After the end of Paranormal Liberation War Arc the faith the public had in heroes declined. This was the goal of Dabi. Once he exposed his father, Endeavor, as an abusive man, the image of the number one hero was tarnished. Endeavor’s downfall appears to have resulted in the civilians blaming the heroes for failing to stop the villains. Things are made worst when All For One (in Tomura’s body) breaks criminals out of Tartarus. With the increase in crime and violence in society, the publics fear only increased. In My Hero Academia Chapter 324, ” A Young Woman’s Declaration,” Ochaco Uraraka makes the case for greater sympathy for heroes, specifically Deku.
Everyone is hurting
Looking at the crowd, Ochaco asks the crowd to look at the exhausted Deku. A man in the crowd asks if she wants them to fight too? After decades of All For One beginning the “Symbol of Peace,” society has gotten too comfortable and took heroes for granted. Ochaco makes clear that only the heroes will be expected to exhaust themselves. She pleads with them and admits that she and other heroes can’t provide reassurances for everyone’s safety. She argues when heroes are hurting they need to be protected by the society. The only ones that society expect to make sacrifices are heroes and she wants to the civilians to know they must sacrifice too.
Deku begins to cry. Tenya tells him that she’s “fighting for everyone’s right to smile again.” What is often overlooked in My Hero Academia is the fact that most of citizens have Quirks of some kind. While we couldn’t expect everyone to fight it’s not because they can’t. As Deku collapses he comforted by Kota Izumi and the woman her rescued earlier in the arc. Ochaco has always supported Deku and it’s unsurprising that she’s the one that stands up for him. On page 8 of My Hero Academia Chapter 324, Ochaco flashes back to a moment where she encountered the hero Eel Boy. He was exhausted but still put on a smile for the young Ochaco. Tragically he was killed by Twice during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. It’s a sad reminder of what heroes risk when they fight for society.
I was still hoping Deku would have won that fight earlier but now that they’re together it’ll be nice for him to finally be able to rest and get back up to 100%. Maybe he’ll even get a new uniform to signify a new start as a hero.
He’s going to need a new uniform. LOL. So far I feel My Hero Academia was challenging the expectations of Shonen series. I hope they will do that regarding the “hero goes at it alone” trope. I believe the heroes must work together to win.