My Hero Academia, Chapter 216: Final Results! Class A. vs. Class B.
So, yeah, Midoriya did win against Shinsou, but it's... it's an actually decent end? I am not a huge fan of the main character using asspulled new powers to get a victory against a likable secondary character, and my feeling about that is still pretty much a huge ball of livid irritation, but a week later and it's simmered down a bit. And at the very least, it's this chapter that pretty much saves that whole confrontation. Shinsou realizes that despite his own improvements, the other heroes of Class 1A and 1B are continually bettering themselves and moving forwards, being utterly impressed with their improvement. It's... it's at least some positive character development for Shinsou. I think I would've been fine either way if he became resentful or impressed -- either way would be definitely an interesting direction to take the character in, but I'm kind of glad we went with the happier direction.
We also, interestingly, get the superhero names for the 1B members -- Monoma is "Phantom Thief", ghost-girl Reiko is called "Emily" (???), Yui is called "Rule" and
Anyway, we get the big revelation that Class 1A wins the match between classes, which is... it's honestly whatever for me, because the subsequent characterization talk from Shinsou is far, far more interesting. He quickly realizes that he still lacks strength, and also realizes that this whole thing doubles as a stealth entrance exam for Shinsou's potential transfer into the hero course, something that anyone can honestly tell.
We briefly go over Midoriya's Black Whip powers, with everyone being utterly confused about the sudden new appearance of powers -- and Midoriya tells a bit of a half-lie. He isn't entirely sure what happens, his power overflows, but he ended up being rescued by Uraraka and Shinsou. And then he deflects the question into praise for Uraraka and Shinsou, which is both heartwarming and also a nice, sneaky little thing. Midoriya later on adds about how Shinsou's strategic skills are honestly pretty great, and he's not just leeching off the rest of his team. We get a hilarious bit of "you latched on pretty hard, didn't you" moment where Ashido acts as a Deku/Uraraka shipper. Cute.
Shinsou then talks about how he wasn't acting selflessly when he was helping Uraraka subdue the out-of-control Midoriya, noting that his biggest desire at that point was to fight Midoriya and win at his own merits... and Aizawa fucking strangles Shinsou with those neck-band things. I love the hilarious little lampshade of the other students shouting "violence! PTA!" in the background, noting, that, yes, while this is a joke, teacher abuse to students is not okay. It's a fun little joke. Aizawa notes how no one can grow into an All Might level genius overnight, and everyone improves a little. And basically notes that it's okay to have your own personal desires and whatnot, noting that "you can't help others if you don't have the power to help yourself". Interestingly, we get a flashback of young, student-era Present Mic (which we know is Aizawa's buddy) and... and some other fire-headed dude? I don't think it's Endeavour, but... I dunno. I've always thought Endeavour was a lot older than Mic and Aizawa.
Anyway, that's a fun, nice talk, with the confirmation that Shinsou is allowed to join the hero course in the second year. I do actually like how this was done, how this is a parallel to Midoriya's own entrance into the hero course -- he thought he failed because he lost, but the whole test wasn't about winning, but about how he acts in the test itself. It was nice.
We get a brief little hint of something to come when Monoma does his normal "CLASS 1B ROCKS" rant, noting that he can devise a strategy to counter Midoriya's quirk because it has "that", something that Midoriya finds the phrasing of pretty weird. I've seen people discussing about the weird Monoma/Midoriya segment in the fight, and everyone basically notes that Monoma probably just copied the power-stockpiling aspect of One For All without all the stockpiled power, but honestly, who knows with One For All? Aizawa wants Monoma to come to Eri's place the next day, which is genuinely interesting -- can Monoma actually copy Eri's power and basically use it and become a more effective healer type character? Interesting.
Anyway, this arc was... it was problematic. I'm still not the biggest fan of the whole Midoriya having multiple powers thing, and this arc had too many "and then this fight happened" segments. Probably would flow better in the anime or as a tankobon, and I realize part of it was due to the atrocious pacing due to the shorter chapters. We did get some decent character developments, though, which I like, but I for one am more than ready to move on.
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