Katsuki Bakugou: The Perfect Character Progression⎮A My Hero Academia Season 6 Discussion

My Hero Academia is one of those manga/animes that I think manage to fly under the radar in terms of character growth. So many people talk about the great action and battles... or the exciting visuals and storylines... that they don't really hone in too deeply on some of the individual character arcs and progression. And if they do... they focus on the really obvious ones like Deku, Shigaraki and Endeavour. The ones that the story beats you over the head with. And so today I want to take a different tack and talk about one character who low-key has the most realistic and earned progression: Bakugou.

[@Matthew_Murray]

One of my favorite early Bakugo moments is his fight with Uraraka. Everyone is upset that he is just dominating her, but Aizawa tells off the crowd that Bakugo is showing Uraraka respect by not holding back. And we know Bakugo ends up respecting Uraraka because it ends up being the first time he calls her by name.

[@izzy1356]

And to top it all off is his response to when Kaminari asks how he could hurt such a frail looking girl: "What part of her looked frail to you?" Dude not only respects her, but is even willing to chastise (not even yell at) other people who don't.

[@ashoftheyear]

@@izzy1356 FR i loved that fight because it was a small part in both characters' arcs but it was very important and is STILL massively entertaining overlooked

[@rjmartinez4800]

Bakugo is the definition of a character that in the surface he hasn’t changed at all but in reality has changed more than anyone

[@nightpack86]

eh honestly i would have to disagree. and i say this because you need to actively ignore who is was and who he becomes for the vast majority of the series. and i'm not saying he hasnt grown because he has and i would argue he isn't even the same person anymore. but what i am saying is that his growth isn't as amazing as people make it out to be, when we meet bakugo he is an abusive egotist with sadistic tendencies not just towards izuku as we see he goes out of his way to harm other children in his neighborhood so one can take an educated guess and say he has probably been brutalizing most of if not all the other kids outside his circle. we watch him slowly grow while seemingly still enjoying harming others based on his specific actions and statements ie "how much are we allowed to hurt the others" to a person that is willing to use his team ie the join training operations using jiro as a literal stepping stone and pushing his team aside to handle things himself. up to his little mental breakdown and his lets be honest poorly written apology. until we reach the character we have today who i would say is the average, he is now what one would expect from someone in his field. and again im not trying to tear him down but i do feel people over hype this growth to some immense proportions

[@millicentgordon5427]

Bakugou is literally the most popular character in USA and Japan,that's impressive when the protagonist is so good

[@wellidontknow1941]

He is more fun to watch and more interesting character than Deku

[@ashoftheyear]

bakugo, all might, and hawks are 3 of my fav characters

[@millicentgordon5427]

@@wellidontknow1941 cool

[@millicentgordon5427]

@@ashoftheyear all are fun

[@pulangrosas7255]

@@wellidontknow1941I’d have to disagree on that one

[@izzy1356]

Ngl, one of my favorite things about his progression is how much it subtly impacts other characters' progression, too. He pushes Izuku forward (much like Gran Torino) and constantly checks up on his progress, and is one of the few to call All Might out on the coddling that doesn't really help Izuku. 2 things with Todoroki: - He (unintentionally) doubles down Izuku's words about making the flames *his* - He tells Todoroki straight up that by limiting himself, it takes personal merit away from *everyone* involved, and he's rightfully pissed when that doesn't click in the end. He reminds Kirishima in a moment of doubt of all the things he's personally accomplished, and that he's just as important as the rest of the class And he's Class 1-A's number one motivator, either by cheering them up (poor Kaminari), or reminding them to focus on their *own* happiness and not other classes' approval.

[@toadlord8594]

Yeah honestly it’s always the Lancer character aka the “Vegeta and Sasuke” archetype characters who always seem to have the best character progression and nuance to them.

[@diaborodevil3161]

Well it’s kind of inject more character that isn’t the lancing

[@melancholyman369]

It's more satisfying watching someone who's an hardass/asshole become softer or more humble. Than watching a Jesus clone be Christ-like without opposition.

[@gregoryfuller9736]

They come off like badass and they don’t have plot armor like Naruto and goku so they can lose or win every fight

[@aniflowers1998]

Kind of sad that you completely glossed over Bakugos crisis and realisation that there are many people just as if not stronger than him during the first combat training, and him beeing pretty much the only one who aknowledges that Uraraka can totaly stand her own and isn't someone fragile that you need to go easy on in the tournament, and that he is naturaly verry much about working smart (even if unconfentional) which also shows best in the tournament arc, but alredy get's called out by Momo in the combat training. Other than that pretty decent summary of his growth.

[@meequalsbookworm3029]

It’s a good arc. Bakugo is one of my faves and I often find him relatable in a weird way (I’m not a particularly violent or competitive person) so I was actually disappointed when he wasn’t focused on as much

[@ObaREX]

Not much for me to say. You nailed it. I am a bit sad Bakugou loses focus after defeating Deku. But it's kinda fitting at least that their fight marks the end of their animosity towards one another and the first act of the series.

[@AraumC]

From very early on, Bakugo has a lot of great qualities--he's extremely intelligent, he has an unwavering belief in his (admittedly flawed) worldview, and he shows genuine respect to Uraraka. The first three seasons are breaking down what makes him so problematic, through continuous losses, until the climactic fight in S3. There, Bakugo is finally ready to start building up good qualities instead of exclusively tearing down the bad ones, by incorporating Deku's worldview as Deku does the same. Well, I say exclusively tearing down, but there's one exception--Kirishima's unwavering support and good example as someone more secure in himself. Those two things combined lead towards Bakugo opening to more people, culminating in that S5 fight, and at the end of season 6 with that apology. Sure, he still has his abrasive personality, but he's able to be a functioning member of society now like his mother. I believe at this point he's completed his arc, but who knows what S7 will bring?

[@kaviero4499]

I've always thought that bnha would be 20 times better if we got Bakugou as the mc instead of Deku, it would fit both of the characters well. Deku could still be the exact same as he is now but his characters is simply better suited for a support role. Also with the edgier tone the manga took I don't doubt that we could really dig around in Bakugou's brain, I could only imagine how great of an arc he could get if it was his story.

[@izzy1356]

Low-key agree, especially when you factor in the movies (bar Heroes Rising), especially Melissa and Rody. The former's the perfect example of a quirkless hero in all but literal occupation, and could've opened Bakugou's perception on what it means to *be* a hero (beyond winning and having a strong quirk). The latter being the perfect example of those who're failed by the hero system. Could've been a fantastic callback to Bakugo's initial goal of fame and money, how that's changed, and maybe elaborate more on what his goal of "#1 Hero" specifically entails.

[@k.k.8796]

This was such an amazing and interesting video to watch! Thank you so much for putting it together! 💕💕💕

[@annawildman2330]

Nice video! I always love arcs like this. It's an interesting because it can go wrong if it's not shown or written well

[@daviddyster4145]

Great video, I hope to see more of his arc in the show.

[@panjamysy]

I have one small issue with your points. Bakugo didn't change his mind that "save to win" is more important than "win to save", just that he needed to learn to do BOTH depending on the situation at hand.

[@Finessed6x]

Great video!

[@ashoftheyear]

"deeper fans will be able to see his growth better" you'd be surprised...

[@millicentgordon5427]

Bakugou haters vs Bakugou fans vs toxic bakugou and deku shippers,Let the battle begin: FIGHT

[@millicentgordon5427]

Underrated comment

[@deeps6446]

@@millicentgordon5427 I think you forgot to switch accounts dude??😏

[@millicentgordon5427]

@@deeps6446 nope,this comment really is underrated and I'm just trolling

[@deeps6446]

@@millicentgordon5427 oh ok then I do not know how to feel about that

[@millicentgordon5427]

@@deeps6446 I'm just telling my opinion on my comment is that so weird

[@thinkinginsideout4053]

Disclaimer : just found your channel. Bakogou is a good case. But for me, Tsukishima of haikyuu character arc is my greatest personal growth of a character.

[@austint4139]

If your going to make more mha videos could you make one on underused/underrated characters because there’s a lot of them to my knowledge at least

[@yourcarsextendedwarranty4453]

I hated him till I watched this. Thanks for explaining. I still dislike how he acts but I understand why he acts that way now atleast.

[@blacknorthwind93]

To be honest Bakugo at the start of the show wouldn't agree to be a drummer for school festival because he wouldn't share the spotlight with others.

[@randomlife4608]

To do list .gardions .miraculas .dragon prince . . .

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, pretty good deduction.

[@darknessrising2453]

2:47 There is no "probably", he regularly beat him up when they were kids. 2:49 Yeah that torpedoed whatever argument you were trying to make dude. The fact that you listed "telling someone to kill themselves" as typical "bully stuff" is beyond insensitive. Sorry, but I'm done with this particular video, have a downvote, bye.

[@BoscoSal-ao]

Bakugou character development is fine but still pointless since he has no major villain fights and solo arc. It hard to defend bakugou character since he has no heroic accomplishment that I can justify that he is a better hero than deku. It would more interesting if bakugou is a hero who beats a beats a lot of villains but has a terrible attitude . But alas, it never happen and this made bakugou, more of a delusion hero wannabe. Made worse by the fact that deku has more villains fights than bakugou

[@OpticalSorcerer]

I haven't caught up with the series, but I really hate Bakugo because he reminds me of bullies that I had growing up, and his attitude strikes a cord in me seeing how talented people in the media are now being exposed for illegal or toxic behavior.

[@melancholyman369]

I think MHA is honestly trash, I think Horikoishi got the classic rival character right, not unlike Vegeta. I wish he'd do that with Midoria, the opposite to turn an asshole to humble cynic is the Blind do-gooder into desensitized Realist if you want to get Dark or they could do a Devil tempting Christ arc with AFO's quirk ghost or the Predecessor that called Midoria naive.

[@alacatooo]

vigilante deku….

[@ralunix4612]

Very cool. Watch The Owl House