I’m surprised at the extent to which this arc is reaffirming my love for Boku no Hero Academia.  It’s not that I ever stopped loving it, but the last 18-24 months of the manga have perceptibly slipped a bit for me.  The thing is, I remember the School Festival arc as being lumped in with that group, but I’m seeing it in a new light now.  Bless Bones for casting Yamadera Kouichi and Horie Yui, absolutely – what a brilliant turn that was.  But my view of the story itself has definitely been elevated.  It’s not necessarily deep or profound, but that simplicity is part of why it works.

No question, it’s material like “Vs. Hero Killer” and “Hideout Raid” that stamp BnHA as a shounen classic.  But in some ways this Gentle Criminal saga is more distinct to Horikoshi than the big ticket items.  I don’t think there are many shounen mangaka who would have either the inspiration or the moxie to write it (and it doesn’t help that only an already very successful mangaka would be allowed to).  A big part of Horikoshi’s appeal as a writer is his curiosity to find threads like this and tug on them to see where they lead.  It doesn’t always pay off (though it usually does), but it adds a layer to HeroAca that few action shounen have.

The problem of course is that in setting off Gentle and La Brava against Deku, Horikoshi pits some of the series’ most appealing characters in direct opposition.  Of course Deku is in the right here, intellectually speaking that’s obvious.  But Gentle is such a thoroughly human figure that it’s easy to identify with him.  More easy than with someone like Deku, frankly – which is one reason why HeroAca’s spinoff manga Vigilantes is so appealing, dealing as it does with regular people trying to get by in a world where being extraordinary is everything.

We finally find out what La Brava’s quirk is, and it could hardly be more fitting.  “Love” allows her to enhance the strength of anyone she projects it upon once a day, but it only really works if the love she feels is deep and heartfelt.  Setting the metaphorical aspects aside, it helps explain the deep bond between these two people.  Gentle – though he didn’t know it at the time – was a lifeline to a teenage La Brava when she was at her lowest ebb.  And their quirks and skills complemented each other perfectly – not to make them super-powered, but to make them belong.

In the end, that’s what it comes down to.  These two are basically losers, two people who failed at life as individuals but found a reason to keep moving forward with each other.  The reason Gentle doesn’t act like a villain is because it was a hero he wanted to be, but that world rejected him.  La Brava felt rejected by the world, period, until she found Gentle.  I just can’t muster any antipathy for either one of them, because he just wants to make an impact in the world and she just wants him to be happy and be by her side.  What could be more human than that?

In their subtle way, I think Gentle and La Brava call attention to some of the social problems in this world that Horikoshi has created.  And I think he intended for that to be the case, because he can obliquely suggest at those issues through characters like this more easily than he can confront them directly.  People like All Might and Izuku are unquestionably kind and noble souls, acting with the best of intentions, but the system that gives rise to them is fraught with problems.  Most of the best arcs in Boku no Hero Academia (most obviously Hero Killer) have touched on this, and I think it’s going to be an important component in the conclusion of the series as a whole – whenever and however Horikoshi-sensei decides to conclude it.