what weâve seen of kirishimaâs backstory so far really puts his entire character into better perspective and makes his dynamic with bakugou even more complex and interesting.
like, when we first meet kirishima officially, he already has a fair bit of confidence. he stands up front during the first hero exercises, and doesnât shy away from commenting on whatâs happening. during the usj arc, he and bakugou are the first people to run towards danger when they try to attack kurogiri.
the middle school kirishima wouldâve frozen, but a few months later heâs literally the first of a group of heroes to rush in. whether or not that was a smart move, i have to wonder if kirishima consciously made that choice to prove something to himself, or if whatever changed his mind about applying to yuuei had already changed his initial responses so much.
and the fact that he ends up alone with bakugouâ a character who is his opposite in many waysâ is significant, too. at usj, kirishima says he wants to rejoin the others, but bakugou pretty quickly convinces him to go after the villains. so i have to think that kirishima initially thinks of the safe route, but then sees brash and overconfident bakugouâs response and thinks âheâs acting how i think a hero should act in this situation.â i mean, by that point itâs an obvious storytelling choice to have midoriya and bakugou present for the big fight. todoroki was more of an unknown variable at that point, but we very quickly learn his importance. but kirishima is the forth person there, and weâre not immediately made aware of his significance, at least not to the same scale as the others.
and itâs also after that arc that kirishimaâs attitude towards bakugou shifts. in the first few indirect interactions they have, kirishima is awed or unsure about bakugouâ calling him out as erratic during his fight with midoriya, for instance. but after this, kirishima volunteers to be on bakugouâs team during the sports festival, and from then on theyâre friendly (or as friendly as bakugou is towards anyone).
so now weâve pulled back a few months and seen where kirishima was starting from. he had no confidence in his own abilities, and lacked the kind of brash and thoughtless courage that usually characterizes hero-types. but he acquires that courage, and i think thatâs a pretty amazing transformation.
contrast that with bakugou, who has no shortage of courage and pride, but who canât admit his vulnerabilities to the point that they eat away at him and make him dangerously unstable. he and kirishima literally have opposite starting points. one of them has no faith in himself at all, and the other only has faith in himself and nothing else.
bakugou needs someone heâs on equal footing with to help him learn how to have trust in others and allow himself to accept help from them. kirishima gives him that, because bakugou never feels that kirishima is condescending to him. and thatâs likely because kirishimaâs admiration of bakugouâs courage and convictions is so genuineâ heâs been hearing about bakugouâs strength since middle school. but he also has gotten close enough to see bakugou as an actual person, and can therefore understand his feelings.
kirishima needs someone who can build him up and help him believe in himself. at first glance, bakugou might seem like the worst candidate for this, but heâs actually the best. kirishima knows that bakugou is never going to compliment him just to spare his feelingsâ so when bakugou says that kirishima is strong, or accepts kirishimaâs help, he knows exactly how much bakugouâs good opinion is worth. he can believe it, because he knows bakugou is never going to do anything just to be nice.
so kirishima starts out believing in others but not himself, and bakugou starts out believing in himself but not others. theyâve slowly started to meet in the middle, and i think theyâll both be essential to each otherâs growth going forward.
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