‘My Hero Academia’ Just Made Bakugo Fans Very Proud

My Hero Academia has made its mark on the world of shonen manga, and readers already have their top heroes. Guys like Izuku are never far from the number one spot, but Bakugo Katsuki has had trouble endearing fans. So, you can understand why the manga’s latest chapter had his followers in tears.

After all, it did give the fiery hero-in-training one of his biggest developments to date.

This last week, Weekly Shonen Jump released the 166th chapter of My Hero Academia. The issue saw heroes like Bakugo take on a mission to babysit a class of Quirk-loving kids. Much of the class went wild when they were let loose against the UA students, but the heroes had to find a way to mentor the younger kids effectively.

Unsurprisingly, many readers thought Bakugo would fail at the mission, but the hero surprised them all in the end. After showing off his powers to the students, one of the high-and-mighty kids refuses to participate in the lesson, Bakugo goes to him directly.

When the explosive hero tells the student to join his class, the younger tells him to back off. “Could you let go of me?! You’re too low class,” the kid jeers.

“You’re their leader, aren’t you,” Bakugo asks a moment later. “If all you ever do is look down on people, you won’t be able to recognize your own weaknesses. Remember the advice your senpai is giving you.”

No, really – Bakugo actually said that.

If you’re feeling surprised, you are not the only one. No one saw the hero’s thoughtful lesson coming, and it marks a major point in Bakugo’s character development. The hero has never been afraid to look down on his peers, but it seems Bakugo has learned from his immature behavior towards Izuku. It may take some time for Bakugo to fully adopt this new mentality, but fans know it will only make him a better hero. So, if you want to stan the bombastic hero, now is the time to join his hype train.

For those unfamiliar with My Hero Academia, the series 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 super powers but 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 collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

Is Bakugo about to become your top hero in My Hero Academia? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!