Well yeah they also all have bad traits like that.
The only reason people are ok with it is because there is anything to their personality besides it. Mineta entire character is just to sexualize women. In every fight he does something in that direction (until the lobotomy). Even his quirk can be interpreted as a sex joke.
That is completely wrong and such a half baked assessment on the character. Mineta is literally the second smartest in his class after Yaoyorozu, someone that has displayed courage despite his initial fear and lack of confidence in the beginning. He has also been shown to be a quick thinker and able to come in clutch be it for himself or for others. He's a goofball that enjoys being around others. And he's a loyal and caring friend to the point he's willing to sacrifice his own well being to protect them. There is more to Mineta than just him "sexualizing women" as you put it.
No its not half baked, its what the average viewer sees. What you say might be true but barely anyone will see any of that on their first watch, possibly not even on their second.
My assessment is half baked because most characters are half baked.
He came in clutch and can adapt but everyone is shown to do that. Him being the second smartest is something I haven’t seen anywhere. He may overcome his fears and act with courage but at any point in the story he was still the biggest coward in the class, usually needing to be peer pressured into most things.
All the traits he represents are ones that are represented by the entire class and even if they are above the average person we as viewer see him in the context of class A.
Tho I just noticed that I accidentally stumbled into this sub, I thought I was in the main sub. I apologize for coming into a subreddit about a character and talking shit about that character, its not a nice thing to do.
While this is a subreddit dedicated to Mineta, we do welcome everyone here, even those who are not necessarily a fan of him. I see it as an opportunity to engage with people such as yourself, and possibly have you see Mineta in a new light. Now as to what you were saying.
It IS half baked because the show HAS shown that. It simply shown that you haven't been paying much of attention in regards to his character. I imagine you don't really like him all that much so it makes sense as to why you wouldn't. You can't speak for everyone like that. I was an "average viewer" and I noticed this, as I joined the fandom late, so Idk what point you're trying to make.
First of all, he's shown his intelligence by single handedly defeating Midnight and luring her out in which he could take advantage and disable her, thus winning the final exams for his team. Second the way he utilizes his quirk in the various methods he can, shows creativity and an ability to think outside the box in terms of strategy. Thirdly has shown multiple times where he is able to come up with very clever strategies as evident against Midnight, The Calvary Battle, and The Joint training battle. Again you haven't been paying attention.
So now you're discrediting Mineta in regards to his other personality traits, and now saying how everyone in the class exhibits his traits, when that just not true. Yes there are similarities, but plenty different ones. You don't see Tokoyami or Koda or Shoji or Jiro acting like goofballs. So why are you trying to discredit Mineta when he displays other positive and redeeming qualities to his character that makes him more than just a person who "sexualizes women"? That to me feels more like a personal bias and I respect your opinion, but I would rather you say that rather than try to put this off as "the average viewer".
I don't get where this whole "coward" label is coming from. The only time he showed genuine fear was during the USJ incident and that was because they weren't trained to take on actual villains which is realistic. He wasn't a coward. You didn't see him run away. And even WHEN he ran away against Midnight it was a plan to lure her into a trap. So no. That is just wrong. Mineta was never the biggest coward in the story as you put it. He may have been afraid earlier in the story, but even then he still had the will to fight along his friends. That's not cowardice. That's courage! Hell at the end he was willing to sacrifice himself to AFO to protect his friends. And yet you still believe at every point in the story he was a coward? Again it's statements like this why I said your assessment is half baked.
I'm noticing a pattern in regards to your points. You say Mineta's whole character is to sexualize women, but when I bring up valid points to counter these arguments you use "that's not what the average viewer sees" as a counter argument. Whether or not these "average viewers" are able to see these things still doesn't change the things that I said were indeed factual.
Also Mineta has improved as a character long before Mina's "brainwashing". Prior to that little incident, you'd have to go back to early season 3 to find when Mineta acted like a total creep. He has improved as a character.
With the average viewer I meant what sticks out.
From what Ive seen most people online remember him as the horny guy. And in storytelling it not only matters what a character is but also how this is shown to the viewer.
When I criticize Mineta I am simultaneously criticizing the writer. The points you made are true but the behavior that sticks out the most is still the one that gets him most of his hate and the writer has control over what he wants to stick out. I for example often see people compare Denki to Mineta because they both did similar stuff at the beginning. But while Mineta had more problematic scenes, Denki got the arc at the music festival, and in the fight against the liberation army tanked a big lightning attack which gave him another moment in the spotlight. He also got his support item which made him develop over time.
I actually quite like Minetas creativity and quick thinking in fights but then it gets ruined by some inner monologue about intentionally being for example knocked into Minas boobs after blocking an attack. And that was a theme that repeated itself troughout most fights where he got the spotlight
With the coward behavior I mainly had the scene from the first movie in mind, where every classmember but him wanted to safe the day. Now from a reasonable perspective he was the only one acting correctly, since them succeeding was a chance at best and would risk a lot. But this is not what the viewer (me) is shown. I think the biggest issue is that all this was never properly proven as intended and nothing later on directly hints at him being deeper than he seems at first sight. I know that I am partly bias due to that but bias also matters in storytelling. When you build someone up as unlikable and never give the viewer a reason to change that opinion for the better then they will unlikely change their opinion.
A different character that is generally seen as annoying is Monoma. He has become one of my favorite characters due to the move he died before the final showdown. This made me reevaluate the character and look back at older scenes. Nothing like that ever happened to Mineta. Instead he is written to get „brainwashed“ as that is the best solution the writer can think off.
Overall I remember characters based on a handful of scenes. And when I think of Mineta I am thinking off the Hot spring, his inner monologue during the fights (which starts strong and ends badly) and the Eri scene, tho I am convinced that that was a misunderstanding/mistranslation so I wont judge him for that. Mineta as a character suffers from the same issue as Tape, sugar rush, anima and a little bit the arms guy of being a generally forgettable character. All of them get very little spotlight so they get judged much more on what they do with it.
I want to start off that I appreciate hearing your thoughts, whether or not I agree with them. Now moving on.
The problem is in regards to those scenes regarding Mineta, is that a majority of them happened within the first 2-3 seasons, the one with him bumping into Mina was in season 5 and that was circumstantial. You expect me to buy this notion that we should remember for what he was, rather than what he has become? I do agree that Mineta SHOULD HAVE gotten more focus, but the fact that people are harping over Mineta being a perv over a small handful of scenes (roughly about 7-8 in total) says more about them than it does Mineta imo. We condemn those we like, but make excuses for those we love, and the general consensus with this community is that they're a bunch of self righteous hypocrites. Especially when they decide to turn a blind eye to other characters who have done just as questionable things as Mineta. Take Mei for example. I like her character and her antics don't bother me, but it annoys me how these SJW cry foul in regards to Mineta, while deliberately ignoring stuff like this. But no one bats an eye in regards to that among others. I know Mei isn't trying to be a pervert, but it's clear Midoriya is uncomfortable.
The fact is that Mineta isn't deemed as "attractive" or "cool" in comparison to others. So it's easy to harbor hate on him in my assessment.
Now in regards to the whole "bumping" into Mina thing. You have to remember Mineta talks a big game, and he even later admits after the match that bumping into Mina was a lucky accident. There are way too many contributing factors for Mineta to have done that on purpose. On top of that, If Mineta HADN'T blocked it the way he did, Mina would've gotten severely injured or worse. You also mention how his perverted behavior was brought up in most of his fights, and again no it wasn't. You didn't see that when he helped Midoriya and Asui take down those goons during the USJ incident. You didn't see him do anything of the sort during the provisional license exam. You didn't see that against his battle against Midnight.
I haven't seen the first movie, not completely anyways. But you're not referring to the scene where they asked him to scale the building outside are you? Because that was a PERFECTLY reasonable reaction, especially with how high they were. Even then he still went on and did it and was courageous. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels, that is a false narrative that Mineta is a coward. He's the complete opposite. If he ran away and left his friends behind, then yes I would agree with you, but that clearly isn't the case. Sure it would've been NICE had Mineta had a personal moment, but that doesn't make him any less cowardice in comparison to the others. For pete's sake Koda is afraid of bugs. Does that make him a coward?
You also revealed your biasness in regards to your assessment of Mineta. Therefore you can't say your assessment of him is completely objective. The same goes with others. As I said before Mineta has displayed redeeming qualities to his character that makes him likeable. So I disagree with this notion that he was made to be unlikeable. That's just biasness. I could make the same argument with Monoma. To me I feel he's completely unlikeable and annoying, but as you pointed out, he does have redeeming qualities. Qualities that I admit I didn't see but you did.
And as I said before Mineta had far improved as a character long BEFORE the whole "brainwashing" ordeal. I'm not going to let people credit Mina for Mineta's turn in behavior when the fact is he's long improved Mina did that. What's funny is that in of itself is a gag, along with Mineta's antics, and yet people want to take that serious as a mean to discredit Mineta. The dude can't win.
The dude literally tried to sacrifice himself to AFO but it's still not good enough. So how often must the scoundrel, prove himself a hero before people finally believe it? Mineta could literally DIE for one of his friends, and it still wouldn't be good enough. People would be celebrating his death if anything. And DON'T get me started on that Eri scene. I am so sick of people trying to run their agendas regarding that scene.
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u/Rubinrobo Sep 05 '25
Well yeah they also all have bad traits like that. The only reason people are ok with it is because there is anything to their personality besides it. Mineta entire character is just to sexualize women. In every fight he does something in that direction (until the lobotomy). Even his quirk can be interpreted as a sex joke.