That too. Thank god Hori got that idea out of his system. Bakugou being given OFA in the series finale would've been awful.

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Toru needs a costume, if they can find away for Mirio's to go intangible with him, they can surely do the same for Toru That only was it bad, but then the whole takeback didn't make any sense either.

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[Dark Soul # 7]

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Toru needs a costume, if they can find away for Mirio's to go intangible with him, they can surely do the same for Toru That only was it bad, but then the whole takeback didn't make any sense either.

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Yeah. Hell, I still don't understand why she's so focused on mainly invisibility. Yeah, it's a practical subset of her quirk, but her larger ability is that she can manipulate light. She can shine brightly like a beacon and redirect freaking laser beams! There is so much more she could be doing. I was honestly ok with the sorta throwaway way that OFA returned to Deku. There was no way it was going to recide permanently in Bakugo after the movie anyway, and the alternative would've been for Bakugo to give the powers back which would mean that at that point Bakugo would be the reason Deku can still work as a hero and that would've been kinda gross if you ask me.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

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Yeah. Hell, I still don't understand why she's so focused on mainly invisibility. Yeah, it's a practical subset of her quirk, but her larger ability is that she can manipulate light. She can shine brightly like a beacon and redirect freaking laser beams! There is so much more she could be doing. I was honestly ok with the sorta throwaway way that OFA returned to Deku. There was no way it was going to recide permanently in Bakugo after the movie anyway, and the alternative would've been for Bakugo to give the powers back which would mean that at that point Bakugo would be the reason Deku can still work as a hero and that would've been kinda gross if you ask me.

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I wouldn't be surprised if she either can't turn it off (which seems unlikely) or she has low-esteem issues with regards her appearance. So yeah, she should be doing a lot more and not be naked. Yeah, it wouldn't be the greatest, it's just strange the OFA got just go 'nah, I don't like this host, I'll go back to the other fella.'

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Yeah that cover was just messed up. I didn't even realise it was Toru until I noticed the gloves. I think this shows that Toru should get a costume that comes invisible with her rather than go around naked. Still the chapter itself was great. I'm betting that Deku wouldn't defeat Tomura in the 5 minutes but push himself to keep going and then defeat him.

end of spoilers

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At this point they really just need to make it so that not only does she have a costume that can turn invisible just like Mirio's, but just like him need to have it to where she can turn it off and on. Can easily just say "I trained myself enough to do it".

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spoilers:

But yeah, the chapter is really cool. Some nice back and forth dialogue, Shigaraki's creepy family arm serves a narrative purpose besides looking creepy and some cool action scenes. I love seeing Izuku be so confident and free with his quirks, combing two of them on the spot and all. The one thing (besides the cover page) that I didn't really like was the second's quirk. It's just another layer of stat enhancement that pushes Izuku's body even further. Yeah, it being able to also slow down other people is a nice wrinkle and keeping Izuku's power set relatively simple even with seven quirks probably works best in the long run. But I was still hoping for something a bit different. Oh well, I'll probably warm up to it in time, but I hope we get a closer explanation next chapter. As for the fight going forward. I don't think that this will be the end of the fight. But I do hope that something changes from Izuku's assault so that it can some forward momentum. Mainly I hope that Shigaraki and AFO's mind are seperated so that Shigaraki can run around and do **** for a bit.

end of spoilers

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That too. Thank god Hori got that idea out of his system. Bakugou being given OFA in the series finale would've been awful.

end of spoilers

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I'm expecting Transmission will only really be a big deal up to whatever the drawback is, especially since we're at the end I don't see it getting too much extra deliberation, beyond just an extra power-up for the true climax. Maybe the drawback ends up being he's worn down and can't move anymore, like a car run out of gas, and Shigaraki uses that opportunity to try and steal OFA, but that was all done on purpose by Deku to get back into the vestige world, and is able to more easily separate the now greatly weakened Shigaraki/AFO vestiges. Also, I am like 80% certain now that Bakugo being given OFA was how he was brought back from near death in that original ending. It feels like that'd be the more emotional way to resolve things, but no matter what it still would feel like a cheat. It's smart that he then retroactively came up with only Quirkless people can handle OFA.

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Yeah, it wouldn't be the greatest, it's just strange the OFA got just go 'nah, I don't like this host, I'll go back to the other fella.'

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The way I always interpreted the OFA transfer was that, since we know the OFA vestiges became fully sentient after Deku obtained it, they now possessed enough power that they could choose to keep themselves within Deku (which is something Yoichi outright says out loud later too), and only gave a temporary transfer of the Stockpiled power. Still kind of confusing overall, but I think it works within what's setup, and what was revealed later, just for the sake of cool action. The amnesia thing is dumb though. Also adds to my theory about Horikoshi having the "Bakugo OFA" ending for longer than we think, cause there's that line where All Might mentions that OFA can't be forcefully taken, but it can be "forcefully given", so I'm curious if that also played some role in the original ending, cause I don't know how else that would be paid off in this current story.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

At this point they really just need to make it so that not only does she have a costume that can turn invisible just like Mirio's, but just like him need to have it to where she can turn it off and on. Can easily just say "I trained myself enough to do it".

end of spoilers

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I pretty sure she could always turn off her invisibility, but choose not to, probably due to low esteem about her appearance.

end of spoilers