Mineta Minoru

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Character
Name: Mineta Minoru
Occupation: U.A. Hero Course student
Relationships: Member of Class 1-A
Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia
Other: Commonly written out of English fanfiction
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Mineta Minoru is a supporting character of the shounen manga and anime series Boku no Hero Academia by Kōhei Horikoshi. He's widely disliked by the English BNHA fandom; when he's not written out of fanfiction entirely he is a frequent subject of character bashing. (See Mineta Hate for examples).

Canon

Mineta, also known as "Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice", is a member of Class 1-A at U.A. High School. His quirk consists of round purple balls, which look much like grapes, pulled from his head that have adhesive qualities. If he uses it too much, he bleeds. Mineta is unashamedly and over-the-top perverted, and often suffers for doing things like peeping on girls. This is presented as humorous by the narrative, which is a common anime trope.

Fandom

Fans who like Mineta cite his high intelligence and teamwork scores, that he's humourous, and that he's frequently made positive comments/had positive thoughts about Midoriya Izuku.[1] Some fans think his perverted behavior is largely exaggerated, or at least focused on much more than other perverted characters in BNHA.[2] Other fans don't care or even enjoy that he's perverted and are unapologetic about it,[3] or think the amount of Mineta hate in the fandom is overly negative and disruptive.

In the official Weekly Shonen Jump popularity polls, Mineta was in 18th place, with 65 votes, in the first Japanese popularity poll in 2015. He was 17th in the first English-language poll in 2015. On subsequent polls his place dropped to the 30s and 40s and he did not appear on the top spots, indicating a decrease in popularity which may be the result of increasing dislike of him, or his decreasing relevance to the plot. In a 2018 poll by CrunchyRoll, Mineta came in 14th place, beating out Shinsou Hitoshi - with whom he is frequently replaced in fanworks - by ten votes and four places.[4]

Fan reaction to Mineta likely differs in Japanese fandom and Western fandom[5] due to differing perceptions about the "pervert" character type and crude sexual humor in animanga, which is rather common in shounen. Fans have speculated[6] about how Horikoshi Kohei, BNHA's mangaka, feels about the reaction to Mineta. In Western fandom, this question is related to controversy that exists around Horikoshi himself, who has said that he considers himself perverted and is attracted to and deliberately sexualizes his teenage girl characters. Mineta and his actions can be understood as fully in line with the kind of content that Horikoshi enjoys. Anime or hentai fans who proudly consider themselves perverted may also identify with Mineta.

Ships

Mineta Hate

Mineta hate is extremely widespread, to the point where it is impossible to be a Mineta fan without knowing about the hate, and those outside of BNHA fandom are often aware of it.

If there is anything I fine fascinating it’s the absolute, pure hatred for Mineta Minoru.

Anime has some perverted characters. But most of the time, those characters are still loved by fans because they are more then just “HOT WOMEN”. They are complex and three dimensional characters. And at the very least, there are always some people who like that one hated character.

No one likes Mineta.

I just looked up the tag “mineta minoru” here on tumblr. Absolutely nothing. Tried it the other way around because Japanese names. Once again, absolutely nothing.

The absolute hatred for Mineta Minoru is so intense and pure, that no one even puts their hate in his tag. He has no tag. Absolutely everyone hates this irredeemable grape gremlin.[7]

It's fairly common for the character Mineta Minoru to be written out of fics as many fans dislike him for canon's treatment of his sexual harassment towards women as a joke. Common methods of writing Mineta out of fic include:

  • expelled from Class 1-A,[8] often on the first day during Aizawa's quirk assessment
  • never managed to get into either Class 1-A or UA in the first place
  • universe alteration where he just doesn't exist

While Mineta Hate is a form of character bashing, it is notable that anti-Mineta sentiment and criticism is so widespread that the treatment of the character is considered justified, and not excessive or petty. Unlike many other victims of character bashing, Mineta not an obstacle to any more popular ship in canon. However, his presence, though usually relegated to comic relief, is widely considered excessive and disruptive.

Archive of Our Own has multiple canonical tags covering exactly how Mineta has been written out of fics.

In November 2018 there were 416 works in the Archive of Our Own tag "Alternate Universe - Mineta Minoru Doesn't Exist"; in November 2019 that number had increased to 841.[9] Some fans' opinions are very evident in the canonical's synonymous tags:[9]

  • "also this is an au where mineta is fucking dead btw"
  • "Alternate Universe - That Grape Fucker Never Existed"
  • "AU: Mineta died in a fire and no one noticed because he's trash"
  • "AU: Mineta is in the trash where he fucking belongs"
  • "except the grape rat who does not exsist"
  • "improve canon by retconning mineta's existence entirely"
  • "mineta doesn’t exist bc i hate that awful disgusting child"
  • "mineta just straight up doesnt exist bc why would i make us suffer thru that again"
  • "Mineta Minoru doesn't exist but he still dies anyway"
  • "No diaper baby rat faced boy named Mineta in this fic"
  • "that fucking purple garbage boy doesnt exist"
  • "who tf is mineta he doesn't exist here"

The tags synned to Mineta's character tag are equally unfavorable. Many of them seek to reassure the reader that Mineta won't be in the fic or that his role in the fic won't last long:[10]

  • "(the grape's only here for like one chapter dw)"
  • "Absolutely No Mineta Minoru"
  • "don't worry mineta isn't around for long"
  • "mentions of the grape fuck"
  • "mineta for this three seconds"
  • "Mineta Minoru (only at the beginning)"
  • "Mineta Minoru (Whomst is only mentioned via his Bad Deeds)"
  • "Mineta Minoru but bitch not for long...Mineta Minoru dies - Character"
  • "Mineta's in class 1b not 1a"
  • "the gross grape is temporary"

Other tags seek to justify Mineta's inclusion, let the reader know that it will be worth it to have him in the fic, or otherwise note that Mineta is in the fic while still making it clear that the author doesn't like him:[10]

  • "Grape Boy Bugs Me But He Could Be Useful"
  • "Gross Grape Baby"
  • "Mineta but only to clown him"
  • "mineta is in there too but worry not you will like his role"
  • "Just ignore mineta"
  • "Mineta is sadly in here"
  • "Mineta Minoru (ugh gross)"
  • "Mineta Minoru (Unfortunately)"
  • "fucking mineta is a peice of shit stop thinking hes a good character ok thanks bye"
  • "Rat Baby"
  • "Rat bitch I mean Mineta Minrou"
  • "THE GRAPIST"
  • "the little grape fucker"

As of February 2019, the "Mineta Minoru Dies" tag has 105 works and is synned to tags like "AU: i have murdered Mineta with my own two hands", "I Can't Believe Mineta is Fucking Dead", "Mineta got hit by a bus on the way to the testing center", "Mineta x death" and "spoiler: mineta fvcking dies".[11]

In addition to in fanfic, a BNHA fandom meme was to make edits of official art of Class 1A in which Mineta was cropped out or erased. A collection of these edits can be found at bnha-but-mineta-isnt-in-it.

Mineta's place in Class 1A is often taken by the character Shinsou Hitoshi, who in canon is placed in General Ed class 1-C and has a smaller role, but is well-liked by the fandom. This swap is explained by them both having purple color schemes, and many fans hoping that Shinsou will succeed in joining the hero course. The canonical AO3 tag "Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru" has over 800 uses as of 2019, which is synned with tags like "1A gets a new student and he's the better purple", "also uhhhhhhh i took my artistic liberty and so mineta got expelled and shinsou had took his place", and "Mineta exists simply so Shinsou can replace him".[12]

Bi Mineta Scandal

The particular wording choice in the English translation of one panel of Chapter 321 (released August 2021) led some in the English fandom to conclude that Mineta was confessing romantic love for Midoriya. There was widespread outcry at the "news" that BNHA had a "confirmed" queer character, but that it was the widely-disliked Mineta, with many fans expressing amusement or horror. Others debated the implications of the word choice, both in English and Japanese. Eventually consensus emerged that the connotation of the line was not romantic. [13]

Fan Comments

Pro-Mineta Comments

[grapejuicehentai]

God damn it people.

Just acknowledge Mineta, he got so much offer in the series. If y'all hating him due of his pervert nature then screw you. There is tons of pervert character that had so many good quality, some can be the strongest, some can be the wisest, and some can be the best character ever. What I’m trying to say is, don’t try to degrade Mineta, have you even seen his best moment? He may not be the strong type but he’s a smart one and know when to strike. Like Come on. Just acknowledge him god damn it.[14]

[ilikemineta]

Honestly Mineta one of the best characters to be a main character. He just seems like a bunch of other MCs. Different looking, weird obscure quirk, just a pervert that wants to be famous, a coward. His entire character is built perfectly for someone to relate to and cheer him on as he grows. Going from some cowardly loser into a great hero protecting his friends. [15]

[eric-coldfire]

In any other anime, Mineta would be the MC.[16]

[Anonymous]

Not much of a hc exactly, but it's canon that Mineta is Pretty Fucking Smart, and I feel like that's something that should be acknowledged more, partially b/c I like the thought of him befriending some of the others by helping them study, and also b/c that detail of his personality is slept on a lot[17]

[Anonymous]

The fact that antis are so willing to change the conventionally ‘good-looking’ perverted characters like Kaminari and Midnight into non-perverts but not Mineta just goes to show how shallow they are honestly. I legit saw an anti call out another anti for liking Midnight, who they said was a pedophile. But then the anti who was being called out said they were talking about ‘fanon’ Midnight where she’s not, and the anti who was calling them out then became okay with it. Like????? What?? The second you draw or write about Mineta doing something wholesome or interacting with the girls nicely antis are up in arms, saying things like ‘he’s a pervert they’d never go near him, he’d never act like this’ but if you draw or write Midnight differently it’s completely okay. I’m just sayin’ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯[2]

[ArthurBD]

I like him too, but I'm not a fan of his pervert scenes (though there's some of his pervert scenes that I actually find funny, but are tame and don't affect other characters too much), I think he has a great design and quirk, and maybe the funniest scene in season 1 was when he explained his quirk to Asui and Midoryia (and I like his friendship with Midoryia, if people notice, the rare scenes where he's doesn't does a pervert joke he's actually cool). I would like that some of his development was about being less perverted, but that haven't happened so far.[18]

Anti-Mineta Comments

[...] Minoru Mineta is a member of Class 1-A, somehow, despite having a garbage superpower and worse heroic instincts. To describe him succinctly: remember Disney comic relief characters? They’re not quite in vogue any more – Frozen’s Olaf was the last unambiguous example – but in the Nineties they were a scourge. No matter how interesting the actual protagonists and villains were, sometimes the camera would painfully drag over to the hero’s idiot friend, and the audience would be captives until the next unfunny joke had come and gone.

I want you to picture that, except the unfunny joke is a rape joke. The gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but they’re incels. If your soul just lurched briefly from its moorings, you now know how the audience of this show feels on a constant basis.

This is a common issue with Japanese stories; Extra Credits had [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzdylKgPjNI a good video on the subject] a while back. Put simply, Japanese media has a long tradition of including a specific kind of lewd humour. EC praises Yakuza 0 for sexual humour that actually humanises the participating characters – a kind of classy classlessness, if you will. But sadly, this is the exception to the rule. Japan’s ‘hentai sensibility’ often tramples on Important And Not Funny concepts like consent in the name of a cheap joke.

Which brings me back to Mineta.

Much of Mineta’s scenes are pedestrian in their awfulness. He attempts to see the female students naked. He enters a girl’s room and immediately tries to smell her underwear. In the aftermath of a fight, he outright gropes a classmate. That thing you aren’t hearing? That’s the sound of thousands of people not laughing, sitting in stilted silence, during these moments of hilarious comedy gold.

[...][19]

In Yesterday Upon The Stair, the most popular BNHA fic on Archive of Our Own, Mineta is expelled. The author responded to questions of why Mineta was expelled while Bakugou Katsuki, who had also misbehaved, was not:

Mineta, in canon, only became a hero so he could look at hot girls in skimpy hero costumes. That’s it. He’s not in it for saving lives, he’s not in it for fighting, he’s not even that much in it for the fame and renown. He’s only here for the literal wank material.

Aizawa feels he can still work with Bakugou because Bakugou wants to be a hero and he wants to do the work required of a hero, and Aizawa can shape that kind of motivation to encompass the . Mineta isn’t interested in doing what is expected of a hero. He just wants to touch a boob.[20]

[Anonymous, in response to the thread "Erase One Character From Your Canon"]

Mineta is kind of a cheaty answer by now, but Mineta. He's just that unnecessary.[21]

[Anonymous]

I've run into a few fics that have a decent redemption/development arc for him, but I wish he wasn't in canon to start with. Especially so people wouldn't whine about how I/we must only hate him because I don't understaaaaaand Japanese humour.

Ahem. Anyway, I love that there are AO3 tags for "Mineta Minoru is expelled" and "Mineta Minoru does not exist." ♥[21]

[HokageEzio]

Mineta is less of a character and more of a caricature. There's not much appealing to his character if you don't find his perverseness funny, because everything about his character is about touching boobs. Even his character motivation got tied back to boobs. [...] I personally don't care that much either way because he's irrelevant to me. But you can't compare him to a bunch of other perverts who objectively have way more going for their character for them than being perverts when that is all Mineta has.[22]

[bnhaaccount]

ou're right, and honestly, there's not much appealing to his character even if you do find him funny.

[HokageEzio]

There isn't. He's surprisingly smart for how goofy he is and he's trying to be more brave, and that's it. Even his character motivation comes down to boobs.

If you find it funny and you like him because of that it's fine, but there isn't much to him other than being funny. He's very one dimensional. You don't have to like gag characters if you don't like their gag, and a lot of people don't like his gag. Simple.

[andy-the-anon]
has he done something worse than be a little perv? don’t tell me what, i’ve only seen up to the end of season 3 and haven’t been able to read the manga yet

but like

did he do something worse than be a perverted teenager?

[ironwoman359]
he hasn’t, and i think that’s where part of the dislike comes from? there’s hardly anything redeemable about his character. like, he’s not a villain or a monster, but he’s just so unpleasant to be around in general, and the show knows it, no one in universe tries to excuse his perverted behavior. and it’s cathartic, in a way, to finally have the behavior that so many girls and women have despised for years be shown as explicitly a bad thing by media for once. that combined with the fact that there’s nothing charismatic about his personality, character design, or quirk, and it’s no wonder that literally no one who likes bnha likes mineta.[23]

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Videos

Meta

External links

AO3 tags

Media Coverage

References

  1. ^ Have I told you guys how much I love Mineta. I think I’m one of the few dozen here in Tumblr that do 2016-08-24
  2. ^ a b Anonymous, post date unknown but probably in 2018.
  3. ^ unpopular opinion!, Nov 14th, 2018.
  4. ^ ask, October 7th 2019.>
  5. ^ Mineta's reception in Japan?, 2018
  6. ^ Is the creator of My Hero Academia aware that people hate Mineta?, 2018
  7. ^ AUG 25 2017 by mew-cake
  8. ^ Mineta Minoru is Expelled from U.A. High School — 72 works as of 13 February 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Alternate Universe - Mineta Minoru Doesn't Exist", Archive of Our Own tag. Accessed 10 November 2018 with 416 works, accessed 13 February 2019 with 563 works, accessed in November 2019 with 841 works.
  10. ^ a b Mineta Minoru, accessed 13 February 2019.
  11. ^ Mineta Minoru Dies, accessed 13 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru" tag, accessed 13 February 2019.
  13. ^ writeup of the debacle at comicbook.com
  14. ^ grapejuicehentai, this post. January 23rd, 2019.
  15. ^ Honestly, Nov 29th, 2018.
  16. ^ reblog of "Honestly", Dec. 31st, 2018.
  17. ^ Ask, Nov. 17th 2018.
  18. ^ comment on /r/BokuNoHeroAcademia, March 3rd, 2018.
  19. ^ Snap Judgement: Slaying the Mineta by Barry Neenan, August 23 2018
  20. ^ PitViperofDoom, tumblr post archived 01 January 2018.
  21. ^ a b Nonnie, Re: Erase One Character From Your Canon. 2019-02-12.
  22. ^ Comment on /r/BokuNoHeroAcademia, March 3rd, 2018.
  23. ^ Aug 26th, 2019 by ironwoman359
✪ This article was featured on the Fanlore main page in 2019
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