My Hero Academia Appreciation

[leokearon]

spoilers:

A really good chapter, showing the power and vulnerability of heroes. Denki's seen was especially powerful. The only problem is the whole Urakaha may not make it moment, last thing we need is another female character to be mistreated in this series.

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[Dark Soul # 7]

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Alot of really good stuff here. We get confirmation that there won't be an "Eri Ex Machina", alongside a really cute moment of Eraser Head being the best dad to reassure her. A cool meta textual moment with Kaminari referencing shonen comics, and I like how his anxiousness connects to the theme about seeing the Heroes as people and not just infallible symbols like All Might was. Toga being completely absent is incredibly suspicious, but I'm hoping this is basically implying something is going on and she's gonna survive. The "you can do it" is also perfect considering that was Ochaco said "Deku" sounded like to her. And finally, hopefully we get to see Deku straight up confront Tenko's memories and how he will react to them.

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I was wondering if the Ochako we saw here was Toga still in that form, but then I double checked the relevant chapter and she'd already started reverting. So her being absent is indeed very suspicious. Best would be if the whole messed up League could rock up to Shiggy like the twisted found family that they are. But I don't see them pulling that off. Besides that, tons of good stuff showing the evolving relationship between heroes and the people they're trying to protect. All the scenes with Eri (she finally interacts with Kota! I want to see how they became friends!) were so cute that I'm willing to overlook the sorta fake out ending with her last chapter (Hori has done those a few times). And a great setup for Deku to witness the start of Tenko's darkness.

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spoilers:

A really good chapter, showing the power and vulnerability of heroes. Denki's seen was especially powerful. The only problem is the whole Urakaha may not make it moment, last thing we need is another female character to be mistreated in this series.

end of spoilers

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Ochako isn't going to die. It's just to create some tension.

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[Dark Soul # 7]

New season trailer!



Everything here looks pretty damn good. Though naturally they're showing good stuff in the trailer.

No real indication of how far they're going. Just a lot of action from the starting conflicts of the war.

[Dark Soul # 7]

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Deku manages to smash through Shigaraki's finger shield and makes contact with his body and launch the vestiges as planned. They make contact but Nana is repelled and she figures it's because she's too weak to go through with it. Deku, in his UA school uniform, moves forward Tenko's core, which is manifested as his childhood home. Shigaraki confronts him with projections of how he views Deku, and other villains. But Deku forces past them and he and Nana are confronted with he memory of Kotaro striking Tenko. Deku can reach through to grab Tenko and Nana realises how much her failure to defeat AFO hurt her family. And the only thing she can do now is to push forward, grab Kotaro and be the final vestige that pushes through Shigaraki's core. As Nana and Kotaro fade Deku, now in his pre-UA school uniform, is about to bear witness to the night everything went wrong for Tenko Shimura.

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A tragic final chapter for Nana Shimura. While I don't think it's right to blame her for Kotaro taking out his anger and sorrow on his kids, it is clear that the risk she took to protect her family failed completely. Her last act being to sacrifice herself and giving her successor one last chance at saving her grandson is a very tragic kind of heroic act. It'll stick with me for a while. Shigaraki using the image of different villains is a cool idea, though Deku never met Re-Destro so that one is a bit odd. And the visual of Deku as a boogeyman type of character for Shiggy is interesting. Everytime he's been acting up in the series Deku's been there. And no matter what he's thrown at the kid, Deku's just kept charging forward. It kinda makes sense that Shigaraki on some level fears Deku. Fun sad chapter. Really looking foward to Deku seeing the real gruesome stuff.

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[Inversed]

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A tragic final chapter for Nana Shimura. While I don't think it's right to blame her for Kotaro taking out his anger and sorrow on his kids, it is clear that the risk she took to protect her family failed completely. Her last act being to sacrifice herself and giving her successor one last chance at saving her grandson is a very tragic kind of heroic act. It'll stick with me for a while. Shigaraki using the image of different villains is a cool idea, though Deku never met Re-Destro so that one is a bit odd. And the visual of Deku as a boogeyman type of character for Shiggy is interesting. Everytime he's been acting up in the series Deku's been there. And no matter what he's thrown at the kid, Deku's just kept charging forward. It kinda makes sense that Shigaraki on some level fears Deku. Fun sad chapter. Really looking foward to Deku seeing the real gruesome stuff.

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A good tragic final showing for Nana, you forget that she really didn't realize just how badly Kotaro got after she left, so seeing her break down hits pretty hard. The use of the memories of Shigaraki's old adversaries is done really well, especially the image of Re-Destro seamlessly morphing into Overhaul. Because of his outfit regressing, it does look like this is going to end up with a face-to-face with kid Izuku and Tenko. But also there's the big question of how this will all conclude exactly, especially since now all of the other Quirks are gone meaning that Deku, presumably, just has his One For All super strength, so unless Shigaraki ends up getting nerfed in some way too, there might not be anymore big battling.

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[leokearon]

spoilers:

A really good chapter giving some closure for Nana. It should be interesting to see how Deku deals with Tenko, given that everything is real here, so he could head up being Decayed

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[Inversed]

Another new trailer for Season 7, with a sneak peek at the new opening by TK, which I'm liking the vibe of.



spoilers:

The end of the trailer has part of Shigaraki's "The destruction of everything stemming from that house" speech, confirming that we are at least getting up to that point in this season. My prediction is that it's going to end with the moment right before All Might about to face off against All For One, so the conclusions to Dabi, Toga, AFO, and Shigaraki's battles will be in Season 8.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

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Izuku witnesses Decay manifesting from Tenko and killing Mon. Before Tenko can kill Hana, a now child Izuku interferes by grabbing his hands, doing everything he can to hold himself back from being decayed. Tenko states that he chose to destroy his house and kill his family, or else what is the point of his hands, but Izuku stands firm, saying that he knows when others reached out to him he felt at peace, and that's why he's here. Tenko finally relents and let's go, with Izuku now lost both his arms. However, slowly transforming back into Tomura, he declares that he is a villain who destroys, and while thinking about the League, admits that even if his hatred is stomped out, he has to be a hero for the villains. Suddenly, Izuku and Tomura see unfamiliar memories of a man communicating with Kotaro, talking about Tenko not yet having a Quirk. Just then, the vestige of All For One returns and swallows Tomura, mocking him for his weakness and declaring that none of his choices have been his own.

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Some very excellent stuff this chapter. Love the confrontation between Izuku and Tenko, has the moment I've been waiting for all this time where Izuku reaches out and grabs his hand for help, even knowing he'll get effected by the Decay. Also love Tomura's declaration about wanting to be a hero for the villains and that reminder of the League. Kind of like what happened with Toga, it shows that they aren't just going to immediately "turn good" and that their comrades are what's most important to them. And then there's the returning AFO. It's expected since the vestige wasn't completely destroyed so we knew that was coming back. We also kind of already knew that AFO had been observing Tenko for a while, so learning that he was actually close with Kotaro isn't out of left field. My worry is that this is going to lead to the "AFO gave Tenko Decay" theory becoming true, which I really hope won't be because that'll just take away from Tomura's own character and the important meaning behind his Decay. If it's simply just that he was observing Tenko and waiting for a Quirk like Decay to emerge, that I'm perfectly fine with. At the very least, it looks like we might get the Deku & Tomura vs. All For One fight after all.

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[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

The end of the trailer has part of Shigaraki's "The destruction of everything stemming from that house" speech, confirming that we are at least getting up to that point in this season. My prediction is that it's going to end with the moment right before All Might about to face off against All For One, so the conclusions to Dabi, Toga, AFO, and Shigaraki's battles will be in Season 8.

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That is a possibility. It'll be interesting to see how they split up the cours of this season as well. I am worried about the pacing of it all and wonder if they wouldn't be better off letting the manga end and then make an extra long final season that they can pace properly. But it's too late for that kind of concern now. Hopefully they'll just deliver a quality season at least on par with season six.

spoilers:

Some very excellent stuff this chapter. Love the confrontation between Izuku and Tenko, has the moment I've been waiting for all this time where Izuku reaches out and grabs his hand for help, even knowing he'll get effected by the Decay. Also love Tomura's declaration about wanting to be a hero for the villains and that reminder of the League. Kind of like what happened with Toga, it shows that they aren't just going to immediately "turn good" and that their comrades are what's most important to them. And then there's the returning AFO. It's expected since the vestige wasn't completely destroyed so we knew that was coming back. We also kind of already knew that AFO had been observing Tenko for a while, so learning that he was actually close with Kotaro isn't out of left field. My worry is that this is going to lead to the "AFO gave Tenko Decay" theory becoming true, which I really hope won't be because that'll just take away from Tomura's own character and the important meaning behind his Decay. If it's simply just that he was observing Tenko and waiting for a Quirk like Decay to emerge, that I'm perfectly fine with. At the very least, it looks like we might get the Deku & Tomura vs. All For One fight after all.

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Shigaraki's declaration about being a hero for the villains is really important to me. It shows how close to his heart he holds his twisted little family, and makes it that much sadder when considers the state they're all in. And that through all his bratty bravado and destruction oriented actions, he really wanted to stand up for the League and address the pain that society has put them through. He never figured that any normal kind of hero would even consider such a thing, which is why Izuku reaching out and grabbing Tenko's hands matters so much. And agreed that there's a lot of concern regarding how much involvement AFO had with Tenko. If he just approached so that he could wait comfortably for a opportune moment to strike then that's ok. But giving Tenko Decay would be a bit too much "I had everything planned out". Here's hoping it doesn't come to that.

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[leokearon]

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Not happy to see AFO back and not looking forward to seeing what he did to Tenko.

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[Dark Soul # 7]

The series has officially over 100 million copies in circulation right now.

And they're celebrating this with a video narrated by Deku's japanese VA, Daiki Yamashita

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

All For One informs Izuku and Tenko how he's orchestrated all of Tenko's woes. He became close to Kotaro so that he could spurr on his harsh views on heroes and his mother. He stole Tenko's original quirk and gifted him with half a quirk. Leaving out the ability to repair and reassemble what had been decayed. With Tenko's worldview shattered, AFO takes over and throws out Izuku. In the material world he's taken over Tenko's body but it's haggard and less than the perfect weapon he spent years building up. And his brother is gone. So now he'll just destroy the world. Izuku wants to stop him but the fight has left him without his hands. Just as AFO is about to end things Sero, Ojiro, Sato and Aizawa appear through a portal.

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Highs and low here. Highs and lows. The low is of course that All For One was behind pretty much all of Shigaraki's misery. Pushing his father to being a hero-hating ******* and giving him Decay. And that is just so disappointing. It was fine that Shigaraki just developed Decay as a mutation, similar to how Eri's quirk became Rewind. And Kotaro just hating heroes on his own was a great tragic ending for Nana's family. AFO just spying on the family and waiting for an opportune moment was enough. It didn't have to go down the "It was the super-evil guy who was behind all the bad stuff" route. I prefer when it's a mix of random **** going bad and the big bad taking advantage of that. This just robs the story and characters of a lot of agency. And I get that this makes sense from a writing perspective. This is how AFO would act, this is the kind of thing he would do. And robbing Shigaraki of his agency was a part of his plan. But that doesn't mean that it makes for a better story. In fact, I explicitly think it makes the story weaker. Bah. Disappointing. Now for the highs. I do like AFO's reaction at towards the end of the chapter. He's lost a lot during this whole thing. His intended new body is a wreck and even the vestige of his brother is gone forever. So he'll go on with the plan to destroy and dominate the world. But it's just not fun for him anymore. What a freaking loser. And I always appreciate a good heroic entrance like this. Though I hope this won't drag things out too much. Now everybody who returns needs a moment, Deku needs to get his hands back (probably with Eri's help) and then he needs to go back in and save Tenko.

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[Inversed]

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Yeah, I honestly think this is my least favourite chapter in the series. Even plot points that I didn't like (Edgeshot reviving Bakugo and Iron Might, etc.) at least had moments surrounding them I think were cool, and really good looking art. But sadly, there's not really much here. AFO being the ultra master manipulator in not only giving him Decay, but also orchestrating everything about his life just feels very lame, and takes away so much from Shigaraki's character. There's also really weird stuff thrown in like the revelation that Decay is half of a copy of Overhaul (confirming a long standing fan theory OH's connection to AFO and the Doctor), which I also don't really care for because that just turns the thematic parallels between Shigaraki and Overhaul into LITERAL connections. The second half of the chapter art-wise kind of feels very lackluster (in comparison to his usual output), with some off-looking designs and alot of white space, probably due to his workload catching up to him/having to do stuff like that really pretty looking Popularity Poll colour spread. Sero, Ojiro, and Sato showing up is mostly just kind of funny to me, cause it very much feels like a "Crap these are the only 1-A students we didn't do anything with yet, bring them in!" At least we're finally going to get the conclusion to Aizawa and Kurogiri's plotline (notice the cloudy-looking effect on the Warp Gate). Also I'm definitely expecting Izuku's getting those arms back, either from Overhaul himself coming back, or potentially a plot twist of Shigaraki manifesting that regeneration aspect back himself. I do like the idea that you mentioned about AFO just feeling empty cause he has no more good vessel or Yoichi, but I wish they made him act more bitter and petty toward Izuku for causing all of this, instead of "needless world domination", he's just gonna torture this kid and kill everyone he cares about. There is two things I can think of, that won't necessarily redeem this chapter, but would act as a satisfying conclusion despite it. First is if Kurogiri being back means we get an "EVERYONE IS HERE" moment with all of 1-A/some of the Heroes reunited facing against this AFO, I know like half the class is unconscious right now, but I'll take some shenanigans in order to get to that. And the other, is if we get a reunited League fighting AFO to save Shigaraki. We did have last chapter where Shigaraki himself declares he's doing everything for them, and they are the one group absent from AFO's big "it was me" speech, so if they end up being the ones to save him and remind him that he has made choices beyond his "master", that would at the very least make up for the return of the bodyjacking.

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[leokearon]

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A very poor chapter. AFO return along with the whole AFo is responsible for everything to do with Tomura was just awful. The only saving grace was the fact that the big bad was stopped by the 'middle' characters. Still next time it's Aizawa flashback time, I'm betting

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[Inversed]

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We flashback to right after Aizawa and Mic were teleported by Kurogiri to a glacier off shore. Mic is annoyed and just wants to dispose of Kurogiri, but Aizawa believes that Shirakumo is still within, and sure enough, he is re-activated once more. Aizawa then warps to the U.A. evacuation center to recruit any available heroes, using them as reinforcements to swiftly defeat Gashly at the Takoba Stadium, before heading over to Deku's location. After Deku thinks to himself about what is going on regarding Shigaraki and All For One, Aizawa unveils Eri's horn. It turns out Eri, with Ectoplasm's help, ripped off her horn so that Aizawa can use some of her energy to heal Deku, knowing she can't go to the battlefield herself, and wanting to sing for them. Deku's arms begin to regenerate using the available energy, while through many Warp Gates, the still kicking Heroes arrive to aid him, including Mineta, Kaminari, Momo, Shoji, and Koda.

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An alright follow up basically moving all the pieces along. I liked the line that Aizawa gave regarding Kurogiri in what they should've been doing to try and "wake him up", and I hope we also get a more definitive conclusion following it. It was a funny surprise seeing a cameo from Astro (the MC from Horikoshi's last series Barrage) as the young hero in the evacuation center. I expected we were gonna get Deku's arms back, and I think this was a fine way. They already established Eri's issues with her energy accumulation, so her maiming herself to provide basically just a little bit of healing power is a fine compromise. And then we get a return from all the Heroes who aren't unconscious for this final bout, funny seeing Mineta copying Deku with his scarf. This could be mainly coping, but I'm curious what that line of thinking with Deku regarding AFO is about. If there's something else going on, or if it's just simply "AFO came back after being seemingly destroyed, so Shigaraki probably can too."

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