My Hero Academia Fans Point Out How Izuku’s Attitude Towards Bakugo Has Changed

The rivalry between Midoriya and Bakugo has taken a lot of twists and turns throughout the My Hero Academia franchise. With Deku originally trembling before Bakugo’s explosive quirk when he was a kid to nervously facing him head on as an aspiring hero to then fighting him without fear, Midoriya has certainly found his place when competing against his hot headed rival. The most recent fight in the anime was a result of Deku’s long held secret regarding the acquisition of All Might’s powers and Bakugo attempting to discover the truth, which he eventually does. One fan has managed to compile images from both the anime and the manga to show just how much Midoriya has changed over time.

Reddit User Xahevako shared pictures of Deku from both mediums, documenting his fights against Bakugo that show him growing from a timid toddler to an experienced hero, managing to fight blow for blow against the explosive quirk wielding student:

What really sets Deku and Bakugo’s rivalry apart from so many of the other Shonen conflicts that we’ve seen for some time is Midoriya’s willingness to not only stand up to his rival, but also refrain from really tearing into him. Midoriya has certainly physically fought against Bakugo when the need arises, such as the faux-rescue mission that the two underwent earlier in the franchise, but he hasn’t raised a hand in anger against Bakugo for the most part. There’s a genuine level of respect that Deku holds for his one time friend.

Bakugo on the other hand holds no such regard for Deku, coining his ridiculous super hero name as an insult originally. More angry than anything that Midoriya is actually managing to not just stay in step with his ascent in UA Academy, but sometimes surpass him, Bakugo sees it as an insult more than anything, similarly to the relationship between Vegeta and Goku in the Dragon Ball franchise. Still, My Hero Academia has done a fantastic job of exploring the growth of each of their characters, allowing fans to see new sides to the heroes, and sometimes villains, as they walk the road of life.

What do you think of Deku’s character changing as he squares off against Bakugo? Do you think the two will have a titanic final showdown at some point? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and UA Academy!

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.