There is something I needed to get off my chest and I'd like to put a trigger warning for Shoto fanbois and girls.

I've been following MHA as an anime first since 2016 then started reading manga also at the end of season 3.

While at the beginning, Naruto's embers were still livid people were trying to find similarities between mha's characters and Naruto's. I have been quick to notice similarities between him and a certain Genius with a troubled family background named Neji Hyuga who was my fav character in his show. Knowing what kind of fate Neji met , I refused to like Shoto since the beginning and gradually came to like Bakugo. For several years until like season 3-4 people have been consistently putting Shoto as the first seed of his class and it had been annoying.

The introduction being there I'd like to state that Shoto is just a bus rider with no real motivation to compete for the 1st spot , do whatever is necessary to win even though it means compromising your whole career or future like deku or Bakugo vs respectively shiragaki and AFO.

Arguments to back up my reasoning:

• he has never been the genius ppl made out of him , or like his alter ego Neji . Sure the guy has an alter good enough to pass the UA exam anyway , still he got there through recommendation. While he has been hyped in S2 to introduce the Todoroki family plot , it has always been suggested that The class's smartest was Momo while the #1 overall was Bakugo.

• he lost the leadership and weight in his class gradually like just after the test where he was paired with momo and failed to make things work. Seeing Bakugo naturally taking the lead , and for example giving him instructions during the paranormal liberation war , leading the whole class during the movie ( You're Next) or ova.

• couldn't address the issue in his family at all even after endeavour softened in S4. Never stood or confronted his dad at all like Natsu, never tried to make everybody sit and address the problem. Didn't want to use his ''father''s'' quirk but was eager to take his recommendation to go to UA , join his agency and stuff , crazy stuff.

• couldn't get an awakening when our homeboy Koda, even Ochaco got one. Phosphorus is a technique, like FlashFire Fist or Cluster it ain't an awakening at all I'd say. Meaning that he never Locked in during a fight, risked it all like ... Hell Touya did it in front of him.

All these things out together make me just think that he's not that guy especially at the end of the manga. I won't say wasted potential but he was never that guy to begin with. Having watched the latest movie in theaters last August and appreciated his recent ''rising'' , I'd like to give him some props though. The implications of him being somehow close to Bakugo at the end of the manga are a little off to me as in that class I'd say there is a big 2 , then another secondary big 2 ( Todoroki Tokoyami) then probably Eijiro to complete the top5 short list .

Sorry if my English is broken ... I try my best despite it being my secondary language. Thank you for reading and I'd like to know what you guys think.