He’s (a little) better than you think.
Summary:
- Kotaro experienced deep trauma due to his mother’s abandonment.
- He treated his children in a horrible way.
- Kotaro is a bad person but a great character.
Kotaro Shimura was Shigaraki’s (or Tenko’s) father in My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia), and the fandom seems to agree on one thing: he was a terrible man. While this opinion is more than just correct, there are some things that make Kotaro a very complicated and interesting character.
He’s not a good man
Kotaro used to be a normal and happy kid who loved his mother dearly. There were no signs of him becoming physically or emotionally abusive, but then his mom left him to fulfill her Hero duties, and it broke the boy’s heart.
He was sad and depressed, but his sorrow soon morphed into emotions much more dangerous: pure hatred and resentment. After his mother’s betrayal, Kotaro didn’t even want to hear anything about Heroes and forbade any conversations on this topic in his household.
This affected his children tremendously. The series makes it absolutely clear how much they’re afraid of Kotaro. On top of that, he was physically and mentally abusing Tenko, and this left fans no choice but to hate the man.
What makes it worse is that Kotaro had a lot of time to get better and let go of his past trauma, but he never did it. He was obsessed with his resentment towards Heroes, and nothing could change it for him.
He’s a good character, though
A number of fans think it’s unfair that Kotaro receives this much hatred in the fandom. Of course, he turned into a horrible person who was cruel to his children, but other horrible villainous characters are getting praise from the fandom, so why is it Kotaro who receives this harsh treatment?
He experienced a deep trauma that changed his entire world and his perception of it. He was a victim first, and that’s why he became dangerous and turned others into victims.
Kotaro was never heartless, though, he expressed regret and remorse, and he mentions his children when talking about the things he loves most. He wants them to live happy lives, but his trauma stands in the way and he is unable to overcome it.
This makes his personality very complex and interesting. Kotaro is capable of abuse and horrible things, that’s for sure, but it’s not all there is to him. And this contrast is what makes him very entertaining to follow.
Of course, nothing will change the way he treated his kids, and it’s absolutely unforgivable, so most of the hate directed at this character is deserved. But seeing how complex he really is makes you understand that he doesn’t deserve this hate as a character, but only as a person.