"she's gone yandere for me"

GET UP BAKUGOU-SHOUNEN‼️

i’ve been waiting to finish this edit for a while… this episode was just… so peak 🥹 also i love all might and bakugou’s interactions/relationship 💕

I don’t want to go really far into the ‘hitting your kids’ conversation, because it’s so fucking divisive and complicated, but I wanted to address my views on it first. 

As someone who was punished physically growing up (not any intense beatings but not just light spankings either), I find it to be less of an effective punishment (at least in the long term) and more of a way for parents to get results quick, and get some catharsis for their anger in a way that’s justified as their right as a caretaker. Physical punishment also tends to be redundant and could very well backfire; for example, I would get hit for misbehaving and making my parents mad. So I would hit my younger siblings for misbehaving and making me mad, and it’s not like I can hit my parents back (stronger than me and keep me alive). Then I was hit for hitting my siblings– cuz it’s apparently now bad to hit other people, and there was that whole “how does it feel when it’s done to you?” song and dance. I already know getting hit feels pretty shitty… that’s why I fucking hit them.

This logic is not very conducive to raising your kid to be a person who doesn’t hit others, and sets them up for failure at managing their anger in a healthy way. It also can make them more susceptible to mistreatment from others.

Anyways, I personally think it’s bad to hit your kids. Maybe you don’t agree with me. Outside of that conversation, I still think Mitsuki does something arguably more fucked up than hitting Katsuki in this particular scene. 

I just… I don’t understand how there’s any defending this. But people do.

The intentions of Mitsuki at this moment don’t matter. I don’t care if she said it in an attempt to get him in line or humble him. I don’t care that she says she was worried for him just a minute later. I don’t care if it was a misguided thing she said out of her own fear and relief. That is such a WILD thing to say to your kid who was just abducted by villains. 

People say I’m reading too much into it for pointing this out, that it’s not actually bad for x or y reason, that it’s a cultural difference. After all, this scene is meant to be a funny introduction to the Bakugou family. There’s a lighthearted and humorous tone. We’re meant to laugh at the shenanigans, and because of that, I think this bit of dialogue gets brushed off or not fully processed by most viewers. However, I can agree that the scene is presented in a comedic manner and probably isn't meant to be taken that seriously.

But when it’s put into the context of what’s to come later, is it still all that funny?

Katsuki and Izuku have their Ground Beta fight, and this is when Katsuki has what I consider to be the most pivotal moment in his arc. During their fight, Katsuki begins breaking down and both Izuku and the audience finally get some actual direct insight of what had been internally building up inside him ever since his kidnapping; hell, everything that had been building up the entire manga/anime to this point. 

But there’s one particular thing he expresses that I want to focus on:

He blames himself for All Might’s fight with AFO and his subsequent retirement. He blames himself for being too weak, for getting kidnapped in the first place and for not being able to escape on his own. He looks genuinely broken by this: through his words, his body language, and what could be described as a tormented (or constipated, I be looking like that on the toilet sometimes) look on his face (hits even harder with the voice acting in the anime). He cites himself as the reason for “All Might’s end.” 

The blame he puts on himself is illogical (he deadass was up against a literal LEAGUE of villains led by AFO), but it also makes perfect sense with both Katsuki’s perception of self-worth AND how many victims think and feel in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Also, let’s not forget that All Might’s very public battle and the exposing of his secretly weakening state was a HUGE deal. 

(I’m glad All Might was there to support him because I cannot IMAGINE how much worse and worse this guilt got when the inevitable fallout of All Might’s retirement really started to hit the fan.)

And who do we observe canonically and reinforcing this guilt? His mom.

Just look at these two panels side by side. Compare them. 

He’s saying the same thing.

This is something that has clearly been eating at him. And his own MOTHER says it to him. You would think his own mom would know something about how Katsuki views himself, how much self-worth he bases on strength and his ability to succeed through his own hard work and merit. Mitsuki makes it even worse by framing his rescue as an “inconvenience” to everyone. Mind you, rescuing kidnapping victims is the heroes’ FUCKING JOB. God forbid. What a way to reinforce his hyper-independence, Mama Bear.

What this tells me is that either she’s perhaps disconnected from her son about how he thinks and feels, or she said it knowing it would hit him where it hurts. And I hope that we would all agree that the latter would be a malicious thing to do, regardless of her intentions and feelings. Or I guess there’s the third option of it just kind of slipping out because she says stuff like that to him on a normal basis, but I doubt that’s any better.

When I have talked and argued about this with people before, one rebuttal I’ve heard is: “Well he doesn’t look bothered or upset when his mom says it, he doesn’t show any particularly negative reaction to it (not one that sticks out as abnormal for him).”

This is a weak argument for several reasons, but just think about this: What if the reason that we don’t get a noticeable reaction to his mom saying this is because he’s already thought it himself, repeating over and over in his head all this time? During his meltdown at Ground Beta, Katsuki says that he can’t stop thinking about it even when he’s been trying not to. 

 And Katsuki, despite being very loud about his opinion and his often explosive reactions, is pretty secretive/internal and hides behind a lot of bluster. I would argue that he’s more sensitive and emotional than even Izuku at times, but he primarily projects his emotions through anger. And clearly he’s good at hiding the true extent/nature of his feelings, it takes a WHILE after Kamino for anyone to actually notice there’s still something wrong, and it’s only because HE initiates a confrontation with Izuku and opens up on his own. Even the audience gets fooled, a lot of fans that didn’t pay attention enough– including me– were blindsided by it. Which is kinda silly in retrospect because duh, that whole situation would fuck with anyone’s head.

Anyways. I am 100% certain that Mitsuki loves and cares about Katsuki, a LOT. I’m sure Masuru loves and cares about him too, though we hear from him less. I don’t doubt that they are loving parents. I don’t doubt that they could very well be good parents. 

Here’s an earth-shattering concept some people seem to have trouble wrapping their heads around sometimes:

Someone can love and care for someone dearly and wholeheartedly, and still hurt them. 

Yeah, I know, take a minute if you need to wrap your head around it.

What’s really sad about abusive behavior is that it can very well come from people who genuinely love you, and who you love in return.

When I say abusive behavior here, I’m not labelling anyone as an “ABUSER!!!11!” Abuse can actually have a fairly broad meaning, but it is more commonly associated with continual/repeating behavior. I think everyone on planet Earth has probably engaged in some type of abusive behavior at least once in their life.

I’ve been abused by others and I’ve abused others. Again, I was raised with physical violence as punishment, as well as verbal abuse that got pretty bad into my teen years. I would often reflect that onto my younger siblings, who would then reflect that back to me and onto each other. 

I love my family. I’ve always had, and it’s gotten so much better nowadays thanks to better communication, distance, and reconciliations. But there were many times that they didn’t feel all that safe to be around. We’ve never been the most functional. And sometimes it only gets harder to shake off behaviors and habits you got from your environment as you get older.

So, when people say “but she does care about him and loves him,” I know. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really mean much when we are talking about toxic/abusive behaviors and actions. Arguably, that’s what makes a lot of instances of abuse so insidious; for the aggrieved, it can be really difficult to combat against or even recognize, especially coming from a loved one. It took me a long time to tell my mom how she’s hurt me, and it was so difficult for many reasons but also because I didn’t want to hurt her, to make her feel like a bad mom. 

Okay, maybe I’m projecting wayyy too much now. But my rambling is not done yet.

I don’t think there’s a single person on the planet who’s parents/guardians/etc didn’t fuck them up to some capacity. It’s just kind of the nature of it. No one is perfect, everyone has their own challenges and faults.

Seeing as Mistuki and Katsuki are extremely similar in many ways, particularly their mannerisms and personalities, it’s not at all a reach to say that she’s most likely the biggest influence of Katsuki’s aggressive and coarse behavior. That’s the type of environment and behavior Katsuki grew up with, of course he was probably going to adopt at least some of it. 

So, let’s address Mitsuki slapping Katsuki again real fast.

Like I said earlier in this doc, hitting your kids DOES send the message that hitting people when they aren’t obeying/conforming/etc is the correct choice. It normalizes extorting people, especially those weaker or “lesser” than you, through physical violence. I’m not saying this excuses hurting or bullying others, but if it’s how you were raised, there is a likely chance you aren’t going to see the problem with it until it is pointed out, like in the Remedial Course arc:

I don’t at all think Katsuki experienced physical violence from his mom to anywhere near the extent that Shouto did with his father. I think that’s why he doesn’t really argue further with Shouto on this, since Katsuki knows about Shouto’s past. He listens to Shouto and takes the words “there’s a better way of doing things” to heart as he interacts with the kids. 

I think growing up with physical violence normalized fits with the physical bullying he inflicted on others. Yeah, his mom hits him. We see her hitting him and manhandling him multiple times. Maybe it’s not anything worse than that, and I think it’s not something that Katsuki is necessarily all that traumatized by or feels resentful about, but it’s still something to consider in regards to Katsuki’s behavior growing up. To him, it’s normal to inflict physical harm on others as punishment, when someone doesn’t fall in line or crosses a line. It doesn’t take a genius to make a connection with that and his home life. It’s actually Bully Psychology 101, I fear.

Now onto verbal/emotional abuse and how that could’ve created the Bakugou Katsuki we know and love:

We can clearly observe them hurling the same abusive language and use aggressive tones at each other, so that’s also something that seems to have been normalized for Katsuki, probably even from a young age. But idk, maybe that’s just their way of communicating, even if it hasn’t been helpful for his general social skills. Me and my siblings aren’t too dissimilar sometimes, but it comes from a lighthearted place. It’s honestly the victim-blaming that I’m more concerned about.

Consider that both his parents seem to be very successful in the fashion industry, and the way Mitsuki seems to so casually and easily call him “so weak” for his kidnapping, and that Masaru doesn’t acknowledge what she said beyond a ‘settle down you two’ (note that Mitsuki, the adult and parent, was the instigator in this situation btw). I think it makes a lot of sense if at least some of the pressure and we overwhelming need to be the best also came from them. 

There’s also this pressure to be absolutely infallible and not need to depend on others, no matter the odds. Mitsuki refers to Katsuki’s kidnapping and rescue as an “inconvenience.” Because he was in a situation where he needed help, because he was “weak,” he inconvenienced and caused trouble for everyone. This is reinforcing NOT ONLY Katsuki’s guilt about All Might, but– like I mentioned earlier– ALSO reinforcing his superiority/inferiority complexes and his hyper-independence: His avoidance of relying on others in fear that it makes him weak and unworthy, that he’s a failure for not being able to save himself all on his own. And there was some progress made on that, he DID ultimately put aside that pride and fear to grab Kirishima’s hand. But then the victim-blaming happens and then that fear of accepting help probably got attached to these traumatic events he didn’t ask for and were ultimately beyond his control. Great job, Mitsuki, you’re actively going against your efforts to “humble” him by making his complexes WORSE??? This is probably one of the worst things you could say to a kid like this. 

Has she said this kind of thing to him before? Because then I don’t even wanna know what she might’ve said after the Sludge Villain incident. 

(One take that shook me when I first read it from another fan was that one of the reasons Katsuki does so badly in the Hero License exam might be because when he was telling the “civilians” to save themselves, he was projecting his own guilt about All Might onto them… I don’t know if I’ve gotten any rest since seeing that take.)

While a lot of Katsuki’s genuine fear and anxiety about being weak and failure is due to how he grew up being praised all the time for his powerful quirk and being enabled/encouraged by others to act superior, always watched and expected to be perfect, it makes sense to me that his successful and ambitious parents could have very well added to that. Especially considering the severity of it.

My dude is literally hyperventilating over this with his dramatic ahh. I know it might sound fucking childish and pathetic (and it is as much as it's sad), but it looks like Katsuki actually has a panic attack after losing to Izuku. Like it affects him THAT badly. He’s not even raging like you might expect him to. This one loss is making him freak out like he just lost everything. His entire worldview being completely turned upside down in this particular scene, the concept that he is not infallible and could lose to even Deku shakes him. He tweaks the fuck out whenever he loses or fails or things don’t go as he planned it to. Which happens a lot. 

He technically won first place at the Sport Festival, but literally nothing went his way during that entire festival. He didn’t get a perfect sweep of everything, and though he won all his matchups in the one on one fights, it doesn’t count as victory to Katsuki because Shouto refused to fight with his full power, which is like. So extremely disrespectful to someone like Katsuki, ESPECIALLY because Shouto used his flames and went all out in his fight with Izuku (No wonder he was crashing the fuck out).

Yeah, the kid’s not stable. This need for absolute victory goes to that crazy shonen-typical extent that blatantly crosses the line of being self-destructive. He’s the blueprint for Midoriya ‘Please Excuse Me While I Break All My Fucking Bones’ Izuku.

I don’t know, I guess it’s still possible that he’s just like this even without his parents contributing/encouraging it. But I find the interpretation that they did to some capacity more interesting and adds some more complexity and depth to their family dynamic. It’s at least worth exploring in my opinion. Clearly.

Anyways. His mom loves him but she deserves an L for some things. I think it makes a lot of sense if perhaps their relationship is somewhat strained and they have a hard time understanding/communicating with one another, and it can get a little toxic sometimes. Like I can totally see Katsuki being more sensitive than Mitsuki realizes, and he gets genuinely hurt by the things she says without her really thinking much about it. And because they both might be bad at dealing with vulnerability, it never really gets addressed. Mitsuki also gives off the vibe of that typa parent who’s like “idk where they got that from” ….yeah, we def need a detective on the case for this one.

There’s also people who interpret their relationship as Mitsuki not being a contributor to Katsuki’s behavior, Katsuki became what he is just from other factors going on, and that Mitsuki is now just “matching his energy.” Matching his energy??? That’s why she victim-blamed him?? That’s not the W you think it is, she’s his fucking PARENT. How is stopping down to that level appropriate or effective to correct a child’s behavior? 

The facts of the matter are: she victim-blames Katsuki. And I wish the fandom could acknowledge it without fervently denying/downplaying it, freaking the fuck out and treating me like I said that she was the worst mother in the world and that Katsuki is just a smol trauma bean who’s never done anything wrong. Why am I being treated like I’m crazy for saying Mitsuki reinforced Katsuki’s complexes and blame of himself when I am simply connecting the fucking dots?

If you still think I’m reading too deep into this or that I’m demonizing women/mothers: try picturing the scene the exact same, except Mitsuki is a man. Does that change how you’d view the scene? Tbh, I’d bet more than a few ppl would be saying Katsuki has daddy issues and learned toxic masculinity from his dad if that were the case. Yeah, that's right, I did the "if the roles were reversed" thing, fuck you. I'm a goddamn intersectionalist feminist, and we talk about how the patriarchy affects men and how many women also do things that are abusive and/or enforce the patriarchy here. Fuck your girl boss slay queen.

I also want to clarify that I’m not saying all this as a complaint of Horikoshi’s writing decisions, that he should’ve dove deeper into the Bakugou family: in fact, I think it’s good that he didn’t, because it might’ve distracted too much from the main points of Katsuki’s story. While I think his family situation adds more to his character, he still was very much influenced by quirk discrimination and hero worship and privilege, and his character development is largely about him breaking away from that and showing how it’s damaging.

Also, one last mini rant: why tf do people bring up getting verbally/mentally abused or how hard their ass was beat as a kid like it’s an achievement??? They’re like “and look, i turned out fine” no the fuck you didn’t, i bet you flinch every time someone’s hand gestures too broadly, or have a hard time standing up to authority figures when they are mistreating you, or have anxiety spikes when someone yells, or have “unexplainable” anger issues, or are perfectionist/workaholic to a fault, or find yourself in toxic abusive relationships over and over again. And it gets to a point where it feels like some people are almost bragging about it or something. Is this a competition to you? A point of cultural pride? A coping mechanism? Ok, you win bro, I’ll gladly give up the most traumatized award and hand it over to you. Here’s a goddamn purple heart for your trouble. But how about we maybe try to make the world a better place, or something?

I do not like Todoroki Enji. I do not particularly enjoy most of his moments on screen. When he cries, I would point and laugh if I wasn’t too busy rolling my eyes out of my skull. He angers me, not even just for his abhorrent behavior towards his family, but because I think he is stupid and pathetic to an unforgivable degree. And I’m fine living with that while still enjoying My Hero Academia. I appreciate the nuances of Enji’s writing and what it says about the broader MHA messaging enough that I don’t think it’s a complete waste of screentime. The fact that I’m literally about to yap an entire essay’s worth about this makes it clear I am at least somewhat invested in this character.

It’s just that, on top of my distaste for him, some Endeavor fans are stupid. Honestly, maybe I wouldn’t hate Enji as much if fans didn’t piss me the hell off. I can acknowledge that his writing/character development is good (though I do have some qualms) and of course I am of the opinion that everyone should be able to say that they like or enjoy any kind of character, no matter how reprehensible that character is morally, without getting shame or hate for it. That being said, I’ve encountered way too many Endeavor glazers that say things so idiotic, it makes me lose faith in humanity. And then they come at me for hating on his old ass.

So here’s why people are 100% valid for hating Endeavor. This is not trying to get people to change their mind about Endeavor, it’s so we can get the record fucking straight and so I have something to reference when inevitably repeating what should be obvious to everyone. 

Trigger warning: Child Abuse and Sexual Assault is discussed

One reason that Enji Todoroki is not a good human being and definitely warrants getting shit on: his abusive actions and behavior, particularly towards his wife and kids. 

Now, you’re probably thinking: this definitely could’ve gone without saying. You would think this would be uhhhh fucking obvious, since it’s literally unavoidably integral to not only Enji’s story, but every Todorki family member’s plotline. 

However, the amount of times I’ve seen people minimize or even sometimes DENY the abuse is concerning and pisses me off to no end. I’ve even seen people deny that Enji physically abused Shouto and Rei. But I don’t see those kinds of takes THAT often. So maybe it’s really just a minority of fans, maybe it’s people who read/watched MHA blind and deaf, maybe it’s people just trying to rage bait or something. 

It’s a nice thought, but then I also see some other dumbass takes like “Rei is just as bad as Enji” or “Touya didn’t even get abused” that I see on social media sites get far too many likes and validation for it to be ‘just a few fans.’ I’ve genuinely argued about this with several people multiple times, which you can call pathetic unemployed loser behavior, and you aren’t wrong. But it’s who I am. I have a goddamn point to make. And I get emotionally overinvested in fictional stories. 

First off, let’s talk about Shouto, Natsuo, and Fuyumi.

Thankfully, most people seem to acknowledge the abuse that Shouto endured, so this will be brief. But sometimes I get the sense that some people kind of forget how FUCKED it was. And mind you, this is what he experienced throughout almost his entire childhood. The fact that he is able to start healing and growing even while still living with such a ginormous dickhead and is an amazing and caring person after going through all that is so goddamn beautiful, I love Shouto so much. 

So yea, we can clearly see throughout the series that Enji forcibly “trained” Shouto from an extremely young age, the severity of which was to the point that we can see him in tears and collapsed on the ground, even throwing up and possibly bleeding. Bro can’t be more than 10 years old in that first panel, there's absolutely no reason for why Enji should be attacking him with what appears to be wooden or metal rod with enough force to pierce through the fucking floor??? Are you trying to fucking maim him??? (Although, considering how ham people go at U.A. and how little the teachers *cough*allmight*cough* seem to give a damn about safety…)

There’s also the mental abuse. He treats Shouto as property, a tool, a puppet. His ‘masterpiece.’ He completely dehumanizes Shouto, as well as completely isolates him. 

Shouto almost seems TOO well-adjusted in the series for the amount of absolutely pure FUCKERY he was put through. Thanks to him being very perceptive even as a young kid and his mom being a positive influence in his life (outside of the incident), he realized early on that Enji was a selfish piece of shit who ultimately drove his mother, his SINGULAR ALLY IN THAT DAMN HOUSEHOLD, to harm him so greatly. So he was able to resist a lot of Endeavor’s manipulation and knew how fucked up and wrong it was. 

As for Natsuo and Fuyumi, both were definitely neglected by Enji and were witness to the violence and abuse that Enji inflicted on their brothers and mother. Nothing beyond that is confirmed canon, but even just growing up around domestic violence, even if it’s not directed at them, can still be traumatizing and affect a child’s development. They were probably terrified of Enji and being around him. I think it’s interesting how they both reacted and felt differently, though.

Now let’s talk about Touya. Somehow one of the more controversial topics in this discussion despite Enji himself acknowledging he fumbled on this one. 

Before anything, let’s make one thing absolutely clear: 

EMOTIONAL NEGLECT IS A FORM OF ABUSE!!!

→ NEGLECT = ABUSE ←

I cannot keep having this conversation until people fucking understand this. I don’t care to argue whether or not we think Enji physically abused Touya. There’s not really anything suggesting he did besides maybe the training. That doesn’t mean that Touya wasn’t abused in other ways CANONICALLY. 

But even if you are hesitant to call it abuse for whatever idiotic reasons, you have to admit that Enji beyond majorly fucked over Touya. Enji played the biggest role in ‘creating’ Dabi besides AFO and Touya himself. And this goes further than giving his son those expectations of becoming the next top hero. He abandons Touya. 

Somehow, people have excuses for this. “Oh, Enji did his best, trying to distance himself from Touya was all he could really do, there wasn’t really any saving Touya.”

You can’t be fucking serious. 

All he did was throw Touya away like trash after building him up to be his masterpiece, justifying it in his fucked up head as the best thing to do despite it OBVIOUSLY not working. Touya’s conception and training was already fucked, but it’s also Enji’s actions in response to Touya’s training not going as planned. Yes, Enji cared about Touya, but his overall reasons for how he treated Touya are less about being a good father and far more about his personal quest to dethrone All Might.

You know, when something is not working, what do you do in order to achieve a solution? Try something else, right?

Well, Enji’s first genius idea after he stopped training Touya is to pop out more child soldiers– I mean, babies. The first one was a dud, time to move on.  

Clearly, that doesn’t pan out very well, since TOUYA TRIES TO KILL SHOUTO. (He bans Touya from ever interacting with Shouto again, but fuck all if he shows any concern that Touya might possible turn any violent tendencies on his other siblings or his wife.)

And after this, does he come up with something else?

Not really: keep ignoring the kid and push all the responsibility onto his wife, who he’s actively drowning. The wife who eventually breaks, burns Shouto, then is locked up and kept far away from her children for many years to come. 

Inevitably, this leads to Touya’s end and Dabi’s beginning. You’re probably already familiar. Until the very end, Enji’s active choice to ignore and abandon Touya leads his son to his destruction. His refusal to go to Sekoto Peak led to Touya burning himself alive and getting kidnapped by the LoV, though to everyone else it appeared that Touya had straight up died.

Enji’s actions in response to his eldest son’s presumable suicide? Keep abusing his remaining children.

He is so fucking stupid. 

The status quo continues, if not getting worse. He continues to neglect his other children. He continues to “train” Shouto, “training” him even harder. WHAT'S MORE IS THAT TOUYA LITERALLY TRIED TO COME HOME!!! BUT THEN HE SAW NOTHING FUCKING CHANGED AND IT LAUNCHED HIM STRAIGHT INTO HIS VILLAIN ARC!!! OH THE TRAGEDY!!!

Enji claims that his continuation of Shouto’s training was out of grief over Touya and fear that Shouto would suffer the same fate. I can acknowledge that grief and emotions make us do and think irrational things, but that reasoning is almost too weak and pathetic. Sure, it’s likely the truth in part, but that’s not all there is to it. One of your kids fucking dying wasn’t enough of a goddamn wake up call??? 

It was not as pure as that, an intention to protect Shouto from following in Touya’s footsteps. He still had his All Might hate boner, we obviously see that his plans to usurp All Might via eugenics wasn’t put to a halt. So Enji figured he’d gone past the point of no return; that he’d see his dream realized for Touya’s sake, despite it being the very thing that brought Touya’s end? Like he was some unfortunate but noble sacrifice in the grand scheme of things? “Oopsies. Well, I’ve gotten this far.” No, he knew even back then he fucked up because of his selfishness, he just couldn't accept it, choosing to continue in his ways and lose himself even more into his obsession than face what he'd done. As always, keep pushing the blame and responsibility onto anyone else. To keep projecting onto his kids and never have to face what he’s actually doing to his own family. Denying or minimizing the role he played in it all.

(The way he phrases/frames the abuse he inflicted is so fascinating and so scarily accurate.

“I know I didn’t consider your thoughts and feelings…” Quite possibly the biggest and bullshittiest understatement of all time, you fucking narcissist! This is a big part of why it was really hard for me to buy into his change of heart.)

If you are someone who thinks that Endeavor wasn’t actually abusive towards Touya, that he truly did all he could for Touya, that Touya was simply just a lost cause (despite Endeavor himself literally acknowledging that he was a coward who ran from his mistakes and he failed Touya), keep this in mind: 

Your fav cared more about being number one, angrily jacking off about All Might, BOUNCING BOUNCING BOUNCING on that wood, than getting his own fucking kid killed. 

Sure, he did care about Touya, but so what? What the FUCK did he do other than express concern over his burns and telling him to stop. Ok, great, Dad of the fucking year… nothing else to follow up with that though? Even Touya attempting to kill Shouto wasn’t enough to make him think about changing up his strategy, because clearly it wasn’t working. But no, it was always Touya’s fault, or Rei’s fault. Never his own. I don’t fucking buy it for a single goddamn second that he did all that he can do, that his neglect of Touya was purely out of concern and love. Fuck off with that bullshit. It was mostly about Enji and his stupid fucking obsession and his narcissism. 

What helps prevent massive wildfires? Control burns. Maybe he could try to Touya again with support items that they can obviously afford, or safely try to improve his limits (WHICH ENJI ALSO HAS BY THE FUCKING WAY)? Signing him up for an after school activity and encouraging him throughout? Therapy? Spending time with him, actually LISTENING to him??? Instead of telling him "uhhh idk just find something else to do bro, you'll forget about it" like a lazy bum, tell him that he is still worthy of his father’s love and pride even without being a hero and then reinforcing that with actual actions??? Go to his fucking tee ball games, Enji!!!

Yeah, but why would he do that? Touya IS worthless to Enji.

He could have saved his son, but he didn’t. He cared, but not enough.

Enji Todoroki is fucking pathetic. 

What’s also really sad is that it seems like Touya was his favorite in the sense that he actually seemed to like spending time with him and treated him with the most humanity, even if it was just when they were training; maybe because Touya was so similar to him/wanted to be just like him. He saw himself in Touya, though perhaps also as an extension of himself. Touya shared his father's determination and ambition. But when Touya turned out to be a “failure,” he suddenly became a reflection of Enji’s mistakes/selfishness that was all too real and painful to look at. Enji couldn't or refused to understand what his son truly needed until it was too late, instead pushing him away because Enji couldn’t stand seeing himself in Touya anymore. He used to be daddy’s boy 😭

Also, the audacity of him to say this…

I think people also forget how young Touya was during a lot of this. For the first 5-7 years of his life, his dad showered him with attention, promising that he was going to be the best hero, even better than All Might. Then, because of his "weak constitution”, all that is suddenly retracted and his dad is now starting to distance himself from him, like he’s disappointed in Touya and thinks he’s a failure. Yes, trying to kill Shouto was horrible. But why did he think something that extreme is what he had to do in order to get what he needed? Or maybe he was acting purely out of irrational impulse and strong emotion, which is pretty common for children, and that probably means there’s been resentment building. Touya was not acting and thinking rationally at all, and had immature fits of temper and stubbornness, because he was a CHILD that needed guidance and affirmation from his father, not distance and neglect. Experiencing abuse and rejection from a parent, especially at such a young age, is going to fuck you up for a long time, if not until the day you die.

Even so, it’s not an excuse to go on and become a murderer. That’s on Dabi, those were his choices. For Touya, he was a desperate kid who needed his dad (and probably therapy). Dabi was completely avoidable if his dad would’ve been there for him. The way some people act like Touya was just inherently a lost cause and nothing Endeavor could’ve done would have changed his fate is actually kind of sickening to me. Of course he wasn;t listening to Enji, he was the apple of his father’s eye then that was all suddenly ripped away from him because his quirk was the problem; If he could only get stronger and improve his quirk. ‘Dad thinks I can’t do it, but I’ll prove it that I can handle the pain and get stronger, and then he will want to be with me and love me again. I would do anything to get Dad to even just look at me.’ Touya is incredibly tragic and it’s frustrating when people brush it off as Touya just being “insane.” You are completely missing a significant chunk of what makes the Todoroki family’s story so good and beautiful, and I honestly feel bad for you. It’s not all about Enji, his atonement and his perspective, even though the series does give him a lot of the focus. 

Now, let’s talk about Rei. 

Oh boy. This one probably pisses me off the most, because some people seem to have the notion that Rei’s culpability in this entire mess is equal to Enji’s or significant enough to warrant her a good portion of the blame, despite her getting put into this arranged marriage wherein she is subjected to domestic abuse that eventually breaks her and drives her to mutilate her own son. 

Let’s start off by establishing one fact that many people seem to miss and vehemently deny: it is VERY STRONGLY IMPLIED and, I firmly argue, UNDENIABLY CANON that Enji sexually abused Rei. Implications can be and typically are canon guys, please use some fucking media literacy– but even besides what is implied; It is actually outright stated, at least twice, by both Shouto and Dabi I’m pretty sure, that Enji forced Rei to have children. I can see Dabi lying about that to make his dad seem worse to the public, but Shouto, who said it in a private conversation to Midoriya, whom he didn’t really have reason to lie to about that? No, Shouto believes it to be true. 

“Durrrr, but it was said she wanted more kids that one time!!!” It’s true that Rei, at some point, wanted more children. But once issues with Touya started happening, she changed her mind. 

In a conversation with Enji, she expresses she didn’t want to have another kid at that time as it would be cruel to Touya, but Enji, with his All Might hate boner, disagrees and despite Rei’s obvious fear, they have their third child Natsuo. Shouto’s conception is also presented in a way that makes it clear it was NOT out of a happy and enthusiastic coupling. 

In the anime, it’s even more apparent: we see another scene of Enji once again jorking it to All Might on the TV like a fucking chud. Rei looks fucking dead inside. Enji looks toward her menacingly, and Rei looks terrified. Very next shot is a crying newborn Shouto.

So, using this information and critical thinking skills, what do you think is implied to have happened? Why would Horikoshi– whose main concern as a mangaka is to communicate information to us effectively through visual storytelling without always being direct and explicit, especially with some very sensitive, upsetting, and visceral subjects– structure it that way? 

Here’s another important fact we all need to be absolutely clear on:

SEXUAL COERCION IS SEXUAL ASSAULT!!!

→ SEXUAL COERSION = SEXUAL ASSAULT ←

It’s sexual assault when consent is not given freely, on all parties involved. Some dumbasses like the ones I have mentioned before will say something along the lines of “oh well we don’t see him force himself on her or anything, he just looked at her, he didn’t rape her.” They are clearly dumbasses.

We know he beats her. We know he’s become obsessive in his efforts to surpass All Might. It’s not exactly unthinkable he would physically force himself on her. But whether or not he physical forced himself on her doesn’t even fucking matter. Rei is clearly afraid. 

It doesn’t matter if there was no physical struggle, if he didn’t outright threaten her or her kids, if she didn’t explicitly say no in the moment; People who consent out of fear or pressure or manipulation (COERCION) are not consenting partners. There’s a difference between someone changing their mind on their own accord and “changing their mind.” This is not even going into their already fucked power dynamic, which I’m gladly going to dive into soon. 

I just want to address that, again, Enji does also physically abuse Rei. It’s pretty damn clear but because we only witness it when it happens out of view or the aftermath of it, there’s people out there denying it. Fuck those guys. He’s also mentally abusive to her and treats her (and everyone in the family at that) in an extremely dehumanizing manner.

Anyways. Onto the whole “Rei is also at fault” shit.

 Let me pose another question: if your family was struggling financially, maybe even to the point of abject poverty, and they asked you to sell yourself into a marriage to help the family, do you think you would be able to say no?

Let’s say you do say no: maybe your family doesn’t accept that as an answer. Or maybe your family does, but every day they look at you in quiet resentment for not doing what a “good woman and dutiful daughter” would do, and you struggle to get through everyday knowing that you could’ve saved your family from suffering. Maybe they even kick you out, and now you’re impoverished on your own.

So maybe you give in and say yes. Yes, it’s an arranged marriage and you don’t know anything about this man who approached your parents– who specifically offered to marry you and bear his children in exchange for money– but maybe it won’t be so bad? He actually doesn’t seem like a terrible guy. Besides, it’s better than letting your family suffer. 

Enji says that Rei had “the option to say no,” but did she really? It seems that Rei is treated like property by the men in her life. How much of a choice did she really have in all this? 

Regardless, the fact that their marriage is this monetary and very likely a heavily contractual exchange already obliterates any chance of this relationship’s power dynamics to be anything but fucked. But whatev I guess, she knew she was getting into a marriage to produce the perfect heir for Endeavor, right? Even if she didn’t necessarily sign up for the abuse. 

Their married life started off happily, and things were going well with their two children. Then, Touya’s body couldn’t accommodate his quirk and things started to spiral. 

I hear and see people say Rei should’ve done more to prevent Touya’s downfall earlier on. Rei herself assigns herself blame for Touya’s fate. But I don’t know if I share that same perspective. Maybe she could’ve done more, but one thing I’m sure of is that she gave way more of a damn than Enji did. 

She knew that what Touya needed was attention and validation from his father specifically, not her. She knew having more kids would make Touya worse, not better. She fucking told him. Enji didn’t care. She says no here, and he isn't listening and won't take that for an answer. And he rapes her. I wonder, did she try to say no again? Maybe she felt she couldn’t. She tried to argue against him, but he’s absolutely obsessed. What if she kept saying no? What if she put up a fight? Would he beat her, use violence to force her? Or would he use that she’s essentially his merchandise– bought specifically for this baby-making purpose– against her? She did agree to this marriage knowingly, after all. Even if her mind has changed, she can’t back out now.

I’m genuinely baffled when people say she should have done more so confidently, because what could she have done? Her husband has all this power over her, and he’s the one who’s fucking causing these problems and refuses to stop and fix them. 

Rei doesn’t care about being the No. 1 hero. Rei didn’t fill Touya’s head with ambitions and promises. Enji is the only one who can actually fix this. She couldn’t do it, Touya refuses to listen to her, because she’s not the one he needs to hear from.

What about her other kids? She pours boiling water on Shouto for crying out loud!

Maybe she should’ve been stronger for the sake of her children. She should’ve bucked up and run away with the kids away from the monster she had married. She should’ve gone to get help. 

Sure, it would be a bit difficult, but she should’ve.

Pause and think about it for two seconds. Her husband is the No. 2 hero of Japan.

He has connections to the police, to government officials, to the best attorneys, to the press, to other heroes, to perhaps even international governments. Where the fuck could she go? What the fuck could she do without risking everything? She doesn’t even have any of her own fucking money. What lengths would her husband go to drag them all back, or maybe even destroy her before she could ruin his chances at becoming No. 1? Do you think he would’ve let her leave with Shouto without using everything at his disposal to get his “masterpiece” back? Even if maybe he lets her and even the other kids go, he’s sure as hell not letting Shouto go, who would then ultimately be stuck alone with Enji. 

Could she go back to her family, the people that had sold her off in the first place? Would they accept her in and protect her and her children? Would they be culpable if Rei left him and/or tried to divorce? Would they be indebted to him? Would they despise her for it, disown her and throw her out to fend for herself?

What about friends, if she even has any? Has she even been in recent contact with them? How isolated has she been while being a mom of four and a housewife to an increasingly abusive husband? Could her friends afford the space to take her and the kids in? Would they be willing to, especially with a Pro Hero breathing down their necks? Would she be too heavy a burden, or even drag them into the whole mess?

Leaving might not be an option, at least not one that is worth the amount of risk. 

And lastly, one thing I cannot STAND is the way Horikoshi decided to write Rei when she takes a more active role in the present-day Todoroki plot line. SHE GIVES ENJI WAAAYYYY TOO MUCH GRACE AND CREDIT. 

“He remembered I like these flowers so he’s not all that bad” and then she’s fucking wheeling him around in the end… GIRL. LEAVE HIM. YOU ARE FREE!!! 

I hope to god that doesn’t mean they’re together after all that. I can already foresee that relationship reaching a whole nother LEVEL of toxic with that trauma bond and boat load of guilt, holy fucking shit. The worst part is that I could see it as Rei resigning herself to stay with Enji because of the guilt she feels about her kids and thinks she deserves to be stuck with his bum ass. The fact that she was assigning herself so much of the blame for how their family turned out actually drives me insane. 

Hori, what the freak.

From what I understood, Rei felt like they had to put up a united front to help Touya (which was probably the smartest thing to do atp), but in the aftermath, I absolutely cannot accept them being back together. I’m choosing to interpret the ending more as Rei doing it for Touya and the other kids but keeping distance from Enji outside of that.

I think to really boil down WHY I have all this deep-rooted disdain, disgust, and hatred of Endeavor: he is an embodiment of toxic masculinity and a misogynist, patriarchal society, whether Horikoshi is fully aware of this or not (I would think so, but honestly his writing in general usually lacks depth and consideration regarding this subject anyways). He’s yet another case of a man in power once again getting away with it, while the victims are the ones who get the scrutiny, the blame, the consequences.

Enji reminds me of those cops who commit acts of domestic violence and get away with it because their police buddies and the system protects them. If Rei tried to get help from the outside, people probably would’ve turned a blind eye. Because who wants to go against the No. 2 Hero? Besides, she’s probably just lying, probably a gold digger or something (and holy fuck would that be argument used against Rei if there ever was a divorce/custody case). 

My Hero Academia is undeniably a story that is set in a patriarchal society. You cannot dispute this (it is evident in so many ways, but if you need a real obvious example: The fight between Uraraka and Bakugou during the sports festival). 

Setting your story in a patriarchal society itself is not a “good” or “bad” thing; in this case, it's likely just a reflection of what irl modern day Japan is like. Horikoshi does address some themes of patriarchy/misogyny and he handles female characters… at least a little better than some other shonen authors. Some of his female characters are definitely kickass, don't get me wrong. I also think Toga’s writing is pretty good. But I overall think that MHA has its fair share of flaws when it comes to how women are portrayed/written, and I think Rei is probably one of the most heinous examples of this. 

Also, before you start with the “how come [insert villain] doesn’t get as much hate as endeavor” “ppl like and make excuses for the villains but hate Enji” STOP RIGHT THERE. It is a fair point. 

However, here’s why I think that is the case amongst the fanbase: First of all, the world of heroes and villains is far less tethered from reality than abuse similar to what occurs in the Todoroki home, which does indeed happen in real life quite often, unfortunately. People are probably going to feel more affected– perhaps even on a personal level– by depictions of domestic abuse than a dude turning thousands of people and buildings into dust with just a touch of his hand. A real life equivalent of the latter I can think of is maybe dropping a bomb on a city, which I will agree is the objectively “bigger problem.” Both are really bad though, to different extents and degree/amount of harm done.

I know it seems ridiculous and I’m not saying that people are justified in minimizing abominable actions. However, one is significantly closer to reality than the other and a lot more emotionally invested for viewers, considering how it’s generally seen as especially reprehensible to hurt those that depend on you and that you supposedly care for. It’s a sort of betrayal that's felt on behalf of the characters, which readers/watchers don’t feel even when larger and worse acts of violence are committed by those we know are meant to be “the bad guys.”

Most of the villains’ victims are numerous but nameless and impersonal to the characters, so it doesn’t necessarily impact a lot of viewers much other than a ‘damn, that’s fucked up.’ Even the League of Villains (sans AFO), most of which have been abused themselves, sort of have a found family situation, and they care for and protect one another rather than treat each other callously or poorly. Considering that Shouto and Dabi are very popular characters, who were very much hurt by someone who was supposed to nurture and protect them, it’s not a surprise to me that a lot of fans would have a dislike for Endeavor that they don’t have for “morally worse” characters. 

Secondly… it is people like Endeavor that are literally CREATING THESE VILLAINS IN THE FUCKING FIRST PLACE??? Like YEAH ykw maybe I WOULD hate Enji more than Dabi, even though Dabi is a self-admitted murderer and self-absorbed maniac. Dabi is a menace and he made his own choices, but who fucking pushed him to that breaking point? ENJI. Shigaraki? Fucking groomed and abused into being a villain literally his whole fucking life. He never had agency, never had a fucking living chance to be anything but a villain. Fuck AFO. 

Endeavor is meant to be an example of the corrupt/toxic hero system and how society treats heroes/quirks/women. Initially, the most important thing about his character besides how it relates to Shouto’s character arc is that is how the concept of quirk marriage is introduced to the audience; which is presented as bad and archaic but still present. And clearly produces some major fucking issues. His major purpose as a character is to be an example of weaponized privilege that inflicts abuse and propagates discrimination, and he (and society) do eventually decide to change for the better. Like in deliberate fucking contrast, all the main villain characters (except AFO because he’s just an actual fricking demon) have motivations and backstories directly related to the abuse and discrimination they went through, how that greatly affected their lives, and are now broken people who refuse to change. 

I think Endeavor changing for the better is a good thing and should be encouraged. It’s definitely better than him remaining stuck in his ways. He’s trying to stop further harm caused by his actions from being done. And I think the villains remaining in their destructive, violent, malicious, and immature behavior until the very end is a bad thing. But I think it’s understandable why some people might find the villains more sympathetic.

ANOTHER thing I wanted to acknowledge as well: my favorite MHA character is Bakugou Katsuki heheheh I always have to talk about him. Now, Bakugo being my favorite character might seem paradoxical to all my harping on Endeavor. And that’s a completely fair observation that I’ve even questioned myself. And I have some findings to share.

If you don't give a damn, feel free to skip to the last 2-3 or so paragraphs of this already long-winded rant that probably should've ended by now.

On a surface level, Katsuki and Enji probably seem basically one in the same. So there’s a hypocrisy perceived when people like one but not the other. There are also quite a few noticeable parallels between the two. However, while I do acknowledge the many similarities between them— aggressive behaviors, desperately needing to be the best, more concerned about hero work and results than relationships and considering other people’s wellbeing, wanting the title of the Number One Hero— There are some important distinctions that I think make a significant difference. Namely two differences:

Reason 1: For the majority of the story, Katsuki is a child. Enji is not.

Reason 2: Katsuki’s worldview vs Enji’s worldview.

These both kind of tie into each other. 

Just like with Enji, I don’t like when Bakugo fans engage in abuse apologia. While I think the severity of the abusive behavior is less than Enji’s, I’m not out here trying to defend Katsuki’s actions, or justify it because it’s “not as bad” as Enji’s actions. Both characters did reprehensible things that harmed people close to them out of egotistical, selfish reasons. 

Age doesn’t excuse bullying. That being said… you are fucking lying if you say that there is no difference between a kid and a grown man. Maturity is OBVIOUSLY a substantial factor. Why do you think that, in many criminal cases, a minor that commits a crime is punished to a lesser degree than an adult committing the same crime would? Sure, there are exceptions. But it’s true that generally children are not held to the exact same standards that adults, mainly because of the fact that they are still very much developing. Meanwhile Endeavor is well past his formative years. He peaked long ago and is making it hell for everyone else. 

But perhaps that doesn’t really matter. Katsuki was an abuser all the same, and he did horrible things to Izuku even into their mid-teen years! He should have known better than that!

…But did he? HEAR ME OUT. I argue that Katsuki didn’t fully comprehend why his actions were wrong– or rather, how wrong they were, and his reasons for doing those things. I think he still understood to some extent that being a bully  wasn’t exactly smiled upon by general society and he understood he was hurting Izuku, but when did he ever have to face consequences for abusive behavior until U.A., where it wasn’t tolerated by the staff or his peers? Prior to that, it seems like people turned a blind eye toward Katsuki's bullying, and it’s not like he did it all that quietly and under the radar! His whole life up until UA, he and Izuku had been surrounded by enablers of Katsuki’s behavior. Adults did nothing about it and the other kids would join in. Even in his home life, we see that aggressive behavior is something that has been normalized for him.  In the remedial arc, he mentions that it is “how he was raised" in regards to physical punishments/violence. He seems genuinely confused and taken-aback when others push back against his… uh, interesting suggestions.

His whole life, Katsuki was praised for his quirk, treated as superior, but on the flip side he shouldered all that expectation. He freaks out and even has panic attacks when he fails or doesn’t win solely through his own merit, because his entire sense of identity and self worth is dependent on being the best and winning. Dude definitely has that gifted kid syndrome shit. Meanwhile, Izuku— who doesn’t even have a quirk— is so stubbornly insistent on becoming a hero, like he’s on some equal standing with Katsuki or some shit. In fact, that nerd even has the audacity to look down on him! Why wouldn’t bullying useless Deku be acceptable? No one is stopping him from doing it, and they were laughing at Deku too, so it’s okay, and everyone else agrees! Clearly, Deku needed to learn his place, and he just wasn’t getting it. If anything, Katsuki was doing him and everyone else a favor. 

Bakugo Katsuki is also fucking pathetic. His worldview prior to developing at UA was childish and egotistical. And I believe that because of how he grew up, he didn’t fully understand until later in the series that treating Izuku the way he did was “that bad” (and the result of actual insecurity/weakness on his part) until he went through several events that challenged that worldvie, breaking it down and eventually shattering it so he had no choice but to rework his perception of everything. He’s then able to acknowledge what he’d done, that it was wrong, and that he did it out of his own insecurity and fear.

However, it’s true we don’t really know anything about how Endeavor was raised. We pretty much just know that his father died working as a hero and Enji witnessed it. We’re not told how he was raised, but as he was raised by a hero and became pretty successful at a young age, he probably was pretty deep entrenched in pro-hero society since childhood, with strong ambitions and an obsession to be No. 1 perhaps born out of the death of his father. Maybe he grew up very similarly to Katsuki. Maybe he didn’t.

Still, for what we know, Enji didn’t start off abusive, even though he had started his family with the intentions of creating a hero capable of surpassing All Might. In fact, they seemed pretty happy. So he knows how one should treat family, and then…. Well, you know what happens. And I almost want to say that he would have probably gotten domestic violence training as a pro-hero, but I also kind of doubt it. 

My point is that Katsuki didn’t know better until he did, Enji knew better and got worse. And, once again, Enji is a GROWN MAN. Katsuki is not. I’ve seen people call Katsuki a manchild which is… interesting, considering he’s literally a child? Katsuki haters, keep doing your thing by all means, but let’s at least be reasonable lmfao. 

I believe that the reason why parallels between Katsuki and Enji were made in the first place is because part of the message of MHA is the younger generation healing what has been deeply wounded by the older generations (spanning back many many decades bc AFO old as shit). I don’t think it’s inaccurate to think that if Katsuki hadn’t gone through the hardships that he went through, hadn’t had his teachers and classmates that broke through his walls and called him out, if he wasn’t humbled and given the opportunity to learn why his worldview and mindset was wrong, he could’ve gone down a very similar path as Enji did. But he didn’t. It doesn’t erase or excuse the bullying. But I think it definitely saved him from becoming as irredeemable as Endeavor. 

And despite the awful things that were inflicted on them, characters like Izuku and Shouto became heroes that then reached out their hands to characters like Shigaraki and Dabi, who were undeniably heinous but were also victims of abuse and prejudice. Breaking and changing the status quo for the better, trying to save those that people that were deemed as unsaveable. Shouto paying for the sins of the father and all that.

To conclude, Endeavor fans who make excuses for him or minimize his wrongdoings are engaging in the antithesis of the message Endeavor’s story is trying to go for, which is taking accountability and atoning; NOT expecting and looking for forgiveness, not to justify or erase his actions, not to be redeemed. He’s a well-written character and trying to make him seem more redeemable hurts his writing. What’s more, I would ride for y’all in terms of defending your validity to like him as a character despite his wrong doings. How am I, someone who doesn’t like the character, a better advocate for Endeavor and his story than you??? Stop being idiots. And I hope some of you are not/never become parents, at least not until you gain some more emotional intelligence and empathy skills first.