I don't think MHA has had a bad arc. Some are better than others, but nothing really awful.
Overhaul arc is gonna shine in the anime, which will probably fix the pacing, which in my eyes was the biggest issue with it.
I don't think MHA has had a bad arc. Some are better than others, but nothing really awful.
Overhaul arc is gonna shine in the anime, which will probably fix the pacing, which in my eyes was the biggest issue with it.
What is the internship aec? The one with Overhaul?
Well, for me Overhaul´s arc was the weaker, wich is weird because it started great with Shigaraki clash with him. Aside from the pacing, it was the arc that showed that Hori has no intention of giving good screentime to his cast of female characters, the girls group didn´t get a cool fight like the guys and Nejire did nothing compared to the other two members of the big three, but a little part of me still has some hope.
The good parts for me were Suneater vs The three henchmen, Rappa and Fatgum (Kirishima´s flashback should have lasted a single chapter), Shigaraki´s character development and Twice being himself.
This arc had Jiro as a focus, so I'm more positive about the female character focus. The Overhaul arc simply had other central players.
Horikoshi is clearly willing to explore them. There just hasn't been an arc where a female character is the center of attention, like the Sports Festival was for Todoroki, Stain arc for Iida and Overhaul arc for Kirishima and Mirio.
Though I'd definately argue Jiro is the secondary focus character next to Deku in this arc, so this arc so far gets it the closest.
What is the internship aec? The one with Overhaul?
Yeah. Although I'm fuzzy on of it's the Provisional Test through the Overhaul encounter or if the provisional test is considered separate.
but a little part of me still has some hope.
Not going to happen, the girls only role so far is looking cute in the background.
As if Kyoka acting bored during all the series and only becoming somewhat emotional over a school concert wasnt a big enough clue.
Well, for me Overhaul´s arc was the weaker, wich is weird because it started great with Shigaraki clash with him. Aside from the pacing, it was the arc that showed that Hori has no intention of giving good screentime to his cast of female characters, the girls group didn´t get a cool fight like the guys and Nejire did nothing compared to the other two members of the big three, but a little part of me still has some hope.
If you systematically ignore every instance he did in the previous arcs (even in that arc Mina got a decent amount of screentime during Kirishima's backstory) and the only reason why the focus wasn't centered around them was because the arc was about Nighteye, Deku and Mirio but I'm guess their contribution doesn't count because it wasn't a multiple string of chapters on one fight compared to the rest so they did absolutely nothing other then defeat the strongest Precept and save the males. Its almost like comics meant to be read by little boys don't tend to focus exclusively on girls? Imagine that. I mean I don't want to bring up the fact that Oda has systematically reduced Nami's and Robin's roles in recent years that they don't even get their own fights anymore and of course who can forget the "strong female character" representation we've had with characters like Shirahoshi and Rebecca.
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Not going to happen, the girls only role so far is looking cute in the background.
As if Kyoka acting bored during all the series and only becoming somewhat emotional over a school concert wasnt a big enough clue.
People like you are the reason why characters like Rey exists.
I think there are different elements to determine how female characters are treated.
How plot-important are they? How are they characterized?
If the characterization is bad, no amount of screentime is going to help.
If their actions don't have importance within the plot, they seem important, but actually aren't.
OP's Rebecca is a terribly characterized character, but she has plenty of presence and plot importance.
You don't even have to have fights for characters for them to be important. Ochako's kindness is one of the reasons why Deku made it to UA. Yaoyorozu's tracking device lead the group back to Bakugo. Jirou's hard work and coordination is the reason why the culture festival turned out a success. Nana is the previous holder of One For All and reason for All Might's mantra. Midoriya and Mineta would've been screwed without Tsuyu. Kendo played a big part in the gas guy's defeat, which was a turning point in the arc.
It's sometimes surprising how a character can be plot important, but that's also separate to likeability. I love Midoriya's mother because she had a character arc and is really likeable, but her plot contribution has been minimal. There's some very solid lady characterization and importance that happens in MHA. The boys just get more.
If you systematically ignore every instance he did in the previous arcs (even in that arc Mina got a decent amount of screentime during Kirishima's backstory) and the only reason why the focus wasn't centered around them was because the arc was about Nighteye, Deku and Mirio but I'm guess their contribution doesn't count because it wasn't a multiple string of chapters on one fight compared to the rest so they did absolutely nothing other then defeat the strongest Precept and save the males. Its almost like comics meant to be read by little boys don't tend to focus exclusively on girls? Imagine that. I mean I don't want to bring up the fact that Oda has systematically reduced Nami's and Robin's roles in recent years that they don't even get their own fights anymore and of course who can forget the "strong female character" representation we've had with characters like Shirahoshi and Rebecca.
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People like you are the reason why characters like Rey exists.
Seconded. Besides, I’m sure we’ll get an arc focusing on individual members of the girl’s group eventually - kinda like what we got with Kirishima. Yaoyorozu, Froppy and Uraraka especially need that kind of development, and they’ll get it. It’s only been 200 or so chapters, and they’ve been fairly packed pacing wise. You can’t expect that big a cast to be developed immediately! Of course Bakugou, Todoroki and Deku got more screentime - it’s a shounen, the boys will be getting more representation than the girls. Besides, most of the girls are more developed that the likes of Ojiro, animal talking guy, tape-kid, electric-kun. Mineta and sparkle boy only got a little more development because they started off so awful that developing them was downright essential.
I'd argue Hakagure is among the bottom. We almost literally know nothing about her. All the others have something at this point.
I'd argue Hakagure is among the bottom. We almost literally know nothing about her. All the others have something at this point.
Yeah but that's because she's the traitor lol. You can't give her a heartwarming backstory and a shining moment… because her whole thing is not standing out and eventually being the one that betrays everyone.
The Internship Arc is divisive because its quality is very much linked to the reader's expectations and what they want from the series. The arc is the longest yet and the most traditionally 'battle shonen' of the series, so if you're looking for some great fights, badass moments, and plenty of emotion, the arc is perfectly good.
The detractors, though, look at the Internship Arc and see a lot of missed opportunity. The girls have been addressed- they're the only fight that is totally skipped over and Ochako and Tsuyu in particular get very little to do during it. The Precepts are the blandest antagonists since USJ, with only Rappa and one or two others being at all memorable. Twice and Toga are wonderful comic relief, but their powers are perfect for big tricky reveal and that opportunity is completely wasted. Shigaraki and Chisaki are set up as rivals in a chess match but there's very little back-and-forth; Shigaraki just shows up at the end to torture Chisaki and swipe the bullets.
And all that's aside from Eri, Chisaki, and Nighteye all having fairly bullshit powers that work as plot devices.
Compare that to the License Exam arc, which is the consensus pick for worst arc in the series. That arc lacks a clear emotional core and doesn't know which characters to focus on but is also pretty light on awesome fights. There's not much there that anyone can point to and say "this is why this arc is great."
Yeah but that's because she's the traitor lol. You can't give her a heartwarming backstory and a shining moment… because her whole thing is not standing out and eventually being the one that betrays everyone.
Yeah, that is probably one possible intention with her. She's either the traitor or a Red Herring.
Yeah, I think the License Exam is my least favorite MHA arc. The twist with Toga was kickass, but other than that it was the most "bland shounen thing" out of all the arcs.
At least Chisaki had interesting thematic importance (he was far more intimidating at first, but I love the plague doctor theme and his goals and how that relates to MHA's world) and Kirishima and Mirio kicked some serious ass. I actually really like One For All's passing down put into question because it was a impulse choice. I feel like it introduced a lot of interesting ideas to elaborate on as the story continues.
Part of me feels like provisional license thing was a necessary evil/plot device to avoid more lectures from McGruff every time Izuku needs to punch someone in the city/mall/forest/yakuza hideout. That got old fast, as it was.
Absolutely. We saw that against Gentle- Deku's not getting in trouble, he's just doing his damn job and looking good doing it. It's a good step and a good milestone, but the exam itself is pretty forgettable outside, like, Camie, Kaminari, and Gang Orca. Very much a set-up arc.
One of the problems of the Overhaul arc besides Eri was Chisakis design, which some fans were calling him a Katakuri ripoff. Bones will fix the pacing of the arc.
One of the problems of the Overhaul arc besides Eri was Chisakis design, which some fans were calling him a Katakuri ripoff. Bones will fix the pacing of the arc.
A Katakuri ripoff? Aside from them looking pretty different, Chisaki first appeared like 6 months before Katakuri ever did.
If you systematically ignore every instance he did in the previous arcs (even in that arc Mina got a decent amount of screentime during Kirishima's backstory) and the only reason why the focus wasn't centered around them was because the arc was about Nighteye, Deku and Mirio but I'm guess their contribution doesn't count because it wasn't a multiple string of chapters on one fight compared to the rest so they did absolutely nothing other then defeat the strongest Precept and save the males. Its almost like comics meant to be read by little boys don't tend to focus exclusively on girls? Imagine that. I mean I don't want to bring up the fact that Oda has systematically reduced Nami's and Robin's roles in recent years that they don't even get their own fights anymore and of course who can forget the "strong female character" representation we've had with characters like Shirahoshi and Rebecca.
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People like you are the reason why characters like Rey exists.
Your point about Deku, Nighteye, and Mirio getting the central focus in the arc falls flat when Suneater gets a fight and mini flashback with Mirio that never becomes relevant and Kirishima gets a whole fight and two chapter flashback that is also entirely contained and doesn't connect much to the main story aside from foreshadowing a future villain. Like, Jesus, NIGHTEYE VS TWICE and DEKU AND AIZAWA VS TOGA got as much panel time of actual fighting as how Uraraka, Tsuyu, Nejire, and Blue Eyes White Dragon vs Bane almost got entirely skipped. I completely forgot those two fights even existed until just now. And that's not even getting into how the four women characters were needed to take down only one guy and only managed to phase him with a teamup attack (which isn't bad on its own because maybe that guy would be equally difficult for the guys, but it noticeably stands out as the only fight the females get in the arc).
And if we count every other instance in the series, the girls mainly get teamups, internal development focus, and cheap fodder to defeat. Which is all good, Momo had some awesome focus about her insecurities when fighting with Shouto against Aizawa and Tsuyu was a cool competent hero-in-training during the USJ arc. But as far as actually getting a full fight like ANY of the guys without being teamed up wit a guy doing most of the labor like in the Final Exams and the , the closest we get is Uraraka vs. Bakugo. Which is a GREAT fight and makes a good point about how women shouldn't be underestimated in combat. But Uraraka loses. Which is fine on its own as women shouldn't be flawless just like how the men aren't flawless.
But when that fight is the ONLY individual fight a female has had thus far in the series when we're closing in on 200 chapters and the Internship arc had four supposedly major recurring female characters barely do anything except indirectly aid the main antagonist… it's problematic. It indicates that this is what we should expect for the female characters for the rest of the series. And yes, a character's value should not be equated to how many fights they get, but fighting is undeniably an inherent major aspect of the shonen genre, this manga, and the goal of our main cast as they strive to be heroes. So they deserve showings as good as the guys if they're supposed to be equally relevant supporting characters.
I could criticize Rey's character for MANY things, and I already have in the Star Wars thread. But everything I could say about Rey is the exact opposite of the pros/cons the women have had in My Hero Academia. Additionally, give me one good reason why Suneater had to take down this random Yakuza mook who was about to kill Aizawa instead of any of the women, including Aizawa's own students who he frequently interacts with, who were nearby on the scene:
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Yes, shonen manga is meant to be aimed at young boys. But that focus is arbitrary. Every big action-adventure shonen series has plenty of female fans. And if it's supposedly only made for guys, then why not have the main cast be completely made up of guys? Why pretend that the female characters appear to be on the same standing as guys only to not deliver on those expectations? People like me are only making a big deal about it because it's such a needlessly dumb distinction that is consciously being inputted by the author. And it makes him look like a hypocrite for having moments like this:
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But then only paying off on that moral with moments like this:
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and this:
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Neutralizing the now harmless main antagonist right AFTER he got defeated and humiliated by the main antagonist is literally the only thing the female heroes in this beneficially contributed to the rescue. That portrayal is objectively pathetic.
We already know Horikoshi support females being treated equally as man in the battlefield. We know that Horikoshi can write a compelling fight involving one side only being female. So why can't he just… commit to that for one victory when he did that several times for all of the guys in one arc while all four female hero characters got shafted? It's... it's asinine, truly. Such a needless gender portrayal distinction, but here we are.
Oh, and before I forget, I also JUST remembered that Nejire is the only member of the Big Three who didn't get any sort of flashback in the Yakuza Raid arc. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll get her time to shine plot and action-wise in the future! Like participating in an unfunny gag-filled culture festival female fashion competition...
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Seconded. Besides, I’m sure we’ll get an arc focusing on individual members of the girl’s group eventually - kinda like what we got with Kirishima. Yaoyorozu, Froppy and Uraraka especially need that kind of development, and they’ll get it. It’s only been 200 or so chapters, and they’ve been fairly packed pacing wise. You can’t expect that big a cast to be developed immediately! Of course Bakugou, Todoroki and Deku got more screentime - it’s a shounen, the boys will be getting more representation than the girls. Besides, most of the girls are more developed that the likes of Ojiro, animal talking guy, tape-kid, electric-kun. Mineta and sparkle boy only got a little more development because they started off so awful that developing them was downright essential.
After everything we've seen from how Horikoshi works at this point, why on Earth should I keep giving him the benefit of the doubt? If the female cast wasn't going to be developed in the Yakuza Raid arc and not help out at all, then maybe they can, I don't know… Not be included? So as to not mislead expectations about finally seeing these cool characters shine?
Guys, the question isn't if Horikoshi is interesting in developing the female characters. He's obviously been game for that with Uraraka's Sports Festival portrayal and her crush on Deku, Momo's low self-esteem in the Final Exam, Mina in Kirishima's flashback, and Jiro in this arc. The question is if they are ever going to get any decent action-based showings and development when they're not teaming up with a guy. Rather than only being treated as a sideshow for eight pages out of an entire arc at most (yes, I literally counted how much action panel time all of the girls had out of the entire arc).
The Internship Arc is divisive because its quality is very much linked to the reader's expectations and what they want from the series. The arc is the longest yet and the most traditionally 'battle shonen' of the series, so if you're looking for some great fights, badass moments, and plenty of emotion, the arc is perfectly good.
The detractors, though, look at the Internship Arc and see a lot of missed opportunity. The girls have been addressed- they're the only fight that is totally skipped over and Ochako and Tsuyu in particular get very little to do during it. The Precepts are the blandest antagonists since USJ, with only Rappa and one or two others being at all memorable. Twice and Toga are wonderful comic relief, but their powers are perfect for big tricky reveal and that opportunity is completely wasted. Shigaraki and Chisaki are set up as rivals in a chess match but there's very little back-and-forth; Shigaraki just shows up at the end to torture Chisaki and swipe the bullets.
And all that's aside from Eri, Chisaki, and Nighteye all having fairly bullshit powers that work as plot devices.
Compare that to the License Exam arc, which is the consensus pick for worst arc in the series. That arc lacks a clear emotional core and doesn't know which characters to focus on but is also pretty light on awesome fights. There's not much there that anyone can point to and say "this is why this arc is great."
This. All of this.
One of the problems of the Overhaul arc besides Eri was Chisakis design, which some fans were calling him a Katakuri ripoff. Bones will fix the pacing of the arc.
Uh… what? Chisaki appeared four months before Katakuri's debut. I've never seen anyone complain about the arc because of Chisaki's design. And if they did, they're complete imbeciles. Which is ironic considering how Karasu in the most recent One Piece chapter looks like a Chisaki clone with a plague doctor mask and a furry jacket.
At least Chisaki had interesting thematic importance (he was far more intimidating at first, but I love the plague doctor theme and his goals and how that relates to MHA's world)
That's actually another reason why the arc was disappointing to me. Chisaki's plague doctor theme and germaphobia were so interesting at first, but they are barely relevant for the entire raid aside from the vague random snippets about Chisaki looking at Quirks/heroism as an illness or whatever. Chiasaki had a bunch of thematic potential that was squandered so only the aspect about him abusing Eri got the most focus. Which isn't even that memorable for me outside of seeing Eri's tragic abuse symptoms because Overhaul and Eri barely have an interesting relationship or connection.
Basically, Overhaul saw that his old boss had a granddaughter with this powerful Quirk and he exploited her because… he's just a sociopathic douchebag. Well, okay, it's a little more than that since he's fine with torturing a child and sacrificing lives for the Yakuza as a debt to his adoptive parent. But that only makes his relationship with the boss interesting, not Eri herself. Eri has only been a tool to him from the start and he never did anything to hide it (except from the heroes in an alley for one chapter), which is underwhelming because Eri has no personality outside of abuse symptoms and Overhaul only looks like a generic intimidating abuser figure. Especially compared to other abusive relationships in manga like how Nami worked for Arlong and tried making sabotaged deals with him to buy back the island while backstabbing pirates while lying to her hometown that felt much MUCH more dynamic. Or actually Shouto and his mother's relationship with Endeavor.
Chisaki not freaking out more when he saw Shigaraki's ugly face and only giving a bland shocked expression was such a wasted opportunity. It also could have been a cool psychological weakness that would be exploited against him during the fight, such as making him flinch if he touches blood or refusing to fuse with certain kinds of people/objects in the same way that Twice refuses to make clones of himself because of his backstory trauma. He could have also had a more interesting relationship with Eri if Eri's Quirk reminded him of his own Quirk or insecurities somehow. Maybe Chisaki could have had more of a bond with Eri's parents and lashes out on her because she accidentally killed her father with her Quirk when she was born. Just... anything would have made Overhaul more compelling than only focusing on his relationship with the geezer.
@Count:
Your point about Deku, Nighteye, and Mirio getting the central focus in the arc falls flat when Suneater gets a fight and mini flashback with Mirio that never becomes relevant and Kirishima gets a whole fight and two chapter flashback that is also entirely contained and doesn't connect much to the main story aside from foreshadowing a future villain. Like, Jesus, NIGHTEYE VS TWICE and DEKU AND AIZAWA VS TOGA got as much panel time of actual fighting as how Uraraka, Tsuyu, Nejire, and Blue Eyes White Dragon vs Bane almost got entirely skipped. I completely forgot those two fights even existed until just now. And that's not even getting into how the four women characters were needed to take down only one guy and only managed to phase him with a teamup attack (which isn't bad on its own because maybe that guy would be equally difficult for the guys, but it noticeably stands out as the only fight the females get in the arc).
First off, I think you make great points and I agree in many parts. That said… I think I fault Horikoshi less for the handling of the internship arc's female characters because... I just think he was forced to wrap it up early! As you said, why involve so many girls if you're not gonna do anything with them? My theory (which I don't think can be confirmed or denied) is that Horikoshi originally planned to write a fight for the girls in the cast, and give them a chance to shine... but the Arc underperformed in the ratings and Jump told him to wrap it up fast - so he skipped over the last girl-power fight he had planned. It was set up and all, so it really does feel like an editorial decision that he cut it, perhaps because they felt that after spending so much time on Kirishima and Suneater the focus HAD to go back to Deku (Jump editors can be pretty strict, especially when the story isn't performing as well). That's why it felt so janky when the girls crash in, announce they defeated the enemy offscreen, and basically deus ex machina Mirio and Deku.
@Count:
…But Uraraka loses. Which is fine on its own as women shouldn't be flawless just like how the men aren't flawless.
But when that fight is the ONLY individual fight a female has had thus far in the series when we're closing in on 200 chapters
Is it the only individual fight? Give Toga more credit, she's basically won every interaction she's been in. Yea she's not a hero but still. Also, I recall Mina winning a tournament fight in the anime, was that not shown in the manga? Same goes for Kaminari getting rekt by the vine girl, and Yaoyorozu vs Tokoyami (she lost, but still counts).
Notable examples of females being cool and powerful also include Tsuyu saving the day on multiple occasions, yaoyorozu making masks and putting the tracker on the noumu during the training camp arc, and Mina shining bright as a stellar hero example in Kirishima's flashback.
Sure it doesn't fix the problems you mentioned but… I really don't think it's as entrenched a problem as you make it sound, I reckon there's still reason to have faith in Horikoshi, even if he failed to deliver in the internship arc (which wasn't great anyway, and as I speculated, might have not been entirely up to him).
First off, I think you make great points and I agree in many parts. That said… I think I fault Horikoshi less for the handling of the internship arc's female characters because... I just think he was forced to wrap it up early! As you said, why involve so many girls if you're not gonna do anything with them? My theory (which I don't think can be confirmed or denied) is that Horikoshi originally planned to write a fight for the girls in the cast, and give them a chance to shine... but the Arc underperformed in the ratings and Jump told him to wrap it up fast - so he skipped over the last girl-power fight he had planned. It was set up and all, so it really does feel like an editorial decision that he cut it, perhaps because they felt that after spending so much time on Kirishima and Suneater the focus HAD to go back to Deku (Jump editors can be pretty strict, especially when the story isn't performing as well). That's why it felt so janky when the girls crash in, announce they defeated the enemy offscreen, and basically deus ex machina Mirio and Deku.
I can totally buy into the Hideout Raid being rushed. Especially when the chapters or volume focused on Kirishima got low sales. Horikoshi is also probably still paranoid as hell about his first two series getting canned early on.
But even then, why have arrow guy get taken down by Suneater instead of any of the four women? I know that would barely change anything, but at least I could give Horikoshi some credit there. But no, this guy gets to have one fight against THREE Precepts and then gets to OHKO a fourth one after being unconscious for most of the arc and having his own short flashback.
Man, Horikoshi needs to put some work in before I start believing in the girls again. It's not just with this series, but my fatigue after how much the women got shafted in every other shonen series besides maybe Bleach and Fairy Tail. Which is perversely ironic as all hell considering how controversial those manga are.
Is it the only individual fight? Give Toga more credit, she's basically won every interaction she's been in. Yea she's not a hero but still. Also, I recall Mina winning a tournament fight in the anime, was that not shown in the manga? Same goes for Kaminari getting rekt by the vine girl, and Yaoyorozu vs Tokoyami (she lost, but still counts).
Notable examples of females being cool and powerful also include Tsuyu saving the day on multiple occasions, yaoyorozu making masks and putting the tracker on the noumu during the training camp arc, and Mina shining bright as a stellar hero example in Kirishima's flashback.
Sure it doesn't fix the problems you mentioned but… I really don't think it's as entrenched a problem as you make it sound, I reckon there's still reason to have faith in Horikoshi, even if he failed to deliver in the internship arc (which wasn't great anyway, and as I speculated, might have not been entirely up to him).
Toga has not had a full fight yet. She basically appears and disappears in every chapter she shows up before the action gets too interesting lol. And she doesn't really "win fights" so much as sneak up on people for cheap attacks and escapes. Don't get me wrong, those are all cool moments for Toga. Like how she disguised herself as Rock Lock and stole some of Deku's blood (only to underwhelmingly use it as a diversion for the girls instead of… anything more interesting by being able to POSE AS THE MAIN FREAKING PROTAGONIST).
All of the examples you mention have the females playing support/technical roles or eliminating fodder (and usually in a teamup where they need a guy's help). To be honest, I'll take those big internal character conflict/developments over the average token 1v1 fight, but we shouldn't have to make due with only having one over the other.
Kaminari vs vine girl was a total gag fight where Kaminari got steamrolled because he's a perverted idiot. I don't remember Tokoyami vs Momo lasting long at all and she got dropped off the battlefield without a scratch like she was hardly a threat to take seriously. Hatsume used her fight to advertise her tools instead of fighting Iida. And that Mina fight sounds unfamiliar and non-canon.
Mina beat Aoyama before losing to Tokoyami.
Part of the frustration stems from MHA being pretty progressive for a shonen in so many other ways, the casual inclusion of trans characters being most notable. Class 1-A's girls are great because they avoid the sexist pitfalls that plague shonen for most of their appearances. They're only occasionally sexualized and rarely demeaned, there's not much mansplaining that happens, Mineta gets punished instead of suffered, and so on. So when they have to take the backseat to the boys in combat, it's really frustrating to read. People have given up on Shokugeki no Soma or Seven Deadly Sins or Fairy Tail treating their female characters with respect. MHA hasn't, which is why the Internship Arc's treatment of them is so discouraging.
@Count:
Man, Hoikoshi needs to put some work in before I start believing in the girls again. It's not just with this series, but my fatigue after how much the women got shafted in every other shonen series besides maybe Bleach and Fairy Tail. Which is perversely ironic as all hell considering how controversial those manga are..
You should read Magi or Negima
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Mina beat Aoyama before losing to Tokoyami.
Part of the frustration stems from MHA being pretty progressive for a shonen in so many other ways, the casual inclusion of trans characters being most notable. Class 1-A's girls are great because they avoid the sexist pitfalls that plague shonen for most of their appearances. They're only occasionally sexualized and rarely demeaned, there's not much mansplaining that happens, Mineta gets punished instead of suffered, and so on. So when they have to take the backseat to the boys in combat, it's really frustrating to read. People have given up on Shokugeki no Soma or Seven Deadly Sins or Fairy Tail treating their female characters with respect. MHA hasn't, which is why the Internship Arc's treatment of them is so discouraging.
I wouldn't say woman got treated worst in Fairy tail. They got Fanservice added on top of the regular stuff most of the characters in the manga got but they weren't treated worst(and Gray and Natsu are always sowing their abs).
Anyway I like when an author is straight with you. Toriko was a Boy club and made it clear early and I enjoyed it a lot(just a little sad for Granny Setsu). I was fuzzy on Academia but the Overhaul arc made clear where it stands and I can enjoy it better from now. Death is where I'm fuzy since it seems All might survival meant no death then Knighteye died. So I have some hope on that front
I don't think MHA has had a bad arc. Some are better than others, but nothing really awful.
Overhaul arc is gonna shine in the anime, which will probably fix the pacing, which in my eyes was the biggest issue with it.
I consider the Overhaul arc to be the worst one. Before that, at worst I would consider an arc to be decent. This was the first arc that really just shook up my enjoyment of the series moving forward.
Aside from the pacing, it was the arc that showed that Hori has no intention of giving good screentime to his cast of female characters
Same, having that realization finally hit really fucking sucked.
This arc had Jiro as a focus, so I'm more positive about the female character focus. The Overhaul arc simply had other central players.
Horikoshi is clearly willing to explore them. There just hasn't been an arc where a female character is the center of attention, like the Sports Festival was for Todoroki, Stain arc for Iida and Overhaul arc for Kirishima and Mirio.
Though I'd definately argue Jiro is the secondary focus character next to Deku in this arc, so this arc so far gets it the closest.
No, the secondary focus character is Gentle if anything.
But seriously, what has Jiro actually done in this arc? Because I too got a little intrigued when the arc made it seem like it'd really focus on her. But she didn't really get any notable character development or anything. She didn't have some conflict or internal struggle that she was dealing with. She was a little nervous about performing… until she wasn't. We spent most of our time on fleshing out Gentle and La Brava, as well as his fight with Deku.
Even when she finally gets a flashback, I'm just kind of scratching my head at it because the content within it just comes out of nowhere to me. Like apparently she chose to be a hero instead of a musician, but that's already been resolved apparently, so why are we being told this exactly?
So yea, not seeing how this arc is supposed to restore anyone's faith here.
The Internship Arc is divisive because its quality is very much linked to the reader's expectations and what they want from the series. The arc is the longest yet and the most traditionally 'battle shonen' of the series, so if you're looking for some great fights, badass moments, and plenty of emotion, the arc is perfectly good.
Not to me it wasn't…
My opinion of MHA is that it's a manga with great moments but with no great arc.
That makes it a decent read but not anything close to many other manga out there that have much more memorable arcs.
My opinion of MHA is that it's a manga with great moments but with no great arc.
That makes it a decent read but not anything close to many other manga out there that have much more memorable arcs.
That's literally how I feel as well, even before the Yakuza arc. Even Naruto which rightfully gets shit on nowadays had several memorable ones back in the day.
Each to their own, I guess?
If you mean a character arc for Jiro, sure, but I think personality and motivation is equally important and this arc finally dwelved into Jiro's in detail by giving her a important role.
She's the only one who could logically lead this thing because of her established talents. This arc wasn't a fighting arc - Izuku was the only one who got a fight here - does that mean that everyone else is now irrelevant for the whole series? Bakugo, Iida, Kirishima and Todoroki basically got nothing. Why? Because it wasn't their time to shine. It was a group effort lead by Jiro and Mina.
Fighting shouldn't be the only thing that makes a character relevant and fighting shouldn't be the only thing that matters in a story. They made Eri happy thanks to Jiro's and Mina's planning. (Izuku even learned to fight better because of Mina's kickass dance moves).
Gentle was the antagonist of the arc - I'm talking about the important players on the hero side. Technically Stain should be the secondary character for the Stain arc.
I listed a bunch of relevant female characters that had important contributions across the story, all have unique personalities and designs, but not all have arcs. The Overhaul arc is the only one where the girls don't have a decent plot presence, so the only sexism I see is that the girls could have more focus, but they are faaar from actually irrelevant if you look at all of MHA.
I really wish the girls were the main characters myself and I think "it's a shounen" is never an excuse, but I really don't see actual awful treatment of the female characters because a lot of the guys don't have arcs or massive focus, either.
It's the typical shounen thing that I hope would at some point stop - there's female character presence and it's all quality, but the guys just get a lot more time.
Like, MHA has had a little girl and a little boy in danger and the only literal rescue arc is related to a male character.
Seriously, a character's worth shouldn't be determined by how many fights they win. I get it - it's the easiest way to give focus, but it's the actual substance of the story that matters. I think this recent chapter demonstrates this perfectly - the point that you can become whatever you want is very sweet and heartwarming, especially with what Eri went through. It also ties into the theme Todoroki vs. Deku started.
Technically you could label this whole arc filler, even.
However which way I spin it, it comes back to more presence, but they actually have presence and importance. I just think they need more.
There aren't any wierd attitudes of just writing damsels and dead mothers or wierd chivalry that says they should be protected from all fighting (One Piece) or that boys is all they think about (Naruto). None of them are reduced to saying only one word (Bleach) or completely robbed of any dignity (Fairy Tail). Man, shounen is pretty shitty to female characters and some of this is basic stuff, but I really think MHA is flawed in much less bad ways.
At least everything we do get is quality and makes sense.
Each to their own, I guess?
If you mean a character arc for Jiro, sure, but I think personality and motivation is equally important and this arc finally dwelved into Jiro's in detail by giving her a important role.
Not seeing how her role was important. Or more accurately, on paper it is, but as you see the arc unfold, he didn't give it nearly as much focus as I thought he would.
She's the only one who could logically lead this thing because of her established talents. This arc wasn't a fighting arc - Izuku was the only one who got a fight here - does that mean that everyone else is now irrelevant for the whole series? Bakugo, Iida, Kirishima and Todoroki basically got nothing. Why? Because it wasn't their time to shine. It was a group effort lead by Jiro and Mina.
Fighting shouldn't be the only thing that makes a character relevant and fighting shouldn't be the only thing that matters in a story. They made Eri happy thanks to Jiro's and Mina's planning. (Izuku even learned to fight better because of Mina's kickass dance moves).
Uhh….I never said a single thing about fighting, that's an assumption you made.
And I agree, there is more than fighting that can make a character relevant. I just don't believe that Jiro really got that either. Also it's funny you bring up Bakugo and Todoroki, when last arc literally gave them (namely Bakugo) the type of focus and development I was hoping Jiro would receive, no fighting required.
I listed a bunch of relevant female characters that had important contributions across the story, all have unique personalities and designs, but not all have arcs. The Overhaul arc is the only one where the girls don't have a decent plot presence, so the only sexism I see is that the girls could have more focus, but they are faaar from actually irrelevant if you look at all of MHA.
Lol, I've had concerns long before the Overhaul arc, especially regarding Uraraka, who is ostensibly the female lead. It's just that this arc in particular is what made me fully realize that I should no longer get my hopes up when it comes to the female characters moving forward. Anything that happens henceforth is frankly a pleasant surprise.
The point that you can become whatever you want is very sweet and heartwarming, especially with what Eri went through. It also ties into the theme Todoroki vs. Deku started.
The flashback in isolation is sweet and all, but when I look at it in relation to the arc itself, I'm not really sure why we got it to begin with. She told her parents that she wanted to become a hero instead of a musician, but I don't know what we're really supposed to do with this information. It shows us a conflict that has already been resolved. She's apparently already made her decision, and in that same chapter, her parents have already accepted her without hesitation. Cool I guess? And it isn't really tied to any character arc or w/e that Jiro's dealing with in the present… not that she got one to begin with. So all I'm really left with now is the message is that heroes and musicians are more alike than one might think. And that may be adorable to some, but it's just pretty basic to me.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not like the flashback and minimal focus she got this arc made me dislike her or something. But the arc seems to be pretty much over, especially regarding her role in it, and looking at how it's played out for her, I'm not impressed, especially when contrasted to the one before it.
There aren't any wierd attitudes of just writing damsels and dead mothers or wierd chivalry that says they should be protected from all fighting (One Piece) or that boys is all they think about (Naruto). None of them are reduced to saying only one word (Bleach) or completely robbed of any dignity (Fairy Tail). Man, shounen is pretty shitty to female characters and some of this is basic stuff, but I really think MHA is flawed in much less bad ways.
Honestly, I'm beginning to notice that MHA fans have a bad habit of deflecting to what other series have done whenever this particular topic is brought up.
At least everything we do get is quality and makes sense.
Debatable.
I'm just really fed up with bad treatment of female characters and find this series refreshing in terms of that. It's not perfect, but I don't see it as bad at all. It's not like those other series don't have good things about writing female characters, either, just tropes I think MHA avoids while having problems of it's own.
I agreed with you that Jiro didn't have an arc, but I also said that I like that we got insight in her character and it makes sense considering what her character is. Momo's insecurity and bounce-back after her losses makes sense. Uraraka's commitment to her family, her crush on Deku and her doubt about not being able to do anything at the end of the Overhaul arc make sense (it's like the acknowledges the girls didn't get much to do and I feel like it's going to be used for character development like with Momo). Tsuyu's contributions in her fights has been stuff only she can do. It always focuses on the characters' specific talents to make them shine. Gender plays a minimal role. All of them could work as male characters equally well.
How many times has there been a forced romance in a series? For once it makes sense because Deku is genuinely sweet and cool. How many times have there been character arcs just focused on the guy characters around all the girl characters? The characters have relationships, but that's not all that's to them.
If you don't agree, then that's agree to disagree, I guess.
People here keep saying MHA treats its female cast relatively, but dare I say MHA couldn't shaft its female cast even more.
Unless the manga decides to do otherwise, it treats the girls unequally.
And the fear of cancellation isn't a valid argument when more than 180 chapters have passed.
Let's examine a character that's considered by sizeable amount of fans the female lead, Uraraka.
Her whole character arc is nothing but her love towards Midoriya, which leaves nothing but bitter taste in my mouth.
Compare this to something like Naruto, a manga that became the butt of jokes regarding its female cast.
Gave Hinata, the main love interest, an entire character arc that's mostly about her family issues, which is completely separate from the love triangle.
And while her character arc is intensively intertwined with that of Neji's, she dealt with her inner conflicts herself.
I won't complain further though, Hirokoshi admittedly creates more well rounded characters, and thankfully the female cast isn't an exception to this.
@Count:
Yes, shonen manga is meant to be aimed at young boys. But that focus is arbitrary. Every big action-adventure shonen series has plenty of female fans. And if it's supposedly only made for guys, then why not have the main cast be completely made up of guys? Why pretend that the female characters appear to be on the same standing as guys only to not deliver on those expectations? People like me are only making a big deal about it because it's such a needlessly dumb distinction that is consciously being inputted by the author.
I believe you got it backwards, actually, it's male fans that most likely demand more females, that's why in most cases (even outside of MHA) the girls get to be fanservice material in color pages and such. If you think about it, the titles that are popular with females in WSJ are the ones where the focus is mainly given to the males and the females take a backseat, namely the sports anime.
I dunno if they specifically demand more, but they are drawn to them. It's why Hancock and Law are popular. One for the guys, one for the girls. Though Law is pretty popular with both, I think. AoT's Levi and Sasuke, too, I think.
"Cool, strong, snarky guy" is guaranteed moneymaker it seems.
MHA's fujoshi target is probably Todoroki. But luckily there doesn't seem much excessive favoratism towards any character, some get more, some get less.
Jirou does have a small arc in this. She starts off considering music just a hobby that's mostly for herself, reluctant to share it with others because she doesn't see any greater importance to it. Jirou agrees to perform out of a sense of duty to her friends, but it's not until this most recent chapter that she really considers the positive impact music can have on others. It's kind of a building confidence thing and kind of a reflection on the nature of heroism.
It's reasonable to think Jirou will be more open about her love of music moving forward, and might even incorporate music into her costume.
Ochako's whole motivation isn't solely around her crush. She acknowledged that but she wanted to focus on being a better hero for herself and her parents. It's a bit blurry cause Deku is someone she admires purely for his can do attitude.
Fujoshis have multiple targets in this lol. Bakugou seems to be the prime real estate.
Even though I'm skeptical about the treatment the ladies get I think this series is still new enough where we can have the ladies get developed. It probably won't be on a massive level because there's so many characters in class A alone. We still know very little about most of the dudes, and Invisible girl. It feels like only a quarter got any development. Iida got his early but has kinda melted into the background.
Jirou does have a small arc in this. She starts off considering music just a hobby that's mostly for herself, reluctant to share it with others because she doesn't see any greater importance to it. Jirou agrees to perform out of a sense of duty to her friends, but it's not until this most recent chapter that she really considers the positive impact music can have on others. It's kind of a building confidence thing and kind of a reflection on the nature of heroism.
It's reasonable to think Jirou will be more open about her love of music moving forward, and might even incorporate music into her costume.
Oh yeah, she has been kind of embarrassed/reserved about her interest in music when it's been brought up. I forgot that. I just love the enthusiasm her character expressed this chapter. There's something really likeable about that to me.
The problem lies more in having a 30+ character roster to develop (and that's just the main group). Considering everything, it actually does a very good job.
After this chapter I must say, Mineta is one of the most realistic teenage boys ever despicted in fiction.
Dude needs to calm down a bit.
Gentle redemption incoming.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
A gorilla?
A bureaucrat without an animal head? Madness!
Some thoughts as I read through the chapter:
! Hop-Hop Eri is adorable, as is Mirio mimicking her body language.
! Bakugo is having a Monoma Moment there.
! I like that Kirishima's and Tetsutetsu's fist bump clangs.
! For a moment I thought there beauty pageant was an actual fight. Also wtf was that princess curl tank?
! A haunted house in a superhero school sounds like a dangerous idea…
! I think that "you'll meet again soon" line from Aizawa is a mistranslation, it's too out of place.
! I will be horribly disappointed when the gorilla cop's name ends up not being Freddie. Also La Brava's occupation is La Brava.
Dude needs to get laid you mean
Funnily enough, while digesting the chapter I though it would be a nice character development for Mineta to manage to get a girlfriend and tone it down because he now understood personal relations better.
Deku stepping out of line was addressed just in the way I wanted and Gentle and Loverlover seem to eventually have a second chance at life.
Again, I really like that they weren't these masterminds orchestrating some massive organization, just more "normal" criminals. I think it's a great touch that Loverlover's talent was brought up. It sort of gives a way in which she could return to normalcy.
That was just a fantastic chapter. This mini-arc had a great payoff in the end.
I don't even mind that my Gentle prediction didn't pan out!
I really really REALLY like how Gentle and La Brava are being handled by the cops right now.
Very good signs for their second chances. I knew they weren't given so much sympathetic backstory for nothing.
Also shoutout to Eri's happy rambling. I'm more in the group that she's very plot-device-y, but that was very much adorable little kid excitement.
Also shoutout to Eri's happy rambling. I'm more in the group that she's very plot-device-y, but that was very much adorable little kid excitement.
A fun little detail that was pointed out to be later is that you can see Mirio mimicking some of Eri's body language.
Feels like a scene out of Yotsuba&!
Isn't that the mind control dude on the Haunted House?
Is it wrong to ship Mineta x La Brava?
They look like they're made for eachother. :ninja:
Feeling a bit meh about this chapter, the white backgrounds in a lot of the panels stuck out to me. Hopefully Horikoshi gets his art mojo back by the start of the next arc.
Is it wrong to ship Mineta x La Brava?
They look like they're made for eachother. :ninja:
Feeling a bit meh about this chapter, the white backgrounds in a lot of the panels stuck out to me. Hopefully Horikoshi gets his art mojo back by the start of the next arc.
Mineta is gonna wind up like that hero in Vigilantes that has a slew of lawsuits for sexual harassment. La Brava deserves so much better.
Mineta is gonna wind up like that hero in Vigilantes that has a slew of lawsuits for sexual harassment. La Brava deserves so much better.
Surely the story suggests a redemption arc for mineta… It'd be very depressing to introduce the character as flawed and have him remain flawed despite it being a school-based manga about growing up. They'll probably fix mineta when he has a growth spurt during inevitable timeskip.
Surely the story suggests a redemption arc for mineta… It'd be very depressing to introduce the character as flawed and have him remain flawed despite it being a school-based manga about growing up. They'll probably fix mineta when he has a growth spurt during inevitable timeskip.
The problem is that horikoshi may not necessarily view it as a flaw so much as a gag he thinks he can get more mileage out of than he actually can.
The problem is that horikoshi may not necessarily view it as a flaw so much as a gag he thinks he can get more mileage out of than he actually can.
I have faith he'll turn the gag upside-down by having Mineta be the reasonable one telling people (Kaminari most likely) to stop being lewd, only to have people get angry at him for hypocrisy, after he becomes the tallest and chillest member of the group post-timeskip.