Boku No hero Academia I: because it deserves a thread.

[Kato]

I can't quite agree with the second part. Maybe he wasn't "spoiled" as suggested, but Katsuki knew he was powerful, he was admired by everyone. You yourself said katsuki is crazy proud, he is proud of himself and of his powers. He didn't need anyone telling him what he should be, he knows what he should and wants to be: the best. Deku beating him got him angry because it means he is better than him. This is all just pride still, and nothing the fault of others (okay, a little bit what with their praise only increasing his pride).
So, yeah, for me this is all pride, luckily well directed pride (mostly), but not Katsuki trying to appeal to anyone. To me the only person he really cares about is himself and his self image, not anyone else's perception of him.

[Kato]

shame on me for double posting...

So, no regular Academia but instead vigilantes this week? K.

Spoiler: new heroes in town

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After a repeat of the initial introduction we get... well, not TOO much. A lot more story on Gentleman, a bit more on Popstep who is... a vigilante Pop singer... and something about a drug that I guess powers you up. Now that's new

I can't quite say this got me hyped, while it gave us a good look into Gentleman's head but... otherwise, it felt kind of long and drawn out... oh well.

[LaZodiac]

shame on me for double posting...

So, no regular Academia but instead vigilantes this week? K.

Spoiler: new heroes in town

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After a repeat of the initial introduction we get... well, not TOO much. A lot more story on Gentleman, a bit more on Popstep who is... a vigilante Pop singer... and something about a drug that I guess powers you up. Now that's new

I can't quite say this got me hyped, while it gave us a good look into Gentleman's head but... otherwise, it felt kind of long and drawn out... oh well.

I'm pretty sure we're getting My Hero this week, it just gets updated later. So we're getting it AND Vigilantes.

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I...quite like Gentle-man's Quirk. The power to just kinda...swiffer about on the ground as long as he's made three points of contact with it. I like the idea of Pop being a ROGUE IDOL. Very silly, but cute and what you'd expect from this world.

Oh cute, the lady he's helping direct places is Deku's Mom in this montage. That's cute.

...less cute: failure to save the day. Poor Gentle-man. Thankfully Knuckleduster is here to save the day for real! But we get a tease of things to come...with power increasing medicine. Interesting...

Overall not the best, but I think it has potential as a nice side story.

[lord_khaine]

We are getting My Hero!

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And wow, explosive character development for Baku.

Not to mention i cant properly express how happy i am for that the next test does not involve fighting, but seemingly to resque kids and elderly people.

[LaZodiac]

We are getting My Hero!

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And wow, explosive character development for Baku.

Not to mention i cant properly express how happy i am for that the next test does not involve fighting, but seemingly to resque kids and elderly people.

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What's even more telling about his development...he's almost certainly clued in on what Deku's power is. Bakugou is a smart boy, after all.

Aoyama is one of my favorite characters and seeing his shining brilliance here made me happy. Also happy: Hey look all you ****ers Hagakura can do a thing. Turns out if your body is a perfect lens through which all light goes through, if you concentrate really hard YOU CAN BLIND EVERYONE WITH YOUR GLOW. That's kind of great. Also her completely nude except for gloves and boots outfit has been upgraded to include: a belt with a pouch.

And yeah, the old people and children talked about last chapter...are the people that need to be rescued in Disaster Rescue Training. Hell yeah.

[Fri]

Great main chapter all around, but what surprise me most is that the vigilante spinoff is actually pretty interesting.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Great main chapter all around, but what surprise me most is that the vigilante spinoff is actually pretty interesting.

When I first heard about the spinoff, I did think that it was a subject worth exploring within the context of the world that the author created. But not something that should divert attention from the main plot. So a spin-off is the ideal compromise and I'm looking forward to more.

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Also, WTF. If Hagakure is capable of light manipulation that seriously expands her range of abilities. And I'm kicking myself for missing the possibility of a rescue type test.

[tensai_oni]

Vigilante seems to be a commentary on the inherent unfairness of a world where almost everyone has a Quirk and their powers and usefulness vary widely.

Only a select few can become registered heroes. But even if you don't make the cut, should you be allowed to use your Quirk to make the world a better place? Should you be allowed to use it to oppose bad guys? Criminals definitely don't care about laws and regulations. Should you?

Well, that's assuming your Quirk is any good in a fight that is. And even if it is, without the user's training you won't be able to do much yourself.

In real life people aren't created equal either. But addition of Quirks only further reinforces the problem.

[Kato]

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Bakugou, my boy, did you hit your head or what is going on here?

So, I guess I'm going to be the **** who says he is disappointed with everyone passing? I know it's not a nice thing to say and UA is full of competent people, but with everyone passing it seems to me to devalue the others. So "our" heroes are so good even if everyone teams up against them they can pass without casualties? Just seems... like worse than writing than if one or two would have been kicked out. I guess that's just me.

Also, yes, Aoyama's sudden ability development is shocking. Lght manipulation to that degree means serious promise on the things she can do one day...

Finally, not convinced that rescue mission won't have a twist. Those guys look way too much like fighters to be just better test dummies...

[tensai_oni]

It's not that other schools' students are crap. UA students simply have best teamwork and actual, real combat experience.

Also they spammed crowd control and AoE attacks which works very well against large groups of weaker opponents. Everyone going for UA was an idea of only one school, but a lot of opportunists joined in - but since these opportunists lacked real teamwork and coordination, they quickly paid for it.

In hindsight some of my assumptions were wrong but what I said would happen proved accurate. By ganging up on a stronger but less numerous opponent, those other schools' students became easy points for UA after the initial shock tactic failed and UA regrouped and fought back.

[Kitten Champion]

I would say it's somewhat feel-good mushiness to have them all pass, but I agree that it makes sense from the perspective of what we've seen this UA class undergo during this whole series and the fact that a well-organized and practiced group is going to beat raw numbers with no real tactical approach beyond what every individual could think up and each confident that that was sufficient.

[LaZodiac]

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Bakugou, my boy, did you hit your head or what is going on here?

So, I guess I'm going to be the **** who says he is disappointed with everyone passing? I know it's not a nice thing to say and UA is full of competent people, but with everyone passing it seems to me to devalue the others. So "our" heroes are so good even if everyone teams up against them they can pass without casualties? Just seems... like worse than writing than if one or two would have been kicked out. I guess that's just me.

Also, yes, Aoyama's sudden ability development is shocking. Lght manipulation to that degree means serious promise on the things she can do one day...

Finally, not convinced that rescue mission won't have a twist. Those guys look way too much like fighters to be just better test dummies...

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They actually explaied quite well why people who are ARE as skilled as our heroes avoided getting eliminated. Their focus on team work is better, and the free for all style team up against them led to infighting. For what it's worth Aoyama was INTENDING to fail, as likely was Iida, if it meant getting the others a sure fire pass.

Hagakure, not Aoyama. Don't worry it happens to the best of us

If we're being honest, my best guess is the twist to this rescue mission is: how do you rescue someone who doesn't WANT to be rescued, or is very rude and not nice. Quirks exist, what if the grandpa you're trying to save has a ****ing chainsaw arm. Sure, it's not well trained and it's old and rusty, but what do you do when the guy you're trying to save is a big grumpy jerk with laser beams for eyes or something?

[Haruspex_Pariah]

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So, I guess I'm going to be the **** who says he is disappointed with everyone passing? I know it's not a nice thing to say and UA is full of competent people, but with everyone passing it seems to me to devalue the others. So "our" heroes are so good even if everyone teams up against them they can pass without casualties? Just seems... like worse than writing than if one or two would have been kicked out. I guess that's just me.

Finally, not convinced that rescue mission won't have a twist. Those guys look way too much like fighters to be just better test dummies...

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No, based just on numbers arrayed against them I would have been fine with maybe a few UA students not making the cut. And all the rest of the class passing at the last second? UA students are supposed to be high level, but you're tossing them into an inherently chaotic environment. Taking a few losses wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

The rescue mission I think will definitely have some kind of surprise. The old people and kids looked like they were up to something at the end of the previous chapter.

[lord_khaine]

So, I guess I'm going to be the **** who says he is disappointed with everyone passing? I know it's not a nice thing to say and UA is full of competent people, but with everyone passing it seems to me to devalue the others. So "our" heroes are so good even if everyone teams up against them they can pass without casualties? Just seems... like worse than writing than if one or two would have been kicked out. I guess that's just me.

Do agree 100 % with you on that point. I did find it slightly annoying that everyone passed like that, it is a blow to internal consistence and realism that this manga has normally avoided.
I mean, it would have been one thing if they were competing against other first year students like themselves. But they were up against groups who had 1-2 years on them in training.

[Fri]

On UA's exam

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Yes, narratively, you'd expect at least some UA people to fail. I mean, in both watsonian and doylian expectation. The fact that it turned out everyone passing is supposed to be a tweest.

Anyway, at least it's explained, and it makes sense for me. It's the typical "you're not 10 people fighting an army of 100, you're 10 people fighting 100 separate individuals." Or what's the saying. It might look like that it's dozens of people fighting a team of fives, but as you can see, the team of fives are cooperating with each others and supporting each others closely, while the dozens of people just haphazardly throwing their powers around, with the barest amount of cooperation needed to not throw their powers at each others.

[tensai_oni]

I'll just say what I said a chapter or two before - I'd rather take all UA students passing over a token loss of some of the minor characters like Satou, Kouda or Hagakure being unceremoniously eliminated before they get to do anything cool. The latter would just be going "yeah they are just background characters and will never have any kind of importance" and would feel super disrespectful to their fans, as well as something I can easily see a less well-crafted manga doing.

Also two out of three of them actually did get to do something cool in this chapter so you know, kudos for that.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, friggin Kouta sent AN ARMY OF DOVES at everyone. That's actually kind of cool! Sadou got to hold up a large chunk of ground to block some balls, and Hagakura BECOME THE SUN so...yeah. I agree, at the end of the day while it might seem weird for everyone in the top school to pass this test, it's preferable to throwing characters away. Everyone matters here.

[Kato]

Too many people I'd kind of quote... so more of a general response:

I don't have an issue with UA effectively fighting back, considering they are good heroes. But why would other schools, who also trained together be un- or less able to use team strategies? Is everyone except UA that selfish and/or dumb? No, it wasn't "an army of ten against an army of 100", but it was or should have been "an army of ten against ten other armies of ten." Their basic abilities were known, and I'm going to guess some knew what they were in for so they made plans in advance (i.e. people who already were part of the exam before or whose teachers, you know, told them. Though, I forgot if there was a definitive rule against that)

And while I can see Kouhei being unwilling to sacrifice "minor" characters... well, who falls under that? Iida? Tsuyu? Tokoyami? I don't have anything against them but they have gotten their time to shine, so they could have gotten sideruled for now, especially iida who was basically set up to be... Or Mineta... It's not like they get excluded from the story but either they get unlucky or they need to learn a lesson about being heroes. (Okay, Katsuki might make use of one of those as well)


btw, still not sure how that with the doves worked... are they attracted to pillars of light?

[LaZodiac]

Too many people I'd kind of quote... so more of a general response:

I don't have an issue with UA effectively fighting back, considering they are good heroes. But why would other schools, who also trained together be un- or less able to use team strategies? Is everyone except UA that selfish and/or dumb? No, it wasn't "an army of ten against an army of 100", but it was or should have been "an army of ten against ten other armies of ten." Their basic abilities were known, and I'm going to guess some knew what they were in for so they made plans in advance (i.e. people who already were part of the exam before or whose teachers, you know, told them. Though, I forgot if there was a definitive rule against that)

And while I can see Kouhei being unwilling to sacrifice "minor" characters... well, who falls under that? Iida? Tsuyu? Tokoyami? I don't have anything against them but they have gotten their time to shine, so they could have gotten sideruled for now, especially iida who was basically set up to be... Or Mineta... It's not like they get excluded from the story but either they get unlucky or they need to learn a lesson about being heroes. (Okay, Katsuki might make use of one of those as well)

btw, still not sure how that with the doves worked... are they attracted to pillars of light?

I think it's more a case of, while the other students are trying to team up against UA...in the end it IS still a free for all. The only thing really keeping them from targetting each other is how Japan runs class rooms (very strictly "everyone is a team mate and friend" styled) so that it's not a thing that really occurs to them. But the OTHER students from other schools, those are a target even if you're not actually targetting them, you're targetting UA.

I do agree with what you're saying to a point though.

Kouta's power is to talk to animals so maybe he just convinced them to go over there. Also I'm pretty sure dove's like bright lights, dove's are like pretty ptramigan's and I know those birds love the light. Friggin idiot birds.

[GloatingSwine]

Do agree 100 % with you on that point. I did find it slightly annoying that everyone passed like that, it is a blow to internal consistence and realism that this manga has normally avoided.
I mean, it would have been one thing if they were competing against other first year students like themselves. But they were up against groups who had 1-2 years on them in training.

On the other hand, Class 1-A have had multiple instances of real combat experience in actual deadly situations, so their training has been somewhat accelerated even over and above the fact that they're at a highly selective elite school they couldn't even have gotten to without extreme effort and capability.

[Durkoala]

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What's even more telling about his development...he's almost certainly clued in on what Deku's power is. Bakugou is a smart boy, after all.

Aoyama is one of my favorite characters and seeing his shining brilliance here made me happy. Also happy: Hey look all you ****ers Hagakura can do a thing. Turns out if your body is a perfect lens through which all light goes through, if you concentrate really hard YOU CAN BLIND EVERYONE WITH YOUR GLOW. That's kind of great. Also her completely nude except for gloves and boots outfit has been upgraded to include: a belt with a pouch.

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It's not so much 'clued in' as remembered. Deku did tell him about having borrowed the power after the Heroes vs Villains test. Still, Bakugou showing respect to Deku!

Aoyama and invisble girl are always great. Invisibility and flashbang is a great, if redundant, combo.
I do kind of wish that Aoyama would decide to not be a hero and choose to be a civilian contact doing superpowered civilain things, but that's looking unlikely now.

[lord_khaine]

On the other hand, Class 1-A have had multiple instances of real combat experience in actual deadly situations, so their training has been somewhat accelerated even over and above the fact that they're at a highly selective elite school they couldn't even have gotten to without extreme effort and capability.

Well.. yeah.. and i would also have seen that as a explanation for why a few of them might have managed to make it though. But this is not real combat, it is a rather abstract training simulation. So the live combat should not aid them that much more above years of practice.
They are of course a really elitist school, but we have straight up been told that there are 2 almost equally elite rival schools that are iching to take them down.
So it just hurts the immersion in a otherwise pretty realistic story when something extremely unlike like that happens.

[tensai_oni]

I don't have an issue with UA effectively fighting back, considering they are good heroes. But why would other schools, who also trained together be un- or less able to use team strategies? Is everyone except UA that selfish and/or dumb? No, it wasn't "an army of ten against an army of 100", but it was or should have been "an army of ten against ten other armies of ten." Their basic abilities were known, and I'm going to guess some knew what they were in for so they made plans in advance (i.e. people who already were part of the exam before or whose teachers, you know, told them. Though, I forgot if there was a definitive rule against that)

As the latest chapter explained, it was one school (the other elite one) that planned to take on UA and coordinated their attack. The rest didn't, they just joined opportunistically and that was their downfall - because as soon as it became clear that UA won't be easy pickings, they started to look at each other for kills. That means not only did they have to look out for UA's counterattack. They had to look out for other schools on their sides, schools that could move against them as soon as they sensed a moment of weakness.

In the end all of that ganging up worked against them. It'd allow more of them to pass if they decided they're better off trying to score kills normally instead.

Also real life combat experience is very important because if you don't have that, you may hesitate, flinch or lose your cool when the situation requires you to react quickly and precisely. That's what Yayorozu's development arc was all about. All the other schools are her pre-development.

[lord_khaine]

As the latest chapter explained, it was one school (the other elite one) that planned to take on UA and coordinated their attack. The rest didn't, they just joined opportunistically and that was their downfall - because as soon as it became clear that UA won't be easy pickings, they started to look at each other for kills. That means not only did they have to look out for UA's counterattack. They had to look out for other schools on their sides, schools that could move against them as soon as they sensed a moment of weakness.

That part was a little weird, because it kinda contradicts what were said before, with it being a tradition that people tries to crush U.A because they are standing out. And it does kinda show a staggering incompetence that despite being something like 9 to 1, then they still dont manage to take down a single U.A member.

In the end all of that ganging up worked against them. It'd allow more of them to pass if they decided they're better off trying to score kills normally instead.

What decided the outcome of this were plot, no matter what they had done the outcome would have been the same. The entire class of U.A were fated to win.

Also real life combat experience is very important because if you don't have that, you may hesitate, flinch or lose your cool when the situation requires you to react quickly and precisely. That's what Yayorozu's development arc was all about. All the other schools are her pre-development.

No, that might apply if this were real life combat, and none of the other classes had tried it before. But this is a training excersise. Something that every single student attending should have done countless times before.
And as such its actually the U.A. class that should be at the disadvantage here, at risk of flinching or loosing their cool due to not having taken the test before, unlike a lot of the older students.

[Tengu_temp]

I'm pretty sure that after you had to fight in several life-or-death situations, a test where a bunch of kids throws balls at each other is no big deal.

[Kato]

I'm pretty sure that after you had to fight in several life-or-death situations, a test where a bunch of kids throws balls at each other is no big deal.

I'll agree with khaine that there is a large difference. (also, except for the Universal Studio incidence many students of UA were in no such situation, but either managed to avoid direct contact with the enemy or were far away). Fighting against bad people for your life is very different than a session of paint ball. Yes, it is kind of caombat training from a mental point of view it's like claiming actually being in an actual fight is the same as being in a friendly sparring match. And while one is certainly worse than the other, the worse doesn't just simply set you up properly for the easier one.

[Durkoala]

That part was a little weird, because it kinda contradicts what were said before, with it being a tradition that people tries to crush U.A because they are standing out. And it does kinda show a staggering incompetence that despite being something like 9 to 1, then they still dont manage to take down a single U.A member.

Just because it's a tradition doesn't mean that people train to rush UA. As said before, UA managed to stand their ground together and the many opposing groups had to watch out for each other while in the thick of things. UA's had a lot of practice at keeping cool heads and supporting each other in pitched battles.

The other teams may not be incompetant so much as 1-A is unusually competant. In addition to their experience with real battles, the UA staff have put the class through special classes to accelerate their development due to the attacks on the class:the 'summer camp', the live fights with the teachers and the special attack workshop. 1-A may well be working at the level of a higher year.

No, that might apply if this were real life combat, and none of the other classes had tried it before. But this is a training excersise. Something that every single student attending should have done countless times before.
And as such its actually the U.A. class that should be at the disadvantage here, at risk of flinching or loosing their cool due to not having taken the test before, unlike a lot of the older students.

All of the UA class have experience of being in chaotic situations where people are trying to kill them and of cooperating with their classmates in those situations, though. From what we've seen of typical practical classes (heroes & villains, rescue simulations and even the tournament), 'real', non-sparring combat isn't often taught in Hero schools, at least in the first year, and there's been no group exercises aside from the tournament horse stage.

UA had a big advantage over the other schools in this exam as they've been through two or three group battles in a few months (as opposed to just doing the exam once a year) and been put through more advanced training in response to the pressure from the Villain Alliance

[lord_khaine]

I'll agree with khaine that there is a large difference. (also, except for the Universal Studio incidence many students of UA were in no such situation, but either managed to avoid direct contact with the enemy or were far away). Fighting against bad people for your life is very different than a session of paint ball. Yes, it is kind of caombat training from a mental point of view it's like claiming actually being in an actual fight is the same as being in a friendly sparring match. And while one is certainly worse than the other, the worse doesn't just simply set you up properly for the easier one.

Indeed, i mean if we put one of those Ultimate Free Form champions into a official WTF Teakwondo match for points, then i also think most people can agree that the champion will get his bum kicked? A lot of his moves are not allowed, and he suddenly has to be on guard for glancing blows he normaly would shrug off. In short he would need to change his tactics.

Just because it's a tradition doesn't mean that people train to rush UA. As said before, UA managed to stand their ground together and the many opposing groups had to watch out for each other while in the thick of things. UA's had a lot of practice at keeping cool heads and supporting each other in pitched battles.

The other teams may not be incompetant so much as 1-A is unusually competant. In addition to their experience with real battles, the UA staff have put the class through special classes to accelerate their development due to the attacks on the class:the 'summer camp', the live fights with the teachers and the special attack workshop. 1-A may well be working at the level of a higher year.

You really dont need practice go gang up on someone 9 to 1, and when UA were surronded like that then the opposing teams might need to keep an eye on each of their flanks and 1-A, while 1-A need to keep an eye on 3 times as many things.

With the exeption of the summer camp none of those things are really special though. Special attack workshops, sparring with experienced combatants, thats more or less the bare minimum for training some to fight. If the other schools have not done that, and had longer time to do so in, then their teachers are criminally lax.

That 1-A has had a harsher training regime with practical experience could perhaps explain them defeating superior numbers, or older opponents with more training. But it struggles to explain every single member of 1-A managing both.

All of the UA class have experience of being in chaotic situations where people are trying to kill them and of cooperating with their classmates in those situations, though. From what we've seen of typical practical classes (heroes & villains, rescue simulations and even the tournament), 'real', non-sparring combat isn't often taught in Hero schools, at least in the first year, and there's been no group exercises aside from the tournament horse stage.

UA had a big advantage over the other schools in this exam as they've been through two or three group battles in a few months (as opposed to just doing the exam once a year) and been put through more advanced training in response to the pressure from the Villain Alliance

As i said before, that might excuse things a little better if this had been a real, no holds barred fight. But it isnt, its more like an extreme version of dodgeball or something. And then suggesting that having been in a gunfight gives a noteworthy advantage. And i would say the typical practical classes, like Heroes & Villains, or the tournament, is better training for this sort of game than live combat.

And also as said before, not having had as much real combat experience did not seem like an advantage 1-A could not overcome, so one could again argue for why its not that meaningful.

[Friv]

You really dont need practice go gang up on someone 9 to 1, and when UA were surronded like that then the opposing teams might need to keep an eye on each of their flanks and 1-A, while 1-A need to keep an eye on 3 times as many things.

That's true in the real world, but in a superhero world 9-on-1 with the nine having no idea of each others' powers, and with only one of those nine able to score the final blow, it matters a lot.

If one guys starts throwing lightning from a distance and another guy is made of metal, they're going to get in each others' ways. If one guy generates flame and someone else sucks it out of the area, that's a problem. Even things as simple as throwing energy bolts vs. turning into a giant monster and charging in creates a problem. Compound that with the fact that as soon as someone is down two of their three discs, the other students are suddenly competing for that last one instead of cooperating, and I can see small differences in skill and teamwork multiplying fast.

[Kato]

Ah, kind of forgot this discussion was still a thing :smallredface.

Er, new chapter?

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So, we get.. a bit more interaction with the other schools (weird guy is out for Todoroki probably because his dad is a ****), a lot of Uraraka being in love - is it weird that I'm surprised it's not the boys feelings in the center? I mean, it feels like it usually is the other way around...

And the exam expects a lt more than just "saving people". I feel like this should be more a matter of a lesson than an exam but... okay. Let's see how UA handles something they were apparently never trained to do. Also... terrorists next time?