Deidream #60: HERO ACADEMIA

An author’s note

I’m in hero school….finally. Just finished my first semester with an A+.

In school on MY terms. We outside.1

If you’ve never watched the now COMPLETE (OH MY GOD) Boku no Hero Academia, spoilers ahead. I first fell for this show as a reentry into watching anime after a very rough time in undergrad. The fact that it ended just as I’m back in school and a whole ten years older than when I first met it has me sentimental. So, though I took the last few years off from the more “mainstream” shounen titles, I sat down to watch the entire series again. For the first time and only time I’ll ever see it “end.”

Here’s how it’s going.

Something mad I said to my friends recently.

“Fuck my bullies, man. I was having fun in school until they made it weird! I cannot stress this enough. I’ll eat a jean jacket with no hot sauce before I let people ruin my vibes in grad school.”

-(REDACTED), making an oath

Words of wisdom from those who came before.

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” — Scientist, Educator, Environmentalist George Washington Carver

Word to an academic ancestor and hero whose name and memory called me into purpose and set me on my path. I love my city, I love my ancestral home, and I will be a good ancestor.2 3

Why I’m here. What I’m mulling over. + Something I watched that moved me.

On the day I got into my grad program, I stared at two images I’d had saved on my moodboard for years. The first is up above in the author’s note.

It’s one of my favorite scenes of all time. The main character, Midoriya Izuku, has devoted himself to a single task — cleaning up a very dirty beach. For months, he trains his body not only to better himself as he prepares to receive immense power from his hero, but also to serve the community and the beach itself. His deadline is the day of his high school entrance ceremony, and he finishes just in time.

The image above is his cry of victory.

Outside of the ancestral veneration of practicing ritual on my chosen shore, I admit that this scene heavily influenced my approach to my prayers about where to go now that I’ve metamorphosed into a new creature altogether. I went to the same shore two summers in a row; I cleaned it, thanked it, offered sweet treats and a libation, and asked for clarity, direction, and purpose in return.45 I spent days studying the sand and greeting the creatures beneath the rocky shorelines. I fulfilled a lifelong dream and went fishing with my father. When we caught a stingray, I apologized and released it. I listened to the stories of mangroves and shorelines so abundant that he would skip school to catch crabs.

I mourned the dry, flat stretches of compacted, bleached sand in a bay that used to be home to countless creatures. I mourned the dead stingray that washed ashore. I ate fruit directly from my grandmother’s gardens, gifted by the trees that grew up alongside my parents. I chased her chickens and remembered being small enough when I’d last been Home that they seemed huge. I moo’d at passing cows and waved at the goats that wandered from yard to yard. I swam for five hours every day, and I saw a rainbow that emboldened me. I met family members for the first time and sat on their porches as passing rainstorms flash-flooded their streets.

The day I read my acceptance letter, I screamed in a mix of joy and anguish, lay down on the floor in my apartment, and wept. It had torn me up to even get strong enough to bet on myself, let alone apply. After a long time spent lost, I spent all of 2025 becoming the person who could get into a grad program like this one. I’d earned certifications, traveled into nature in solitude and with my friends, I’d studied, I’d gone to plant school (x2), and I’d dedicated hours and hours of my life to my community garden. I’d taken on a new sport and strength training as well.6 I started taking myself seriously as a photographer. I did all this as part of a self-designed training program and as a prerequisite to returning to college. So anguish and grief for the things that were painful along the way, but ultimately proved worth it, sat with my joy. Blood, sweat, and countless tears.

The second image from Boku No Hero Academia, one that is nestled among the photos of the fish I played with last year, a picture of my grandfather, and my scribbles about wanting to be free, is this one:

This is All Might — Izuku’s childhood hero, mentor, father-figure — being the first to welcome him into his dream school. After a lifetime of being made fun of for being powerless (called “quirkless” in-universe), not only does he earn a power, but Izuku is started on the path to his destiny. And his hero is there to guide him every step of the way.

SO YOU SEE WHY I CRY?????

I’M GONNA BE A HERO!! LIKE MY HEROES!! I’M STUDYING!! MY FAVORITE THING!! AND I GET TO BE MY WEIRDEST, MOST EARNEST, MOST ARTISTIC, MOST PASSIONATE SELF IN SERVICE TO THE PLANET, MY HEART, AND MY ART.

And this time, if anyone makes me feel weird about it, I will raise hell.

Bullying is absolutely ridiculous. Kids used to bully me for liking school, and it would leave me bewildered. I knew it then, but as an adult, you really gotta think about how nonsensical it is to be like “Ooooh, you’re a nerd! How stupid is it that you like learning about the world and find it interesting??? Teacher’s peeeet!” We got to sit around with our friends all day and find stuff out. I really was having a ball! What was there not to enjoy?!!?

The food could’ve been better, but I was really having fun!

It is a time-honored tradition ACROSS CULTURES to hang with your homies, learn from each other, and teach each other stuff. Why wouldn’t at least some of us find that refreshing? To be dehumanized, physically attacked, and emotionally tormented for doing what humans have been doing for centuries is wild. And now, because you think I’m a target, y’all are doing stuff like dumping my clothes in the toilet? I laugh about it now because that’s the kind of stuff only children would do forreal. It would be endearing if we didn’t teach young people to be cruel to each other because of perceived differences so early.

These are the moments I laugh to keep from crying — part of the way I’ve been thinking about my neurodivergence includes the theory that other kids could probably sense it in me (“she’s weird”) and decided to be relentless in their torment of me.

Given the experiences I’ve heard other AuDHD adults had in school, I feel like I’m onto something.

No one will EVAAAAA make me hate school again. I remember when I first wrote about my desire to find intellectually stimulating places and spaces to engage in study with people.7 Sure, a large part of that was driven by frustration at the (perceived or actual) limitations of my current industry and a desire to evolve. But a huge part of it was knowing that I had reached the limit of what I could do alone. I finally needed to give academia and group learning another chance because there is strength and additional wisdom to be found in numbers and in institutions with access to spaces and places I do not have.

You know how many academic journals I’ve read in the last two months? I feel greedy as hell in libraries and archives with .edu email. It’s giving

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA FRRRR.

Here are the themes within the work that give me courage:

You can cry and still be brave. You can cry and be action-oriented. You can cry while raising your voice. What matters is you raise it. I cry easily when I’m frustrated, angry, or grieving for myself and others. And I almost always am. It’s not unusual for a few tears to slip out when I’m speaking about how much I love our world and want us to be well.

Izuku is one of my favorite shounen protagonists of all time. We’ve seen decades of “happy-go-lucky with hidden tenderness or sometimes crying within the context of sorrowful/angering backstories” protagonists (Goku, Naruto, Luffy, Asta, etc…), “cool/tough-guy with hidden tenderness” protagonists (Ichigo, Shinra, Edward etc…), or “happy and kind but relatively calm and empathetic in the face of danger” ( Tanjiro, my beloved). Izuku was my lil WIMPY CRYBABY FROM THE VERY START. That boy never stopped crying….until he did. And then it was because he was handing out cans of whoop ass. And then sometimes he would CRY WHILE BEATING ASS. Me coded.

The metaphors of this show are pretty on the nose. One For All is a superpower that was originally forced upon a seemingly “weak” or “ungifted” young man with the power to pass on quirks. OFA is then passed from one generation to the next as its wielders die young. Each time it’s passed on, it changes with the innate talents of everyone who receives it. At the heart of BNHA are two more “ungifted” young men, only a single generation apart: All Might and Izuku, who make choices that ultimately defeat the immortal evil (All For One) determined to raise the next generation of villains to perpetuate the cycle of harm.

This particular mid-season climax is the moment when All Might uses the last of his power, ending an unprecedented era of peace. It’s THEE moment when All Might’s human vulnerability is exposed to the entire world, including evil-doers who are emboldened for the rest of the series. Although he manages to win the fight, and this next moment is read by the public as “You’re next” towards the villains, Izuku is left in his grief because he’s the only one who knows that what All-Might is actually saying is “my time has ended, and your work has begun.” The war has yet to be won, and All Might can no longer push forward.

Watching many of our anti-racist, anti-fascist, and/or pro-climate justice heroes give the very last of themselves and eventually become ancestors has fundamentally changed me in the last decade. Especially as fascism drags the entire world into chaos.

While people cheer, the only other person who clocks that something is up is this little blonde terror, wrestling with his own grief and envy of Izuku.

Sometimes, two people make each other sooooo brave that it has a ripple effect across the spaces they share. Think: the protagonist whose skill changes the team + the deuteragonist who becomes their buddy-rival or the second half of their combination play. The fighter whose strength raises the bar for the people around them. Perhaps the protagonist who is trying to reach their own potential + the rival who sees someone surpass their natural genius and is challenged by it. Or the outcast who grows into their purpose and inspires others + another outcast who finds understanding and strength in their friendship. In this case, the very first person Izuku rescues is Bakugo Katsuki, his childhood “friend” turned abusive bully. And because Izuku never once gave up on Katsuki, he actually comes around. Though he stays pretty explosive. I especially love how many times other characters compliment Izuku over time, but this moment in S3, where their teacher points out that it’s these boys’ rivalry and imperfect growth that are helping the ENTIRE class grow? UGH. MY HEART.

Sometimes, a hero’s journey presents a fork in the road where one path leads to villainry. Sometimes, you need to get your ass beat by the people you victimized. Sometimes, you need to allow yourself to be saved. Sometimes the tough-guy act has to come down. When it comes to Most Improved? Hall of Fame. Bakugo is one of the best-written deuteragonists in anime history. To go from bully with an ego to hero with an ego? Perfect. I never faulted him for knowing he was hot shit, but how he treated people was ABHORRENT. Main character syndrome personified. I do chuckle a bit about him having a fire-based power set to go with this personality flaw. Given anime’s tendency to be on the nose, what other power sets could you give a hothead with a desire to be number one? For all his faults, Katsuki is a child who looks up to All Might just as much as Izuku does. In this arc, he’s unmoored by Izuku’s sudden strength, connection to All Might, and the guilt of feeling like All Might’s retirement is his fault.

When he confronts Izuku, they beat each other up until All Might (FOR THE FIRST TIME) apologizes to Katsuki for failing to remember that he is also a child, regardless of his strength. Kid had been kidnapped by villains, and all of a sudden, his former punching bag is punching back. Of course he was shook! I won’t spoil the rest of his arc, but know I HATED him and was still SOBBING by this scene.

When I meditate on forgiveness and restorative justice, Katsuki often crosses my mind. I’m not clearly there yet with deeply harmful and abusive people, but God is still working on me…….I guess……8

Finally….

Don’t go alone. It’s okay to share the load with the people who love you. Saving the world isn’t a one-person job. By Season 6 — Evil is up 100000. Several heroes we’ve come to know over the series die in a massive clash with the villains. People have lost limbs and their quirks. Many heroes have quit, and Japanese society is on the verge of collapse. The villain, who is manipulating another vulnerable young man into bringing about global destruction, is on the verge of realizing his dream. Feeling the pressure to defeat All For One but not able to reveal One For All to his classmates, Izuku leaves school. Cue title change:

He’s not in school? Show’s over!

Just kidding. His friends would NEVER leave their boy to emo cry in the rain all alone. He stops eating, he stops sleeping, and not even All Might can get through to him anymore. So what do his homies do? They reach out their hands. Izuku has saved countless people, and it’s his turn to be saved. For protection. And THESE KIDS GET IT. They’ve been through it all, and now that they know that their beloved Deku has been holding something so painful all alone, they show up. In a semi-comforting parallel to how Izuku never let up on Katsuki, they come ready to drag him back to school by force if necessary. (Naruto and Sasuke coded, okay sorry)

They learned of Izuku’s burden and took him by the hand without hesitation.

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!!

Eventually, they win. Class 1-A becomes the emotional center of all of global hero society as everyone comes together to save the whole world. One For All fulfills its purpose, and the grand evil is defeated. We watch these children confront things like inherited trauma and familial abuse, societal collapse, and desire for revenge. And despite it all, they grow up.

And they do so in a world made beautiful and safe with their own hands.

Ten years of my life flew by, and so did ten years of this story. The person I was in 2016 would be so, so proud of who I am now. She was so lost and alone, but just like Izuku, she found so many beautiful friends and allies that empowered her to be her best. And because she believed she could be a hero, here I am.

My hero academia has already tested me greatly — I got injured doing fieldwork, and I made mistakes. Frustrated at my limitations and MAD dehydrated, I snuck off to cry in the middle of the beach or the shady forests between class sessions. My classmates found me and offered me comfort. And two shots of tequila. I’ve come out of my first semester with a newfound strength I know will carry me forward in days to come.

Can’t wait to see who I’ll be by graduation and who will stand by my side as we inherit a world that needs saving.

Whatever nerdy shit I’m into lately.

This whole entry is pretty nerdy, so I want to dedicate this portion to the people who have done some super nerdy shit with me over the last few years. They didn’t know they were in my training arc, but we did it.

1. To everyone I’ve seen a concert, musical, or show with! Special mention to a love of my life who whisked me away for a night at the opera (love u, S!!). I was thrilled because it helped me brush up on my Italian and music history, and I also had a great conversation with his very lovely friends about art history, NYC real estate, and more.

2. To everyone I’ve studied with at the library or run the halls of any of the museums with — you have my heart.

3. To the loves of my life I met the ocean and Sequoia trees with last summer. One clutched my hand and helped me climb onto a rocky shoreline as I stepped into the Pacific Ocean for the first time. We prayed amongst giants. I lay in the grass, played with caterpillars and monarchs, and became familiar with the way the West Coast smells.9

4. To all my classmates from each garden and parks department program I’ve completed in the last two years. I’m so grateful and so happy to know so many incredible New Yorkers. I am deeply appreciative of the time spent learning with you.

5. To my boxing trainers who let me sing along to Simple and Clean as it played on the gym playlist while you taught me 1-2-3-duck-6/1-2-1-2-duck (“When you walk away, you don’t hear me say…”) combos to help me associate music with this new movement after finding out I’m a musician.

6. To my friends and loves of my life who keep me politically honest and sharp. I’ve learned so much from you. Thank you for giving me spaces to believe in.

Just a final thought.

I dunno who needs to hear this, but everyone is a scientist. Everyone can be a hero. That means you.

Just go for it.