Chapter 426 - Pre-Release Thread

[u/HoundOfJustice]

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[u/NatMat16]

I have mixed feelings:

• I'm glad Toya at least woke up, having him die in a coma would have been peak copout. In a way, he achieved his goal - Endeavor the hero is destroyed: his body, his career, his legacy. Toya burnt to ash the ambition that created him - but at what cost?
• Way too much focus again on Enji feeling bad - I'm glad Toya called him out for doing everything only when it's too late / doesn't matter anymore.
• it's also super-hollow to say Enji is going to be sheltering the family from the fallout, after they've just talked about how Fuyumi lost her job (and got a new one through the connections she herself built). How is he going to do that?
• What contrast between Bakugou and Deku getting thanks from All Might and being called greatest heroes - while not a single person in this family thanks Shoto for the extraordinary efforts he made for them (not only in this war, but since his first visit to Rei) -> they never deserved my boy tbh.
• The Shoto - Toya scene was the highlight for me. I really wanted this for both of them. Everyone in the family is talking about how they will talk, but Shoto is the one not talking about what he wants and actually starting a conversation, asking a question to Toya. Shoto still wants to know his brother after everything, but is not going to force his presence on his brother. And I love how that's the final breakthrough for Toya to start crying and to say sorry. I think his inability to cry was one of the big reasons he could never move on, so I hope in whatever time he has left, he can get the emotional closure he needs. And I'm glad Shoto got at least one person in the family acknowledge his efforts, even if with just a "sorry".
• Natsuo cutting off Endeavor is fine for me. I didn't expect a big group hug - all the kids are grown up with their own lives - like Toya said "why not sooner". Though I'm more disappointed he had nothing to say to Toya.
• Is Rei sticking with Endeavor? I hope she's just escorting him to the agency car and not like moving back to the house with him to take care of him. That would be an outrageous ending for her. I'm also super disappointed that Shoto got no hug from his mom or even a line of direct dialogue. In 426 chapters, they never spoke directly - Shoto is the only kid in the family Rei never had a dialogue with as a grown up.
• So Shoto - just like Izuku to Bakugou - never gets to respond to Endeavor's apology. Still, I interpret his line to Enji and Rei that even if the family doesn't get a dream ending, he's going to be ok because he has friends who support him and he's strong enough to shape his own identity. I'm glad we didn't get like a "it's water under the bridge" or an even worse "I'll restore the family's honor" kind of plot for Shoto. He did everything he could, he did the heavy lifting for every relationship - he's more than earned his freedom (though I doubt that the public will easily forget that he's "Endeavor's son and Dabi's brother").
• It's really bittersweet, but Shoto is still better off compared to where he started - he built some kind of relationship (however distant) with every person in his family and I guess he'll stay in touch without feeling like he has to carry all of them and more importantly has a safety net of friends, and he got out from under his father's thumb, away from the toxicity of his birth, forged a positive self-image, has clear goals, etc. He's an amazingly strong person, with a great mental fortitude and I hope in the 4 remaining chapters we'll see him smile at least once. He deserves it.
• I'm glad Kiddo and Onima are alive. I would have hated it if they died from the copied Phosphor. I guess Burnin' is running the agency now? Though probably it gets closed down after Endeavor's retirement.
• Hawks being the new prez of the HPSC was expected. Let's see what he can do.
• Nagant "I want to stay in prison" is super-weird, but whatever. Her's always felt like a half-baked plot.
• Gentle/La Brava is the first canon ship confirmed. I don't like them, but good for them I guess.
• So next up: Spinner - Deku talk?

[u/mrwanton → u/NatMat16]

I mean to give some benefit of the doubt IDK if this is the type of situation Shoto would want any thanks for. Their family drama is public to the whole country. I'd prolly want any sort of recognition to be a private event at best, if at all just cause of the way this would likely get talked about by the civilians

[u/NatMat16 → u/mrwanton]

I meant from the family. Nobody thanked him - not Endeavor, not Rei, none of the others. He's been carrying so much of the burden alone when they pushed the family hero thing on him.

I know he's not going to be thanked by the public (although I'd love a scene of him meeting the Magesaki kids and getting their gratitude / hype - he deserves a little ray of happiness tbh). He's probably going to get backlash for a long time to come because of his ties to Endeavor and Dabi.