ideal version of bnha is where instead of whatever pointless bullshit was happening with deku and star n stripe we just got an entire arc of the todorokis being forced by authorities to be shuttled off somewhere for their own safety against the furious civilian masses, along with the toga and iguchi families, for a tense and brutal exploration of both the toll and stress inflicted on the families of criminals/villains, but also the ways those family environments planted the seed for those criminal acts. except it’s all framed as a sitcom where the todorokies are the collective straight man, the togas are chewing the scenery with their melodrama, and the iguchis are locked in an intense debate over whether their kid is gay and if it’s homophobic for him to be gay.
heyyyy i know we’re all annoyed about mva but can people stop blaming the japanese fandom for it bc they supposedly dont like the villains?? its getting racist. japanese people are not a monolith. please stop acting like they’re a hivemind who all hate villains when we know the western fandom also hates villains. i’m seeing shit like “fuck the japanese” and my guy do you not realize what you sound like? just stop. be annoyed at the studio all you want but stop blaming japan as a whole.
Some instances that I feel show how some messages MHA are detrimental, especially on how victims react to their abuser, can be gauged by responses that tend to be highly prevalent in the fandom.
(Definitely not every fan, but a great majority).
Endeavor is a great example. Whenever you post criticizing his approach to atonement (and ultimately criticizing Horikoshi’s writing), you get BOMBARDED by people either belittling you for not liking his character or essentially forcing you to like his character by frantically writing “at least he tried” arguments.
If I have the CHOICE whether to forgive his character or not, especially given he goes through an atonement arc and not a redemption arc, why is any form of criticism about his abusive behavior and essentially his abuse of power practically ignored by the story unacceptable?
The message was detrimental because people operate on the notion that for victims to be good people, they must forgive and even help their abusers. MHA presents people who choose not to forgive him as either a monster (Toya) or inconvenient (Natsuo). And if they are still unforgiving, they must admire the abuser for doing the bare minimum (taking responsibility; this is also about Natsuo).
Essentially, they are considered "imperfect victims" because they weren't merciful in their approach to their abuser.
The majority of the fandom tends to ignore the lack of actual consequences for Endeavor's actions because he vows to talk to Toya every day. Insisting that doing the bare minimum, which is recognizing his son's existence and suffering, became his "hell" is a wildly fucked up message, in my opinion.
It harps on the issue mentioned above that if a victim isn't receptive to forgiveness or doesn't act "demure," they are seen as an inconvenience—which is how the Todoroki family ultimately views Toya.
On a less critical note, I'll vent, so if you don't like this, just ignore it.
I'm so fucking tired of stories depicting imperfect victims as people who deserve death and torture. Plus, having to be on the brunt of so many people acting like you're morally fucked because you're not impressed with how a writer handled abuse. Horikoshi is not the first writer to try to atone a character who is an abuser (and he isn't the first to fail at that, either).
I'm not about to dick-ride every decision every author makes. Especially if the message convinces some audience members that victims are inherently broken if they can't bring themselves to forgive and/or admire someone who hurt them.