Literally Just As Competitive

literally just as competitive

A perspective for 431 and the confession scene, for those who cant even enjoy fanon anymore

Its not a surprise to see many ppl feel hopeless over BNHA after the release of volume 42 in Japan with the confirmation of 431: More, and while a part of the fandom is focusing on the fanon content -enjoying the art, the fics, the head canons, the jokes-, others seems to also be unable to find happiness with these characters, feeling betrayed and lied to their faces. I understand, I was also angry about a dudebro fantasy even if I was able to enjoy fanon content still, and I want to give some thoughts about 431 after rethinking it a little bit, and pointing out the things that made me hate 431's Midoriya Izuku (and how now I can see something interesting in him).

Considering deku is a total oblivious nerd who pictures stereotypical romantic gestures as the way to be romantic... I want to believe izuku thinks it was as simple as him loving everyone and finding them all as special, bc everyone is, but realized thats not the case, things arent that simple, and he needs to actually DO show this instead of just feeling things on his own.

Like he doesnt show others how important they are in his life accidentally, bc he thought it was as simple as him finding everyone as special -like everyone would already understand it as a given-, and in the end, thats not true, ppl cant read his mind... he basically lost his high school best friend BC he thought that was "enough", and from now on he wants to keep talking to her.

"If everyone is special it means nobody is special", this phrase confused him at first, but now... he understands a part of it. Bc he treats everyone as special nobody actually knows nor feels special with him -if everyone is special = he treats everyone the same = everyone thinks they dont matter to him-, and I think this works well with his expression after realizing something while looking at her. It wasn't a loving look but a concerned one, I labelled before as an "oh shit-!" moment instead; him realizing how he actually didnt make the effort to show how he cares about her in these years, how "nobody is special bc everyone is special" means he has to DO show the ppl in his life a particular care too, instead of just assume they know. Bc he doesnt think highly of himself, he didnt even think about ppl feeling like he doesnt care much about them, to the point that Ochako doesnt even feel like she can talk to him even tho they were close in high school. She had to do that work, and once she is too busy he doesnt even think about contacting her first -and thats not fair, bc she is special to him too! She's his friend, not a random person, and these class reunions arent enough to convey that message.

I believe he feels included and cared for in these reunions, and assumes everyone also is able to feel his love for everyone even if he doesnt talk to them -and thats just not the case, he has to do more for his friendships and not just save them when they need it.

It felt weird to me how the phrase in the "confession" went, "I love everyone, and everyone is special, and I thought it was as simple as that, but from now on too I want to talk to you more", bc he doesnt say shes special explicitly and he seems to go into a "different route" -its an interpretation, and you can see it that way ofc-, but Deku isnt the type of person to be vague when actively confessing something. Its not him being embarrassed and afraid to say those words, he is confident in that and doesnt feel shy about it, and only blushes when shes on him all of the sudden, and I just cant see him as a "confident dude about romance who confesses like its nothing without saying the words", nor "had a sudden burst of confidence to confess romantic feelings", bc he didnt. He didnt confess romantic feelings, nor felt shy about what he said.

This is one of the main reasons why I saw him as "Midoriya, the bro version", bc Izuku would never treat romantic feelings like that! If he was actually confessing a romantic love, I think it would make more sense to be shy about it (maybe struggle to look at her at first, and then confess while looking at her in the eye, or saying it loudly with his eyes closed, yk?), especially bc 431 goes out of its way to tell us how Izuku as an adult is STILL oblivious to what other ppl feel about him or wanting to be close to him. He wouldnt be confident about it, bc he would assume Ochako does not like him -and you know what? You can work with that to make a cute romantic and fun scene! It doesnt take away from the romance at all and would explain why he would not think about her in that way previously ("he didnt even think he had a chance in the first place, nor that ochako would be into a guy like him"), but that didnt happen.

Considering he heard Jirou and Kaminari rejecting the idea of them dating, while expressing how it feels comforting to be close, like in high school, and this works as the framework for the last scene... It doesnt feel like Deku thought about forming a romantic connection with Ochako, but instead wanted to express how he does want her in his life instead of fading in the background, bc he cares even if others dont feel cared for. He is trying to change things for the better in his relationships.

This also can work with what he told Katsuki before saying goodbye, inviting him into a special quest lecture about communication -he doesnt need to reconnect with him bc they never accidentally lost it, but still he wants to develop their relationship more by offering that lecture about communication, the thing they struggle with the most (specially Katsuki from his perspective who, for all his triumphs, uses a too cryptic language for Izuku, making him confused when he wants to understand him)-. I think he thinks Katsuki of all ppl knows exactly how Izuku feels about him, as his closest one, but still he wants to understand him more without pressuring him, and expresses this by involving him into his new work/passion (?), without any doubts about it.

In 431 I think we see how they tried to make it look romantic but the actual contents are... pretty platonic. Its a strange mix, and makes me wonder if this was truly something asked by an editor or something, "an izuku and ochako focused chapter as the extra", bc it never actually commits to it. Its hard to tell, specially considering the leakers made us believe they were confessing true love -and even that Katsuki and Tsuyu were being a wingmen!-, that they held hands while shoujo bubbles appeared, that Izuku confessed his love for her... And that wasn't the actual content. Instead, the confession can be understood as completely platonic thanks to the narrative contexts (deku is clueless, jirou and kaminari are not dating and feel comfort with each other, memories of high school, them being made to not talk to each other that much/at all after high school, himiko's love not being exclusively romantic [as in she understands different kinds of love even if she calls them the same; she loved ochako and deku, she loved the league of villains, she loved tsuyu, etc, but they weren't the same types of love]), and the handhold looks more like a promise than a romantic one.

If someone wants to see it as a romantic promise, sure, im nobody to tell them they cant, however I prefer to see it as 3 promises, actually: one to both of them, to keep talking from now on and not lose contact; two izuku to himself, a promise to start showing everyone how special they are to him with his actions; three ochako to himiko, a promise to start living her life and showing her love like she did with the ppl around her (Twice, Dabi, Shigaraki, Spinner, Magne, Tsuyu...). To start having agency and keep the ppl in her life with her, instead of overworking herself and letting others get away from her (she made sure to also express that love and care, being really friendly genuinely and acting to be friends, while Ochako doesnt show that commitment to her friendships like that, as we only see her talking with Tsuyu, who does show up for her always). Promises to make sure they can express the love they feel for others, without being limited by a particular type of love.

I argued previously that both Himiko and Ochako have a theme about pure love, in the way they just love different ppl no matter how weird that is. I think this can work fine, while also making her character conclusion feel less... insulting, tbh, as in Himiko was the one helping her to choose a life with conform and letting herself be close to others, and the first action she does for this is agreeing with deku into talking to each other more from now on -just like kaminari and jirou felt when they saw their agencies would be close to each other. They arent lovers, and at the same time is nostalgic and warm to have the other by their side, their presence being closer than before.

This also works with the choice of closing off the possibility of Denki and Kyouka dating, showing that yeah, its a little embarrassing to think about that option for them, but what matters is their friendship and how its nice to have each other in contact while being a man and a woman. It looks random, but in this context I do get a purpose, while the romantic izuku and ochako interpretation makes it way more sloppy.

Choosing to make heroes disappear and keep the ranking system is the most difficult choice to understand, but I could see it as the whole narrative adapting to focus on what the characters need at the moment: to be closer to the ppl they care about, and express those feelings without the fear of being a burden for your friends. Like the story's world adapts to it in order to become a slice of life lol. The ranking system thing also takes away from the only "positive" quality it had in the story, the competition for Katsuki and Izuku; they cant focus on that, and they dont, so instead Katsuki needs to have a different goal in the story (which honestly... its clear it involves Izuku, textually multiple times expressed), while Izuku has found a new thing to do, start considering how others want to be special in his life, bc he is special. To think more highly of himself.

Katsuki is the character that leaves without a clear way of life for himself after 431, so it would make sense to explore more about his future (but I wont go as far as to say the one shot is going to be about him).

This also explains why Ochako feels weird about talking to him, like shes waiting for him to show an interest in talking to her instead of her being the one interacting first -when he wasn't in the hero field she was able to focus on her goals and thats it, mostly talking to others in a work context, but once he starts using the suit that means she is reminded of how unable she is of actually live her life and stay in contact with the friend she cared about, how she cant express "hey, I want to talk to you more!" like its nothing bc its been years, its not casual anymore. Also, thinking about someone and then all of the sudden they appear saying exactly what you were thinking about (to talk more) while you keep thinking about the cutest girl in the world telling you how she loves you and you should take the chance to live your life and love how you love, yeah, I would also be embarrassed. Her not knowing how to deal with the awkwardness of that conversation feels better to me.

But well, this is just me, I understand this part is also difficult to understand, but I still feel like like its better, to me, than "ochako loved him since she was 15 and never got over it but never thought about him until he got the suit and also doesn't even try to confess just agrees to talk more and himiko is the queer character pushing her to live a hetero life". I think its clear Ochako's issue was far more complex than her not accepting a crush on a boy, but believing her feelings, wants and needs are a burden to everyone, and 429 showed us how it was never about her hiding her crush or whatever the thing that was breaking her. Here she isnt breaking, but is emotional about what Himiko tells her and taking the steps to love like Himiko did -honestly, openly, expressing what she wanted from others clearly and with no doubts-.

What we see in the scene, with her accepting her words and Izuku's idea of reconnecting (which is shown to be open to rejection: this is the state of their friendship, where Izuku also understands Ochako could not want to talk to him more and just stay as old classmates instead; Deku isnt trying to be "subtle" and confess some romance, no with that body language, and instead is reaching out to reconnect their friendship, bc they arent close anymore; Ochako picturing heir moment of being happy together as them in high school also fits into this, along with her narration about her starting to see him more after the suit: they weren't really meeting before, and now they weren't talking, she just saw him more), isnt her wanting to now date him or express her romantic love since high school; for me to believe that, I would add her being "yes, I want to talk to you more from now on, but I want to be clear too: I fell in love with you, and want to date you". Again this could turn into a cute scene, with her having that agency to confess in a way that could fit them and Deku all embarrassed like "huh??!? you l-l-l-l-love m-m-m-me?!?", and laughing about the obliviousness, but instead the act of agency is her agreeing with talking to each other more, and deciding to make the bro hold -she decided to make the promise, and from my perspective, its to herself and Himiko.

This is the end of their relationship in the manga, with a promise that yeah, its to each other, but isnt about romantic feelings; they dont express an explicit romantic interest for their future and instead are made to not really talk to each other in these years during the time skip, making their friendship feel awkward and in need of both of them agreeing to talk to each other more.

I still haven't seen a single post explaining how the romantic interpretation is able to fill these holes (why would Katsuki be not happy and worried, why would they shut down kaminari and jirou as a couple, why would they bring up the villains and living to the fullest, why is izuku acting like that if thats a supposedly love confession from his part, why is he looking at her like that when its supposedly a "romantic look", why do they make a bro hold instead of holding hands in a romantic way, why making ochako and deku not talk in years, being their last nice moment together in high school, why does she only remembers she "loves" him after she sees him with the suit, why doesnt she confess first even after knowing he wants her in her life + himiko tells her to love how she wants, why would deku think katsuki is talking about romantic love, why would katsuki talk about romantic love in that context then, a long etc)

I prefer to think this love isnt romantic love, and while there are still tons of issues with the story at least I can understand why these decisions could fit there -reading the romantic interpretation, nothing made sense to me, and the characters just weren't themselves.

I can find peace with this instead, and I hope others also are able to calm down a little with me too -I have received for months now asks claiming many things, I want to answer them all with patience and care (mostly towards the nice ones/supportive ones/etc), and I dont think its okay for me to be seen as someone who supports the romantic interpretation of 431, when I believe is extremely wrong in so many levels.

I hope more ppl are able to enjoy the characters they love, and if leaving BNHA is the right decision for you, I hope things go well with you too. Just choose what calms your heart more in the long run.

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art3mis-twt

2 weeks ago