Boku no Hero Academia, Chapter 115: Unleashed
Well, when the chapter starts of showing us this reasonably handsome blonde dude with a scar on his forehead thinking to himself that what's important is understanding who you are, and is all introspective and shit about his daily routine,I honestly didn't catch that this is meant to be Twice -- we saw him before exclusively in his very awesome (and expressively silly) mask that drawing him with more serious-looking eyes makes him look so different.
And honestly even with the random black-bordered thinking boxes popping up here and there of Twice disagreeing with himself (it's a lot less hilarious when you actually see Twice's mental struggles with his black-bordered alternate personality, and not 'oh lol what a funny crazy dude') which eventually clued me in.
This is a very masterful chapter, one which combines two great recipes for a chapter. First, a chapter focusing on a minor character -- a minor villainous character at that -- developing and cementing them as a character, giving us their backstory, and at the same time explaining the villains' goals in a more meaningful way. It also allows us to see the society changes even more from a point of view that Midoriya and his ilk won't really get to see.
We get more analyses on the situation via news reports and Twice's own internal monologue(s), noting that Endeavor has taken over All Might's spot as top hero, but he's hardly the inspirational figure that All Might is. Endeavor is a soldier, a fighter, a hero, but not... an inspirational symbol. He's "coarse", as Twice notes, and apparently Moogle search engine shows that Endeavor's often associated with incidents and scariness. He's a very efficient superhero, but he's not a symbol of peace, and the little meta-commentary about how Endevaor is popular among the 20-40 age bracket... which is a commentary, most likely, on how the people on this age bracket are also the most likely to be fan dumb about "hell yeah, Punisher and TDKR!Batman are awesome because he kills people and fucks with morality, all other heroes are pussies who can't get the job done!"
Twice notes how the words 'I am here' and the whole idea of superheroes is a curse which limits people from being themselves, and the lack of All Might allows some villains, like this weird cartoony dude with bondage straps on his head, manages to do by stealing shit. It's not a good argument, because their "oppression" still boils down to "we wanna do crime, but you don't let us so we're oppressed" which is a stupid argument, but Twice's backstory and his analysis of the situation does at least lend a view of insight to some of the motivations involved.
Twice notes that some people just don't know what to do with their quirks as he watches "Team Reservoir Dogs" take out this random gun-handed hero and run away with a cash register. Twice notes how like-minded individuals who just want to hang out with other criminals and work together has grown more and more, but the League of Villains needed something more.
Twice gets called by the broker dude, Giran, who notes that his business has skyrocketed, especially with the dumb amateurs on the street. Twice's multiple-personality disorder really shows as he clutches his head when his other personality tries to butt in all the time. "I'm busy right now!"-"I'm not busy." "Of course I know that."-"I didn't know that!"-"STOP BLABBERING!" The little fights and frustrations that Twice has while arguing with himself is honestly a bit sad.
Twice notes how the dumb punks aren't what the league is looking for, as well as noting that the league is scattered, with different members trying to recruit in their own way. Dabi straight-up burns a bunch of random punks to death with a pretty graphic burnt corpse in that one panel. Dabi's crazy. We see a bit of Magne and Spinner, too.
Twice then gets a bit crazy, and talks about how he's splitting up, before he puts the mask which seems to calm himself down, remaining as one. We then get the origin story of Twice, which shows us that he used to be just a dude with multiplying clone powers... until he cloned a lot of himself and lived as a king. "And then, I hated the fact that I was king, and I tried to kill myself." See, Twice still thinks of his clones as "I" as well, and they all have basically the same personality as the original. And they fought and nearly died, and the Twice that survived now, the lone survivor, isn't sure if he's even the real Twice or not. It's very dark, especially because apparently the fight between the Twices lasted for weeks.
Twice notes how maniacs and crazy people like him have no place to call home, and the people that heroes save are only the virtuous ones. It's a lot more believable and begs more sympathy than Shigaraki's generic anti-establishment 'we are oppressed, because we are evil' speeches. Twice just being trapped in a body that causes him to behave like a freak, constantly in war with a second personality in his head, of course will latch on and be friends with any group that will accept him.
Twice then runs into what's left of the four amateur robbers, with their car completely fucked up and the very nightmare-fuel image of that weird-cartoon-faced dude's head fused graphically, screaming, into a car tire. It's... disturbing, let's leave it at that. They're led by this dude in a suit with a bird mask, Overhaul, and a group of villains who are planning to get rid of 'diseased' people like these rank amateurs that join up together just to rob a Walmart.
Twice looks at this group and goes "what shall I do?" though I bet that Overhaul's group will end up joining the League of Villains.
This just shows how much things have changed on the villain side of things with All Might's death. The brief sight and glimpse into the amateur criminals' life as well as the broker-type character shows how the villains are affected, and not for the worse necessarily.
The final panel has All Might visit All For One in jail... which really should be a dramatic moment to cap off a very awesome chapter focusing on Twice. Except I can't stop laughing because All Might is wearing his superhero costume and he looks like a kid trying his daddy's clothes. They look so baggy and not at all fitting!
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