The manga chapter 321 Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) sparked a heated discussion among (Western) fans of the work of Kohei Horikoshi, because due to one of the most emotional panels of this chapter it was assumed that Mineta is bisexual.
Although it seems that, once again, this is a translation error, because in the version of Manga Plus, which comes from translations into English, the text says “I fell for you”, an expression that is commonly used in this language to express love.
The information dealt with in this text may be considered a spoiler of Boku no Hero Academia
In this picture, we can finally see Mineta, who among the UA students is one of the few who does not go out very regularly and is understandable. its quirk it’s strangely useless and to this day I doubt anyone is sure how they qualified to be in Class 1-A.
In the English translation we see this dialogue, in which tells Deku that it fell for him “when you were scared and sweating And shivering in your boots When we find a way forward together… the way of how you were before ”.
Mineta catches up with Deku in pursuit of Class 1-A | Source: Shueisha
Although this is something that we can debate from the translation, since this same text could translate to the feeling of admiration (indications of emotional connection, love or affective sex relationships in Japanese are much more specific than in English), this It is a good opportunity to talk about how Kohei Horikoshi has handled these kinds of issues in his work.
The inclusion in Boku no Hero Academia
Like a work full of references to X-Men and western comic book superhero lore, Boku no Hero Academia is always on the side of inclusion and diversity of characters, but these always as a pretext that advances the story of Deku and those closest to him.
In this work, all the differences consist in highlighting the way in which the society of heroes works, in which there are people who are simply destined to be top heroes than others so they touched at birth.
This same spirit is shown when building their characters, that through these differences decide and manage to overcome the capacitism with which this universe is formed. However, the differences between humans, between powers, even between ranks, do not exist beyond that degree or concept of heroism.
The characters of Boku no Hero Academia are firm in their mission and nothing else | Source: Bones
Also, the differences do not become noticeable at any time, so we could say that the inclusion in this world it is consolidated and exists by itself without having to make it notice. Each one lives with bestialized humans, mutants with bodies of objects and with giants as the norm.
At the same time, these differences do not exist in sexual orientation or gender expression. Not because they aren’t there or can’t be there, but because they just don’t show up. The ships that exist on the internet are just that, simply theories or decisions of the fans, because for Horikoshi the sexuality of the characters of My Hero Academia It’s void.
Deku and Uraraka are both in the Friendzone | Source: Bones
Although there are certain love frictions between Uraraka and Deku, neither of them confesses any feelings. Their missions as heroes are the most important and within what they defend, there is only friendship or family affection. There is no sexual or romantic tension that is worth it.
Throughout all of history and the drawings of My Hero Academia We know, both in the anime and in the manga, that the only affective sex relationship that exists both as a symbol and a reality is that of La Brava and Gentle Criminal, who are the only villains who happen to be emancipated by Horikoshi, because their crimes and their motives were cleansed by the love they had.
The Mineta case
That Horikoshi decides to present a character as bisexual at this point is strange and, above all, unjustified, when his darkest arc is reaching a very high point, in which Deku, again, will reinforce his family and friendship values with Class 1-A.
The background tells us that this will not happen not because Mineta may or may not be bisexual, but because she is, For Horikoshi, the sexual orientation or gender identity of the characters is not important in the least to advance his plot.
Apart from this, translation errors are something too common in both manga and anime, but this time it became much more vocal due to the repercussion that a character very little liked by the public had, who showed a facet, through a simple, unknown phrase.
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