 |
| Sums them up nicely. Cool as ice on the left, and nervous to the point of giving himself an aneurysm on the right. |
Last time on My Hero Academia, our young heroes took horsing around to a new
level. I am not apologizing for that joke. Everyone was pushed to their limits
to nab enough points to make it to the final round. Despite their best efforts,
Team Izuku lost the 10-Million-point headband but were able to scrounge enough
points together to advance. Bakugo signal handedly defeated a mouthy HC student
named Monoma. And Todoroki was forced to use his fire powers for the first time
in a fight to keep Izuku from nabbing a headband. Let’s get to it.
While the rest of the class takes a
break for lunch, Izuku is pulled away for a private conversation with Shoto Todoroki.
The chilling young man explained that he’d felt Izuku’s power, and
instinctively threw up flames to protect himself, breaking a personal promise
he’d made to never use the flames in a fight. He claims that Izuku’s power felt
a lot like the aura All Might gives off, and then asks if Izuku might be his
illegitimate son. Somewhere, Hisashi Midoriya (Dad) is sobbing that someone
would believe that his wife cheated on him. After Izuku vehemently denies that
accusation, Todoroki explains that regardless, they have every reason to hate
each other. Why? While All Might is clearly mentoring Izuku, Todoroki was
mentored (and sired) by Japan’s #2 Hero, Endeavor.
While this is going on, said
mentors meet. See, All Might still isn’t completely confident in his teaching
skills, and decided to ask Endeavor about how he trained Shoto. Enji Todoroki,
aka Endeavor, is completely dismissive of All Might and tries to brush him off.
All Might continues to pry, as he wants to do his best to train the next
generation of heroes. Endeavor, though, isn’t interested in helping anyone
other then Shoto. He vows that Shoto will surpass All Might and be the greatest
hero of all time. I’m getting a weird, helicopter-parent vibe from this guy,
not going to lie. Or worse, a Norman Osborn vibe.
 |
| One of these guys is a hero. The other is a superpowered bully with an inferiority complex clocked in flames. Whoops, gave it away. |
Back with Izuku and Shoto, the
younger Todoroki explains his background. A quick refresher about Quirks. Izuku
notwithstanding, the Quirks are largely genetic. A man with superstrength will,
usually, pass on that superstrength to the next generation. Pretty simple. But,
it is also possible that powers from both sides could be passed down, enhancing
or completely changing the nature of the next generations abilities. Using the
Midoriyas as an example, if things had worked out as they normally did, Izuku
should have either developed his mother’s telekinesis, his father’s
fire-breathing, or some awesome combination of the two. Huh, seems like Izuku
was cheated out of being Japan’s Dark Phoenix. Lame. Anyway, does that
explanation make sense? Good. This is kind of the reason why Shoto Todoroki
exists.
See, while not super common, there
have been cases of folks arraigning marriages around the prospective spouse’s
abilities. Such was the case with Enji and Rei Todoroki. Todoroki explains that
his father, already a successful hero at the time, paid a rather hefty dowry to
Rei’s parents to get her as his wife. Why? Rei has Ice powers. Wishing to
create the next generation of hero with both his scorching flames, and Rei’s
chilling Ice, Enji went to work creating a successor. This is pretty messed up
just on the surface, but I’ll go into the greater details of why this makes
Enji “Endeavor” Todoroki an unbelievable monster. Short version, Shoto was
physically and emotionally abused during his training, as was his mother. She
eventually snapped, and called Shoto’s left side ‘unbearable’ as she threw
boiling water onto her baby’s face. Messed up.
In the present, Shoto tells Izuku
that he intends to beat our hero, and everyone else in the tournament, using
only his right side, his ice side, her side, as the ultimate screw you to his
father. See, he’s smart enough to know that, while mom threw the water on him,
it was his father’s emotional and physical abuse that drove her to do it. Izuku
is somewhat impressed with his classmate’s determination but refuses to
backdown. He claims that, because so many had supported him, he can’t just give
up. The two rivals part ways. Oh, and we see Bakugo eavesdropping on this
conversation. I can’t imagine that will end well.
After some Mineta shenanigans where
he and lightning flinging Kaminari trick the girls of 1-A into dressing up in
cheerleader outfits, (why do these girls keep listening to him?) we get on with
the show. Almost. Turns out, Izuku’s classmate Ojiro (the dude with the giant
tail) and a HC 1B student both withdrawal from the tournament. Both don’t feel
right being in the final fight, as neither really remembers participating in
the Cavalry battle. Odd, considering they were on Shinso’s team… But, anyway, Ojiro
and the other guy’s pride refuses to allow them to participate when they feel
like they didn’t earn it. Because of that, two class 1B students get bumped up
to fill the spots. After drawing lots, the match ups end up being as follows. I’ll
include powers for those that I think are relevant. Izuku Midoriya v. Hitoshi
Shinso (powers unknown). Shoto Todoroki v. Hanta Sero (fires tape from elbows).
Denki Kaminari v. Ibara Shiozaki (1B student with vine like hair). Tenya Iida
vs. Mae Hatsume (telescopic pupils). Mina Ashido (Generates Acid) v. Yuga
Aoyama (Naval Laser). Momo Yaoyorozu v. Fumikage Tokoyami. Tetsutetsu
Tetsutetsu (Hardens his body into Steel) vs. Eijiro Kirishima (Hardens his body
into Stone). And finally, Ochako Uraraka v. Katsuki Bakugo. Show of hands, who
thinks Uraraka drew the short straw? Okay, yeah, that’s everybody. I mean… I’m
sure she’ll do great.
Once the matches are all announced,
Shinso rather cockily asks Izuku if he’s excited. Before Izuku can answer,
though, Ojiro slaps his tail over his mouth and glares daggers at the other
man. Pulling Izuku to the side, Ojiro warns Izuku to not answer any question
that Shinso asks him. Odd... And Bakugo asks who the hell Uraraka is.
Seriously, for a supposed Genius, Bakugo is sure oblivious. While the
tournament kids do their own rituals to psyche themselves up, the rest of the
students participate in some random games. Fun. Before the main event, Izuku
gets a chance to chat with All Might. The mighty hero explains that he clocks
Izuku’s OFA power usage at about 5%. It’s not much, but All Might advises for
his student to keep working regardless.
While that was going on, another
teacher, a monolith looking fellow named Cementoss uses his powers to make the
ring. He has power over concrete and cement, allowing him to manipulate it as
he sees fit, and quickly shift it from its solid to liquid state and vice versa.
Because of that particular power, he’ll also be serving as the ringside referee
in case things get too intense. The rules are pretty simple, to win one either
needs to KO their opponent, get them out of the ring, or get them to forfeit.
Easy breezy.
 |
| Did no one tell Shinzo heroes shouldn't have a "I'm about to murder you," face? On that note, someone remind Bakugo of that too. |
As the match starts, Shinzo
immediately starts mocking Ojiro. He mocks Ojiro’s precious pride, the stupid
choice to drop out of the final match, and insults Ojiro’s Monkey tail. I think
Shinzo might be tail-sist. Izuku, overcome with anger, tells him to shut up.
Which was dumb. Why? Because he’s suddenly frozen in place. Shinzo claims
victory. Well… shoot.
The origins of Shoto Todoroki
hinted at here are so good and so damn depressing. He’s the product of an
aggressive, angry father, and a psychologically damaged mother. I like that
he’s smart enough to know that, while his mother was the one that burned his
face, the blame ultimately lays with his father. He’s taken his scars, both
physically and emotionally, as best he can and is now determined to be better
then his father without his father’s gifts. He seems to not quite get that the…
cold persona he projects probably isn’t much healthier then Endeavor’s burn
hate, but hey, he’s got time to figure that out. Enji Todoroki is a pretty vile
father. His obsession with defeating All Might poisoned pretty much ever aspect
of his life. It killed his marriage, destroyed his relationship with his kids,
and even effected his professional life. Endeavor is known for being brutally
efficient in taking down criminals, and SUCKING at PR. I believe the term for
him is a Hate Sink, someone that we’re supposed to love to hate for his
pettiness and selfishness. At least to begin with. I’ll go into greater detail
about him in a future post. I like the reveal about Shinso. I don’t think it’s
a spoiler to reveal that he’s got a form of mind control. His rather bizarre
activities throughout this competition, using other students more then once to
avoid obstacles in the first test, and using another set to earn points in the
Cavalry suddenly makes a lot of sense. He’s got this really creepy vibe about
him, which has nothing to do with his powers I’d say. That’s especially sad
given what we learn about him next time. It’s classic Izuku that he knows he shouldn’t do something, but
can’t help himself from doing it when a friend is insulted. Still, rookie
mistake to fall for a taunt. Take it from Spider-Man’s play book, heroes should
be the jibbers, not the jibbed. Don’t worry, he’s not going to be going down
easy.
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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