The very first words in the series are that people aren’t born equal and that the protagonist (Deku) is on the negative side of that inequality, because not everyone has powers and Deku was born without them, something for which he was abused throughout his childhood. The first arc of the manga hinges on him unknowingly demonstrating to the lead hero of the time (All Might) that he has a courageous disposition, throwing himself into danger to save someone despite lacking powers. All Might tells him that he should be a hero, that he is the sort of person most suited for it because of his character, regardless of his relatively lack of ability. The end of the first chapter comes back to the scenario of those first words you allude to and Deku being heartbroken in his childhood that he couldn’t be a hero because he didn’t have powers, remembering that as his mother tried to console him back then, he wished that she had instead told him that despite it all he still can become a hero. It’s made somewhat more obvious by this that the opening monologue was an expression of internalized bigotry and despair at his condition.
All Might’s power (“One for All”) has a unique feature, which is that he can pass it on to a new bearer, and he chooses Deku because of his character. I obviously have some misgivings with this plot point, but I think it works out in the end.
In the end,
All Might, as a result of the above, eventually loses his power, though he is still involved in the final conflict because he basically gets Iron Man armor, and of course he still has his character and experience which let him make good use of it. Deku, the so-called chosen one, is more or less defeated on an individual basis, and passes his power on to one of his classmates by the same means, losing it in the process and returning to his original state of not having powers, because the urgency of the situation demanded that every available resource be put toward the immediate defeat of their opposition. That classmate, who incidentally was the main person who abused him in their childhood, thwarts the Big Bad (someone whose power was basically to rob others of theirs, “All for One”), and to some extent makes amends with Deku. For the next few years, Deku is in semi-retirement from being a hero because of both not having powers and being traumatically injured in the fight, instead working as a teacher, but eventually is able to become a hero again via the same technology that All Might used.
The subversion that I was talking about is based on the very last line of the first chapter, where Deku’s narration continues from the scene I just mentioned to say that “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero” (which I’m also seeing translated as merely “a great hero”). This can be viewed as the “promise” of the series, which is a common trope in shounen, like Naruto saying “I’m going to become Hokage!” It can also be viewed as him slingshotting from despair to a type of well-meaning but misguided arrogance, though the audience is clearly not meant to read it as such at the time, but just to take it at face value.
The penultimate arc, while it can easily come off as a senseless and needlessly edgy sidetrack, is meant to be the expression of the flaws in Deku’s Great Man, self-sacrifice-fetishizing ideology, as he works himself nearly to death taking on every possible fight alone so that other people don’t get hurt. It’s an overly narrow expression of the meaning of the phrase “One for All,” you could say. The details don’t really matter and the execution is clumsy, but it ends with one of his classmates, assisted by a huge crowd and his other classmates, talking sense into him that this approach is irrational and he needs to accept other people bearing the weight of things rather than acting like the so-called chosen one because of the power he inherited and his confused, condescending attempt at compassion. Deku, collapsing in tears, addresses the reader by going back to that “promise” and amending it, now saying that the present story is also “The story about how we all became the greatest heroes.” i.e. himself, his peers, their mentors, their supporters among “hero society,” and even the general public (kind of), as a small child who is a fan of Deku’s and another nameless civilian come to Deku’s aid while he is collapsed on a rainy street.
Anyway, like I said, I don’t really like the series and there are lots of things to criticize about it, but calling the core message fascist is a complete misunderstanding of what it’s trying to communicate.
Glad I could help. Yeah, that’s probably the most boring arc, though I quit watching the anime around season 2 because I just thought it was poorly written outside of the first episode (and even then, the “promise” made the story feel kind of flat). My memory on all the stuff that happens with One for All is a little hazy and I think it was a little confusing to me even when I was reading it, so it might not be exactly right along with there being a ton of things left out. I think the rest of the series is worth seeing, but it’s hardly the best, so I can’t fault anyone for bouncing off of it.
I think I started reading the manga because I briefly had a friend who was a big fan of the anime, and otherwise I probably would have just ignored it indefinitely. I’m glad I read it though, mostly for the last part I mentioned in the previous comment.
I think the very first words of the series is the protagonist chosen one saying that some people are inherently better than others
The very first words in the series are that people aren’t born equal and that the protagonist (Deku) is on the negative side of that inequality, because not everyone has powers and Deku was born without them, something for which he was abused throughout his childhood. The first arc of the manga hinges on him unknowingly demonstrating to the lead hero of the time (All Might) that he has a courageous disposition, throwing himself into danger to save someone despite lacking powers. All Might tells him that he should be a hero, that he is the sort of person most suited for it because of his character, regardless of his relatively lack of ability. The end of the first chapter comes back to the scenario of those first words you allude to and Deku being heartbroken in his childhood that he couldn’t be a hero because he didn’t have powers, remembering that as his mother tried to console him back then, he wished that she had instead told him that despite it all he still can become a hero. It’s made somewhat more obvious by this that the opening monologue was an expression of internalized bigotry and despair at his condition.
All Might’s power (“One for All”) has a unique feature, which is that he can pass it on to a new bearer, and he chooses Deku because of his character. I obviously have some misgivings with this plot point, but I think it works out in the end.
In the end,
All Might, as a result of the above, eventually loses his power, though he is still involved in the final conflict because he basically gets Iron Man armor, and of course he still has his character and experience which let him make good use of it. Deku, the so-called chosen one, is more or less defeated on an individual basis, and passes his power on to one of his classmates by the same means, losing it in the process and returning to his original state of not having powers, because the urgency of the situation demanded that every available resource be put toward the immediate defeat of their opposition. That classmate, who incidentally was the main person who abused him in their childhood, thwarts the Big Bad (someone whose power was basically to rob others of theirs, “All for One”), and to some extent makes amends with Deku. For the next few years, Deku is in semi-retirement from being a hero because of both not having powers and being traumatically injured in the fight, instead working as a teacher, but eventually is able to become a hero again via the same technology that All Might used.
The subversion that I was talking about is based on the very last line of the first chapter, where Deku’s narration continues from the scene I just mentioned to say that “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero” (which I’m also seeing translated as merely “a great hero”). This can be viewed as the “promise” of the series, which is a common trope in shounen, like Naruto saying “I’m going to become Hokage!” It can also be viewed as him slingshotting from despair to a type of well-meaning but misguided arrogance, though the audience is clearly not meant to read it as such at the time, but just to take it at face value.
The penultimate arc, while it can easily come off as a senseless and needlessly edgy sidetrack, is meant to be the expression of the flaws in Deku’s Great Man, self-sacrifice-fetishizing ideology, as he works himself nearly to death taking on every possible fight alone so that other people don’t get hurt. It’s an overly narrow expression of the meaning of the phrase “One for All,” you could say. The details don’t really matter and the execution is clumsy, but it ends with one of his classmates, assisted by a huge crowd and his other classmates, talking sense into him that this approach is irrational and he needs to accept other people bearing the weight of things rather than acting like the so-called chosen one because of the power he inherited and his confused, condescending attempt at compassion. Deku, collapsing in tears, addresses the reader by going back to that “promise” and amending it, now saying that the present story is also “The story about how we all became the greatest heroes.” i.e. himself, his peers, their mentors, their supporters among “hero society,” and even the general public (kind of), as a small child who is a fan of Deku’s and another nameless civilian come to Deku’s aid while he is collapsed on a rainy street.
Anyway, like I said, I don’t really like the series and there are lots of things to criticize about it, but calling the core message fascist is a complete misunderstanding of what it’s trying to communicate.
I wanted to know how MHA ended but couldn’t really get past the internship season and now I know how it ends, sorta. Thank you.
Glad I could help. Yeah, that’s probably the most boring arc, though I quit watching the anime around season 2 because I just thought it was poorly written outside of the first episode (and even then, the “promise” made the story feel kind of flat). My memory on all the stuff that happens with One for All is a little hazy and I think it was a little confusing to me even when I was reading it, so it might not be exactly right along with there being a ton of things left out. I think the rest of the series is worth seeing, but it’s hardly the best, so I can’t fault anyone for bouncing off of it.
I think I started reading the manga because I briefly had a friend who was a big fan of the anime, and otherwise I probably would have just ignored it indefinitely. I’m glad I read it though, mostly for the last part I mentioned in the previous comment.
Ohhh so that’s how it ends. That’s a more unique conclusion than I actually expect, I think it deserves some praise in that front.