Awesome / Graffiti Heart

• Even though it was a complete accident, it doesn't change the fact that Izuku's first use of Cacophony ended with Aldera in ruins and gave trouble to All Might of all people.
• Izuku taking Hitoshi's defense after he joins Corelia. His classmates had assumed his Quirk simply turned sound into color, unaware that Izuku was worried about summoning Noises at school. He still does it to protect Hitoshi before tearing apart the kids' arguments of his Brainwashing is an evil power. This action cements the two boys' friendship.
• What is Inko's reaction to learning her husband is cheating on her? Why, cheat right back, of course! Toshinori outright calls Hisashi an idiot for failing to realize Inko was Silk Hiding Steel.
• As is canon, the sludge villain attacks Izuku. Unlike canon, it happens several years earlier… and Izuku has a Quirk. Cue the boy accidentally discovering Apotheosis and using it to tear the villain to shreds.
• The Entrance Exam is made much easier thanks to Izuku's Noises and partial Apotheosis. the real highlight, however, happens when the Zero Pointer shows up. First, Izuku Summons a Goth Metal Drake to distract the robot. Then he lends a Pony Turbo to Ochako so she can continue the exam with her injured leg. Finally, once she is safely away and the robot has destroyed the Drake… Izuku unleashes Cacophony. And the endless stream of Noise doesn't just destroy the Zero Pointer. Because Izuku told them to "protect moving flesh", the Noises end up doing just that, assisting the other competitors and protecting them from the robots. This action leads the judges to grant him the highest rescue score they can because he rescued everyone.
• Thanks to Izuku's canned Noises, Hitoshi manages to pass the Exam. How did he do it? By narrowly defeating enough robots to pass, but mostly by sending every Noise he had against the Zero Pointer when it showed up, earning himself a decent rescue score.
  • The same way, Denki was given a set of headphones that doubles as a battery to absorb the overflow of his Quirk. When the Zero Pointer shows up, he decides to face it not for the glory of the kill (the Zero Pointer is worth nothing point-wise) but so the other examinees wouldn't have to worry about it and keep going after the pointers with no disturbance. He ends up royally frying the robot first with the battery and then with his Quirk.
  • Kyoka also challenged the Zero Pointer despite knowing she was badly outmatched, because someone had to hold the mechanical monstrosity and it might as well be her. Her bravery leads two other candidates - later revealed to be Mina Ashido and Kojiro Bondo - to team up with her and defeat the Zero Pointer together. All Might notes that examinees spontaneously teaming up is pretty much unheard of.
• Naturally, being in the same class, the moment Bakugo spots Izuku is the moment he tries to go back to old habits. Izuku has none of it.
  Izuku: Let’s make one thing clear, Kacchan: if you hurt any of my friends, I will make Aldera look like a kid’s tantrum.
  • Hitoshi outright threatens to brainwash Bakugo into jumping from a window. One thing is clear: if you mess with any of the four, the others will retaliate.
• Aizawa, as is canon, threatens the students with expulsion. Unlike canon, Izuku and Hitoshi vocally disagree. When Aizawa asks what they could do about it, Izuku summarily points the drawbacks in his Quirk and how to exploit them, then notes how Erasure doesn't alter his limbs if they are already transformed. Aizawa takes back the threat… because, more than anything, Izuku and Hitoshi stood up to him to protect their classmates rather than in sheer defiance of authority. As he puts it, their hearts are in the right place and they definitely have skills.
• During the Battle Trial, while Bakugo is paired with Ochako, Izuku is paired with Tenya. While Tenya's assessment of the situation is good, Izuku comes with a counter-plan, namely: Dungeon Bypass. Rather than sneaking inside the building, the teen carries his friend outside of it until they found the bomb… which is ungarded since Bakugo went searching for the pair and Ochako followed him. Bakugo is positively livid when he finds the bomb with a "We win~" written in graffiti letters.
  • Hitoshi is paired with Yaoyorozu and Mineta against Sato and Koda. When Mineta starts pestering Yaoyorozu, Hitoshi summarily Brainwashes him, then lures Sato and Koda into a stairwell-turned-death course, demonstrating his impressive free-running skills in the process.
• Do you know why Izuku has to listen to music all the time? Because his tinnitus would drive him crazy without it. When Monoma tries to copy Graffiti Heart, the cacophony is so loud he is screaming moments later, and even Izuku can only stand it without music for several minutes before he has to Apotheose to put it on his skin. Keep in mind he has been this way since he was six.
• The entire USJ is this for Class 1-A. Sure, Kurogiri manages to get everyone this time, but the students are perfectly willing and able to fight back. Aizawa fends off the villains with a couple of Ethnicats (Taboo cat Noises), Todoroki and an Apotheosed Izuku pull a Back-to-Back Badasses, Hitoshi accidentally gains the ability to Apotheose, Izuku fights numbers with numbers by unleashing Cacophony, an Apotheosed Hitoshi defeats the Nomu via stinger-in-the-brain and Kyoka and Yaoyorozu have epic music blasting full volume during the whole mess.
• The friendly races at Shadda's Crossing following the USJ. Notably, Neito is left in the dust by Hitoshi on the orange course and Aizawa challenges Izuku on the red race, which goes across the rooftops. Teacher and student turn to be evenly matched, and the race concludes with a Leap of Faith straight out of Assassin's Creed.
• The Sport Festival. All of it. It starts slowly but strongly with Izuku sending Doom Metal Drakes against the Executor Bots and he and Hitoshi making a point of finishing the race together at third place. It follows with the Fearsome Foursome teaming up during the Cavalry Battle as Hitoshi rides an Apotheosed Izuku and them successfully nabbing the ten million-point headband from Shoto at the last minute. Meanwhile, Neito, Itsuka, Mei and Tokoyami rank second place by snatching the hightest number of headband. Then the one-on-one tournament starts.
  • While Ochako against Bakugo is just like canon, Neito and Mei's fight is also a sales pitch but, this time, Neito is in on it and made a deal with the Support Student. Itsuka is not happy.
  • Kyoka versus Itsuka is less a Cat Fight and more an absolutely brutal battle that leaves Kyoka with nasty bruises and Itsuka feeling like her bones would disintegrate. Then she tries to move and realises her opponent damaged her inner ears, upsetting her sense of balance. None of the girls have held back.
  • Denki makes short work of Yaomomo by demonstrating his Dance Battler skills, combining breakdance with his Quirk to disarm his opponent and bring them to their knees.
  • Just like canon, Shoto manages to trap his opponent in a glacier. This time, however, this is Tetsutetsu, who manages to break free and musters five steps before surrendering, proving himself to be a Determinator and earning Shoto and the public's respect.
  • Izuku and Tenya don't actually have a deal, but both are aware of the other purpose of the Sport Festival. Izuku thus uses his Noises both to show off their variety and uses and serve as dummies for Tenya, who demonstrates his skills before Izuku flings him out of bound.
  • Hitoshi's fight against Mina is hillariously short. One bit of Politeness Judo and Mina is Brainwashed into walking out of bound. Even better, Mina realises her mistake moments before losing her mind.
  • Kirishima against Tokoyami is as nail-biting as Kyoka against Itsuka, being described as "an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object". Tokoyami still wins.
• For the quarterfinals, Mic managed to have Kyoka join him and Aizawa so she could add music to the battles. As such, not only are the fights awesome, they are fought on equally awesome tunes.
  • First round is Bakugo against Monoma as Child of the Machine plays. The dark and ominous tune ends up quite fitting as Monoma uses every dirty trick he knows against an opponent that utterly overpowers him, refusing to talk to keep him from falling to a Copied Brainwashing. Even after he turns Bakugo's Explosion against him, he is still on the receiving end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that leaves him unconscious and Itsuka worried sick.
  • Itsuka, still worried about Neito's wellbeing, isn't exactly in a mood to fight. Denki offers her a quick way out so she can go and find him… and Itsuka refuses, decides to fight her distress and give the crowd the show they want as AC/DC's Thunderstruck plays.
  • Hitoshi finds himself at a disadvantage against Tokoyami courtesy of Dark Shadow. Indeed, he isn't fighting one but two people at once, so Brainwashing is nigh impossible. He still fights them, proving himself an adept of Combat Parkour and scoring a few hits. Then Tokoyami and Dark Shadow complain about a move he pulled, both answering him at the same time and giving him the opening he needs. This time Brainwashing works. Fittingly enough, the track playing during the fight is Killing Two Birds.
  • Knowing full-well how powerful Izuku is, Shoto opens their fight with a stadium-spamming glacier. Naturally, Apotheosis proves to be stronger than that. No matter how many glaciers he sends, Izuku crushes them through sheer strength or energy attacks. Izuku eventually shifts to partial Apotheosis to give Shoto a pep talk, deconstructing his mentality of how his fire is his father's and his ice his mother's and giving him the courage to finally freely unleash his fire. Combining both halves of his Quirk let Shoto generate a devastating explosion that, in canon, took out Izuku… but this isn't canon. Thanks to Apotheosis Izuku survives the blast, though his transformed state is heavily damaged, and swoops Shoto out of bound, wining the fight. All along, Battle against a true hero is playing.
    • Shoto managed to damage Apotheosis. Let me repeat that: Shoto managed to damage Apotheosis, Something not even the USJ Nomu managed to do! The teen is considered 1-A's strongest student for a reason.
  • The semi-finals begin with Denki against Bakugo and Heart of Courage playing. Denki starts by calling Bakugo out on his brutality and is summarily shut up by his opponent. One thing becomes clear: this will be no-holds barred again. And it is. Denki manages to score a few hits against Bakugo, who opts for area-of-effect attacks Denki has trouble dodging. The blonde decides to rush his opponent and almost succeeds until Bakugo dodges and explodes him. Even though he is done for, Denki still has the last laugh by unloading his battery on Bakugo's leg, only losing because he lost consciousness first.
    • Kyoka, utterly livid at seeing her crush battered and unconscious, punches Bakugo in the face and calls him out on his behavior. After seeing Izuku and Hitoshi glare at him, the blonde doesn't delude himself: whichever of the two wins, he is gonna have a bad time.
  • Izuku against Hitoshi is fought without Quirk, Hitoshi knowing Brainwashing wouldn't work on Izuku and Izuku refusing to use Graffiti Heart if his best friend couldn't use his own Quirk. The resulting fight is a display of raw skills between the two as a rocking, uplifting track plays in the background. The pair turn to be evenly matched, the fight becoming less a duel and more a dance that awes everyone watching. Eventually, Hitoshi chooses to give up so Izuku can fight Bakugo. The crowd's ovation is deafening.
  • Finally, the ultimate fight of the Sport Festival begins between Bakugo and Izuku. For the duel, Kyoka chose to play Duel of the Fates. Izuku starts by calling out Bakugo on his behavior, not unlike Denki had done. This time, however, Bakugo doesn't shut him, because he slowly and steadily realizes Izuku is absolutely livid and about to kick his ass twelve ways to Saturday. He is completely right, but it's only when Izuku coldly declares he won't give him the dignity of using his Quirk that he realises how screwed he is.
    • And, indeed, the beating Izuku delivers to his former bully is absolutely merciless. First, Izuku twists his wrists so he won't be able to use his Quirk. Then he punches him anywhere his fists can reach, delivering a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech he punctuates with his fists, hammering home how much Bakugo hurt him and those he cares about and how Izuku is done with him.
  Izuku: You call yourself a Hero but all you do is hurting people! You don’t care about anyone, only yourself! You are a self-centered son-of-a-bitch who has nothing to do in a place like U.A, nothing! To you, people are pebbles and extras, faceless folks you don’t pay attention to unless they stand in your path, then you crush them like flies! How many suffered because of your ambition!? How many did you scorn in your pride!? You don’t deserve to become a Hero, Kacchan! Ever! The people you hurt have people who care for them. By hurting them, you are hurting their loved ones as well! Can you begin to comprehend it? Or are you too trapped in your selfish little world to understand!? Neito…” punch “Itsuka!” punch “Mei!” punch “Denki!” punch “Kyoka!” punch “Hitoshi!” punch “Me!” punch “You hurt all of us! For this, you will pay! Forget victory, this is about pure vengeance!
• Izuku, Tenya and Tensei are in Hosu when Stain and the League strike. Earlier in the story, rather than Tensei, it was Michiro's wife, White Swan, who fell victim to the villain, leaving Michiro distraught. One thing the Sports Festival made clear is that Izuku takes poorly to anyone hurting his friends… so, when they meet Stain, Izuku is as livid as he was against Bakugo. The teen summarily deconstructs the entirety of Stain's ideology, leaving the villain at a loss as Izuku's control slips. Then Stain attacks and Izuku No-Sell his knives with Apotheosis. Stain bolts for the exit. It doesn't work. Not only does he deliver the villain a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, when the Nomus finally strike, Izuku ends up using Stain as a club against the winged one.
• Four times, Nomus struck. Four times, they were outright killed… by U.A. students who struck their brain. there is something to be said about a bunch of teenagers capable of defeating engineered bioweapons more or less on their own.
• The concert is the highlight of the Urban Festival. Wanting to give Inko and Toshinori a great time, Izuku, Hitoshi, Kyoka, Denki and Michiro joined as a band to perform. Their first song, Someday, is such a huge success that their classmates ask them for more… and the team delivers.
  • Hitoshi is at the keyboard. Denki is at the electric guitar. Michiro is at the drums. Kyoka is at the acoustic guitar and provides the female vocals. Izuku is at the acoustic bass guitar and provides the male vocals. Together, they sing Three Minutes Clapping, Shadowbringers, Beneath the mask and You Say Run, every time to a standing ovation.
    • You Say Run's lyrics:
  Not all Heroes are born
  Some of them are made

  Everyone has once looked at the sky
  Seeing the stars above, hoping to shine at their side
  Everyone has once reached for the stars
  Chased their trail, children’s dreams shining show the way

  Light so bright keeps the darkness at a bay
  Light so bright makes the night feel like a day
  Light so bright kindles embers in a heart
  Light so bright was once ember ignited

  Confidence from experience
  An ember doesn’t become star
  In a single day, it journeys
  Experience from competence honed and trained

  You are never alone, on
  This path your journey, there
  Will be stars that will show you
  How to shine in your special way

  And if you say run, then I run, no
  Matter how far or fast
  And if you say fight, then I will fight
  Until I can no more stand
  And if you say jump, then I jump, I
  Don’t ask how, simply how high

  Go beyond, Plus Ultra
  Chase the stars, reach for the sky

  And if you say run, then I run, no
  Matter how far or fast
  And if you say fight, then I will fight
  Until I can no more stand
  And if you say jump, then I jump, I
  Don’t ask how, simply how high

  Go beyond, Plus Ultra
  Embers ignite, shining so brightly

  It is a long road ahead, a
  Long journey from ember to star
  Rise to the challenges that life will never fail to put in
  Your way to the sky, go beyond
  Your limits and make it, ignite and shine your way
  A star is born, this is your day

  If you say run
  • All Might: I am the Symbol of Peace and I approve of this song!
• Earlier during the Festival, Mina found a dancing contest she utterly dominated. After the concert, she decides to challenge Denki, who rightfully points he's still high from his Big Damn Kiss with Kyoka. The two end up having a fierce dance battle that Denki eventually wins.