Incoherent rambling: MHA: Two Heroes & Heroes: Rising

[autumninpluto]

I watched the first two MHA movies (Two Heroes and Heroes Rising) for the first time over the weekend! Blabbing about my thoughts here. Will, of course, contain spoilers for both movies and for seasons 1-5. This is REEEEALLY long, you have been warned!! This also talks about some ships like Bakudeku and DaveMight a bit extensively.

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My Hero Academia: Two Heroes

• OH MY GOD WAIT SO THIS IS WHERE THE STAR AND STRIPE BACKSTORY HAPPENED—
  • My partner said he already watched this before but he gasped the same time as I did when we realized, wait a fucking minute, is that Cathleen Bate as a kid?!
• Not even 10 minutes in, I'm already a DaveMight convert. [im_a_believer_smash_mouth.mp3]
  • I vagueposted my mutual who's into DaveMight on Bluesky and it actually summoned him. Okay, fine, I knew he's usually online around that time, but still. Love that mutual of mine, they keep on getting me into old man yaoi. (though DaveMight at the start of the movie was not old man yaoi)
  • Dave tried to dissuade All Might from helping with another case because they were gonna be late, but All Might just LOOKED AT HIM and he gave in. He is WHIPPED, your honor!!!
  • Audio: My shinyuu— / Subtitles: My friend—
  • Me: UM that's CLOSE friend. BEST friend. Stop this erasure /hj
  • (I think this was All Might referring to Dave to Deku. Or maybe the other way around)
• The way the 1-A students just keep on popping up one after the other... why is everyone and their mom on this island?
  • Like!!! Some of them didn't even do anything for the plot but they were just shown to be there!!!
  • Sero and Satou having a fucking diner date? Fanservice. (affectionate) I will never complain about more Sero screentime. He's my sleeper blorbo.
  • No seriously I had to run to Google after the movie because they never fully explained why everyone else was there. I feel very dumb lol
• The boys bickering over beating each other's time record + the girls' secondhand embarrassment. Ah yes.
• The writers like their KiriBaku, I see. And their TodoMomo and KamiJiro. I also felt the slight nudge towards DekuMeli, lol. Need to take off my shipping goggles.
  • I was gonna say "is this the most het MHA movie?" and then I remembered, wait, no this birthed DaveMight.
• More on DaveMight:
  • My DaveMight oomf was like "They made them gay but had to show that he had a wife once, just so he's not too gay." Which is true. Because they show his wife in framed photos in the background of Melissa's lab, but they never, NEVER speak of her at all.
  • I just assumed she died while Melissa was young. But yeah, lolwut.
  • Anyway, I'm a SasuNaru shipper. Do you think one of them being married ever stopped me? /j
• Full Gauntlet and the final boss battle
  • Melissa: It can take the power of Uncle Might's punch up to three times!
  • Me: (counting the number of Detroit Smashes Deku has done so far)
  • Laughing at the concept of Deku conveniently taking Full Gauntlet to the fight because he didn't know how to take it off, by the way.
  • Tfw All Might punches through the helicopter to retrieve Dave, and the helicopter explodes. That's straight-up murder, bro. (well, that would have killed a normal person but this guy's a shounen villain after all)
  • All Might and Deku doing the double Detroit Smash was so cool btw. Aaand it's also the first time I realized All Might's left-handed. You think I'd have that figured out by which hand he lifted up in the air during the Kamino incident, but noooo.
  • Dave, to Toshinori, after the battle: I was scared of losing your light...
  • Bro, if that ain't the gayest thing I've ever heard... (affectionate) Very specifically, the line was: 「…私は君という光を失うのが、築き上げた平和が崩れていくのが怖かった watashi wa kimi to iu hikari wo ushinau no ga, kizukiageta heiwa ga kuzureteiku no ga kowakatta」(I was scared of losing your light, that the peace you built will crumble.) I specifically point to the phrase「君という光 kimi to iu hikari」meaning "the light that is you" or "the light called 'you'". I feel it's a bit more symbolic than just "your light" as it conveys a meaning closer to "you are the light". Aughhhh I'm turning into dust. (cries of anguish)
  • I just can't! stand it! when characters make! references! to the light/sun! when they describe! people! they love!!!! It's my WEAKNESS, you HAVE to understand. Case in point: MiriTama, Killugon, ShuAnn...
• Overall:
  • The art/animation style is very "old MHA-core" <3 It's not my fave but it does have its own charm, like, it's just nostalgic, y'know. Once you get to compare it to later seasons/movies.
  • The plot was fine, I just had a hard time suspending my disbelief over how everyone just happened to be there, even those who weren't actually doing any fighting, lol.
  • I loved Melissa's character, wish we got to see more of her in the main series!!!
  • Cute watch, not giving it a numerical rating. Probably wouldn't recommend watching it in the middle of the series though (as though you're watching it in release/chronological order) because it can kinda... throw some people off. Just my opinion, anyway!

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My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising

• LoV in the opening scene
  • I didn't immediately recognize where this movie fit in the timeline, and got so confused how all of the LoV members in the opening scene were Twice clones. Apparently, this happened after the villain arc, so Twice's Quirk had already awakened and he could make more than 2 clones at a time. Damn.
  • COMPRESS!!!
• 1-A on the island
  • The 1-A kids answering phone calls from various villagers, call that My Customer Service Academia.
    
  • Following Hori's love for Star Wars, the movie's setting is in Nabu Island, a.k.a. Naboo in SW, Queen Amidala's home planet. I love these Easter eggs!
  • Did they ever say whether 1-B was also sent somewhere? I stand for 1-B rights okay they need their own island paradise thing too lmfao
  • WHYYYY did they not bring at least one teacher. It would be just so easy to have a teacher come along and supervise but never lift a finger on principle so they can do the training by themselves. What were they thinking.
  • However, from a story standpoint, there would of course be no plot if there was a teacher present lmao. They would never have just stood by and let the kids handle the fighting themselves.
  • Bakugo lazing around is so funny. I was like, "oh man they should not let him eat the dinner the villagers gave them, he didn't do jackshit today" but they did make him do night patrol so I guess he can have dinner with everyone!
• Mahoro and Katsuma... the blessings this movie gave us...
  • Admittedly, I've seen them before in a fluffy BKDK doujin, so lmao. I did not know they were 1000 times more adorable in canon.
  • I can't be mad at Mahoro; she's hilarious. Yes girl, terrorize Deku more for being late, AND piss Bakugo off by pranking him!!
  • Katsuma is the most precious being on earth, we must protect him!! Look at this precious bean!!
  • I could not stop thinking about how Mahoro's name alludes to her own Quirk of making illusions, which are called "maboroshi" 「幻」in Japanese; her Quirk is "Hologram" which is also reflected in her name, Mahoro. Two-way word play right there.
  • And the last name is Shimano「島乃」which can be read as "island's / of the island" (possessive), so her name's like... "illusion of the island."
  • Katsuma's name doesn't have as much wordplay crammed into it as hers, lol.
  • Katsuma's favorite being Edgeshot felt so random but that's fine because the pin looked so damn cool anyway that I wanted it for myself irl.
• Shipping goggles are on again:
  • Love how my friend was like, "SIMMY I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE NEVER WATCHED HEROES RISING THAT'S LIKE, A LOVE LETTER TO BKDKS AROUND THE WORLD." Man, yeah, why didn't I watch this sooner??? What am I, stupid??? 😭
  • This time, it's more IidaMomo...! [marge_simpson_i_just_think_theyre_neat.jpeg] I love their dynamic even though their roles are pretty similar lol.
  • Hagakure and Aoyama!!! <3
• The villains: Nine, Slice, Mummy, and Chimera
  • Very minimalist names, can pass off as DW usernames. The one-word noun aesthetic.
  • Nine's motivations greatly reminded me of the RPG Metaphor Refantazio. The idea of a "utopia" where the strong prevail is a common motivation. 
  • Slice's Quirk is genuinely terrifying, and I love it. However, having your Quirk factor in your hair can be troublesome given how it's relatively easier to lose it compared to a limb (this is ironic considering the number of limbs lost in MHA. Do we have a tally?)
• Bakugo listening in on Deku and Katsuma's conversation...! Aghhhhhhh he's so focused on it that his ice popsicle falls apart.
• The first battle
  • Bakugo has such shitty luck, like he NEEDS to keep on getting nerfed because he's too powerful. Gets kidnapped by the LoV, gets turned into a meat lump, gets turned into a mummy, the list goes on.
  • Nine: I can't steal [Deku's Quirk]... I have no storage space
  • Me: He needs to pay an annual subscription for more cloud storage
  • Deku why the fuck are you just blasting frontal attacks at him knowing he can block everything.
  • See, Bakugo gets it, because he actually tries to maneuver towards Nine's uncovered spots. (Still fails though)
  • I laughed when Deku said Katsuma's cell activation Quirk "even has a doping effect!" Man's drugged up... 😭
• The second battle
  • I love the plan they cooked up, honestly. Like, even if it didn't succeed (because plot.) Aoyama is so badass, and the Ochaco + Sero + Mineta combo was honestly so freaking smart, improving upon Ochaco's initial strategy of floating and then releasing rocks in her battle against Bakugo in the Sports Festival.
  • Tokoyami + Ashido vs. Slice... surprised that there were only two of them in the cave, but it would have been more dangerous if there were more of them inside when the cave collapsed.
  • Slice looks good with a bob cut.
  • Iida + Shouto + Kirishima + Tsuyu vs. Chimera was really cool, too. Shoving his whole ice hand into his mouth and freezing him from the inside? Again, that's just straight up murder. (/j) Love him for that.
  • Shoji was so badass, he did everything in his power to safeguard those kids!!
  • The effects look so good in an almost uncanny way sometimes; like... those fire tornados? They're not CGI anymore, I think y'all just slapped on real fire tornados into the movie. What the fuck. Watching this on the big screen must have been An Experience™.
  • The. The fucking scene when Deku transfers All For One to Bakugo. The fucking. Wound-to-wound action. This is how you get an infection. (/j)
  • I love how he just understood Deku's plan/intention immediately. No explanation needed. Ouffggghh. Bakugo screaming Detroit Smash was so cool. By the way, this + the All Might + Deku Double Detroit Smash from the first movie sent me into a mini-rabbit hole trying to find out whether Bakugo is a lefty because he also punches with his left here, same as All Might. I think he's ambidextrous, which is yet another point added to his "cool factor."
  • This is getting into nerd territory, but I also noticed he breaks his right arm half-off screen reason at around the 1h30m10s mark. His right arm was still fine, he fires an explosion to propel himself, and then another explosion into the camera. The explosion obscures the screen for a bit, then in the next frame his right arm is now broken. It's not shown how this particular explosion was strong enough to break his arm in recoil. But having him break both arms was cool AND funny because he complains about it later, because he hardly gets injured on the same level or frequency as Deku at this point in the story.
  • When the movie released, the manga was obviously still ongoing and had gone way past this time in the canon universe, but I wonder how people felt hearing Deku say goodbye and thank you to All For One as if he'll never get it back again. Lmaooo
  • THE SAD MUSIC PLAYING WAS NOT HELPING BY THE WAY
• The aftermath
  • Hawks finally makes it to the island and he's like, "I brought someone else with me" and then the camera pans to All Might, and I was like, "REALLY, HAWKS? Functionally Quirkless Toshinori???" Lmao I was expecting it to be Aizawa
  • Anyway that's fine because we get a super emotional scene with Deku and All Might. Shit, that broke my heart, Deku felt so sorry he went and lost All For One, as though he threw away the gift All Might gave him. He sounded so heartbroken!!! Even though he said it himself: if it's Bakugo, he's sure All Might wouldn't mind.
  • All Might: "OFA created a miracle..." / Me: "You mean, like a baby?" (/shot)
  • Shigaraki decaying Nine after the exchange "There can only be one ruler..." "Yes... there can only be one." went SO FUCKING HARD. Basically told him to become fertilizer (/j). I think I appreciate him here more now after having seen the whole show as opposed to if I watched this movie upon release, but WOW. I love the visuals of the entire scene; morbidity on a bed of flowers under a clear, blue sky.
• Super My Hero Academia 2: Goodbye Nabu (Island)
  • Bakugo's out here trying to look like he's the biggest idgafer but he does give a fuck. He really does!!! He's like "Aren't you gonna say goodbye?" YOU FUCKING SOFTIE I HATE YOUUU 😭
  • I fucking cried over the exchange between Katsuma and Deku. Again, I will never stop getting emotional over the many different ways this show displays heroism. Deku is Katsuma's hero!!! He has the biggest fucking smile on his face after Deku says, "You can become a hero!" Omg. Take me out the back and just shoot me. I can't take this anymore.
  • Mahoro being attached to Bakugo is adorable as shit!! Both of them have no siblings so I just love the sibling dynamic they have with each of the two kids uerghdfgfhg
• Overall
  
  • The animation is so so so beautiful, like what did I do to deserve this blessing unto my eyeballs kind of beautiful. Though some of the 3D/CGI used in Nine's Quirks were pretty uncanny lol.
  • I'm obsessed about Bakugo's character development here. I love how this really does make sense timeline-wise and the writers made sure of it since it happens after Deku and Bakugo's slugfest in Ground Beta, and Bakugo's a little softer round the edges as a result.
  • SPEAKING OF THE SLUGFEST IN GROUND BETA which All Might had to break up, I realized this is also where the "save to win / win to save" parallel came from and it's something they kept on repeating in the movie. I am CRUSHED. CRUSHEDDDD. They have both gone a long way!!!! (But also Bakugo is like "eughhh you made me fight alongside Dekuuu gross" which elicited a chuckle out of me, because... really? That's what you're concerned about??? 😭)
  • I also love how 1-A is way more involved here compared to the first movie, and how their screentime is more evenly distributed. (Taking Bakugo and Deku's screentime out of the equation of course lmao)
  • 100/10, yes I'm biased as fuck. There were many times when my eyes would just be fixated on the screen because the fighting was so intense and the stakes were HIGH. Hhhh how do we ever top this, y'all?

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If you made it this far, thanks, and I'm sorry I put you through that. LMAO But no, really, I appreciate anyone who reads this omg. 2.7k words of blabbing!!! I'll be watching the last 2 movies next weekend maybe hehehe. 💞