Boku no Hero Academia 168 Review: Navel Laser - the Origin

My Hero Academia, Chapter 168: A Collection of Aoyama's Eccentricities

Yeah, if you thought that we'd cover who the traitor is in a relatively low-stakes set of chapters and mini-arc, you really don't know how proper writing works. It's definitely a huge Aoyama spotlight, though, which is definitely something I totally approve of. One of Boku no Hero Academia's biggest strengths is the usage of its secondary and tertiary characters, something that Naruto -- another manga with a similar premise -- failed to do.

We first get Aoyama being creepy and Midoriya realizing that he's being stalked, only for Aoyama to apparently leave cheese outside his window in the writing of "I know",  and Aoyama just tends to act all "tee hee, I know" throughout a small chunk of the chapter. There's a bit of a world-building moment as apparently those minor characters Mt. Lady, Edge-Shot and Kamui are all forming some sort of a superhero team, and everyone else is talking about forming their own teams. Mineta and Kaminari are kind of told to fuck off, which I thought is hilarious. There's also some talk about Uraraka, Ashido and Sero doing some sort of elaborate combo move as part of "Team Rainy Day". Although to be fair -- a portable acid rain generator does sound scary as fuck. 

We get Cementoss teaching the kids to do their own 'super moves', and we get some acknowledgement of Kirishima training to use his Unbreakable form, and Bakugou taunts Midoriya, telling him to train and that there's no excuse for not improving at all in the interim while he did his own test. 

And then Midoriya sees Aoyama, unleashing his extremely phallic navel laser throughout a chunk of rock, then using "Navel Laser Bullet" to shoot lasers out of his shoulders, and then to write "still waters run deep" on the rock. Aoyama then gets a stomachache for doing it too quickly, which causes Midoriya to bring him to the infirmary. Unlike us readers, Midoriya's just asks Aoyama what he means instead of going into conspiracy mode. And it's nothing sinister, as Aoyama just tells Midoriya that he knows that Midoriya's quirk doesn't suit his body...

And Aoyama's the same way. His support belt has been with him as a kid, and his navel laser would leak out otherwise. As much as I resist trying to put in a premature ejaculation joke here, and as much as Aoyama's hamminess gives these scenes a comedic factor to it, it's a pretty vulnerable part of Aoyama's powers that he just admitted to Midoriya, and Aoyama saw someone similar in Midoriya after observing his poor usage of One For All throughout the series, and Aoyama just wants to let Midoriya know that he's supporting him.

And then he shat his pants, because manga.

Overall, though, it's definitely a very good chapter and, while low-key and low-stakes, it is one that really developed Aoyama as a character. It's a simple bit of Aoyama, with his wacky high-strung personality, just wanting to make a friend and telling Midoriya that he understands his struggles, and it's definitely well done. Boku no Hero Academia's biggest strength has been making its side-characters feel very important, and perhaps this chapter is the biggest showcase of that, because even the likes of Kirishima, Bakugou, Ashido and that huge-lipped sugar-rush dude also got to do a fair amount of things in the background. Good stuff.