My Hero Academia 3: Villainous Interlude

[Traab]

Thank you guys, its been awhile since there were any updates posted here, and the one youtuber I know of that does reviews tends to REALLY ramble on and I didnt feel like watching 3 hours worth of videos to catch up with the events post showdown.

[Cozzer]

I like so much how the last arc begins with a reversal of the very first scene of the very first chapter.

In Chapter 1, Deku is a random kid on the street, looking up at a giant villain and shouting "Oh, a giant villain!" with a smile on his face, because society is so secure that he doesn't even see the situation as a treat, but as a chance to see his beloved heroes in action.

Now Deku is looking at things from above, mumbling "Oh, a giant villain..." with a tired - but determined - look on his face. The illusion that society is a safe space where nothing really bad will ever happen has crumbled, and the new generation has to take things in their own hands.

I'm really hyped for, well, everything. My personal hope is that the other students will eventually confront Deku and force him to stop taking everything on his shoulders, and start relying on them. And the climax of that situation will be a "Deku vs Kacchan, part 3" chapter, where the reversal is complete and Kacchan is the underdog we're rooting for.

[Ramza00]

Sigh due to My Hero Academia (new chapter everybody) I got The Goofy Movie song, 👁 to 👁 stuck in my head.

https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/my-he...05?action=read

[LaZodiac]

You know what I love?

I love parallels. I love it when we see a thing that is juxtaposed with another thing. It's part of why I really loved the final shot of last chapter, for the exact reasons Cozzer said. And it is why I love this chapter.

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Very few things are as cool as the hero fighting someone who pushed them to their limits, and then later down the line fighting that same person and ****ing clowning them because they've come that far. And that is what I think is going to happen with Muscular here.

Oh sure it won't be free, Deku'll get roughed up. But compared to when they first fought, Deku's going to ****ing ruin him.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

A new age begins, it seems.

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I like how the people in BNHA act like how people would really act.

Turtleneck notes that most people have moved out of the area, leaving a few diehards. Of course, most people would rather live than stay in what looks like a warzone.

These diehards are understandably disenchanted with heroes, what with the loss of All Might, the scandal involving his replacement, as well as the rampage of villains plus the jailbreak. We can argue about whether their decision is correct, but that's not the point. The point is that they're doing things that are believable, with believable justifications. Given how long ago All Might's retirement was, the change was given plenty of time to settle in.

And Deku's costume really takes me back. It's far more...serious looking than his first school version, but the legacy is clearly there.

[Ramza00]

Dazzler and Juggernaught energy in this new chapter

[LaZodiac]

Deku having real respect for Yo's quirk usage, taking advantage of that to win, is fantastic. I think it's honestly fascinating that this chapter was a bit more focused on how Deku IS trying to learn the abilities of the successors, so while he is still clearly far stronger than Muscular now, what really matters is still his tactics and practice, not just raw strength. It gives us the squash match this was always expected to be, but still within the themes of the series. It's great.

[Rater202]

TeamFourStar released a parody/summary video of MHA a little bit ago, and it brings up a point that I had not considered.

All Might: Hi there! I'm the manga author's shameless love for American superhero comics! *reverts to sickly form* And I'm slowly dying and struggling to maintain relevance.
Midoriya: You really do represent American superhero comics.

...This is a commentary that honestly did not occur to me and now I can't unthink it. This is... Sadly true of American comics in general.

You think they have a point on what Horikoshi meant, or...? Or is it just coincidental due to the other themes.

[LaZodiac]

TeamFourStar released a parody/summary video of MHA a little bit ago, and it brings up a point that I had not considered.

...This is a commentary that honestly did not occur to me and now I can't unthink it. This is... Sadly true of American comics in general.

You think they have a point on what Horikoshi meant, or...? Or is it just coincidental due to the other themes.

100% intentional. Horikoshi loves comics and it really comes through in his writing. The injury that left him like this is from a guy who is evil because "he read comics and decided the villain was cooler than the hero, and power corrupted that thought into literally becoming evil".

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Speaking of, new chapter: Deku in his dark and edgy time skip hero outfit... making a ^U^ face, is so ****ing cute. I love it. And I'm glad we got a resolution on the Second and Third users and why they were hesitant to help out Deku. It's good!

[Rater202]

"he read comics and decided the villain was cooler than the hero

...Which is exactly what happened in the 90! The "Dark Age" of superhero comics started because a bunch of villains became popular enough to be stars in comics of their own*... And then they introduced heroes that act like villains.

...Oh my god, this whole story is a metaphor for the state of western superheroes and, and...

And Deku is the MCU! A "New" version of a long-running concept that revitalized interest in superheroes and changed them from a niche market to something that dominates the mainstream. He's going to drag the world "out" of the Dark Age.

*Sometimes this works, like ith Venom whose had a surprising amount o character development since the 90s. Other times, you get the Punisher and just kind of end up glorifying some really messed up things.

[Ramza00]

...Which is exactly what happened in the 90! The "Dark Age" of superhero comics started because a bunch of villains became popular enough to be stars in comics of their own*... And then they introduced heroes that act like villains.

Plus ULTRA, further beyond!

_{Edit the video still works, but the video maker wants you to watch it on Youtube instead of keeping it embed in Giant and the Playground Forums}

...Oh my god, this whole story is a metaphor for the state of western superheroes and, and...

And Deku is the MCU! A "New" version of a long-running concept that revitalized interest in superheroes and changed them from a niche market to something that dominates the mainstream. He's going to drag the world "out" of the Dark Age.

*Sometimes this works, like ith Venom whose had a surprising amount o character development since the 90s. Other times, you get the Punisher and just kind of end up glorifying some really messed up things.

A symbol^{such as Deku} in itself can not reform an age, only people practicing Kintsugi "together" can repair the world, let alone a smaller unit such as an age. Only a people^{not a person} can repair an age.

So what is everyone's thoughts on the latest chapter?

[Ramza00]

So we have several new chapters since the last post in the thread, but in the Sunday May 30th we get a needle drop and we can never see the world of MHA the same again.

Thoughts?

https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/my-he...98?action=read

[Cozzer]

It's kinda hard to comment on these chapters before seeing where the whole thing is going, but I'm loving them. I miss Class A, but I'm confident these characters will come back and I'm really enjoying Nagant and what her backstory brings to the setting.

With Nagant, the author has created another great anti-villain. You can totally see where she's coming from and empathize with her reasons, but there's no doubt whatsoever she needs to be stopped. Whatever your past is, "screw everything, let's just help All for One and watch the world burn" isn't acceptable. On the other hand, it's hard not to blame the whole secret society guys for the whole thing.

[LaZodiac]

I was in the hospital so unable to comment until just now, and also have been neglecting to post.

God My Hero is ****ing amazing. This has been so good; and last week's chapter has been a highlight. Really hope they stick the landing on this.

[Ramza00]

Never Fear For I Am Here

https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapt...emia?locale=en

[Dragonus45]

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Midoriya is best boy for a reason, what a ****ing roller coaster of a few chapters.

[Ramza00]

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Midoriya is best boy for a reason, what a ****ing roller coaster of a few chapters.

I disagree

Spoiler: the best boy is

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[LaZodiac]

Every boy is best boy except for That Particular Boy, you know the one.

Anyway yeah this chapter is beautiful. I hope Nagant survives.

[Cozzer]

I still hope the final conflict will be between Deku and Shigaraki, but in the meantime I really love All for One as a villain.

On one hand, his relentless trolling of Deku seems childish and pointlessly cruel, cartoon-villain style.
On the other hand, considering that being able to steal One for All depends on a clash of wills, the trolling is a deliberate and calculated strategy to erode Deku's heroic willpower, by making him care more about punching AfO in the face than about saving people.
On the third hand, AfO is a cartoon villain wannabe, childish and pointlessly cruel, and is honestly enjoying every second of it.

[LaZodiac]

I still hope the final conflict will be between Deku and Shigaraki, but in the meantime I really love All for One as a villain.

On one hand, his relentless trolling of Deku seems childish and pointlessly cruel, cartoon-villain style.
On the other hand, considering that being able to steal One for All depends on a clash of wills, the trolling is a deliberate and calculated strategy to erode Deku's heroic willpower, by making him care more about punching AfO in the face than about saving people.
On the third hand, AfO is a cartoon villain wannabe, childish and pointlessly cruel, and is honestly enjoying every second of it.

Honestly, it's an aspect of the series I truly, truly enjoy. Every villain so far has been very, very nuanced. Stain and his COMPLETELY correct opinions about society (which only feels more true after the stuff with Hawk and Nagant), Overhaul and his ****ed up belief system (which we see Deku actually doing his best to mend, because he realizes punching in the face doesn't solve every problem), Shigaraki and the League of Villain's having legitimate and very good grievances against the world, even if their actions are twisted... and then we have All For One.

A man who explicitly says he stopped reading a manga at the point where the villain won because that's just how he likes things to be. He's the unironic "you know Darkseid/Thanos is right" guy. He has... no reason at all beyond true, genuine enjoyment for being evil. He just looks BEING A ****ER. And that's beautiful.

Hell, he explicitly is calling back to one of the best heroic, meaningful moments of the series, All Might pointing out at the world and saying "It's your turn", passing the torch to Deku in a secret, clearly loving way. And here's All For One, with the exact same sentiment, twisted by his explicit love to be as extra as possible.

[Devonix]

Every boy is best boy except for That Particular Boy, you know the one.

Anyway yeah this chapter is beautiful. I hope Nagant survives.

Hey, lay off Todoriki, he's trying.

[LaZodiac]

Hey, lay off Todoriki, he's trying.

True, he is trying to atone for being one of the worst parents in media.

[Ramza00]

True, he is trying to atone for being one of the worst parents in media.

Wait are we dragging Shoto or are we dragging the Dad, Enji / Endeavor?

[Cozzer]

Honestly, it's an aspect of the series I truly, truly enjoy. Every villain so far has been very, very nuanced. Stain and his COMPLETELY correct opinions about society (which only feels more true after the stuff with Hawk and Nagant), Overhaul and his ****ed up belief system (which we see Deku actually doing his best to mend, because he realizes punching in the face doesn't solve every problem), Shigaraki and the League of Villain's having legitimate and very good grievances against the world, even if their actions are twisted... and then we have All For One.

A man who explicitly says he stopped reading a manga at the point where the villain won because that's just how he likes things to be. He's the unironic "you know Darkseid/Thanos is right" guy. He has... no reason at all beyond true, genuine enjoyment for being evil. He just looks BEING A ****ER. And that's beautiful.

As an added layer, I love how it's all tied to the "are Quirks inherently relatd to who you are as a person?" debate. Your Quirk isn't just a superpower, it's what makes you you. It wants to be used, no matter how much you try to ignore it (as Toga's case sadly demonstrates).

All for One's Quirk is tied to controlling others' Quirks. And since Quirks want to be used, controlling and manipulating other people just feels good to him, just like drinking the blood of people she likes feels good to Toga.

[Ramza00]

As an added layer, I love how it's all tied to the "are Quirks inherently relatd to who you are as a person?" debate. Your Quirk isn't just a superpower, it's what makes you you. It wants to be used, no matter how much you try to ignore it (as Toga's case sadly demonstrates).

All for One's Quirk is tied to controlling others' Quirks. And since Quirks want to be used, controlling and manipulating other people just feels good to him, just like drinking the blood of people she likes feels good to Toga.

Are you saying AfO is "stimming" via manipulating other people? It is a compulsion where he is not happy if he does not get the free agency to use his quirk.

Damn, Solitary Confinement Prison must have done a number on him, more so than how it can be like torture for most people. He has an itch he is not allowed to scratch without all those robotic guns shooting him.

[Rater202]

It's more subtle than that: Bakugo, whose power is that he sweats explosives, has an... explosive personality.

In fact, while it's not a perfect diagnosis, his behavior lines up with the main behavior symptom of a psychological disorder called Intermittent Explosive Disorder: Randomly exploding into rage on a hair trigger whether you're actually angry or not.

Speaking of Bakugo: The second wielder of One For All looks an awful lot like Bakugo... What are the odds that's gonna come up later?

[Cozzer]

It all ties back to the fact that Quirks are "just another part of your body".

You wouldn't be able to spend an entire day without moving an arm, even if you don't really need to move it for the things you have to do during that day. And if you forced yourself not to move at all an arm for some time, it would feel extremely good to finally stretch it. Except that instead of an arm, it's a power that explodes/is activated by sucking blood/manipulates other people.

[Rater202]

It all ties back to the fact that Quirks are "just another part of your body".

You wouldn't be able to spend an entire day without moving an arm, even if you don't really need to move it for the things you have to do during that day. And if you forced yourself not to move at all an arm for some time, it would feel extremely good to finally stretch it. Except that instead of an arm, it's a power that explodes/is activated by sucking blood/manipulates other people.

We're told that the laws regulating Quirk Usage are in place to maintain a status quo resembling pre-quirked society.

With more and more of the population having quirks, and more and more of those quirks being particularly powerful, this is the exact wrong thing to do if the wellbeing of the citizens is of any concern.

the status quo died centuries ago, just fracking bury it already.

I've used this example before: If I am born with wings that allow me to fly a few feet above the ground with the same skill with which a normal person can walk, it is complete and utter bull**** that I am not allowed to fly to work unless I am a registered hero. I need to fly on a regular basis to maintain my mental health, and let's be honest, if I can fly at least as well as the average person walks then as long as I don't go too high I am not putting myself or anyone else in any more danger than they'd be walking.

Especially if I live in a large city where space is at a premium and thus am unlikely to have access to private property where I can fly around on my own time.

In MHA, it is against th elaw for me to do that under any circumstances. And while we are shown that th police do not enforce the "no public quirk use" laws beyond half-hearted warnings, the fact that said laws are on the book in the first place is highly concerning.

Like... when it comes to laws in a superhero setting, ask yourself: Would Steve Rogers or Clark Kent approve of the existence of this policy?

And I can't see either of them approving of a law that makes it a crime for a man with ice powers to help children make snowmen.

[Traab]

We're told that the laws regulating Quirk Usage are in place to maintain a status quo resembling pre-quirked society.

With more and more of the population having quirks, and more and more of those quirks being particularly powerful, this is the exact wrong thing to do if the wellbeing of the citizens is of any concern.

the status quo died centuries ago, just fracking bury it already.

I've used this example before: If I am born with wings that allow me to fly a few feet above the ground with the same skill with which a normal person can walk, it is complete and utter bull**** that I am not allowed to fly to work unless I am a registered hero. I need to fly on a regular basis to maintain my mental health, and let's be honest, if I can fly at least as well as the average person walks then as long as I don't go too high I am not putting myself or anyone else in any more danger than they'd be walking.

Especially if I live in a large city where space is at a premium and thus am unlikely to have access to private property where I can fly around on my own time.

In MHA, it is against th elaw for me to do that under any circumstances. And while we are shown that th police do not enforce the "no public quirk use" laws beyond half-hearted warnings, the fact that said laws are on the book in the first place is highly concerning.

Like... when it comes to laws in a superhero setting, ask yourself: Would Steve Rogers or Clark Kent approve of the existence of this policy?

And I can't see either of them approving of a law that makes it a crime for a man with ice powers to help children make snowmen.

The thing is, quirk laws are very broad and generalized because quirks are far too random for specifics. The no public quirk law was likely put in place for people like bakugo who could very easily accidentally explode a car if they make a mistake, or todoroki who can create arena obliterating firestorms and glaciers with an effort of will. But they cant put in exceptions because the exceptions would be longer than the encyclopedia set at the library due to the sheer breadth of quirk variations there are. Not even counting how hard it would be to hold hearings where people play what if games because you want your quirk usage to be an acceptable exception to add to the list. You mention someone flying as well as the average person walks as an example, what happens when that guy flying gets distracted and crashes into something like how often walkers accidentally walk into a tree or sign post or whatever? He falls down and likely crushes the person or people he lands on. And thats assuming its some hawk style casual bird flappy flight rather than bakugo exploding himself through the air at near mach speeds. This isnt an easy balancing act of safety versus freedom to make, and the fact that more and more people are being born with more and more powerful quirks isnt helping matters. Dekus mom being forbidden from using her quirk is silly, deku being forbidden should make everyone who knows what it is go "No *&^^& he shouldnt use that without years of training first!"

[Ramza00]

The thing is, quirk laws are very broad and generalized because quirks are far too random for specifics. The no public quirk law was likely put in place for people like bakugo who could very easily accidentally explode a car if they make a mistake, or todoroki who can create arena obliterating firestorms and glaciers with an effort of will. But they cant put in exceptions because the exceptions would be longer than the encyclopedia set at the library due to the sheer breadth of quirk variations there are. Not even counting how hard it would be to hold hearings where people play what if games because you want your quirk usage to be an acceptable exception to add to the list. You mention someone flying as well as the average person walks as an example, what happens when that guy flying gets distracted and crashes into something like how often walkers accidentally walk into a tree or sign post or whatever? He falls down and likely crushes the person or people he lands on. And thats assuming its some hawk style casual bird flappy flight rather than bakugo exploding himself through the air at near mach speeds. This isnt an easy balancing act of safety versus freedom to make, and the fact that more and more people are being born with more and more powerful quirks isnt helping matters. Dekus mom being forbidden from using her quirk is silly, deku being forbidden should make everyone who knows what it is go "No *&^^& he shouldnt use that without years of training first!"

Yes and the status quo derives “authority” from a generalized rule set, even if everyone suffers for the rule set is so generalized that it is brittle.

It is brittle in a way that Deku’s power set is brittle. He can not contain his power without months of training and adaption. Yet we say the system has authority for it is context collapse, it has general power, yet the life experience of the protagonist is literally designed to make us question the excellence, the virtue, of a generalized rule set when his whole life is obsessed with rules, heuristics, mental shortcuts to understanding, and then he gains a new power and he can no longer memorize things instead he has to do them and use other forms of empathy* besides mental simulation.

• Empathy is a loaded word for it has multiple meanings and is only 112 years old in English. What meaning we use depends on lots of factors. Likewise sympathy is a 550 year old word or even older in English and comes from a different language tradition for its roots, even though if you go back far enough both Empathy and Sympathy use Greek roots brought forward in time to modern times to forge a new word for we did not have a good word at the time. Thus sometimes when you see Sympathy used in the last 550 years sometimes they mean things we would call empathy if we were to translate.
• Neural Imaging in the last 15 years indicates we use at least 4 different brain networks to do empathy tasks, and we blend these 4 networks together like how you can do a painting with 4 colors. Thus empathy is many things but it is at least these 4 things.
• Mental Simulation sometimes called the Mirror Neurons Network. I understand how you did that. Cognitive Empathy.
• Pain Matrix and other Affective components allowing redirection and redeployment of attention. I understand and feel what you are feeling (in myself but also by proxy). Affective Empathy. Think of this as a gear shift that breaks mental loops but also a gear shift that can get stuck into loops. This brain network is used not just for empathy but deployment of resources, attention, a switch that makes our mind and body move and change like a gear shift.
• I understand why you did that. Cognitive Theory of Mind
• I understand why you feel that way. Affective Theory of Mind.

Deku to break the cycle and to reform the system needs to master all 4 forms (or more) of Empathy. To understand the how, what, the individual why, and the larger meta component of why one struggles within a system of rules.

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If one pays attention the Japan of MHA is broken even if aspects are good, and even if this Japan can linger on and still move while it grinds some people down.