Self Repression and Self Expression
Izuocha / Green Tea / Space Bunny Analysis
A lot of people in the MHA fandom like to view Ochako and Izuku as the same character, and they do have a lot of similarities, but i honestly think their differences are the key to why I love this ship, and I wanted to talk about that a bit here.
My favorite aspect of the izuocha dynamic is that, fundamentally, they are representative of two similar but different brands of self-sacrifice, and they end up saving each other through their growth in relation to self sacrifice.
Self Sacrifice is an incredibly important aspect of MHA. I think we’re often led to believe that self-sacrifice is just a static quality of every “true” hero, and while it’s definitely a consistent trait in a lot of characters, i think izuku and ochako are the baseline characters for exploring what that actually means in a broader sense. And that’s why i think they are such sneakily good foils for one another.
ochako is self-sacrificial in spite of herself.
Ochako’s brand of self-sacrifice clashes much more directly with what she wants as a person. In place of her own happiness/feelings, she pursues her goal of being a hero. she pushes down how she feels for the sake of that goal. She sacrifices her innermost desires to put others first.
Ochako’s self-sacrifice stems from a clash with what she internally and externally desires. Ochako has very human feelings of love, for her parents, for Izuku, for Himiko, these feelings are the core of what drives her to want to save people and to be a hero, and yet she shoves them down because the external goal of being a hero (like deku) feels more important than her heart’s desires. She doesn't yet realize they are interlinked. but meanwhile...
deku is self-sacrificial because of himself.
Izuku’s goals have always aligned with his self-sacrificial tendencies. The core of his desires are that he wants to save, he wants to be a hero, he wants to protect people. So in his case, rather than pushing himself down, he’s letting his inner drive out. and that’s the fundamental difference imo.
izuku’s self-sacrificial drive stems from his identity. He learned early on that his value came from helping and being useful. Growing up quirkless, being told he couldn’t be a hero, being bullied and ostracized by everyone for how he was born, all of it channeled this aspect of him that wants to stand up for others, to run into the danger to save his bully, to put himself last on the list of whose important. Saving people became proof of his worth, and suddenly his dream of being a hero was fuel for this inner tendency to prove that he's worth his blessings.
So even though Izuku and Ochako's drives come from very similar places of wanting to save, wanting to see people smile, wanting to help, and even though they both express themselves through that drive in similar ways
The core of Izuku’s sacrifice is an expression of self, while the core of Ochako’s is a repression of self.
Ultimately, though, they both arrive at a very similar problem. Through their self-sacrifice, they start treating themselves like they aren’t human. izuku and ochako both become vessels for saving the people they deem more important than themselves.
himiko. tenko. heroes. villains. each other.
And that’s why I love them so much!! I really think both of their arcs naturally “solve” the other’s problem, and they slot into each other's growth so naturally.
A huge part of ochako’s arc is her realizing that heroes need saving too. who saves the heroes who are sacrificing themselves for others? who sacrifices for their sake?
all the while, a huge part of izuku’s arc is him learning to rely on people and let people protect him just as much as he protects them.
The story punishes him for doing things on his own, for shouldering the burden alone, for not relying on the people who care about him. Izuku leaves UA and refuses help, lets his innermost desires out and becomes this self sacrificial comic book hero.
Through his loved ones reaching out to him, he learns to rely on others and let himself be saved when he’s in danger. he learns that he can’t do it all alone anymore. That sacrificing alone isn't enough. And who is one of the biggest driving forces helping him accept this lesson? Ochako Uraraka.
Deku ends up being the hero who needs saving. Ochako saves him.
But how does Ochako's self sacrifice inversely get expressed back onto her? By Ochako becoming exactly the kind of hero she’s trying to rescue.
One who isn’t being saved, who is sacrificing in spite of her own need, who keeps herself closed off for the sake of others. (sound familiar?)
When Ochako is dealing with Himiko's death, she pushes everyone away, she closes herself off, she leaves and goes on her own to shoulder the burden of trauma weighing on her shoulders.
and in the end, when ochako has become the very kind of hero she saved, who comes running to her, reaching out even as she refuses help? Izuku Midoriya
izuku reflects back what he’s learned, what she taught him, and saves her in return. Izuku saves her.
They save each other by reflecting their character arcs back at the other. Ochako sacrifices by repressing her emotions and trying to shoulder the burden of Himiko's death all on her own. By expressing himself and his feelings, Izuku helps her to do the same, and their sacrificial tendencies both are nurtured by each other's presence.
That’s the core of why i love their dynamic so much and why i find their parallel journeys so beautiful. There’s a lot more to this too that i didn’t even get into, like how himiko and tomura are both key players in izuku and ochako growing this way, and how they both share the “weirdness” of wanting to save villains, and how that also reflects their embodiment of self-sacrifice. Maybe I'll do another thread on their complimentary villain dynamics, it's one of the few things I feel like were still VERY strong in act 3 of MHA
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