#retcon notes

Todoroki Shōto ‘Chirashite korosu… ka? Itcha warui ga, anta-ra dō mite mo “‘kosei’ o mote amashita yakara” ijō ni wa miuke rarenee yo.’ 轟焦凍「散らして殺す…か？言っちゃ悪いが、あんたらどう見ても『〝個性〟を持て余した輩』以上には見受けられねぇよ。」 Todoroki Shōto “Scatter and kill them…huh? I hate to say it, but no matter how I look at you guys, you just don’t seem like anything more than ‘people who don’t know what to do with their “quirks”’.”

VILLAIN ‘Koitsu…!! Idōshite kita totan ni… hontō ni GAKI ka yo… ittetete…’ ヴィラン「こいつ…！！移動してきたとたんに…本当にガキかよ…いっててて…」 Villain “This guy…! The moment he moved…is he really just a kid…ow ow ow…”

Todoroki Shōto ‘(ALL MIGHT o korosu… shoken ja seiei o soroe kazu de attō suru no ka to omotta ga. FUTA o akete mirya (read: ore-tachi) yō no KOMA… CHINPIRA no yose atsume ja nee ka. Mita kagiri ja hontō ni abuna sōna ningen wa 4 〜 5 nin hodo datta… To suru to…’ 轟焦凍「（オールマイトを殺す…初見じゃ精鋭を揃え数で圧倒するのかと思ったが。フタを開けてみりゃ生徒（俺達）用のコマ…チンピラの寄せ集めじゃねぇか。見た限りじゃ本当に危なそうな人間は4〜5人程だった…とすると…）」 Todoroki Shōto (Killing All Might… At first glance, I thought they would gather their elite troops and overwhelm us with numbers. But when I looked, they were just a bunch of thugs… From what I saw, there were only about 4-5 people who looked really dangerous… So…)

Todoroki Shōto ‘Nā, kono mamajya anta-ra jiwajiwato karada ga eshishiteku wakenanda ga, ore mo HERO shibō, sonna hidoe koto wa narubeku saketai.’ 轟焦凍「なあ、このままじゃあんたらじわじわと身体が壊死してくわけなんだが、俺もヒーロー志望、そんな酷え事はなるべく避けたい。」 Todoroki Shōto “Hey, if this continues your body will slowly undergo necrosis, but I want to become a Hero too, so I want to avoid that terrible thing as much as possible.”

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Ore ga tsugini torubeki kōdō wa───…)’ 轟焦凍「(俺が次に取るべき行動は───…)」 Todoroki Shōto (What should I do next—…)

Todoroki Shōto ‘Ano ALL MIGHT o yareruttsuu konkyo… sakutte nanda?’ 轟焦凍「あのオールマイトを殺れるっつう根拠…策って何だ？」 Todoroki Shōto “So you’re saying you can kill All Might… what’s your plan?”

Kaminari Denki ‘Denki o matō dakeda, ore wa! Hōden dekiru kedo ayatsureru wake ja nē! Futari tomo makikon jimau no! Areda! Todoroki to issho yo!?’ 上鳴電気「電気を纏うだけだ、俺は！放電出来るけど操れるわけじゃねー！二人とも巻き込んじまうの！あれだ！轟と一緒よ！？」 Kaminari Denki “All I can do is surround myself with electricity! I can discharge it, but that doesn't mean I can control it! It'll drag you both down! That's it! I'm the same as Todoroki!”

Observation notes:

Shōto appears in two scenes and is mentioned in a third.

The first scene in which he appears shows how he deals with the Villains in the landslide zone, and the second scene is just a quick panel showing him running.

In the first scene, we see how he completely froze the Villains, leaving only their faces out of ice, something that was hinted already in chap 14. Skipping how he dismisses the Villains as just ’people who don’t know what to do with their “quirks”‘, an elaborate way to say they are weak compared to him, what is noteworthy is that he is basically blackmailing the Villains, threatening to let them die (necrosis, especially that extended, would kill a person) if they don’t tell him their plan.

I don’t know why Horikoshi thought it was a good idea to have Shōto do such a thing, as this is a coercive tactic and in Japan even the police is forbidden from using such things (though yes, it seems they still do it behind closed doors) so Horikoshi is not showing him being smart and cold, he is showing him doing something that is forbidden by law.

The fact that I am fairly sure Shōto doesn’t really mean to let them die so he is just lying when he implies he will do it, doesn’t make this okay… though in future chapters we’ll see Aizawa breaking Tōya’s arms to get him to talk so I guess it was smart and okay in Horikoshi’s books.

Anyway, if I’m not wrong, this will be the last time Shōto’s ice will be considered dangerous because it can cause necrosis, we will see him using his Quirk freely in the sport festival, letting people stuck in ice without anyone worrying about the consequences.

The scene in which he is mentioned has Kaminari comparing his power to Shōto’s. Previously we saw Shōto telling Shōji to get out of the building because he would freeze it whole and if he were to remain there he would end up frozen as well. Kaminari claims he is the same, if he releases his power his allies need to stay away from him or they will end up getting hit by it.

Cultural notes:

Nihon kuni kenpō (日本國憲法 “Constitution of Japan”): the supreme law of Japan, an aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. In Article 36 it is absolutely forbidden the infliction of torture and cruel punishment by public officials while in Article 38 are guaranteed the right against self-incrimination, stating that “no person shall be compelled to testify against himself”. It also explicitly excludes from evidence any confession “made under compulsion, torture or threat, or after prolonged arrest or detention”.

Keiji-soshō-hō (刑事訴訟法 “Code of Criminal Procedure”): the law governing criminal investigations and trials, blending continental European (Germanic) and Anglo-American legal traditions to define how crimes are handled, rights of the accused (like silence and counsel), warrant requirements, and the structure of court proceedings, including the unique Saiban-in (裁判員 “lay judge”) system for public participation in serious cases, all aiming for swift, fair, and transparent justice that will ensure the maintenance of public welfare and the guarantee of the fundamental human rights of individuals. This law establishes the procedures for criminal investigations and trials, requiring that suspects be informed of their rights and ensuring that confessions obtained improperly are not admissible in court.

Keihō (刑法 “Penal Code”): the foundational law defining crimes and punishments, enacted in 1907, structured into General Provisions (principles like intent, attempt) and Specific Crimes (murder, theft, etc.), operating within a civil law system that emphasizes codification, with punishments including imprisonment, fines, and the death penalty, supplemented by separate “special criminal laws” for other offenses. This code includes specific crimes for abuse of authority by public officers, such as “violence and cruelty by a special public official” (Article 195).

As you can see from above, coercing someone to talk using torture or threat is forbidden by multiple laws.

Retcon notes:

Kaminari claims that Shōto is the same as him and can only release his power and not control it. This is supported by how in Chap. 11 Shōto tell Shōji to get out before he freezes the building they are in. Only in Chap. 18 we will see that Shōto, differently from Kaminari, can control his power just fine, in fact he doesn’t freeze All Might.

While Shōto controlling his power might have been always part of the plan and what Kaminari said was meant to be just his speculation and not a fact, it is also possible Horikoshi just retconned Shōto’s ability to control his Quirk to suit his needs and prove that Shōto is better than Kaminari.

Translation notes:

In the Japanese version when Shōto speak there are dots on ‘narubeku’ (なるべく “as much as possible”) that work in the same way as if Horikoshi had underlined such sentence.

Shōto, like everyone really, calls All Might just ‘ALL MIGHT’ (オールマイト) with no suffixes attached. While occasionally someone, when directly talking with a Hero, adds a suffix to his Hero name, the norm is that people don’t do it. I guess for them it is the same as with celebrities and athletes (and also historical figures): as long as they aren’t your personal acquaintances they are usually mentioned without any honorifics at all, unless you feel particularly close to them. That or just the name works already as a title so if you add an extra suffix, you give your words an extra layer of politeness. I don’t really know which is the truth, just keep in mind in this story it is normal to call a Hero without adding suffixes.

After Kirishima we also have Kaminari calling Shōto just ‘Todoroki’ (轟) without any suffix as he does for all of his classmates. As said before this makes Kirishima also come out as less formal/more casual/rude when talking with/about his classmates.

Weirdness notes:

I second Shōto, it doesn’t make a lot of sense they just went there with an overwhelming number of third rate Villains. It is true Shigaraki’s plan relied mostly on the Nōmu to kill All Might and the thugs were only distraction, but since there were meant to be two Heroes there, if All Might had been present the Nōmu would have focused on him and he wouldn’t have been able to knock down Aizawa. Actually the whole plan is as messy as few others. Why not to warp the students in a jail and use them as blackmail material for example? why with oh so many Villains use so few to deal with Shōto? I mean, he is Endeavor’s son and, even if it is possible Horikoshi hadn’t planned yet to have All for One keep his eyes on Enji, it doesn’t even take Aoyama to tattle it out to figure the kid is gonna be strong. Whatever.

As I said in other posts, chapter 21 reveals Hagakure was there as well but it makes zero sense how she wouldn’t try to speak with Shōto. The Villains are defeated, she should regroup with Shōto and establish with him a course of action. The fact that she decides instead to remain silent makes no sense and makes it seems like she lied when her being there is meant to be the truth and this is overall a stupid plot idea that Horikoshi implemented because she wanted both her and Aoyama to look suspicious. Still he would have done better to create a place in which he could teleport her that had no one in it. This way it would have made sense no one could testify her location and she couldn’t let anyone know she was there.

Another thing that doesn’t make sense is why should the Villains tell Shōto their plan. I mean, I get he is threatening to let them die if they don’t talk, but if they talk then what? He will let them go so they can attack him? They should know this won’t happen. On the other side, they DO talk and, as far as we know, they didn’t die so what? Shōto knocked them all unconscious after they talked and then felt confident enough to free them? And through all this Hagakure didn’t try to talk to him? Even if it’s possible it feels unrealistic.

English version notes:

In the English version Shōto seems more determinate not to kill the Villains, than he actually is in the Japanese version, where he is fundamentally threatening to let them die if they don’t answer him (something that is made even more obvious in the anime but I’m running ahead).

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 11 - Game Over (ゲームオーバー GAME OVER)

Added parts notes:

The anime decided to show Shōto fighting a little more as, after showing he foze 8 guys as he did in the manga, the anime adds two guys who somehow weren’t frozen and that appear all of sudden to attack Shōto... only to end up frozen same as the others. The intention is good, to give Shōto more space, but it backfires because the manga idea that Shōto managed to freeze EVERYONE in a second made Shōto look cooler than the fact he missed two people who somehow jumped out of nowhere (even if at least one has wings so this explains why he didn’t end up frozen... the same can’t be said for the other Villain though).

Something else that the manga adds is that when Shōto threatens the Villains, they are shown to be clearly scared of him and, what’s more, Shōto’s threat is made even more dangerous by how he places his hand near the only part of a Villain that is not frozen, his face, and slowly starts to freeze that too. If Shōto doesn’t stop, that is going to SURELY kill the Villain, way faster than the cold. With his face enchased in ice the Villain wouldn’t be able to breathe and would die rather quickly. This makes Shōto even more ruthless and cruel than he is in the manga, he is basically threatening to murder the guy, not just to let him die, never mentioning that, as said before, using coercive tactics is something that even the Japanese police is forbidden from doing. I guess they thought having Shōto reduce a Villain to tears for fear of being killed would make him cooler, but I can’t really see a good message in this.

Changed parts notes:

It is minor but the anime moves the line

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Ore ga tsugini torubeki kōdō wa───…)’ 轟焦凍「(俺が次に取るべき行動は───…)」 Todoroki Shōto (What should I do next—…)

to before Shōto starts blackmailing the Villains. This seems to imply what Shōto should do next is threatening the Villains to let them die, where in the manga, since this is moved after he threatened them, it seems to refer to questioning the Villains to find out their plan.

Weirdness notes:

Observation notes:

We don’t have much Shōto in this chapter that is meant to introduce the ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”), also repeating some things that were said in the previous chapter.

Everything is fundamentally reduced to two glimpses of Shōto as Īda informs Midoriya he won’t be part of his group as he will join Shōto’s group along with Yaoyorozu and Kaminari so as to challenge Midoriya.

Cultural notes:

Kibasen (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”): a sport activity that mimics a battle between mounted warriors, and is a standard event at sports days. Three people form the shape of a horse with one rider riding on top of it (騎馬 ‘kiba’), and compete to win by snatching the opponent's hat or headband. Normally in a Japanese cavalry battle only two teams will fight, though, in some variations of it they might have more than one horse (in short more people play but they are all split in two groups). Also usually one team has lost if either they lose their headband or the rider falls on the ground. These rules are happily ignored by the manga that only set a time limit. A timelimit can also be used in normal cavalry battles when there are two teams with more horses, so the winner can be declared according to which team managed to lose less horses.

Retcon notes:

So this chapter makes explicit how, in this Hero saturated society, there isn’t enough Hero work for everyone. Heroes have to steal jobs from each other, or they might not manage to have enough to eat and be forced to close their agency. We saw it right in Chap. 1 with Mt. Lady stealing the Villain from Kamui Wood, but it was subtly hinted in chap. 13 as well, when we have All Might defeat Habit Headgear and Mt. Lady points out if All Might keeps this up they will end up out of business. Basically this means there is not enough work for them.

Jump to chap 186 and all this will be retconned by Hawks who will claim he wants to make this a world where Heroes have time to kill, all this implying that Heroes are actually suffering of overwork because there is too much work for them. Now, I get that with All Might’s retirement things became worst but, canonically, it is implied it was a subtle worsening, after all All Might retired in August (and he was working less than 3 hours prior to his retirement) and Hawks says this in November and in those 3 months nothing catastrophic happened.

This societal retcon is more due to Horikoshi identifying himself with Heroes than a planned evolution. At the beginning of BNHA, in 2014, he was a young author struggling to continue get published, hence the idea that the world is in a dog-eats-dog status, by the time Vol. 20 came about, in 2018, he was a successful mangaka oberate with work who longed for some free time.

Even if we go and assume both problems exist (minor Heroes don’t work enough, major Heroes work too much), the Hero situation is nowhere near comparable with the one of a mangaka. Major Heroes aren’t forced to overwork or they will lose their job, it is their own choice to also work to stop minor Villains that could be handled by minor Heroes and it is society’s fault for not better distributing the Hero forces (think to small villages like Shōji’s where there are no Heroes that try to save drowing little girls or kids getting scarred, or Nabu island which remains without a Hero and so 20 Hero in training teenagers are sent there without even an adult supervising there to practicize).

Teaching notes:

I guess the idea to put a lot of pressure on the one on the top is meant to teach the students what being at the top means... but it is not a grand strategy as there are 42 students and just one person at the top who will feel the brunt of it. Even if we spread it to his group members, it is not really the same and honestly it seems to serve more the purpose of the story than the purpose of teaching the students something.

So, as said in chap 22, nowadays sport festivals tend to avoid the ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) due to the risk of injuries and media scrutiny and, when they do it, they use helmets, crash mats and strict spotters. Of course here they don’t care at all about the risk of injury there is not a single protection item used by the students because, as the previous chapter said, is a battle for survival.

Midnight though also says another thing.

MIDNIGHT ‘“Kosei” hatsudō ARI no zangyaku FIGHT! Demo…… akumade kibasen. Akushitsuna kuzushi mokuteki de no kōgeki-tō wa RED CARD! ippatsu taijō to shimasu.’ ミッドナイト「上位の奴ほど狙われちゃう──────────…下克上サバイバルよ！！！」 Midnight “It's a brutal/cruel fight with Quirks in action! But... it's still a cavalry battle. Any malicious attacks aimed at breaking down the opponent will result in a red card! You'll be ejected immediately.”

While it is nice that they say you can’t harm the opponent and that they will be expelled if they do because it is still a cavalry battle well... WHERE WE SEE THIS?

Skipping how the story adds rules as the battle goes on, we see that Bakugō attacks Team Midoriya with his explosions and yes, they stop him but, again, they could have failed to do so and then Kaminari gives a shock to everyone which is not healthy and could have caused someone to fall... but no red card for him.

Long story short it feels more like lip service than anything else but, truth to be told, it is also tied to Horikoshi’s way to handle Quirks and things that can be deadly (think at the explosions of the previous chapters) as if they weren’t.

We also have some Heroes discussing the sport festival claiming U.A. High is doing the festival in such way to prepare the kids to be Heroes in a society where dog-eats-dog, revealing that Heroes won’t hesitate to get in the way of other Heroes, dragging them down, all to gain the credits for defeating a Villain (remember how Mt. Lady stole the victory from Kamui Wood in Chap 1?).

In another manga this would be a good point of discussion for how this kind of society is wrong, but here society is just accepted as it is, and the students aren’t encouraged to change it but just to deal with it and become part of the system so they too can steal jobs from other people. It is really not an inspiring teaching, especially for kids that should become Heroes.

On the other hand they observe that the Cavalry Battle might also help forming cooperation spirit, so the kids can learn to coordinate sidekicks or do team up with other Hero agencies... but this doesn’t really seems the core of the exercise since, with competition spirit flared up as much as it can go, we see Īda refusing to join Midoriya’s group because... he is challenging him too. He wants to show to the Pro he is better than Midoriya.

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Mō hajimatteru!! Zenin… teki. Sōda… boku wa ima toppu… tomodachi-gokko ja… i rarenai--!!)’ 緑谷出久「(もう始まってる！！全員…敵。そうだ…僕は今トップ…友だちごっこじゃ…いられない──！！)」 Midoriya Izuku “It's already started! Everyone's an enemy. That's right... I'm the top now... I can't just pretend to be friends anymore──!!”

This doesn’t really promote team spirit between future Heroes but competitivity, with alliances done merely out of self interest so as to lead them to victory or to be noticed by the Pro.

Translation notes:

Īda calls Shōto ‘Todoroki-kun’ (轟くん “young Todoroki”). ‘-kun’ (君/くん) is usually used for addressing males younger than the speaker. However teenagers in the same age group can call each other with ‘-kun’ and this is what Īda does with his male classmates.

Attentive readers might notice that here Midoriya uses an expression similar to the one Shōto used in chap 23. Shōto said they couldn’t do ‘Nakayoshi-gokko’ (仲良しごっこ “pretending to be friends/companions” and Midoriya says they can’t do ‘tomodachi-gokko’ (友だちごっこ “pretend to be friends”).

‘Tomodachi’ (友だち) is a general term for “friends”, while ‘nakayoshi’ (仲良し) specifically means a close or “intimate” friend, often used to describe a close-knit group of friends. ‘Tomodachi’ can be casual, but ‘nakayoshi’ emphasizes the closeness and good relationship between people. Likely Shōto used ‘nakayoshi’ to emphasize even more how they were the opposite of it.

Extra notes:

In this part of the story becomes prevalent the attitude at revealing things AFTER they have happened. For example this cavalry battle allows such a peculiar formation like the one of Team Mineta or allows riders leaving their units as long as their feet don’t touch the ground...

While this is used mostly for humoristic value, this will be a technique Horikoshi will slowly start to like more and more even for what’s not fun, that gets revealed without foreshadowing and often, after it had happened (see for example in chap 29 Īda’s new technique that appears out of the blue to solve the problem at hands). While this kind of technique can surprise the reader, when abused it ends up on feeling a cheap resulution and expedient for surprise.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 17 - Strategy, Strategy, Strategy (策策策 Saku saku saku)

Added parts notes:

There is not much to say about the additions, we only have some more glimpses of Shōto.

Changed parts notes:

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Kōzoku ni michi tsukucchimau ga… ) Ushiro ki ni shi teru baai ja nē… !’ 轟焦凍「（後続に道作っちまうが…）後ろ気にしてる場合じゃねえ…！」 Todoroki Shōto “(I’ll make a road for those behind me but…) this is no time to worry about who’s behind me…!”

Observation notes:

This chapter covers the final part of the race, the one in which Midoriya too joins the battle for the first place. While I do hate the fact that they had the kids run through a minefield I do like the idea that Midoriya managed to win the race using his brain, even though this is clearly a Quirk competition. Of course the situation is as unreal as it can be, not only because explosions who sent Midoriya flying that much would have seriously injured everyone who happened to be caught in the blast, but because Shōto (and Bakugō) had an overwhelming advantage on him and Midoriya is also carrying with himself an armor plate who should have slowed him down and had to search for mines to create such a big explosion so, really, Shōto and Bakugō were ahead enough that they should have won. Still Shōto managed to keep his cool and to worry for what was really a source of troubles, Midoriya in front of him and I love how, despite being the one who is less used to explosions differently from Bakugō, he still managed to come second ahead of him and even seems less tired than him. Even though he didn’t manage to get first place Shōto showed himself to be a very strong adversary.

We then have Midnight telling us how only the first 42 can move to the next round.

42 isn’t a random number, class A and class B, together make 40 students and they should be the best the school has to offer so it would make sense they would all qualify. Two slots remain open for two students who want to try to move to the Hero course by winning the sport festival.

Midnight then introduces the next event, a ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) in which each participant will have a headband with point values assigned according to how he placed in the obstacle course race.

By the way you might remember that when talking about chap. 22 I mentioned that nowadays sport festivals try not to include ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) due to safety reasons or that, if they do include it they also use helmets, crash mats and strict spotters so guess what will be the second event? Yeah, a cavalry battle and in the explanation Midnight will make no mention of safety measures... and we will see in the next chapters none will be in place... which means the last will have 5 points and the first will have 10.000.000 points.

Cultural notes:

Kyōsō (競争 “competition”): in Japanese culture, it is a fundamental element in order to aims for ‘jiko no kōjō’ (自己の向上 “self-improvement”). Competitiveness is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, partly due to a societal emphasis on achievement through hard work and a belief in the importance of status and credentials. Parents instill into their kids the idea they must keep working hard. The way they know their hard work is succeeding is by how many people they’re beating. Competition between students to enter high schools and universities is so high that kids sometimes spend a majority of their time studying in order to get on the right track for the right school. Sometimes students break down, burn out and drop out. Some face bullying for not getting into good schools. Some even withdraw from society, too taxed mentally to face the hurdles of life and education. The exams to get in the desired school are so hard that they have a word for it, ‘shiken jigoku’ (試験地獄 “exam hell”).

Sessatakuma (切磋琢磨 “to strive for mutual improvement” Lit. “To cut and polish hard stones and carve and polish jewels”): it signifies improving oneself by learning from others, a concept commonly expressed as friendly rivalry, mutual encouragement, or diligent application through study/work together. In manga/anime this idea can be brought to the extreme. While the first even was focused on individual competition, this second event mixes individual and group competition, better expressing the idea of striving for mutual improvement both through rivalry but also through mutual aid.

Retcon notes:

Similarly to what Horikoshi did with Chapter 18/19 the final scene of the chapter with Midnight explaining how the cavalry battle will take place is partially retconned/repeated/expanded in the next chapter. One might miss it because they are both two dialogue scenes if it wasn’t for Midnight repeating the rules, even if in an expanded way.

Sexism notes:

I have been unsure if to add this because Shōto likely didn't witness how Mineta managed to get there groping Yoyorozu, but I decided to include it because... everyone else in the arena likely did and they didn’t boo Mineta. The crowd is willing to boo Bakugō because he fights seriously again ‘a poor girl’ (Uraraka), but doesn't care Mineta takes advantage of Yaoyorozu to both complete the race and grope her, especially grope her and this tells us something about the society Shōto lives in, one that finds okay what Mineta did but not that one could fight seriously against a girl.

Teaching notes:

‘Taijin jirai’ (対人地雷) really means “anti-personnel mines” as the English translation says. Modern anti-personnel mines include small, low-yield blast mines, which blow off the ankles or shins of anyone who steps on them; and relatively large, fragmentation-type jumping mines, which, when activated by a trip wire or foot pressure, first launch a small amount of explosive into the air about 1-2 meters high, then explode, scattering steel balls and other explosives within, killing enemies within a radius of several dozen meters. This kind of mines are generally buried underground, but they can also be secured to a hidden location and, when activated by a trip wire or other means, scatter steel balls and other explosives horizontally in a fan pattern, killing or injuring. The 1997 Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, also called the Ottawa Treaty, which was signed also by Japan, bans the use, possession, production, and transfer of mines, and provides for the destruction of stocks and assistance to victims. The Convention commits States Parties to destroy all anti-personnel landmines in their possession or control, “as soon as possible” but, in any case, no later than four years after entry-into-force of the Treaty for the concerned State. The only exception to this rule concerns mines that can be kept for training purposes relating to detection, clearance and destruction. These, in any case, must be kept in very low numbers.

Now, okay, the story insists that those mines aren’t that dangerous (even if they sent students and Midoriya flying but whatever, realism was clearly not what Horikoshi had in mind) but I still can’t see a good reason why a teacher would think that getting copies of banned mines with low explosive power to have students run through a minefield is a good training exercise beyond the Doylist fact that Midoriya needed something that would send him flying.

Also Midoriya deliberately caused another explosion very close to Shōto and Bakugō that sends him flying and that could have seriously injured them since it was powerful enough to send Midoriya flying but again, in this sport festival everything goes and Midoriya, Midoriya who threw away his chance to make points to save Uraraka, who will throw away his chance to win the sport festival to help Shōto, here doesn’t worry at all he could injury him and Bakugō in a way that Recovery Girl might not be able to fix. And really, great action scene but as far as teaching goes this is no good.

At least Aizawa is honest. When Present Mic remarks his class is amazing and asks what he is teaching them he said he did nothing and that his students got fired up on their own.

And then we have All Might’s speech.

ALL MIGHT ‘(Kimi no shindearou “‘hito o tasukeru’ HERO”… kono taiiku matsuri wa, rokotsu ni soko to sōhansuru ‘hoka o ke otoshite’ kisou ba… Ninki shōbai no men ga ōkī gendai HERO. ‘Tanin yori ue ni’ to iu donyokusa wa. Kimi dakara koso erandaga… kimi dakara koso no jakutenda to omotte ita. Chō kiyū datta na!! Gomen na! Nakimushi wa hayaku naoshita hau ga īkedo na!)’ 轟焦凍「(君の芯であろう『〝人を救ける〟ヒーロー』…この体育祭は、露骨にそこと相反する〝他を蹴落として〟競う場…人気商売の面が大きい現代ヒーロー。〝他人より上に〟という貪欲さは。君だからこそ選んだが…君だからこその弱点だと思っていた。超杞憂だったな！！ごめんな！泣き虫は早く治した方がいいけどな！)」 All Might “(Your core is that of a "hero ‘who can save people’"... but this sports festival is a blatant contradiction to that, a competition to “kick others down”... Modern heroes are largely a popularity business. They are greedy to be “above others”... I chose you because of how you are... but I thought it was also a weakness unique to you. I was worrying for no reason!! I'm sorry! You should get over your crybaby ways soon!)”

So basically this sport festival is a competiton that tests the students on their ability to kick others down in order to get to the top, with Heroes/scouts coming to choose who is the better one at kicking the others, instead than the one who is better at saving others. And All Might is happy because Midoriya too can kick down people, because if he weren’t capable to do this it would be a weakness. And the majority of people in Japan is interested in seeing how good are teenagers aiming to become Heroes at kicking everyone else down.

When you think at one Todoroki Enji and at how he aimed to be Number 1 and at what he was capable to do in attempt to get at the Number 1 spot remember how he went to a school who, less than a month after he started attending him, told him the most important thing, the thing for which he would be chosen by other Pro, was his willingness to kick other people down and become the Number 1 and how the whole society supported this kind of teaching. What was important wasn’t how many people he could save, not how well he could cooperate with others, but how good he was at kicking people down.

This is what the sport festival watched nationwide more than the olympiads teach now. Because sportmanship and team cooperations are an outdated concept.

Yeah, All Might says he also chose Midoriya because he has this drive to save but guess what? No one else will choose Midoriya impressed by how he was willing to throw his match to help Shōto. Yeah, his problems with his Quirk probably didn’t help but NO ONE felt like chosing him and helping him to overcome them (except All Might’s old mentor though I doubt Gran Torino would have done it if Midoriya hadn’t been All Might’s protégé).

I will save most of the discussion about the cavalry battle for the next chapter as the scene gets repeated and expanded there.

The only thing I want to discuss is this line that close the chapter.

MIDNIGHT ‘Jōi no yatsu hodo neraware chau──────────... gekokujō SURVAIVAL yo!!!’ ミッドナイト「上位の奴ほど狙われちゃう──────────...下克上サバイバルよ！！！」 Midnight “The higher up you are, the more likely you are to be targeted... It's a survival game of overthrowing the ruling class!!!”

So, in case you were thinking this exercise was to promote group spirit since well, the cavalry battle is played in teams, well, this is true only tangetially. The goal of the cavalry battle is still to promote an extreme competitivity in the students and see what they are willing to do to win since this sport festival is also an elimination game.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 16 - In Their Own Quirky Ways (みんな個性的でいいね Minna Kosei-teki de Īne)

Added parts notes: The scenes again are expanded a bit, and we are even shown Shōto and Bakugō running after Midoriya. A weird addition is that we see that Shōto is using his ice when they are in the tunnel, supposedly to propel himself forward? I am not sure because he hadn’t done it before and, actually, his ice would be more useful to freeze Midoriya’s legs than anything else but whatever. The anime also shows a screen showing in replay the moments in which Midoriya surpasses Shōto and Bakugō. The images are exactly the same we saw on the anime only now they’re on screen. We however gets another image of Shōto before the episode ends.

Suisen to Todoroki Shōto Mechakucha kurai, mechakucha tsuyoi. “Kosei” o yori kyōka shite iku tame ni ‘kake-awase’ to iu ozomashī fūshū ni yori umareda. Haha wa chichi no “Kosei” o kyōka suru tame mi tsukuro wa sa reta. Haha ni wa koibito ga ita. Haha wa ki ga yande shimatta. Haha wa kare no hanshin o imikirai kizutsuketa. Kare wa haha o kirai, chichi ni ai o motomeru. Shikashi, chichi wa tsuyo o-sha ni shika kokoro o hiraki-ra nei. Chichi o koeru. Chichi yori tsuyoku. Sono tame ni HERO o kokorozashi zo su, chichi yori tsuyoku, chichi no na wa Todoroki Enji, TOP HERO ENDEAVOR. すいせん徒 轟 焦凍 めちゃくちゃ暗い、めちゃくちゃ強い。 〝個性〟をより強化していく為に「かけ合わせ」というおぞましい風習により産まれだ。 母は父の〝個性〟を強化する為見つくろわされた。母には恋人がいた。 母は気が病んでしまった。母は彼の半身を忌み嫌い傷つけた。 彼は母を嫌い、父に愛を求める。 しかし、父は強を者にしか心を開らねい。 父を超える。父より強く。 その為にヒーローを志ぞす、父より強く、父の名は轟炎司、トプヒーローエンデヴァー。 Recommended student Todoroki Shōto Insanely dark, insanely strong. He was born through the horrible practice of “breeding” in order to further strengthen his “Quirk.” His mother was chosen to strengthen his father’s “quirk”. His mother had a lover. His mother became mentally ill. His mother loathed and injured/hurt/wound his body. He hates his mother, and seeks love from his father. But his father only opens his heart to those who are strong. Surpass his father. Stronger than his father. To achieve this, he aspires to be a hero. Stronger than his father, his father’s name is Todoroki Enji, the top hero Endeavor.

Retcon notes:

Shōto’s prototype was clearly created after Enji’s prototype and in his case the things said in his prototype mostly ended up being reversed so that in canon he loves his mother and doesn't want to have anything to do with his father, whom he hates.

Translation notes:

The text with the info about the prototype isn’t typed but written in Horikoshi’s calligraphy which I find EXTREMELY HARD to read (and internet OCR converter programs agree with me). In my country “Ultra Archive” was translated so I helped myself also looking at that translation therefore this is more or less what the profile says. Still take everything with a grain of salt and if you can read his writing better, please share.

In canon the story talks about ‘kosei kon’ (個性婚 “Quirk marriage”) but here it mentions ‘kake-awase’ (かけ合わせ likely 掛け合わせ “crossbreeding”) and goes down hard on it as it defines it a ‘ozomashī fūshū’ (おぞましい風習 “horrible custom/tradition”). In short not a crime since it’s a custom, a tradition, but something that’s definitely despicable.

Shōto’s mother is also said to have a ‘koibito’ (恋人 “lover”, “sweetheart”). Due to how the word can imply just a sentimental interest but also a lover it’s hard to say how deep the relation was, though I think it’s likely Enji wouldn’t have picked Rei up had she slept with another.

Regarding Rei’s mental status the writing isn’t really clear to read. It seems to be ‘ki ga yande’ (気が病んで), which is generally translated as “to be worried about” and that describes a state of intense worry, distress, and suffering due to mental fatigue. worry. stress or troubles. The degree of discomfort can range from temporary low mood to mental illnesses such as depression and adjustment disorder. In slang though, it usually carries the connotation of “mental illness”.

Regarding Rei’s feelings for Shōto, while in canon she only said she found his left side ‘minikuku’ (醜く “ugly”), here they say she ‘imikirai’ (忌み嫌い “loathed”) half of his body, which is much stronger.