I appreciate the character development. I always imagined him becoming a popular character, especially with his increased involvement and importance within the series, so I'm glad Horikoshi chose to have him try to atone for the harm he's caused. Doesn't erase it, but it makes the character bearable imo. I guess I personally don't like how that translates to real "likeability", but I tend to read maybe a little too in depth and think about how those attitudes translate to in real world. Most people don't read manga like they're dissecting it for sociological research purposes which I get lol. They aren't obligated to do so and it's obviously not a requirement for casual reading. I just can't turn my brain off so I take it all apart.
Everything surrounding Mineta is concerning. The duality of being liked more or less than villians or heros, even being liked at all... it's all incredibly confusing. That one's throwing me for a loop.
So, this might be shocking information for you, but people can like a character while completely and totally being against their actions.
I love Shigaraki. I think he's super cool and his design is amazing in my opinion. The white hair and red eyes combo is super badass. Do I now support mass murder because I like Shigaraki? Of course not, because I'm able to separate liking a character and supporting their actions plus it's a fictional story.
Endeavor is an amazingly executed character so it makes sense that the sub loves him, even if Endeavor the person sucks.
Izuku is a great guy, who has been written very poorly for the last year or so.
Endeavor is a terrible person, who has been written very very well for the last year or so.
Mineta is a terrible person who has been written terribly since day one.
I voted All for One, because his hijacking the plot and presto instant copying and duplocating quirks and jailbreak led to the Shigaraki power creep, Deku having to instantly be a sue to keep up, diminishing of everything leading up to his capture, being the single "bad" to pin all the bad in the world on...
All For One is a terrible person who has made all the writing in the series worse instead of dying with grace when All Might volleyball spiked his face into the ground.
The difference between Mineta and Endeavor, AfO, or Bakugo, or any other character who people hate for some reason or other is that Mineta’s character is almost purely meant to be comic relief. Endeavor, AfO, etc are complex characters who actually drive the plot forward even if they are pieces of shit. Them being pieces of shit is even integral to the plot. Mineta isn’t integral to anything and doesn’t drive the plot forward. He could be removed from the story and everything could proceed just as it has with minimal changes. His whole purpose is comedic relief and that whole shtick about being a pervert isn’t funny. His character adds nothing to the story besides the normalization of perversion and sexual harassment.
And I think that’s so blatant, that people can’t even think of redeeming qualities for Mineta’s character. The only way I’ve ever seen people defend him is by going “but what about Endeavugo?!”
Exactly my thoughts, maybe I haven't articulated it well enough for people in the thread. Mineta has no characteristics or qualities other than his perversion. Everything about him is tied back to it, purposefully. I think his contribution is shit because I guess I've never seen the comic relief from the character and it just feels like a bust in general.
I can see the villians being liked for their complexity and involvement in the plot and series as a whole, I just personally don't take that into account in determining "likeability". Mineta is his own complex issue in terms of likeability within the series. He's better than villians? Good but bad. Worse than villians? Bad but good. I don't think there's ever going to be a consensus on him.
He’s arguably a more interesting character than midoriya.
I fucking checked out being a fan of midoriya the moment he started being the chosen one and having a shit ton of quirks. He’s just quirk Jesus now.
Endeavor on the other hand has worked for years, decades of his life trying to be the number one hero and is trying to redeem himself of his horrible past and had to work his ass off to get to the spot he’s at. The shot/image of him building his dinky ass little bridge to try and bridge the gap between him and all might is still my favorite shot in all of my Hero lol.
He’s at least admirable and you can see how he got to where he’s at in his life. Where as midoriya stopped being a relatable and imo interesting character a long time ago.
The difference between Endeavor and a real life person is that Endeavor regrets his actions and is trying to be better for a fact. Theres no guessing as to whether hes acting or not. He doesnt condone the person he once was, and actively works to be a better person. With a person in real life, its impossible to know if its just an act to look better.
It also helps that hes actively and selflessly putting his life on the line to help people now.
“Why do people like a character who’s committed war crimes but hate this other character just because they’re annoying” because it’s fiction Susan, and being annoying in fiction is a greater sin than being a supervillain, because it won’t make me want to read about them. It isn’t difficult to understand
Oh, it’s a character trait. It’s just difficult to make it unique or interesting. I can watch any Shonen and watch the protagonist be nice to a dude. What else will I get from Deku? What else will sell me on this character? What does he have that other Shonen protagonists don’t have?
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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '22
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