Javi Swift

Note: As I mentioned, the illustrations are available on the official site, but they are all rather small, which makes them hard to read, so in this post I have included photographs from fans which I used for my translations. Every photo was available publicly on twitter and I have credited the posters, but please be respectful and don't draw undue attention to these fans. If anyone contacts me wishing for their photo to be removed, I will do so.

Hokkaidō Region

Hokkaidō

Photo credit: twitter user URix0307

Iida: "Heroes! Be ambitious!!' Aizawa: "I'm leaving you behind."

Iida is standing in front of the statue of William S. Clark at Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill, a scenic spot in Sapporo. Clark worked with the Japanese government to found Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaidō University) in 1876; he is a very famous figure in the history of the region. The statue is inscribed with a quote attributed to him as he left Japan: "Boys, be ambitious!"

Tōhōku Region

Aomori

Photo credit: twitter user redaotkrsn

Dark Shadow: "Fumikage!! I GOT ONE!!" Tokoyami: "The allure of forbidden fruit which tastes so sweet..." Dark Shadow: "One simply cannot resist!" Asui: "Tokoyami-chan sure likes apples, huh?"

Agriculture is huge in Aomori, and specifically they are famous for their apples, contributing about 60% of Japan's entire apple production. Raw apples, jams, juices, desserts, etc., they are everywhere in Aomori, and fyi, they are all absolutely delicious. The sweetest, richest, freshest apples I've ever had in my life were the ones I had here! Dark Shadow is right, one simply cannot resist!!!

Iwate

Photo credit: twitter user bakkk_17

Todoroki: "I can have as many bowls as I want, right?" Endeavor: "SHOUTOOOOO!!!" Kouda: "Todoroki-kun!! Your dad said he wants to eat with you, too!!" Todoroki: "Check, please."

Todoroki is eating wanko soba, a specialty from Iwate where it's basically an all-you-can-eat. The soba is served in many small bowls, and you slurp them up and immediately get served more. The verb he uses, ikeru, is one people also use for "holding your liquor well," which I personally found hilarious. "Oh yeah, I can hold my noodles."

Miyagi

Photo credit: twitter user Abino_Haru_Maki

Ashido: "Teacher, what's wrong? You keep lollygagging about!" Aizawa: "Kittykittykitty..." Shouji: "Anybody suspicious around? Nothing has come up in my search for enemies." Iida: "We're leaving you behind, teacher."

Miyagi is famous for being home to Tashirojima, the so-called "Cat Island" where cats outnumber people. Iida gets revenge!!

Akita

Photo credit: twitter user kado0730

Hagakure: "Namahage faces are so scary!!" Kaminari: "Looks just like Bakugou, don't it." Bakugou: "THERE'S NO RESEMBLANCE AT ALL, I'LL SEND YOU FLYING!!" Sero: "He's a rotten kid who looks just like a Namahage!"

Namahage are frightening folkloric figures from Akita's New Year's festival. Men wear big demon masks and straw coats and wield a (fake) weapon; they march through the streets or knock on doors to scold misbehaving children, asking if there are any "warui ko," (naughty/rotten/bad kids), which is what Sero calls Bakugou.

Yamagata

Photo credit: twitter user ha_n_a_0

Yaoyorozu: "Oh, tranquility! Penetrating the very rock, a cicada’s voice." Kaminari: "Jirou! How about you put your earphones on that rock?" Jirou: "Are you stupid?"

Yaoyorozu is reciting a famous poem by Basho Matsuo written when he visited the Buddhist temple, Risshaku-ji (also called Yamadera, meaning "mountain temple"). This translation is by Helen Craig McCullough. Risshaku-ji, a National Historic site, is home to a number of beautiful buildings and statues built into the mountainside; temple history claims a lineage back to the 9th century. The trail up to the temple consists of 1,015 steps; I visited in winter, which made it quite the precarious climb!

Fukushima

Photo credit: twitter user kingyo0927

Kirishima: "This right here is what I should be aiming for!!" Aoyama: "A fateful encounter~!" Bakugou: "When I said 'just being able to keep standing through anything makes you crazy strong,' this ain't what I meant!!"

Kirishima is looking at rows of okiagari koboshi, which are traditional papier-mâché dolls popular in Fukushima's western Aizu region. They are weighted so that no matter what you do to them, they pop right back up to standing!

He strives to be this kind of person - someone who makes others feel at ease just by being there - and this gives him the drive to improve - something he was lacking before.

Then the Dabi reveal happens, and Shouto is suddenly mixed up with the public reveal of all the dirty laundry of the Todoroki family, exposed to all of Japan as a genetic experiment of his madman father, who created him out of jelousy and grudge of the nations beloved All Might.

Shouto suddenly loses all the progress he made - his reputation is in the mud, people see him as "Endeavor's son, Dabi's brother", view him with concern and judge him based on his family, not his own merits. Despite all his personal growth, and mastery over his quirk, he's as far as he can be from his goal of being seen as "Shouto" - his own person, a reassuring hero following in All Might's steps.

On the other side, we have All Might. He originally saw Shouto merely as another talented student, a son of a colleague, a rival to his own protege. But during the Remedial arc, he visibly got closer both to Bakugou and Shouto on a personal level and I'll never get over the fact that it was All Might who was with the both of them when they got their hero licenses and had their public debut as heroes.

All Might also does have an inkling about Endeavor's motives of "creating Shouto" after the Sport Festival and their Remedial talk, but both times he decides to stay out of the family matter and of what he sees as a "discord" between father and son.

So when Dabi publicly exposes Endeavor's jealousy, the abuse in the family and just how deep the rabbit hole is and how All Might is connected to it (even if obviously he had no idea), I was really curious how he'll handle it.

I feel like he didn't know what to say - to Shouto (like a sorry would feel empty and also none of it is All Might's fault) or to Endeavor (who was already changing and feeling ashamed and guilty about everything) so he just kind of said nothing.

But then the final clash happens and the hero's plan goes to shit, and Dabi is on his way to blow Gunga up and AFO is on his way to Deku - and suddenly there is a choice to make. And this is the point where All Might chooses something he has never done before - he chooses to meddle with the Todoroki family.

He calls Shouto and Iida to convince them to go to Gunga instead of trying to intercept AFO. And his conversation with Shouto is so heartfelt and warm. Reassuring. He says nothing about the family history - he talks to Shouto about his heart, validating all the pain and emotional trouble he carried and gives him a way to be who he wants to be. To save his family AND the civilians. To be the hero to reassure people and diffuse the threat.

I think this is All Might's gift to Shouto in a way - his attempt to set things right for him, even if he had no responsibility in the way the Todoroki family turned out. Because without All Might, I have no doubt in my mind that Shouto would have chosen to confront AFO - prioritize the more important threat, like a hero would over his own family mess (of course, he had no knowledge of the explosion brewing in Gunga).

And I also think that All Might even knew that Endeavor likely would try his murder - suicide plan and kill himself and Touya in order to save everyone (of course, even All Might couldn't have counted on Rei intervening). But All Might doesn't want Shouto to have to live with that choice of not trying everything in his power to save his father and brother.

All Might is right in that if Shouto and Iida don't go, there is no version of Gunga where nobody dies. So he gives Shouto a chance of a "perfect save" with no losses. To be a hero that Endeavor never was: someone who can reconcile saving both his family and everyone else.

So I love the way that All Might who was Shouto's childhood hope and insipiration of being able to rise above his own dark origin, in the end was just that. He didn't swoop in to save Shouto - he helped him giving him reassurance, validaton, encouragement, and a path to achieve his goal.

So their arc together came to a really nice full circle - All Might just being this warm, comforting presence in Shouto's arc of healing and finding his way as his own person. Their relationship was an exploration of another facet of being a hero that's beyond beating up the bad guys and saving people. A bit less tangible than "win and save", but if you look at what divides All Might and Endeavor (beyond just power gap), it becomes clear that this ability to put people at ease and inspire and reassure them is also a core feature of a true hero.

And I love how also for All Might it shows growth. He goes from staying out of the business of the Todoroki family to living up to his own words about meddling being the true sign of a hero.