Family can really screw us up, huh?
Intentually or unintentually, many of us have been hurt by our family. That pain can last a long time, maybe forever. Fortunately, we live in a world where mental health is being treated more seriously than it’s ever been before. So, if you’re hurting on the inside, seek help.
I don’t think Kotaro Shimura sought professional help for what happened to him as a child. Or, if I’m wrong, he should find a new therapist. The anguish of his mother, Nana Shimura, abandoning him never healed and eventually lead to the man hurting his own child, Tenko. Tenko Shimura dreamt of becoming a hero, but his father had no intention of supporting even the idea of it. He even slapped his son just because he wanted to become a hero one day. Sure, Tenko joked about his mother’s Alopecia condition beforehand, but that’s still uncalled for!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Anyway. A guilt-ridden Nana finally gets to learn what became of her son after she left to get cigarettes and never returned (Note: Never try buying cigarettes from All For One). It’s a heart breaking scene. The whole chapter was an interesting look into Shigaraki’s subconscious. So, now Nana’s gone. The last One For All vestige breaking Shigaraki’s final emotional barrier. The Big Bad’s heart is now an open book, or VR simulation, for Deku to learn exactly what created such a monster.
Here’s a question: What’s Deku gonna do after learning Shigaraki’s origin?
One. I don’t think Deku learned everything yet. In fact, we know he hasn’t. We, the audience, have seen most of Shigaraki’s origin. Most, not all. I’ll get to that, or I should say HIM, later. All in all, I’m expecting to see more of who Deku and Shigaraki can blame for Tenko’s one bad day.
Two. Did you notice Deku wearing his middle school uniform on the last page? I’m guessing some of the young hero’s own painful memories are gonna starting playing out in front of both he and Shiggy to see. No doubt Shigaraki’s trying to keep Deku distracted from going further into his psychological search history.
We’ll see Deku being bullied by Bakugo, of course. But, I wonder if we’ll see memories pertaining to Deku’s father? It’s been over four-hundred chapters and we still have NO IDEA what Deku thinks of him? Does the kid miss him? Does he feel a little resentment because daddy’s always away? We got nothing on the guy or his relationship with Deku. Now’s as good a time as ever for Horikoshi to officially introduce this absentee father into the story and show us exactly what Izuku thinks of him.
And, three. All For One. Remember that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it panel of AFO bringing Tenko back home during the Shigaraki flashback? There was even a reference of that panel among the Deku/Shigaraki memories mash-up we saw a couple of chapters ago. It’s finally time to learn how much did AFO orchestrate Tenko’s mental breakdown. But, how, you say? Those aren’t Shigaraki’s memories so how can we see what happened? Right you are! They’re AFO’s memories. And, it just so happens there’s a vestige of AFO deep inside Shigaraki. Yep, AFO will make one last appearance taking responsibly as the one who planned on turning Tenko into Shigaraki from the very start!
And that’s where the problem lies, Y’all.
I applaud Horikoshi for writing characters with more down-to-earth trauma. It makes them more relatable and far more interesting. I guess that’s why I love My Hero Academia’s main villains. There’s something about them that speaks to me on an emotional level. I hate them, but I can understand them at the same time. Most of the League of Villains I find to be very compelling characters. They will stick with me longer than 99% of the series’ heroes long after it ends.
But…!
I think Horikoshi mostly drops the ball when it comes to concluding his villain characters’ arcs.
Twice, while I hate that he died, I overall don’t have a problem with it from a narrative perspective.
Toga’s death, on the other hand, I loathe. Toga’s awful parents don’t get nearly enough blame for twisting their daughter into a psycho. If they were more understanding and accepting, while at the same time, trying to find healthy ways for Toga to deal with her blood cravings, she wouldn’t have turned out so insane. And instead of trying to find a way for her to live in this world, Horikoshi takes the easy way out and has her die. It still rubs me the wrong way to this day. I hate it. Hate. It.
Mr. Compress had a lame last second reveal of being a descendent of Oji Harima. Yawn!
Spinner had a good final arc going until the moral essentially became Don’t Fight Your Oppressor Because They’ll Eventually Come Around To Your Way Of Thinking. What the hell? Horikoshi built up hetromorph predijuce just to end with that Afterschool Special garbage?! I can’t even call it that because it’s message isn’t good. It sounds nice but isn’t at all realistic. It’s stupid. Disrupting the status quo is how change is made. You don’t have to become a murderous mob and discriminably attack people, but you gotta do something to initiate change. Something other than hoping the bad people stop being bad completely on their own.
Dabi. I admit I’m indifferent when it comes to his character arc. I’m neither happy or sad about it. He hated his father and wanted to destroy him and the world he protects. He failed and didn’t die in the process. Why? Because he wanted to die, so Horikoshi didn’t let it happen. Whatever!
Do you see why I’m worried about how Shigaraki’s arc will end? My fear is that AFO’s vestige is gonna pop out, monologue about how evil his is because creating Shigaraki was his plan all along and then the story shifts to “defeating” AFO, again, and that’s that. Horikoshi goes so deep into the weeds, giving his villains relatable emotional problems then gives us a surface-level solution. Most shonen are like that. Any tragic past can be solved by reminding the psychologically damaged person that they still have friends/nakama! Well, guess what? I’m fine with that!
You heard me. I’m fine with other shonen series doing that because they are surface-level tearjerkers from the start. They aren’t trying to go that deep. They just want you to feel bad for the good person and hate the villain. Does that mean I hold Horikoshi to a higher standard? Yes, I do. Because, from what I can tell from his writing, he holds himself up to a high standard. That and My Hero Academia is more relatable than most shonen. It’s world more grounded. Therefore, I expect more nuanced solutions or endings to his character arcs. But, that’s not what I get and I don’t like it.
All that said, this was a good chapter! Sure, I fear how this arc ends but I love seeing Deku going through so much effort to “save” a monster like Shigaraki. I just hope I’m wrong and Horikoshi does indeed stick the landing this time. Geez! That was a long post. Better keep the final joke short. Um … Kotaro smacked Tenko onto dog poop. There. Nailed it!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 
5 replies on “Keep Your Grandma’s Hero Name Out Your Flappin’ Mouth [My Hero Academia 417]”
…………………. I used to hold this series to a “High Standard,” too. But at some point- around where Deku went back to UA- the series just………… it just became kind of Letdown expecting it to be……….. I don’t even know WHAT I wanted it to be. I know in my heart that I more or less wished for more Tomura Shigaraki, and not All For One. Or maybe even seeing Tomura VS All For One- a Villain who’s out to destroy vs a Villain who wants to take.
I had thought that All For One would even ALLOW Tomura to destroy everything, and then swoop in and create a new world from the dust left. So I thought he was more or less just gonna “f*ck off” and be this
Looming Problem” the rest of the series. Which- considering what he became vs where he started- SOUNDS LIKE A BETTER IDEA. He works in “burst-” as Villain you see during a “Story Critical” moment. NOT the MAIN Villain who’s always on screen; these “Rule The World” types all come off the same if they stay in the spotlight too long.
Then again; Dabi……….. became EXACTLY what the Anti-Touya crowd feared he’d be: “All About Daddy,” losing any “depth” he had or would have. He effectively became a watered down version of Tomura, really; change out “the world” for “Endeavor,” and they’re pretty much the same.
I think about what you said about Horikoshi’s “Imposter Syndrome.” And about that story about him fighting to make the League Of Villain Arc, and I think: “Will he make another manga after this?” If the sales for the story he WANTED to tell were low- after a few cancelled manga he presumably wanted to do- if every story he tries to make “isn’t good enough,” then………… now that he’s accomplished his dream- WILL HE COME BACK FOR ANOTHER? Especially now that he’s seen the kind of toll making a manga can take on your health? “My hero academia’s” legacy feels so TRAGIC to me; the man just wanted to make a popular manga in the biggest publisher there is, but nothing he makes is good enough to last. Then he gets a SMASH hit, and it’s…………… KILLING him, both physically and mentally!
I’m worried about All For One coming back, too. And now that we’ve seen what having him in EVERY PLOT in the story does; I kind of hope he WASN’T involved in the initial origin of Tomura Shigaraki. He PROBABLY was the reason Tenko ended up with “Decay,” but………… we got that “All For One All Along” bit with Dabi and- apparently- overhaul. What next; Eri’s “Rewind?” Deku being Quirkless? While we’re at it, let’s say he gave Himiko and Twice their quirks to create more villains as a potential “Vessel” for him? At this point, I feel like bringing back All For One and AGAIN extend the series another 30 chapters dealing with HIM AGAIN would kill this series legacy and reputation. Let me be frank: It’s not that I’m saying “It Won’t Happen.” Because it WILL, based on what All For Nothing was thinking at the end there. I’m just saying: I no longer like or care about All For One. I’d honestly rather that just be a “dropped plot” than see it, I feel.
I think I get what Horikoshi is going for with Deku and Tenko. As we see Tenko evolve into Tomura- we see the quirk and the user align in their goal- we see Izuku’s vestige trying to reach them, becoming that boy we saw at the start of the story; the kid who just wants to be a Hero.
I had this idea a long time ago that all Vestiges look like the child version of the user because Children are the most “Honest And Pure” versions of ourselves- they’d reflect who the person is at the very core of their being. But- as All For One said in Vigilantes- there are cases where the quirk and the user are “off-balance-” creating Tomura Shigaraki. Or that twisted killer version of Himiko we saw with kid Uraraka in chapter 394. And when we get that or Tomura- THAT’S where Singularity starts. See my review of that on my new site for more https://fictionoverlord.webresolvers.com/2023/07/17/sad-mans-farewell-sad-girls-smile-my-hero-academia-chapter-394-breakdown/
I don’t know if Horikoshi can deliver on what he’s set up with Tomura and Tenko. There was my theory that the 2 of them would split, and Tomura would be the one to die while Tenko becomes the TENth user of One For All. But like you said: “Death” seems like the “Cheap” way out. I mostly tried to give Deku a way to defeat the Final villain and still save the kid in the end. But………. the closer we get to the “Resolution(because i think we’re a single digit number away from it)-” the more I feel like Tomura’s just gonna be arrested or something. And……….. whatever prison he goes to will be VOLUNTARY. Because there is NO prison in this world that can hold him.
I don’t what say about this series anymore. It’s certainly one of the most important series in my life- taught me about “Expectations” and what I’m looking for in a series. I had felt a year or so ago like I was never gonna pick this series back up once it finished- just leave my little 6 volumes of the series incomplete on my bookshelf and never speak of it again. But……….. it’s this kind of conversation that reminds me what I enjoyed about the series when i first started discussing it: The LEVEL of conversation that could be had around the series; the themes I could discuss, the potential of the characters in terms of story relevance, importance, power, and impact. I remember how much I LOVED talking about this series- watching and reading people talk about it. It has such potential for conversation that it puts a smile on my face!
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Safe to say My Hero Academia didn’t go the direction we thought it would. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Oda does this to me a lot, but the difference between One Piece and MHA is that I love Oda’s surprise directions (for the most part).
MHA’s plot course just confuses me sometimes. I also feel Horikoshi isn’t as thick-skinned as Oda, therefore isn’t willing to stick to his original ideas as much. Oda, from what I hear, was nervous about introducing Nika Luffy but stood his ground anyway. Yeah, everyone doesn’t like it, but everyone isn’t gonna like everything no matter what you do. That’s life. His manga. His rules. And, I, for one, think he made the right decision.
That said, I can’t slam Horikoshi too much. We all have our personal issues, and it’s clear Hori isn’t an exception. I still feel the world of MHA has so much untapped potential left to be explored, but I’m not sure if Horikoshi will ever return to this world after this series ends. Maybe, in a decade or two. But, that’s just me projecting my wants.
As for THIS series, I just want a satisfying ending. Or, at least, an open ending where the story can continue on through another series or movies. Hmm… I keep talking about things other that the series. Maybe I’ve given up on it more than I care to admit. Especially, since I’m hoping beyond hope My Hero Vigilantes gets an anime adaption after the MHA anime ends.
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My brother talks a lot about how “The Fans Ruined MHA-” us forcing Horikoshi to write differently from before. In some ways, I guess that’s true. The Japanese fans didn’t support what he WANTED to make with Villain Aca, and we over in the west weren’t big fans of…………….. well, the “Fall Out” of what happened we he changed how he wrote.
I tend to blame the editor who came on after the Initial war arc who had him cut the Lady Nagant fight short. And maybe just the Editorial staff for limiting what he could do with the Villains(he had intended to reveal Aoyama as the traitor all the way back during the Forrest Training Camp- back when the series was still in the double digits). But……… maybe we should have tried to push him around like that. You’re right: he’s not Oda, and certainly not Toriyama.
I had heard the story about Adult Goku’s debut in the original manga. The Editorial staff at the time was opposed to having Goku grow up, but Toriyama wouldn’t back down and threatened to stop writing the series if he couldn’t have Goku grow up! I don’t know how many other mangaka could get away with something like that(Horikoshi clearly got through with Villain Aca), but that story- as well as the outcome of that decision- shows what happens when a mangaka has faith in themselves.
I think- if he decides to come back to manga making in 10 or so years- he won’t be doing the art for the series. Maybe some corrections and character designs, as well as the writing- but not the art. I think this job has taken its toll on him. And even then, since he knows how difficult it is to draw a manga, he’ll come back with a bi-weekly or possibly even MONTHLY series. Maybe even an “Erratic Release” schedule like Sui Ishida’s current “Choujin X” manga.
The movies haven’t been all that great since the second one. I haven’t seen the 3rd movie- don’t really want to. The second one was good the first time I watched it, but………. eh; not as into it anymore. And I haven’t seen the first one in some years. If it is to continue in movies, then I hope they’re of higher writing quality. I have faith in the animation, but at this point even Animation can’t “carry” a boring story.
It feels like that at times, huh? Like you’re somehow both ready to let this series go, but in the same breath you can talk about it’s “unlimited story potential.” You about over it, but all you can think about is what it can be if you put some “thought” into it. It really is crazy that we’re reaching the end, and yet it feels like we’ve BEEN at that point for 3 years now. I wonder if the length of this finale is a Horikoshi thing, or a Shonen Jump thing. ‘Cause he’s said in the past that he has trouble closing out “longer story arcs” like the Overhaul content or the First War. So it’s hard to imagine he’s WILLINGLY going this far with the ending. We still haven’t seen that “Sero” moment he alluded to a few Jump Festa’s ago. I don’t much care to, but I feel like we’re gonna see it before we see Deku’s “Answer.”
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People are gonna have opinions about your art. There’s no escaping it. But, it sucks Horikoshi let them get to him, if that’s what happened. And if it did, I wish his editors would’ve supported his choices more.
I’m not nearly into anime movies as I used to be. One Piece movies don’t excite me much anymore. I did get around to seeing One Piece: Red because it has Shanks in it but it wasn’t all that. Average movie at best.
I’ve seen all of the MHA movies. Movie one had a boring middle but I love the Deku/All Might fight. Movie Two is my favorite because most of Class A has something to do. Movie Three has a great premise that fizzled out by the end. Just give the regular cast more to do. Stop it with the original movie characters eating up all the screen time.
At this point I’m wondering if Horikoshi is just gonna skip over some minor plotlines and just end the series. I’ll give him points for switching up the villain fights from the standard least important to most important, but that process works for a reason and doing the fights “out of order” didn’t help the story.
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[…] anything to say. Like- at all. Well: I had this conversation with Mammoth Base Opera Castle over on his site about the “state” of My Hero Academia and how we view the series […]
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