My Hero Academia is Failing at Making Its Worst Hero Likable
Warning! Spoilers ahead for My Hero Academia chapter 349!
Just when My Hero Academia began portraying Endeavor as a man trying to make up for the many sins he'd committed against his family, mangaka Kohei Horikoshi had to make the difficult choice of depicting the number-one hero as a terrible person once more. This was likely done for the sake of building anticipation for the long-awaited battle between him and his long-lost son Toya Todoroki - now known as Dabi. Although the latest chapter tries to explain away many of the concerns fans had, these attempts aren't necessarily working.
In chapter 349, readers discover that Shoto Todoroki isn't battling his older and much more experienced brother alone as originally believed. Endeavor doesn't allow his son Shoto to clean up his mess with Dabi by himself. Instead, Endeavor and all Might assign Endeavor's two sidekicks and a few of Shoto's classmates to battle the villain alongside Shoto. But Dabi and Shoto's flames are much too hot for anyone to help out - including Endeavor's sidekicks, pretty much meaning that Shoto is going to battle his brother alone. Additionally, when Dabi accuses Endeavor of setting up this whole sorry arrangement, My Hero Academia tries to explain the situation by having Shoto say that he's not there because anyone ordered him to, but because he wants to stop Dabi.
But this doesn't make sense either because Endeavor could and should have said "no" to Shoto. Even though Shoto might be a capable hero, Endeavor should have taken the initiative by cleaning up his own mess rather than allowing his other son to do the honors. Of course, it makes sense that Endeavor is the one who must battle All For One because he's the number-one hero, but he and most every other hero out there is undoubtedly aware of how negatively the public views Endeavor's sins against his family. Even if he defeats All For One, the public perception of him will plummet if word gets out of how he essentially allowed his third son to battle against his eldest child when he's the reason why they are fighting the first place. And as recent chapters have proven, the success and strength of heroes like Endeavor are almost entirely predicated on the public they serve and protect.
Although this makes Endeavor look bad, it's clear why mangaka Kohei Horikoshi decided to have Shoto face off against Dabi first and not Endeavor. The altercation between Shoto and Dabi might be fascinating to readers, but it doesn't hold a candle to the confrontation that fans really want: Endeavor vs. Dabi. As alluded earlier, this whole conflict boils down to what Endeavor did to Dabi. Dabi became a villain not because of Shoto, but because Endeavor stopped paying attention to him and instead devoted all of his attention to Shoto who was born with the coveted Half-Hot Half-Cold quirk. Although he undoubtedly resented Shoto, Dabi ostensibly died trying to gain his father's attention, not to prove he's better than Shoto. Dabi invited Endeavor to come see the progress he'd made and the resulting flames he conjured ended up burning him alive. And because Endeavor wasn't there, Endeavor couldn't save his son, allowing Dabi to burn even longer.
My Hero Academia also made it abundantly clear when Dabi revealed his true identity as Toya to the world, the purpose of his reveal was in part to tear down his father, especially since he had become the number-one hero. In other words, the logical progression of the story is for Dabi to first battle Shoto and then his father. So although it makes sense that My Hero Academia has Shoto Todoroki fight against Dabi first for the sake of storytelling, since the decision for this to happen ultimately fell on Endeavor (and All Might), it makes Endeavor look bad no matter how mangaka Kohei Horikoshi might try to spin it.
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