My Hero Academia 3: Villainous Interlude

[Traab]

My personal theory is

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we are finally seeing the trope of the "we're not so different, you and I." style that pops up so often in this type of story. Both AFO and OFA have similar roots as has already been pointed out. We have seen the evidence that both leave remnants of the previous holders within them. Now we are seeing the difference between these two similar abilities. AFO is all about control and power where the last holder is able and willing to just straight up go "Yer body is mine now, move over" while deku isnt dealing with that, instead these previous holders are basically offering their aid in the form of abilities, and possibly instinctive knowledge in how they work, but deku is and remains in the drivers seat. More advisors than other people struggling for control. What deku has is a gift, freely given, what all for one has is theft, forcibly taken. The end result is surprisingly similar but from opposite sides of the spectrum.

Im honestly wondering where things go from here. We need a wrap up at some point but good lord how do we get there?

[LaZodiac]

My personal theory is

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we are finally seeing the trope of the "we're not so different, you and I." style that pops up so often in this type of story. Both AFO and OFA have similar roots as has already been pointed out. We have seen the evidence that both leave remnants of the previous holders within them. Now we are seeing the difference between these two similar abilities. AFO is all about control and power where the last holder is able and willing to just straight up go "Yer body is mine now, move over" while deku isnt dealing with that, instead these previous holders are basically offering their aid in the form of abilities, and possibly instinctive knowledge in how they work, but deku is and remains in the drivers seat. More advisors than other people struggling for control. What deku has is a gift, freely given, what all for one has is theft, forcibly taken. The end result is surprisingly similar but from opposite sides of the spectrum.

Im honestly wondering where things go from here. We need a wrap up at some point but good lord how do we get there?

My personal guess on this is

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that the previous holders fight A4O and manage to take him out. Having that mental link severed ****s up A4O's brain and basically leaves him dead, and it weakens Shigaraki enough that Deku is able to put him into the ground for good.

[Traab]

My personal guess on this is

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that the previous holders fight A4O and manage to take him out. Having that mental link severed ****s up A4O's brain and basically leaves him dead, and it weakens Shigaraki enough that Deku is able to put him into the ground for good.

Its also possible

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That breaking that link makes it possible to force a retreat on both sides. Shigaraki is horribly weakened by everything that has happened, crippled and enar death himself right now. Once he retakes control, he is going to want to gtfo of there if he even retains consciousness and doesnt fall into a coma, and the side of the heroes isnt doing any better. Neither side is really in a position to keep going anymore. Too much damage has been taken on both sides, and lives are at risk if they dont move to get healed now. It COULD easily go either way right now. Have deku finally falter and collapse and the good guys need to leave. Have shigaraki no longer be able to keep fighting and HE needs to go. Same for actual victory. A final smash to put down the past his limits shigaraki, or a failed attempt to smash puts down deku. Can someone give me details on team evil right now? I know giganto dude is smashing his way around, and of course shiga is on the ropes. Who else is there and whats their conditions? Are there any reserve bad guys waiting for the chance to cause a reversal or help the rest make a break for it? I know the good guys have been comprehensively wrecked in this battle.

[LaZodiac]

Its also possible

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That breaking that link makes it possible to force a retreat on both sides. Shigaraki is horribly weakened by everything that has happened, crippled and enar death himself right now. Once he retakes control, he is going to want to gtfo of there if he even retains consciousness and doesnt fall into a coma, and the side of the heroes isnt doing any better. Neither side is really in a position to keep going anymore. Too much damage has been taken on both sides, and lives are at risk if they dont move to get healed now. It COULD easily go either way right now. Have deku finally falter and collapse and the good guys need to leave. Have shigaraki no longer be able to keep fighting and HE needs to go. Same for actual victory. A final smash to put down the past his limits shigaraki, or a failed attempt to smash puts down deku. Can someone give me details on team evil right now? I know giganto dude is smashing his way around, and of course shiga is on the ropes. Who else is there and whats their conditions? Are there any reserve bad guys waiting for the chance to cause a reversal or help the rest make a break for it? I know the good guys have been comprehensively wrecked in this battle.

Gigantomachia has all of the Villain League (minus Twice, rip in piece), alongside Geta (the ice guy) and the puppet guy. The implication based on the sheer destructive nature of Giganto plus the work of the heroes is that every other villain is dealt with.

[Traab]

Gigantomachia has all of the Villain League (minus Twice, rip in piece), alongside Geta (the ice guy) and the puppet guy. The implication based on the sheer destructive nature of Giganto plus the work of the heroes is that every other villain is dealt with.

Ah ok thanks, I just figured I would bring up the most common surprise twist that tends to happen in these scenarios. "Oho! You forgot about my minion Xpendy the Expendable! He hasnt shown up in 76 chapters, but he was just waiting for this moment to give me the opening to escape!" Same could honestly go for the heroes making a last minute appearance being enough to cause a break off of contact in some way. The washing machine hero arrives to clean house! "Ugh, I really dont need bleach in all these open wounds, im outta here!"

[LaZodiac]

New chapter!

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Within the mental realm of One For All and All For One, we see A4O start to rant, taken in by the euphoria of his apparent victory, perhaps disturbed by the fear that he may lose here. It's honestly really interesting to see him act so... childish, at this important moment. It really sells home The First's comment on how he really is just a petulant child playing up his idea of evil. Hell, we even get an acknowledgement that a part of A4O feels GUILT and he actively does his best to squash it at every opportunity.

There's a lot of rambling about how ****ty Deku is and about how no he's a good boy, and we're gonna beat you, and then Deku charges forward, and it's all very nice and good. The connection is broken, they fall, and it seems as though this is finally it.

Then we get the best scene in the chapter somehow, where Toga reflects on how she wants to fnd Uraraka and Deku, and ask them; if heroes are meant to defend people, then does that mean in their eyes Jin (aka Twice) wasn't a person? Is his death justified because in their eyes he is someone who is less than human? Their answers... will determine how things go. It's quite intense.

[Rater202]

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This will either lead to the start of Toga's rehabilitation, or her rejecting any attempt to help her and her dying a villain.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

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Kind of disappointed that the mind battle ended so quickly, but we did learn some interesting things. For one, Sensei (AFO is the Quirk, so that might get confusing) is literally haunted by his victims unless he gives the Quirks away. And yeah, he does seem to drop his cool evil overlord persona and let loose in this encounter. Maybe he thought he was about to win. Also the first wielder makes a full appearance. The opposing brothers motif, that's a classic.

And his relationship with Shigaraki is surprising. I thought they...cared about each other? Sensei casually mentioning that Shigaraki also hates him took me off guard.

Toga's redemption tease is interesting. Not just from a character standpoint but also a strategic one. Her evolved Quirk is potentially bonkers, and I still think she might be the best fighter in the series if we remove Quirks from the equation.

[Dragonus45]

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The answer to Toga's question is never going to be one she will like, until the day she comes to terms with what pieces of **** the league are, what an unrepentant and borderline genocidal monster her boss is, and understands why the stakes were to high to have the kid gloves on during that raid. A hero's need to save "everyone" is inherently paradoxical, considering unless you only ever deal with natural disasters and such you will usually have to save someone from someone else. If she can't come to terms with what a monster she has been and really examine the trail of bodies her and her besties have been leaving, and the clear escalation of conflict it entails, I'm not certain she will be able to even comprehend the answer.


Side note, anyone who claims Hawk didn't consider Twice a person when he killed him is just wrong anyways. That was a deeply emotional moment and clearly a vary difficult decision. Not that Toga would know that though.

[LaZodiac]

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The answer to Toga's question is never going to be one she will like, until the day she comes to terms with what pieces of **** the league are, what an unrepentant and borderline genocidal monster her boss is, and understands why the stakes were to high to have the kid gloves on during that raid. A hero's need to save "everyone" is inherently paradoxical, considering unless you only ever deal with natural disasters and such you will usually have to save someone from someone else. If she can't come to terms with what a monster she has been and really examine the trail of bodies her and her besties have been leaving, and the clear escalation of conflict it entails, I'm not certain she will be able to even comprehend the answer.


Side note, anyone who claims Hawk didn't consider Twice a person when he killed him is just wrong anyways. That was a deeply emotional moment and clearly a vary difficult decision. Not that Toga would know that though.

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That's what makes it such a good scene for Toga. She doesn't know that, but WE do. WE have to grapple with the fact that the answer to her question is yes, they saw Twice as a person... and Hawks still killed him. It was the right choice but it was still a person he killed and that's ****ed up.

[Rater202]

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"Are the people you killed people?"

Toga is compelled to harm others to drink their blood. A Hero might be compelled to kill someone to save the lives of others.

[Dragonus45]

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"Are the people you killed people?"

Toga is compelled to harm others to drink their blood. A Hero might be compelled to kill someone to save the lives of others.

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That's an odd comparison, considering we have seen the heroes generally going to great lengths to be nonlethal and capture event the worst of the villains they have faced. The biggest example I can think of of someone doing that before this arc is the flashback in Vigilantes where Endeavor shows himself to be willing to kill Pop with overwhelming force because of the whole mass bombing thing. It wasn't until this latest arc where the villains literally absorbed a terrorist nation that we have seen the heroes start to open up with their power without restraint, and even then only a few heroes seem to be willing to do that. Toga in the meanwhile, is an unrepentant murderer who only seems to be really questioning the morality of killing after someone she actually likes got offed.

[LaZodiac]

New chapter!

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Pretty lowkey chapter today, focused on the Gigantomachia rampage and how the other heroes are trying to save people. Uraraka comes across an old lady... who is Toga in disguise. Confrontation! Also teasing of someone who is injured making a debut, which is probably Best Jeanist, still alive.

[Ramza00]

Wonders if I should skip a few chapters and then read them all at once.

[Traab]

Wonders if I should skip a few chapters and then read them all at once.

Only if you take a break from all parts of the internet likely to cause spoilers. :p I know my youtube feed will sometimes post chapter reviews of various anime including mha and the headlines are rarely written to avoid spoilers.

[Ramza00]

Only if you take a break from all parts of the internet likely to cause spoilers. :p I know my youtube feed will sometimes post chapter reviews of various anime including mha and the headlines are rarely written to avoid spoilers.

I only check YouTube for subscriptions and none of them is MHA. Likewise I already have enough podcasts that I can not listen to them all.

My thought process is

Spoiler: A Character Favorite

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is that Toga stories are better all at once instead over 4 issues over a month. Something does not translate when it is starting, stopping, them trying to hold the suspense for a week. Not what Toga does, but her kinetic faces with what she does is part of the joy, and you lose this between settings.

Likewise while I think Toga is a great character, she is very polarizing for the community, and I have heard all the arguments before by now.

[Traab]

I only check YouTube for subscriptions and none of them is MHA. Likewise I already have enough podcasts that I can not listen to them all.

My thought process is

Spoiler: A Character Favorite

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is that Toga stories are better all at once instead over 4 issues over a month. Something does not translate when it is starting, stopping, them trying to hold the suspense for a week. Not what Toga does, but her kinetic faces with what she does is part of the joy, and you lose this between settings.

Likewise while I think Toga is a great character, she is very polarizing for the community, and I have heard all the arguments before by now.

I find her to be very fascinating myself. I get the feeling she could honestly go either way when it comes to say, redemption. And I get what you mean about not wanting to experience it in driblets. I feel that way about things like webcomics, or even full on book series. Nothing kills my love for a good series more than having to wait a year or two in between books. Its why I never finished wheel of time, and why im unlikely to ever finish the dresden books.

[Ramza00]

I find her to be very fascinating myself. I get the feeling she could honestly go either way when it comes to say, redemption. And I get what you mean about not wanting to experience it in driblets. I feel that way about things like webcomics, or even full on book series. Nothing kills my love for a good series more than having to wait a year or two in between books. Its why I never finished wheel of time, and why im unlikely to ever finish the dresden books.

Yeah I am hit or miss, some things I love waiting a week and can sustain my excitement, other things I can not. I know this is a human thing but I think my ADHD makes it worse on both extremes (really into something, or I lost former enthusiasm.)

Wheel of Time is not worth it. It does not hold up. That said my 16 and 17 year old self over a decade ago was really into it. Got to Book 10 and I was wondering where was this going for it was obvious RJ lost the plot by then.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

New chapter!

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Pretty lowkey chapter today, focused on the Gigantomachia rampage and how the other heroes are trying to save people. Uraraka comes across an old lady... who is Toga in disguise. Confrontation! Also teasing of someone who is injured making a debut, which is probably Best Jeanist, still alive.

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Lol I completely forgot about the whole "Hawks killing Jeanist" plot point. I always suspected it was some kind of ruse designed to facilitate his infiltration, but it was impossible to know for sure.

If Toga really did kill the old lady instead of just swiping a bit of blood (e.g. Cammy, Ochaco, Deku, she doesn't need much for a short transformation) then I don't see her getting what she wants from Ochaco.

Also, nice to see Spinner step up as the one to show any level of concern over Toga. It's funny because in their first meeting Dabi and Toga attacked Shigaraki, stopped only by Kurogiri. They've really come together over the course of the story. It helps that they've spent a lot of that time in villain on villain combat (yakuza, the front). But I think we're approaching the point where there has to be a final reckoning and I'm genuinely worried. Which is great for a story.

[Cozzer]

Well then, it hasn't been a matter of "if" in a while, now it's not a matter of "when" either.

Personally, this moment was everything I hoped for, and I had pretty high hopes.

[LaZodiac]

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Much like the "Tobi is Obito" of our yesteryear, this is a twist everyone and their mother saw coming- but was still executed very very well, if I do say so myself. Seeing Dabi so... jubilent makes me think Horikoshi definitely checked out the Phoenix Joker movie for inspiration on this. It's a lot, and it's very good, and god I'm... the fact that this chapter opens with Rei's re-traumazation is a ****ing lot to handle.

Also Shigaraki is definitely getting away thanks to Gigantomachia I think. I think we're firmly at the part where the fighting has worn everyone out to SUCH a degree, that we'll have to abandon the fight on both sides.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

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This is just genius. Revealing something that everyone and their pet goldfish has already guessed can't be easy, but the author pulls it off by going full ham. Dabi goes off on a massive rant reveal, exposing Endeavour's secret to the world, undermining the number 1 hero just when the country needs him the most. Not to mention likely tearing apart the happy family he was trying to patch back together.

And I really like that this was all predicted, but nobody could have known that it would happen at this specific time, in this specific way.

It's so tragically fitting that just when Endeavour has what he wants, his own sins come back to burn it all down. If anyone believed that Endeavour got off too easy, Dabi's here to put an end to that. It's just that there will be collateral damage. Revenge is funny that way.

[LaZodiac]

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This is just genius. Revealing something that everyone and their pet goldfish has already guessed can't be easy, but the author pulls it off by going full ham. Dabi goes off on a massive rant reveal, exposing Endeavour's secret to the world, undermining the number 1 hero just when the country needs him the most. Not to mention likely tearing apart the happy family he was trying to patch back together.

And I really like that this was all predicted, but nobody could have known that it would happen at this specific time, in this specific way.

It's so tragically fitting that just when Endeavour has what he wants, his own sins come back to burn it all down. If anyone believed that Endeavour got off too easy, Dabi's here to put an end to that. It's just that there will be collateral damage. Revenge is funny that way.

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It's like the good boy said: The past never dies. You reap what you sow.

[Ramza00]

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Live Dabi, live Toya Todoroki.

Be the Onibi that you were always meant to be (Onibi's are the Japanesse equivalent of Will-O-Wisp / Jack-O-Lanterns, but with different myths.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onibi

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I just realized a minor detail that makes this worse.

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I didn't realize this on the first reading, but one of the civilians watching Dabi's reveal is that one weird kid who was a big Endeavour fanboy and was initially put off by his new persona, but then roots for him when he was fighting High End. Kid looks absolutely devastated.

Also Jesus that one-page shot of Dabi is gold. Horikoshi can really deliver those expressive close-ups.

[John Cribati]

So the reason we've been waiting for so long for this reveal is in order to do it as theatrically as possible.

I grudgingly approve

[Ramza00]

So the reason we've been waiting for so long for this reveal is in order to do it as theatrically as possible.

I grudgingly approve

Remember

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It was 100 chapters ago Endeavor did his theater pose after defeating High End. It was 99 chapters ago when Dabi wanted to talk to Endeavor and Hawks, and he told his dad “to break a leg” !

Resentful theatre boys are proud today if they have a bad jock dad.

[Ramza00]

*Looks*

I need MHA to publish more often, I *need* it. Ironic that 28 days ago I was wondering if I should try saving it and just reading 3 or 4 chapters all at once.

[LaZodiac]

You can wait two days man

New My Hero Vigilantes by the way. It's going where we expected; the highlight is Rappa being a little sexist to Mirko and Mirko all but saying she'll kill his ass dead if he wants to go a round. And it like, being a positive conversation for them both.

[Spacewolf]

Vigilantes

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Huh I never would have thought the quirk stealing power was so quick. It seemed pretty quick during the attempt to steal OfA but figured that was a special case. Bit of a shame, as it would have been more fitting for AfO to have a more drawn out painful method to steal quirks to fit his style better.