My Hero Academia Appreciation

[Inversed]

spoilers:

We learn Toru's partial visibility is the result of Aoyama's Navel Laser getting a power-up, causing it to make her Quirk to glitch. They proceed to free the Heroes attached to the plants. Meanwhile, All Might uses all the remaining applications in his suit in an attempt to keep All For One pinned down within the laser beam at all costs. Eventually, the laser overheats and explodes, and out from the crater emerges a glowing, child-looking AFO. He is about to attack, but suddenly freezes in place, thanks to an arriving Stain, who uses his Quirk by licking some of his blood off of debris, yelling for All Might to finish the job.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

This one's alright overall. We get some debatably groan inducing stuff with naked Toru. They go through all the remaining members of Class 1-A's suit versions, with the exception of Bakugo, which makes me now believe "Dynamight" will be the self-destruct switch for it. Seeing AFO now in this state makes me wonder if/how he even escapes what will he do with Shigaraki, so starting to believe he actually is defeated for good here. Curious if there is any special meaning behind the glowing, or if it is just Rewinding shenanigans because it'd be hard to take All Might seriously beating a literal child. Also I was correct in guessing Stain would show up to aid All Might! Hope we get something more cool out of that too!

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

Yeah Naked Toru is getting very cringeworthy, she needs a costume that works with her work like Miro's. The fact that AFO is glowing makes me think of the very first quirk and is Hirokoshi going to reveal that AFO has a connection to the first quirk, either he is the first quirk holder or he stole it. Great to see Stain finally going something.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

This one's alright overall. We get some debatably groan inducing stuff with naked Toru. They go through all the remaining members of Class 1-A's suit versions, with the exception of Bakugo, which makes me now believe "Dynamight" will be the self-destruct switch for it. Seeing AFO now in this state makes me wonder if/how he even escapes what will he do with Shigaraki, so starting to believe he actually is defeated for good here. Curious if there is any special meaning behind the glowing, or if it is just Rewinding shenanigans because it'd be hard to take All Might seriously beating a literal child. Also I was correct in guessing Stain would show up to aid All Might! Hope we get something more cool out of that too!

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I would be a bit disappointed if AFO is truly defeated here. We'd miss out on a neat mentors and students four way crash. And way too many people IRL would talk **** about how Deku didn't actually need a quirk since All Might defeated AFO with an Iron man armour. And we need a final spirit world confrontation. It's cool to see Stain get a role. I appreciate that he jumped in at an opportune moment rather than at the start to heedlessly throw down with AFO.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Yeah Naked Toru is getting very cringeworthy, she needs a costume that works with her work like Miro's. The fact that AFO is glowing makes me think of the very first quirk and is Hirokoshi going to reveal that AFO has a connection to the first quirk, either he is the first quirk holder or he stole it. Great to see Stain finally going something.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Had the same thought regarding AFO and the first baby born with a quirk. I don't think we ever found out anything more about that kid.

end of spoilers

Also, we're gonna get a new OVA, that seems to focus on Mirio and... card games...

[leokearon]

spoilers:

I would be a bit disappointed if AFO is truly defeated here. We'd miss out on a neat mentors and students four way crash. And way too many people IRL would talk **** about how Deku didn't actually need a quirk since All Might defeated AFO with an Iron man armour. And we need a final spirit world confrontation. It's cool to see Stain get a role. I appreciate that he jumped in at an opportune moment rather than at the start to heedlessly throw down with AFO.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Had the same thought regarding AFO and the first baby born with a quirk. I don't think we ever found out anything more about that kid.

end of spoilers

Also, we're gonna get a new OVA, that seems to focus on Mirio and... card games...

spoilers:

Personally I would be fine with AFO being defeated here by All Might. Both are relics and are no longer the Symbol of Peace or the Big Bad, that belongs to the next Generation of Deku and Tomura which is what the final battle should be. Also people seem to be forgetting the AFO is already weakened and that All Mights Armour is a throw back to the original idea for Deku. Yeah, barring the kid being the first quirk holder, that's all we know.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Yeah Naked Toru is getting very cringeworthy, she needs a costume that works with her work like Miro's. The fact that AFO is glowing makes me think of the very first quirk and is Hirokoshi going to reveal that AFO has a connection to the first quirk, either he is the first quirk holder or he stole it. Great to see Stain finally going something.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I've seen some people suggest he either is, or is connected, to the Luminescent Baby, and honestly I hope it isn't the case. That just seems going too far about making AFO the center of everything. Also would make the timeline for how long Quirks existed be significantly shorter than we're meant to believe, which I also don't really like.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I would be a bit disappointed if AFO is truly defeated here. We'd miss out on a neat mentors and students four way crash. And way too many people IRL would talk **** about how Deku didn't actually need a quirk since All Might defeated AFO with an Iron man armour. And we need a final spirit world confrontation. It's cool to see Stain get a role. I appreciate that he jumped in at an opportune moment rather than at the start to heedlessly throw down with AFO.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

To be fair, everyone's already been having the "didn't need a Quirk" debate pretty extensively since the start of this battle given just how far Iron Might has been able to push AFO. It's just hard to imagine Deku and/or Shigaraki fighting against a child AFO, and how much time he would even have left to do something. I guess they still kept it vague on whether the AFO vestige was completely suppressed or not, so that's still possible. I'm cool with either scenario. If AFO makes it Deku and Shiggy, then we have the potential for a cool moment where they takedown a common foe. If AFO's gone, then Deku and Shiggy can have a pure confrontation of their strength and ideals, separated from AM and AFO, without an easy out for the character (Shigaraki sacrificing himself to defeat AFO, etc.)

end of spoilers

Also, we're gonna get a new OVA, that seems to focus on Mirio and... card games...

That was a surprising announcement, but hey, any original slice of life stories I will openly welcome. There does exist an MHA card game, and since it's about the characters using cards of themselves, I could see some fun stuff coming out of that. https://twitter.com/mhaofficial/stat...veVoVTsu5z8ZKA

[leokearon]

spoilers:

I've seen some people suggest he either is, or is connected, to the Luminescent Baby, and honestly I hope it isn't the case. That just seems going too far about making AFO the center of everything. Also would make the timeline for how long Quirks existed be significantly shorter than we're meant to believe, which I also don't really like.

end of spoilers



spoilers:

To be fair, everyone's already been having the "didn't need a Quirk" debate pretty extensively since the start of this battle given just how far Iron Might has been able to push AFO. It's just hard to imagine Deku and/or Shigaraki fighting against a child AFO, and how much time he would even have left to do something. I guess they still kept it vague on whether the AFO vestige was completely suppressed or not, so that's still possible. I'm cool with either scenario. If AFO makes it Deku and Shiggy, then we have the potential for a cool moment where they takedown a common foe. If AFO's gone, then Deku and Shiggy can have a pure confrontation of their strength and ideals, separated from AM and AFO, without an easy out for the character (Shigaraki sacrificing himself to defeat AFO, etc.)

end of spoilers



That was a surprising announcement, but hey, any original slice of life stories I will openly welcome. There does exist an MHA card game, and since it's about the characters using cards of themselves, I could see some fun stuff coming out of that. https://twitter.com/mhaofficial/stat...veVoVTsu5z8ZKA

spoilers:

Well to be honest, AFO has been around for quite a while and it won't be surprised if he has had some quirks that help extend his lifespan

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Personally I would be fine with AFO being defeated here by All Might. Both are relics and are no longer the Symbol of Peace or the Big Bad, that belongs to the next Generation of Deku and Tomura which is what the final battle should be. Also people seem to be forgetting the AFO is already weakened and that All Mights Armour is a throw back to the original idea for Deku.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I agree that the final battle should be pure Deku vs. Shigaraki. But I'd still want some interaction with AFO and All Might. It could be something as simple as Shigaraki rejecting AFO and Deku fighting against the idea that they also need to kill each other. But something would be nice. Oh well, if AFO's body dies his vestige will probably start to make itself heard again.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I've seen some people suggest he either is, or is connected, to the Luminescent Baby, and honestly I hope it isn't the case. That just seems going too far about making AFO the center of everything. Also would make the timeline for how long Quirks existed be significantly shorter than we're meant to believe, which I also don't really like.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I've been thinking that it could be something as simple as a young AFO stealing the quirk from the elderly version of the child. Just a random encounter that set him going. Though I do agree that connecting the two in any way is a bit iffy in terms of world buidling.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

To be fair, everyone's already been having the "didn't need a Quirk" debate pretty extensively since the start of this battle given just how far Iron Might has been able to push AFO. It's just hard to imagine Deku and/or Shigaraki fighting against a child AFO, and how much time he would even have left to do something. I guess they still kept it vague on whether the AFO vestige was completely suppressed or not, so that's still possible. I'm cool with either scenario. If AFO makes it Deku and Shiggy, then we have the potential for a cool moment where they takedown a common foe. If AFO's gone, then Deku and Shiggy can have a pure confrontation of their strength and ideals, separated from AM and AFO, without an easy out for the character (Shigaraki sacrificing himself to defeat AFO, etc.)

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Again, I want Deku and Shigaraki to have their final duke out. But I still expect some kind of confrontation with AFO. Probably not a fight, because it would silly to fight baby-AFO (which I've expressed concern about before). But something, that probably leads into a confrontation within their shared mind world. Could be that that's where they push away all other voices. Deku asks the past inheritors to be silent and Shigaraki disposes of the last remnant of AFO. Then it's just the two of them going at it. Deku's thoughts about saving Shigaraki vs. killing him are pushed to the brink as Shigaraki decides to just destroy everything if he finds out his comrades have all been defeated. Let Deku unleash his coolest moves yet, and Shigaraki gets to display the quirks that were erased earlier. With everything else dealt with they can finally... ...damnit! We still don't know what happened with Aizawa, Mic and Kurogiri!

end of spoilers

That was a surprising announcement, but hey, any original slice of life stories I will openly welcome. There does exist an MHA card game, and since it's about the characters using cards of themselves, I could see some fun stuff coming out of that. https://twitter.com/mhaofficial/stat...veVoVTsu5z8ZKA

spoilers:

Reminds me of a tumblr post I saw about the kids playing a Smash style game that had all the pro-heroes as fighters. If they're actually gonna play card games based on each other, that's a pretty similar and cute idea.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Well to be honest, AFO has been around for quite a while and it won't be surprised if he has had some quirks that help extend his lifespan

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Hasn't that been canon for a while now?

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Stain and All Might go to attack the paralyzed All For One, but he forcibly activates a Bloodletting Quirk to free himself from the control, having prepared it as a backup plan ever since Stain left during the Tartarus breakout. He also reveals he has an Antigen Swap Quirk, allowing him to change his blood type and become immune to Stain's Quirk, explaining how he's kept his presence a secret all this time. AFO promptly overpowers Stain, killing him and taking his Quirk, while in his last moments Stain pledges for All Might to continue living. All Might is saved at the last second from a point blank attack by the last remains of Hercules that tell him the same thing. After seeing hallucinations of Nana and Nighteye, All Might angrily declares to keep trying, while U.A. continues to fall in the background, with AFO finally in range of Tomura.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Another alright chapter. Stain kind of goes out a bit too quickly for my liking, but I like the general essence of his appearance trying to support All Might not to throw away his life. Also fun seeing the pettiness of AFO on display, specifically wanting to get back at Stain cause he was the only one who didn't follow him. Looks like they're finally about to reach Deku and Shiggy's location next chapter, so I'm hoping we get at least some of their solo fight first before everyone collide.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

I love how pathetic AFO has become, he is rewinding, on a time limit and still tries to steal another quirk.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Another alright chapter. Stain kind of goes out a bit too quickly for my liking, but I like the general essence of his appearance trying to support All Might not to throw away his life. Also fun seeing the pettiness of AFO on display, specifically wanting to get back at Stain cause he was the only one who didn't follow him. Looks like they're finally about to reach Deku and Shiggy's location next chapter, so I'm hoping we get at least some of their solo fight first before everyone collide.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I would've been fine with Stain's quite sudden departure if I felt that it did more to impede AFO. And there's a general feeling that after his iconic introductory arc, Stain wasn't used very much. I would've loved another meeting between him and Deku for example, where they just talk. AFO getting more and more petty as he's growing younger is very fitting. Hopefully we'll get a quick rewind to show as much as possible of Deku and Shiggy's battle, and that they haven't just been staring intently at each other. That's the big fight that deserves all the chapters.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

We catch up to the present shortly after Dabi and Toga's defeats, and we see Deku and Shigaraki continuing their struggle. All For One attempts to use his Warping Quirk to bring Shigaraki to him, so he can forcefully give him his copied AFO Quirk, but he is able to resist and keep fighting. AFO drags All Might over to them instead, and Deku senses the vestige of All Might within One For All start to fade away, causing him to fear the worst. At this moment, All Might grabs ahold of AFO, as he realizes he is about to detonate himself, to take them both out for good.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

After being gone for so long, both of Shigaraki's moments this chapter I absolutely loved. Just simply swallowing the warp gloop and ignoring AFO was really gross and cool. And then when he's rapidly approaching, he instead just taunts Deku to go and save All Might, so that he can go be petty and kill everyone in U.A. who was fighting him earlier. It's fun to see that he just doesn't care about any nuance right now, he just wants to fight whoever is in his way. It makes me wonder how much longer he's going to take this and what direction the fight will go. Which I hope we get a proper battle, instead of what seems to be just Deku tying him down like a rabid dog the entire time. We also got a little brief snippet of Momo in a really cool battle getup protecting Mei, which I wish we could've seen fully too. The added bit of flashback we get to Nana's final moments was also really nice. I am not expecting All Might to die here, since it just seems too easy of a sacrifice/defeat for AFO. Prediction is he's going to try and use the "self-destruct", which will obviously be called "Dynamight", but then instead Bakugo will show back up and save him before he can. But we'll have to see where this all goes.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

A really good chapter. Looks like this is All Might's Dynamight move, though I suspect All Might does have a way to protect himself from the blast. Still hopefully this will finish off AFO.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

After being gone for so long, both of Shigaraki's moments this chapter I absolutely loved. Just simply swallowing the warp gloop and ignoring AFO was really gross and cool. And then when he's rapidly approaching, he instead just taunts Deku to go and save All Might, so that he can go be petty and kill everyone in U.A. who was fighting him earlier. It's fun to see that he just doesn't care about any nuance right now, he just wants to fight whoever is in his way. It makes me wonder how much longer he's going to take this and what direction the fight will go. Which I hope we get a proper battle, instead of what seems to be just Deku tying him down like a rabid dog the entire time. We also got a little brief snippet of Momo in a really cool battle getup protecting Mei, which I wish we could've seen fully too. The added bit of flashback we get to Nana's final moments was also really nice. I am not expecting All Might to die here, since it just seems too easy of a sacrifice/defeat for AFO. Prediction is he's going to try and use the "self-destruct", which will obviously be called "Dynamight", but then instead Bakugo will show back up and save him before he can. But we'll have to see where this all goes.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Shigaraki in unhinged control is the best version of Shigaraki. He knows what he wants and he's not letting anybody else get in his way of getting it. Which is probably hinting that he's beyond saving. Though, it would be impressive if Deku manages to save him when all the other LoV members have perished. But I can also see Shigaraki committing to destruction because the rest of his comrades have fallen, even if Deku convinces him that's not the right way forward. It's that sort of twisted loyalty that I love about the LoV. Now we just have to get that real fight between him and Deku. Whether All Might dies or not is a bit up in the air. I hope not but we'll see just how he survives this. And he is absolutely going to go all out and call the explosion Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, just like Iida uses the full name. I don't think AFO gets taken out by it. But it would be nice if he ends up a baby that fades away as he sees Shiggy and Deku duking it out. Hopefully Battle Mode Momo gets some screen time in the anime, because yeah, that whole getup looks awesome. And I'm glad we got to see Nana's final moments, smirking at AFO.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Shigaraki in unhinged control is the best version of Shigaraki. He knows what he wants and he's not letting anybody else get in his way of getting it. Which is probably hinting that he's beyond saving. Though, it would be impressive if Deku manages to save him when all the other LoV members have perished. But I can also see Shigaraki committing to destruction because the rest of his comrades have fallen, even if Deku convinces him that's not the right way forward. It's that sort of twisted loyalty that I love about the LoV. Now we just have to get that real fight between him and Deku. Whether All Might dies or not is a bit up in the air. I hope not but we'll see just how he survives this. And he is absolutely going to go all out and call the explosion Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, just like Iida uses the full name. I don't think AFO gets taken out by it. But it would be nice if he ends up a baby that fades away as he sees Shiggy and Deku duking it out. Hopefully Battle Mode Momo gets some screen time in the anime, because yeah, that whole getup looks awesome. And I'm glad we got to see Nana's final moments, smirking at AFO.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I'm really hoping we get some kind of moment of Shigaraki reflecting on his relationship to his teammates, cause that might be the layer of complexity that can directly lead to Deku saving the day without simply just beating/killing him and that fixing everything. We did get that flashback in the Toga chapters with them all being chummy together, so they've clearly not forgotten about that angle, just need to hear him talk about it. It's funny to think about that AFO is very close to just completely taking over his subconscious again, but Shigaraki just doesn't care or think of him as a threat at all, and is instead only thinking about killing Bakugo for a second time. I'm wondering if we're also gonna get glimpses of AFO in his past before he became the "Demon Lord", as well as his first battle with All Might, because those are probably the two biggest lingering threads that don't necessarily need to be seen, but would be good context. After the extra bits of All Might backstory we got recently, I feel like it's much more plausible at this point. I did notice that she died in the exact same way the Second User did, being choked out while still smiling, so now I want to know if the exact same thing happened with every other One For All user too.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

Finally got around to reading School Briefs vol. 6. Overall I'd say it falls somewhere in the middle, with a few highlights.

spoilers:

The two Eri focused chapters were real delights. I especially appreciated seeing more of training and her bonding with Shinso, they're two natural fitting awkward beans. It helps bridge the gap between the school festival and Lemillion getting his powers back. And I always appreciate Eri getting character development. Bakugou largely failing to connect with her in the first chapter was a hoot. The valentine's chapter was pretty fun, with a kind of predictable ending. My favourite bit was Jiro getting chocolates due to her performance at the concert. And the three class B boys discussion was neat to. The camping trip to hellish exercise was probably the weakest chapter. Besides Bakugou being put in a vulnerable state not much interesting happened in it. I love the idea of the buisness course trying to film commercials for the hero students and showcasing them to the school. But I felt the execution a bit lacking. For one thing, there were too many entries. I was pretty satisfied when class A's presentations were done and got tired of the bit when class B rolled out. Even with some students getting grouped together. I think it would've been better if there had been fewer entries that mixed students from both classes, and give each entry more time to let their characters shine beyond a single spoken line. The punchline to the chapter was funny though and fits how U.A. generally teaches things. And the traditional faculty chapter was really nice this time around. Or at least bittersweet. Short and too the point with wistful reflections from Midnight, before her gruesome death.

end of spoilers

So yeah. Mixed bag, but generally good stuff.