My Hero Academia Fans Are Geeking Out Over Bakugo’s Shocking Shoes

My Hero Academia is packed to the brim with memorable characters with even more memorable looks. Even many of the students’ casual wear displayed throughout the series has gotten fans envious of their looks. But with as tough as Bakugo is throughout the series, fans have been taken aback by some of his casual wear which in one panel of the manga revealed he was actually wearing the comfort shoe, Crocs.

As noted by @empysunflower on Twitter, Chapter 96 of the manga sees Bakugo going to confront All Might. As he walked outside of his home, tucked away toward the bottom of the panel is the reveal that he’s wearing Crocs. It’s come as a surprise to many fans of the series.

For those unfamiliar, Crocs are a brand of shoe that emphasize comfort over everything else. With a clog like design and foam padding, these shoes are often worn by medical professionals or those who just like feeling comfortable. They have taken on a bit of a humorous identity on the Internet as a point of ridicule, hence the surprise over Bakugo wearing a pair here, but it’s mostly because of their wide variety of colors that made them seem like they were “uncool.”

There’s a cultural clash here at this discovery, for sure, as Crocs are more generally acceptable footwear in Japan — especially for this scene where Bakugo’s just using them to leave his house temporarily. But there’s also a bit of goodness for fans of the Bakugo and Kirishima pairing, as Kirishima has been shown wearing them in the past. Naturally, this has fans imagining all sorts of scenarios and theories about the nature of their relationship.

Fans will soon be seeing more of Bakugo and his shoes with the fourth season of the anime premiering on October 12th. Funimation has confirmed that they will be streaming the new season outside of Japan, but has not announced when the English dub of the release will premiere.

My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia is gearing up for an even bigger end of 2019 with both a fourth season of the anime and second big anime film too.