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1) “Oh boy the art style was really different back then huh. I sorta miss it to be honest, I thought it was pretty cool, even if the art is a lot better now.”- I feel the detailed look it has currently may no longer be pure “comic-book” like it was before, but it fits with how the story and characters have matured, along with Horikoshi’s drawing skills, and allows for more effective and striking images – like Izuku’s upcoming stare deep into the soul. 2) “Okay Midoriya, is it time to prove it by being a danger to their lives? I think we can at least kill Mineta as a warning, you know?”- The background panel shifts to resemble the “haze” that appeared in a young Tenko’s thoughts when his more negative emotions were building up and pushing him towards the extreme outburst that killed his family: a sign that Izuku himself is also on a similar self-damaging path in his efforts to properly face his mortal foe and the power that dark sensation has driven him to. 3) “Alright, time to pit horror against horror. Unleash the beast Tokoyami.”- Arguably the only entity in the class that could take on Izuku’s attacks at over 50% without flinching, though his top-tier of strength is probably still beyond Dark Shadow. 4) “Hey guys, remember when we were trained to minimize property damage? Like when Fires georg destroyed a whole street to kill a single minor villain? Those were some good times…”- Good thing about the whole city being wreaked from this crisis – nobody’s really caring about that kind of thing anymore. You could blow up half the city from a destructive fight with a villain, and the only concern would be if civilians were in danger of getting caught up in it. 5) “Dude, he’s not even trying to fight back, trust me, you haven’t seen anything. If he was really trying to put up a fight you would need Mirio here to even have a shot, and honestly I’m not sure even that would be enough.”-  Even Miro’s best effort probably wouldn’t really deter Izuku anymore. He can predict his attacks with Danger Sense and out-speed him with his enhanced manoeuvrability, and even if he did land a hit, I think it’s subtly implied that Izuku’s durability’s been steadily enhancing more and more with the amount of power he can unleash now. Even a rabbit punch to the back of the skull might not knock him out, and as long as there’s a shred of consciousness left in Izuku. He’ll keep moving and fighting back.  6) “GASP!

MIDORIYA, YOU BETTER GET THE FUCK BACK THERE IMMEDIATELY, THIS STOPPED BEING A FUNNY SPAR THIS IS NOW SERIOUS BUSSINESS”- Especially since Izuku could probably really do with some actual food right about now… 7) “YOU MOTHERFUCKER YOU TAKE THAT BACK SHE NEEDS YOU BACK THERE RIGHT NOW HOW DARE YOU I HOPE THAT’S AN ELECTRICAL CHAIR TO PUT YOU DOWN AFTER SAYING THIS”- Honestly, given how Izuku’s emitting lighting all the time when he’s using his powers, I wouldn’t be surprised if electrical shocks don’t do jack squat to him anymore. 8) “Shame it wasn’t a machine to inhibit his quirks, if only someone had developed such technology…”- I think the Quirk-inhibiting technology might be a touch too complex for Momo to create on the spot – that, or the nature of its construction means it’s one of the few things she can’t build. 9) “Dude don’t get that close to him, he’s filthy and smelling bad, just electrocute him from a distance.”- I don’t think Kaminari’s long-range disk technology can output his maximum voltage, so if he really wants to give the most powerful blast he can, he’s got to get up close and personal. Unfortunately for him, Izuku’s been preparing for close-range combat by making himself disgusting to touch. 10) “Yes, but hear what you just said: All Might. He far surpassed the old man. And honestly? You guys wouldn’t stand a chance against the full might of the bunnyman.”- True, but they’re also far more advanced and stronger than the time they did that team-up. Even if Izuku’s advanced by leaps and bounds, his classmates are doing their best to keep pace with him. 11) “SEE? I KNEW HE WAS SMELLING BAD”- Kaminari’s the one that really needed a mask for his role in the fight. 12) “Honestly, I am surprised you are surprised. You guys know how strong he is, and it’s not even that dark that your powers would get a boost.”- Tokoyami’s power is not to be sneezed at. Moonfish was a dangerous opponent, and he got crushed when dark Shadow went out of control. It’s just that Izuku’s now so powerful Dark Shadow would need like a solar eclipse to compete. 13) “NO CAN DO BOY, THEY WON’T LET YOU HAVE FUN ALL ON YOUR OWN. THEY ARE RIDE AND DIE WHEN IT COMES TO YOU, AND TRUST ME, THEY WILL DIE.”- As they break through the façade of the unstoppable hero Izuku’s trying to be, he can no longer keep the literal or metaphorical mask on, now reduced to desperately scrambling to get away before their words make him surrender 14) ““NOT SO FUNNY WHEN IT’S YOU GETTING TOLD TO OPEN YOURSELF EMOTIONALLY TO OTHERS, HUH MOTHERFUCKER?” -Shoto, probabbly.”-

1) “I was waiting for this ever since we finished last chapter. I am so fucking hyped for this. Midoriya vs Class 1A, the chosen one vs his old friends. Who will win? I would bet on the former, but the fact he can barely stay awake kinda tells me the odds are against him. Well, we needed a nerf so it would be an actual fight. So, join me, for Chapter 320: Deku vs. Class A”- And even then, the main issue the class has is moving fast enough to prevent Izuku from actually making a move.  With his priorities being to run and the immense power he’s wielding, the only reason this even counts as a “fight” is that Izuku’s win condition is gathering enough strength to leap away from the area before anyone can pun him down. Actually unleashing a hit would all but certainly down half or all of the class at present.

2) “Hey, Tsuyu, long time no see. Still feeling froggy and happy, eh? Well, perhaps not happy considering all that is going on.”- Ain’t no happy times to be had now AFO’s endgame is underway. 3) “And Ida opens the chapter looking directly at the fourth wall and going “the events here depicted are all real and any resemblance to real people are totally intentional. I have a lawyer.””- Ida’s family budget is one of the few big enough to actually afford the legal fees. Unlike, say, Uraraka’s. 4) “BAKUGO! NO PUNCHING THE FOURTH WALL! THERE ARE KIDS WATCHING, DON’T YOU HAVE ANY SHAME?”- In his efforts to remind everyone that he’s a protagonist too, dammit, Bakugou’s taking a page out of Wade Wilson’s book. 5) “Midoriya is about to use the i’m-gonna-beat-your-asses-no-jutsu. Don’t blink, or you might miss it.”- Honestly, I kinda think the Smokescreen Quirk actually does make you blink your eyes more often to improve your visibility, just like actual smoke. It’s practically a tailor-made weakness for Aizawa, assuming Izuku can activate it faster than he can. 6) “Get away? Bakugo he’s gonna fucking beat the shit out of you, what are you on about?”- Everyone’s well aware that Izuku has enough strength to one-shot them all – but that same strength also means he can leave the “battlefield” in a second without fighting, a course of action his kind heart will prefer rather than physically lashing out, especially since he probably can’t control his strength so precisely now he’s at the limits of moving his body around.

7) “Oh okay, fuck Jirou I guess, it’s not like she might’ve been useful there.

Also, where are you going Midoriya? Where’s the fight? They won’t let you get away unless you put them in the hospital. Show them NPCs who’s the protagonist.”- Jiro’s Quirk would have been useful for locating Izuku, but it would have only let Jiro know where he is, and she can’t do anything to physically stop him. It’s far better teamwork for Bakugou to use his concussive force blasts to restore visibility for the others to act on, again showing what he’s learned from their time training and fighting together as a unit. In a sense, this fight is all about the class showing Izuku that they don’t have his power levels, but together as one, they’ll all equal protagonists of this story as him. 8) “OH GOD THE BIRDS ARE GONNA EAT HIM ALIVE THERE WON’T BE A MIDORIYA TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL KID”- I wonder if Koji’s Quirk could even work on the bacterial animals who’ve set up residence inside Izuku’s badly-unwashed clothing?

1) “Well, it is a cellphone, I bet it does Sero, but it’s not like it’s gonna point at Midoriya, he’s not carrying a tracker as far as I remember. not that I can remember that far anyway.”- Izuku does actually have his own phone on him, and even if he’s no longer responding to calls and texts with it, the tracker at least enables the heroes to keep note of where he is and where to head to next in their efforts to keep up – plus, he’s so tired and exhausted by this point that he’s likely forgotten the device can be tracked too. 2) “It’s a tad later to ask politely after you ripped it from his hands Sero, but I appreciate the gesture.”- Pretty indicative of the class’ attitude as a whole though. They’ll ask permission if needed, but they’re done sitting on the side-lines whilst their friend takes centre stage in this war, and they will do whatever they have to to join it alongside him. 3) “Hell fucking yeah, Class 1-A was always Ride or die, and now we’ve reached the point where it is Ride and die.”-The only thing that really changed for them was knowing that, with AFO’s plans at the current stage, Izuku and those around him will be the main focus of the next grand conflict, so they need to be mentally prepared to take on the burden of facing down the organiser of the chaos around them, and the immense power he wields that they’re all borne witness to by now. 4) “Well he certainly couldn’t got worse, all things considered.”- When at rock bottom, there’s nowhere else to go but up. 5) “Ratman given his blessing to Midoriya, and now he shall grant you the same gift. Go and get yourselves killed in the name of friendship!”- Whether at Izuku’s hands, or the villains hunting him, it’s a coin toss by this point. 6) “The what now?

Also, something tells me it won’t do shit against the likes of Shigaraki.”- It used to refer to the school’s defences meant to keep out nosy reporters and the like from harassing students during their training, and swiftly got bypassed by Tomura’s Quirk during the lead up to the USJ assault. And in spite of that, I’d advise not to underestimate old mickey here. His whole schick is being smarter than most people thanks to his Quirk, and there’s plenty of well-documented data on what Shigaraki can do now for him to plan around... 7) “And now back to the present day.

That was a close call Midoriya, luckily few people got murdered there, and you weren’t among them.”- It’s so cool to see the whole class operating as a well-oiled professional unit, now that the stakes have escalated to the point they don’t have adult supervision backing them up out here in no-man’s land. 8) “…

Let us not acknowledge that, moving on.”- Nope. Sorry. That’s the name, and it’s gonna stick around like a bad smell, whether you want it to or not. Maybe an abbreviation would help… 9) “Don’t bullshit them Emodoriya, they see through your lies. And your filth clothes, jesus man couldn’t you find a laundromat?”- I mean, the economy must be even worse than America’s right now, and It doesn’t look like Izuku’s carrying any Yen on him to operate the machines with – assuming he could find any operable in this wreaked city. 10) “Alright Bakugo, time to egg him on. You know he needs to snap back to reality, get him down from his high horse

Or at least try to before he murders you back”- Izuku’s headspace is so wreaked by AFO, he’s terrified that another attack against them is imminent, now they’re nearby him, so scared of the next assault and harm befalling them he can’t even consider the logistical fallacy of AFO being able to pull such a move after losing his next Pan in Dictoator so quickly, and lacking access to Kurogiri. 11) “OH HO HO

Now that one I liked Bakugo. Yeah that one hit him right on the head, the greatest insult you could give to someone that admired and wanted to be like All Might.”- And the reason Izuku puts on the mask again isn’t to cast a reassuring visage, or to terrify his enemies, but to hide the fact he’s no longer capable of smiling from his heart anymore, with all the pressures that have piled up upon him. 12) “Well, do you see any of them smiling? Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna land Midoriya. Time to use the only universal language: Violence.”- Time to see how the next generation of heroes measure up to their new All Might. 13) “JESUS FUCK MIDORIYA THAT’S TERRIFYING

THAT LOOKS LIKE THE GAPING MAW OF A MONSTER

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE HERO HERE KID”- Izuku has started too long into the abyss, and it is consuming him, whether or not he’ll admit it to himself. 14) “MURDER IT WILL BE THEN

TIME FOR CLASS 1-A AGAINST MIDORIYA

HOLY SHIT DUDE”- Time for the time-honoured tradition of the shonen protagonists beating out a demonic presence from a possessed ally. Only in this case, the demonic essence is Izuku’s own well-documented and reckless heroic drive pushing him beyond his limitations. 15) “THE FUCKING HYPE

ALTHOUGH I KNOW THAT IT WON’T LAST, BECAUSE MIDORIYA CAN WIPE THE FLOOR WITH THEM. 90% OF THE CLASS WILL BE TAKEN DOWN IN THE FIRST TEN SECONDS, THE ONLY ONES THAT WILL GIVE HIM SOME TROUBLE ARE BAKUGO AND TODOROKI, AND MAYBE URARAKA BECAUSE HE LIKES HER OR SOMETHING. AND EVEN THAT WON’T TAKE MORE THAN TWO CHAPTERS TO FINISH

IT WILL BE THE MIRIO DEMONSTRATION VERSION 2.0BUT WITH LESS NUDITY, HOPEFULLY.”- Though to be fair, Izuku is exhausted, and hasn’t really been keeping up with the class’s latest training regime, so they may have a few tricks to take him off-guard…

1) “And so, time to see the kids confronting their edge old friend, that’s right, it’s Academia time. Not the dark type, although things have been looking sorta grim recently. Anyways, let us not waste time, we have a lot to cover, on Chapter 319: Friend.

Something that Midoriya doesn’t need, because they disappoint him.”- Well, it seems the feeling (and the impending beating) is mutual in that regard… 2) “Dude! Midoriya put a lot of work in that letter! You could’ve sold it for a pretty penny after Midoriya dies heroically to save the world, it would’ve been a collector’s item!”- Bakugou will get himself killed before he lets Izuku do that – he’s not gonna lose to him anymore! 3) “I mean, it’s not like they would just tell him. Midoriya is hidden away, and Endeavor is not gonna divulge that information wiilly-nilly”-  This whole meet-and-greet gives me vibes of the time the class considered following up on the rescue mission for Bakugou, and their various pros-and-cons discussion over whether or not to actually go there in person despite the pros being on the case – only this time, they’re more experienced and better informed on the topic at hand (Izuku) to know that the pros aren’t handling things the right way by leaving them out 4) “Oh, so you guys did that try that, that’s interesting. But yeah, Hawks is a secret spy, he’s good at keeping secrets, and Jeanist was dead, and dead men tell no tales.”- You mean, “Denim Men tell no Tales…” 5) “Oh you guys assume that, huh

I don’t think those three deserve the benefit of the doubt to be honest, for vastly different reasons. It would be better to consider them guilty until proven otherwise.”- Given that the kids don’t actually know about the secret manoeuvres hawks and Jeanist were pulling in the lead-up to the PLF war, this is a pretty insightful judgement to make, being unaware of their prior collaboration, but still picking up on the shared secrecy excluding them despite their personal connection to events. 6) “Wait, All Might is also running around in secret? I thought he was helping Midoriya, but was still showing his face around. That puts some things into perspective.

…

I can’t believe both son and father left Momdoriya all along.”- If AFO had a concrete lock on where All Might was, he’s basically guaranteed to pull something to fuck with him and cause chaos/loss of life to further demoralise him, so Yagi staying around Izuku and moving on the fringes of his own search for their shared nemesis helps keep people safe too. 7) “Yeah it doesn’t take a genius to realize what’s going on. Your friend has gone full emo. I know, it’s tragic, but it is the truth, and the sooner you accept it, the better.”- Bakugou’s always had a lot of intelligence behind his explosive outbursts, but now the situations serious enough that he’s cooling off the usual fiery aggression to make his points clearer, showing more of that off. 8)  “Oh do you now huh

But okay. Your old friend is hanging out his dead, you know they are gonna get themselves killed eventually. Specially considering how easily both of them jump in front of bullets for others, metaphorically speaking.”- Additionally, out of everyone in the class, he’s been privy to the secret connection between Izuku and All Might the longest, so he’s had plenty of time to digest this new reality the others are still catching up to, and it’s allowed him to take note of the pros and cons of Izuku being chosen as the ninth holder – specifically, how the shared traits between mentor and mentee make them both blind to the failings in their aggressive heroics, especially when AFO is out there looking for any weakness to exploit. 9) “You can try putting yourself in danger, that will surely bring Midoriya back, he would never allow something to happen to you all.

Well, sans one person who we don’t speak the name of.”- Technically, Izuku’s now in the headspace that AFO’s successfully tricked him into accepting – that he’s the biggest danger to them, hence why he’s so determined to keep his distance even after they just dealt with another Tartarus escapee he couldn’t handle himself. 10) “Alright Uraraka, what are you planning? Gonna look on his files to find any possible clue to his current hideout? You would need to kill the principal, beforehand.”- To find their friend, they’re gonna have to start breaking the norms and expectations held of them as Students and trainee heroes – starting with the idea that they can’t kill in defence of their own. 11) “It was not a very good one, since they didn’t kill you while you were unaware of their presence, but they are a honorable bunch, they refuse to backstab a foe.”- Got all dressed up for the occasion too; seems it’ll be a very formal affair. 12) “Yeah it sucks when someone don’t answer your calls, doesn’t it Shoto?”- Another way in that he’s ironically a lot like his dad is that Shoto tends to overlook his own flaws and accidental hypocrisies without somebody around to point them out to him – hence why he’s so on-board with getting Izuku back in the class, so he can get that self-help advice again. 13) “Because he cares if you live or die, he has less qualms when it comes to a kid who he’s not related to.Alright, I jest a bit. I suppose the realization of his deeds has come full force, and he doesn’t want to lose another kid. Midoriya, well, it’s not like he can do much to stop him even if he wanted to.”- It’s legitimately funny to think that Endeavour, in a serious match, could probably contest against Izuku, but would still absolutely get stomped in the end facing off against the power of OFA at present.

“My dad could kick your ass!”

“….are you sure about that?...”

14) “I think he knows that much Bakugo. He saw it first hand, both with All Might and now with Midoriya. Trust me, he knows that the kid is gonna get himself killed, and he doesn’t know how to stop him. He doesn’t know if he should be stopping him.”- Much as it puts a ton of pressure on Izuku, his actions in fighting crime single-handedly are indeed a boon to the heroes, flagging and understaffed as they are, but the inability to reign in Izuku’s heroic impulses has crossed the line to the point it’s become a genuine detriment to their overall aims of restoring peace.

1) “Well at least you are eating something, that’s good. You need strength to kill all the random Kaijus, they are an invasive species that always show up this time of year.”- The Irony of Izuku pulling off stunts non-stop that’d rocket him up to All Might’s popularity if they were witnessed by civilians…but due to the crises, the only “witnesses” are the very villains he’s smashing unconscious. Izuku will never get his day in the public spotlight.

2) “MOMDORIYA SPOTTED

GREAT CHAPTER

Also Deadtorino is there, I suppose.”- All the living and the dead he must honour the memory of, as he soldiers on alone.

3) “Anyway, as I was saying. Yeah Midoriya, they need to be protected, but so does you. They wanted to help, but you shut them out to carry the weight of the world like you’re Atlas.

But that weight is gonna crush you eventually. You need them.”- It would involve taking a risk, exposing them to the crossfire of AFO gunning for him with all his plans and assets…but Izuku’s blind to the fact that if he doesn’t try and work it through with them now, then that just leaves them to face AFO without him later, when his evil plans and intentions inevitably turn towards them and the rest of Japan. Hell, given what happened with Tenko being turned into Tomura, it’s a guarantee he’d be gunning for 1A as his immediate priority after taking care of Izuku, just to spite his memory a little more.

4) “OH GOD HE’S STARTING TO LOSE IT

RIGHT AS ANOTHER MOTHERFUCKER QUEUES UP TO GET KILLED BY HIM”- Dictator was the worst kind of match-up to an exhausted Izuku, at a point where he can only keep pushing himself 110% or collapse from accumulated exhaustion. The minute he tried to find a middle ground of holding back, his scant reserve of energy were just too tapped out to achieve that, and his body started giving out, along with the sheer hopelessness of knowing that even if he won now, AFO would just wait and try again at a later opportunity.

5) “Oh god what the fuck is that thing

And I think I already have an idea what the gimmick is gonna be, considering the name and the strings attached”-And of course, for maximum symbolisation, Izuku’s collapse just had to be at the feet of the statue of All Might, emphasizing how far he’s falling in trying to emulate his self-same destructive efforts at holding back AFO’s all-encompassing plans solo.

6) “Yeah, a puppeteer. Classic scenario. Sigh, alright Midoriya, time to get innocent blood on your hands. Yeah it sucks but it is necessary. No, there is no other way I’m afraid, this isn’t CSM part 3 after all.”- No other way…if you’re fighting solo anyway.

7) “Oh God I think he’s about to blackout

Quick Midoriya, use your smokescreen to escape into safety before they rip you to shreds”- Smokescreen won’t stop them from crushing him underneath the weight of their accumulated bodies, now Izuku doesn’t have the willpower or body strength to throw them off of him.

8) “HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THEY ARE HERE THEY CAME TO SAVE HIM THE VANGUARD HAS ANNOUNCED IT”- 

 And Bakugou’s so caught up in the need to save Izuku from himself, he doesn’t even have the usual gloating/vicious expression on his face as he does so, just a look of concern at seeing how ground-down Izuku’s made himself.

9) “NOW THEY CAN FINALLY SNAP HIM OUT OF HIS EMO PHASE, HE LISTENED TO EVANESCENCE FOR TOO LONG, IT’S TIME TO GO BACK TO IMAGINE DRAGONS AND USE THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

1) “It is also a sign to start a liveblog, because I like to live dangerously and what is more dangerous than letting people down halfway through a chapter? Well there is something more dangerous: math. But Midroiya won’t have to deal with it (hopefully) on Chapter 318: Reckless.”- The only thing more reckless than starting a liveblog on a faulty power system is Midoria’s disregard for his own wellbeing, now he’s finally operating at the level of All Might’s prime.

2) “Alright Darkdoriya, go and fight from the shadows against the corruption that threatens this land”- Unfortunately, despite the makeover, Deku’s simply not dark enough to combat the sheer void that is AFO using solo vigilante tactics. It’s like Absolute Batman taking on the Joker, and with much the same result for both Izuku and Bruce.

3) “Oh jesus even his ghost uncles and aunt are trying to get him to slow down, but I fear it’s a bit too late for that. This bunny is not gonna stop hopping until it falls dead.”- And the sad truth is, Izuku is needed time and again out in this frontier. Every time he acts on Danger Sense warning him of another attack, it’s somebody whose life is endangered, a civilian in need of a hero’s rescue, and with nobody else capable of operating at Izuku’s level, he has to be the one who makes it in the nick of time, no matter how worn-down it makes him.

4) “Is it just me or is this Ghost All Might getting more “tangible” as time goes by? Is it gonna become All Might properly when the original dies I wonder… Probably not, since he’s the only different one since he didn’t had a quirk or something.”- As Izuku’s connection to OFA grows, the vestiges within become clearer and better able to interact with him, eventually resulting in this shared mental headspace. By the same logic, Yagi’s unique “created” vestige within the Quirk becomes clearer, though due to the unique circumstances of the originator still being alive on the “outside” unlike the rest, it doesn’t quite fully materialise, and won’t as long as the physical Yagi remains alive. 5) “Oh you two stopped sulking and sat down around the table of justice at last. Well, the table is more of a metaphor, but it still fits.

And it seems someone there thinks Midoriya is right in rushing to his death. I wonder how did you went out.”- Obviously he went out like an absolute boss, given how he’s basically leading the party now Yoichi’s given Izuku and them the Pep Talk (arguably the only power he has on his own). I do actually wonder about the decorations though – clearly Yoichi’s thoughts somewhat shaped the room, given how it’s based on bis old cell, but which of these guys came up with the idea of having regal-ass chairs to sit around in?

6) “…Bakugo? Is that you? You really looks like him, but that would definitely make the whole situation way too messed up, if you were his ancestor or something. Besides, Midoriya can’t blow up stuff. At least not yet.”- The theorists were going nuts over whatever connection there was between them when this was still ongoing/ Like, it’s impossible to be just Horikoshi re-using character design to save effort, given how varied everything else in the manga has looked. “We’re gonna survive! Unlike midoriya who needs a gun asap to finish those fights sooner. That’s what Ghostbakugo is gonna say he needs.”- Well, he does seem to have a pair of some kind of projectile-launching device on his arms, and he advocates for lethal efforts from Izuku and against their enemy, so saying he’s got a gun-based power wouldn’t be too far of a stretch…

7) “Jesus Christ Midoriya can you try to be a bit less terrifying? All Might never looked at people with soulless eyes of darkness.”- Mineta pointed out to Izuku during the sports festival that he’s got a natural talent for terrifying people with his efforts the more intense and committed he becomes to a cause. And considering the stakes have never been higher for him before…

8) “Girl, if that was the case he wouldn’t be saving you from villains, nor would he be asking if you were alright.”-Well, the irony here is that she’s not entirely wrong either. Izuku did kinda get One For All because of AFO’s efforts in accidentally giving his brother the power to create it in the first place, so from a certain point of view, he and every other holder of the Quirk besides Yoichi are essentially rouge minions that AFO’s usual tactics cannot control.

9) “…Alright no time to waste thinking about the moral ramifications here Midoriya, we have more villains to kill two blocks away. It is a nest of evil and corruption known as Naruhata, it will take a while to deal with it.”- I’d have loved to see Izuku having a cameo battle in the naruhata district, even as a one-off panel.

10) “Everyone but Koichi, who’s eating a hotdog on Central park right now while his parents get murdered by random villains halfway across the world.”- International travel is still problematic, even in the far future. Especially if you’re a legally-recognised member of another country’s military force (which I believe certain heroes are considered to count as in a certain category).

1) “Oh, now that’s a reversal of roles, isn’t it? Endeavor used to be the one ringing Shoto and left hanging, now look at this.

Granted, Shoto doesn’t want anything to do with his ass, he wants to know about Midoriya, but still.”- Even at this low point, Izuku’s still doing good, repairing the family communication between the Todorokis and making Shoto and Enji have something close to a father-son dynamic after all they’ve been through.

2) “You won’t be able to do it Endeavor. You won’t be able to stop him on your own, you will need Shoto’s help.”-Enji’s understandably reluctant to drag Shoto into his destined climactic confrontation with his other son, and he’s already dealing with the guilt of having to utilise his classmate and close friend as bait to try and lure out the masterminds behind this chaos. He’s not exactly backsliding on his prior wish to face Toya alongside his fractured family, but he’s also understandably reluctant to push things to that point as well.

3)“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE MIDORIYA, AGAIN? CAN YOU GIVE US FIVE MINUTES TO SULK IN PEACE OVER HERE?”- He can give you however long you want, I don’t think that fight took longer than 5 seconds.

4) “…

okay then.

Guess this one wasn’t waifu-ish enough to get a stern talk to and be brought to the side of good, Midoriya just fucking obliterated them.

And by his face, he probably didn’t show much in the way of mercy.”- On top of this guy being implied to be more along the lines of Muscular than Nagant, Izuku’s mounting trauma from AFO’s psychological attack is also making him far more decisive and willing to go all-out in battle from the start, just to limit the risk to bystanders more. (MHA ch 316) 5) “Don’t worry, I be they don’t have backstories that will make us feel bad when they get killed.”- Yeah, “not having a sympathetic backstory” is pretty much the reason these guys aren’t even worth showing Izuku destroying them in a fight.

6) “….fucking hell man.

I think something already snapped inside of him. 

The lights went out. There’s only the thousand-yard stare.

Probably had to do with escaping an explosion in the blink of an eye without any injuries.”- The knowledge and fear that AFO is just waiting for his chance to strike, that’s he’s constantly watching for the moment Izuku lets his guard down, and seeking any avenue he can to tear down anything that might help him, has wormed its way deep into Izuku’s head by now. The only way he can gain any semblance of inner peace is by taking the fight to AFO before he puts anything into action, but that in turn just plays into the villain’s longer-term goal of grinding down Izuku’s body and soul in a fruitless effort.

7) “YOU’RE NOT FUCKING FINE MIDORIYA NOT EVEN YOU BELIEVE THAT BULLSHIT DON’T EXPECT HIM TO DO SO”- The other problem is – even if Izuku is clearly not doing well, who can actually stop him and force him to take a rest at this point? He’s the strongest hero in their line-up in terms of raw power and speed, so I don’t believe there’s any actual hero who can step in and subdue him for his own god anymore. 8) “So I guess you know what Sir knight eye felt now, don’t you, All Might?”- And the kicker; all of this continues to torment All Might, forced onto the side-lines with no means of interceding, despite his first-hand knowledge of what Izuku’s going through right now – all as AFO envisioned and warned him about back in their last meeting.

9) “IT’S STAIN HE SHOWED UP AGAIN FINALLY ALSO HOLY SHIT DUDE IS HE GONNA CONFRONT MIDORIYA? HE SAW IN HIM THE MARK OF A TRUE HERO LIKE ALL MIGHT, IS HE FINALLY GONNA SHOW UP AND SEE FOR HIMSELF WHAT HE BECAME?”- Stain’s role as an “ally” in this fight is an interesting one. He’s technically responsible for the fallout of all this, and is adamant that he’s a villain who needs to be dealt with by a true hero to be “properly” resolved, but besides that he’s 100% on the side of the heroes still fighting the good fight in this chaos. None of them would openly accept his help if he showed himself before them – probably just throw him back in Tartarus if he did – but at the same time, Stain’s always watching and observing them acting as real heroes in this crisis, waiting for the right time to step in. 10) “JESUS CHRIST MAN, MIDORIYA DON’T EVEN LOOK HUMAN ANYMORE. HE LOOKS LIKE FUCKING GUTS FROM BERSERK, WHAT IS THIS

GRANTED, IT’S FUCKING COOL AS SHIT, BUT HORIKOSHI IS HURTING ME WITH IT”- Honestly, I’d say he (ironically, yet appropriately for the subject matter) bares more of a resemblance to Garou the hero Hunter from One Punch Man, someone whose terrifying exterior hides a good-hearted individual underneath it all. As an aside to the mood-setting downpour that’s been happening constantly throughout these scenes and prior chapters, now would be a good time to explain that Horikoshi came up with the name “Deku” as Izuku’s hero name from a verse in the Poem 'Be Not Defeated By the Rain' by Kenji Miyazawa. " Called useless by all  (minna ni deku-no-bō to yobare) Neither praised Nor a bother Such is the person I wish to be"

However, with things standing as they are, it’s the heavy rain of depression, symbolic of AFO’s presence always bearing down on Izuku, that’ll be the thing that defeats him.

(Vigilantes ch 53) 11) “DON’T BULLSHIT US KOICHI, AND DON’T BULLSHIT THE CAPTAIN NOT AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. WE KNOW YOU JUMPED TO SAVE HIM, THAT YOUR BODY MOVED ON ITS OWN BEFORE YOU COULD EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, WE KNOW YOU HAVE THE HERO SPARK, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT THING SEEMS TO COME WITH A SMALL INHIBITION OF THE SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION”- yeah…. This came back in a really bad way, not gonna lie….

(MHA ch 243)

1) “Join me, on Chapter 317: Scars, Blood, Filth

*jeopardy buzzer*

What is “things that tumblr finds hot”?”- Almost right on the mark, lots of peeps on tumbler though Izuku looked pretty great with his new “edge” design. 2) “Oh hey Midoriya, almost didn’t recognize you with the light gone from your eyes and the shadows of despair hanging from underneath them. Hell of a look tho, you would be popular back in the early 2000s emo scene.”-Deku’s “Batman phase” comes with a required amount of Grunge for the right vibes. 3) “…

I’m sorry, did I fucking skipped a page or something?

You just gonna open with “yeah we escaped that, it was gnarly, anyways”? You think this is a fucking joke Horikoshi? You think this is Vigilantes now or something?”-  I actually kinda appreciate them doing that in a recap – allowing Horikoshi to focus on moving the story forward, since the top heroes weren’t likely gonna be phased by a little bomb going off in their faces after all they’ve been through, and it’d be anti-climatic for any of them to get injured or taken out by one at this late hour. However, the blast was also symbolic of AFO’s insidious planning and the nature of it affecting Izuku this chapter. It seems like the obvious effect is to injure any heroes with their guards down, but if not? Then the bomb’s gonna fulfil its backup purpose of wiping out any leads and leaving them back to square one – but if it had injured any of them, then great! That can be factored into the next move. Similarly, many people back in the day were worried that AFO was gonna lure Izuku into a trap or something, playing mind games with him and tricking him into making a foolish move, which is why he left the message for him. However, the message itself was actually the real trap all along. The battle between OFA and AFO will come down to one of willpower in the end, and even if AFO beats Izuku to a physical pulp, if his spirit’s still strong and defiant, there’s a chance he can resist him even whilst immobile – and he can’t just kill him either, because that would defeat the purpose of grooming Tomura to be stronger than OFA. But just like he groomed Tomura into gaining strength, he can also manipulate Izuku into weakening himself before the rematch, playing psychological tricks to keep him constantly on edge and unable to rest or relax, grinding down his soul along with his body, whilst Tomura steadily recuperates his strength after their last bout. Ideally, he’ll emerge from his rest fully healed and raring to go, whilst Izuku can barely stand upright and his willpower’s too burnt-out to withstand a direct assault by TomurAFO. AFO is not planning for anything like a fair confrontation with Izuku whenever their final battle kicks off, and every move he makes, whether papering to succeed or not, is set up in such a way that victory or failure will still benefit him in the end, without letting anybody meaningfully upset his plans.  (MHA ch 316) 4) “Huh, I have a feeling he didn’t actually hoped she would win against him…”- It doesn’t suit his real trap of mentally isolating and exhausting Izuku in preparation for their “rematch”. (MHA ch 316) 5) “So, it seems the upcoming theme is gonna be “Breaking Midoriya’s spirit” which makes me somewhat worried about the wellbeing of his mom and his schoolmates, or would so, if I didn’t knew how Horikoshi operates. Yeah none of them will die, except maybe the traitor which was an evil villain after all, but I’m sure Hagakure will still try to redeem herself before biting the dust.”-The actual theme/trap is invoking this feeling, to drive Izuku into a corner and isolate himself from others to protect them, which in turn wears down his emotional wellbeing and leaves OFA more vulnerable.

6) “So the title was a fucking lie huh, since I’m not seeing any scars, blood, nor filth in them, even after surviving a fucking bomb. Come the Fucking on Horikoshi, make them suffer a little bit.”- Didn’t even have to wait till the end of the chapter to have this wish granted.

7) “Actually now that I think about it, this is a fairly interesting duo helping them. Not Edgeshot and Kamui, I meant Mt Lady and Kamui. Edgeshot I can see being around for some reason, perhaps because he was helping Jeanist back in Vigilantes as well, but those two? Seems like they are friendlier with the main group than I expected.”-They’re a “new generation” of top-class heroes between Endeavour and 1A’s student years; an adult group they can tap to help out whilst the kids are kept off the front lines, especially since there’s so few left active after the PLF war. 8) “It is hard to fight for the world when the world shouts how much you suck, and he seemed like he tried, but it was too much. Shame.”- Deatharms is one of the first heroes we ever saw in this manga, and he’s always come across as a reliable helper hero in small roles, just like Mt Lady and Kamui, so hearing that he too eventually crumbled under the social pressures mounting against the heroes really puts into perspective how daunting the task they’re trying to commit is. By all accounts, Deatharms really is a good hero, and person underneath it all, but a human being will still want to have their effort and sacrifice acknowledged in some respect, just to know that they’re actually building something with all the work they put in. Hearing their tribulations mocked and demeaned saps one’s will to continue, and eventually a breaking point will be reached for everyone, even the likes of Endeavour – Deatharms’ was just sooner than he thought. 9) “This is a war of attrition, and AfO doesn’t need to do anything to win it, just sit down and wait for the world to eventually wear down the opposition.”- He’s stacked the board in his favour over years of effort, and he’s not above continuing to stack it even more with every day that passes, more heroes vanishing, more villains rising up, more chaos to bolster his plans.

10) “NOW WHO ARE THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS BECAUSE I’M GOING TO KILL THEM. IT’S ALRIGHT TO GIVE UP, BUT NOT TO HELP THE EVIL SIDE.”- It might not even be stuff that they think is important, just letting their frustrations out to others over everything and a talented reporter or two combing through the details to build a better picture of what’s happening to report to others – and that in turn runs the risk of outing Izuku as the focal point of all this chaos, which would be something AFO might be subtly encouraging in order to break his spirits even more. Not openly of course, but instead slowly building the possibility of exposing Izuku through other heroes, in order to further motivate him to work along and run himself more ragged.

11) “Yeah, he wants Midoriya running around, because that way he can chip away his willpower, and when the cracks are wide enough he’ll strike. Again, he doesn’t need to do anything to win, just sit down and wait.”- Well, it’s also hinted that he is making moves against Izuku – just not openly. He’s creating an atmosphere of dread and depression around Izuku, giving him no real time to recover, and steadily piling on the pressure for him, the holder of OFA and the strongest hero on their side, to do something to improve this situation with his immense power.

12) “…You know, dare I say that a bunch of people fighting to bring order and protect others without any help while society calls them scum was what I would expect from, you know, a vigilantes manga.

Hey, we even got Fires Georg, Jeanist and Edgeshot here, we’re just a few people away from getting the group back together.

If Koichi was not fucking around New York, that is.” - Yeah, the fanfic crossover really writes itself at this junction, doesn’t it?

1) “Not the wisest thing to say when he can fucking murder your ass in the blink of an eye. He beat you up once, and now you are unarmed, don’t test his patience.”- Again showing how Overhaul’s not exactly changed even with his remorse for his past misdeeds. He only cares about how the boss got hurt because of him because of how painful it is to him, personally. He still sees everyone else as diseased monsters not worthy of consideration.

2) “No Midoriya, keep him away from her! Don’t you ever put him in as much as the same city as her ever again. She doesn’t deserve to go through seeing him, not even in her thoughts.”- I honestly read this as being more for Eri’s sake than anything, letting her move past Overhaul and the damage he did to her, if she’s ever willing to see him again for that last goodbye on her own terms. It gives her more agency and control over events than Overhaul ever would have.

3) “…Although I wonder if you only said that as a way to break him, since you knew this would twist the knife in.

…

Nah, you would never, what am I even saying here.”- I think it’s honestly a bit of both. Midoriya’s greatest skill is his ability to read people and understand and empathize with their innermost pain. With Overhaul, he’s now seeing his genuine remorse, but still understanding that he’s fundamentally the same selfish warped person who hurt Eri despite that. So he gives him an ultimatum: that if he can bring himself to express this remorse towards someone who he doesn’t really care about, Izuku will help fulfil that desire, meaning that the thing that’s keeping Overhaul from seeing the Boss is now the same sociopathic disregard of others that’s so defined Chisaki up til now. 4) “Oh All Might, already done killing those dudes?

WAIT THE MIGHT MOBILE SURVIVED? HOLY SHIT MAN”- It’s very well-made. Glass can be broken, sure, but the materials that make up the running of it are capable of taking a few knows or two.

5) “Midoriya is fucking pissed right now, that’s what he is. The moment he sees the potato faced fucker he’s gonna snap his neck.”- Izuku can see the best in people. AFO can see the worst in them, and twist it to suit his callous disregard of everyone and anything that doesn’t benefit himself. Izuku capable of making peace with a defeated overhaul, but AFO? There’s probably no genuine remedy for their enmity but absolute death. He’s too powerful and too remorseless to be redeemed or locked up – somebody’s gonna have to punch his ticket to put and end to his reign for good. 6) “Oh wait what the fuck

are we already cutting to two months later?

whatAlso, I remember that place, it’s been a while”- Naturally the League would crash in a place where they already knew there’d be no-one around…but AFO’s not that sloppy of a planner.

7) “Are you sure Midoriya? Shigaraki is quite capable from what we’ve seen, he literally resurrected so he could destroy the world, I wouldn’t put past him being angry enough to overpower you.”- His body is still probably destabilised from the beating Midoria  gave, so even if his emotional strength can overwhelm Izuku, his actual self can’t contain the power at present.

8) “No surprise, the place is empty. AfO knew that lady nagant lost after all, he turned her into a firework remotely, he would be stupid to still be hanging around here.”- That, and just to twist the knife, he gave her a false meeting location from the start. Nagant didn’t achieve anything but helping AFO’s agenda no matter what action she took, a fact he’s all too happy to rub in Izuku’s face here.

9) “Okay he definitely was expecting that to happen. Can’t say I’m surprised. AfO is definitely the type of person who would send her to her death just to spite Midoriya and All Might.”- He really goes the extra mile to make himself the absolute villain. Tomura has the power and the destructive force, but AFO has the persona of a villain crafted down to a fine science…even if said persona is all there actually is to him.

10) “Let us not start the philosophical debate about what a villain makes, not with you at least, because Midoriya will probably teleport to your location to beat your ass if he listen to a single second more of you talking”- AFO doesn’t really “debate”, he baits people into listening to his words, crafted in such a manner that they seem to make sense, without actually believing anything he says, just to get a rise out of them or trick them into making a mistake. He’s essentially an internet Troll with unlimited power to exercise his spiteful agenda.

1) “Let me not think about all that for a moment and instead think about Midoriya seeing a woman blow up in front of him and be completely fine five minutes later. That’s right, My Hero of the streets, because I’m afraid the Academia part is more of an artifact title by now. Join me, on Chapter 316: Your Turn.”- At least this means he won’t have to hand in homework anymore.

2) “Okay it never happened to me to think about Endeavor having trouble with rain

I mean, I guess it makes sense? If you ignore how hot his fire actually is that is.”- He can’t maintain high temperatures all the time. Burning hot enough to move more easily through rain would be exhausting for him, even before he showed up at a scene.

3) “HAWKS PLEASE YOU TRIED TO CARRY HER WITHOUT ENOUGH FEATHERS DIDN’T YOU?

DAMMIT NOW WE NEED TO SAVE HIM AS WELL”-  Well, I think he’s slowing her descent somewhat. Maybe not by much, but even a balloon is preferable to a man falling off a building.

4) “Bless you Hawks, bless you. And blessed you must’ve been because I never expected you to even be able to grow any more feathers after what brutal things Dabi did to your back.”- Hey, what’s a little redemption without a miracle or two to speed it along the way?

5) “Hawks can we leave the introductions to after she woke up from having her insides turned into a firecracker?”- I think Hawks is doing one of those “don’t go into the light” deals, only due to him and Nagant’s similar personalities and training, he’s using the need to “focus on the mission” to help tether her to life. If she does nothing she passes away, but if she fights to speak and tell them stuff about AFO she’s got a chance.

6) “Is she, Hawks? Is she? Are you sure about that? I’m not even sure if you are better than this, you know?”- Hawks says it’s too early for them to throw in the towel, including himself alongside Nagant. I’m pretty sure he knows that they’re both sinners, but Nagant has more blood on her hands because of the rawer deal she got due to circumstances that were out of her control. Hawks’ more lenient treatment as Safety Commission asset was likely because they wanted to avoid repeating Nagant’s meltdown, so in some way he both knows he owes her, and feels like she deserves a chance of redemption. After all, if Nagant can’t be redeemed, his own odds of atoning for Jin’s death aren’t good.

7) “Loved the energy: If you’re gonna die, at least give us a hand here on how to win before dying.”- More like: “Live right now, and give us a helping hand. Don’t give us so easily just because you got tricked and betrayed again.”   8) “Because he has the moral high ground of only killing the bad guys™ you know, he never had to dirt his hands with the blood of good people™ oh no, just villains that deserve it, he’s a good guy after all.”-  Hawks had allies and support that Nagant never did, which gave him more chances to avoid falling into the darkness like her. And because he knows first-hand what kind of stuff she’s been pressured into, he now wants to be a support for her, because it’s not fair that he dodged her current situation by luck and timing. 9) “…have hope? It’s a skill, one actually really hard to cultivate.”- Especially in today’s world. 10) “DAMMIT SHE ACTUALLY SNAPPED OUT OF IT TO GIVE THEM SOME HELP

AFO ACTIVATE THE EXPLOSION QUIRK AGAIN, APPARENTLY HAVING HER ORGANS SPLATTERED INSIDE HER BODY WAS NOT ENOUGH TO KILL HER”- Neat thing about explosions: they only go off once. Once the bomb’s been triggered, there’s a lot of damage, but little chance of another blast happening without a second explosive planted somewhere. Having survived the blast, AFO can’t blow her up again in short order, it’s a one-and-done deal.

11) “Again, hope is a skill, it takes a lot, and I truly mean A LOT of practice to learn how to keep it going. Hope has mud in her face, blood in her mouth, and she just spit out a teeth before going back for round two.”- Hope’s all about taking the hurting and believing through it all that a happy ending is still possible. 12) “Also you didn’t had to actually kill a fellow hero and friend to fulfill your mission, that part would’ve definitely thrown a wrench into your optimism.”- I mean, he still killed Jin, who was technically his friend, and that’s obviously a sorespot for him still, a cross he’ll need to bear for the rest of his life.

13) “Alright Midoriya, I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to break a few of his teeth here. It would be preferably, to be honest.”- I like Midoria’s dismissive attitude to Chisaki here, in contrast to his invested focus in finding out what Nagant’s deal is and why she’s fighting him. Despite being somebody who cares for others and sees the good in them, Chisaki’s deeds were still so repugnant that Midoriya’s barely holding back from showing his absolute contempt of him

1) “Yeah, see what I mean? A true hero, through and through. We still need to tackle him downplaying women’s choices of evil, but that can come later.

Talk-no-jutsu has saved the day once again.”- All For One agrees! That’s why he’s made sure that it’s all going to blow up in Izuku’s face, literally! 2) “WHAT THE FUCK 

YOU MOTHERFUCKER 

NO”- The arch-villain of the show won’t let there be any happy outcomes to those who face him, no matter if they’re on his side or against him.

(MHA ch 287)

3) “…

hmmmmmm… I don’t like where this is going. I doubt that AfO is gonna be able to steal OfA here… But I’m starting to feel like he knows that as well, and he’s not minding it, because above all he wants to leave a seed behind, one from which he can grow and use it’s roots to strangle this quirk from the inside out

Oh I’m already not liking where this is going”- Well, you’re not exactly wrong. AFO was confident that Tomura would eventually become even more hated-filled given enough time, powerful enough to steal OFA without resistance, but whilst he’s talking directly to Izuku, he might as well leave a seed of doubt and insecurity behind in his mind over his “worthiness” to wield OFA in the first place, weaken Izuku’s willpower in early preparation for the eventual rematch.

(MHA ch 312) 4) “Okay Midoriya, you know how to deal with long-ranged quirks, you just need to get up and personal and beat the shit out of her. You can also use your talk-no-jutsu to get her on the hero side, I think she would be a fine addition.”- AFO agrees with this assessment, which is why he decided to nip that recruitment speech in the bud. (MHA ch 313)

5) “WAIT, AFO DIDN’T TOLD YOU THAT MIDORIYA HAD MULTIPLE QUIRKS? BUT HE KNEW IT, SHIGARAKI FOUGHT AGAINST HIM

WHY WOULDN’T YOU TELL HER INFO THAT WAS IMPORTANT FOR HER JOB YOU FUCKING POTATO BRAIN??”- Because her job isn’t to win, it’s to die right when Izuku has hope of saving her from her self-destructive course, just to further crush his spirits before their rematch.

(MHA ch 314)

6) “Sorry Lady, but he went through a power-up, I’m sorry that AfO didn’t inform you he was a shonen protagonist, you should’ve been better prepared for this sort of situation”-  Can’t have the sacrificial pawn realising what she’s up against, not until her loss can lead to your gain…. (MHA ch 255) 7) “OH HE`S COMING BACK

I FEEL LIKE HE`S COMING BACK

THAT OR HE`S GOING TO FUCKING EXPLODE TO PREVENT AN INFO LEAK

THAT`S THE SORT OF THING I COULD SEE AFO DOING.”-Right Idea, wrong unwitting pawn.

(MHA ch 313)

8) “MY BOY DON’T LOOK AT THE SCREEN LIKE THAT IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE GONNA KILL SOMEONE AND YOU’RE TOO SMOLL FOR THAT”- Well, technically this fight does end with her on death’s door…

(MHA ch 314)

9) “Oh for fuck’s sake don’t tell me AfO gave her more than one quirk

|I beg mercy Horikoshi”- Does an exploding Killer-Queen style Bomb-Quirk count?

(MHA ch 314) 10) “Oh you still think he’s talking out of his ass huh? Well don’t worry, he’s gonna make you see the truth

and trust me, the truth hurts”- Worse than the broken arm, or the internal explosions?

11) “I’M GOING TO MAKE MAYONNAISE WITH THAT POTATO HEAD JUST YOU WATCH”- So, yeah, now you know why AFO didn’t bother telling Nagant about izuku’s additional powers. The reason he picked her to try and take him out, out of all the prisoners he could have manipulated into doing the job, actually had nothing to do with his past history as a professional assassin. Instead, it was because, out of all the prisoners in Tartarus, nagant was the only one who was still a good person (more or less). The deal with the “battle of wills” between OFA and AFO is that, so long as Tomura’s willpower is strong enough, he can actually overcome the Quirk’s resistance and absorb it like every other power AFO’s targeted. By the same logic, if Izuku’s willpower is weakened before that match, if he’s full of doubt or despair or not in the right headspace to commit everything he has to resisting Tomura, then it’ll be all the easier for TomurAFO to steal it from him. For that outcome, AFO’s main goal right now isn’t to fight Izuku whilst his “perfected self” is in recuperation for their rematch, it’s to mentally wear him down and screw with his head non-stop until he’s an absolute wreak, whilst TomurAFO’s stronger than ever. To that end, any trick and dirty tactic is on the table, all for the sake of demoralising Izuku however he can (and also because, as shown by his big smile here, AFO is having the time of his life with this). Nagant wasn’t chosen to win against Izuku (though if she had, all well and good anyways), she was chosen to die in front of him, just when it looked like he’s saved her soul at long last.

12) “Oh wait no, she seems fine, a bit charred, but she’ll walk it off. Phew, thought she actually blew up there or something.”- Internal explosions are actually all the worse to fix, because you’ve gotta bypass the exterior to get to the damaged spots, all without making them worse in the process.

13) “I WAS NOT COUNTING ON THAT ONE SHOWING UP

AND EVEN HE AGREES SHE’S FINE”- Hawks may be weakened now his feathers are damaged, but he’s still one of the faster heroes around. Just takes him a bit longer than it used to to make it to the scene.

Art by Doodlelotl

 1) “Anyway, enough of me whining, let us get to Midoriya breaking a villain’s arm while they discuss about society, on Chapter 315: Platitude.”- As a warm-up for his eventual physical/philosophical showdown with Tomura (what’s left of him in there), it’s perhaps a good thing that the dark jesus-figure can heal his limbs after every body-breaking blow whilst he and Izuku trade attacks and viewpoints in equl measure, otherwise Tomura wouldn’t have time to outlast Izuku’s sheer force whilst he makes his points about society’s failings clear.

2) “OH FLASHBACK

AND OVERHAUL IS ALSO HERE

SO SHE BROUGHT HIM ALONG NOT ONLY TO BE USED AS BAIT, BUT ALSO TO IDENTIFY MIDORIYA, I SEE.”- That and also, it’s made pretty clear that despite how she acts on the surface, Nagant does feel pity and some protectiveness towards Chisaki (mainly because she doesn’t know what he’s done with Eri) and it’s as good a reason as she can come up with to keep watch over him whilst the world goes to hell and he can’t defend himself.

3) “Oh, he’s gonna ask to see his boss again, isn’t he?

I don’t even remember if he was alive after that arc to be honest. Not that overhaul can do anything for him without his arms… Also, I bet he wouldn’t tell what he did to his granddaughter.”- It’s honestly unclear. The boss was left in an induced coma that Chisaki assumed only his Quirk would be able to wake him up from, so the odds of him appearing in this current situation are near impossible, but whilst he was stable and recovered by the police, with the world and all infrastructure steadily imploding from this crisis it’s very possible his life could have been imperilled whilst he’s unable to defend himself or move to safety 4) “Well, if he is no longer alive I think you’re about to meet him. One or way another you two will have a chat.”- Frankly, that’s doubtful. Even if the boss is the head of a criminal gang and passed on, he can’t possibly have committed enough sins to visit the same circle of Hell that Chisaki’s bound for.   5) “Oh, you think he’s not gonna sacrifice himself to save someone, even a villain? Well you certainly know nothing about the one Stain marked as the successor of the true one hero.”-  More like, she assumes his attention will be drawn by Chisaki being imperilled long enough for her to land a direct shot whilst Izuku’s mentally switching gears, unexpecting that his instinct to save would be so much that it’s lead to him already responding the second he recognises Chisaki’s in danger, uncaring of what past misdeeds he’s done (in the sense of them getting in the way of him saving his life anyway). 6) “No wait, scratch that, you actually was being pragmatic here, forget what I said before. Sorry Lady, I was not familiar with your game.”- Nagant’s got one hell of a poker face, but Izuku is very good at analysing what her actions are really saying about her character, so despite it all, he knows there’s a good, is jaded and misguided, heroic person remaining underneath all her cynicism 7) “And there goes our boy! 

Get ready to see something magic, Lady.

You’ll never see so many bones breaking at the same time in your life again.”- Actually, the main advantage of Fa Jin? It allows Izuku to exert additional force on top of what he can do with Full Cowling without the recoil. This means that Izuku can keep unleashing Fa Jin-enhanced attacks all day long without ever coming close to breaking his bones with it, adding enough additional force onto his own “natural” attacks that he’s basically reaching 100% hits with some additional factors added atop the combo. This means that he can now do the same tactic he did to Tomura in their last brawl without over-taxing his limbs, assuming he can work in the “charging” period correctly in a frenetic brawl.This also means that, should Izuku ever manage to upgrade his body to naturally, unleash 100% like All Might, could, he can go beyond 100% with ease. The kid’s potential in the future is enough that he could reasonably hit hard enough to smack Gigantomachia around like a tennis ball.   8) “HE DIDN’T CAUGHT UP

HE SURPASSED IT

NEVER FORGET THAT

AND YOU OVERHAUL, GET READY TO GETTING YOUR ASS KICKED AS SOON AS HE’S DONE WITH HER”- Faster than a speeding bullt, hits harder than a rocket-boosted dump truck, and can fly from one end of the country to the other in the time it takes you to eat a meal. Future Izuku is gonna be a menace. (MHA ch 312) 9) “And I suppose this is where Overhaul will come in handy. Midoriya wouldn’t let someone die, even a villain. The perfect trap, she just needs to point her gun towards overhaul to get Midoriya to drop his guard and make a mistake…”- Unless you’re faster than a sniper’s bullet, that is. 10) “TIME TO WILE E. COYOTE HIS ASS BACK TO THE FIGHT

NOT A SECOND TO SPARE”- Ironically, it’s Nagant who’s now in the same position she tried to put Izuku in, taken off-guard by his sudden action and trying to re-adjust to the changed situation whilst he’s already launching his next attack at her. 11) “JESUS CHRIST MIDORIYA

CAN YOU GIVE YOUR LIMBS A BREAK PLEASE

NO WAIT POOR CHOICE OF WORDS PLEASE DON’T”- No need to worry about that anymore. So long as a limb has Fa Jin charged up on it, it can unleash maximum force without needing to suffer any damage from it. Fa Jin is essentially Izuku working with a roundabout method of safely (and finally) unleashing 100% attacks without having to consider the long-term risks. 12) “HOLY SHIT HE DID IN FACT BREAK HER ARM TO STOP HER

NO HESITATION

I WONDER IF IT WOULD HURT IF HE SNAPPED THAT BARREL CLEAN OFF”- I mean, it clearly hurts already when he’s broken it in like three different directions at once. Izuku was probably holding back with that hit and he still nearly tore her arm off (to say nothing of holding her with said limb afterwards).

(MHA ch 314) 13)“Alright, who’s ready for Midoriya to break someone’s else arm for a change? I sure am, and that’s why I’m rushing the introduction here so we can get to Chapter 314: The lovely lady Nagant as soon as possible! Let us dive in!”- Arm: Broken. Fight: Finished. Hotel? Trivalgo.

(MHA ch 314) 14) “AND THAT’S THE END OF THE CHAPTER

AND WHAT A CLIFFHANGER TO END WITH. Well, to be honest we know what will happen, Midoriya will save Overhaul, get hurt in the process, lady Nagant will see he’s not just talk and surrender, you know, the talk-no-jutsu final move of acting always works”- What better way to show how Izuku’s improved than allowing him to finish this fight without any broken limbs but his opponents’?

15) “And now she falls to her death, even though she has a floating quirk. Seems she’s given up, the weight of it all is being too much

But Midoriya won’t let her fall

No one is left behind”- Nagant can no longer keep herself aloft over the abyss of darkness and despair that’s threatened to mentally consume her all this time, getting faced with the fact there still remain actual heroes in this world worthy of the title, and how far she’s left herself be lead astray from what she once aspired to be…but of course, Izuku’s there to keep her from fully falling in.

16) “Alright Midoriya, no need to downplay her choices, let her be evil, god forbid women do anything smh”- It’s as much as proving to Nagant herself that she’s still got a heroic spirit of her own left underneath all the grime and shame her work as an assassin heaped onto her. Izuku’s not saying she hasn’t done wrong, he’s just pointing out to her that she’s still not fully sunk to the level of an unrepentant psychopath as Muscular.

1) “Look dude, word of advice, don’t start begging for your life with “we didn’t do anything wrong, we were just planning to” because there’s no ruthless killer that will let you walk free after that”- “Due Process” is a thing after all. These guys deserved their day in court, but evidently their aims touched on too many dirty details to be made public, so they just get quietly executed by the one-woman death squad. 2) “There’s no peace and order if there’s no evil and chaos to justify it? That’s where you’re going with it?”- It must have taken some degree of subtle manipulations at first to ease Nagant into the role of taking her first kill, but after that it just…got easier. And after the first kill, she’d already stained herself in sin, so she might as well make it worth what she’d done, right? Pile up enough “good deeds”, maybe that’d justify the actions she’s committed….and so it continues until she just becomes numb to it. Whilst there’s perhaps some twisted justification in how destructive her Quirk is, how suited it is for this line of work, it’s been shown that it’s possible for destructive Quirks to have a non-lethal role in heroism, so the only reason she got selected for this task and groomed into it (not unlike Tomura has been groomed into becoming AFO’s current vessel/weapon) is because the safety commission saw her Quirk and not the person behind it. And they kept treating her like a tool, right up until the breaking point… 3) “And here comes the kids that you’re killing in the name of. Won’t they be proud of your carnage? In awe of the violence perpetuated to keep them safe? The flag of peace flies red and dripping”- Arguably the one thing that kept Nagant going was the idea that her sins wouldn’t have to burden the next generation, that she was making something better for them so they wouldn’t do it in their later years…and instead, she just realised that nothing she was doing would “protect” the innocent, only the institutions that’d manipulate and use them like herself. 4) “The innocent unaware of the horrors behind the mask that protects them.

I’m not surprised you snapped.”- She realised on some level that all her actions would do would result in those kids getting “stained” by blood in some manner, themselves guided into a “suitable” path and mindset as befitted the government…unless she did something about it. But, the safety commission only trained her to do one thing, fulfil one role, so when pushed into a corner, she reacted accordingly… 5) “Oh hey this even looks like McBee’s McPenthouse. It has the same view and furniture at least.

Never forget that Shigaraki had to live in a basement while McBee got a penthouse from AfO. We know who was the favorite kid there.”- Seeing as we now know that AFO’s plan was the create a “vessel of hatred” to overpower OFA’s resistance to him, him grooming No 6 in the same manner- giving him what he wants, letting him indulge himself in his self-destructive desires, with all his resources at his disposal- makes a lot more sense. 6) “It’s not a matter of being the best, it’s a a matter of being easier for the government to kill whoever abuses the rules they set down rather than changing the rules so those situations never arose.”- The fundamental, inconsolable difference between heroes and the government organisations, is that heroes are empathetic, there to care for others and save their mental and physical wellbeing, even at the personal cost of their own. Goverments, institutions and the like, are cold, apathetic and always focused on the needs of the many rather than the few. This friction no doubt caused more than a few problems across the years, and Nagant’s downfall is just another tragic example of such. 7) “Oh yeah, the heroes and building hope and faith, but they are doing that so things can get better, which means that the government should be fighting as well to make things better, rather than just catch a ride on their capes and don’t do shit.”- The commission might have been following the letter of the heroes’ actions to better society, but they never really believed in the spirit of it – or at least the higher-ups like this guy didn’t, at his core. The ideal of what made a “better” world wasn’t something he understood like Nagant and other heroes did, and that in turn ironically made him an agent of corruption that dragged down a hopeful idealist into a disillusioned villain. 8) “You’re not really trying to threaten a professional assassin with a built-in gun, are you?

Well, guess we know who she killed to get thrown into Tartarus.”- Honestly, it’s ambiguous. Could be a gun, could be a pack of cigarettes, could be an emergency transmitter summoning aid for somebody to “deal with” Nagant – the crucial point is that ultimately, his death is caused by the same issue that lead to Nagant’s psychological trauma- he didn’t see her as a person, only a tool. He stopped considering how threatening his actions could be towards her, thinking her will was all but broken and failing to react appropriately when she showed this defiant streak at this late hour. In a way, his apathy killed him. 9) “The public never knows what goes in the room where it happens

Funny, right? Kill hundreds of people, it’s all for the greater good, but kill the one ordering the kills and suddenly you are a monster.”- I think the continued cover-up, even to her official crime, ate Nagant up the most. Even going as far as she did, the government still wouldn’t allow an acknowledgement of the “inconvenient” aspects of their world to come to light, and locked her up under false pretences. She killed for a lie, then turned on them because she saw the truth, and they incarcerated her underneath another lie. 10) “Yes, but letting AfO rule it won’t do any good. You are not trying to destroy the system to build something better, you are talking about dooming everyone that wasn’t even aware of the sins being committed for them”- True, but Nagant feels like she’s only one woman against the whole world, fighting alone for an ideal that everyone else wilfully ignores, like they ignored the truth and locked her up. AFO’s plans at least allow her some chance of striking a meaningful blow against that same unfeeling institution, which she couldn’t achieve alone. 11) “Bold of you to think that Midoriya wants to bring it back. No, this boy is fighting for a new future, a different one, a better one.”- To Nagant, Izuku’s just another brainwashed kid like she used to be, one unknowingly repeating the mistakes of her past – and even if she breaks the illusion and tells him the truth, what then? He’s just like her, one kid against the world. What could he possibly achieve that someone more experienced like her couldn’t? 12) “Again Lady, wouldn’t be better to fight so nobody have to hold on the walls of peace with bloodied hands? Because trust me, AfO is not here to proclaim world peace. You’re changing a meatgrinder for another, while deluding yourself into thinking you’re stopping the evils of society.”- At the same time, whilst we can see how wrong Nagant is in choosing to side with AFO, she wasn’t wrong about how the safety commission would just go on to repeat its agenda with another innocent kid. That lady behind the previous president is the same one who recruited Hawks and got injured (or possibly killed) be ReDestro’s clone during the PLF war, his successor who went on to repeat the same cycle that Nagant got incarcerated for, albeit having learned from her predecessor to be more cautious and mindful of her “asset’s” mental well-being and willing cooperation for the Commission’s aims. And that ultimately lead to Hawks stabbing a mentally-damaged man in the back, one who’d trusted him as a friend, in order to stop him from ruining their joint operation, an action that continues to haunt Hawks even now. 13) “Oh sure. Really transparent. He doesn’t pretend he wants to do evil, and that automatically makes him a better option. Again, not trying to stop the meatgrinder, just siding with the guy who openly announces he wants to throw people into it.”- Whilst absolutely the wrong choice, Nagant’s been stabbed in the back by the “good” guys so utterly that she just can’t find faith in them anymore. And if she’s already a villain, perhaps she should just side with them and try to take out one injustice along the way, even if many more are committed in the process.

14) "HOLY SHIT MIDORIYA ALMOST KILLED HER

IT WASN’T INTENTIONAL BUT IT WAS PRETTY CLOSE

JESUS’- I’m not certain that Black Whip can actually impale a target – more, spread around them from the point of contact, like Spidy’s webbing.

15) “something something the main series being about analyzing the darker sides of society while the spin-off which claimed to be about that same topic was all sunshine and rainbows something”- Both series’ main themes sorta got swapped in the final acts, if you think about it.

16) “If there’s something Midoriya refuses to do is turn his eyes away from the darkness he saw. He will gaze into the abyss, and keep gazing into it until he banishes the shadows away.”- Midoira didn’t start this mess, but he knows there’s no other road to overcome it than the long and hard one, no matter how impossible it seems to see where you’d heading down it. 17) “HELL YEAH

MIDORIYA IS HERE TO SAVE PEOPLE. ALL PEOPLE. THE TRUE SYMBOL OF PEACE SHALL NOT LET ANYONE SUFFER IN THE DARK”- Izuku’s the hero of this story because of his unshakeable faith in doing the right thing, despite his singular powerlessness on his own. That’s why he’s always receiving aid and support from others to become such a powerful hero.

(MHA ch 312) 18) “Ah, right, Overhaul was here. There’s also that.

…

Why did you drag him all the way here again?”- Handy target practice/moral dilemma.

19) “HOLY SHIT SHE REALLY BROUGHT HIM HERE TO USE AS A SHIELD

FUCKING HELL

1) “Thank god, it wasn’t another quirk, just her regular one.

Which must’ve hurt like hell good lord straight to the chest”- I like how something as simple as her Quirk’s “retraction” (which isn’t even technically part of its offensive capabilities) can be turned into a close-range defensive option in the hands of somebody with enough skill and inventiveness with the power. Shows that Izuku’s not the only one creative with Quirks and their various stratagems. 2) “Especially when comes to killing people, amiright?

At least Midoriya got out of the way in time, because that one would surely be lethal.”- Not even exaggerating a little, the commission turned what could have been an idealistic hero into a John-Wick styled killer purely because of her natural abilities, uncaring of how this went against what she herself would have wanted. 3) “Which comes back to the question I asked before: what he offered her? Because it needs to be something she wouldn’t be able to get on her own, otherwise why bother agreeing with him? Besides just tricking him so she could get away that is.”- Nagant is, in a sense, not so different from Tomura. Both individuals have been hurt by others’ indifference to their mental torment because the wider society deemed it “improper” to have to admit there were flaws that heroes couldn’t handle, crises where they couldn’t burst in and heroically save the day. After so long of being treated like they were in the wrong for feeling their pain, and everybody turning a blind eye to it, both are so worn down that they just don’t have hope that there’s anything good that can possibly come out of the current hero-saturated society – that if it’s left alone, other will continue to be ignored, marginalised and left to suffer where no-one else can see their pain. So they figure, if society’s gonna cover up all of that to better itself, then it’s best to just tear away the cover, let everything be exposed so that casual indifference can’t continue any longer – which in itself arguably isn’t really a bad thing. It’s just that they’re way too destructive with their efforts and don’t have much of a long-term plan, because long-term arguably implies you have a hopeful vision for what’s to come in the future, which has been thoroughly burnt out of both of them. 4) “We’re about to go full we live in a society aren’t we?

midoriya, you better have your words ready, the talk-no-jutsu is the win condition for this fight.”- I love the symbolism of Nagant speaking out of the darkened streets at Izuku, like she’s literally speaking as the voice of the dark side of the peaceful society that once existed, the one that’s now bleeding through into the everyday because it was ignored and hidden for so long, it gave AFO plenty of ammunition to empower his own stratagems and grander plans. Nagant’s not just a killer in the shadows, she’s the dark, hidden side of heroes that once openly roamed these same streets.

5) “You should’ve listened to your ghost uncle, he knows that the fight was too short to end like that.”- Can’t have the fight coming to a close without Overhaul contributing something, even if it’s just a handy target to distract Izuku at the last moment. 6) “Oh? We’re gonna have some backstory? This will be interesting, because if that is the case, we’re gonna see what would’ve been of Hawks had him stayed with the government for a few years more.”- Honestly, Nagant’s case made me think that the safety commission revised their approach after Nagant’s breakdown and subsequent incarceration, realising that it’s not practical to rely on a hero to one-sidedly follow their orders and commands to do the dirty work in the shadows without considering their mental wellbeing. For that reason, Hawks’ mom was allowed to come along and live a better life thanks to his cooperation with the commission, and they seem to have always taken some care to ensure that Hawks was willingly on-board with volunteering himself for these tasks. I’m not saying that there wasn’t a degree of manipulation involved, just that they were much more subtle and holding back with treating him as a disposable tool, which is why Hawks seems so much more well-adjusted than Nagant by the present day. 7) “We absolutely are gonna see some backstory, everybody get ready for impact”- You mean besides the impacts the bullets are making on Izuku’s flesh? 8) “Doing the dirty work so people would sleep safe and sound, or at least that is what you’re told I suppose.

Not gonna doubt she definitely took down a lot of terrible evils, but I also know for a fact a government would not pass an opportunity to make their opposition disappear. And then it comes down to, how can she even know which one she was doing?”- Arguably, the fact she doesn’t know – can’t ever know – is probably the main reason why Nagant’s so focused on “transparency” by the present day, even to the point of joining AFO. The questions must have been eating her alive all that time she spent incarcerated around criminals and villains who weren’t burdened with a sense of guilt like her, blamed for a mis-labelled crime even then to ensure the coverup persisted without her. After getting a sense of freedom, I can somewhat see the logic behind her wanting to seize any real chance at ensuring that state of affairs never repeats to anybody else ever again, but it’s arguably her sense of hopelessness and despair that’s mainly driving her to side with AFO, not any real belief that he’s “better”. (MHA ch 255)

9) “Meanwhile, at the- well, I assume this is the hero commission we are always talking about- anyway, meanwhile, at the Commission of Justice, we have the Boss, Herod McOmission, who just got a very vague message.”- Ah, but as we find out here, ‘justice’ is not the same as ‘heroism’ (MHA ch 263)

10) “Again, walls going in would`ve solved all of your problems. An implosion of the building would quickly dispatch the threats, and since you have no civilians to worry about or targets to capture, going for a drawn-out battle only increases your chances of losing.”-True, it would have been the more pragmatic option, but as Nagant somewhat demonstrates, All Might’s influence allowed the majority of heroes to dream a little, start following his example and trying to non-lethally resolves as much crises situations as possible, trying to actually be heroes, rather than super-powered fighters upholding an oppressive system. The act of killing somebody, even for the ‘greater good’ weighs down on your soul, and there’s no way the majority of heroes here would have condoned just crushing the PLF before they could fight back. Hell, given Machia was in the basement floor, doing that would have hardly changed a thing anyway. (Vigilantes ch 75) 11) “Oh- Ohhh… Now we`re going on the dark side of things… were you used for espionage and assassinations as well? Are we going to see what the ones before Hawks were like? Well, not that much before, but still.”- Espionage mainly, although for O’Clock it seemed to have been a willing voluntary service, seeking out threats and directing heroes on where to go to publically defeat them with minimal casualties or damages. Nagant handled all the assassinating, and look how shattered she became because of that. (MHA ch 312) 12) “Wait what

no wait hold on- What’s the implications here? That she was tasked with taking his down before All Might supposedly killed him? Because it can’t be after that, nobody knew that he was still alive, and that would mean the government knew he was around and told no oneHow long have you been in jail again?”- Yeah, it seems like the Hero Commission did catch wind of AFO’s survival (possibly due to O’Clock’s run-in with her and the whole trigger incidents) but because it’d be “inconvenient” for a supervillain to have survived a fatal ending at All Might’s hands (not to mention just how bloody the attempted murder clearly was) they seemd to have been making efforts to discretely try and assassinate him before he regained his strength of announced his comeback on the public stage…which just gave him additional cover to achieve exactly that. They didn’t even clue All Might into the idea he was alive, despite him being the best counter, because they didn’t want a public reveal of AFO and everything attached to him.

13) “Peace stained in blood, that is what she was upholding. Whether it was innocent blood or not she cannot say, it all looks the same once it dries.”- Nagant is undoubtedly a tragic figure, one that still wishes to do good, but has lost all faith that the institutions that govern society will do anything less than continue to manipulate and indoctrinate the innocent into following in her footsteps. Her attack on Izuku is at least partially Bourne out of her anger that he’s seemingly another kid who’s succumbed to that same manipulation and propaganda, the embodiment of her fears and regrets about the legacy she left behind in the outside world once the safety commission turned on her.

1) “…

oh right, you didn’t knew that, onyl we saw her using her additional quirk. Dammit midoriya, where’s your omniscience smdh

 Now Izuku’s not only going to be facing goons with great mastery over their innate abilities, but also likely additional ones that give them more advanced option to fight against him than are recorded in the police files, giving him extra concerns to handle.”- 2) “And here comes another one~”- Actually, Nagant’s using the recoil of her rifle to propel herself out of sight quickly before Izuku changes direction towards her- using RWBY-styled gun-flying. 3) “Yeah didn’t thought about that problem. The closer you are the less time she needs to prepare and line another shot. But then again, this is only true to a certain distance, under that threshold her quirk won’t serve her anymore.”- Well, not in the conventional sense, at least. 4) “That it is…

This will limit her visibility, but she won’t be foolish to go into the cloud, she just needs to keep an eye on the corners and aim at where Midoriya tries to run to”- Thankfully, Midoria has the example of other mentors to draw from to circumvent such logic, like the Kool-Aid man. 5) “okay Midoriya what are you planning there? You gonna use your own shot-go-blam? Do you even have one of those? Koichi had, you know? Wonder what he’s doing right now, probably eating a burger.”- Midoria: I am the bullet! 6) “WE’RE IN A BIT OF A DESPERATE SITUATION HERE, SURE, BUT I FEEL LIKE THIS MIGHT ALSO COME WITH ITS OWN BUNDLE OF PROBLEMS

WHAT EVEN IS THE QUIRK YOU’RE TRYING TO USE? IT SEEMS YOU’RE CHARGING UP, IS IT SOME SORT OF BOOST OR DASH? ARE WE GONNA GO FULL KOICHI?”- I always split the difference between them as, Izuku can go faster, but Koichi has more overall control and options in a 3D environment. In terms of top speed and force, Izuku outranks him, but Koichi’s actually more nimble and agile than him when it comes to moving around 7) “OKAY HE’S DEFINITELY CHARGING UP I’M WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IS IT GONNA BE”- Ok so, I noticed it around about this point, but there’s actually a bit of overlap between the Quirks Izuku can wield and the personalities of the holders who held them (which makes sense, given the theories about how Quirks influence a user’s persona and vice-versa) The 3rd advises Izuku to be cautious and wait for the right moment to strike, aka, charing up energy for the right moment to attack. The 6th hides some of his lower face, and seems a little risk-adverse, going along with his power being able to hide himself and not very good for combat. Banjo is a chummy guy who likes to get close to others, and Black Whip’s all about grabbing people and pulling them closer to him. Shinomori was a hermit who shunned society’s trapping and preferred living alone, and his power enables him to avoid contact with those who wish him ill (and absolutely counters Banjo’s own, as we saw briefly inside Izuku’s mindspace) Nana was somebody who believed in uplifting the hopes of others to Yagi, which lead to his own positive persona as All Might, and her power enables her to lift herself and others upwards. Yoichi’s Quirk transference is weak and seemingly useless for anything, like his body was frail and unable to help others during his life, but it’s also the one power that can provide a unique resistance against his brother’s that no other Quirk can allow. Yagi as All Might was a straightforward powerhouse and superman-like hero, reflecting how he mastered only the basic strength enhancement, but to an immense degree that outstripped all the other holders. Izuku doesn’t seem to be a powerful hero at first glance, but as he masters more and more control over his inherited Quirk, he brings out the hidden depths within as he takes action, eventually demonstrating the Quirk’s full potential when he wields multiple powers in tandem – reflecting how he’s at his best when cooperating with other heroes and their own Quirks instead of fighting alone. With that in kind, given what we’ve seen of the 2nd, what power do you think his Quirk will have? 8) “And as expected, she’s way up there, just waiting for him to show up.

…

That quirk must be some sort of boost, Midoriya is gonna jump and grab her in the air, I can’t believe he got his own brand of Overclock”- And given how OFA’s base power is already boosting your physical might, Izuku basically has access to a stacked enhancement of his power now. 9) “Okay now hold on, those are showing up way too far from one another

is he teleporting at short ranges, or cloning himself a la naruto?”- Shots like this give an idea of just how far Izuku can reach with Black Whip. It might be the mid-range option inside OFA, but it’s by no means limited to things being too close to Izuku either. 10) “Oh he’s using his shadow tendrils to do that, I see

Still, that’s some hell of a range Midoriyaholy shit.”- And also presumably triangulate her position in mid-air from the sounds of the shots.

11) “AND THAT’S THE END OF THE CHAPTER, and of the fight I suppose, unless she has some other trick under her sleeve. Probably not since she’s not wearing sleeves right now.”- Same trick, different application, still no sleeves.

1) “Time to see more of McBee 1.0 yall. Last time Midoriya got his first clash against the deadliest sniper, and we also got some info on how McBullet’s quirk work, but that part is not that important. What is important is that it’s time to see more of it, so join me, on Chapter 313: High-speed long-range mobile canon

Which honestly does nothing to brush aside the vigilante allegations”- With Nagant’s current focus in striking back against the system she upheld, a system that Izuku’s now doing his best to hold together, you could argue that she’s the vigilante in this encounter, trying to strike back against the oppressors so others won’t be brainwashed into doing evil like she was and call it good. 2) “OH THE ALL MIGHT MOBILE SURVIVED THE AMBUSH

Also All might is fine, but that’s less important.”- Clearly, Hercules is armoured like a tank, to be capable to absorbing any kind of blows a Villain or otherwise might unleash on it, given how difficult it’d be to replace parts in the current situation. 3) “WATCH OUT ALL MIGHT THEY HAVE ANTI-TITAN THUNDER SPEARS THEY ARE HERE TO AVENGE ISAYAMA”- And for a heavily-armoured opponent, there’s nothing better than thunder spears. 4) “Yeah seems like the plan already didn’t work, at least not for long. Sure, they only needed to split them for a while, just enough for the lady there to do her job, but it would’ve been better for them in the long run if All Might was all gone.”- Well, given that Nagant seems to have been the one who scouted these goons, I got the implication that she didn’t want to kill All Might, even if he is the very image of a hero, just keep him and help away from Izuku for the few moments she needs to capture him.

5) “NOOOOO HERCULES!

YOU BASTARDS! YOU TWO SHALL PAY FOR THIS! THERE WILL BE NO MERCY!

Also for trying to kill All Might or whatever”- Hercules is so tough, the goons needed to specifically pierce the glass to bypass its defences and threaten All Might, as the rest of the car might have shrugged off even the power of a thunder spear. 6) “oh, you two think you can take on him just because he’s frail now? Oh you have no idea the ass kicking that will be delivered.”- Frail? Yes. Powerless? Never.

7) “The fucking aura, he only had to say two words and that guy already started shaking

He might be past his prime, but he still has a lot of fighting on him, that’s for sure.”- Some things about the hero profession never leave you, even when you retire. The scars, the instincts….the sheer force of will to save someone in need, no matter how impossible the odds. 8) “THE ALL MIGHT AURA

IT’S TOO STRONG”- Fuelled by his sense of guilt and responsibility. AFO might be the one who set up this entire plan, but if All Might had transferred his powers earlier, been a better teacher, or even been more decisive and through when dealing with his nemesis, then all the strife that Izuku’s going through would never have to have happened. All Might feels as responsible for this current hellscape as Izuku does to fix it. 9) “And now we go back to Midoriya. Truly we don’t need to see the absolute one-sided slaughter that will befall those two jackasses, it would be too brutal.

The next time All Might shows up there will be only two splaters of red on the wall next to him”- The “fight” was over before it started. The enemy lost the courage to even begin. 10) “That is, if you manage to reach her.

Sure, she can only float, her mobility is still inferior to yours, but she has a lot more experience in combat, especially when it comes to staying away from close-range fighters”- Even then, she’s got the skills needed to handle them and break out of any grapples. There’s also nothing that says she can’t shorten her “barrel” to make it easier to swing into position for a closer-range fight. 11) “Another one, and this one he truly didn’t saw coming.

Huh, I wonder if AfO told her that he has danger sense. I wonder if he himself knows that Midoriya has Danger sense. In theory he should know, he fought against the past holders.”- His other self fought against Izuku through Tomura and conversed with the holders, so he absolutely does know Izuku’s got multiple powers in him. 12) “Oh that’s gonna leave a mark for sure

1) “Yeah, about that… Let us just say she already took care of that”- Just took out his sweet ride though, you’d still need a fighter at Stain’s level or otherwise to take down Yagi, weakened as he currently is.

2) “Like hell you are Midoriya. Go back there and throw hands like the vigilante you are. Running away? Pfft, yeah right, like you’re gonna have this option.”-  The issue in facing a sniper is; retreat is always something they’ll decide, not you. “I got 3 kilometers to make up my mind…”

3) “I literally just said that girl”-

Also, fuck, it is bullet bending. We are in the WANTED universe now.

 Horikoshi admitted in an interview that this whole bullet-bending aspect was actually inspired by the WANTED film. 4) “Midoriya now its not the time to shittalk her, first you need to survive this encounter then you can go saying how your ex-boyfriend is stronger.

Also, holy shit those reflexes, he managed to grab the bullet right before it got to him”- He’s actually saying that her shots are even stronger than a Howizer cannon, even with the distance travelled to reach him. Thankfully, his spider-sense and enhanced reaction is just barely enough of a pre-warning to catch the round, so long as they’re not close enough. 5) “Ah yeah, I was talking about you just a moment ago. Yeah no need to spell it out that she’s far stronger, I got that already from the part about her being a government assassin thank you”- It seems to be mainly in terms of sheer natural equipment though. McBullet’s Quirk works with anything he can lay his hands on- bullets are just the best delivery system. Nagant’s arm can only use her hair to fire those specially-made rounds, so in a way she’s more limited then him when it comes to variety, it’s just that her arm allows her to be naturally farther-reaching. 6) “Huh, so that’s how your quirk works? Interesting, I thought it was gun based only. It has a respectable range, but we already know that lady there can go way, WAY, farther than that.”- I’m now imagining McBullet working with the literal kitchen sink to chuck frying pans and anything else he can lay hands on against an enemy. 7) “Wait, so the bending trajectory is not even her quirk? I thought- Goddammit I misinterpreted what he meant by “she does it with skill alone”

Also, goddamn Horikoshi. I can sense your horniness from here.”- He might not always write the best character arcs for them, but it can’t be denied the man’s got talent in female character design. 8) “So what you’re saying is that we need to break her arm, got it

Alright Midoriya, you have two ways to handle this situation now, I think this will be faster than waiting for her hairline to recede.”- Pretty sure rapid hair-growth is a secondary aspect of her power – probably makes it easy to style however she likes! 9) “That’s only because she’s too far, if you manage to bridge the distance she’ll be far easier to deal with.

That is, if you manage to do that. Again, professional assassin.”- On the other hand, closer distance = less reaction time, more kinetic energy behind the shots. 10) “Shame you don’t have a long-distance quirk right now, right Midoriya? 

Guess we’ll have to power through a whole kilometer before you can actually do something.”- Just to point out, Midoria figures out her likely position, even in the dark and with the curvature of the bullets, from only 2 shots. Boy’s got some mad computing skills on him. 11) “Just you wait until he blocks the next one as well. I would recommend starting to move to another location asap.”- How handy for her that AFO thought ahead and gave her the ultimate mobility-enhancing Quirk for a sniper. 12) “…are you not gonna explain to us why you brought him here? It’s not like he can use his quirk anymore, and his mental state shows he’s not really able to be of any use in a fight. Why is he here? Did you knew him before you saved him on Tartarus?”- Nope, but considering she was once a pro hero, somebody being in a helpless state before her still seemed to awaken the old instincts, but to her regret, given the look she had before she opened the door. 13) “And into another flashback we go, this one about AfO hiring her to do his bidding

Treacherous hero… Huh, that’s an interesting title right there.”- Given how valued and idealised the imagery of a hero is, the news of one killing another would be seen as a grave offence agaisnt the very concept of a hero. And, because he’s a class-A dick, AFO can’t help but needle her about it even as he’s requesting her help. 14) “Huh… So AfO predicted that he would that, or did he peek inside his mind through the mental connection whatever that their quirks have? It could be either honestly.”- AFO’s playing a chess-match with Izuku, and his side of the board’s had the preparations in places for decades now. Man is all about predicating what moves his “final enemy” will make as he drives him steadily into checkmate. 15) “Okay, what did he offer her that she accepted? It couldn’t be something easy, otherwise she would go and get it on her own. What was it?”- Evidently, just capitalising on his current ongoing destruction of the status quo to ensure that the “fake” hero system that was once upheld is no more, given how Nagant clearly has her issues with her old bosses. 16) “Considering she was a government assassin and she then killed a hero, I think what she wants and what you want are two different things, even if they share the same name.”- Maybe not entirely, given how she’s clearly riled up over hearing how Izuku’s trying to single-handedly keep the “phoney hope” of heroism alive. Nagant clearly doesn’t think that the ideal of a hero that All Might sacrificed so much for is anything to admire, for her own reasons… Side-note, I like how, despite demeaning him as an inferior opponent compared to All Might, AFO can’t help but admit that unless he’s stopped, Izuku can indeed keep hero society from completely crumbling into absolute chaos and dystopia. The boy has serious strength, such that he needed to spend enormous amounts of effort crafting Tomura into an opponent that could match him, and without that advantage of their side, Izuku is strong enough that victory isn’t completely guaranteed eve if this original AFO attacks him. 17) “Like, a human shield? 

Also, a victim? You motherfucker knows what he did, don’t try to bullshit me here”-vHe’s not bullshitting you, he’s bullshitting Nagant, helping to enforce the idea that helping the villains inside the prison, even the helpless ones, is ultimately a good thing for her, and thus she should naturally throw her lot in with him too whilst she’s at it. 18) “WAIT FUCK

OH GOD

HE GAVE HER AN ADDITIONAL QUIRK

WAIT ISN’T THAT SOMETHING THAT IS NOT EASY TO DO? GIVING ADDITIONAL QUIRKS RUNS THE RISK OF BRICKING SOMEONE’S BRAIN? HER QUIRK WAS QUITE POWERFUL, I DON’T REALLY THINK THERE WAS SPACE IN HER HD FOR ANOTHER ONE. ALTHOUGH SHE SEEMS QUITE STRONG WILLED