Deku and Kacchan: Star-crossed Rivals

(Yes, I know that star-crossed is associated with outside forces, but I prefer this one to the other options so just go with it.)

Warning: minor manga spoilers.

Being protagonist and deuteragonist (no matter how much some of you want to the deny the latter), Deku and Bakugo are the most important characters in MHA and their relationship is one of the cores of the show and it certainly is the most relevant in the entire MHA, regardless of who ends up with who. Tododeku, Bakushima, Izuocha, Kacchako, Dekulissa, etc. – no matter which ends up canon, they will always be second fiddle to Bakudeku, even if the latter remains platonic (which I think it will).

I really like how Bakugo’s arc has been developed – it’s been my favorite so far. Part of it, it’s because it’s happening slowly – there is no big change overnight. Second, while other characters do play a role in said arc (obviously), there’s no denying it’s overwhelmingly moved by Bakugo having his ego frequently shattered, sometimes even when he wins (Bakugo vs Todoroki; Deku vs Kacchan part 2) and learning a little each time.

Their story before UA

Their story began with them being childhood friends, which went sour when Bakugo got his quirk. That along with the constant praise caused him to develop an ego that could rival Jeff Winger’s. In turn, this made him interpret Deku’s helpful nature as looking down on him and Deku never figured out that’s how Bakugo perceived his help. From that point on, their relationship is based on misunderstanding and the bullying starts. Bakugo gets an inferiority complex in relation to Deku and values himself by comparing himself to him, hiding himself under an unsurmountable amount of ego to avoid exposing just how fragile he actually is, which all comes crumbling down in Deku vs Kacchan part 2.

After Deku’s attempt to rescue Bakugo from the sludge villain, while Bakugo kept his inferiority complex, he stopped bullying Deku until they got the UA (yes, the suicide bait happened over a year before they got there).

Deku vs Kacchan part 1

In this fight, Bakugo was seeing red and Deku used that against him and wins. This is the first time that Bakugo’s flaws did him in. Besides losing to Deku, he also saw Todoroki in action and noticed that he’s better than him. This is the first time Bakugo faced his own limitations against other students, which is why…

Sports Festival

… he made that speech at the Sports Festival. I find it unbelievable that I’ve found people not understanding how Bakugo’s speech revealed that he changed. It would be easy to miss if Deku hadn’t explained to us exactly what was different but he did. Here it is: the speech is not mere ego. Like I said, in their first exercise with All Might, not only he lost to Deku due to his own flaws, he also noticed Todoroki’s power. The speech was not just him putting himself on a pedestal, it’s him promising that he would earn that pedestal (which he didn’t, not in his eyes).

The Sports Festival had Bakugo began calling 2 classmates by name, both by appealing to his drive to be the best in very different ways: Kirishima, who became Bakugo’s first friend, who achieved it by suggesting their quirks would work well together and they could go after Deku; Uraraka, who gave him the hardest battle in the Festival. She impressed him so much, he actually defended her when Kaminari was devaluing her by calling her frail. I have said many considered that to be Bakugo’s first sympathetic moment for a lot of people (based on comments I read) and a friend of mine disagreed (he hates Bakugo), just to make things clear: I don’t consider it to be his first sympathetic moment either. Not because I don’t appreciate him recognizing someone who isn’t himself but because, to me, it was his speech to Deku after their first fight. I understand that he came across as a brat, however, I feel like I spend a huge chunk of my life being a zombie, so I really appreciate it when a character is very driven, determined and hard-working.

After fighting with Uraraka, Bakugo accused Deku of giving her the plan, which the latter denied. The scene is a step in Deku’s gaining confidence and standing up to Bakugo, which started when he got into UA and ends well, arguably in Deku and Kacchan vs All Might.

Then there’s Bakugo vs Todoroki, which Bakugo wins and yet it’s still a slap in his face because Todoroki didn’t actually fight. MHA has a way of making Bakugo lose even when he wins. In this case, he wanted to prove he was the best but he’s robbed of that when Todoroki didn’t give it his all.

Deku and Kacchan vs All Might

The first time Bakugo and Deku have to work together. At first, Bakugo’s inferiority complex causes him to lose focus and not care that much about winning, which is usually really important to him, but Deku manages to knock some sense into him via punching (a tactic that should not be used in the real world). Other than that, their relationship stays the same.

Rescuing Bakugo

This arc sets up Bakugo’s arc in the Provisional Hero License, which culminates in Deku vs Kacchan part 2. It also shows Deku using Uraraka’s insight to create a plan, because he understands (or at least understood) Bakugo considerably less than her.

I’ve seen so many people trying to diminish Uraraka’s understanding of Bakugo revealed during the rescue arc, claiming that Deku understood him better because he’s known him the longest, which… annoys me because it’s not only a flat out lie, it does the exact opposite of it’s trying to do. It’s trying to make Bakugo and Deku’s relationship more special, but what it accomplishes is to take away complexity from Bakugo and Deku’s relationship and Bakugo as a character. Their relationship was built based a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions, if it hadn’t, Bakugo wouldn’t have treated Deku like crap because he felt threatened due to his inferiority complex that he tries to hide under a giant ego and bullying tactics, he just did it to be a douche.

The lack of understanding is part of what makes Deku vs Kacchan part 2 so poignant (my favorite fight by a huge margin), so stop trying to take it away.

Deku vs Kacchan part 2

The best fight, the most emotional, the one where the boys finally put their feelings on the table.

Throughout the fight, we see Bakugo get angrier and angrier with Deku for not fighting back, which he takes as Deku looking down on him. Eventually, he reaches his breaking point, overwhelmed, he finally admits that he’s chasing after someone who was so far behind him. Deku was who he compared himself to in order to feel good about himself and that’s no longer something he can do. He admits that All Might’s downfall is constantly playing on a loop and he feels guilty. This is when Deku begins fighting back, but he only puts his heart into it after Bakugo reveals that he thinks Deku has always looked down on him even when they were kids, which the latter promptly denies.

I’ve seen a few people claiming the only reason why Bakugo won was that he’s the ultimate fan favorite. I am not going to claim Horikoshi does not care about fanservice or that fanservice is always bad, however, I find it unlikely this was the case. Pretty much like in the Sports Festival, Bakugo was hurt the most by winning. Bakugo was pretty much doomed in this fight right from the start, though I think he only realized it when he won (“Why/How did you lose?”).

Why?

Being kidnapped caused All Might to lose his powers, which made him feel weak. He wanted to prove he’s better than Deku; that he deserved to be All Might’s successor, so losing would prove All Might was right choosing Deku and he didn’t want that. Here’s the thing, after winning, he still had to deal with the fact that he wasn’t chosen. All Might knew both of them and saw how strong he was and Deku wasn’t and still chose the second for his successor. In the end, that victory isn’t a victory at all, it’s another blow to the ego. Another proof of how his shortcomings did him in – that’s why he won.

After this fight, due to All Might’s speech, there is a shift in their dynamic. They no longer see each other as enemies, they see each other as rivals. I would say that as friends too. They see value in each other and try to motivate the other to become better. The next time we see them interact, Bakugo is his usual self and yells that he will be better, but it’s clear that neither boy sees it as an intimidation tactic, but more of a challenge, which Deku accepts. We can even see concern, though he’d never admit it.

Internship Arc 2

Now, they’re doing an internship together with Todoroki. In my post about Uraraka (that no longer exists), I said that MHA was going to have an Avengers (by which I mean they will fight the main villains as a team, whether official or not). Of course, I expected for the team to have at least 6 members, not just 3 (sometimes, I’m very naïve). Hell, I even expected to have a few more, for example, Momo. Instead, we got this:

Hey, I asked how the MHA version of this shot isn’t a thing. Because it isn’t, as far as I know, I had to take matters into my own hands, despite not having skills, nor adequate program, nor a computer that can handle such a program (seriously, it spends its time knocking on Heaven’s door). Look what you made me do, internet! Look what you made me do. (And yes, Todoroki is Thor.)

There is not much I can say about this, since it’s only starting.

Embracing Kacchan

I know some of you have massive hate boners for Bakugo, so I want to make something clear: Bakugo’s behavior is still wrong. Yelling and often downgrading others is not made right just because he cares about them and they care about him. Nevertheless, this doesn’t change that he has come a long way, even if he’s far from the end of the tunnel (which he is, there is no doubt about it). He is still arrogant, self-centered and, to some extent, still “the kid with a huge inferiority complex who refuses to half-ass anything because he needs to forever experience an overwhelming victory” (shamelessly stealing from Tumblr). He is still learning to grasp the concept of friendship and he’s not even remotely close to being ready for a romantic relationship.

The reason why I’m not much harsher with Bakugo is because it’s clear that he is still progressing. His arc has been handled slowly, yet steadily and it’s precisely because of that that it’s improbable for him to go back or even just stay like he is now. After all, what’s the point in taking baby steps in becoming a better person for such a long time, if you’re going to throw it all away anyway? Yes, I’ve seen those types of arcs ruined (*cough* Jaime Lannister *cough*) and though MHA is far from a masterpiece, let’s not assume S8 GoT quality yet either.

He’s still cookie dough not done baking and his behavior is still framed as a shortcoming. This is evident even in the newer chapters, where he does a bunch of interviews with Todoroki and they are all edited to cut him out. It’s why he still doesn’t even have a hero name.

It may be too soon to tell what Bakugo’s hero name will be, yet I think Kacchan is very likely and it won’t surprise if either Kirishima or Uraraka are involved in the choosing of that name. Kirishima makes sense because he’s Bakugo’s best friend pretty much like Uraraka is Deku’s. Uraraka because she has always been pushing for Deku and Bakugo to become friends, despite anime Uraraka also treating that relationship as her own live soap opera (I am not criticizing, we’d all be doing the same in her place). She helped Deku embrace the nickname given by Bakugo and it wouldn’t surprise if she did the same to Bakugo, helping embrace a softer side. It is not impossible for it to be caused by someone else, like Todoroki and All Might, who also played a role in that friendship, I find it less likely though. 

There is one last thing we need to talk about and it’s by far the most annoying one.

(I stopped reading MHA around chapter 256, but I know it’s been revealed already and it isn’t Kacchan, but it is something that Deku contributed to).

Deku’s newfound powers (also I go off on a huge tangent so you may give up before getting there)

Because of how different I treat the villains’ quirk evolution and Deku’s, I think I have to explain my stance on the first.

I’ve seen people complain about the power-up of the villains, namely Toga’s, and, while I don’t find MHA villains to be interesting (always thought it was one of MHA’s biggest weaknesses), I understand the need to power-up the villains. They are meant to be an obstacle to the heroes, they are supposed to challenge them, which requires them to be better than the heroes in some ways. This is usually part of compelling storytelling. Yes, there have been exceptions, but MHA has never been built up to be one of them.

Many people complained because they didn’t see Toga’s evolution’s coming and that audiences shouldn’t have to guess stuff based on nothing to which I will say: 1) audiences don’t have to guess anything. It’s nice when they do, but guessing what’s coming next correctly is not what makes a good story; 2) We already knew quirks can evolve (Kirishima) and her evolution was a natural progression for her quirk – it makes sense (as much sense as mutations=superpowers can); 3) It wasn’t that unpredictable because I did it and I have failed to do so about almost everything about the Liberation Army arc, so clearly it wasn’t thanks to my skills as a psychic (Dabi hasn’t been revealed to be a Todoroki yet¹, Re-destro didn’t die, Gigantomacchia didn’t fight at all² even if I thought Re-destro would be taken down by Shigaraki; at least I guessed ice-guy wasn’t a Todoroki). Was the evolution really necessary? In a shonen that doesn’t play the power-up game, it wouldn’t be. MHA stopped being one of those when special snowflake got even more special.

I vehemently disagree with Deku’s power-up. I’ve seen people trying to justify it, because “foreshadowing”. Here’s the thing: foreshadowing makes things expected, it doesn’t mean it’s interesting nor does it make a good progression.

I dislike it and think it’s a misstep because of the story MHA has been telling, which is one where the main characters struggle, so they should never be more OP than the villains or even as OP. No, MHA has never tried to sell itself as an OP main character against weak villains or even as a story where the villains are weaker but outsmart the main character. There is nothing extraordinary about Shigaraki’s intelligence – there never was. Strangely enough, those same people also tried to argue for Deku being the underdog. So, he’s the underdog, yet also super OP. That makes sense.

Now, I don’t think Deku has had any claim to the underdog, because… I didn’t stop reading/watching after the entrance exam. If that was the intent of the story, then it failed miserably, because out of all the students in class 1-A, literally anyone fits more in that role than Deku (he is literally one of the big 3 and has the least training – at least a decade less than everyone else). This been said, one of the things that has been done right was the development of the complicated friendships and rivalries between the big 3, which is why I don’t really understand the power-up. Deku was already going to be as strong as All Might (probably stronger), so Todoroki and Bakugo already had an uphill battle. Deku won’t just be All Might, he will also have a bunch of other powers, yet somehow, Todoroki and Bakugo are supposed to stay in the game (who’s the underdog again?). I know this problem will be dealt with some sort of asspull for them too, I just doubt that’s for the best.

Why did it happen? I don’t know. Maybe Horikoshi realized that Deku fits in the shonen tradition of having a protagonist with an extremely powerful, yet utterly uninteresting superpower (*cough* Ichigo *cough*). Deku and All Might punch and kick stuff very hard. Who cares about that when you can play with fire? (It’s why a good reason to watch the movie is to see Bakugo smile and get caught by Todoroki, not to see All Might do whatever attack. His attack is punching and calling it some name that no one cares about.)

I don’t know why it happened, nevertheless I think it’s probably a misstep and I really dislike it. 

 

¹ To be fair, I now feel a bit like an idiot. It’s probably going to be revealed when he fights a Todoroki, probably when he fights the 2 Todorokis.

² I haven’t yet figured out who Bakugo is meant to fight. I have been considering the possibility of him fighting the traitor since they are irrevocably connected. The traitor aided in his kidnapping, which caused his idol to lose his powers and retire and him to feel guilty about it and going on a self-loathing spiral. So, by this logic, it actually makes sense for his adversary to be a friend, which is why there is some reasoning behind Kaminari being the traitor, besides his quirk allowing him to communicate and being one of the strongest and could easily compete with the big 3, except the super OP one, if it had no limitations (which he could be faking). I am not saying he is the traitor, just that it would make sense. On the other hand, while so far he doesn’t have personal ties to Gigantomachia (unlike Kirishima and Mina), they do have in common demanding others to prove themselves in order to earn their respect and considering how strong Gigantomachia is, him and Bakugo ending up fighting each other is not a far-fetched idea. Of course, there is a chance nothing will happen and there won’t be one on one fights or that it ends with very different fights.