Honestly I struggled with the “liquid” idea, which is why I just call it a substance for the most part. Because if it’s a liquid it would take the shape, in which case a vessel doesn’t have to be “sculpted” or shaped in order to receive a new soul. You could just increase the volume or make the container stronger which makes narrative sense, but doesn’t really roll off the tongue. But yeah, seems like we’re on the same page, and is part of the reason I was so surprised to see so many people not getting that particular story element. Anyways, thanks for coming by, I genuinely appreciate your time.

Totally agree.. MHA is in kind of a unique position. It wore the symbolism on its sleeve and basically told the audience "hey, I am telling a very specific story", but a large portion of the fan base didn't get it, and instead got themselves wrapped up in the story they wanted rather than the one being told. It absolutely struggled in places, as you say, world building and having a well fleshed out cast, I think pacing and death baiting were bigger a bigger issue (though I think this is an issue of shonen Jump and their timelines forced on authors). But Deku's self destructive nature didn't change. It maintained through the war, but at his worst moments someone was there to intervene. But even then, he was still willing to give up his arms (just to hold onto shigaraki and destroy his hate) and his powers to destroy the Soul of AFO. Whether it was the vestiges intervening, Lemillion, his teacher/Jeanist or at the end Class 1-A again. The story maintained most character beats quite well. I really don't think Star was as game breaking as she appears on the surface, just when compared to Deku (at the time of her introduction) or even more massively the rest of the world outside the top tiers, she seems broken. But she isn't remotely comparable even to the weakest All Might we have ever seen. I don't want to get into the math, but regular, not trying at all, punches from all might are in the gigatons of force ranges. He could be, and often is, casually dropping nukes with his hands and is causally multiple times faster than her or full power shigaraki / AFO (nagants bullets are massively faster than Shigi as he couldn't dodge them and Faux 100% is dozens of times faster than her bullets even on a straightaway). Point being yeah she can do low level reality warping, and if AFO and All might Didn't exist, she'd be a God, but they do. And the gap between those two and the rest of their verse is head and shoulders above even the gap between her and the cast. Her amped up Stats are more like endeavors and she has a death note she can activate with her mouth. ...but, Prime all might and theoretical full power Deku would have dog walked her. I say theoretical because we never see it, he only throws one punch with output on all mights level in the entire series, and its the last one he ever throws, horikoshi explains that the percentages deku thinks to himself are not accurate and are just him hyping himself up in several interviews. While prime AFO should have been able to take her on mid Dif, unless you ascribe to the narrative that Prime All might was Massively more powerful than AFO, but held back for too long (not fighting with lethal intent) as the narrative seems to imply, in which case its High diff to slightly losing (because of instant death clause). but her raw Power output is lower than say even Star Eater or endeavor. sorry got out in the weeds there, but anyways, thank you for watching, your kind words and for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it.

@tendoentiendo oh the pacing was certainly a big part of the issues I have, but I'm gonna have to disagree with the stars and stripes part, being able to kill someone if you know their name is a power nobody can touch in the series. Yes in a straight up fight she does get bodied but she only has to be able to do a command grab and it's game over, that makes her quirk feel like outright fucking magic, especially when compared to endeavor, Hawks, and other 'balanced but strong' characters from the same generation. As for Deku I agree, it wa always there- just the conclusion in the dark hero arc wound up feeling... not genuine for lack of a better term. Anyway thanks for replying! I do criticize MHA but in my case it's because I still have affection for it, and I totally blame it's weak points on the terrible life on a Mangaka. Honestly my main hope here is that Hori takes care of himself because holy shit the man isn't suited for this kind of life. I mean it shouldn't be that way in the first place but especially for him.

Thank you for the kind words, I'm sure I'll get there eventually. I only just started here, but I figure if I just keep up the quality and success will be inevitable.

With him not being a “bad dad” by fire nation standards or my one off line where I called her a psychopath (for brevity not because I think that)? If the former, that’s fair. He ruined her. Honestly I think narratively she was undergoing the same crisis of character Zuko was having in the earth kingdom. She just never had the benefit of being away from the toxic environment that forced it in the first place, that and she didn’t have an Iroh (therapist essentially) to guide her through it. That said nothing Ozai did was out of line to the standard of his culture. But either way, I’m not here to change peoples minds, just their perspective. Anyways I hope at least the video was entertaining, thanks for stopping by.

kind of hard to explain in short form but I’ll try my best since you asked the most important question one could after seeing this video. Basically I think there is: Tenko: the child consciousness that never matured and was hidden away from Shigaraki himself until he unlocked the memories in the PLF arc. (Hidden away via repression, and I am pretty sure there was a line saying that AFO altered or blocked those memories from him and that he can’t remember most of his life.) Shigaraki: the character that we follow the majority of the series. And AFO-Garaki: the merged elements of Shigaraki and AFO that are neither one truly (as explained in the series) The reaoson I think they “aren’t the same person” despite sharing the same body is that the series explains that the consciousness of the person is stored in the quirk. And the Shigaraki we follow was only ever half a soul so to speak and that soul is only half of the original creature named Tenko. Then there is the fact each “version” of himself thinks acts and behaves differently and is usually denoted with different eye shading a gleam, no gleam, and flat (edit though this does also denote heroism and the synchronicity of ones goals and ideal). Typically following the respective tenko, shigaraki and, AFOGaraki. They are also denoted by the font they speak in and the language they use. Which I think is first introduced after tartarus break or shortly before. you could segment the shigaraki’s (as I see them) like this 1. The start of the series follows shigaraki, this consciousness we know is His tenko consciousness with a corrupted soul, it’s torn in half and replaced in his body somewhere early in life. In the hospital arc, in his inner realm while he is adding AFO to his body, he imagines (or sees) his mother and changes from shigaraki to tenko, in order to speak with her. Then imagines his father and turns back into shigaraki. Seems like a throwaway scene but then in the war we are shown that it isn’t. He managed to compartmentalized his shigaraki consciousness that fused with AFO and his tenko consciousness (soul) that remained hidden and unmolested. 2. It’s mostly this ‘second’ so to speak “shigaraki” that we follow in the war arc. It is a combination of AFO and the shigaraki we know because it’s reiterated that it is not purely shigaraki or AFO. Even when “shigaraki is mostly in control of this consciousness it still talks plans and acts more like AFO. In general the war arc (AFOGaraki), thinks and behaves differently, communicates much more maturely and is more akin to AFO in intelligence relative to Shigaraki pre-merger. He also behaves autonomously from AFO and against his wishes and against their better interest. New order couldn’t even distinguish what this soul was. The author put that in the story on purpose, it wasn’t an accident that the idea was introduced. Even when they are at their most complete stage of merging the tenko personality shines through for a moment and speaks and thinks like a child when compared to the 2 personalities we know. 3. War arc tenko that is an actual child mentally. Not married to this last idea at all, but the tenko we see towards the end might not be the “tenko” we had seen to that point. Though I am not remotely committed to the idea, because of how the series ended. But essentially, Tenko’s…the original tenko…soul could and should have been rejoined after merging with AFO completely, like after AFO consumes him (after deku loses arms). Because AFO tore his quirk (the vessel for his consciousness / soul) in half and only returned part of it. Meaning a piece of that original tenko was in AFO the whole time and thus the tenko that is “saved” through deku killing him is the “original tenko that was always meant to be …unless AFO gave it away off screen and just never revealed it to the audience. Probably to one of the many back up vessels we know he had (we see them in dabi’s flashbacks and he says it himself at a couple point.. Perhaps even gave it to that conspicuous little boy we see one chapter before the end of the series and before deku see’s shigaraki’s soul theoretically at peace but still on earth. not very short but I tried. a theoretical part 4 would cover this video. but I'm still on 2 and 3. Of course I could just be reading too much into this, but then why would the author go to such great length to denote the differences between them, and have a mini arc / fight that shows they aren't the same person despite sharing the same body?

assuming you read all that whatever conclusion you come to is equally valid, unless the author presents an answer themselves at a convention at some point and is just like..."lol, what? no. this is just a comic about people punching really hard. " anyways thanks for stopping by I genuinely appreciate it.

oh and I just reread my initial response, sorry it was unedited so a little repetitive at a part, but New order can act on concepts like "air" she doesn't have to name the elements in particular that she wants. but Naming shigaraki didn't work, because its isn't shigaraki. I don't remember which picture of shigaraki I put up at that part in the video but I meant to put up war arc shigaraki and then cut away to the scene where Shigaraki turns into tenko.

@@tendoentiendo​​⁠​​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠ I’m still confused. -What “Hospital arc”? -Which “War arc”? (There’s two war arcs, the PLF War and the Final War.) -You say the start the series (U.S.J.) follows the Tenko consciousness, but I thought that part of him was hidden away through repression at that point in time. -If “the Shigaraki we follow is half a soul and that soul is only half of Tenko”, then are you saying the Shigaraki we follow is only one-fourth of Tenko? If so, how? I mean, Tenko lost half(?) of his soul when AFO stole his original Quirk, but where did he lose the other fourth of his soul? -When did AFO tear Tenko’s Quirk in half? From what I remember, no Quirk/Soul is ever split in two. They are destroyed or transferred as one whole thing. Not two parts. For the record, I’m NOT disagreeing or arguing with you. Your theory is much more complex than most I’ve seen on this site, but I can’t understand what you’re trying to say.

​@@Awesome_Swordsman Hospital arc = jaku hospital raid War arc = final war Start of series shigaraki = I am referring to his first appearance (USJ) up until PLF. the portion you took to mean "tenko's consciousness [is the one we follow]" (though I specified tenko's consciousness with a corrupted soul), was my less than stellar attempt to briefly explain that their is a good to fair chance an arbitrary amount of birth tenko soul could have remained in the vessel (his body). Then both that and the decay quirk soul are then what we follow in series from USJ until he merges with AFO in the Jaku hospital raid. Quarter soul Not entirely sure where quarters are coming from…seems out of left field but I think I can follow the logic as to how you got there. I get the feeling I may have misrepresented my position at some point, or used the wrong name in reference to an idea of an entity sharing the same body which is causing some of this miscommunication (this is in part what I was referring to in the video about the naming system in this series being confusing). I will try to be as precise as possible here. The shigaraki we follow (first appearance in USJ to PLF) is presumably some arbitrary portion of his birth soul and the rest is composed of the quirk that was torn in half and supplanted in him. But technically it is all “his” consciousness as he knows nothing else (the change happened in infancy/ toddlerdom ). He, earlier in life, through some combination of AFO interference and extreme childhood trauma (also could just be due to the unnatural [yet in this instance natural] process of the decay quirk finally bonding to the body and manifesting for the first time), compartmentalized into himself (here meaning “shigaraki” the boy who murdered his family) and his other self (tenko the boy who who didn’t kill his family and never grew up past the day the quirk manifested) inherently because they share the same body one might call them the same “person” (here meaning body) but not the same mind (consciousness). If you think that consciousness begets the soul, or vis a versa, it would change the answer as to whether or not he is “a quarter soul” a half or a whole…or 2 souls or 3 souls. …but, ultimately in terms of the English language and in the metaphysical context of the story we are discussing, the entities in the body called Tomura shigaraki DO NOT share the same consciousness (regardless of what arbitrary portions you believe belong to whichever party) . They perceive and interpret the world differently through the same body. Again you can chose your own metaphysical dogma and subdivide the soul into fourths if you chose but that is not, and will not ever be my position despite thinking I understand the logic of it. In the simplest terms no metaphysics. The creature called shigaraki is basically a computer running three different Operating systems. Each holding their own intelligence program. Their abilities, upper and lower, are vastly different and given identical circumstance would each make completely different decisions, for completely different reasons. If we anthropomorphized them. One would call them different people. As they by definition ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. As personage, being a “person”, is defined as a being with specific capacities, attributes reasoning (ability) and morality. By definition each manifestation of shigaraki is a “different” person. and that is affirmed in the narrative (star). “tear tenko’s quirk” This is what makes me believe I may have misspoken or mistakenly misrepresented my position (though I couldn't find it), but this is in reference to AFO claiming that he only gave him (tenko Shimura) half a quirk (which we know because we read the story is inadvertently and sometimes advertently containing a soul/ consciousness) The soul added to him is half of some unknown entities quirk while his original (from birth) soul/consciousness was either excised completely or in part (though almost certainly in part as some people in series don’t become comatose after losing their quirk while others do). The decay quirk was originally able to destroy and reverse its own effects. It was split in half deliberately, then placed in him. We don’t see it in series but conceptually, it is explained to us in exposition. Thus, the persons inside the body called Tomura Shigaraki could be identified as: 1. “tenko” personality (consciousness) from childhood. Could either a blend of tenko’s birth soul and exogenous quirk, or more narratively accurate original tenko’s soul and consciousness before the second soul and quirk finally took root in him on the day the shimura family was killed (I ascribe to the latter) 2. Shigaraki, the consciousness we follow from his introduction in USJ until PLF 3. AFOGaraki the merge version of the two the is neither Tomura nor AFO but something in between. Hopefully that clears things up, because I really can't keep trying to type out a concept this nuanced with minimal editing for just one person. I do appreciate the conversation though.

Really not cope here, that comes later. This narrative was very superficial (on the surface) , I genuinely never understood how people didn’t see it in real time. There’s a lot to genuinely complain about in this series, shigaraki just isn’t one of them. Either way thanks for stopping by.

@@tendoentiendoDespite not agreeing with what you have to say regarding MHA, I do appreciate all the hard work you put in for the video. Very well done.

@@gasperflores543 well then give him a point.

I think I only put 2 “jokes” in there and one reference to all mights sex life. But they served narrative purpose I swear lol. I was alluding to a topic I’m covering in part 3 as a part of horikoshi’s allegory usage. Point being I had to shoehorn them in somehow, and a bad joke is better than pulling these topics seemingly out of nowhere when they are convenient.

@@tendoentiendo I think I am too used to commentary videos that use throw away jokes that never actually have any use or seem random for the sake of it being random that it almost just turned my brain off and just respond with "oh it's going to have those jokes in it" lol

Yeah I get you, that’s what made me include it. I figured a meaningful “throw away” line would go over peoples heads so I drew attention to it in the video. I kind of wanted to not mention it at all. Then the people that got it, got it, I’m a sucker for that sort of stuff, but they were so corny it would hurt me to have anyone think I thought they were genuinely funny. Anyways thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your time and kind words. And hopefully you see the payoff in pt.3 lol. Just gotta get 2 done…

I think the translation is “no experience with women” not that he gets no cheeks. I had no experience with women but they throw themselves at you enough and one or two get through. And I’m in not even a 7 foot tall international superstar / Adonis, but a humble 5’’10 (if I stretch) funny man. Also, he was awfully close with a couple fellas. Nighteye and detective tsukauichi could been power bottoms 😂

@@tendoentiendo 😳also maybe I need to reread that interview lol

😂😂

Facts

You hit the nail on the head here. I’m speed running my second video so I can talk about this in the 3rd video. Just trying not to fall off in quality JUST so I can be the first person to talk about it.

@@tendoentiendo yeah like I get people feeling sad about Shigaraki but it was a almost assured ending when you realize that opportunity was given by the shadiest business man that ever walked.

lol, yeah he definitely didn’t fall into the same category as them. Though in truth himiko might have a higher body count than him and for a far less substantial reason. He was a man on death mission for sure lol. But honestly he had an entirely different narrative than the rest of the league. His and shoto’s arc is more akin to Deku and shigaraki. Showing what can happen when they never get support for their inner desire the “you can be a hero” moment. It was a chaos and balance story in both cases. Though shoto is hyper literal, with him literally having balance as his character design and outlook. Dabi is a bit deeper than a sociopath is the point. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment

@@tendoentiendo Dabi killed over 30 innocent people, idk what implied Toga was ANYWHERE near his kill count.

The soul being a stretch? The consciousness of a being is stored in the quirk…that’s stated in the series. The wild wild pussycat who had her quirk stolen lived a life comatose afterwards. She never recovered. Her body worked and her mind was gone. The nomu experienced the same thing except in the near high end were one personality expressed dominance over the others… as almight got closer to death his soul (consciousness) began to solidify itself in Deku. Not stretch at all. On that subject on that subject at least. But the reverse heroes journey for Deku is speculative, I am not the writer. But read the heroes journey story beats and what they signify for yourself. Compare it to Deku’s life. Then look at his opposite Shigaraki, how he follows the heroes journey. Their names are AFO and OFA literally just backwards. Their ideals, methodology, goals and DESIGN are antithetical to one another. Horikoshi was very on the nose about them being opposites. But he was subtle about shigaraki wanting to be a hero the entire series. He was subtle about him following the heroes journey (kind of, it was really obvious to me) until the very end when he just outright says shigaraki was a hero for villains. Then following the internal logic of horikoshi’s writing, it implies that because shigaraki went on the heroes journey the opposite is true of Deku…and it does fit. REMARKABLY well. But hey think for yourself. You don’t have to come to my conclusions. But suggesting it’s unfounded just means you haven’t read the source material enough or lack reading comprehension skills. Either way, I’m delving into that narrative element in part 3 (still editing 2) this was a “preview” as I said in the video. It would have derailed the conversation further to focus on Deku, as it was I spent almost half the time on him and only because it was necessary here. I didn’t need to “prove” so to speak that Deku was on an inverted heroes journey to demonstrate that tenko shimura was a victim and shigaraki while never truly lost, did need to be saved.

Fun fact the purpose of the songs at the beginning and end of this video are A. allusion the narrative element of the story shigaraki and deku ( AFO and OFA) are opposites almost every discernible category. And yet perfectly in line with one another. B. To signify that you can follow a melody (the main element of a song) whether it goes forwards or backwards. But the lyrics are fixed in one direction. Deku (the main element) could be going forwards or backwards on his literary device and the meaning wouldn’t change. But shigaraki could only be understood if it’s forwards. And his narrative absolutely is. I hope you look into it yourself but if not I’ll point you in the right direction. Most of his elements are literal. To name a few call to adventure (literal phone call), meeting of the mentor (AFO literally found a mentor for him to study from) and crossing the threshold (literally crosses a threshold [portal] into the unknown before he’s ready). Horikoshi isn’t the best writer, that’s true. Hence why none of this should have gone over peoples heads and yet it did. Have a good one

Well he isn’t the big bad, but he is deku’s villain. In the end the story is about AFO vs OFA

@@Thedemonlord4642 yes i agree, the whole arching plot is the story of how these two quirks (basically the first quirks) changed and shaped this hero world, when i think about it its so cool

@@Cyberlele02 id also say it created another parallel almost as good as deku and shigi’s with AFO and shigi with their pasts becoming similar

I’m sure “revolutionary villain” is the term you’re looking for.

Such is the way of the world. Balancing “themes and such” with satisfying narratives. It doesn’t always work out

😂😂 and here I thought I was being original, I guess the overlap between Steven universe and MHA fans is larger than I thought.

@@tendoentiendo It was used by The Custodians in their reaction to 7X14. That was followed up by a clip of Godzilla representing Spinner unleashing an attack.

Thank you for the kind words I appreciate it. And I’ve got two more on the way hoping to get the 2nd out in a couple weeks. And the 3rd before Halloween.

Thank you for the kind words. Honestly I’ve been seeing the same, and is part of what I started this chanel for, if I don’t love something I won’t talk about it. My last channel I just talked about the topical, things people liked and it didn’t resonate to the extent I wanted to keep going. But this series is one that has struck a cord with me, and seemed under-appreciated. Glad someone else out there shared the opinion. Thanks for taking the time here to watch hope you have a good night (or day depending on your side of the world).

⁠​⁠​⁠@@tendoentiendo I'm glad to hear that you're making content that you enjoy now. I think it'll definitely attract an audience that engages with your content more earnestly instead of just regurgitating whatever they see on Twitter and TikTok. Can’t wait to see what else you make in the future!

totally valid. I think I like it more artistically than as a consumer. I assume horikoshi did it on purpose and deliberately took shigaraki from us right then when he was his most complete. This to leave us with that hollow feeling many seemed to get from the series at that point. He allowed us to see Shigaraki's future being stolen from him...again. Though to us, it was for the first time. He was recreating the first loss of shigaraki, since he probably didn't initially intend to show us AFO transplanting Shigaraki's quirk in the first place, considering how rushed it was compared to all other elements of shigaraki's past. It really played off like he needed to close off that thread and still have time to close out the story. As though he had a set number of chapters to finish the story in, and suddenly found himself 12 chapters away. which regardless of the why is still bad writing.

Same

A retcon necessitates contradiction, I don't believe there was a statement that Shigaraki was born with his quirk. the only thing they ever say (I think it was when all might was talking with his cop friend) is that its "mutated" and not a part of his family line, and they think it has something to do with the quirk singularity...which as we know, but not the member of this universe, the quirk singularity has always been OFA and AFO so even that was a hint. However even from chapter one horikoshi was alluding to the quirk being forced upon him. There's this whole religious element of the story I will cover in pt.3 of this video that explain this quite well (still working on pt. 2 so I won't give it away here but I'll hint at it) and then the implications the entire time that his body was unsuited to his quirk, and that he couldn't control it at all. just like Deku. Horokoshi depicts shigaraki holding things with 4 fingers or less throughout the first half of the series implying that if he touches it with all 5 it could activate against his will. There is also the juxtaposition of All might passing on OFA and AFO passing on his quirk. All might goes out of his way to say "don't worry im not going to force this on you" then looks at the camera or the viewer and something similar happens in the manga. Viz translates this as a Proposal, which they emphasize in bold writing. Implying that from chapter ONE the option exists to force quirks upon people. And while the symbol of peace isn't willing to do it to pass the torch his antithesis certainly was. there was even more to this and a LOT of telegraphing that this was the case, which is why for well over 5 years people had been speculating that Shigaraki got his quirk from AFO, but most of us thought he started out quirkless. that said you not liking it is totally valid. The way it was handled was poor, it should have been a slow release or left completely subtextual, not a "I'll hint at it the entire series, go nowhere with it and then just confirm it in exposition in a couple pages". I would have preferred just a flashback sequence with a single panel with no text showing child shigaraki using a different quirk other than decay mixed in. then if you pick up on it then good for you. If not the story continues. But it seems like the handling was a byproduct of concluding the story during a war. energy is high action is grand and then they have to shoehorn in some story elements that needed more time before the clock runs out. A lot of modern shonen are suffering from this, and while just speculation, I get the feeling it is being forced on them by the company. Final wars that is. They sell well.

@@tendoentiendo Yeah no matter how well eplained and even intended the Possession twist was it STILL sucks in my eyes and will never be glad that it's a major part of the story, but i learned to accept it. And there's always fanfiction anyways.

It was set up since his backstory got put in for MVA, a man in a suit brings him home

@@Thedemonlord4642 So what we’ve been gaslit into believing the potentially interesting parallel between Shigaraki and Deku BUT Instead it’s the much less interesting fight of OFA vs Mustache twirling AFO!? In the end I Almost feel no desire to rewatch the entire series if this was the real final battle. Honestly I just feel disappointed with what we got.

@@toadlord8594 no there was always deku and shigaraki, he’s deku’s villain for sure, but from the very beginning it’s been AFO vs OFA. Good vs evil, and AFO is the symbol of evil. The final battle represents AFO vs OFA with AFO letting go of his will to even fight almost entirely and everyone doing all they can for deku

not sure what your prompt is, but I would go "the symbol of failure" route. There is a lot to delve into with the inversion of his and deku's attributes, AFO OFA, the religious imagery, iconography and then of course close with the title being a double meaning that you draw attention to in the final moments to re-contextualize your entire position. Teachers eat that up. I don't see a ton of direction to go with the "broken hero" narrative, that's not really a message of the story so introducing a problem just to solve it isn't a satisfying premise and ridiculously hard to pull off even for professional writers (Just look at star vs shigaraki). Unless of course you go double meaning again and it's a play on the broken hero ie: All mights broken old model of heroism, and the failure and disasters it wrought on society. hell you could smash those two premises together and get something meaningful and informative. whatever you do, good luck and thanks for stopping by.

@@jhw1235 The issue is that most people weather subconsciously or not think that their vision is the end all be all, and when the story deviates from that, instead of enjoying it for what it is and keeping an open mind, a good chunk of people got pissed off and started looking for flaws to hate on no matter how small and would blow it out of proportion all to support the belief that their vision was better. It’s the same treatment Bleach got, and I believe that just like Bleach, it will pass and more people will look at the series and the ending in a more positive light.

Same, MHA (and those other series) just became easy targets, but I’m starting to see some people come back around and am optimistic about the longevity of this fan base. This story, I think, will be timeless.

I know, I wrote most of this mid 2023 (the chapter where uraraka compliments togas smile) my timelines for production are just terrible. Really takes away a good bit of the value. Luckily, I’m getting better at editing so hopefully I can avoid a situation like this with the next series I cover. Edit: just checked the release date of the chapter that inspired this video. I started this July 2023 lol. It’s even worse than I thought

@@tendoentiendo i do understand what you meant by him being a good dad in his culture though, that much i do understand.

sorry, that was weird I thought I was responding to another comment on my MHA video, but it posted here. Anyways, what you're doing right now is judging a character by the morality of your nation (ethnocentrism). That was among the first things I said, that I would not be taking that viewpoint. And would instead analyze the values, culture and morality of his people in order to determine if in the context of the fire nation he was a "bad dad" rather than making a claim for objective morality (which doesn't truly exist) I take the Polycentric approach. What he did wasn't neglect, necessarily. it's literally the opposite just not the one any western father born after 1920 would even remotely consider. In a theoretical middle age to early revolutionary world where you are born heir to the throne of an empire. Where your people are blood thirsty and only respect the ability to physically dominate another human. Any perceived weakness IS weakness, and would mean that someone at some point will attempt to capitalize on it. Which in this case means a Coup d'état. In Zuko's case it meant his certain death. He was a brash and disrespectful teenager, in a world where any party who felt disrespected could enter a sanctioned fight to the death against ANYONE. He had no fire bending prowess to speak of and could barely beat a middle aged commander, let alone a general. Ozai spared his son from death, burned him which is the minimum requirement meant to shame a person (but is also perceived as a weakness, killing is expected) then sent him on a journey to reclaim his honor, might and right to rule in the eyes of the people by capturing or killing a 100 year old avatar. No small task but in the end if he had been successful, WHO would ever challenge Zuko's right to rule? Who would remember the scrawny boy who anyone in town could beat when he returned a man that slayed a god? And we see exactly that happen in the series. As I explained in the video, Ozai only really had the one option for Zuko to regain the faith and fear in the public eye, the dragons are (believed) to be extinct, and Zuko was too weak to go on Agni Kai campaigns as Ozai had done. Instead his son's punishment was the exact thing he did of his own choosing when he was as at Zuko's age, hunt the avatar. It was never a JUST matter of discipline. That was what Zuko had thought and what he had said but he is a child trying to rationalize a culture he has always been alienated from. and it is because of his alienation from his culture that he is able to become disillusioned and turn his back on the throne in favor of peace. But, anyways... Iroh and Ozai Both present it as disrespect, which again means death battle in their culture...and Zuko would die. That his a certainty. Also, Ozai isn't a hitler allegory. The fire nation is literally imperial Japan. That's what they are written to be. But anyways. Lets look at another culture, to prove my point, throughout you say that Nazis did terrible things, so they are terrible people (true in part). But on a smaller scale, I know of a society where son and daughters, anyone really, will murder their elderly when they get too slow and weak, they will attempt to sneak up on them and get the drop on them, and if they can then murder is fair game. and they will bash them over the head with a rock and leave them behind. Objectively this is bad, some might call it evil. But this IS this their culture. They don't look at death or murder in the same way you or I or any model society do. they believe that they have strengthen their people and the old people expect it of the younger. Hopefully you see the point this time. Culture dictates morality. In the fire nation he did nothing wrong, in fact he was too lenient with Zuko. Anyways, I am on your side in part. He was not a "good" dad, in any context but by the standards of his society. That just wasn't the context of my video, otherwise the video would have been 8 words long. "was fire lord ozai a bad dad? yes." Anyways, I appreciate you taking the time to comment, hopefully I made sense in this response, I didn't proof read, I am on my break at work.

@@tendoentiendo alright thanks for responding i get it now, i actually got it after reading another one of your responses to some other comments but you reiterate here well too so thanks for that.

@@tendoentiendo also i was using the natzis and hitler as an allegory as an example, i watched the full video, i know that's not what they were going for i just used it as an example.

Thank you for your kind words I appreciate your time, glad you enjoyed it.

Not only that, but AFO himself was getting affected by shigaraki

Twice was my favorite character, but I definitely cried more than a grown man should while reading Shigaraki’s end.

@@tendoentiendo yeah....he deserve better

@@tendoentiendo I don't think Shigaraki's soul found peace, because he learned a few minutes before he died that his whole life was a lie...this is so painful he is my fav and I really love him

@@Izumi_sai I think Shigaraki did find peace, or at least was really close, and the finale chapter shows that as Shigaraki was basically smiling in satisfaction to Midoriya because he helped change society for the better and made it so that no one else would endure what he did, so at least Shigaraki died knowing that all he did wasn’t for nothing and that it did mean something.

@@Tsurugi-cm1vf yes Shigaraki became free because he got rid of all for one but he didn't find peace, even if he smiles, even a person who is in pain smiles, so in my opinion Shigaraki didn't find peace because the man he called sensei for years ruined his life, I know he already hated him but he didn't know that he was the one who ruined his life

thank you! took a lot of work, glad it turned out okay

Honestly wasn’t sure who that was, but I looked em up. And from the 2 minutes of research I can conclude that OC would be better than half the supporting cast of class 1-A.

Great analysis champ. By that logic you are a colonizer and your failure to take action to return your land to my people (I am 50% Native American and great grandson of a chief) is allowing the nation to take over the world. Not my best example, I’m drinking, but I think you see my point. You are not your government nor your society. You as an individual could take action sure, but there will be consequences because other people have their own minds and own bodies. Granted your consequences would be on a smaller scale than this fictional character but they’d be more or less the same. You would be ostracized by your friends people would look down on you as a fool who would rather make moral gestures that cost the people around you EVERYTHING THEY HAVE than make sensible decisions for your people and your lineage. Ozai is part of a lineage that disarmed his people out of fear of what they are left unchecked (the royal family 200 years before sozin deliberately took lightning bending away from the commoners). The fire nation was lawless group of savages that were self serving and only respected power. So their government became the most powerful. If Ozai suddenly changed his course or jumped ship from a vessel that had 300 years of ultranationalist indoctrination he would have been deposed via a coup. They would have seen his sudden softness as weakness and the generals would have pounced on the opportunity. Every firelord was aware of this nature of their people. Not to mention Ozai himself was indoctrinated, he saw his brothers grieving as weakness unfit for the throne and so did his people. They are a hard and cold for a people that ironically bend fire (symbolism your welcome that’s a freebie). I never argued he was a good person, or that world domination was a good thing. Just that if you consider Ozai’s perspective and the perspective of his people…iroh included, Ozai was not a BAD dad. If you took anything other than “wow the authors wrote a genuinely layered character, in this story for children” out of this video I made, then it went over your head and no amount of narrative analysis will change your mind. Just eat your crayons and look at the bad man try and burn the world to build a castle on the ashes.

​@@tendoentiendo I'm from New Zealand bro I'm half maori so I am like you 50% native but from New Zealand. Even if I was 100% white that doesn't make me what you said I am. You just judged me because of what I think of Ozai. Please don't do that again. I did not speak any ill of you or the work that you have done creating this video. You ,making those digs at me is also not a good look for you. I promise I wont make any digs at you and I will keep the rest of this comment ATLA related. Anyway, I think Ozai is not a layered character I think he is a very simple character. If his character was more developed it would humanize him and we would see his flaws and may even feel sympathy for him. The creators obviously didn't want that because it would weaken the overall objective of Aang stopping Ozai from taking over the world. Ozai is also not a good father. Uncle Iroh is much more of a father figure to Zuko than Ozai. Giving Zuko a hideous scar permanently across his face is not good parenting. Banishing Zuko and forbidding him to come back to his home is not what good fathers do. I would know I am a father myself. You said that in your video that it was a good thing that Zuko was banished and Zuko even says it himself in one episode. Yes it was in the long run. Zuko was able to find himself, see the world and see the destruction that his own nation has done to the rest of the world. Zuko realizes his true destiny is to help Aang bring balance to the world That was not Ozai's intention at all when he banished Zuko. Ozai also hides the whereabouts of his mother which is another fucked up thing to do. You cant not tell your child where their other parent is for any reason at all. Am I wrong for saying that? Also look at how fucked up Azula is and her twisted mind that she has because of her father's influence. While I do believe that Azula's own choices that she makes throughout the show are her own choice. But her psychotic behavior is definitely influenced by her father. It isn't explicitly shown but I assume Ozai's father, Azulon, was also terrible to him. In Zuko Alone, we see a young Zuko and Azula hiding behind a curtain spying on Ozai and Azulon. It looks as though Azulon may have physically disciplined Ozai for speaking out of turn. This would make sense because later on Ozai would do the same thing to Zuko for speaking out of turn. The physical attack on Ozai obviously wasnt to his face but it may have been to his body possibly. This is just a speculation but it does make sense that Azulon could have been cruel to Ozai and Ozai continued that cycle with Zuko. Ozai attacking Zuko with lightening at the end when Zuko confronts him is also not good parenting. I think maybe what you are trying to say in your video is that Ozai thinks he is being a good father and that his leadership as the fire lord is right? Is that right? If so, then yes, in his mind he is right everything in your video makes sense in the eyes of the firenation. Ozai should win father of the year and Aang should just go back to his iceburg. However, in reality he is completely wrong. Ozai has been corrupted his whole life to believe that the fire nation is the superior nation. Iroh teaches Zuko the importance of each of the 4 nations. There is no one dominant nation. They are all equal and valued equally. Fire lord Ozai wants to destroy the other nations and bring imbalance to the world which will in turn completely destroy the world probably unknowingly to Ozai.

The “colonizer” analogy was supposed to be written as a royal “you” as an indefinite pronoun. But I was too drunk to reread my work and revise. But the point stands. Every member of a nation that colonized could take the initiative to “do the right thing” and yield their stolen lands to the people from whom it was stolen. And all the things I said about “you” would be true. And a lot of what you said was straight up IN the video brother. So I won’t give you an in depth response as I’ve given others. Ozai burning zuko WAS mercy. If he let him duel the general zuko would be dead because that IS their culture. Burning is minimum death is expected. Banishing him was a means of preserving his lineage and giving zuko a path to his birthright. He showed weakness and cowardliness in refusing to fight his father. As I explained, in comment and in video the throne is holding on to a raging bull essentially. Their people broad strokes are brutal and only respect power every politician thinks like the firelord and wants the most power they can attain. If zuko took the throne from an untimely death of his father, his sister would murder him and if not her the coup de tat would. Zuko could not regain his lost honor through Agni Kai, he couldn’t kill a dragon, the only thing left in the world zuko could reasonably do is chase down a 100 year old avatar with one of the most powerful benders in tow. The mother section: zuko was a kind hearted and frail boy born in a position he was unfit for. His people are cold and cruel and zuko actively regresses in the presence of his mother. Zuko could not see his mother or the weakness in him would return. Not to mention Ursa tricked Ozai into thinking he was cuckolded then murdered his father for him he doesn’t want her back she can’t be trusted. I recommend watching the video again, because I genuinely covered all of this. …I won’t apologize for the crayon bit, you gave me a very simplistic take on a complex subject. but in my defense, on my side of the world it was 8pm on a Friday night brother I was drunk when I wrote that.

Also the section of your comment were you say ‘if this then yeah your right’ (paraphrasing) I literally did. It was among the first things out of my mouth. That’s what letting go of our ethnocentric perspective meant in the beginning of the video. Ethnocentrism: evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one's own culture. I said let’s stop doing that and analyze HIS culture to find out what it means to be “the father lord”.

@@tendoentiendo Yeah bro you're right. Ozai is a great father

Totally understand, I wasn’t arguing that he’s a good guy by any standards outside of his nation. Just that he never thought he did anything wrong, and neither did anyone around him. Their culture was one of violence and dominance, and only the people on the outside thought his parenting was unacceptable ourselves included.