My Hero Academia

Well, it's a numbers game. I'm sure some people will come out of this not caring about the League or Shigaraki more, while others will feel the exact opposite. You have no way of knowing which one wins out until it's over. Time also seems to soften people on these things, in general.

Season 5 that will adapt this arc will most likely be really great especially since it won't have a movie encroaching on its development.

Honestly, I think Shigaraki isn't even the "central" villain as he's driven almost no arcs on his own. He's had a hand in several arcs, to be sure, but it's not like he has had a central goal that motivated him and drew the heroes to oppose him. There's the USJ invasion, releasing the Nomus on Stain's arc, and kidnapping Bakugo, but aside from that he's been fairly secondary to every arc. He's been in the background, to be sure, but I wouldn't say he's been a main driving force of the series' plot as a whole (partly because aside from overarching themes about the nature of heroism and the flaws of her society, there really isn't a main plot as such). If anything, I would expect this arc to finally lead Shiggy to take center stage and be proactive about achieving his goals, even if they're as vague as "literally kill everyone".

From the tweet it sounds like there were two issues: it's been a long stretch without the appearance of the heroes, and he doesn't like that the villains are being shown in a 'protagonist' like role where you would root for them.

It may seem silly to call Villain Protagonist 'a taboo' but given the amount of leather-pantsing the LOV get I think it's a fair concern. Frankly, I think this arc is weird because I see absolutely no reason to root for the LOV here.

And I'll also echo the sentiment that Shigaraki isn't a compelling villain. Nor do I find any of the league sympathetic, probably the only one I like is Twice when he's being funny.

I don't think we're supposed to "root" for them exactly, let alone sympathize with them. Just witness them as they become an actual threat instead of the B-team losers they kinda were until now.

The intended reader reaction by the end of the arc will probably not be "d'aww, poor villains" but rather "oh crap, our heroes have to deal with that now."

Edited by Lyendith on Jul 15th 2019 at 11:30:14 AM

I mean, I'm sure as hell rooting for them here. This arc has been entertaining as shit.

I think the actual purpose of this arc is to deconstruct classic shonen clichés and aesops and show how twisted they become when applied to the villains.

Shigaraki wants to follow his dreams (of absolute destruction)

Toga is just trying to be herself (a serial killer)

Twice would do anything for his friends (even if it involves massive slaughter)

And so on.

Edited by WashTheLaundryHero on Jul 15th 2019 at 2:33:12 AM

I've enjoyed the introspection even if it hasn't made any of them my favorites.

Right now, I'm a bit worried about the conclusion being messy.

And friendship means they'll do it together.

I'm curious that Geten & Heartland as well as Skeptic are still fighting.

Cause clearly Re-Destro is the Final Boss & emotional climax of this arc so when he goes down that should be it.

And I don't think they'll continue the fights after he's down so either Geten & Heartland get killed without much fanfare or they make it out of this whole thing alive.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 15th 2019 at 2:37:46 AM

Well, the beginning of the arc has LOV demolish some Not!KKK goons, so there's that for sympathy points (even if the motif was purely ulterior; that is, to get some funds).

I like that notion. I also think this arc is a point of no return for the entire LOV (save Shigaraki who was beyond saving the moment AFO took him in). The villains LOV had to contend with were crooks and single persons so far, who often had no ground to stand on to claim moral superiority. Overhaul, in particular, wasn't as big as he thought he was. MLA however (or at the very least Re-Destro himself) has a lofty goal, massive funds, backing of no doubt numerous supporters etc.

If fellow villains start chastising you over your ideals, you know you've gone and done it. Back when they were working with Stain, Shigaraki was furious that some noseless dumbass was stealing all of their thunder (even if it worked out in the end). Now, LOV is the thunder, and couldn't care less about MLA's goal. They oppose each other, so one of them simply has to go.

So there's this in clear contrast to the cover of this week's issue.

I believe Shigaraki is saying "We'll take Hell in these hands", as opposed to Izuku saying "We'll take peace in these hands."

Edit: Actually, this may be fanart. I'm not sure, but if it is, good on them.

Edited by LSBK on Jul 15th 2019 at 7:18:21 AM

Good lord he’s 80% down to a nub.

Definitely fanart, but I wish that was the actual cover.

While I think the notion of showing the villains developing or otherwise showing things from their POV being a taboo is ridiculous, I can sympathize with the notion that it's been a pretty long time since we actually saw the actual protagonists of the story. Like, this arc has been going on for about four months now, during which the UA students have been almost entirely offscreen. I get that the arc is meant to focus on developing the villains, but cutting back to them on occasion to show what they're up to would be much appreciated. As interesting as the subject matter of this arc is, I do hope it wraps up (or at least changes gears) fairly quickly, because it's starting to drag a bit.

As far as Shirageki specifically works as a villain, I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of it at this point. I'm pretty sure what Hori is going for at this point is, like others have said, to give him a parallel journey into being a great villain similarly to how Deku is becoming a great hero. While I think it's an incredibly interesting concept, at this point there are definitely a few hiccups in the execution.

The main one is that Deku, starts off with a pretty firm belief in what it means to be a hero, and while it obviously develops over the course of the story, he always has a pretty solid idea of what his goals are. Shirageki, on the other hand, explicitly lacks much of a sense of purpose, and doesn't seem to learn as much from his experiences as Deku does. Granted, part of that is at least partially due to an intended contrast between the characters, but it does mean that he isn't nearly as compelling as a character, especially when surrounded by underlings who have more interesting arcs.

In general, the story illustrates clearly why Deku has potential to become a great hero. He has the idealistic mentality for it, he's intelligent about the use of his powers, and he's charismatic enough to function as a leader for his classmates. On the flipside, we've actually seen very little of what actually qualifies Shirageki as being a great villain. He's only really doing it because AFO has been grooming him for it; and most of his underlings are more charismatic and actually hold some philosophy that informs their actions, and he hasn't really shown himself to be much of a leader either, at least not to the degree Deku has.

TL;DR: I hope that this arc wraps up soon, and that Shirageki actually shows that he deserves the position as AFO's successor.

I think things with Re-Destro are about to end right now. The real question for me is what happens with Skeptic, Trumpet, and Geten?

There still around, still fighting, and at least with Geten and Skeptic there are still some mysteries with them that feel like should be touched on.

It almost makes me think that this might end with those guys trying to change to the winning side. Based on what (admittedly) little we've seen of the three, I feel like you could probably make that work for each of them for different reasons.

(x21) Late reply, but Spinner killed the cultists earlier in this arc, so he technically has already murdered somebody.

Yeah, his potential to be a Big Bad in his own right has always felt a bit like an Informed Attribute to me.

Granted, that's at least kind of justifiable since the main reason AFO groomed him to be a Big Bad wasn't so much his potential but rather the amusement he got from the idea of Nana's grandson becoming a Villain.

Edited by M84 on Jul 15th 2019 at 10:09:38 PM

He did kinda outplay Overhaul in the end.

And really the fact he’s survived this long on nothing even with help from the others is impressive.

If his powers keep jumping up in potency he really will become able to destroy everything just by reaching down.

AFO chose Shigaraki for a similar reason that All Might chose Deku: the latter saw his protégé as someone with more inherent heroic spirit than anyone else, to take up the mantle of the Symbol of Peace.. AFO has said that Shigaraki was "born twisted enough" to become the new him.

They were both interested in character and figured the rest would come later (with help) it seems.

Edited by LSBK on Jul 15th 2019 at 9:22:15 AM

I mean, as he is right now he'd be able to walk down a busy street or brush up against some skyscrapers and kill tens of thousands of people in minutes, possibly without even getting caught. His power is somewhat limited for one-on-one fights with high-ranking heroes, but as far as just mindlessly wreaking havoc? He's even better suited for it than the powerhouses like Overhaul and Gigantomachia and Redestro.

The kid being Nana's grandson definitely was part of it though.

Oh, yeah, but I think it was just icing on the cake. Or rather, I imagine he was probably watching the Shimura's for some time, but then when the whole family massacre he was like "Wow, this kid is just what I've been looking for!"

I don't have any gripe with his power level; I like how they're developing his ability to use his quirk. The issue I think needs to be addressed is that he's supposed to be leader of the team. If AFO were portrayed as building him up solely to be a powerful and destructive individual, Tyke Bomb style, it would make sense. The problem is that AFO seems to be grooming him to be the head of the League of Villains in the same vein that AFO himself was. Thing is, thus far Shirageki hasn't had much growth in that role, most of the members were recruited by other people and Kurogiri honestly did a better job of keeping things moving than he did. There area few hints at the fact that he could function as the heart of the team, but I feel like they need to develop that side of him more to make the organization as a whole more of a credible threat.