My Hero Academia Appreciation 2022

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Sadly since we're back in this battle, and there's a break next week, we're gonna have to wait a bit longer to find out about the cliffhangers from last chapter. Nothing really too deep here, Bakugo's new cannons look really cool, and like the little bit of introspection we get of him recalling on his own misunderstands toward Midoriya, but how since he's gone on to embrace working together and using everyone's strengths. Also I like how "Shigaraki"'s dialogue when he's talking about using the power to re-shape the world has the squiggly text, and his dialogue talking about the flaws of society are normal, showing how the AFO and Shigaraki sides compare and contrast each other.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I do like how this battle is presented. While Shigaraki's ever-growing finger flood is dangerous even to the assembled group and gives him the overall advantage, the heroes can still fight against it. I do love seeing upgrade gear like what Bakugo is sporting here. It's just nice to see gear being used even by some of the stronger characters. And yeah, Bakugo having nice introspection to show his character development is always, the detail of him calling everybody by name in his thoughts (even Monoma) is a great touch. The seperate font styles for Shigaraki and AFO are a great indicator of how complete the merge between them is. There's still a chance to save Tenko, but the window is getting smaller.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Really pisses me off that we have switched fights. Finish a fight and then move on to the next, jumping around is bad writing and doesn't help the story in any way.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

The Endeavor/AFO fight is pretty much finished anyway. AFO was fading away into ash with a last minute "**** you." And whatever Deku is encountering hasn't even really started yet. They're cliffhangers for sure to keep the audience hooked while we're checking in on one of the several other fights going on. Besides, jumping around between battles is how Horikoshi has pretty much always handled these kinds of situations where there's a lot going on at once. The main exception being the Shie Hassaikai arc where he was testing out a more classic writing style for those situations and that one is more of streched out slog compared to other similar arcs. And I strong disagree that the jumping around is bad writing. I've always found that it keeps me engaged with the larger picture of each conflict.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

I do like how this battle is presented. While Shigaraki's ever-growing finger flood is dangerous even to the assembled group and gives him the overall advantage, the heroes can still fight against it. I do love seeing upgrade gear like what Bakugo is sporting here. It's just nice to see gear being used even by some of the stronger characters. And yeah, Bakugo having nice introspection to show his character development is always, the detail of him calling everybody by name in his thoughts (even Monoma) is a great touch. The seperate font styles for Shigaraki and AFO are a great indicator of how complete the merge between them is. There's still a chance to save Tenko, but the window is getting smaller.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

The Endeavor/AFO fight is pretty much finished anyway. AFO was fading away into ash with a last minute "**** you." And whatever Deku is encountering hasn't even really started yet. They're cliffhangers for sure to keep the audience hooked while we're checking in on one of the several other fights going on. Besides, jumping around between battles is how Horikoshi has pretty much always handled these kinds of situations where there's a lot going on at once. The main exception being the Shie Hassaikai arc where he was testing out a more classic writing style for those situations and that one is more of streched out slog compared to other similar arcs. And I strong disagree that the jumping around is bad writing. I've always found that it keeps me engaged with the larger picture of each conflict.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

The Endeavour fight doesn't seem to be over, given AFO is rewinding and therefore could continue. It isn't like Dabi and Shoto where Dabi was beaten. I'm well aware that they are cliffhangers but cliffhangers get resolved in the next part not who knows when.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

The Endeavour fight doesn't seem to be over, given AFO is rewinding and therefore could continue. It isn't like Dabi and Shoto where Dabi was beaten. I'm well aware that they are cliffhangers but cliffhangers get resolved in the next part not who knows when.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

We don't know what's really going on there, if AFO used Rewind or not. But either way, it was a turning point and a good place to shift over to another fight. And I'm glad they did that, otherwise just focusing on that part would've felt dragged out. There are plenty of examples of cliffhangers that don't get resolved in the immediate following part/chapter. It's not a universal constant that cliffhangers have to be resolved immediately. And to be clear, I'm not saying that you have to like it. But I strongly disagree with calling the choice bad writing.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Really pisses me off that we have switched fights. Finish a fight and then move on to the next, jumping around is bad writing and doesn't help the story in any way. Seeing Bakugo continue to mature and take the lessons he has learned for the likes of the Joint TRaining Arc and others was welcome. I have to say his new Support has a very image feel to it, especially with the little gun and all.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I wouldn't say switching away from the AFO fight at this moment is particularly bad, since that was "the end" of that part of the fight and teased what the next part will be, similar to the ending tease of the Dabi fight. Usually the best times to cut away from the battle is when there is some kind of a lull or pause, like with the Toga fight after Deku left. Although I will say I think cutting away right after the Deku cliffhanger I think is a pretty big cocktease, and unless those figures are somehow connected to the Shigaraki fight, its gonna be weirdly paced to cut back to this fight for 2 or so chapters and THEN go back to Deku to reveal what that was about.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I do like how this battle is presented. While Shigaraki's ever-growing finger flood is dangerous even to the assembled group and gives him the overall advantage, the heroes can still fight against it. I do love seeing upgrade gear like what Bakugo is sporting here. It's just nice to see gear being used even by some of the stronger characters. And yeah, Bakugo having nice introspection to show his character development is always, the detail of him calling everybody by name in his thoughts (even Monoma) is a great touch. The seperate font styles for Shigaraki and AFO are a great indicator of how complete the merge between them is. There's still a chance to save Tenko, but the window is getting smaller.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I really need to hear the real Shigaraki's internal monologue to hear how he's feeling about all of this. Has he just resigned himself to being AFO's puppet and expressing his destructive values through that, or is he still trying to fight back, and what kind of "final confrontation" will him and that AFO vestige have.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

The Endeavor/AFO fight is pretty much finished anyway. AFO was fading away into ash with a last minute "**** you." And whatever Deku is encountering hasn't even really started yet. They're cliffhangers for sure to keep the audience hooked while we're checking in on one of the several other fights going on. Besides, jumping around between battles is how Horikoshi has pretty much always handled these kinds of situations where there's a lot going on at once. The main exception being the Shie Hassaikai arc where he was testing out a more classic writing style for those situations and that one is more of streched out slog compared to other similar arcs. And I strong disagree that the jumping around is bad writing. I've always found that it keeps me engaged with the larger picture of each conflict.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I do think Horikoshi has struggled in someway with bouncing between fights in multiple locations. It was infamously a mess with the Final Exams to the point the anime had to completely rearrange it. The Shie Hassaikai raid suffered from how jumbled alot of it seemed (which I also think was due to us not knowing about/caring about the Eight Bullets so their fights didn't have as much weight overall). Even his original series, Oumagadoki Zoo, had an arc which had alot of the same issues the Shie Hassaikai raid did. Though with MVA and the War Arc, he was able for the most part to keep a good pace between everything. It is very interesting how the rest of these fights are going to end up being paced out overall, because we have at least a whopping 8(!) locations to jump between (Shigaraki at U.A., Dabi in Kamino, AFO in Mountains, Toga on Island, the Parking lot, Gigantomachia's containment, Central Hospital, the Stadium), some which have barely been touched, so we'll have to see once those get cut to again.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

Mudman's POP has been revealed

[Dark Soul # 7]

New chapter with a snazzy color cover.

spoilers:

As the flying U.A. is straining under the weight of the battle, the business students are filming everything as a documentary for how they achieved victory. Bakugo's massive attack lands but does negligible damage at best as Shigaraki crushes one of Bakugo's arms. The pro-heroes try to assist but are swatted away and they can't get in touch with Deku. Shigaraki once again expresses how he's largely uninterested in Bakugo, except for how close he is to Deku. As everything seems lost Lemillion, Sun-Eater and Nejire-chan step up to take on Shigaraki.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Lots of neat little details for a quick chapter. It's nice to see the business kids still being here and getting a more in-depth look in what they study towards in general. And I really like seeing more of what everybody is doing to keep the school afloat. Shigaraki remains as imposing and terrifying as ever. With what he said to Bakugo I'm wondering if he's planning on using Dynamight as a hostage against Deku, which could be a neat parallel to the first chapter and the slime villain. But of course, the big thing is that finally Mirio reappears and we will at last get to see the Big Three of the senior class fight together. Their little interaction was great and I look forward to seeing them take on Shigaraki. Make us proud kids!

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

New chapter with a snazzy color cover.

spoilers:

Lots of neat little details for a quick chapter. It's nice to see the business kids still being here and getting a more in-depth look in what they study towards in general. And I really like seeing more of what everybody is doing to keep the school afloat. Shigaraki remains as imposing and terrifying as ever. With what he said to Bakugo I'm wondering if he's planning on using Dynamight as a hostage against Deku, which could be a neat parallel to the first chapter and the slime villain. But of course, the big thing is that finally Mirio reappears and we will at last get to see the Big Three of the senior class fight together. Their little interaction was great and I look forward to seeing them take on Shigaraki. Make us proud kids!

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Firstly, the eighth anniversary colour spread is great, and probably the most amount of characters he has drawn all at once. Lots of really fun details throughout. Love the Izuku/Ochaco, the Momo/Jiro/Kaminari chain, Eri being cute and Kota imitating her, everybody being dressed in red and black except Hawks and Endeavor being black and red. Also really like a bunch of the villains being here too, Shigaraki, Dabi (in a suit like he's going to a funeral), Toga, Spinner, Compress, Kurogiri (right beside Aizawa & Mic which is nice), also Nagant, Overhaul, Stain, and Gentle & La Brava around there too. The only characters really not present are dead characters (rip Twice and Midnight), civilians (Inko, the other Todorokis, etc.), and the "pure evil" characters (AFO, Machia, the MLA, Muscular, etc.) The specific villains who are on there does help fuel the fire of my feelings on where their stories are going to end up going. Though speaking of AFO, this week's WSJ cover, which is the banner on the app, is Deku facing against AFO breaking free from his mask with his original face, so that maybe offers some hints about where that may be going. As for the chapter itself, what I can mainly say is WHERE WERE YOU ALL THIS TIME MIRIO?? Shows up out of nowhere during the War, completely disappears out of the story, and now suddenly back for the fight. It does look like this Big 3 battle will be really cool, but I just can't get over how weirdly Mirio's been treated this whole time. Especially considering you'd think they'd want him on the frontlines since he literally can't get hurt, rather than as just a communicator as it sounds like he's been. The rest is still good, more great use of showing everyone working together (plus some more of Yuyu being gay for Nejire), and Shigaraki just being an absolute beast wrecking Bakugo and everyone. Hope right after the Big 3 fight is when Izuku finally returns, cause I'm not sure how much else they can drag out this fight at this point after the Big 3's battle.

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

First of love the cover image. So many characters all recognisable and some really touching moments in it. First of kinda disappointed that Bakugo's big attack didn't do anything. I wasn't expecting Tomura to be beaten but at least weakened. Seeing the Big three ready to throw down should be epic, as for Mirio just appearing, well it is part of being a hero doing dramatic entrances as shown in Smash!, also him being a messenger does make sense since he would be the only one who can get in and out of the forcefield.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Shigaraki declares his intentions to try and kill Bakugo to anger Midoriya like what happened in the War, taunting him that he'll always be in his shadow. Nejire and Tamaki both show up to attack Shigaraki; Tamaki stabs him with poisonous venom, but Shigaraki's body evolves again, growing mouths alongside the arms. Mirio rescues Bakugo, confronting Shigaraki and claiming the only reason he wants to destroy everything is because he doesn't have any friends, punching him with Nejire's waves imbued in his fists. Best Jeanist tries to patch up Bakugo, with him seemingly defeated in shame, but with determination in his eyes, Bakugo starts to come up with a plan.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

It's a funny thing seeing Bakugo basically being placed in the "damsel" position, with Shigaraki remembering feral Deku and wanting to trigger that again. Also neat little parallelisms to basically what just happened with Endeavor, with both characters (right after losing part of their arm) being reminded that they'll never be like Midoriya or All Might no matter how they try, and how ultimately they've learned to move past that and instead focusing on what they can do with their power. Mirio's comment about the whole "not having any friends" thing is interesting because we know clearly that Shigaraki did form a friendship in the League and that alot of his motivation for breaking the world is for them, so wonder if this will pay off by having Shigaraki reaffirm this humanity within him, or if perhaps that "no friends" line will end up directed towards the "AFO side" of his brain. Also seems like Bakugo's plan might have something to do with Shigaraki's right arm, since it looks like the growth is only really coming out of his left arm. That, plus now that it's started to grow mouths too, its a wonder of what else this "Quirk Singularity" body can end up doing/

end of spoilers

[leokearon]

spoilers:

When you think of it Bakugo has been a bit of a Guy in Distress during the series. LemIllion's interaction with Tomura was pretty good, along with Tomura's reaction almost like he didn't understand. It should be interesting to see what Bakugo has thought of.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

It's a funny thing seeing Bakugo basically being placed in the "damsel" position, with Shigaraki remembering feral Deku and wanting to trigger that again. Also neat little parallelisms to basically what just happened with Endeavor, with both characters (right after losing part of their arm) being reminded that they'll never be like Midoriya or All Might no matter how they try, and how ultimately they've learned to move past that and instead focusing on what they can do with their power. Mirio's comment about the whole "not having any friends" thing is interesting because we know clearly that Shigaraki did form a friendship in the League and that alot of his motivation for breaking the world is for them, so wonder if this will pay off by having Shigaraki reaffirm this humanity within him, or if perhaps that "no friends" line will end up directed towards the "AFO side" of his brain. Also seems like Bakugo's plan might have something to do with Shigaraki's right arm, since it looks like the growth is only really coming out of his left arm. That, plus now that it's started to grow mouths too, its a wonder of what else this "Quirk Singularity" body can end up doing/

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I do appreciate that the series acknowledges that while Bakugo is damn strong and skilled, he still has trouble keeping up with all the multiple quirk shenanigans that's going on with All For One and One For All. And there's an amazing amount of disrespect in Shigaraki using his toes to lift Bakugou up by his hair. Mirio's comment towards Shigaraki has the same energy as this scene from Kingdom Hearts 3. It would be nice if it leads to the start of Shigaraki fighting back against the merger. The AFO vestige in him would probably just scoff at the comment and say that pawns and friends are basically the same thing. But Shigaraki found other people to fight together with so I think Mirio reached that part of him. Here's hoping. I also like that Mirio got some power assistance from Nejire since as buff as he is, he really can't hurt Shigaraki alone. It would be kinda cool if Bakugo ends up taking a more tactictian oriented role at this point, maybe coming back for big attack at some point. It does seem like the evolution of the Quirk Singularity is focused on Shigaraki's right arm at the moment. I wonder if that's as far it can go without him losing his human form, and if that's the case is Shigaraki holding it back from going any further? If that's the case then removing the arm might be a bad idea.

end of spoilers

[Dark Soul # 7]

In anime news, the next season will premiere on October 1, and there's just one week left until we get the new OVAs.

[Inversed]

spoilers:

I do appreciate that the series acknowledges that while Bakugo is damn strong and skilled, he still has trouble keeping up with all the multiple quirk shenanigans that's going on with All For One and One For All. And there's an amazing amount of disrespect in Shigaraki using his toes to lift Bakugou up by his hair. Mirio's comment towards Shigaraki has the same energy as this scene from Kingdom Hearts 3. It would be nice if it leads to the start of Shigaraki fighting back against the merger. The AFO vestige in him would probably just scoff at the comment and say that pawns and friends are basically the same thing. But Shigaraki found other people to fight together with so I think Mirio reached that part of him. Here's hoping. I also like that Mirio got some power assistance from Nejire since as buff as he is, he really can't hurt Shigaraki alone. It would be kinda cool if Bakugo ends up taking a more tactictian oriented role at this point, maybe coming back for big attack at some point. It does seem like the evolution of the Quirk Singularity is focused on Shigaraki's right arm at the moment. I wonder if that's as far it can go without him losing his human form, and if that's the case is Shigaraki holding it back from going any further? If that's the case then removing the arm might be a bad idea.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Glad I wasn't the only one who's immediate first thought seeing Mirio say that was Woody telling off Xehanort in KHIII. Agree that I hope this is what directly leads to Shigaraki starting to regain control of his old self again. I know his body is incredibly hard, and now with the adapting means this potentially may be null, but I wonder how difficult it would be to just completely chop off one of his arms and if that would help them in any way by crippling him.

end of spoilers

In anime news, the next season will premiere on October 1, and there's just one week left until we get the new OVAs.

We also got a poster highlighting everyone.

https://twitter.com/heroaca_anime/st...meZnq0ZQDJl60A

[Dark Soul # 7]

spoilers:

Glad I wasn't the only one who's immediate first thought seeing Mirio say that was Woody telling off Xehanort in KHIII. Agree that I hope this is what directly leads to Shigaraki starting to regain control of his old self again. I know his body is incredibly hard, and now with the adapting means this potentially may be null, but I wonder how difficult it would be to just completely chop off one of his arms and if that would help them in any way by crippling him.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I really want a scene where Toga, Dabi, Spinner and Compress jump AFO to get Shigaraki back. Give me that twisted companionship born out of respecting each others' hate for the world. I guess it depends on how far up the arm they need to cut to stop it from just growing more fleshy bits. Though it would interesting to see just how potent Shigaraki healing quirk is if Monoma is dealt with. We know that several Nomus can regrow limbs but we haven't seen Shigaraki do that so far. Also, another thought. Shigaraki/AFO is expecting Deku to show up eventually. Which makes me wonder if he isn't aware of whatever group Deku's run into.

end of spoilers

We also got a poster highlighting everyone.

https://twitter.com/heroaca_anime/st...meZnq0ZQDJl60A

I like that it's highlighting all the characters that get big scenes in this arc, alongside the usual suspects.It gives me hope that they'll nail all those moments. Mirko looks ready to kick ass!

[Inversed]

spoilers:

Mirio's words cause Tenko to re-awaken, resulting in "Shigaraki" freaking out that he does have friends, to the both of their shock. All For One realizes Tenko's spirit still remains within unassimilated, and prepares to try and get everything over with. Mirio and Nejire continue to do everything they can to distract Shigaraki all for their true plan: buying time for Tamaki to unleash his ultimate technique, a fusion consisting of everything he has eaten all together.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

A surprisingly really short chapter, but we at least get a decent amount of story and development out of it. Mirio's reaction and Shigaraki's freakout gave me genuinely hard laughs at how sudden they both were. Interested to see what role "Tenko" will have in freeing Shigaraki and how much deeper it will go. Hoping we'll still get "real Shigaraki"'s outburst too instead of just Tenko's. Also we got some cool added backstory from Nejire, showing how she was very cold and distant from everyone due to them all believing her to look down on them because of her Quirk, until Tamaki befriended her and allowed her to open up. It's a neat side to her character, how she wasn't always this blissfully bubbly and how much of an impact the two of them had on her. And then there's Tamaki's ultimate attack, which is a great application of his Quirk's true potential, and a really neat visual. Wondering exactly what kind of attack this monstrosity is going to end up creating.

end of spoilers