Or should I call this post "Stain Mentality Analysis" ?
The #manga My Hero Academia contains many interesting scenes that I have to put in my series, the "Hero Killer" arc made me think about what makes one a hero but this scene is the most interesting of this.
This is spoiler heavy post, if you didn't read/watch My Hero Academia yet, Important events will get spoiled by reading this.
Learned From Manga
Manga/Anime and Games are art. I believe that the things we watch/read/play doesn't only move us emotionally but can make use wiser and more knowledgeable... I believe there's no truly useless knowledge. and by sharing our opinions on scenes from them, we can get something more... something to help us in our lives.
This a series of posts I started doing last month, check the past posts of the series: #1, #2, #3
My Hero Academia
A manga by Kohei Horikoshi about a world where most of the humans have super powers called quirks, the story follows a quirkless boy and his struggle to become a hero. the series also asks again and again what "hero" means?
This scene is from chapter 51 (VOL.6) of the manga (pages 15-17). This contains heavy spoilers for the Hero Killer Arc shown recently in the anime version.
I don't own My Hero Academia and only posted these pages here to share my opinion on them. It's a popular Shonen Jump manga, You can buy both the printed & eBook versions from Amazon.
| Page 15 | page 16 | page 17 |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
The same scene in a novel-like way. I wrote it from the villain perspective and he doesn't know "Iida" name so he refers him as "the kid".
- Hero Killer "Stain" POV
"You and your brother are both weak." I looked at the kid lying at the floor. "Because you're fakes."
"Shut up, you scum!" The kid said, his arm stabbed with my sword. "The lower half of his body seems to be paralyzed from spinal injuries, it seems he'll never be suited to 'heroics' again."
Does this kid really think that I'd let 'fakes' like Ingenium return to play 'heroes' again?
"My brother has saved so many people and guided them." The kid continued to struggle under my restraint. "He's a splinded hero."
His brother might have saved people, but he's the type of person who'll do that for money and fame. Cleaning the world from those people is my duty.
"He gave me a dream!" The kid said. "He was a splinded hero!!"
I stabbed him deeper with my sword. He should've known that I hate listening to the same thing twice.
His pain must be unbearable but he showed some strength and shouted "I'll Kill You!"
"First, save him."
The kid seemed confused for a second. Then he saw the other injured fake hero behind me. His expression told me that he didn't notice him until now.
"Eh.."
'Really? this kid plays a hero, but he can't even see what's in front of him?'
"Before concerning over yourself, go rescue others," I said. "Don't brandish your power for your own sake."
I stabbed my sword deeper in his arm. "becoming seized by the hatred for the enemy before your eyes, merely to satisfy your own selfish desires, that's the act that's further from the title of 'Hero'."
"That's why," I drew my sword off him, making sure I got enough blood to activate my quirk. "You die here."
In this society that's full of people playing hero, there need to be someone who rises the standard. to
I'll keep cleaning this world from fake heroes. The only one that is allowed to stop me is that person. All of this is for the sake of a just world!
The End?
Saving vs Defeating
What is a Hero?
The villain of this Arc of the manga defines the hero as "A person who make sarcfices, the one who saves people and asking nothing in return."... something many heroes are lacking in a world where being a hero is a job.
When you see Evil villain hurt your family or friends it's okay to be angry at him, but it's hard to channel that anger for justice.. most of time you only want to take revenge. To make that person suffer like you did, even if doing that will make you worse than him. I won't say that is wrong either... but is that what being a hero is?
The hero is someone who pirotize the greater good. won't let their feeling interfer (at least most of time)... A hero will never choose to say "I'll Kill You!!" over "I have to save them!!".
This is made clear few pages later when the protagonist of the manga (Midoria Izuku) comes and punches Stain in the face saying "I've come to save you, Iida!"
Because there's a huge difference between saving people for the sake of saving them. and saving them for personal reasons. the story never says if Stain philosophy is right... but I don't think it's wrong either. He just did it with wrong method... "faster" but "evil" method!
One day I heard the saying "A knight will slay the dragon to save a kingdom, but the true hero will find a way to save both the kingdom and the dragon!!" but that's a story for another day.
What do you think about this post? want more? do you have something to add?
Do you have a scene from anime/manga worth sharing? or want me to talk about?
Let me see your comments!!
I Learned From Manga isn't about new things that I didn't know before reading a manga. but it's about a new take on how to see life.. things that stick with you long after reading. and this scene is one of them!!