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My Hero Academia Is Wasting An Essential Fact About Bakugo's Growth

Warning: spoilers ahead for My Hero Academia chapter 358!

While My Hero Academia's Joint Team arc is generally seen as a low point in the series, it did at least see some notable growth for Katsuki Bakugo. Unfortunately, even this plot point has just been overshadowed by the series' most recent chapter.

Although there were definite high points in the Joint Team arc, what most fans remember is that the teacher-sponsored training session - pitting the students of Class 1-A and 1-B against each other - put nothing on the line for the losers. The fact that there wasn't any meaningful rivalry between the classes made the arc even more forgettable. But the Joint Team arc did include one major development. The school festival obviously compelled Bakugo to work as part of a team - a major accomplishment and moment of growth given his regular personality.

Related: My Hero Academia: Endeavor Confirms Deku Has Already Surpassed All Might

Now, more than 100 installments later in chapter 358, Rumi Usagiyama (aka the Rabbit Hero) is fighting alongside Bakugo and watches in amazement as the brash student charges towards their opponent the Shigaraki/All For One hybrid and yells: "Gotta destroy his real body!! All of us, together!!" Mirko is so shocked that Bakugo would incorporate his comrades in a battle cry that clearly expresses a desire to foster teamwork that she remarks, "What? As a team?!" While the Joint Team arc smartly and subtly allowed Bakugo to grow, this chapter treats it as a newer development - one that surprises fellow heroes as if Bakugo's behavior is a response to the threat at hand, not prior growth.

This current arc comes on the heels of the incredible face-off between Endeavor and All For One, so readers will be more inclined to associate Bakugo's overall growth with this particular battle even though it's just an extension of how he was already being depicted. My Hero Academia has a habit of behaving as if anyone who's not currently in the story simply ceases to exist rather than living a believable life behind the scenes. In this case, that's particularly damaging, as the returning heroes' attitude to Bakugo suggests that he's exactly the person he used to be when really they should already be well aware of his growth. Even slightly different dialogue like, "I heard that Bakugo changed, but I never actually believed it" could communicate the difference in his behavior without making it seem like a fresh development.

Of course, it's heartening that My Hero Academia is still focused on Katsuki Bakugo's progress and growth, but had this been done just a little more artfully, it could have been a series high point in terms of his characterization, and could even have justified the Joint Team arc in retrospect.

Next: My Hero Academia Cosplay Makes Deku and All Might The Most Wholesome Duo



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