“You can’t be a lurker on tumblr.” Yes, you absolutely can. I’ve been quietly reblogging things since 2014 and I haven’t interacted with anyone in years.
Everyone’s talking about the new OP and how weird it comes off, but I feel like enough people ARENT talking about the ED just…completely ignoring Bakugo’s growth as a character and the role he plays in the vigilante arc, and it frustrates me.
I am willing to give a pass to Bakugo in the memory montage. Izuku running through the memories he has with all his classmates through the ED is a nice expansion on one of my favorite panels in chapter 318, and that panel is infamous for having Bakugo be the only person not facing him while he’s smiling.
But the fact that even at the end of the ED, when all of Izuku’s friends are together and trying to bring him home, Bakugo still looks like THIS
This is the same Bakugo that humbled himself in front of all their classmates, bared his soul, and admitted how shitty he was. The same Bakugo that said “I know Deku better than anyone else”, again in a room full of his classmates. The same Bakugo that’s already admitted that he was pushing Izuku away out of guilt and realized how wrong that was because there’s never a guarantee that you’ll be around long enough to make up with people you’ve wronged. THAT Bakugo…is currently sneering at Izuku because he’s too cool to soften up for TWO SECONDS.
Honestly, no fucking wonder so many people still don’t like Bakugo-the anime takes every opportunity to make him as shitty as possible (and then the dub doubles down). I’ve given up at this point. I would retreat to the manga, but….well, manga readers know
Something that honestly blows my mind about canon bkdk is the shift of Katsuki’s mentality about Izuku’s eyes. Izuku is starkly remembered/characterized with them, by Bakugou, all the way back in the infamous river scene in Ch 9.
As well as with the sludge villain (not directly, but implied.)
These two occurances expand upon Ch 8 where he first expresses anger at his expression.
And then when the fight reaches its climax, he can’t help but mention it again.
We get to see another taste of just how much this bothers him, as he implies that he would purposefully be cruel to Izuku when they were children because Izuku wouldn’t stop looking at him and go away.
To skip forward a bit, I’ve always found it very strange that Katsuki decides to waste a hand to shove Izuku’s face away at the end of the Deku vs Kacchan 2 fight. It’s honestly not the best way to pin someone, it’s kind of inefficient.
But god, in the context of their relationship at that point, I really do think the thought of being that close to Izuku and having him stare at him probably unnerved tf out of him.
It’s the biggest aspect of Izuku that he actively dislikes at this point in the narrative, the part of him that Bakugou had thought (until their fight) meant “I’m better than you” rather than “I admire you”.
Then Katsuki gets his introspection arc while Shie Hassaikai happens, we get to see some glimpses into his own mental state, Izuku and Katsuki being able to hold very minor conversations, Katsuki waiting up late until Deku comes back (until Kaminari calls him out on it). We know that they’re more actively trying to coexist and things don’t seem like they’ve shifted too drastically. Izuku is now comfortable (and happy) at being able to compliment Katsuki. And then we get to see Katsuki’s response to all this in the Class A vs B scene.
I’ll be honest, I originally was an anime-only, and when I first found out that the anime had fudged/modified these lines to only be “Just watch, Deku”, I didn’t think it was a big deal.
But in the context of how Katsuki himself has previously dealt with and contextualized Izuku’s feelings and actions, this is extremely important.
He’s always seen Izuku as having his eyes pinned to his back which consistently angered and freaked him out in equal measure. He’s never WANTED Izuku’s attention and has, for the majority of their childhood, seen it as a negative. But now we have a genuine case of Katsuki wanting Izuku to not just look at him but to KEEP his eyes on him, to keep watching him, to not look away.
We also get to see just what exactly he wants Izuku to see, and its Bakugo accepting Izuku’s part of being a hero, to Win by Saving. And then we get another iconic panel that further implies that Bakugou’s change is due to Izuku (which was, again, removed from the anime).
And then finally we get the end of the fight where we get more of Bakugou being a disaster unable to take a compliment and reflexively yelling at Izuku (which also wasn’t clear in the anime…).
It’s honestly kind of funny bc this idiot literally cannot still directly handle Izuku, but wants Izuku to look at him.
And then we get to see Izuku parallel Katsuki’s thoughts, wanting Katsuki to watch him as well (although Izuku doesn’t realize it).
I love the phrase “he would not fucking say that”. Truly encapsulates the number of times I have read a fic where a character would not fucking say that
Welcome to my blog. I reblog mostly fandom posts, but also funny posts and personal stuff. Sometimes it's a mess. It's also a safe hate blog, feel free to inbox me if you want, I don't bite. I'm probably more afraid of you that you are of me.
