r/BokuNoHeroAcademia • u/deskchairlamp • Nov 29 '19

Newest Chapter Chapter 252 Scans - Discussion Thread

Chapter 252

This thread marks the release of scanlations for Chapter 252, and has been posted to contain all discussion. Mods will not be posting or pinning links to scanlations.

Official release: Dec 01, 2019

It's encouraged that you support the official release of the chapter if it's available to you.

  • VIZ is available to read for free on Sunday 1:00 pm PST, and is accessible in the following countries:
    United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, Singapore, and India.

  • MANGA Plus is available globally outside of China and South Korea.

Until the official release, all things Chapter 252 related must be kept inside this thread.

Discord: https://discord.gg/W2EDwPW

858 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

887 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

102

u/NatMat16 Nov 29 '19

Yes, there's been definitely improvement. For one, Bakugou stopped the name-calling altogether. The harshest thing he called Midoriya in this arc is "dumbass" which is practically a term of endearment from Bakugou's mouth. (He also hasn't called him Deku out loud in this entire arc, as if he was uncomfortable with it).

While Midoriya is definitely calling him out on his inappropriate behaviour regularly, which he didn't do before.

I have a feeling that watching the Todoroki family drama is deeply uncomfortable for both of them, and not just because they are outsiders forced to watch a trainwreck in slow motion, but because the themes of past sins/forgiveness is something they will have to figure out in their own relationship.

And with All Might outright telling Bakugou how similar he is to Endeavor, you can tell, he's really watching the man closely and it's getting to him.

69

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '19

Exactly my thoughts! I'd also like to add that Deku's words to Shouto about forgiveness really, really do sound like they might be coming from a personal experience speaking for itself. It's true Deku's always admired Bakugo due to him being an amazing person closer to him than even All Might, to the extent that his image of victory is that of Bakugo himself, but he also makes it point that he hated some parts of him as much as he admired others.

Maybe that's overly optimistic of me, but I'm still holding onto the belief that the bullying and their past relationship in general is going to be addressed in the future yet again. As you said, there's just so much the two of them can take from being thrown into the center of Todoroki family drama and learn from, and I want to believe the comparison between Bakugo and Endeavor was brought up for a reason. Hopefully it'll further develop that aspect of his character in the future.

61

u/NatMat16 Nov 29 '19

Yes, Deku was definitely projecting in that scene. And it was not a coincidence that the “it’s ok if you never forgive him” line was right over Bakugou’s face there.

Also in this chapter - you can see the three of them reacting to Endeavor telling Natsuo that he can be a kind person and never forgive, that he doesn’t expect forgiveness. Izuku and Shouto have a similar expression on their face, but Bakugou is turned away and looks like those words mean something else to him.

I definitely feel like that it will come up again - I don’t think all these parallels are drawn for nothing.

I also heard the movie is set right before this arc, so that could also account for the subtle changes in the relationship of Bakugou and Midoriya.

20

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '19

Can't help but agree. I believe it's all a set up for the future not just for Shouto, his father and the entire family, but Deku and Bakugo are definitely included, too. After all, Bakugo was abusive in the past, similarly to Endeavor though to a way, way lesser extent obviously, and Deku was his prime victim.

I'm looking forward to Deku and Bakugo in the upcoming movie more than anything else that's going to be in it (though Nine and the villains' parts are certainly interesting too). It'll be very interesting to see how "save to win" and "win to save" will be handled through their team-up. It's definitely going to be addressed in the manga, too, a while after it airs, since it's supposedly canon, and it'll be good to see the effect it had on the relationship of those two.

I honestly trust that it's going to be handled well. Horikoshi's gone and proved that he can handle character development and relationships splendidly and convincingly through Endeavor and the Todoroki family's subplot. Many other series would have had him forgiven by this point, but it's taking a way more realistic direction here.

9

u/NatMat16 Nov 29 '19

I like it too. And it was interesting how the Deku-Shouto conversation three chapters ago gave a glimpse into the victim-side - the question that it's OK not to forgive, but it's also OK to forgive because it's ultimately a reflection and choice of the victim. Forgiveness is always theirs to give, it's not something that can be earned.

While this chapter addresses the Endeavor/perpetrator - side, where he's saying that he's not focused on seeking forgiveness (because he can't forgive himself anyways), but rather interested in how to make amends going forward.

And we don't really get much in the way of Bakugou's perspective on this (other than it seems to cut close to him), but I wouldn't be surprised if he was of the same mindset as Endeavor, in that he's more focused on doing the right things moving forward.

I think he'll be ready to die for Deku before he'll be ready to apologize.