#chapter 038

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Mazu hyōketsu ga kuru!!)’ 緑谷出久「（まず氷結が来る！！）」 Midoriya Izuku “(He freezes first!!)”

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Ano “chikara” (read: POWER) o suki ni utaseru no wa abunē)’ 轟焦凍「（あの〝力〟（パワー）を好きに撃たせるのは危ねえ。）」 Todoroki Shōto “(It's dangerous to let him use that ‘strenght’ (read: power) at will.)”

Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shōto ‘(Kaishi shunkan ni---... butsukero!!)’ 緑谷出久と轟焦凍「（開始瞬間に───…ぶつけろ！！）」 Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shōto “(The moment it starts---... attack!!)”

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Maniae! ! SMAAAASSSHHH!)’ 緑谷出久「（まず氷結が来る！！SMAAAASSSHHH！）」 Midoriya Izuku “((I have to) make it in time!! SMAAAASSSHHH!)”

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Yappa sō kuru ka…... Jison kakugo no uchikeshi----!!)’ 轟焦凍「（やっぱそう来るか…...自損覚悟の打ち消し────！！）」 Todoroki Shōto “(I knew what was coming... Erasing it, hitting prepared to suffer damage----!)”

PRESENT MIC ‘OŌO! ! Yabuttāā!!’ プレゼントマイク「おオオオ！！破ったあああ！！」 Present Mic “Ohhh!! He smashed through!!”

ALL MIGHT ‘(Todoroki shōnen ga dono teido no kibo de kōgeki shitekuru ka wakaran yueni seigyo dekiru hani (read: yaku 5%) o sute 100% no buppa!!) Tashikani hyōketsu no kōryaku ni wa sore shikanai ga…’ オールマイト「（轟少年がどの程度の規模で攻撃してくるかわからん故に制御出来る範囲（約5%）を捨て100％のぶっぱ！！）確かに氷結の攻略にはそれしかないが…」 All Might “(He didn't know the scale of young Todoroki's attack therefore, he threw away the range he could control (the around 5%) and went 100%!!) It's true that this is the only way to counter his freezing attack...)”

PRESENT MIC ‘Maaaata yabutsutaa!!’ プレゼントマイク「ま───た破ったあ！！」 Present Mic “He smashed it again!!”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Chi......’ 轟焦凍「ちっ……」 Todoroki Shōto “Tch...”

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Todoroki-kun no tatakai wa shiru kagiri itsumo isshun de jōhō ga sukunai. Jōhō o... kono tatakai no naka de suki o mitsukenakucha...! Haimen ni hatta kōri wa osoraku futtoba sa renai tame ni taisakushita kekkada. To sureba, yubi de seikai datta! Ude gisei no 100% SMASH demo taiō sareru kanōsei ga takai... Mikiwamero... kangaero... mitsukerunda...!!! Ato 6-kai no naka de!)’ 緑谷出久「（轟くんの戦いは知る限りいつも一瞬で情報が少ない。情報を…この戦いの中で隙を見つけなくちゃ…！背面に張った氷は恐らく吹っ飛ばされない為に対策した結果だ。とすれば、指で正解だった。腕犠牲の100％スマッシュでも対応される可能性が高い…見極めろ…考えろ…見つけるんだ…！！！あと6回の中で！）」 Midoriya Izuku “(As far as I know, Todoroki's battles are always short and there is little information. Information... I have to find an opening in this battle...! The ice behind him is probably a countermeasure to prevent him from being blown away. If that's the case, then using my fingers was the right choice. Even a 100% smash that sacrifices my arm will likely be countered... Figure it out... Think... Find it...!!! In the next 6 tries!)”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Omae wa.........’ 轟焦凍「おまえは………」 Todoroki Shōto “You are...”

Midoriya Izuku ‘---...’ 緑谷出久「───...」 Midoriya Izuku “...”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘Ge- Hajimattenjan!’ 切島鋭児郎「ゲッ始まってんじゃん！」 Kirishima Eijirō “Ugh, it started!”

Kaminari Denki ‘O! Kirishima ni-kaisen shinshutsu yatta na!’ 上鳴電気「お！切島二回戦進出やったな！」 Kaminari Denki “Oh! Kirishima, you has advanced to the second round!”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘Sō yo. Tsuji, omē toda, Bakugō! Yoroshiku!'!’ 切島鋭児郎「そうよ。次、おめーとだ、爆豪！よろしく！」 Kirishima Eijirō “That's right. You're next, Bakugō! Nice to meet you!”

Bakugō Katsuki ‘Bukkorosu.’ 爆豪勝己「ぶっ殺す。」 Bakugō Katsuki “I'll kill you.”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘Hahhahha yatte mina! ...Toka itte, omē mo Todoroki mo kyōretsuna hani kōgeki PONPON dashite kurukara nā...’ 切島鋭児郎「ハッハッハやってみな！…とか言って、おめーも轟も強烈な範囲攻撃ポンポン出してくるからなー…」 Kirishima Eijirō “Hahaha, give it a try! ..." Or so I'd say, and then you and Todoroki would unleash powerful area-of-effect attacks one after the other...”

Bakugō Katsuki ‘PONPON ja nē yo, NAMEnna.’ 爆豪勝己「ポンポンじゃねえよ、ナメんな。」 Bakugō Katsuki “They don't just keep coming, don't mess with me.”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘N?’ 切島鋭児郎「ん？」 Kirishima Eijirō “Uh?”

Bakugō Katsuki ‘Kinniku kokushi surya kinseni ga kirerushi, hashiri tsudzukerya ikigireru. "Kosei" datte karada kinōda, yatsu ni mo nanrakano "gendo" wa aru hazudaro. (Ore datte daseru iryoku ni wa gendo ga aru. Dakara, COSTUME de kyoyō chōka no bakuha o No RISK de uteru yō kangaeta wakedashi na...)’ 爆豪勝己「筋肉酷使すりゃ筋繊維が切れるし、走り続けりゃ息切れる。〝個性〟だって身体機能だ、奴にも何らかの〝限度〟はあるハズだろ。（俺だって出せる威力には限度がある。だから、コスチュームで許容超過の爆破をノーリスクで撃てるよう考えたわけだしな...）」 Bakugō Katsuki “Overworking your muscles will tear muscle fibers, and running continuously will make you out of breath. Quirks are bodily functions too, so there must be some kind of limit to them. (Even I have a limit to the amount of power I can produce. That's why I designed the costume to allow me to fire explosions that exceed my tolerance without any risk...)”

Kirishima Eijirō ‘Kangaerya sore wa sokka... Jā Midoriya wa shunsatsu MAN no Todoroki ni...’ 切島鋭児郎「考えりゃそれはそっか…じゃあ緑谷は瞬殺マンの轟に…」 Kirishima Eijirō “Come to think of it, that makes sense... So Midoriya against instant kill man Todoroki is...”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Taikyū-sen ka. Sugu owarasete yaru yo’ 轟焦凍「耐久戦か。すぐ終わらせてやるよ。」 Todoroki Shōto “A battle of endurance? I'll finish this quickly.”

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Mō migite zenmetsu...!!)’ 緑谷出久「（もう右手全滅…！！）」 Midoriya Izuku “(My right hand is completely destroyed...!!)”

PRESENT MIC ‘Todoroki Midoriya no POWER ni hirumu koto naku kinsetsu e!!’ プレゼントマイク「轟緑谷のパワーに怯むことなくきんせつへ！！」 Present Mic “Todoroki isn't intimidated by Midoriya's power, he attacks!!”

Midoriya Izuku ‘(kkusho-... ! Bbu na-! (Dameda kintsu...))’ 緑谷出久「っくしょっ…！っぶなっ！（ダメだ近つ…）」 Midoriya Izuku “(Ugh...! No way! (No, not so close...))”

Todoroki Shōto ‘………Sakki yori zuibun kō iryoku da na. Chikadzuku natte ka.’ 轟焦凍「………さっきよりずいぶん高威力だな。近付くなってか。」 Todoroki Shōto “(...It's much more powerful than before. Shouldn't I get too close?)”

Midoriya Izuku ‘Ūu (〝kosei〟 dake janai… handan-ryoku… ōyō-ryoku… kidō-ryoku… subete no nōryoku ga… tsuyoi ─ ─ ─ ─ ─!!)’ 緑谷出久「ううう（〝個性〟だけじゃない…判断力…応用力…機動力…全ての能力が…強い─────！！）」 Midoriya Izuku “Ugh (Not just his "quirk"... his judgment... his adaptability... his mobility... all his abilities are... strong─────!!)”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Mamotte nigeru dake de BOROBORO ja nē ka.’ 轟焦凍「耐久戦か。すぐ終わらせてやるよ。」 Todoroki Shōto “Just defending and running is enough to leave you completely worn out.”

Midoriya Izuku ‘………! ---…!? (A ! Furue...!?)’ 緑谷出久「………！───…！？（あ！震え…！？）」 Midoriya Izuku “..!───...!? (Ah! Shaking...!?)”

Kankyaku ‘Mō sokora no PRO ijō da yo. Are… sasuga wa NUMBER 2 no musuko tte kanjida’ 観客「もうそこらのプロ以上だよアレ…さすがはNo.2の息子って感じだ。」 Audience “That one we are talking about is more than just an average professional... He really is the son of No. 2.”

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Sō iu koto ka...!? ……… chikushō!)’ 緑谷出久「（そういうことか…！？………ちくしょう！）」 Midoriya Izuku “(Is that so...?! Damn it!)”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Warukatta na. Arigatō Midoriya. Okage de... Yatsu no kao ga kumotta. Sono ryōte ja mō tatakai ni naranē daro. Owari ni shiyou.'’ 轟焦凍「悪かったな。ありがとう緑谷。おかげで…奴の顔が曇った。その両手じゃもう戦いにならねえだろ。終わりにしよう。」 Todoroki Shōto “Sorry. Thanks, Midoriya. His face clouded over because of you. You can't fight with those hands anymore. Let's end this.”

PRESENT MIC ‘’Attōteki ni seme tsudzuketa Todoroki! ! Todome no hyōketsu o--... プレゼントマイク「圧倒的に攻め続けた轟！！とどめの氷結を──...」 Present Mic “Todoroki continues his overwhelming attack! The final freeze--...”

Midoriya Izuku ‘Doko miterunda...!’ 緑谷出久「どこ見てるんだ…！」 Midoriya Izuku “What are you looking at...?”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Gu-...... TemeE…(kowareta yubi de…!!!) Nande soko made..’ 轟焦凍「ぐっ……てめェ…（壊れた指で…！！！）何でそこまで…」 Todoroki Shōto “Ugh... you... (with a broken finger...!!!) Why are you going that far...”

Midoriya Izuku ‘Furue teru yo, Todoroki-kun. "Kosei" datte shintai kinō no hitotsu da. Kimi jishin reiki ni taerareru gendo ga arundarou...! ? De, sorette hidari-gawa no netsu o tsukaeba kaiketsu dekirumon nan ja nai no ka............? .........tsu!! Minna... honki de yatteru. Katte, mokuhyō ni chikadzuku tame ni... tsu, ichiban ni naru tame ni! Hanbun no chikara de katsu! ? Mada boku wa kimi ni kizu hitotsu tsukerarecha inai zo! Zenryoku de kakatte koi!!’ 緑谷出久「震えてるよ、轟くん。〝個性〟だって身体機能の一つだ。君自身冷気に耐えられる限度があるんだろう...！？で、それって左側の熱を使えば解決出来るもんなんじゃないのか............？...……っ！！……皆...本気でやってる。勝って...目標に近付く為に...っ、一番になる為に！半分の力で勝つ！？まだ僕は君に傷一つつけられちゃいないぞ！全力でかかって来い！！」 Midoriya Izuku “You're shivering, Todoroki-kun. A 'quirk' is just a bodily function. There's a limit to how much cold you can withstand, right?! So, isn't that something that can be solved by using the heat on your left side?! Everyone's trying their best. To win, to get closer to their goal, to be number one! You're going to win with half your strength?! You haven't even managed to scratch me yet! Bring it on with all your might!”

Todoroki Enji ‘Ano kozō...’ 轟炎司「あの小僧...」 Todoroki Enji “That kid...”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Nanno…… tsumorida?’ 轟焦凍「何の……つもりだ？」 Todoroki Shōto “What... are you planning?”

Observation notes:

So as Enji watches as the match begin.

Shōto starts with a big attack, Midoriya answer with an equally big counter attack and so his first finger bone goes. Shōto’s ice break and he is pushed back by the air pressure Midoriya created but Shōto has created ice behind himself as well so he can’t be sent out of the ring.

Actually Shōto should end up crushed by all the ice he sent at Midoriya being sent back to him, but let’s assume in the manga Midoriya pulverized it as he smashed it. In the manga isn’t clear and it definitely isn’t like that in the anime where we see huge blocks of ice flying past Shōto conveniently missing him and whoever of the viewers who is behind him so let’s assume in the manga the ice got smashed. Honestly though this do not make things any better.

After all, if the force of the air is enough to shatter and pulverize the ice which is way harder than Shōto’s body, it should do more than just push him backward so that with some ice behind him, stopping him, he doesn’t end out of bonds. The force of the air should at least be enough to flatten him against said ice and even break a bone or two... so it becomes even more ridicule when Midoriya claims Shōto could have been able to withstand a 100% blow that would sacrifice all of Midoriya’s arm and... no, he shouldn’t, this is just the manga nerfing Midoriya’s power for plot reasons.

Shōto tries again and we say bye to another of Midoriya’s fingers.

Midoriya thinks Shōto is using his ice to avoid being blow away so he had a good idea sacrificing only his fingers because Shōto’s ice would have been capable to witstand a blow made by Midoriya breaking his arm. Shōto’s ice maybe could have but what about Shōto himself?

Ice is hard. If Midoriya’s blow are breaking the ice, even more they should break Shōto’s bones... and actually the ice debrids sent back to Shōto should become life threatening bullets... so cheer, we have successfully selectively nerfed even One for All’s destructive power, that is strong enough to break ice but doesn’t shatter bones.

Anyway since no one taught Midoriya a strategy on how to handle an opponent specialized in big attacks that finish the match in a second, he decides he has to learn how to do so as he fight... so he sets out on discovering how many ice shoots Shōto can fire before he will reach his limit.

Teaching notes:

Midoriya is there, breaking his bones to fight Shōto. They are in U.A. High by a month and no one helped Midoriya figure out a way not to break his bones when he uses his Quirk but they are just letting him figure out by his own if this is ever possible and now they are letting him continue break bone after bone as long as he can keep on fighting because and, as Present Mic said, since they have Recovery Girl with them, they basically gave him the green card for this form of torture.

So basically not only the people at U.A. hadn’t taught Midoriya how not to break his own bones as he uses his Quirk, but they are just allowing him to continue to do so (yeah, they will try to stop him in the next chapter, don’t let me get started yet on the next chapter, that is an even worse mess). Because self-harm is okay if it is to win a sport festival, it is not something that should get stopped. Awesome lesson, really. They outdid themselves in fact we can see that Midoriya progressed in this mindsetting. On his first day at school Midoriya dared only to break one of his fingers during the Quirk test even if this didn’t ensure he would remain in the school, now he is happily breaking bones left and right without a care in order to win a school tournament and no one is thinking to stop him BECAUSE HE CAN CONTINUE FIGHTING so he is not being an hindrance for the others and there is no need to save him. No, really, this is an awesome teaching in self destruction. Too bad self destruction shouldn’t be taught at school.

Also there is something else here at play.

No one ever taught Midoriya what to do when handling an adversary which has a fast finishing move like Shōto. Because, from what we could see, the school make them fight but doesn’t teach them strategies. Not even one. U.A. High is not a school that aim to teach its students what to do, it is just a ground in which they can make experiences and try to figure out what they should do when facing the things the school tosses at them.

It is basically the worst and laziest way to teach things.

By the way we also have Bakugō explain Kirishima one can fire strong shoots as many times as one want without physical consequences on the body... but this should have been one of the first things U.A. were to teach to its students, not something Bakugō has to explain to Kirishima!

This should be a safe use of your Quirk lessons, one the school would rush to teach so that students would not accidentally hurt themselves by going overboard using their Quirk... but no, evidently U.A. High thinks teaching safe usage of Quirk to their students is a bad thing. They have to figure out first hand. And if they break said hand in the process well, too bad for them.

Trandlation notes:

Enji refers to Midoriya as ‘kozō’ (小僧)... which litterary means “small buddhist priest”. It is one of those deliciously nuanced words in which contest is everything. In the past, was used to refer to novices and nowadays is used to literally mean “young boy”, though it is also often used in a slightly derogatory or condescending manner, similar to “brat”. Enji is socially in a much higher place than Midoriya (he is an adult and a pro Hero while Midoriya is a teen and a student in a Hero school) he is allowed to use such term to define Midoriya, it just means he is not being super polite. He is also thinking at when Midoriya talked back to him (which is a big deal) so viewing him as a brat fit even more, though he is also realizing what Midoriya is doing so I think he is not meaning to be overly rude so the English version going with a tame “kid” is a possible translation as well.

Something that gets missed in the English version instead is that Midoriya says in bold (or better put dots over the word) of both half (in the sentence “You're going to win with half your strength?!”) and all (in the sentence “Bring it on with all your might!”) to remark the connection between the two. Not half but all. Give me all of it.

Weirdness notes:

Midoriya claims he has no idea how to handle Shōto because the latter finishes his fight in a flash so Midoriya couldn’t notice any weakness or make up any strategy.

I will assume even though they are going at school together by around a month, Shōto was always that fast at finishing his opponents and the teachers never provide him with a different challenge so Midoriya couldn’t see him doing nothing else but end the fight in a blink.

Anyway Midoriya is a Hero nerd. Are you telling me there isn’t a single Villain or Hero who fights in a manner similar to Shōto or with a Quirk similar to his own that Midoriya could study?

Also, we have Bakugō tell us strong shoots can’t be fired as many times as one want without physical consequences on the body. This is one of the few rules BNHA tries to respect. Bakugō and Shōto’s Quirks are, in a way similar, after all they are both ‘Hatsudō-gata’ (発動型 “emitter/operative type”) Quirks. This is implied to be why Midoriya challenges Shōto to a test of endurance.

The problem is... Bakugō might not be capable to fire as many shoots as he wants but he proved he could fire plenty of them, he basically used his Quirk through the whole obstacle course race without problems!

Midoriya’s hope he can outlast Shōto’s endurance to the damage caused by his own Quirk not only feel foolish but, in theory, Shōto SHOULD BE VERY AWARE OF HIS OWN LIMITATIONS IF HE USES ONLY ONE QUIRK, SINCE HE WAS CREATED TO COMPENSATE THE SIMILAR LIMITATION ENJI HAS IF HE USES HIS OWN QUIRK, AND IT IS EASY TO GUESS ENJI STRESSED HIM ABOUT THIS FROM WHEN HE STARTED TRAINING HIM.

Shōto, who is amazingly smart and good at everything, should have been aware and take counter measures for this... but he doesn’t because the plot needs to have Midoriya notice he is shivering.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 23 - Todoroki Shōto: Origin (轟焦凍：オリジン Todoroki Shōto: ORIGIN)

Added parts notes: We see better how Midoriya shatters the ice... the problem is this makes even more obvious how the broken ice, which is broken in huge pieces, should fly against Shōto and the viewers, which could be dangerous for both, instead somehow those huge blocks of ice fly over Shōto but do not reach the viewers behind him. The most we will get is that, when Midoriya will sacrifice his own arm to stop Shōto, Shōto will have to move huge pieces of ice that conveniently stopped in front of him.

Also, maybe it is just me but it looks like Shōto’s ice flight seems too tall compared to the manga in the anime.

It is not exactly about Shōto but the anime shows more Midoriya’s pain as he breaks his own bones.

Due to how the anime placed an eyecatch after Midoriya saying “Bring it on with all your might!”, the scene gets repeated after it as well.

Changed parts notes: This is something that is not really the anime’s fault. This episode put together 2 chapters and a half, chap 38, 39 and part of chap 40 so, as a result, the starting flashback included in chap 39 is placed right at the start of the episode instead that where chap 39 should begin, which would place it at the beginning of chap 38 instead than of chapter 39. While, yeah, it makes sense, this parts that flashback way too much from the others so... it is not a great idea. The flashback is also expanded so that instead than just saying:

Todoroki Rei ‘Ī no yo, omae wa──────…’ 轟冷「いいのよ、おまえは──────…」 Todoroki Rei “It’s okay, it’s you (we are talking about)-…”

Rei in the anime says:

Todoroki Rei ‘………… Demo HERO ni wa naritain desho? Ī no yo, omae wa──────… ’ 轟冷「…………でもヒーローにはなりたいんでしょ？いいのよ、おまえは──────…」 Todoroki Rei “…But you want to be a hero, right? It’s okay, it’s you (we are talking about)-…”