Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia: You Are Next
My Hero Academia: You are next Features a solid romance subplot surrounding its original characters Giulio and Anna, but even their climactic moment at the end of the film can’t top one scene from the film’s middle in the heartbreak department. This scene, of course, has to do with Shoto Todoroki and his relationship with his family.
In the film’s climax, Giulio tries to stop Anna’s Quirk from raging out of control, even though he is now unable to use his own Quirk after losing his right hand. Giulio creates a mass of prickly vines in a last-ditch attempt to get closer to Anna, and out of sheer desperation, winds up touching her with his left hand in the hopes that something might happen. Surprisingly, something happens, as Giulio is revealed to be compatible with Anna’s Quirk, and has his own Quirk empowered, so that it can now deactivate the Quirk factors of those he touches permanently.
Anna is saved, and the couple is finally able to reunite after spending the entire movie apart.
Todoroki’s dream reveals his true motivation
Shoto Todoroki’s dream sequence unveils his desire
The reunion of Anna and Giulio is certainly emotional, but it does not hold a candle to one scene in the middle of the film, at least for long-time fans, and especially those familiar with the end of the manga. As the students of Class 1-A stumble upon a courtyard where the villain Deborah Gorrini has used her Daydream Quirk, empowered by Anna’s, to entrance a large group of civilians into touching Anna in an attempt to find out if they are Compatible. When class 1-A tries to intervene, Deborah puts them all to sleep too, and they give pleasant day dreams.
In Shoto Todoroki’s daydream, he is shown as a child again, without the scar over his eye. He is invited to play by his older siblings, including Toya, who is alive and also unscarred. Shoto is thrilled at the chance to play with his siblings, something he was denied in his actual youth due to Endeavor’s intense training for him. Endeavor and his mother are shown happily watching the children play in the yard, and Shoto even mutters something about eating soba noodles.
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While some of the students’ dreams have a sad element to them, Todoroki’s is by far the most heartbreaking due to the sheer amount of trauma his family is shown to suffer over the course of the series.. Of course Todoroki, if shown what he really wanted, would see himself and his siblings as children again, able to get along like normal kids and play freely, without worrying about training or their parents’ emotional states. All Shoto really wanted was to have a normal life and to be allowed to be free with his siblings – even Toya, who we now know as Dobby.
The Todoroki dream foreshadows his manga ending
One small line foreshadows Todoroki’s final manga fate
Warning: Spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga end ahead
In the final chapters of the manga, which were not adapted into the final season of the anime, Dobby is revealed to have survived the final battle, although he is little more than a burnt husk who will never be able to live a normal life. The Todoroki family visits Dobi/Toya in his recovery tank, and Shoto points out that he would really like to learn more about his big brother, even with all the terrible things he’s done. Having mentioned earlier that he didn’t even know what Toya’s favorite food was, Dobby finally tells Shoto how the family is starting to leave: he loves soba noodles, to which Shoto agrees.
Toya was struck with remorse for his actions that had led him to this state, perhaps finally realizing that he would never be able to sit down and have a simple bowl of soba with his younger brother. Touya apologizes to Shoto, acknowledging that it was never his brother’s fault, but only after the family had already left. It is a tragic scene, with Toya’s life being artificially dragged on and only allowed to speak to his family for a few minutes a day.
The mention of Soba in the film seems like a clear reference to this scene, which would appear only a few weeks before the release of the movie, foreshadowing that Shoto and his brother, who he wants nothing more than to know and get along with. , already share something in common. Because this, the My Hero Academia: You are next Scene is even harder than it already is, ensuring that it is without a doubt the most heartbreaking moment in the film.