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bicheetopuff · 2 years

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Dynamight and All Mights Character Arcs

⚠️MHA Manga spoilers⚠️⚠️Discussion of ch362⚠️

Okay… this is the only serious post I’m making regarding Katsuki’s death scare. I’ll answer any asks about it but other than that I’m not gonna make anymore posts about this particular topic. Mha isn’t within any of our control and predictions are just that… predictions. In reality, this is Horikoshis story and if he decides to truly break all of our hearts then so be it.

Also I’m not gonna talk about OFA theories and more so their characters themselves. Mainly cuz OFA is complicated and it’s difficult to pinpoint what might actually be happening to it or what it’s doing. I’m just going on based on what would make sense as their arc resolutions and why I think so. Anyways…

Contents:

I: Unfinished business

II: Katsuki’s Stubbornness

III: All Mights incomplete arc and Nighteyes vision

IV: Horikoshi’s writing style

V: Quirk Society

VI: Some Parallels

I: Unfinished Business

So I’m pretty sure we all came to the conclusion that Katsuki’s arc is incomplete and this supposed “death” feels abrupt, rushed, and unsatisfying. Not that if he died at another point it’d be satisfying but with how Horikoshi has written other deaths (which I’ll bring up again later) it’d be very out of character of Hori to present the second male lead with a death that feels so incomplete and tragic.

I’m gonna cut straight to the point: Katsuki has been reflecting on himself for almost 250 chapters. Slowly accepting that he’s in fact, not the best. Thinking about what he did to Izuku when they were younger and finding ways to atone for it. Learning that showing you care about someone isn’t a sign of weakness. Overall trying to be less of an asshole. And most important (in my opinion) learning how to accept help from others. I wanna talk about this point specifically.

Izuku is “win to save” right? His thing is about helping people even when they don’t ask for it, and at the beginning that’s what bothered Katsuki the most about Izuku. Izuku tried to help him when Katsuki didn’t need it and Katsuki thought it was offensive because why would a kid who is good at everything with an amazing quirk need help from a quirkless loser?

This development is what stemmed the “if I can’t save myself, I’d rather not be saved” attitude that he has at the beginning because having to be saved makes him feel just as—if not more—inferior as losing.

(Is this picture recycled from another meta I posted? Yea… yea it is. But the highlighted parts still apply)

It took him a while to be even somewhat okay with accepting help from someone else and the first example was Kirishima in the hideout raid. Y’know, that time where Izuku let someone else be the one to reach out to him no matter how much he wanted it to be him. He said it had to be Kirishima because he knew that Katsuki wouldn’t have accepted his hand. Because he never has. And still hasn’t (no, heroes rising doesn’t count until proven otherwise).

After DvK2 Katsuki became almost hyper-fixated on the fact that he’s been misunderstanding Izuku for damn near 12 years. But also after DvK2, Katsuki hasn’t been given another chance to accept Izukus hand. And yea it’s pretty sappy but it’s an important part of their relationship and Katsukis development that theoretically can happen in the vestige world but wouldn’t make sense in terms of an actual resolution (in my opinion).

II: Katsuki’s Stubbornness

Katsuki is persistent and always has been. Aizawa and All Might have pointed it out several times. He’s grownup being good at everything and at UA is when he starts to be told there’s things he can’t do. He starts to get a taste of failure and tries his best to do what he’s told his incapable of anyway. The earliest example I can think of is during the sports fest when Tsuburaba tried to block Katsuki with his solid air and Monoma’s team is like “heh he can’t break through that.”

And he did anyway.

Or final exams when he was determined to try to beat All Might. Even though he didn’t he still tried his damnedest which I think is the best example despite not winning the way he wanted to. It’s also the first time he accepts Izukus help no matter how much he doesn’t like it. (The amount of parallels from this fight to 362 is crazy when you look at it closely)(we also get a taste of the actual frustration he feels when someone tells him he can’t do something).

“We had no hope of beating you without taking a few risks.”

“Even if it messes me up, I chose this path to victory.”

(…and we call Izuku the self sacrificial one)

Seem familiar? This quotes seem oddly relevant in light of 360-362. He’ll break himself if it means he tries his best for the outcome he wants and…

Meaning: as long as he’s able, he’ll fight to win. It’s apart of his character to not go down easily. He’s simply too stubborn to and it’d be extremely unfulfilling to go down mid-fight and not get back up. Yea, he didn’t get up a second time in his final exam because he passed out but, Izuku still made sure he claimed a victory even if it wasn’t the way he wanted. Plus he didn’t need to get up a second time. Katsuki deserves a victory to actually go his way this time, not for the victory itself but to prove his own expectations of his strength. He wants to be the strongest, right?

Who is Katsuki Bakugou if not someone that lives up to their own word?

If not for himself then for Izuku. To be the person Izuku looks up to.

III: All Mights incomplete arc and Nighteyes vision

So All Might has always been one to keep secrets from most people. When Izuku found out that All Might kept the fact that Nighteye knew about OFA and didn’t like him before they even met, he was offended, remember? And offended by the fact that Mirio was supposed to be the successor that All Might was settling with. Emphasis on settling.

Nighteye made it clear that he thinks Izuku is a lousy choice in a successor because he thinks “the burning desire to help people” isn’t enough to be a suitable candidate despite the fact that that’s how All Might was metaphorically born. And he still believes that despite Izuku’s quick improvement (up until his dying moments at least, but that’s beside the point).

So theory time:

I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while I just didn’t think Katsuki would have to get so hurt for it.

Some of Nighteyes dying words was about how Izuku proved that the future can be changed but during the Chisaki battle Uraraka and Izuku also proved that it takes will and conviction to change the future. To change fate. However, All Might has already secretly accepted that he is going to die which is why he never told the foresight to Izuku.

However…

He’s fighting to live for Izukus sake. Not his own. From this point in the story, yea Izuku needs him and All Might knows that. But later, after endeavors agency arc All Mihht starts to slowly believe that Izuku doesn’t need him anymore and in Izuku’s vigilante arc, All Might starts to see his thoughts being proven correct.

“You won’t need to look back to me.”

All Might began to realize that he’s not someone Izuku needs anymore, as harsh as that sounds. He became someone Izuku sought out to protect rather than the other way around and being aware of that is frustrating for him.

The panel of All Mights response was small and on the next page so I didn’t add it but all he said was “thank you.” He didn’t go on some kind of tangent about continuing to fight to live.

He recognizes that he’s not keeping the promise he made to Inko. He’s supposed to be the one protecting and teaching Izuku but the table turned (in a more obvious way since Izuku has been the one protecting and teaching All Might in the first place). But in the same way that he recognizes himself as not being someone Izuku needs anymore, he recognizes the people that Izuku does need. I think when it comes down to protecting himself or protecting someone he knows that Izuku still needs in his life, he’d choose the latter because he’s dedicated the rest of his life to doing things for Izuku’s sake. Not his own. And who’s the person that’s been most recognizable to All Might as the most important person in Izuku’s life?

I think All Might is gonna see Katsuki on the ground and be prepared to die for him just as Katsuki was prepared to die for Izuku (ch285). It would come full circle from when he was unwilling to try to save Katsuki in chapter one until he saw Izuku go for him first.

This is where I’ll start to sound desperate but it’s a legitimate thought I’ve had for a while. All Might can still go into his muscle form. And there’s no proof that OFA is completely gone other than ‘a feeling’ All Might had in his fight in Kamino. The original theory about why All Mights vestige is still ghostly was because he’s still alive but, what if it’s because he still has shreds of OFA and since he still has it, he hasn’t become a true vestige yet? This is something I thought of way before 362 because something just never felt right about it? Why would Nighteyes vision take place after All Mights retirement?

Nighteye didn’t say he’d encounter AFO again, assuming he knows what AFO looked like and what state he was in after All Might “beat” him 6 years ago. Just like All Might was able to recognize AFO immediately, Nighteye would too.

Do you remember his run in with stain? How stain threatened to kill him for talking down on himself? Stain showed All Might that despite feeling useless, there’s still people that believe in him. And he hit him with this:

A hero only exists for the sake of others…

That’s what he’s been doing, hasn’t it? Except in the state he’s in, he can’t be a real hero anymore can he? He’s felt useless. Like a Deku.

OFA is a power all about will and love. Katsukis in trouble and Katsuki means something to Izuku so… he’ll pull through despite thinking he can’t. Just like he did here:

Yes, it’s sad. But in my brain it makes sense and it’d complete All Mights character nicely. I think he’s being brought up to often in this fight for him to sit there and continue to just watch.

I’m sure Katsuki isn’t the only person that’s realized this about Izuku and has been inspired by it. And I think All Might being able to use OFA immediately with no drawback when he got it adds a tinge of irony there.

Do I think he’ll be the one to save Katsuki? No. But I think he’s gonna “face that other villain” while someone else heals Katsuki and OFA does whatever it does. And hopefully Izuku will be there eventually to lend a hand that Katsuki can finally accept.

Also I’d like to point this out before moving on:

Beginning of the story, rain started. The beginning of this shitshow.

Right after Izuku was found by Katsuki and brought home by his classmates. All Might letting someone else protect and raise him because he knows he can’t do anything that he considers meaningful for him anymore. The rain stops. When All Mights attitude changes after Stains lecture.

Weather has a sudden change again and it’s about to rain. What if it’s All Might heading to the battle field? He accidentally caused the rain before when he protected Katsuki (ch1). So what do you think will stop the rain once it’s started? I personally think it’ll be All Might accepting his unfortunate fate and dying happy doing something he always loved doing again. Being a hero and dying a hero. Not dying as some retiree.

Anyways…

These next two points are a little more logistical.

IV: Horikoshis Writing Style

There haven’t been very many deaths in mha. But each time they died with someone they cared about around or someone that cares about them (minus midnight).

-Twice saving Toga and compress and giving back Togas Handkerchief

-not a death scene but Mirio and Tamaki using each other as crutches when they were both really injured.

-Nighteye dying in the presence of All Might, his sidekick, disciple, and the kid that changed his negative attitude about his foresight (Izuku changing the future but not dying to Chisaki).

-again not a death scene but Kirishima sacrificing himself for Mina when Gigantomachia tried to grab her.

-not a death scene again but Katsuki sacrificing himself for Izuku.

A sudden change in that pattern just wouldn’t make sense in my opinion. Katsuki taking a senseless beating and dying is inconsistent writing to me so he’s gonna get back up cuz I say so.

V: Quirk Society

There’s not much to this so I’ll get straight to the point:

Recovery Girls existence

Best Jeanist survived a massive hole in his abdomen from AFO despite not being able to be healed for damn near half an hour (and we didn’t know he was still alive for like 150 chapters). Izuku gets his shattered bones healed in minutes despite it taking months to heal that kind of injury naturally. Katsukis injury seems healable when you take the verses medical care into consideration.

In terms of strategy when it comes to this fight I think it’d be dumb to not have Recovery Girl and a medical team on standby in AFO or ShigAFOs battlefields. I’m sure there’s medical and rescue on standby at the other battle fields too for after fights but it’d be dumb not to have at least someone at the fight against the biggest threat.

VI: Parallels

This is just stuff I haven’t already pointed out

heh yea…

Half-assed Conclusion

Katsuki accepting Izukus help and Izuku potentially saving his life isn’t him being a damsel. It’s a resolution to his character and is purely his own. I don’t think any other conclusion to his character arc would be satisfying until he accepts help from Izuku. Will it kinda be a test of Izuku’s control over his heart? Maybe. Will Izuku probably go ballistic? Probably. But whatever happens with Katsuki is Katsuki’s development only (and some all might).

Idk this may be me being in denial and desperate but this last chapter kinda screwed me up and made me think about the story a lot and how weird and out of place this chapter feels. It makes me feel better to word dump and put my thoughts somewhere that isn’t my brain so. This post probably doesn’t make much sense cuz I wrote it pretty quickly. Sorry in advance I guess lmao.

I’m not talking about this anymore and I’m probably gonna take a little break from mha for a bit. I’ll still be updating my fic for anyone that’s keeping up with that but other than that I’ll be avoiding the manga for a bit which is why I won’t be talking about this subject for a while.

#bnha #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha meta #all might #sir nighteye #mirio togata #bnha manga spoilers #bakudeku #bkdk #bnha 362 #yes I used over 10 photos #I’m built different #he’s fine cuz I say so #this might be extremely nonsensical to some but I don’t care #dumping my thoughts makes me feel better

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comradekiwi · 2 years

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MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 362 AND AN ATTEMPT AT META //

upon reading the chapter, do I still think bkg is not going to stay dead?

honestly, if horikoshi were ever to kill off a big character, this is exactly how I’d imagine he’d do it. elaborate, detailed, well-built-up, unavoidable, in-character, big beautiful full- and double-page panels, childhood flashbacks, lethal COD

but! with that said. this is bakugou. he’s the deuteragonist, the main character’s narrative foil (and childhood friend and image of victory and closest person and hero inspiration other than AM) and maybe I’m still deep in clownery but the minor events of this chapter felt very intentional. what was this panel of Second that scared shigafo? was it memory bc bkg looks like him? or build up for more, maybe the unlocking of his quirk?

a lot of people agree that however bkg ends up, his state rn will trigger izuku to unlock second’s quirk. is AFO realizing that bakugou will have ties to second’s quirk? is this a hint to what that quirk is?

back to is he will he stay dead. horikoshi made it very obvious his heart burst, an explosion out of his chest made obvious in the last double page spread where the blood is obvious. this is a very heavily emphasized lethal cause of death. horikoshi wants us to know he could not survive this…

….normally, on his own. this could be hori very clearly saying to give him up, he can’t get back from this, but I can’t help but think this emphasis is to set up for his revival. to make it obvious however it’s done is insanely powerful. unnatural, even.

yes I think second’s quirk will play a role in izuku bringing him back. I would have dismissed this for copium if not for the fact that second was referenced in this chapter, as shigafo yelled for bkg to die (literally: break).

hori loves foreshadowing. and leaving things unexplained in order to make a big scene. last we saw izuku, we learned seconds quirk has mutated. it’s unique. probably super powerful…. like if you consider the laws of nature hm

bkg’s death was so detailed, so gruesome, that it’s clear the point was to emphasize that he is very, very not alive. the thing is, hori loves to subvert expectations, so this could be to thoroughly kill him off in a way he deserves, or to make what happens next all the more exciting.

but maybe he’s dead! idk. it’s definitely not a coincidence Second was referenced before bkg died but it might have just been foreshadowing for izuku’s quirk awakening alone, no reviving involved. I just can’t wait to see what izuku will do in two weeks 😳

will forever highly recommend @pikahlua’s meta!!!! they got me all fired up lol (and reassured) and they also have translations of the latest chapter :)

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bkdk #boku no hero academia manga #bnha manga spoilers #bakugou katsuki #boku no hero academia manga spoilers #ch362 #bnha ch 362 #mha ch 362 #mha chapter 362 #kiwi talks #bnha meta #mha meta

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