Okay. Iāve had time to process the spoilers for chapter 407: Paranormal Orphan.
Here are my thoughts:
-WTF?! They are twins?! What is it with Japanese mangaka and having unhinged twin relationships?! Iām looking at you, Nightow.
-AFO was born with his Quirk activated. Stealing nutrients from his mother then desperately feeding off of her corpse. Stole her Quirk too and seems to have some sentimental value in it as he still uses it often to this day.
-Low-key, I think thereās a hint here that the genetic change in babies and pre-pubescent kids started as some sort of STD that evolved considering their mom was a prostitute and ācontractedā an illness. Thatās just me, though.
-The first person he ever had was Yoichi and he held his hand right after birth. Also: JFC THATāS A BIG BOY
-AFO is a victim of his Quirk like the other villains(Toga, Touya, Tenko). He was born wanting to possess things. I donāt like the whole āhe was born evilā narrative. Yeah, he looks like a crazy ass Omen baby, but it makes sense heād think the way he does.
-AFO is also an unreliable narrator here as this is all from his POV
-He says something to the effect of (weāll know more once we get the scanlations) how, even though Yoichi canāt give him anything like he wants from everyone else, heās still āhisā.
-So, did he just get up and start walking and taking care of his brother out of sheer will when he was still a baby or did someone pick them up and raise them to the point when AFO wanted something from them and killed them when he didnāt get it?
-Yoichi still believes there is some good in his brother because he held his hand as a baby. š Poor kid
-Poor wittle Yoichi getting kicked because he threw something at AFO. For how theyāve had to live, it makes sense AFO would react that wayā¦in a manner of speaking.
-Yoichi learning to read from comics he finds in rubble/a dump. AFO takes notice and sits next to him. He then likes the part where the author says āOne for All, All for One.ā He should have had a name prior that he must have given himself as Yoichi has one. Though it would make sense that AFO named Yoichi himself as āfirst giftā since he was the first thing he ever had.
-AFO being jealous of the Glowing Baby is pretty spot on. All of this seems to hint that AFO and Yoichi were the first to have powers considering how AFO talks about the Glowing Baby and the 50 kids born in India.
-The last page is quite a cliffhanger and it sucks we have to wait 2 weeks for the next part(thereās no way this isnāt a two parter).
-How AFO is thinking about Yoichi leaving him is intensely possessive and reminds me of how Vader choked Padme when he thought she was betraying/leaving him. This also ties into how AFO didnāt know he had killed Yoichi.
-My guess is that AFO lashed out and sliced off Yoichiās hand in a possessive rage. He was so startled by his own action that it gave the 3rd user time to grab Kudo and Yoichi then speed out of there.
-Is it just me or does anyone else hope AFO kept Yoichiās hand? Parallel to Tomura having all of his familyās hands. I sure hope he did because I need even more twisted twin obsession.
-Itās most likely Yoichi lived long enough after this(and maybe with his blood) transferred OFA to Kudo. He then died from his blood loss and thatās why AFO didnāt know he had killed him.
-AFO crying over Yoichiās death maybe the first and only time heās ever cried. Yoichi did mean something to him, maybe even more than a āthingā, but he didnāt realize it until that one moment. He blames Kudo for his death because of the mental gymnastics he has to go through to convince himself that thereās no way he would have hurt the only person heās ever actually lovedāpossessive as it may be. If Kudo hadnāt have taken him from the vault, he wouldnāt have reacted and cut off Yoichiās hand, and therefore, Yoichi would still be alive.
-If he takes OFA with Yoichiās soul in it, then Yoichi will be his again and āI totally didnāt kill him. See! Heās still alive!ā
-The internetās hot-takes that AFO is homophobic because he went full possessive Vader over Yoichi is weird. I said it.
-A part of me wants there to be a cliffhanger where we think Bakugo may have defeated AFO. We then get the intense fight between Tomura and Deku. Deku is about to win, however thatās going to happen, but then AFO shows up around the age he was when he kicked Yoichi, and heās holding Bakugo as a threat, demanding Deku give him his brother back. But thatās just me. Again.
Anyway, I can admit when Iām wrong about a villainās backstory. It wouldnāt be the first time and I honestly should have expected something like this considering Horikoshi going full on horror during this Final War arc. However, I donāt think AFO being born with his Quirk activated and āwanting to takeā necessarily makes him āborn evil.ā The twins still had to survive on the streets as orphans, anti-meta people believing AFO is a diseased heathen and never wanting to help either of them. So, he took on exactly what they thought of him. Itās actually quite sad when you stop to think about it.
Iām going to be frothing at the mouth for the next two weeks to see how this backstory ends. Since it started with AFO going nuts and thinking Bakugo is Kudo, Iām assuming weāll get further context of AFOās thoughts when heās crying.
