I Just Felt Like The Ending Was Quite Harsh And A Bit Unforgiving For All The Build-up During The Series.

I just felt like the ending was quite harsh and a bit unforgiving for all the build-up during the series. And it hit a bit too close to home along with the fact that almost nothing changes. And I thought the series would be about change and stuff.

But I can totally understand where you come from. They were broken people who had sad pasts, but they did harm. The past can explain why they are like that, but it can not excuse their actions.

But yeah, Enji dying would be a W

So I have a question for you as a Mha critical and probably a person that knows the Manga better than me. Because I woke up at 3am and I had a thought dinging around my head like the DVD logo.

Could there be a redemption for Dabi if he got to kill/defeat Endeavor?

That question started a train of thoughts that I would like to share and be judged upon by the critical community, either deeming me a feverish lunatic or a genius.

As far as I know myself, most of the anger or hate Dabi carries in him is directed towards false heroes or, better said, one false hero. Endeavor. He has an especially big hate for his father for not deeming his worthy, disgarding him later, and getting Shoto. We see that he wanted to apologize to his family when he woke up in the orphanage, this whole thing works based on that a bit. That he hates Endavor the most but hates his family less.

Basically, the idea would be that he got to fight his abuser and ended up winning. (Ideally killing him because I feel like that man would deserve it to be killed by the one he regarded useless. Very funny) and like after the fight, he, of course, is exhausted. It has also let go of some anger and hate. Storing anger and also not letting yourself feel feelings is bad and makes you unstable and easier to misinterpret feelings. So a huge portion of anger would be out leaving room for satisfaction and perhaps some mania like happiness.

Then some good heroes could swoop in and catch him. Not kill him because they are good heroes and want to save people and not kill them. And there would be a little0 fight, but ultimately, Dabi would be caught. I am not sure whether he would put up much of a fight anyway because the main reason he became the way he was is gone.

And them they could like put a quirk stopping bracelet on him and all and put him in a prison/mental health institute. Because he still has killed people and needs to stand up for that but then again Endeavor as a shit bag. And there he would get therapy and also his family would visit. And that is important.

First would be Natsuo because I feel like he would have the least hate towards his brother for killing their father, and he also had the closest bond to him prior to him being obducted and stuffed into the orphanage. So they would meet, and due to their shared hate, Natsuo might even give him credits for killing the man they both hate. Something like "Good job, Toya, I am glad that man is gone. He has ruined our family," and so on along with a heartfelt apology. The next would probably be Fuyumi because she is one hell of a pacifist and people pleaser (from what I remember), and she would want to play happy family again. And so she goes to him and apologizes and all that. She wouldn't give him praise for killing Endeavor.

I feel like only Natsuo and maybe maybe Shoto (very short and very much a "huh, guess you did it" type of praise would be given. [I don't know whether Rei would come before or after Fuyumi because she probably feels obligated to mourn for her husband and do fumeral shit, no matter how shitty he was. So she probably wouldn't be the first to show up even if she misses her eldest]

So now his healing journey comes because he managed to bring down the biggest hate in him and let that anger out. Of course, it could also happen that once the Pandora box is open, he directs his anger at everything and his hate because he never learned how to deal with emotions in a healthy way. And if you let your anger control too often and too much, you get issues and can no longer deal with the anger correctly. Something something about our brain being stupid and choosing the "easy" but wrong way.

And maybe a few years he would be let go and a given house arrest. There, we would be able to learn again to properly interact with his world again. Family stuff.

Now comes the fun part to me, we know that there is some sort of celebrity culture with the heroes. And if I know one thing from tabloid, then that the people crave drama. They want the dirty laundery of the gerona, they want the sex-scandals and the abuse allegations and the drug rumors. So I feel like he would get a side gig as a journalist for those tabloids under a different name. Exposing false heroes and writing articles about their abuse with photo evidence and video evidence. And he would be smart about it because he has the big brain energy. (This is mostly my personal thinking. This can be as wrong to canon as it is)

I think the Toga redemption is the easiest because she already has a great bond with a hero, aka Uravity. And Ochaco wants to save her as well. So she probably would go to a mental hospital as well [idk about jail because she was underage and all when she committed most crimes, but I feel like she would get just a few years]. There, Ochaco would visit her and talk about the hero stuff she does and Jada Jada they become really good friends, and Ochaco helps to bail her out so that she can live a more normal life. And like if she needs blood, they can just go to a blood bank and get some. So yeah, it's a pretty easy redemption if she manages to survive.

Next is Tomura. My thoughts are that he is basically non-redemption material until the fact that AFO admits to controlling everything in his life and that he never had his own choice. That he had always been a pawn/NPC/replaceable.

For his redemption to work, he first needs to survive, which means the hero Deku should be Izuku, like aka saving everyone no matter what. Which I would love for him to do since he would turn into the ultimate hero for that, and he derves that title.

This also only works if Tomura plays the main part in defeating his abuser aka Quirk Satan. Izuku can help him defeat AFO, but he needs to deal the final blow himself in an act of rebellion and freedom. His very first own choice.

After that battle, he first needs to go to the hospital but then jail along with a therapist. I feel like he would need a whole circle or therapist to hold hands and dance around him like a fire tower for him to get rid of all the years under Quirk Satan.

But it could be easier by 2 things, in my opinion. His connection it the League. He may not have been the best leader and a shitty one at worst, but I feel like he would still be somewhat happy to see them again. Because they are basically the only people that had been around him beside Quirk Satan. So the first would obviously be Spinner. And they would play some L.O.V. together and all. I don't know who will be next, but I feel like if he and Dabi would meet again under these circumstances, that man could give him some advice. I feel like Dabi knows a bit since he burnt down Toga's home to help her. But they could parallel one another yet again.

The second, in my opinion most important part, is a change in mind/ideology/goals. We know he is nihilistic, so I thought he could go through the same journey as me. Because nihilism almost killed both of us, he now needs to adapt a new life philosophy: Absurdism (it worked for me, and I feel like it could work for him as well) Basically: life has no meaning but so what? That only means you can life as free as you want and do everything you want. Your actions won't matter in the long run of the universe? So what, you are free to do whatever you want and to live happy because in the long run of the universe it doesn't matter.

So the first choice, aka Killing Quirk Satan, would lead up to other choices that are his first choices he makes that will be his alone to take. Maybe his Master never allowed him to play competitive games, so now he plays them as much as he wants. Or his Master never allowed him to cry, so now he finally does (it was weird anyway to know Tomura doesn't cry at all even if his name means mourning).

Of course, he is going to be in jail for quite a while since he doesn't have any family to bail him out of anywhere to go to get house arrest. But maybe Izuku visits him as well as he is Izuku's villain after all.

My personal utopia would be them sitting at a table and eating good food again while each talk about the non villany stuff they achieved. Dabi about how he exposed false heroes and Spinner wanting to join the newspaper, which is now serious. [Maybe either could work in politics as well but mostly Spinner to help remove the corrupt system and bring diversity and remove stigmata] and Toga could rant about her newest college crush and how she finally finished her education. Compress could talk about a magic show he has planned, and Tomura could talk about all the free choices he made aka, stuff AFO never allowed him to do and how good he is at taking care of himself. [Because AFO definitely neglected him to make him weaker to his manipulation and all]

So, Mha criticals, am I cooking, or has the fever cooked every viable thought in my brain?

It’s honestly a slippery slope when it comes to this discussion. In my personal opinion, I don’t think that Dabi would be capable of redemption because he still caused harm to people that didn’t have anything to do with his main goal.

He killed many innocent civilians, went after UA, caused intense harm to children, dragged Toga back into the war and roped Shoto into stuff that didn’t concern him. Same with Toga, Twice, Shigaraki and etc. They’ve had sad lives but they still did massive damage and harm to people around them. Which is why I can’t help but give a side eye whenever the fandom says they’re in the right.

Personally, I think that keeping the villains not redeemed teaches a lesson that not everyone gets a happy ending and that in order for society to change, we need to face the harsh realities of the villains’ stories.

But I’m all for Enji dying, that would’ve been amazing.

Idk, fellow critics, what do you think