Deku & Subaru: Portrayals of Self Worth

I swear that Subaru is one of the most heroic characters I've ever seen in anime. Like seriously, he got killed, decapitated, sliced, and many others by his own allies, but he hates himself? A normal person would hate the one who killed them right? But no! Subaru just hates himself, blamed himself for everything, and promised to make things ‘right’ next time.

Bro, thank you for bringing up that point about Subaru not actually fixing his problems. I absolutely love this character and often facepalm at people going like "Why is he doing this mistake again? He was supposed to fix it 10 episodes ago" or something. Just because he's put a band aid on a gash wound doesn't mean it will heal and not fester. Regrets and guilt just won't go anywhere.

i knew something was missing from tbe dark deku arc and this was definitely it. Then again Bakugo did mention that they had to save Deku because he never tells people how he's feeling, so it'd be weird to contradict that in the same arc, but Bakugo apologizing to Deku was the perfect time for Deku to let his feelings out, but he just internalized them like he always does. I hope Deku has his breakdown eventually, but if it turns out Bakugo's apology nipped it at the bud so he wouldn't reach that point, then i'm okay with that too.

5:38 This. Hori tried to make Deku more relatable by making him implicit, leaving us to fill in the blanks so we can put ourselves in his shoes. The problem with that is just as you said, MHA is too explicit of a series to really have that kind of blank slate protagonist. It leaves Deku feeling frustratingly hollow, and because of that, people try to fill up that hole in Deku's characterisation with their own headcanons and fanfictions which leads to a whole bunch of other issues.

Just saw this arc in the anime. So this is why I felt something was missing, they don't give us an internal look into Deku's mentality. We just see him doing things and looking sad without explaining what he is thinking of. and then suddenly he picks himself back up without really showing how he got over it. makes him feel so two dimensional.

The funny thing about Subaru acting like an anime protagonist is actually something that also gets called out implicitly in the Witch's Graveyard. Every single character in Re:Zero so far appear multi-faceted, each with layers of history that make them feel believable and real, even if they might have their own individual quirks. However, none of them are particularly defined by archetypes... except for the Witches. Each Witch clearly and demonstrably appears to take after a character archetype that makes them feel flat, 2D, fake, which is all the more unnerving considering what each of them represents. They're not "people" in the same way that Subaru, Emilia, Rem or anyone else in the series is; they're forces of nature, tropes, ideals and ideas. They represent their sin wholeheartedly and without nuance, and when you take their power into consideration? It makes you realise just how terrifying each sin is. There is no negotiation with a Witch, they cannot be reasoned with, because they ONLY ever see their own reasoning, and I believe that's what sells Subaru's character arc better than most: That stark contrast between who he is and what he could look like through the Witches.

Conclusion: We need Deku POV

If Subaru were to act like Deku, he'd end up on the Greed IF path.

If you think subaru has peaked with his self worth turmoil, you are not going to be ready for season 4 (arc 6) ...if we ever get one

I think that's probably why Bakugo tends to win the character polls and Midoriya is constantly in second. He's a cool character and he has his moments but he's a pretty vanilla protagonist who really doesn't fundamentally change much from the beginning of the series to the end outside of getting more comfortable with his powers unlike Bakugo who we see not only grow in strength but also grow as a character leading to that apology scene in the Dark Hero arc which we know old Bakugo would've never done if he hadn't had the experiences that he did up until this point.

I myself don't watch MHA, but I always appreciate a good Subaru character analysis. There's so much present in Subaru that's missing in the character arc of other protagonists that it's quite difficult to not compare him to each MC I see.

The problem here is that horikoshi sets everything up perfectly to give development to Deku, give him some moments of self reflection but he devolves it into a slice of life moment, he gave most character self refection like bakugo, todoroki, iida and even uraraka but he's not giving the moments to Deku that Deku deserves. I personally think that after the current second war Deku will crack and will finally reflect on himself and his situation, not to mention the whole all might death plot point being hinted at could be the best Segway Into Dekus personal growth after he realizes that nobody except him can stop AFO, not even all might would be there for him. That could absolutely crack Deku like Subaru, let me know what you think

Amazing connections and Subaru only gets better especially throughout arc 6 I genuinely think he’s the best mc in fiction and the author giving the what if stories just shows how adaptive Subarus character can get and better representing the then of virtue vs sin that Subaru constantly goes through in the show

Subaru is deeply traumatized and re-zero is a deeply psychological masterpiece. What I also thought during the video was Mod-Psycho's personal journey. Immense character development there, too.

Honestly I love deku but Subaru is just the greatest portagnest in fiction ever especially in the latest arcs

I don't think re zero gets enough love or attention. It's by far my favorite or one of my favorite series because it's willing to look at the probl3ms that come with being in a new world. Watching it was the first step in me looking inward and taking stock of my mental health and taking down the mask I showed to people around me. Thank you for bringing this to light I had similar thoughts

I think the hard thing about this is ultimately the context in which the two characters have been painted, deku on one hand is made to become the greatest hero ever, one who smiles in the face of danger, and to do that he needs SOME diversity, but subaru was never the main hero of the world in the beginning, he wanted to be but time and time again it's his connections to much stronger people that saves him. It's why in one moment of deku being saved by others he is forced into a shallow self reflection, because it's not really a main focus, whereas subaru is constantly having to face hopeless situations in which there are few if any ways out in which he is effectively tortured physically and emotionally having to face his own weakness.

Subaru is what I've always wanted from a protagonist. He's a real person. He could literally be me

You're right, even with everything that's been going on in the MHA manga, Deku's friends looking for him, Uraraka's speech for him, even after all that, Deku hasn't really given himself the time to really think about himself. I know the circumstances don't really give the time for that but Deku still sees himself as a vessel, as a sacrificial pawn for One For All, not as a human being that's fighting against forces bigger than himself. So far in the manga, Deku has understood that he can't do everything alone, that he's not the only hero out there who can fight, but he still hasn't recognized his own value, not as the ninth and last wielder of OFA and the one who HAS to take down AFO, but as Izuku Midoriya, a 16 year old whose life matters.

I love re:zero. Just seing some of these scenes again made me cry like I was watching it for the first time.