016: New Year, Old Waves
My Hero Academia key takeaways, Christmas break, and life in between
If you follow me here or know me personally, you know that I love a good anime. As I rested in bed during the Christmas holidays, My Hero Academia (seasons 7 and 8) kept me company through tears and heartfelt realizations. Although I’m not all sold out on the hero-villain trope, I loved the buildup of MHA. I love how they humanize villains and how not all heroes are perfect. The back stories make me question the way I live my life, especially the heavy backstory of villain Shigaraki Tomura. How he was helpless, used, victimized, and brainwashed. How he needed a helping hand from anyone, but no one dared to hold his little ones because he looked scary and evil. I cried a river of tears for a few nights. I cried over humanity’s selfishness and hate. I cried over pure little Midoriya and Uraraka, who broke down their beliefs as heroes and how they fight to reach out to the seemingly irredeemable Tomura and Toga Himiko. Extending a hand. Offering a smile. These villains waited so long for heroes to come and save them. For people to accept them and look their way. And who wouldn’t cry over Dabi and the Todoroki family? A son waiting over and over for his father to look at him, even as he tries to self-sabotage.
My favorite character, though, is Bakugo Kacchan, a hero whose characteristics very well fit a villain. There was even a time in the show where he was kidnapped and offered to be part of the Villain League. I thought he would be tainted, but his desire to be like his favorite hero, All Might, outclasses the villains’ offer. His redemption and growth arc is actually beautiful. He was a bully, but in the last seasons, he grew to be the most dependable hero who acknowledges his wrongdoings and mistakes. Who constantly practices and improves himself. His competitive nature became his asset.
My Hero Academia is raw, deep, cut to the bone, humane, and well-written. It reminds us that every human has a back story. A person does not become good or evil just because they want to. There is a series of events that make a person, especially in their childhood. It could be circumstances, it could be judgment, it could very well be the adults of their time. Despite all that, I believe that there is redemption, one way or another.
Watching the last episode of MHA left me the impression that extending a hand to someone does not automatically make us heroes, but by doing so, we may actually save a life. So even when we, too, are drowning in pain, trembling in fear, or enveloped by sorrows, trust that your help can come a long way.
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When I was younger, my favorite season was Christmas. I thought it was magical, festive, and filled with joy, but as I grew older, I gradually felt the drag and the life-sucking “demands” that it brings to the majority of the adults in the Philippines. Insufferable traffic (need I say more?), endless list of gifts and grocery needs, parties to attend to, including reunions with supposedly family but more than half of them you don’t talk to (not even friends on Facebook), and cash bonuses that exist to pay accumulated debts. I know, I am on the negative side of the road. Definitely team glass half empty. Working on it, though.
My love for Christmas celebration definitely fades away in time, but I know the meaning was not lost yet—the birth of a Savior. The Light, the Hope, and our Salvation.
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If you have reached this part, let me greet you with a Happy New Year! How was your first week? Mine was not spectacular; I was not even sure if I had already processed the whole 2025 by now. I’m still stuck with major life decisions to make, and what answers do I have for these questions:
What do you really want?
What does healed look like to you?
What does happy mean in your life?
I wish the new year could give answers to questions from the previous year, but no. Quiet comes after the fireworks. It’s as if welcoming me back to reality. That after all the festivities, I have to live my life again—go to work, pay the bills, and breathe. Move forward. Live. Amidst the uncertainty, and the untitled season stored for me.
Apologies for the not-so-encouraging piece, but I hope, at the very least. You were able to process life with me.
Continuing,
Joyce 🌷