REVIEW: Chapter 53 (From Todoroki To Iida)

Todoroki to the rescue

Okay so I thought Midoriya texted Todoroki to ask for help but I was wrong. Midoriya mass sent his location PIN to all his contacts. Todoroki knew Midoriya wouldn't do something like that unless he is in a tough situation.

Because of this I am now gunning for All Might's appearance soon.

I am not particularly in an excited mood for Uraraka or Bakugou's appearance, it might take away the focus from Iida. Also, I like how Todoroki suddenly appeared, he needs screen time because after the awarding ceremony, he was seldom seen. Now I think it was a deliberate move from the mangaka. I noticed that Bakugou was pretty noticeable on the last chapters, it might be also because he won't appear for some time.

I strayed from the review, pardons.

Todoroki appeared and was freely using both his power and we now see his new hero costume which looks better than the last. The all-white hero costume he had looked boring and did not do him any justice. This one, though, although I am still comparing it to Bakugou's (who has the best hero costume, for me) and it's not as detailed and unique but knowing Todoroki, I guess he'll go for functionality and not the aesthetics.

Midoriya warned Todo about Stain's ability. Stain threw a knife towards Todo's direction and grazed his left cheek. A sword was thrown the same time as the knife so while Todo's attention was on the sword, Stain used the opportunity to approach Todo and ingest the blood flowing from his cheek. Since the cut was on Todo's left, instead of dodging Stain, Todo unleashed fire from that side. Stain backed away.

But even if Todo managed to prevent himself from getting immobilized by Stain, he knew the enemy is very strong and calculating. Stain is advancing slowly by two to three strides with every move.

Because of Stain's superior speed, Todo used ice to block his movements. Stain cut through the ice wall. Stain knew the strategy Todo was trying to use against him.

Todo was about to use his fire but Stain threw daggers at his right arm.

However, Midoriya was able to move and used Torino movements to tackle Stain.

Thus, the nature of Stain's quirk was revealed. Finally.

Since Todo is losing too much blood, Midoriya adviced that he must take Iida and the pro hero with him and Midoriya will be the one to attract Stain's attention. Todo agreed to it and said the two of them will protect Iida and the Pro.

This was followed by the Todo's train of thoughts. He said when he learned about Iida's brother, he became concerned.

He knew what a person's face looked like when it's full of hate and resentment. He knew that in time, that person's field of vision will become narrow.

In Iida's case, vengeance.

Then we saw a flashback about what happened to Todo and his mother's reunion... I was so waiting for this!

Todo's mom apologized and forgave him (what for?!), she said she'd be happy and saved if Todo won't hold back.

Todo chose his father's office but it's not an act of forgiveness. He just acknowledges the fact that Endeavor is number 2 and he needs to experience with his own eyes. He admits that his father's judgment and insight i worth of being called Number 2.

Todo reflected that it was so simple yet he was blind to it. It was his power.

Glad that line still held such an impact even if Midoriya said it from the previous arc. It was something that provoked Todo to use his fire side which caused Midoriya's defeat. It was that act where All Might told Midoriya about butting one's nose in is a principal quality of a hero.

Todoroki hit by Stain's blades

Now there were a succession of panels where Iida remebered Stain's Save Him dialogue. Then shifted to Midoriya saving him then to Todoroki saying the two of us (Midoriya) will protect them. The last was Iida's outburst that he will kill Stain.

Back to Midoriya engaging Stain. He noticed Stain's movements. Maybe they were slower.

Now Iida was telling them to stop. But Todo responded by saying, " If you want us to stop then stand up!"

During that time, Midoriya's blood was ingested by Stain. It was when Midoriya engaged Stain and got slashed in the leg.

Midoriya exhibiting another Torino-move

It was do or die because Midoriya got immobilized, Todo is losing too much blood, no one will be of help and Stain will deal the final blow.

Then, Todoroki said:

"Set your eyes on the man you want to be!"

From that, Iida knew he strayed far from the kind of person his brother is - the man he wanted to emulate.

This chapter! Of course if there is a person who could relate to Iida in terms of dealing with hate, that would be Todoroki. And both of them experienced the pain when a loved one got hurt. I can't think of a stronger word than that...

I'm glad the mangaka involved the secondary characters to inspire another. It's mostly the MCs job description to Talk no Jutsu other characters. But let's not forget Midoriya's It's Your Power Speech that triggered something in Todoroki to think twice about his stand on using his fire side to spite his father.

Even if Todoroki's words will also trigger Iida's realization that what he's doing is far from what his brother is as a hero, it still made Midoriya's words felt.

I think the most important part here was when Todoroki told Iida to become the man he want to be (Ingenium), it's like he butted his nose onsomeone else's personal issues. It was not called for, Iida was not asking for his opinion or advice but Todo gave a piece of his mind anyway. From this, Todo exhibited one of the principal qualities of being a hero.

Todo mentioned about the time he saw Ingenium and told Iida about it. He said something about how Tensei never made a face like that. I am confused because Tensei's hero costume is definitely something similar to Iida's. I'm sure it had a helmet that covered his head. Scrap the thought of Todo meeting Ingenium wearing his hero costume.

I hope we will be able to know what transpired during that time.

Overall, I love this chapter! The succession of panels where Todo was reminiscing about his mom and Iida's train of memories was quite confusing since all we can see are balloons. I got confused as to who wss the one speaking so I had to reread a few pages.

Speaking of Todoroki's concern... I believe I mentioned how Todo was different from stereotypical quiet character with everything, I will still praise his personality. He's able to empathize to what others are feeling. I am glad the mangaka let us into Todo's thoughts because it made room for me to understand more about his character.

I am now a Todoroki fan. Definitely.