My Hero Academia: Which Fight Scene Was Better?

Midoriya vs, Todoroki wins in terms of visuals.

Both fights were great in terms of buildup, emotions, and impact, but I think Midoriya vs. Bakugo slightly edges out victory. It was a confrontation the series had been building up to for a while and it ends in a major point of the story, where Midoriya and Bakugo are now full rivals and have a much better understanding of each other, not to mention Bakugo being let in on the backstory of One For All. Midoriya vs. Todoroki has great impact too, but Todoroki is not the main rival and his hangups are more centered around his father than Midoriya, so it's just a little more removed from the main ongoing story.

The first one, easily.

Deku vs Kacchan

Deku vs Todoroki.

Deku vs Shoto. The depth in their interactions and the way Midoriya fights as a way of reaching out to Shoto in order to help him embrace his own abilities was brilliantly executed. It also played against expectations since I thought Deku would win - and it was spectacular visually.

I don't know really. While I think that Deku's fight with Bakugou was more impressive since Deku was more in control of his abilities there and could put up more of a fight, I'll agree that his fight with Todoroki was just on another level emotionally. Not sure which one to choose really.

P.S. Still waiting for a proper Bakugou/Todoroki fight. Their fight, if it even can be called that, at the end of the tournament was so disappointing. Even though the scene with Bakugou getting the medal was so funny.

Bakugo beat a severely holding back deku. The fight was cool though.

@geraltsopinion: Deku was only holding back at first. After he realized how bakugo was feeling he stopped holding back and even pushed himself to 8% the first time.

@geraltsopinion: Deku stopped holding back and was actually at his strongest 8% at the time.

bump

Didn’t he only use 5% in that last punch though?

Bakugo vs deku was better for me

Although deku vs todoroki had a more epic feel

In regards to Midoriya, holding back can mean a couple different things.

For most anime characters, they're holding back as to not hurt their opponent or because they don't take their opponent seriously. With Midoriya, there are plenty of moments where he's holding back to not kill someone but most of the time it's so he doesn't cripple himself.

So depending on how you want to look at it, Midoriya using 8% with a 5% punch isn't him holding back. He's fighting back as hard as he can using what he can actually do and what he deems as actually "his power". That other 95 to 92% is just OFA running wild.

Not even 100%. 20% Deku is more than enough.

@uugieboogie: He was using 5% the whole time and bakugo even pushed him to 8% which was his limit at the time. He didn't have 20% at that time. He only used 5% with that punch so he wouldn't wreck his arms. It wasn't for bakugos safety.

Regarding 20% I do want to go on record and say I think people have the wrong idea of 20%.

Deku vs Todoriki for the emotional buildup with Deku and Todoriki. The Deku vs Kacchan fight didn't give me that feeling. It was a cool visual fight, though.

The first fight was better. Deku should have won the 2nd fight. I realize it’s fictional, but it just felt like he should have won. Baku Go was being kinda whiny although this was the start of him not being an ahole.

That’s what I’m saying. I know he started using 8% mid fight, but the final punch was was only 5%. Whether he was doing to not wreck his arms or to not wreck Kacchan he still technically was holding back.

And I know he didn’t have 20% at the that time. What I was saying was that Deku wouldn’t need 100% to beat Kacchan, 20% would be more than enough in that fight. What do you mean by the wrong idea though?

Deku vs Todoroki was better in both the anime and manga.

Agreed 100%. It felt silly that a character whose superpower is 'explosions' can defeat a character "super strength' . Bakugou should be no match for Deku in H2H combat

Bakugo throughout the entire series has been shown to be very skilled in combat and knows how to use his Quirk in a variety of ways. It's not just raw power. He's used his explosions for flight, maneuverability, agility, flash bangs, and even precision with his AP Shot. Compare that to Midoriya, who was still working out the kinks in his Shot Style and working on using his power in ways that won't hurt himself. Even after the fight, Bakugo points out that even with Midoriya's speed increase he was still able to keep up with him because Midoriya's movements were too predictable.

Do I want Midoriya to eventually beat Bakugo? Of course. But it's very reasonable why he's not at that point yet. He needs to learn from Bakugo's strengths just as much as Bakugo needs to learn from his.

You're missing my point. Each character has a unique ability/ superpower in MHA world. Deku's superpower is superhuman strength, speed and durability. Bakugou's super power allows him create explosions. He can be as skilled as he likes but will never the physical stats strength as Deku since that is not his power. He should be outclassed by Deku in CQC, yet we see him casually trading blows with him even though he is just a regular teen boy outside his quirk. It just undermines Deku. What is the point of a 'super strength' quirk if Bakugou, who should have normal human stats, can physically match him. I just didn't like the fight. It felt like the author was pandering to Bakugou. As if his personal issues somehow justifies his behavious and the constant bullying of Deku

I wouldn't call that holding back. To me I usually associate holding back with not fighting to your best because you don't want to kill or hurt someone. Midoriya would have been holding back there so he doesn't do more damage to himself than Bakugo.

Midoriya has only used 20% full cowl twice. Once against overhaul by accident and again while training with all might. In the latter instance All Might explained how Midoriya should be using one for all and midoriya resolved to use only his finger tips to create air pressure. He's learning to control one for all at specific points. He isn't blitzing people at 20% and can barely handle the power which is why he locked black whip away.

Except Bakugo has been shown to be decently strong and able to resist decent damage, such as when Midoriya nearly dislocated his own shoulder using one of Bakugo's gauntlets, or even just Bakugo being able to take the strain of his own explosive force in general (or when All Might kneed him into a building). And you're acting like the entire fight was just Midoriya and Bakugo punching and kicking each other. Bakugo was using his Quirk plenty of times for direct attacks. I'm pretty sure it really freaking hurts to be hit in the face by an explosion.

And beyond that, it's not like 8% is putting Midoriya's strength at All Might or even Sugar Rush levels. It's not clear-cut that Midoriya should be KOing his opponents or breaking their bones in single blows. He's still learning and growing.

So I greatly disagree with your statement that "He should be outclassed by Deku in CQC". There's more to fight than just raw power. Bakugo, since the beginning of the series, has always been shown to be the better fighter between the two. The one advantage Midoriya might have had over him was his speed and strength. But since Bakugo can take a lot of damage, deal a lot of damage, and, like he himself said, still predict Midoriya's movements even with his speed increase, how does any of that make it clear that Midoriya should be the winner just because he has super strength in a close-quarters fight?

Don't get me wrong, I like Midoriya way more than Bakugo. But I feel that because Bakugo is such an asshole generally, people don't want to give him credit where he deserves it and just push it off as the author trying to backtrack on his character or justify his past actions. I like the Midoriya/Bakugo rivalry because of how much they both stand to gain by learning from the other. The fight showed just how much Midoriya has to grow regarding his combat ability (heck, the fight itself and other showed how much Midoriya HAS grown by learning from Bakugo).

@aros001: Good posts, but you’re wrong about people not liking Bakugo and not wanting to give him credit. He’s won every popularity poll since the 2nd. That’s been a while ago. There’s been like 5 since then. He’s still 1. I think Midururiya is like 3 or 4.

Both

First fight.