My Hero Academia

It really says something that that's your biggest criticism.

I honestly don't get why people are so fixated on this, though. I get being curious but his dad not being around isn't that weird. You're assuming there's some grand purpose without a reason to.

edited 30th Jun '16 11:52:24 AM by LSBK

It is kinda weird since everyone else's fathers are present to an extent, while Deku's is just inexplicably absent. Not even getting the standard "he's on a business trip overseas" or if he's dead or alive, he's just...gone.

That reminds me of something else, actually, which just makes me think we'll meet him when they go on a school trip to America or something.

Yeah its just really weird especially since I recall him mentioning his father one time.

Its just really, really weird.

Regarding Stain, its a thing that a lot of serial killers start off really careful and start slipping later on.

With Stain, his success came from always isolating the target he was going after and striking fast. But by sticking to his pattern thing, he let himself get bogged down in an extended fight with more and more people showing up.

x5 I do not have or want an sense of grand propose over the father. We do not need an arc about a minor character. What we need is being told that his dad exists and that is that. Anything is better then this void we have right now.

I have a high opinion of this series and I admit I am being nitpicky on the father. Horikoshi is an excellent mangaka and that is why I find this issue annoying. It is beneath him to drag his feet on this. I do not feel like the Mysterious Parent trope benefits this series much at all. We were told that he was a citizen during the first chapter. If his Dad was a hero or even a cop, we should have been told by now and not this late in the series. Other series, even ones that I rate below Hero Academia, justified and used the trope better then this series is doing right now. So here two justifications on why the Dad might have not have been there.

1. He is a workaholic. He is raising a housewife and a child in Japan after all. That kind of shit is expensive. But he still should have been consulted. And we should have been told as such.

2. He is no longer part of the family. He could be dead and it would not be difficult for Horikoshi to pull off backpedaling . Nothing to object to such is in the manga yet. Or Izuku's parents are divorced and his Mom has custody .

Make no mistake, I enjoy Hero Academia and I liked chapter 97. But I wanted to get my thoughts out.

edited 30th Jun '16 1:50:17 PM by DocJamore

Well going off of the description this series isn't using Mysterious Parent at all.

I get putting your thoughts out, it just seems like people are making a bigger thing out of it than it is. He's been either mentioned or alluded to by Izuku and his mother. It doesn't seem to be a torturous subject for them so I don't get why it is for fans.

It just seems like something that would be a bit of trivia than a point to get hung up on. But that's me, obviously other people feel differently.

edited 30th Jun '16 12:30:23 PM by LSBK

I think there was a thing somewhere that mentions Deku's dads name and it's a pun on him never appearing or something like that.

Not surprising a Class B student is named Pony and was born in America. Also she looks like Pony.

^Its apparently pun for "Not seeing you for a long time or something? I already forgot what I read

That's funny. I don't get the "maybe he's a pro-hero" thing in those comments though. If that were the case it definitely would have been mentioned by now. Someone even speculated he was the No. 3 hero.

Random thought: could be one of those few heroes who maintains a secret identity like All Might did.

Alternatively, he's a villain.

Either way, family may not know.

On the subject of familial relationships, I saw someone mention am idea that Deku's mom could have a relation to Nana Shimura. It's based mainly on all Might's comparison at the end of the chapter, but I wondered if anyone thought there could be anything to it. If so, I'd imagine niece or cousin or something like that, since the direct line to Shigaraki is established.

I've seen someone mention that. They didn't like it and I don't either really. If it's not introduced right away I prefer connections like that not be established, in most cases.

Personally, I hope Midoriya and his family keep being completely average people with no connection to other main characters (well, except for Izuku meeting All Might obiviously). The father being an hero without anybody mentioning it until now would feel extremely meh.

I'm inclined to agree with and . The main reason I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand is good cliche either idea is and MHA has made a reputation for itself be playing with cliches or delivering well on them.

Midoriya's father was off-mentioned to have a fire breath power (alongside the mention of Inko's small scale telekinesis) earlier on. I don't think he could be a hero with that power unless that was a lie to cover up what his power actually was.

Lying about his power would be weird, and one of this series (many) good points is that it's good at making powers that seem weird or shitty really cool/threatening.

I'm not convinced the author thinks it's impossible to be a hero with any power.

edited 30th Jun '16 3:37:08 PM by LSBK

I'm rather tired of the main character's family being super special awesome and would rather the MC stand on his own for once. I notice that's a recurring trend in Shonen that I read.

I agree. Worse, I find it specially tiresome when the protagonist is initially depicted as coming from the bottom just to later become part of a super special linage. For example, even if I personally don't like the trope. I am fine in the cases of Fullmetal Alchemist and even Bleach^note though the former executed the trope much better than the later, but in Naruto, the titular character being from a super special heritage actively went against the initial message, which is just frustrating. Here it is not as bad, but Midoriya being a regular guy for most of his life is an important part of his character which would be damaged if it randomly turns out his dad is super special.

I don't know if Full Metal Alchemist really counts. Yes, Ed and Al's father turned out to be important, but their skill with alchemy was obtained from years of hard work and their ability to transmute without a circle was due to them paying a heavy price that's highlighted throughout the series.

Or is that why you say it was executed very well?

All this talk about Deku's father reminds me of Maka's mother in Soul Eater. MC's missing parent (who happens to be the same gender as the MC) while the other features prominently, casually mentioned at the beginning of the series, never shown. Maka's mother was mentioned later again but ended up never showing up for 25 volumes of manga while the world went insane and MC kids saved it, which bothered lots of people. Deku's father has not absent for approximately 10 volumes and more at this point, let's see if this continues.

I'm curious about what happened with Deku's father too but I guess it doesn't bother me much because 1. it's not a big deal to me 2. there are ways to explain a parent's absence (dead, divorced, long-term work placement etc) so his absence is not improbable at this point and 3. if the plot needs him, there are probably ways to introduce/mention him later while explaining his absence so far.

Anyway, I also don't want Inko and Shimura Nana to be related. On top of wanting Midoriyas to be just ordinary people, I like the idea that two totally unrelated people can give similar vibes of strength.

Maka's mom was at least an inspiration for her (because you can't count on Spirit) and kept somewhat in contact.

Deku's dad breathes fire. And that's it.

So, who's your favorite pro?

@Midoriya-Shimura connection: That would be a step I would call serious bullshit on, if it ever happened.

Not counting All Might? Eraserhead most definitely. Gran Torino is a second. Both don't give a shit in their own special ways, and both are entertaining to watch in combat (Aizawa has his power-nullifying Kung-fu Spiderman schtick going on, GT is a human pinball). Endeavor I love as a character to think about, but his actual personality is vile.

edited 30th Jun '16 11:13:47 PM by mrsunshinesprinkles

Yep, All Might and Eraserhead on top of my list too, but then they've also gotten the most screentime. Apart from those two I adore No. 13's astronaut getup, and Ectoplasm just oozes cool.

Yea, Eraserhead after All Might.