Toya Discovers The Sensation Of Mustache

BNHA Observations, speculations and assorted info: Pre-marriage Todoroki Enji (Part 1)

So, in order to write my fic, I spend much time observing canon scenes, comparing the manga and the anime version, take note of details, translations and info in them as well as finding out how are some things called.

Since what I noticed/speculated/found out can be of use for other fic authors I thought to share as well.

Resources:

Chap. 356 "Regarding the Enemy" (敵について Teki ni Tsuite) Chap. 93 "One For All's Ember" (残り火ワンフォーオール Nokoribi One for All) Chap. 165 "Win Those Kids' Hearts" (掴めガキ心) Tsukame Gaki Gokoro) Chap. 189 "Why He Gets Back Up" (彼は何故立ち続けたか Kare wa Naze Tachi Tsudzuketa ka) Chap 192 "The Todoroki Family" (轟家 Todoroki-ke)

Ep. 49 "One For All" (ワン・フォー・オール) Ep. 79 "Win Those Kids' Hearts" (掴めガキ心 Tsukame Gaki Gokoro)

School Briefs I "Epilogue" School Briefs III "Dramatic Makeover!"

Team-Up Missions: Mission 33

To this date the chapter that shows the youngest Todoroki Enji is 356, which include some sort of dream/hallucination in which Enji faces his past self and his 'origin' so first let's look at...

THE FULL SEQUENCE AS IT IS IN THE MANGA

There are two core scenes, one depicting Enji's father's death preceded by a speech of young Enji:

'Sara ni yowaku natta' 「更に弱くなった」 “You became beyond weak.”

'Tachiba to tsugunai to ayamachi to sekinin ga' 「立場と償いと過ちと責任が」 “Position, atonement, mistakes and responsibility.”

'Omae no seirai no yowasa wo abaki dashi miru ni taenai guzu e to hikizuri oroshita' 「おまえの生来の弱さを曝き出し見るに堪えない愚図へと引きずり下ろした」 “Your innate weaknesses was exposed and I can't bear to see how you were dragged down into an indecisive person.”

'Chōjin ni wa narenainda yo Enji (omae) wa' 「超人にはなれないんだよ炎司（おまえ）は」 “Enji, you can’t become a superhuman.”

'Genten wo omoi dase' 「原点を思い出せ」 “Remember your origin.”

While fighting the Nomu Enji said he hated U.A. School motto, Plus Ultra or, in Japanese 'Sarani mukō e' (更に向こうへ "Beyond the other side" or, better "Further beyond"). Now his past self seems to taunt him saying 'Sara ni yowaku natta' (更に弱くなった “You became beyond weak.”)

'Seirai no yowasa' (生来の弱さ) is translated as 'weakness that was always there' in the English version but 'seirai' (生来) actually make clear the weakness is innate, by nature. In short Enji was born weak and tried to hid it. 'Guzu' (愚図), more than a loser is a 'foolish figure', a 'dullard' or also an 'indecisive person'. Enji project an air of arrogance and security but Enji's younger self is implying he's basically not capable.

The official translation uses "Superhero" to translate 'Chōjin' (超人), but there's no 'hero' in the word, someone can be a 'Chōjin' (超人) and be a villain. Ironically we could also translate it as 'superman', and considering later Enji uses laser eyes like Superman I wonder if this was planned.

'Teki ga nan datta no ka wo' 「敵が何だったのかを」 "What was the enemy?"

'Akkan kara shoujo wo sukuou to shi kekka shoujo moro tomo nikukai to ka shita chichi wo' 「悪漢から少女を救おうとし結果少女もろとも肉塊と化した父を」 "Your father tries to save a girl from a Villain and, as a result, he and the girl were turned into a lump of meat."

The way the sentence is put, it seems to imply that the girl and Enji's father both died because the man tried to save her.

Enji is witnessing the scene, a schoolbag on his back. His school uniform misses the shoulder insigna and the necktie which are part of U.A. summer uniform, so it's possible this took place before Enji joined U.A.

The whole implication of the sentence and the dialogue seems to be that since his father was weak, he caused his own death as well as the one of the girl, and this should have started Enji's obsession for strength.

Young Enji goes on speaking about other things Enji should remember:

’Shin no choujin he no senbou to higami wo’ 「真の超人への羨望と僻みを」 “Your envy and inferiority complex toward a true superhuman…”

Again, the official translation uses plural but there's the image of All Might and in My Hero Academia Ultra Archive is made clear Enji previously viewed everyone else but All Might as weak, so the 'true superhuman' is solely All Might back in his past (then he also added Deku).

We can't see Enji's father's face but he's likely the man on the picture hung on the wall in the room with the Butsudan as in that room Enji would place the photo of his deceased family members.

Going on.

'"Doryoku (‘Endeavor’)” to nanoru hikutsu na shoune wo' 「“努力" （エンデヴァー）と名乗る卑屈な性根を」 “You called yourself ‘effort’ (read 'Endeavor’) due to your menial nature.”

This bit confirms Enji chose his Hero name while at U.A. and picked it up because (compared to All Might) he believed he lacked in skill but, probably, he thought he could compensate with effort/hard work.

From other chapters we know Enji and Recovery Girl know each other from his time at U.A.

‘OB no Yoshimi de kite ageta yo’ 「OBのよしみで来てあげたよ」 “I came for you since you were an alumnus”

'Soreni ima wa mō No.1 hīrōda mono ne' 「それに今はもうNo.1ヒーローだものね」 "Besides, you're also the No. 1 hero now.'

While in the Japanese version Recovery Girl is more vague, saying she came because Enji was an alumnus, since she's in U.A. by basically forever she likely got to know him, which is confirmed in "School Briefs I Epilogue" and "School Briefs III Dramatic Makeover!".

In "School Briefs I Epilogue" is said that with her Enji manages his manners because she's someone he had known nearly all his life.

By the way the two of them call each other by their Hero names.

"School Briefs III Dramatic Makeover!" is more specific. It has Recovery Girl tell Shōto she's been in U.A. by a long time and knew his father from when he was a student at U.A. and how she was always threating him for scrapes, cuts and bruises back in those days as his father used to put himself through the wringer hoping to become Number 1 one day, implying he was impressively driven. Shōto will make clear he doesn't want to hear about his father so she'll later be more subtle, telling him every boy and girl at U.A. tend to do their darnest and that they always had, implying Enji did the same.

We also have a bit of info in "Team-Up Missions: Mission 33" about how Enji holds the U.A. record for no-quirks trash pick-up (as All Might was too busy chatting with everyone).

'Sorezore ga hirotta gomi no sōryō o kiroku!' 「それぞれが拾ったゴミの総量を記録！」 "Record the total amount of trash each person picked up!"

'Tadashi "kosei" shiyō-fuka!' 「ただし”個性”使用不可！」 "However, "Quirk" cannot be used!"

'Onore no junsuina tairyoku nomi de shin kiroku o mezasu nōsuji ibentona nda!' 「己の純粋な体力のみで新記録を目指す脳筋イベントなんだ！」 "It's a brain-muscle event where you aim for a new record using only your own physical strength!"

'Chinamini rekidai No. 1 kiroku hoji-sha Endeavor da 「ちなみに歴代No.1記録保持者エンデヴァーだ」 "By the way, Endeavor is the all-time No. 1 record holder."

There's something else in chap 356 that's interesting in the following bit.

'Kojishite inakereba tamotenu teido no minikui kokoro wo' 「誇示していなければ保てぬ程度の醜い心を」 “Unless you're putting on airs you can't sustain your ugly heart”

'Minikui' (醜い) means "ugly" in the sense of "unsightly/unattractive". 'Kokoro' (心) is a delicious word that can refer to "(emotional) heart" but also to "mind" and "soul".

So basically Young Enji is saying that to hide the fact Enji is weak and indecisive, not a real superhuman, he put on airs to hide it... but the interesting part is that the image focuses on Enji's fire beard.

This was said in his profile.

The rest we have on Enji's youth is from other chapter and it's mostly tiny info.

We've a young Enji, who's now an adult but who still feels the gap between himself and All Might is one he can't surpass.

'Kisama (All Might)..." 「貴様 （オールマイト）…」 "All Might..."

'Kisama o koeyou to kensan o kasanete kita…!' 貴様を超えようと研鑽を重ねてきた…！ "I've been repeatedly training hard to surpass you…!"

'Kasaneru hodo ni tsūkan suru.' 重ねる程に痛感する。 "I realized the more I repeatedly did it, the more I feel the pain."

'Kisama to no sa ga… kisama no senaka ga…!!' 貴様との差が… 貴様の背中が…！！ "The difference between you and me is… your back…! !"

'Zetsubō ga! ! Ore o…' 絶望が！！俺を… "I despaired! ! I…"

'Nanda so nonnasakenai senaka wa!!' 「なんだそのっ情けない背中は！！」 “What’s with that pathetic back?!”

LOL, the sentence seems not to make sense but in Japan a large back is equated to strength. Hawks later, thinking about Endeavor will say Enji must do it because Hawks' back isn't large enough.

On another interesting bit... even if Enji says 'All Might' the kanji actually say 'kisama' (貴様) which is currently a very rude way to say 'you'.

We've another bit about Enji's past when he talks with All Might after the latter retired.

'Ore wa ase kō ni subete o takushita' 「俺は焦凍に全てを託した」 "I entrusted everything to Shoto"

'Hatachi no koro ni wa sudeni No. 2 e to noboritsumeta.' 「二十歳の頃には既にNo.2へと登りつめた」 "By the time I was 20 years old, I had already climbed to No. 2."

'Tō tte kitakara koso… rikai shite shimatta.' 「登ってきたからこそ…理解してしまった」 "Because I made that climb… I understands."

'Ore wa itadaki ni wa tadoritsukenai to' 「俺は頂きには辿り着けないと」 "I can't reach the top"

'katagaki ga hoshī dakenara kisama no yō ni herahera to' 「肩書きが欲しいだけなら貴様のようにヘラヘラと」 "If I just wanted a title, I'll be laughing like you."

'Aiso mo furimaitadarou sa.' 「愛想も振りまいただろうさ」 "I would have showed sociability as well."

'Ore wa dare yori tsuyoku naritakatta' 「俺は誰より強くなりたかった」 "I wanted to be stronger than anyone else"

Okay so this was meant to be solely about Enji's past but I can't skip this line. The English translation decided to translate 'takushita' (託した) with 'gave' but it's not like Enji gave Shouto everything Shouto wanted... it's that Enji entrusted his dream, his everything to Shouto. So he's not really depicting himself like a doting father but as a father who planned to have his kid fulfil his dream.

The relevant part in this little dialogue is that Enji became Number 2 at 20.

Considering he started U.A. at 15 and should have finished attending it at 19, it's quite a fast climbing.

The mountain is probably Sekoto Peak (瀬古杜岳 'Sekoto take'), where Enji said he used to train in the past and where Touya will 'die'. (Chap 291).

According to Hawks, Enji was the only one trying to surpass All Might.

Technically though, considering Hawks is one year younger than Touya and got interested in Endeavor after he was saved, he only witnessed him post marriage and it's hard to say if this applied also to when Enji was pretty young. Anyway the previous generation of Heroes come out pretty lame as now the kids at U.A. wants to surpass All Might while before only Enji considered doing it.

And so we get to Enji deciding he can't surpass All Might and therefore must produce a heir who will do so for him... but as that part was transposed in the anime, for a better comparison I'll put it in a part 2.

Some todoroki siblings for the soul

Enji trying to get Touya to look at him for a picture

Fanart by PH6y0

For the Endeavor stans 😔👊🏼

Enji, surrounded by the white walls of the hospital and the beeping of the heart monitor attached to Rei, holding his son for the first time and being in complete awe. He holds the baby so gently, like one wrong move would destroy the fragile peace between the three of them. The child blinks at him with beautiful blue, oh so blue eyes, the same color as him and he just falls in love right then and there. Rei is looking at him with such fondness, and he decides right then and there that he'd do anything to keep this child happy and loved.

Cut to two decades later, no. 1 hero Endeavor kneels on the battlefield, the broken and burned body of his first born cradled in his arms. His son, who had only wanted to make him proud. Who he had abandoned and ignored in a pursuit of a legacy that has only left him with an absent wife and a quiet home. The same legacy that led to his son burning alive twice, first for his love and the second for his death. He looks at the empty shell of a man lying in his arms, heart breaking on how his beautiful baby boy had succumbed to such a painful life because of him. That the promise he made once upon a time to love his son unconditionally will forever remain unfulfilled.

Rei Todoroki: The Unintentional Enabler

TodoFam Discussion, you know what to expect. Pardon my rambling.

We know Enji Endeavor Todoroki is bad and abused his family, which includes Rei. Nobody is arguing that. Rei Todoroki, as the mother of the family is no better; NOT because she had ill intentions, but because being not good enough runs rampant in the entire Todoroki family. Rei Todoroki, for all her good intentions, failed as a mother.

As she takes and accepts her share of the blame in the story, I want to explore that! Rei is a really interesting character that is martyred by the fandom (understandably) but I want to explore her wrongs and shortcomings more. I love to do that with Enji, so his better half gets the same treatment.

Unreliable Narrators; throughout the series, the kids give their insight on the situation of their parents. All of which unreliable, because kids never know the full story. Least trustworthy of all is Dabi, a liar who will do anything and everything to get back at Endeavor, at the expense of his own siblings. He’ll twist the truth into something that benefits him (Hawks killing Twice) and hurt everybody in the process. The only person, therefore, that I am going to take at face value with what happened to Rei is Rei herself. The kids' perspectives are valid of course but they’re not Rei, so she’s the only one I’m listening to.

“Eugenics”; People love to throw the word around without realising what it actually means when referring to Enji wanting a child with both ice and fire, but let’s run with it for this thread. Rei comes from a family of, by this logic, eugenicists who have tried to keep the bloodline pure, at least since Quirks made an appearance because of their distaste of heteromorphs and general superiority complex. The concept of marrying people for status, genetic reasons and money is the norm to her, every corner of the Himura family does that. If she hadn’t married Enji, she would’ve either married the next person fit for her or be married to a distant relative. Thus, she is just in as much fault for agreeing to a Quirk Marriage as Enji is for even thinking of it.

“She had no choice”; Incorrect, Rei says as much. She had every choice, and Enji was the best choice when it comes to the Himura standard. Powerful Quirk, self-made high status as Endeavor and a lot of hard-earned money to provide a financial comfortable life. Rei was fully aware that she was agreeing to a Quirk Marriage, and had absolutely no problems with it, despite them being frowned upon by society, because all the Himura do this sort of thing. Rei and Enji had a miai/omiai, which is incorrectly translated as an arranged marriage. It’s a formal, traditional way of meeting someone with the serious consideration of marriage, which includes the parents/guardians. Like matchmaking. It is NOT a forced marriage, it’s a cultural difference that the west doesn’t have, so this set up is NOT coercive/weird. There are different steps to it, and one of them is ‘kotowari’, a refusal. Rei had that option but she didn’t take it “for the sake of her family”. Enji never forced her into it, her family did pressure her, but at the end of the day, it was her choice to accept or refuse.

Rei too wanted a child for a purpose; A second child was her desire that Enji agreed to, so that Touya and Fuyumi could support each other. A natural desire for siblings of course, but in the end, Fuyumi was conceived with the intent to be a child for her siblings to depend on her, which led her to being the older sister desperately trying to fix a family she once had, something she takes from Rei (‘smile through it’). Just as Touya, Natsuo and Shoto were conceived for a purpose, so was Fuyumi, and as unintentional as it was, Rei placed that heavy burden on Fuyumi, which Enji acknowledges and apologises for.

“Rei didn’t want more kids”; We don’t know if she didn’t want more kids, but we know that she was worried that more kids would negatively affect Touya because he now knew what Enji was aiming for. You can still want more kids while not acting on that want for various reasons. All we know is she was worried (rightfully so), but she saw that Enji wasn’t thinking rationally anymore (yippee mental health).

“Enji raped Rei”; I see why people think and interpret it that way. I don’t, for the simple fact that Rei herself never accuses him of such. Horikoshi is VERY show AND tell (emphasis on tell) storytelling style; if he doesn’t hold back on showing little kids getting beaten up (Deku, Tomura, Toga, Shoto, Shoji), he’d have no qualms in making Rei say that that’s what Enji did. Again, the kids are unreliable narrators and don’t know what happened between their parents, Natsuo doesn’t even know Enji as a father or person. Enji became terrifying to Rei because he was spiralling into insanity, and anybody who’s had a mentally unstable relative in their household will tell you, that’s terrifying. You end up walking on eggshells unless you’re willing to confront and deal with the problem, and until after Shoto’s birth, Rei simply didn’t.

Smile and pretend it’s all okay; Rei, seeing that her husband was spiralling into insanity because of Touya’s injuries, his inability to beat All Might and general stress, saw that emotion was taking over his rationality (yippee mental health). Instead of pushing back against Enji and try to make him see reason (cough cough like Touya cough cough), she decided to fulfil her duties as a mother and wife best she could while smiling through it. In her desire to keep her family together instead of confronting the problem at the very beginning (very hard but necessary thing to do), she enabled Enji, and by the time he started training Shoto and things got violent, it was too late. That’s where Fuyumi gets it from.

When Enji couldn’t do it anymore, neither could Rei; Up until Touya’s attack of Shoto (who Rei was holding), it seems and is my interpretation that only Enji ever tried to dissuade Touya from using his Quirk. Enji is always the one shown to try and talk him out of it, encourage him to make friends, and Rei never seems to be the one having those conversations with Touya. After Touya attacked Rei and Shoto and Enji had to stop him, he decided to seclude Shoto from his siblings. Rei (rightfully) points out that he’s running away from his fatherly responsibilities. Touya just wants Enji to look at him, but Enji is scared of enabling his behaviour further. All Enji knows is the hero world, he only knows what he's self-taught ever since his father died. He has no knowledge on how to deal with this situation. He can’t deal with it anymore, so he tells Rei that he’ll hire someone to help her with the house and kids, and to keep an eye on Touya. The one single time we’re shown her trying to do this, she fails horribly, which was always going to happen; Touya calls her out on her bystanding, enabling and being complicit in the entire thing (a reoccurring theme in MHA) but is incorrect about the details of what happened (as kids typically are). Nonetheless, Rei is unable to stop her preteen son from harming himself, and after that single scene, we have no idea if she tried ever again. Rei never had a chance to stop Touya. Unlike with Shoto, Fuyumi or even Natsuo, we are never shown a scene of Rei being tender to or holding Touya, not as a baby, not even growing up. The most tender we see her is when he’s Dabi and literally burning them all to death. Enji was and always will be Touya’s entire world, and Rei quite simply never could replace him. If Touya wasn’t going to listen to Enji, he certainly wasn’t going to listen to Rei. This is its own topic, but Touya is never shown smiling at nor looking for Rei’s attention, only ever Enji’s.

Always at home, yet never there; Rei is a stay-at-home mother, an important and demanding role that's severely overlooked and underappreciated. However, in that, even with help from the matron, she fails at, especially when Shoto is born. Enji is the breadwinner; he needs to be out and doing his job as a Pro-Hero because that’s his responsibility and that’s what how he provides for his family. And considering that he’s never around (shown by how Touya says he’s always waiting for him to have a day off) if it’s not training Shoto, Rei is the primary influence on the kids. But because she was always focusing on Shoto (like Enji), she ended up unintentionally neglecting Touya, Fuyumi and Natsuo (just like Enji). In School Briefs, Natsuo even reflects on how he started disliking Shoto for taking their mother away (because he’s a kid and didn’t know what was going on) and wanted his father’s attention too, who is a stranger to him. Just like Enji, Rei unintentionally neglected her other kids because she was focusing on Shoto (for obvious reasons).

“Enji was always violent and beat his family”; Again, no. He started becoming violent at home when beginning Shoto’s training. No other instance is shown. Still absolutely horrendous, let’s not minimise that. In the early days, Rei watched Enji and Touya train, which was their way of bonding, and she’s peaceful. He only got brutal with Shoto, and by this point, it was too late to make Enji stop. The one of two times we’re shown Enji hitting Rei, he’s pushing her out of the way that turns into a slap because she’s trying to make him go easier on Shoto. Different topic but, “he’s already five” in my interpretation is because Touya was further ahead than Shoto by this point. Rei was blindsided by Enji’s brutality with Shoto, because he wasn’t like that before. She tried smiling and going with the flow until it was too late. Based on the hospital scene after the Touya reveal, it’s clear that they never spoke in a way that mattered. The two times she tried, Enji was already spiralling and it was too late.

No communication; Enji is a mentally unwell man with heaps of unresolved trauma and issues. Rei was born into an old money family that had lost its influence and prestige a long time ago, that comes with a heavy sense of duty. They’re also traditionally Japanese to a fault. I remember seeing a thread discussing how the Todoroki are a criticism of the traditional Japanese family. Point is, both Rei and Enji leaned into their gender roles so heavily that instead of being a team, they had absolutely no communication, to the point that when Rei was unable to stop Touya, she didn’t even tell Enji. Understandably so, she would’ve been afraid of his anger and his blaming of everyone around him for his own shortcomings (inferiority complex go brrrr). Due to that, as far as Enji was aware (not at all), Rei was being successful in stopping Touya from training at Sekoto Peak. He could just focus on being a Pro-Hero and training Shoto. So when he realised that Rei had failed (like him), he snapped and projected his anger unto her for failing as a mother (like he failed as a father). His frustration is valid, his anger and violence is not. His anger would be valid if it was healthy and correctly managed, but it’s not, so he slaps her in front of Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shoto. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, and after that, the incident with Shoto happens.

“Rei should’ve left with the kids”; Rei was never going to leave, with or without the kids. Rei was brought up with a sense of duty as a wife and mother. She didn’t leave until Enji literally sent her away for injuring Shoto (which she instantly regretted). In her desperation to uphold her family values, she stayed. If she tried to leave, the only children willing to go with her would maybe be Natsuo and Shoto. Touya would rather burn alive than be taken away from his father, Fuyumi would be desperate to keep the family together even at that young age, and if Touya and Fuyumi aren’t going, Natsuo wouldn’t. Shoto is shown to desire a happy family as well, and he’s the only one at this point in time that Enji wouldn’t let be taken away. I’ve already talked about before if Rei could’ve left (I think she could’ve, but Enji would’ve been angry at her while letting her leave), but she simply never would have.

Too little, too late; We don’t know Rei's relationships with her parents. It’s distant for sure, and based on traditional values, she was most likely brought up by her mother more than her father (thus she tried to do the same). When she realised that she couldn’t deal with the kids anymore because they were all looking too much like Enji, she called her mother. We have no way of knowing if her mother knew what was going on or if this was the first time Rei reached out to her. Based on what we’re shown, I’m assuming she never spoke about it. But it was too late at this point. Just like Enji, Rei didn’t notice herself spiraling until this very moment, and it ended up with her reacting to Shoto and hurting him, just like how Enji reacted to Rei’s failure and hurt her (although Rei instantly regretted it, and it took Enji a whole freaking decade to realise; mental health is weird like that).

Gone for an entire decade; This was the best thing for Rei so she could get the help she needed, but her being gone for a decade with little contact with the kids, as necessary as it was for herself, made them feel abandoned. Shoto and Natsuo rightfully blame Enji, Touya kinda, well, died, and Fuyumi filled Rei’s role by ‘smiling through it’ and sweeping the problems under the carpet. The kids were never barred from seeing Rei by Enji as far as we’re aware, probably the hospital let the family know when they’d be able to visit her, which Fuyumi and Natsuo do, Shoto doesn’t until after the Sports Festival, and Enji does very often to bring her flowers but never visiting her (obviously). Only then, distanced from the fire, can she reflect and attempt to understand how all of this happened without getting hurt. That’s why the hospital scene is even possible.

“She recognised Touya during the reveal”; Personal pet peeve. She did not. Nobody did. They all thought him dead (even Enji who had obsessively looked for him; again, lots of telling, Horikoshi, not much showing), he looks and sounds completely different, fire is a common Quirk. Rei realised it was Touya after he LITERALLY SAID THAT’S WHO HE WAS. Neither Rei nor Enji realised he was their firstborn until he revealed himself as such.

Conclusion (it’s just me rambling at this point); Rei is half of the problem.

Take her out of the image and the TodoFam timeline doesn’t happen. It takes two to tango and Rei enabled Enji by knowingly agreeing to a Quirk Marriage and the two never getting to understand each other. Rei says as much, she doesn’t understand how his mind works, they never talked about their pasts or got to know each other on a deeper basis. Rei was in an impossible situation, and there’s a million ‘she should’ve’ statements, but none of them are relevant because she simply didn’t. She’s a victim as much as she is an unintentional abuser and enabler. The road to hell is paved with good intentions while the road to heaven is paved with good action; Rei tried her best, but like with the entire TodoFam, it wasn’t enough.

Rei is such a fascinating character, and the western fandom doesn’t allow her the depth and nuance she deserves. There’s no such thing as a perfect victim, and Rei is by no means perfect. She tried, but in the end, she wasn’t a good mother. She wasn’t present (for obvious reasons) until the Touya reveal, and even then, she puts the weight of being the family’s hero on her youngest. Enji was absolutely terrible and an abuser, Rei was one of his victims, but she unintentionally enabled him and became an abuser in her own right.

That’s why she takes her half of the responsibility as one of the two parents, that’s why she stops having good intentions and ACTS instead by trying to cool Touya down from exploding. Enji didn’t want her to die, and she didn’t want either of them to die neither. Instead of avoiding the problem like she and the family had for years, she finally ACTED when she was needed, her and Enji finally working together as the parents for a moment in their direst moment. Enji knows he’s the problem, that’s why he builds a new house for them to live in while he stays at the Abode, that’s why he always has that dream where his family is happy without him, and he wants them to be happy. And despite that, despite telling Rei she doesn’t need to bear this, she makes the choice to be present and strong, just like how Enji has stopped running away.

TL;DR, Rei is a deeply flawed, imperfect character that is wonderfully nuanced, like the rest of the TodoFam.

Trying her best but never good enough.

What if

We know that Rei found out about Touya in the hospital, but was Enji brave enough to tell her about their son's death himself? I doubt it, but still...

えんじ🔥 by しろしろ@shiroshiro69