sandishee 🔞 眼帯

Since the official English version didn’t translate Midoriya’s notes, I decided to clean up the rough translation I previously made for my own reference. 

This post is just for the Todoroki & Bakugou team-up mentioned on page 3. The notes on page 2 are about other members of Class A.

1) 最強かも！？ saikyou kamo!? Probably the strongest!?

*Note: The official version translates Bakugou’s response as, “If I team up with Todoroki we’d be invincible?!?” However, in the original Japanese, he quotes Midoriya’s word, 最強 (saikyou) which is generally translated as “strongest”. A more direct translation for “invincible” would be 無敵 (muteki) but it wasn’t used in the original.

2) かっちゃんと轟くんのコンボ、相補性! Kacchan to Todoroki-kun no konbo, souhosei! Kacchan and Todoroki-kun's combo, (their) complementarity!

3) 百いに与えるメリットが多い hyakui ni ataeru meritto ga ooi It offers many advantages *百 (hyaku) means 100. I think it’s just emphasizing how many advantages there are.

4) 炎熱と爆破の共通点を活かして波状攻撃も可能また氷結による滑走で飛距離 en’netsu to bakuha no kyoutsuuten o ikashite hajoukougeki mo kanou mata hyouketsu ni yoru kassou de hikyori By making use of the similarities between blazing heat and explosions, it is possible to attack in waves. Also by gliding on ice (they) can travel a great distance [the rest of the line is cut off]

5) 轟くんがかっちゃんを。。。 Todoroki-kun ga Kacchan o… Todoroki-kun can/should do [some kind of action*] to/with Kacchan

*Note - it's not really possible to know what Midoriya wrote here because the rest of the sentence is cut out of the frame, but this fill-in-the blank translation reflects the subject-object-verb sentence structure.

I'm guessing it says something like “Todoroki-kun should team-up with Kacchan,” but the tdbk possibilities are endless.

The brightness of the Sun will give me just enough

Essentially 429 was the final chapter, and 430 was the curtain call, which I drew with the sense that it was a bonus stage in a video game. With this, the story of My Hero Academia ends. It's been a long time since we labelled something the final chapter, hasn't it!!

The last two sentences there refer to the creation of 431, which comes immediately after.

At the end of his postscript, which includes a lot of beautiful, sincere, and humble thanks, he adds this:

P.S. As of this chapter, 431, we put the cameras down and set the characters free from the drama. We thank them for continuing to do their best for us."

The word he uses for drama is literally what people use to refer to television programs. The cameras are off, this is outside of the story we have followed.

There is still a "next volume" hype page, but it's this:

NEXT VOLUME! Everyone who has grown up will spend their weekends totally talking up a storm at a saizeriya*!! It's the opening of "My Friday Saizeriya"!!

-a useless dump of BNHA trivia on Names and speculations on the future plot based on them.

BEWARE- LONG-ASS POST AHEAD! MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD! BAT-SHIT CRAZY RANTING AHEAD!!!

(Part 1 : The Prototype/ Akatani Mikumo)

This is a post I have been meaning to make for months, but I had no outlet until recently where I joined both tumblr and ao3. It has always been fascinating to me how Horikoshi sensei names his characters. The amount of thought that has been poured into them is astounding.

Today, dear folks I will tell you the reason why I was crying and screaming for two hours straight after reading the BNHA chapter that introduced BlackWhip and ultimately convinced me to create a tumblr for my headcanons and start writing a fanfic based on it.

Today is where we discuss the gift of genius that is Horikoshi Kohei (and the ultimate TROLL that this shy motherfucker really is; move over Tite Kubo we have a new king in the game)

Now we know that the proto of Midoriya Izuku was this edgy kid with a bad haircut called Akatani Mikumo ( 海谷 美雲). His childhood friend Gougou Katsuki, later Bakugou Katsuki, named him ‘Yamikumo’ (闇雲)

Let’s talk about…

Akatani Mikumo

谷- spells as 'tani’, meaning 'valley’ but it can also be read as 'Ya’. This explains the nickname 'Yamikumo’. This also comes in the 'ya’ of Midoriya

赤- spells as 'aka’; meaning red

海- spells as 'Mi’ meaning 'Sea’

雲- spells as 'Kumo’ meaning 'cloud’

'Red valley Sea Cloud’….. jesus christ on a tricycle… that’s a scenery in one frigging name 🤣

So basically Horikoshi changed the title from red to green (as midori means green, but you knew that) valley. And called him a beautiful lil scenery. Lol. ( He is beautiful, Horikoshi. So, so beautiful. )

anyway, moving on…

Let’s have a closer look at this little nickname which left me shooketh.

Yamikumo (闇雲)

闇- spells as 'yami’ meaning 'darkness.’

雲- same as before, means cloud

Now the name Yamikumo translates to 'dark cloud’, it literally means 'blindly’ or 'recklessly’ hinting that proto-Katsuki nicknamed him based on this exact trait of recklessness. Just as canon Katsuki named Izuku after his 'uselessness’

Side Point: This reminds me of the dark cloudy things we see in Izuku’s dream of OfA. (Quite a way to put that in, Horikoshi-sensei.)

“Well that’s pretty normal uptil now. We already know all this information. What’s the big issue here?”

Y-Yes, pl-please allow me t-to explain!

As with the meaning of 'Deku’ which has meanings beyond 'Dekiru’ (You can do it!) and 'Deku’ (useless, blockhead) ;and I will reveal in a shorter post later onwards.

The name Yamikumo too had a SECOND meaning.

Most Japanese people might be already familiar with these ulterior meanings of both nicknames but I have never seen a post on them so I just thought of putting up my own. (Fuck I am digressing again)

Okie, now back to NAME

’Yami’

Yami ('やみ) = dark

it is a straight forward, no-bullshit reference to the dark and edgy protagonist design. I believe Horikoshi called him 'Fiend Kid’ ?????? (Why give hime such a lame, try-hard edgy hero name, Horikoshi…just ….Why?). Obviously, Horikoshi meant our protagonist to have a darker past or cynical mannerisms as many of the blogs and fics portray.

But the problem I have here is with the name-

'Kumo’

It can mean several things depending on the different kanji/katakana/hiragana. But if you use good old Google translate (like moi did) you will arrive at THIS MEANING

くも- (hiragana) = Spider

クモ- (katakana) = Spider

a fucking 'SPIDER’ …

Now…many fans already know that Horikoshi sensei once said that Midoriya Izuku was based off Spiderman and it really shows in the chapters with his new quirk 'Black Whip’. What he should have also told us that he literally tried to name our protagonist with a name that has a double meaning of a fricking SPIDER.

This goddamn TROLL that Horikoshi Kohei is…ughh

((I screamed about this all night when I found, and went on a nerd-rage trying to explain this to my father, who btw, forgot for a minute that Japan is in the EAST. That is exactly how much people around me know about manga -that it’s from Japan and it comes from the East))**facepalms through the skull**

((CAN YOU IMAGINE MY PAIN?!))

Deku “デク”

Notice how Deku (デク) also has the 'ク’ katakana like in Kumo(クモ). It also means 'nine’. I find it really clever that this name both points to the number 9 as well as an insect with 8 legs (8 predecessors of OfA? hmm?)

So BASICALLYThe other meaning of 'Yamikumo’ can be ’Dark; Spider’

闇 の 蜘 蛛 - Spider of Darkness.

Now, NAME A FICTIONAL CHARACTER INSPIRED BY A DARK SPIDER POPULAR IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE?

You know it, You have meme-d it, you drew and hit 'like’ on its fanart, wrote and read fanfics on it;

You made it the BNHA phenomena it became since the BlackWhip.

It’s none other than Spiderman’s-

“Venom”

It always puzzled me why Horikoshi-sensei didn’t use the name “Akatani Mikumo” instead of Midoriya Izuku. These are a few (Crack and Not-so-Crack) reasons I can think of-

The derivative nicknames impact the character. It doesn’t suit Deku’s (I can do it!!) lovely character over Yamikumo’s (Dark Cloud/Dark Spider) edgy one. But really this is a bullshit reason. The protag could have been edgy as hell and I would have still loved how awkward, self-sacrificing and dedicated he is. I am sure many will agree.

I understand that the friction between him and Katsuki over a nickname wouldn’t have happened if he chose the proto name. But Horikoshi could have shown that in a different way - like more instances of the bullying. Instead Horikoshi CHOSE to change the protag’s name COMPLETELY to connect Katsuki to the protag by a damned nickname one way or another. (Horikoshi was basically bro-shipping these two even before we started Bakudeku 🤣)

Totally Crack Reason: Horikoshi probably saw this horseshit with Venom memes coming even before he started the first chapter of the manga. Imagine the meme-flood if he had chosen the name Akatani Mikumo (Yamikumo). But he 'Nope’d his way out of it early. Two hundred chapters later, we finally catch up on a joke he ultimately decided not to play.

WHAT THE FUCK, Horikoshi-sensei?!

Headcanon Time:

Now this is my belief (and a headcanon I have already put use to) that Our dear Cinnamon Roll Deku - WILL be controlled by an external agent (AfO?! maybe?!!) just like the Symbiote or Venom did. And he will have to fight it off. I have another reason to believe this which will be discussed in “Part 2: Deku” of this useless rant.

It makes sense to me since Deku is, otherwise, a character at complete development. The author needs a perfect character to handle the dark influence of whatever is coming in future chapters to handle it well. If the protagonist were a character with lesser development, the manga would take an even darker road that the show originally didn’t pack for. It’s target audience might be diverse but its still mainstream anime and won’t include too many disturbing details.

Yes, it deals with Bullying, Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Kidnapping, Human trafficking, Human Experimentation, Drug Use and lots of dark stuff but it has never delved deeply into it. Never. We see the fights, maybe a disturbing shadow play of a gruesome act; we see the aftermath but we dont see it actually happening. And I think, we never will because the editors and show producers know what kind of direction they want with this.

Deku’s character provides perfect ground for a collision of wills that is staple in shonen genre and bring out the 'Good vs Evil’ trope to a unanimous conclusion ('unanimous’ depending on how well Horikoshi writes, many mangaka botch the ending with a fine-ass plot, but I have to trust him. we will see how it goes)

Another hint to the 'Deku goes Dark’ has to be in THIS panel.

Notice how he says “I wasn’t afraid of this new power then”

It means Deku wasn’t afraid at that point in time but it can mean that he might have been afraid later on.

So, maaaaaybe, there is a possibility of Deku going “Dark Side”!?!

V!Deku: “Hmm? Someone called?”

Me: shit, he hawt…but…

NO, NOT THAT DARK.

D: If you insult Kacchan one more time Monoma…I wIlL eNd YoU

Monoma: *gulps*

Yep, something like this.

Even if he does go Dark in the manga, I am sure it will be something like Ninetails Naruto v Pain, Ichigo v Ulquiorra, etc etc.

But still it is really exciting!

Needless to say, In the event that I am proven wrong and Deku doesn’t go berserk, I will be very VERY disappointed. Not that I want him to suffer, but him bashing Villains with SEVEN-fucking-quirks is gonna be a through and through Badass Arc. Can you imagine the Absolute Bad-ass BEAST he’d become with all those powerful quirks buzzing under his skin?

According to Horikoshi’s trolling-ass, that Beast is apparently the most adorable (yet disturbing) Moth I have ever seen:

(Another insect? Is this a coincidence or maybe a joke? My over-analyzing ass thinks -THE FUCK NOT)

But I CANNOT tell you how BADLY I want this shit canon.(No, Not Mothoriya. But the Beast-Deku knocking Villains with 7 quirks)

Just Imagine The Sheer Epicness

Am I exaggerating, reading too much into it, creating mountains out of mole hills? Maybe I am, maybe I am off my rocker, absolute bat-shit crazy (I most certainly am), but I can dream, can’t I? Horikoshi might never answer my prayers for a Deku going crazy with so much power in his hands, maybe he will. No one knows the future.

So for now, the only thing we can do is wait and watch…

What Izuku rejects is the opportunity to be Katsuki's SIDEKICK. He doesn't reject being a hero or competing with Katsuki. He rejects working FOR/UNDER Katsuki. Which is hilarious because Katsuki accepts (apparently multiple times) showing up as a guest lecturer to help out Izuku's class. Katsuki tells Izuku that "If everyone is special, no one is special," which has the potential for SO MUCH DOUBLE MEANING. But what there is no ambiguity about to me is he's basically telling Izuku "Hey, notice this. I'm treating you special. You're special to me. NOTICE."

It's also implied that Izuku sees Katsuki more regularly than he sees most others from their class, which is emphasized by the previous chapter when Aizawa complains to him about Katsuki's behavior in public affecting his ranking. Katsuki basically tells Izuku he needs to start thinking about himself more, and he also ends their final interaction with a "See ya [later]." Katsuki is NOT talking about Ochako, but Izuku takes some of his advice as the impetus for going to talk to Ochako (specifically they just wanna talk more after the dinner since the dinner is now over and they didn't get to talk). So what was Katsuki thinking of? I personally read his "See ya later" as "You'll figure it out, just go handle what you gotta right now and you can catch up to me later."

Hilariously, Izuku calls Katsuki out for being the one to say "If you don't start thinking a little more highly of yourself, you won't notice the things you should." Izuku's response is basically, "Look who's talking." Again, the potential for double meaning here is painfully obvious. He could be referring to SO MANY THINGS and we're meant to infer what that is. WE GET TO GUESS. Izuku could be saying "You did stuff just as bad as what you're saying," or "You're STILL not noticing something, Kacchan."

And Izuku taking inspiration from Katsuki's words to go talk to Ochako is meaningful in another way--IT MEANS IZUKU LISTENED TO HIM. Katsuki is having an influence on Izuku in a way to improve who he is just like Izuku did for him in high school. Izuku takes Katsuki's advice seriously. NO ONE HAS EVER GOTTEN HIM TO UNDERSTAND THIS LESSON BEFORE NOW. It ends with Izuku and Ochako deciding to talk more, but what it shows us is the beginning of Izuku considering himself more. If Izuku follows Katsuki's advice long enough, he'll end up back in the competition with Katsuki just like Katsuki expects him to. That is just as easy of a conclusion to make from the theme of "inevitability" that Shouto gives us (and that Izuku also takes to heart).

This ending implies that inevitably Izuku's gonna catch up again, basically. Things will continue to change. So yeah, we get a beginning where he and Ochako meet up to talk, but it's just a beginning. It's one night of chatting. They're seeing if something's there now (which kind of implies that there wasn't much there before), but it's left open-ended. And I think it's left open-ended what happens with Ochako on purpose because anyone can read how that ends up however they like. You just have to decide as a reader what's "inevitable" for Izuku Midoriya from this point on. Me? I've decided Izuku is taking Katsuki's advice to treat people who mean more to him better. Ochako is just the beginning. Izuku has other people in his life he needs to show love to as well (because that's what this is, Izuku is learning to show people that they're important to him, that he loves them, because saving people doesn't do that--he saves EVERYONE). And then maybe he'll start to see how the people who love him treat him special too, like guest SPECIAL (same kanji) LECTURER KATSUKI BAKUGOU.

tl;dr there is a lot left open to interpretation and it's probably on purpose, read the chapter however you like, just like we did with the last chapter.

trick or treat 💚🧡

(ignore how late this is)