My Hero Academia: Why Was Bubble Girl Controversial?

One of the most recent characters in the My Hero Academia series (at least in the animated adaptation) was also, at the time, one of the most controversial. Kaoruko Awata, known by her heroine name Bubble Girl, was added to the series through a character design contest. Actually, he hasn't had much screen time, but his revealing wardrobe and participation in a certain scene generated some controversy in the already "characteristic" fan base of the franchise.

Who's Bubble Girl?

Bubble Girl was designed by Abara Chiita, a fan of the My Hero Academia series. After he won a fan-led contest, it was confirmed that his character would be added to the Kohei Horikoshi manga series. Bubble Girl is a young woman with dark blue hair and light blue skin, as well as a slightly revealing hero outfit. It is an interesting design with an unusual color palette, although a certain part of the fans did not appreciate this.


Bubble Girl is a member of Sir Nighteye's hero agency, which was not the original plan. She is a kind and dedicated heroine who often fears being fired from the agency. His Quirk is "Bubble", which allows him to create bubbles that contain any aroma that he has smelled before. Quirk Quirk Quite Quite But Represented Good Support During “Shie Hassaikai Arc” However, as mentioned above, some fans were unable to see these positives and only focused on the controversy.

But what was the mentioned controversy?

It turns out that Bubble Girl in its original conception was a 16-year-old student at the U.A.Academy, that is, a first year. Because of this, its design stirred some conservatives. Many of the complaints were focused on her revealing outfit, which shows the lower part of her breasts. His exposed torso and baggy shorts didn't help this either. A portion of My Hero Academia fans rose up in protest, arguing that this design was inappropriate (especially for a minor) and that they should change their wardrobe. However, Horikoshi ignored all of this and there was no change, or so it was thought, since his age was changed from 16 to 21, and his status in the series was changed from student to professional heroine. Although the latter could have been a coincidence as a result of Horikoshi deciding that it would fit better in the plot being alongside Sir Nighteye, it was never actually clarified.

The second point on which the said protests were based occurs when Midoriya meets Sir Nighteye for the first time, at which time, Bubble Girl is subjected to a "Tickle Torture" where she is tied to a tickle machine as punishment. Quickly, the conservative fan section rated this scene as troublesome and even fetishistic.


For better or for worse, the My Hero Academia fan base can be quite conservative (to say the least) at times. In fact, Nejire Hado's design for the "Big Three" also went through a similar controversy, and the way the series presents its female characters has been criticized. Of course, another part of the fan base dismissed all of these criticisms arguing that this unnecessary controversy simply sought to demean great character design and that the tickling machine drama was over-the-top exaggerated. Which side will be right? What is certain is that, after the problem that My Hero Academia had in China and that even led to the change of a character's name, this will probably not be his last controversy.

Source: CBR

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