My Hero Academia - Manga Spoiler thread (Untagged spoilers)

Regarding this chapter, I'm starting to worry about some of the other students of Class 1-A ending up being Killed Off for Real, even if Ochaco does end up surviving that injury (which I think she will). Is it likely that we could see around 3-4 of the class dying and a subsequent funeral as a result? I'm just hoping that everyone there makes it out alive, even Bakugo (given the heart transplant essentially bringing him Back from the Dead).

Bakugo been dead for almost a year so who knows.

Mutilation if fair game tho. Maim those fucking kids Hori.

None of 1-A is dying...but scars are going everywhere.

The only one I'm worried about dying is Yuga, namely due to the fear of him invoking a Heroic Sacrifice out of atonement. None of the other students are dying. Maimed? Yes, we already had Kyoka lose one of her lobes and Bakugo's heart destroyed. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if this is an actual Career-Ending Injury for Bakugo considering how his Quirk likely won't be able to be used at full strength anymore out of fear for his heart, but I sincerely doubt any of them are dying. If Hori was gonna kill any of them, he would have had AFO kill Fumikage and Minoru as well as actually taking Dark Shadow, but didn't do that.

Edited by RebelFalcon on Jun 21st 2023 at 5:37:42 AM

Given the amount of blood Uraraka just coughed up after being stabbed, probably just hit a major organ.

Doubtful. If she got hit in a major organ like that, she won't be able to get back in the fight, and since I sincerely doubt she's being taken out of the fight right now, it's more likely just an example of High-Pressure Blood or Overdrawn at the Blood Bank.

Probably just bloody vomit from being stabbed in the stomach.

In a weird way, I'm glad for everyone to be coming away with battle scars. When they told Izuku he doesn't have to do everything alone, they truly meant it - Izuku's spent all this time literally breaking his body to protect people? We will too, if that's what it takes!

It works thematically too. Deku is fighting an enemy he can't let touch him under any circumstances, so his friends are taking the metaphorical hits for him.

I'm still just revolted by the approach Toga's parent's took when dealing with their own daughter.

Which could basically be summarized as "sweep her under the rug and pretend she doesn't even exists... and additionally kick and stomp her when accidentally tripping over the lump in the carpet while cursing it for not being flat enough."

No wonder Toga is messed up. They didn't even try to understand their daughter or make her understand why they reacted as they did. They just abandoned their responsibility as parents then and there when her quirk showed, which, would have come from them in one way or the other. How on earth where they not prepared for something like this?

How?

...

And for her possible future prospects, the only "somewhat happy" ending, would be if her quirk evolved further to the point she can finally shed off the mask that is "Himiko Toga" off herself. Since if that mind-ghost is to be believed, she have been cultivating a mask ever since her childhood, possibly meaning that the person known as "Himiko Toga" in the present, is still just the name of a mask that got stuck to her true self ever since then and she has yet to rip it off.

So what if her quirk finally grows to the point where it could happen?

If "becoming others" never succeeded in making her happy, then why not try the quirk out on herself to "become herself" instead?

Is this perhaps a possibility?

... That could work in a case of That Man Is Dead. "Himiko Toga" dies during the war while the true her gets to start over and try atoning for her past actions by helping people like her. Only people who knows the truth being Ochaco and maybe Tsu, Kyoka, and if they tell him, Izuku. Though it could cause accusations of her being a Karma Houdini and would require she still get legitimate mental help to make sure she doesn't relapse.

It's a possibility, but one that's dependent on whether or not she can shed the "Himiko Toga" identity.

Edited by RebelFalcon on Jun 22nd 2023 at 4:57:07 AM

Toga wouldn't be nearly as dangerous if she was capable of making the leap from "I get upset when my friends are killed" to "other people get upset when their friends are killed". Really an impressive level of denial there. "Boo hoo hoo, woe is me, the heroes hate me for reasons that are totally unfair and definitely not the exact same things I hate them for! I'm gonna go kill a bunch more of them for being so horrible!"

She does seem to have an issue with looking at things from the point of view of others.

Like, she seems incapable of understanding why people wouldn't want to be stabbed so she can drink their blood and become them.

In other words, the girl who can become anyone, and wants to be understood....can't put herself in other peoples shoes.

It's almost like there's something wrong with her after years of being abused and dehumanized by her own family.

Not directed at me, but still, fair enough.

This is why good parenting is important.

Ochako is literally being forced to do the job her parents should have done, and damned if she hasn't paid a price for it.

When you've been denied basic empathy for most of your formative years and told to care more about the opinions of others at your own expense, eventually you reach the point "screw everyone else, I'm putting myself first now!", amplified by years of emotional abuse and mental instability born from denying what is basically a bodily function for her, that it pretty much becomes a mental inability to care about anyone else since she unknowingly associates "caring what others think" with "denying myself".

After thinking about it for a few days, I guess my only real problem with this chapter is that it basically eliminates any nuance the situation had before. Toga's parents just fucking suck and why she's the way she is. It's certainly not bad and definitely conveys that Toga herself is just another victim, but I'd be lying if I didn't think it was a lot less interesting.

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Jun 22nd 2023 at 8:32:00 AM

Eh. I felt like it was always leading to that.

I felt it was going this route with how quickly they turned on their daughter after the incident.

Parents don’t do that unless they either don’t care, or are horribly abusive.

Maybe, maybe not. Fuck Toga's parents I guess. Not much else to say about this chapter otherwise. But damn, imagine how much better this would be if Uraraka had actually gotten more screentime.

Its like the ingredients were there to cook sumthin great, but the chef didn't start the dish until 30 minutes before it had to be served. Its still a good meal, but could have been way better with better preparation. Oh well.

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Jun 22nd 2023 at 8:38:17 AM

THIS. IS. WHY. GOOD. PARENTING. IS. IMPORTANT.

It definitely reduces the amount of Ochakos stabbed, that's for sure.

She knew what she signed up for.

People have never forgiven Horikoshi for not giving Ochako a major fight in the Overhaul arc. (Me. I'm people. )

But seriously, I kind of waffle back and forth on how I feel the series has used Ochako. Story-wise, I don't think Ochako's had that bad a shake of things. I've said this before, but I'm big on the "a character's value can be more then how many fights they've had" thing. And I think Ochako gets some great moments.

@Yakuzu It was always the case, it just turned what was originally largely exposition and a single flashback in the MLA arc into showing the abuse itself here. Everything shown here is essentially what was told back during Curious's fight with Himiko. Here's some of Curious's lines transcribed, as well as the anime's version and how it changed things. And now we actually see that Counselor outright saying "Let's fix you."

Edited by RebelFalcon on Jun 22nd 2023 at 10:08:01 AM

Oh, for bonus points ... even if everyone magically agreed with Toga that stabbing people and drinking their blood is just as normal as kissing them, she still couldn't go around stabbing kissing whoever she wants. That's sexual harrasment / sexual assault, you have to get permission first.

She probably internalized the idea she could only get it via killing since her parents demonized her for drinking the blood of a dear bird she didn’t kill.