Summary
Out of everything that came out ofMy Hero Academia’s final war arc, Toga and Ochako’s confrontation was the one that turned the most heads. Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi wrote their story with exceptional emotional depth, to the point that the lines between friendship and romance were blurred by the time they reached a conclusion.
In all honesty, blurring the lines between friends and lovers is practically a shōnen rite of passage (take Naruto and Sasuke, for example). Much likethe legendary bond between the two shinobiof the Hidden Leaf, Toga and Ochako’s relationship is marked by intense emotional connection, a hint of obsession, and that lingering question: Are they more than friends? While most famous shōnen duos eventually clarify their platonic status, Toga and Ochako’s dynamic remains ambiguous. This lack of clarity has led to widespread speculation: Is their relationship a genuine romantic subplot, or have fans misinterpreted the signs? Some argue it’s another instance of queer fetishization by anime fans, and while that’s true in some cases, is that really what happened to Ochako and Toga inMy Hero Academia?
Toga and Ochako’s Dynamic In The Early Stages
Toga Sought Ochako’s Friendship
Fans know that Toga’s quirk requires her to drink the blood of those she wishes to transform into.But since her quirk awakening,she could also use the quirks of the person she had turned into; the only condition was that it had to be someone she truly loved. This blurred the line between wanting to belikeher targets and wanting tobethem, which is a very dangerous distinction she failed to make.
Toga first met Ochako duringthe Wild, Wild Pussycats Training Camp Invasion, and she was instantly taken with the young hero-in-training. Toga remarked that she and Ochako had a similar “smell” - a detail only she could perceive. She also accurately deduced Ochako’s feelings for Deku, which only seemed to elate her further, asking if discussing their crushes wasn’t “fun.”
Throughout their initial interactions, Toga craved friendship from Ochako. When Twice died before the Paranormal Liberation War, she even reached out to Ochako, respecting her enough to seek her opinion. So Ochako’s lukewarm response clearly stung.
As for Ochako, she didn’t really know Toga well enough to care about her in the beginning. But during the final war arc, something changed. Ochako started to understand Toga better, maybe because she’s good at feeling what others feel. After all, Ochako was the only one who cared about the other heroes and the people involved in bloody events. Her character arc can be summed up by her question, “the heroes save everyone, but who saves the heroes?” So, when she realized the depth of Toga’s trauma, it’s not surprising that Ochako didn’t need much time to forge a meaningful bond with her.
Was Toga and Ochako’s Relationship Romantic?
Toga’s Unconventional View of Love
Was Ochako and Toga’s relationship romantic, though? To answer that, it’s important to understandwhat love means to both both of the characters.
For Toga, love is a visceral, all-encompassing desire tobecomethe person of her affection. She believes that to truly love someone, she must physicallyconsume them by drinking their blood. It doesn’t help that she’s a girl who falls in love very easily — sometimes for the simplest reasons.
In the last few chapters of their fight, Toga admitted that she loved a lot of things: animals because they’re cute, humans because they have pretty smiles, and, at some point, Ochako, because she was cute as well. That’s a blatant confession, if nothing else, which cannot be dismissed as mere infatuation.
Uraraka Accepts Toga’s Love
Uraraka’s response to Toga’s confession makes it equally obvious. Rather than rejecting Toga like everyone else did, Ochako embraces her in her own way. She offers Toga as much blood as she wants, recognizing and validating Toga’s feelings and making the poor girl cry. Ochako adds that Toga should smile more often, because her smile is the cutest in the world — simple words, but enough to move Toga to tears.
In the end,Toga transforms into Ochako to give her a life-saving blood transfusion. This alone should be enough to tell fans what they need, because Toga’s Quirk only allows her to mimic the powers and blood type of someone she loves; her feelings for Ochako were very real.
The Debate: Was It Romantic?
Despite these deeply emotional exchanges, some fans argue that Toga and Ochako’s feelings weren’t romantic.Both characters had expressed love for Deku, complicating the nature of their bond. However, Toga’s understanding of love transcends traditional romantic boundaries. For her, love is about forming a deep, almost obsessive connection with someone, to the point of wanting to become them. This desire was better demonstrated with Ochako than with anyone else. Their bond was so profound that Ochako was the last person Toga chose to transform into — that’s the most romantic moment in all ofMy Hero Academia.
Uraraka’s grief after Toga’s death, and her continued remembrance of Toga post-war, including wearing Toga’s favorite flower as a hair clip, only goes on to solidify the depth of their relationship. This kind of emotional attachment suggests that, by all means, their relationship had evolved into something romantic, even if it defied conventional definitions. Maybe if Toga hadn’t died, her redemption arc could have involved a romantic sub-plot with Ochako.
My Hero Academia
In My Hero Academia, Young Deku is born into a world where people commonly have something called quirks, also known as superpowers. He himself is born without any, but circumstances lead to that changing. He enrolls at the UA High School, a prestigious academy where the worlds future heroes learn how to use their powers.
