My Hero Academia 8x4 Reaction Extended (YT link below)
Added 2025-11-11 02:00:11 +0000 UTCIn MHA 8x4, Quirk: Explosion!!, All for One discovers he was the real extra. Nerd!
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And now going way out there, this now has me thinking about some sort of "return to the source" craving thing from other anime. The painful separation of individual identify
Alex G
2025-11-13 02:49:27 +0000 UTCWell said, nothing to add, really. I never would have predicted this outcome, Bakugou beating AfO to clear Deku's way, def not early on, never until it happened either, but it was perfect! I always wondered if All Might would take him on again, since it was always framed as Deku-Shigaraki and All Might-AfO, and maybe Deku and Bakugou joining forces against Shigaraki, or maybe AfO succeeding in taking over Shigaraki and then it would become Deku's inherited fight, but this was so much better. I love that, just like S1, we're back to the triad of All Might, Deku and Bakugou being the main characters now, that's nice mirroring. AfO as a character...I think it's vague enough that you can read into it what you want. Taking it at face value works, that just makes him a contrast to Shigaraki, who we know has more going on, but he's also clearly enough of an unreliable narrator that it's easy to come to your own conclusions regardless of the ultimate evil he projects. Personally, I get the impression he saw Yoichi as an extension/part(?) of himself, maybe the twins thing played into that? I suppose there's a metaphor there for AfO struggling with his different instincts, or something? One was just so big it totally eclipsed the other, but the other one was just big enough he could never get rid of it completely, idk, while I wonder about it all sometimes, I actually prefer to just view him as pure evil. I was moreso stuck on the Anime making it look like Yoichi got broken out and then immediately killed, which didn't align with my memories and the deeper bond him and Kudo seem to share. That confused me, glad that one commenter mentioned the real time frame. Great catch that Shigaraki was essentially a Yoichi do-over, I had never thought about it that way before. Him trying to merge with Shigaraki seems to support my "part of me" reading, interesting...
kingafreund
2025-11-13 01:49:46 +0000 UTCWe started in Tatooine and now we're at the end of the prequels... We're right on schedule
Alex G
2025-11-12 00:44:45 +0000 UTCThat's really cool, thanks for pointing that out. I'm not so musically inclined so I don't pick up on the references or know exactly why, but I can feel that the music this season has been unbelievable
Alex G
2025-11-12 00:43:59 +0000 UTCThat about sums it up :D
Alex G
2025-11-12 00:42:51 +0000 UTCIt's amazing to me that this started at least as early as season 2.
Alex G
2025-11-12 00:42:42 +0000 UTC17:30. Great moment for a star wars quote: "I killed them. I killed them all. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I hate them!"
Sale
2025-11-11 21:02:10 +0000 UTC"Nuclear Baby Vs Coughing Bomb" is still the best description fpr this fight
Mr. Fur
2025-11-11 11:00:55 +0000 UTCEveryone’s already touched on most of the stuff I would’ve talked about, and much more eloquently than I’d have done. So like in other episodes I’ll bring some attention to the music. At around 23:30, right when Bakugo is about to hit em with his last big blast, the music switches to a variation of All Might’s theme, a new variation I believe too, on top of the one we got during Armored All Might last season. I always like to focus on the music in anime, as it's one of the few aspects that is truly unique between anime and manga. It’s basically the only thing that you have to make with no direct inspiration. VA is a close second in this regard, as there is a lot you can interpret from how the dialogue is written. But man, as a chronic listener to anime osts, and having read the manga beforehand, hearing All Might’s theme play during that moment is what got me to cry. I like to think the Baguko personally willed it during that moment.
Oak
2025-11-11 08:38:57 +0000 UTCthis show is just so good i have nothing intelligent to say
tanasia (bakuGOAT)
2025-11-11 06:10:20 +0000 UTCEdit: 5 mins later Alex went on this rant anyway but oh well lol Yeah i mean in the bakugo vs afo thing, It may be a stretch but in a way afo kinda represents what bakugo could have become; thinking yourself superior, seeing others only as pawns or background characters, "I can do everything myself", massive paranoia, etc. I mean afo flat out called bakugo an extra. Lol. Just really thorough writing I think. Afo is a stark contrast to bakugos character after all the development that hes had, so I just like that Horikoshi put them up against each other.
Kacchan BakuGOAT
2025-11-11 05:23:27 +0000 UTCThe more I think about it the more I think that's the point of no return, and maybe even the true start of his evil as a person. Everyone is basically at the whims of their early circumstances early on... It's when you start having a certain degree of power that you get to a significant place on the "able to make decisions" scale. Him killing his brother was the end of any sort of ability to make the harder decisions or alter paths, like Bakugo did
Alex G
2025-11-11 05:13:46 +0000 UTCLast week I was watching something from season 2 and Bakugo said something about extras and my jaw dropped 😂
Alex G
2025-11-11 05:11:07 +0000 UTCReally appreciate that All For One is obsessed with this idea that everyone who doesn't hold One For All are a bunch of "Extras" and yet he is defeated by the "riffraff" before he event gets IN SIGHT of Deku. Also the wording is interesting because having this idea of "extras" was something Bakugo had to overcome as a big point of character development. He didn't have respect for those around him at first because he saw their quirks as meaningless compared to his own just like All For One. The difference is that Bakugo got over it (within the span of his first year of high school no less) but All For One spent at least a century learning absolutely nothing LOL. It's perfect. So many parallels in this show, like genuinely too many to ever keep track of, it just never ends with this Horikoshi guy and his parallels (I love it)
Miguel
2025-11-11 05:09:34 +0000 UTCOh yeah that works perfectly 😂 I'm trying to force this idea into place when maybe it doesn't actually fit, but I think there's also something like... - it's not about who has the most but who has the ... ? .... (the different value sets between the two sides) - AFO's powers are numerous but also individualistic. Bakugo's is singular but with everyone behind him
Alex G
2025-11-11 04:52:11 +0000 UTCI'm trying to figure that out. I think he was panicking, much like this episode. It looks accidental but he also says something like "well then you've left me no choice." He might have been in 2 places at once, attacking him while also really just wanting him to turn around (relatable actually)
Alex G
2025-11-11 04:48:54 +0000 UTCafo was definitely surprised! i don’t think he meant to kill him at all …
tanasia (bakuGOAT)
2025-11-11 04:29:54 +0000 UTCAFO’s mindset is so warped & he’s such an unreliable narrator of his own feelings. He’d have you believe the “Demon Lord” persona is the real him but it’s just a cover. The fact he started life literally having to drag himself to breastfeed from his mother & then growing up as a hunted orphan shows where it started. He had to take everything to survive because nothing was given to him from day one. On top of that, he had a little brother he had to drag along & help survive as well. In my eyes, Yoichi couldn’t provide for AFO because he was weaker, but what he did give him was attention & acknowledgement. The fact AFO keeps repeating “look at me!” & becomes so desperate at the thought of Yoichi leaving him shows a pathological need for Yoichi’s attachment as a basis for himself. It’s literally been 100 years & he’s still trying to get his brother back. The detail that his eyes don’t reflect anything shows he can’t see beyond himself & Yoichi is part of that as well. Then there’s the comic book angle - wanting to be the demon lord that everyone submits to (basically affirmed by the whole world), his jealousy of the Glowing Baby for getting recognition, & last season he mentioned he stopped reading the comics because he knew how the story would end, then here he say he just wants everyone to look at him forever & is willing to deny people their futures because negative experiences stick with people longer. It’s all about affirming himself using the attention of others, one way or another, particularly Yoichi. Such a distorted world view to hold for 100+ years. It really feels like he just stopped growing or evolving after Yoichi’s death, like he really is unable to function without that influence & has become stagnant.
Kaiser
2025-11-11 04:20:47 +0000 UTCIt's a bit of an obvious observation pointed out in the show, but I really liked the AFO/Bakugo clash in terms of their overall approach to quirks. AFO sees them as both collectable and disposable, and will just cycle through whatever he needs for any given moment; Bakugo, through sheer hard work and determination, has achieved a level of mastery of his single quirk that outshines AFO. This is even more clear in him using literally every quirk at the end in desperation. How does that old quote go? "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times".
MisterRathrion
2025-11-11 04:15:36 +0000 UTCHe had one of the hardest journeys, which is pretty amazing to think about given how talented he's always been. But I guess that's part of the point.
Alex G
2025-11-11 03:48:46 +0000 UTCI've only caught up through the beginning of season 2 so not much has come up yet that's that different. In fact it's a little surprising in maybe even a disappointing way how little has changed 😂
Alex G
2025-11-11 03:47:37 +0000 UTC"I couldn't have done this, without everyone else's help" I knew bakugo had potential after his first loss to deku in s1, and had been rooting for that insecure, scared kid to push through and bloom into a mature and developed young adult. And I'm so glad I did. Look at my boy. He's made me so proud. The growth from him is just immaculate. He's not just my favorite character in my hero, but in any anime I've watched.
Kacchan BakuGOAT
2025-11-11 03:13:41 +0000 UTCYo what a Baguko W, its so great seeing him be this happy despite the stakes. He has grown so much since the early seasons. I will admit i did not like him at first, thought he was selfish, arrogant and wont even lie i thought he mightve even become a villain later xD Even after we got his reasonings for disliking Deku i still didnt really get it, it wasnt until class 1A went to rescue deku and bakugo apologized when i finally started to cheer for him and man when he fought Shikaragi despite him losing was the best when i saw that for the first time. Love Bakugo now tho, he won the most popular mha charachter award back then, never understood why (this was when he was a jerk) but now its totally deserved, he is funny, strong and hilarious xD Interesting you went back to watch your old reactions to mha tho, can i ask while watching your old reactions has your opinions changed at all since then? I sometimes go back and watch ur old reactions aswell so i do remember some stuff. I do remember you mentioning misjudging bakugo by episode 2 idk wat it was exactly maybe his humor gave him the passing grade for u? xD Glad Bakugo can sit at being one of my favorites now tho, well deserved gg Bakugo he is no extra!!
Snor
2025-11-11 02:34:16 +0000 UTCyeah last season he took hawks quirk so that is his quirk factor talking to him
Mjw
2025-11-11 02:21:55 +0000 UTCI think it's possible. As for the judgement of "is he just evil from birth?", my answer would be no. Rather it's more like there are probably genetic or present-from-birth propensities that make it more likely for someone to exhibit certain behaviors, especially when young. Things like aggression for example. But thankfully we're not only our base stats and instincts. We also have the ability to shape ourselves and always have the final say in decisions. So I think there was a path for him, but it would have been too difficult. Maybe his killing of Yoichi was the point of no return
Alex G
2025-11-11 02:20:22 +0000 UTCIt was worth it (for me)
Alex G
2025-11-11 02:17:00 +0000 UTCWow that's all great to know. I've been hoping for this kind of look for so long. Didn't expect all of this AND his demise and Bakugo's ascent in the same episode 😂 I do think that in his way he did love his brother. I don't fully buy the "possession" angle. I think that's more a function of him not being able to access or understand that layer of "goodness" well enough to articulate it
Alex G
2025-11-11 02:16:37 +0000 UTCWas curious to know your thoughts about this, since this season is all about the epitome of the shows themes AFO was a horrible person but I really think he is the toga scenario on steroids. Toga just wanted to drink blood and was forced to mask until she broke. Since it’s been a theme of “how does your quirk effect you as a person” I wonder if like togas want to drink blood, if AFO (the quirk) predisposed AFO (the person) to want to take quirks, combine with a nasty combo of no parents, a mom who drank with them in the womb, and growing up during a time so chaotic the only thing that compares is the current war. Just like toga, I wonder if they could’ve been helped if they grew up with kinder parents in a kinder society
Lyrical Kell of Music
2025-11-11 02:12:19 +0000 UTCClifford Chapin (English VA for Bakugo) said that he apparently nearly fainted 5 times and pulled an eye muscle from recording his performance for this episode lol
Jake White
2025-11-11 02:03:20 +0000 UTCWhen these chapters dropped in the manga it was quite the shock, some had hoped we would get AfO’s backstory so it was surreal to finally get it. Revealing that he and his brothers were among the first quirk users in existence, and that the glowing baby was merely the first one to be recorded. This backstory not only gave a lot of lore to MHA’s history but it also added some much needed layers to AfO. He didn’t want OfA truly, he simply wanted his brother back. Getting OfA was simply an evolution of that goal. Now, some of the narration that gave details didn’t make it into the episode; their mother was a prostitute and apparently didn’t even know she was pregnant for most of the term due to her life style. She died giving birth to the twins by the river and when rats came in to gnaw on the bodies, the river swept them away(the rat aspect was a clear reference to the theory that Quirks were a disease spread by them, which was also cut from the anime in season 4). Another detail that wasn’t evident due to how the anime portrayed it, Yoichi had been with the resistance group for a few months before AfO killed him. Additional information was also given via the final fanbook released a few months after the manga’s conclusion. AfO’s real name was Zen Shigaraki. The kanji for Zen means “all”. Which is fitting. All For One came up with his last name after hearing a story about the "Shigaraki Tanuki", a prostitute working in a redlight district who resembled the animal due to her body shape from her ongoing pregnancy and the fact that she always stood completely still waiting for customers. Because of this, passerbys described her as a shigaraki yaki tanuki (信楽焼,, shigaraki yaki tanuki?), a pottery statue made to look like the namesake animal, and she would later be found dead by a river. All For One grew fond of the story from how monster-like the woman's description and treatment was, which motivated him to make it part of his full name, though spelled with different kanji. Ironically, his birth mother was the prostitute who matched this description, unbeknownst to him. AfO’s relationship with his brother seems to be heavily based off of Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology. Some people felt there’s also an emotional incest aspect to their relationship, or at least analogous to it. There is a lot of debate about the nature vs nurture of AfO’s origin. About whether he was truly born evil or not.
Matthew Richson
2025-11-11 02:02:48 +0000 UTC
