Uraraka and the idea of Love
I just finished rewatching the first three season of My Hero Academia and something that stood out to me was the different ways Uraraka’s crush on Deku is interpreted. She’s first confronted with the idea by Aoyoma in the semester finals. In particular he assumes she’s thinking about Midoriya which provides our first insight into this whole idea: Thinking of a particular person equates to potentially liking them.
This idea of thinking of someone you look up to for guidance had been a constant theme throughout the series. It was something I didn’t pay too much attention to during my first run through the series though, this time around, this motif is hard to ignore. It’s easy to dismiss this idea since our protagonist learns from everybody and naturally thinks about many different people, but he also may be telling us something in his own ramblings as well (More on this later though). While outside of Toga and Uraraka, the other characters don’t appear to have definitive romantic interests, this principle can be applied to a number of characters from class 1A: Mina to Kirishima for her super move, Momo to Todoroki as he’s the first person who comes to mind when she tries to think of a strategy, and weirdly enough Bakugou to Midoriya over his obsession to outshine him. It’s a very narrow lens to view all of this through but it’s certainly noteworthy given Aoyoma’s recent arc in the manga... Horikoshi has been consistent with his themes and foreshadowing after all. The second instance we see Uraraka confronted with the idea of romantic feelings is her first fight with Toga. Toga’s view on love is an interesting but VERY important one to keep in mind.
While this is clearly and obsessive and unhealthy form of love, the wording is rather important. “And you’re thinking you wanna be just like him” Again with the word “thinking.” Whether or not that’s a fault of the translation I’m not sure, but the whole line sounds like a common trop we’ve already seen. Toga is unknowingly talking about admiration and equating that to romantic feelings. This isn’t to say that admiration in itself is romantic (That would just be weird LOL) but it’s another perspective and interpretation for certain characters. It’s easy to see why so many different ships in the fandom can thrive with these subtle messages.
Another thing that became quite clear rewatching through season 3 is Midoriya’s own focus when it comes to romance. As adorable as him and Uraraka would be, there’s never been a direct confrontation of feelings for him. His blushing has always been due to his social awkwardness of “a girl” is close proximity or simply just getting to know her. In fact, he’s much more comfortable around her recently than he ever was which could be a number of things. But it does have me questioning if the ship is end game or not.
I had mentioned Bakugou before. Oddly enough, in both interpretations of love we are given in the earlier seasons, they fit Midoriya’s view on explosion boy to a T. Again, this is a very narrow lens to look through and both frameworks are flawed, but from a narrative standpoint the possibility is there. Even if not romantically, there is an underlying theme of love through the entirety of class 1A. It will be interesting to see where the manga goes and if Uraraka’s feelings are confronted again. When they are it would have to be under her own doing and not what someone else is trying to convince her she feels.
This was just my observation from the first three seasons. I know there’s some more parallels later and with other ships but it is interesting to think about.
