who is stars and stripes
Because apparently there’s controversy over her????
So here’s my take on our gorgeous and super cool number one hero of the USA.
If you’ve seen my posts, you already know that I love her because she looks so goddamn cool in despite the ridiculous imitation of All Might (like srsly, she used to be a smol little glasses girl)
buuuuut, as much as I love admiring her panels and shading, she is... not a good hero. Not as far as we’ve seen, at least.
Let’s take a look at who Star is:
When she’s first introduced, she looks like frickin female all might, like dude:
Buuuuut, here’s quite a statement:
ok lol this acc killed me, but aside from making ppl laugh, was this perhaps an indication that Star is stronger, or has the potential to be more powerful than All Might?
Maybe, but I’m not so sure. See, she wants to be like him and surpass, and her idea of that is being more powerful than him, rather than having a greater impact.
What does that mean? It means she is focused on ‘power to destroy the enemy,’ which, frankly, contradicts the entire premise of Boku no Hero Academia.
Horikoshi loves greys: nobody in bnha is black or white, they are always somewhere in the middle, and even then what is considered ‘lighter’ or ‘darker’ changes with different perspectives. That’s why it’s important for us to see the human and negative sides of heroes, as well as the experiences and surprisingly relatable sides of villains. In this way, she is the anti-thesis to Deku who sees humanity in Shigaraki and wants to ‘save’ him.
So, back to Star. Right from the get-go, I could tell she was reckless. Like, come on, all the other countries could not aid Japan as they were dealing with their own surges of villainy (apropos to AFO who mentioned having ‘friends’), and their Number Ones, though desperate to help their buddy All Might, were held back by their governments.
Star is not. Before negotiations even end, she’s out of the country. While this may be seen as loyal and quick to take action, Star is just being rash. For one, considering her quirk relies on knowledge, specifically the names of what she wants to control, she has literally no real idea of the situation, or who Shigaraki really is. Her quick-action would be infinitely more admirable if she had actually reconvened with the japanese heroes. They have all the information! Consider why Star can’t control Shiggy:
Star would’ve known she couldnt use her quirk properly on him if she’d even just had a quick summary of who Shiggy is from the japanese heroes (i.e. that his birth name is Shimura Tenko, his villain name is Tomura Shigaraki, and AFO has merged his consciousness with him)
This wouldve saved a lot of unnecessary energy and resource waste, as well as allowed time to strategize on the optimal battle plan before the confrontation. (but we know the USA likes to jump into things without listening to advice and learn lessons the hard way... *cough* World War 1 *cough*)
Actually, let’s talk about the perspective of the USA. Why was Star able to get away with yeeting like she did? Well, clearly, it isn’t the first time she’s defied authority, since we hear from Captain Ackbar that this time she wont get away with just a slap on the wrist, implying she has before.
(and just, before anything, can we appreciate the star wars reference XD)
In Japan, heroes are nationalized and monitored by the Hero Commission. I really like the headcanon from petrichor’s fanfic ‘Parallax’ (brilliant read, full of information and explanations straight out of my school curriculum, they are the only reason I am passing highschool).
The headcanon is that heroes are a ‘replacement’ or sorts for Japan’s military, which could no longer be established after the WW2 concession. It’s a wonderful idea that explains why heroes are so widely and intensely propagated in the series.
Piggybacking off of that, I initially wondered if the reason Stars could get away with her rash actions without consequence is because in the USA heroes might actually be privatized, and thus her agency does not need to take any real orders from the government. The money perhaps would’ve come from insurance and merchandise and/or sponsoring, but the latest chapter (331) and further rumination quickly shut that idea down.
Clearly Star was connected with and works with the military in the USA, and we all know the military in the USA defers to the government (as opposed to a military state, where the military is independent and often has more power).
Plus, Captain basically implies/says that the government is Star’s boss XD
Sooo, this means that it’s just that Star has so much power and influence (note: her army ‘brothers’) that she can get away with a lot. Why is this important?
It’s an indication that in the USA, power means you can do what you want, even if it goes against the government... or the law.
And Star has become a hero under these circumstances, so she also has these traits.
Whilst ackbar praises her
This selfishness and hastiness is only viable in her own country for one, and two she must know how to limit herself. While certainly having some of that selfishness and quick-to-action attitude is important for a leader, and can help you save ppl according to what is true to yourself beyond the limitations of the law (another recurring theme in bnha), some form of regulation is important.
There’s a reason authorities are legally more trustworthy than vigilantes (... yes this is debatable, police can exploit the system, vigilantes can have their own moral codes and whatever, but that is not our current argument), but Star doesnt seem to care much for these regulations? Even the threat of losing her status as hero doesnt seem to faze her because she’s just that confident in her power - she will beat Shiggy, and will return proud.
Bouncing off that, the panel that I think caused the biggest surge of dislike against her was this one:
uh oh, Star wants to override Japanese law and kill Shiggy~
While dead Shiggy is lowkey appealing (maybe not for the folks for whom he is their fav character, in which case... sorry not sorry, but I’ve never rlly cared abt him? some of the other ‘main’ villains always had some sort of charm to them that made me enjoy reading about them even just a little. Shiggy is still an interesting character, just one I dont care too much abt despite being the ‘main’ baddie), this is once again Star being rash.
She has not consulted with the Japanese government, she does not have anyone’s permission, not even her own government, and she’s trying to use a thing called the ‘override order’ (which def feel like smthing superpower USA would implement). This was too selfish and brash. But that’s just the USA: once you involve them, they just wanna do things their way.
And ‘their way’ usually involves nukes
but hey, when you got a problem, the easiest way to go is to just blow it up~
So yes, though Stars and Stripes (what a lowkey lame name XD) is pretty and badass, she is not an ideal hero, nor is she really meant to be
Especially not for this story, which is all about the nuances of society. Unfortunately, the only way I can see this confrontation going is that Star can’t kill Shiggy and AFO acc steals Star’s quirk, since he’s clearly planning to, and it seems he’s somewhat aware of what she’s like?
Otherwise, another hero will jump in to stop Star, or end the fight. Either or, there’s no way Shiggy’ll die, because that would go against everything bnha is about (and also be a lame way to get rid of him)
In the end, the real difference between Star and All Might is that All Might’s two spikes represent peace (like a peace sign┏ (゜ω゜)=☞), but Star’s idea of increasing his impact is eight tufts, as in more - more power, more strength, more villains subjugated. And we know who has had a bigger impact - after all, one is the until now unheard of and not frequently talked about (outside the usa, I’d assume) number one of America, and the other is the global Symbol of Peace that everyone knows and wants to support.
