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One thing that almost every My Hero Academia fan wanted from the previous seasons was the inclusion of certain students of UA who were introduced during the famous UA Sports Festival. While we love our favorite 1-A class, some of us just wanted to get to know more about class 1-B and this mysterious character from the General Course, Hitoshi Shinso. And mangaka Kohei Horikoshi, author of My Hero Academia, delivered.
Shinso became immensely popular, much to the surprise of Horikoshi who came up with the character right before he went to bed. In this new 5th season of My Hero Academia, the teasers promised a deeper look into class 1-B and Shinso and we at Honey’s Anime were really excited for it! As the battle between Class 1-A, Class 1-B and Shinso’s transfer exam comes to a conclusion, we’re taking the time to look at the kind of character that Shinso is.
His Name Gives You An Idea About Him
Shinso’s name gives you a lot of insight into the kind of person he is. Shinso is comprised of the kanjis 心操 which literally means “to manipulate one’s heart.” This is of course an obvious reference to his quirk Brainwashing which is exactly what it sounds like. His family name Hitoshi means “to rig into one’s favor” which is the way that Shinso uses his quirk, at least at first. We see him manipulating people without caring about them as a villain would. The beauty of Shinso comes through here: while he did give in to society’s expectations of him being a villain, he was desperately waiting for someone to pull him out. It’s shown through his jealousy of Deku. He wishes he had such a powerful “hero-like” quirk. Of course, we all know that even Deku was Quirkless. He wasn’t “blessed” with a quirk. When Deku points out and shows that it’s up to him to be the kind of person he wants to be, Shinso stops. He starts to train with Aizawa to become the kind of hero he wants to be. This is where, at close inspection, Hitoshi Shinso takes on a new meaning because Shinso sounds a lot similar to the Japanese word for “heart.” His name and his character have grown into this beautiful meaning: “to use one’s heart in one’s favor.”
He Breaks The Stereotype
Shinso’s backstory shows us that almost everyone in society thought that he was given a “villain’s quirk.” The overarching theme of My Hero Academia is the very fact that certain quirks are not generally accepted by society, which drives them up against a wall where they eventually become a villain just to be noticed. As absurd as that sounds, it is true for Shinso as well. While he tried to explain to his friends that he wouldn’t use his quirk randomly on them “to rig things in his favor”, nobody believed him. All they could focus on was that he could potentially be a villain. Shinso eventually gave in to that..at least when we were first introduced to him. It took him a fateful encounter with Deku to show that his quirk is what he makes of it at the end of the day. And Shinso slowly develops as a character that when we see him again at the UA Class Battle, he is more concerned about saving people and helping them, more than using them in his favor showing his determination that he wants to be a hero too.
Final Thoughts
Hitoshi Shinso is one great character that it’s almost stunning to note that Horikoshi came up with him before going to bed. When Shinso was first introduced, his quirk was pretty OP but when he is reintroduced in the fifth season, there are more conditions to make his quirk more believable. However, this also could’ve been just an attempt to categorize him as a side character and nothing more which is pretty frustrating for such a great character. On the other hand, his new additions Persona Chords and Aizawa’s Capturing Weapon fit him perfectly and we can see that he really is using his quirk to the fullest!
We hope you enjoyed this article! What do you think of the new season of My Hero Academia? Do you like Shinso? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Author: Evita Vincy
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