Really? I feel the story is really picking up, and it definitely reflects the mood of 2021. MHA has been getting better and better, and this arc didn't drag the way Overhaul's did.
I was totally fine with the arc until AFO came up. Everything in the mindscape was awful and him actually taking over Shigaraki goes against so much that has been built up to this point that I don't even know where he wants to take this shit now.
No to mention that writing quality has taken a nosedive as well, the chapter with Compress was so bizarre, acting like it was paying off things that were never set-up in the first place. The last one with the despairing heroes was pretty good and gave me a modicum of hope, but then this chapter is back to the trash with the cheap and forced attempt at paralleling AFO with Deku when we already had a perfectly good parallel going on with Shigaraki.
Not to mention he keeps mentioning unnecessary stuff that just keeps weakening the logic of the work for no reason. This chapter for example: he felt the need to mention that they can't execute Machia because using missiles would be anti-ethical. What the fuck? We literally drugged him some hours ago, if capital punishment is on the table they'd just give him a lethal dose.
If you really want to justify to the reader why Machia isn't being killed then just say the process is still underway, he was just caught, it's not unbelievable that they'd have to wait a bit before the execution.
Or just don't mention it at all, that's even easier.
Last edited by pinetree; January 18th, 2021 at 10:57 PM.
I personally think AfO doing what he did was perfectly in character for what we knew of the man, and him truly handing the reins to Shigs would have been MORE out of character and a bit of a letdown. Besides, Shigs is still a bad guy on his own, so he's still an opponent, even if AfO is also one. In addition, was AfO being paralleled with Deku? I saw none of that, only that he was embracing the words his brother threw at him over a century ago about being a Demon Lord. Also, I don't think that throwaway line weakens any worldbuilding. Then again, opinions.
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I will also admit to liking the more supernatural aspects of Quirks that AfO's appearances have illuminated. Fights in vestige worlds are among my favorite parts of anime.
Regardless of AFO's actual intentions, if he actually succeeds then Horikoshi just undermined almost every chapter we spent with Shigaraki and the league so far. What's the point of League of Villains now? An entire arc that ended with Shigaraki coming up as a villain of his own, literally throwing aside the weight of his family and AFO over him.
All so that same weight could be used as a catalyst for AFO to take him over anyway.
He really isn't. Ever since they met in the mindscape Shigaraki has been framed as a victim of AFO, culminating in Deku's desire to save him. His standing as the main villain is gone.Besides, Shigs is still a bad guy on his own, so he's still an opponent, even if AfO is also one.
I mean... really?In addition, was AfO being paralleled with Deku? I saw none of that
You can call it a throwaway line but it's still something that happened.Also, I don't think that throwaway line weakens any worldbuilding.
Even if it was, it's not the only instance of it happening.
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The mindscape itself isn't a problem, Shigaraki's hand-land before it was great. It's what happened inside that was bad.
Deli also fully acknowledges Shigaraki's nastiness, yet still sympathizes with his plight. Moreover, Shigaraki is still fighting for control, so it's hardly an open and shut case. Besides, All for One saying he is going to become the world's greatest villain is nothing new. We learned that at least 70 chapters ago. Moreover, them not killing Machia is perfectly in line with their other actions, given that most of the PLA upper staff and soldiers at the villa were also taken prisoner despite their security risk. Also, considering edited footage of Hawks killing Twice was just leaked and caused outrage, it makes sense that the Public Safety Commission would play it safe and not carpet bomb a guy, even if it's stupid.
Sure but that doesn't really address what I said about him being framed as a victim.
If he turns AFO to dust soon, I'll have no complaints. If it takes a while then it's padding the story with a specially bad twist.Moreover, Shigaraki is still fighting for control, so it's hardly an open and shut case.
Regardless, I doubt that'll happen considering how this whole thing has been framed. I'd be very surprised.
Again, not my point. My mention of AFO's cringy declaration as an example of bad writing was due to how Hori wrote in the exact same line as the one from the start of the series, forcing a clumsy parallel between the two characters right after he threw the other, much more natural, hero/villain parallel in the trash.Besides, All for One saying he is going to become the world's greatest villain is nothing new. We learned that at least 70 chapters ago.
And if you want to talk about villain motivations that's another thing that is bad about this. Shigaraki and the league had a lot of clumsy writing around them, but at least their motivation was deeply rooted in Shigaraki's past and the flaws of hero society, a theme that is approached throught all the narrative.
Meanwhile, AFO wants to be bad because he likes it. Very interesting.
But that's part of why this is illogical. If the death sentence exists, many of the imprisoned villains should be dead already, and the fact that they are not makes the reader question how convenient it is that they've all just been neatly packed away so that AFO can get them now.Moreover, them not killing Machia is perfectly in line with their other actions, given that most of the PLA upper staff and soldiers at the villa were also taken prisoner despite their security risk.
If it doesn't... wel that just can't be. It does. Machia rules this possibility out.
If it does and they are just not able to carry it out against these specific villains, then it's very hard to imagine why. Even more so when the manga goes ahead and provides the reason for one of the whys with Machia, but it's not a satisfactory answer, so there's no reason to trust there's one for the others.
That's a pretty weak excuse. I have a really hard time believing that the public would actually be enraged considering what the League has done and also the fact that Jeanists arrival throws the whole thing into question. Though I do think they'll be enraged anyway just because that's what Horikoshi has been leading to with Hawks.Also, considering edited footage of Hawks killing Twice was just leaked and caused outrage, it makes sense that the Public Safety Commission would play it safe and not carpet bomb a guy, even if it's stupid.
Regardless of how I feel about it, if the public reacts that way, this would've been a valid explanation, but it was not the one they used so it doesn't really matter.
Last edited by pinetree; January 18th, 2021 at 11:48 PM.
To be perfectly honest, I never liked Shigaraki much on his own merits, and I find him infinitely more interesting for his heritage and as a pawn of All for One, who I feel has more gravitas by virtue of being the DIO/Dio Brando of his setting. Also, AfO is entertaining in his sociopathy and fake apathy, while Shigs was and always will be a mentally unstable brat who only got where he did because AfO found it entertaining.
But it ties in with the themes of the story as a whole, about passing the torch. The Good Guys find new pasionate people to bear their ideal into the future because they know they won't last. The Bad Guys make lip service to doing it, but in reality don't want to give up power at all and will stomp over the new generation they're suppose to raise up to do so.
Binged All Of Gundam In 4 Years, 1 Week and All I Got Was This Stupid Mask
FF XIV: Walked to the End
Started Legend of the Galactic Heroes (14/07/23), pray for me.
All for One's thing being that he absolutely will not hand over his power and position to anyone else is a nice contrast to his brother, at least
it's your turn/it's my turn and all that
Superficially, having that contrast works, but when you consider how much time was spent on both sides of the new generation developing, that falls apart. He made all of that work irrelevant.
Sure, All for One instead of One for All, makes total sense, but that's happening now. He's been doing the other things for hundreds of chapters and I was invested in that, so I really don't care for the sudden change.
It's just not a good twist. There was no work done to develop the story from one point to the other, it just happened. It doesn't change the status quo for the villains, it just erases the previous one and writes in the new one that is vastly less interesting, specially due to how disconnected it is from the major theme that has been set-up so far (flaws of the hero society).