Toya's revival in My Hero Academia could be inspired by the Blood Lad anime

Modified Jun 13, 2024 18:36 GMT

Following the fight between Shoto Todoroki and Dabi in My Hero Academia manga, many fans believed that the eldest Todoroki son had perished in battle. However, as hinted by My Hero Academia chapter 425, Toya Todoroki might still be alive, although he may be in critical danger.

While this was a surprise to the fans, one theory by a My Hero Academia fan on X suggests that Toya's revival was hinted at by the manga creator quite some time ago. Moreover, it might have been inspired by the 2013 action-comedy anime called Blood Lad.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the My Hero Academia manga.

My Hero Academia theory suggests the inspiration behind Toya's revival

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Following the release of My Hero Academia chapter 425, one fan on X @BL00Dtoga revealed a theory that suggested manga creator Kohei Horikoshi possibly being inspired by the Blood Lad anime for Toya Todoroki's revival.

The main goal of the Blood Lad anime's protagonist, Staz Charlie Blood, was to resurrect Fuyumi Yanagi. As per @BL00Dtoga, Horikoshi must have assigned ghost Fyumi Yanagi's role in the story to Toya Todoroki. This is also evident from Dabi's concept art sketches for the final act.

Dabi as seen in My Hero Academia anime (Image via BONES)

The illustrations featured the character in white clothes, similar to a ghost's. Additionally, one illustration saw an outline of Dabi donning a white headband, which is often depicted on ghosts.

Hence, with Dabi's white clothes and headband, his character design looked very similar to that of a Japanese ghost from the Edo era. This is because the deceased people were cleaned and dressed this way before their funeral.

Dabi as seen in the anime (Image via BONES)

As for the headband, there are several reasons why it must have come into 'fashion.' It is called a paper eboshi and is meant to signify when someone has ascended to a higher level. The paper eboshi is placed on their heads to show their new status.

As per @BL00Dtoga, this might also be the reason why Kohei Horikoshi changed Dabi's hair color to white, to signify that he had a higher status among the Todorokis for having the strongest flames.

Another explanation for paper eboshi is that the sharp point of the triangle wards off evil spirits or demons from entering the now-empty body from the head. With that, people wished to stop an external force from resurrecting the corpse or preventing the spirit's transition.

It was in My Hero Academia season 6 that the anime revealed that Toya Todoroki was holding himself back with words and actions. However, after he revealed his true self to the world, he embraced it.

Endeavor looking at Toya Todoroki (Image via Shueisha)

As per the Blood Lad anime, one needs two things to resurrect someone: the bones and the soul. When Endeavor learned about Toya's death, he could not find his bones or soul.

However, now that Toya had revealed himself, Endeavor had both his soul (Toya's true nature) and bones. Thus, there is a good chance that Endeavor will take on the role of Staz Charlie Blood and resurrect his son, Toya Todoroki.