How Does My Hero Academia Book 7 Develop Deku And Bakugo?

Question

Halfway into My Hero Academia volume 7 and Deku and Bakugo's dynamic is super tense. How does their rivalry evolve after the hero license exam arc? I'm invested.

TaraBook · Answer

Visually, the development is in their body language after the fight. Compare the first chapter of the volume to the last. They start off tense, back-to-back, unable to cooperate. By the end, even though they're not chatting amiably, there's a lack of hostility. They can stand near each other without sparks flying. Horikoshi tells so much of the story through their postures and expressions. The development isn't in a speech; it's in the unclenching of fists and the easing of scowls. It's a masterclass in showing, not telling.

NashAdams · Answer

Deku’s notebook brain fails him in this volume. His usual modus operandi—analyze, plan, execute—goes out the window when Bakugo is in danger. He acts on pure, untempered instinct. That’s a character reveal. It shows what’s at his absolute core, beneath the fanboy and the analyst: a heart that cannot stand to see someone suffer, especially someone he’s emotionally tied to, however badly. That instinct is his greatest strength and his most glaring weakness. The volume doesn’t judge it as purely one or the other; it presents it as a complicating, dangerous fact of who he is.

WadeChat · Answer

I appreciate that the aftermath isn’t neat. They don’t hug it out. Bakugo doesn’t say thanks. The teachers are furious and scared. The press is hysterical. The volume ends on a note of tension, fear, and unresolved conflict. That’s realistic development. Real growth after trauma is slow, messy, and often begins with regression or silence. By not giving us a cathartic resolution between them, the volume trusts the reader to understand that this is a long, painful process. The development is in the destabilization of their status quo, not in its repair.

Maris · Answer

It's a masterclass in pacing character revelation. The volume doesn't front-load the emotional beats. It builds through action, through failed teamwork, through All Might's warnings, and then unleashes everything in the fight. The development feels earned because the narrative has been applying pressure to this specific fault line for volumes. When it finally cracks, the release is cathartic for the characters and the reader. You feel like you've gone through the wringer with them, which makes their changed dynamic afterward feel truly satisfying.

NicoRice · Answer

I view it through the lens of power dynamics. Initially, Bakugo holds all social and perceived power. Deku holds the secret power (OFA). The fight is a violent rebalancing. Bakugo's social power proves meaningless; Deku's secret power is revealed. By the end, their power is equalized—Bakugo understands Deku's burden, Deku no longer fears Bakugo's dominance. The development is a shift from a vertical hierarchy to a horizontal, if rocky, parity. They can now interact without the old weight of inferiority/superiority crushing them.

BeauReed · Answer

It's a volume about the burden of knowledge. Deku carries the secret of One For All; Bakugo carries the secret guilt of the kidnapping and now the truth about Deku's power. Sharing that knowledge, violently and unwillingly, binds them together in a new way. Their development is tied to this shared, heavy secret that excludes everyone else. It creates a unique, complicit link between them, a private understanding that will both strain and connect them for the rest of the series. They become partners in a confidential truth.

NellCole · Answer

From a writing perspective, it's the payoff for all the planted seeds. Bakugo's quiet moments of guilt after the rescue, his frustration during the exams—it all crescendos here. For Deku, it's the culmination of bearing the One For All secret and the pressure it creates. The volume develops them by forcing their deepest conflicts into the open air. You couldn't have this moment in Volume 3; it needed all that simmering history. It feels earned because we've seen every slight, every glare, every moment of jealousy build to this breaking point.

BellaWest · Answer

Okay, can we just talk about the panel where Deku sees Bakugo captured? His face is pure, unadulterated terror. Not for himself, but for Kacchan. After years of bullying, he still sees the kid who inspired him first. That’s not healthy, but it’s foundational to his character. This volume forces that unhealthy bond into the open. The pros see it as a liability. Deku’s mom sees it as a danger. But for Deku, saving Bakugo is non-negotiable. It complicates the simple ‘hero saves victim’ narrative because their history makes it deeply personal and psychologically messy.

BenDay · Answer

It's funny, my friend who's a casual viewer didn't get the hype. 'They just fought again,' he said. But if you're invested in the characters, every punch carried years of subtext. The development is in the subtext. It's in Bakugo's flashback to Deku trying to help him as kids, in the way Deku finally calls him 'Kacchan' without stuttering mid-fight. Those tiny details are the real payoff. The fight is just the vehicle to deliver those character beats. The development is emotional, not physical.

GemmaCole · Answer

Let’s not forget the One For All secret hovering over everything. Deku knows All Might’s time is limited because of him. Bakugo starts to suspect a hidden link between All Might’s weakness and Deku. This volume adds another layer: Deku’s reckless rescue attempt could have exposed that secret or gotten him killed, wasting the legacy. The pressure Deku feels to be worthy, and the confused resentment Bakugo feels at being kept out of this secret circle, both intensify here. It’s not just personal rivalry; it’s a clash over the symbolic heart of heroism itself.

SamFox · Answer

It's less about individual development and more about establishing their dyad as the core relationship of the series. Before this, you could argue All Might and Deku were the central pair. After this, it's clear the story is equally about Deku and Bakugo's intertwined paths. The volume locks them together in a new, inescapable narrative bond. Their growth is now permanently linked. One cannot progress without affecting the other. That structural pairing is a form of development for the story itself, centering their conflict and eventual cooperation as the engine of the plot.

Rio · Answer

I have a pet theory that the location—Ground Beta—is symbolic. It's a training ground designed to look like a city, a place for play-acting as heroes. But their fight strips away all pretense of play. They're not hero and villain; they're two real people with real pain. The development happens when the 'game' of being heroes stops and the reality of being human beings takes over. The fake city backdrop underscores how this is the moment their relationship becomes real, moving beyond the roles they've assigned each other.

How Does My Hero Academia Book 7 Develop Deku And Bakugo?

12 Answers

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