Hump Day Husbandos: Inasa Yoarashi (My Hero Academia)

As we all already know, My Hero Academia comes with a truly wide array of easily lovable characters, villains and all. We have quite the extensive amount of Hump Day Husbando and Waifu Wednesday pieces from the series as is – not including how much of a comfort character Fat Gum is while we are at it. This also includes Gale Force – real name, Inasa Yoarashi.

I’m coming back to the series once more to highlight yet another minor character who I have been wanting to write about for a while now. It is only right to celebrate him by dedicating one entire article’s worth to him and him alone, since he does not get featured enough in My Hero Academia in general. I’m doing my part for him here!

Who is Inasa?

Inasa is a first-year student from Shiketsu High School who we meet in chapter 102/episode 53 as a participant in the Provisional Hero License Exam Arc. With his Quirk being Whirlwind, a power that allows him to control the air around him, he’s not only my favourite character to play as in My Hero One’s Justice 2 because his move set is so damn fun, but what he represents outside of his exciting Quirk builds him up to even greater heights.

Each and every appearance he makes in the series immediately becomes a personal highlight of mine. Not much is seen of him, but what growth we do get to witness is quite notable for how satisfying it is. We get to see how he is developing himself up to be the kind of Hero he wants to be, and despite having such a clear vision for himself, he stumbles like anyone else does — particularly with his tendency towards tunnel vision.

Why you will love him

Upon meeting Inasa, both the audience and cast alike get a full grasp of what his deal is as a character. For one thing, he quite literally throws himself into the U.A. High School’s huddle before the Provisional Hero License Exam tests begin, just so he can shout Plus Ultra with them. This is followed up by his classmate Seiji reminding him that interrupting them is rude, so he bows so low down in apology that he headbutts the ground, not only completely destroying the sidewalk but causing his forehead to bleed upon impact. He proceeds to ignore his self-inflicted injury and maintains a permanent smile.

In all accounts, Inasa is a dork – a himbo even. He’s not all that bright, but he is an absolute powerhouse despite his young age, and has some of the greatest potential out of all of the fledgling Heroes in the series. His power, speed and technique are all highly impressive and notable, as showcased in the character guide Ultra Analysis Book. He also happened to be the top recommended student for U.A High School. But that’s only one side to him.

Why we love him

Inasa represents many elements I respect and enjoy for any character to uphold. Firstly, he has an honourable and sweet belief of what a Hero should be. His serious and critical viewpoint and the way he sets such standards for himself and others in the same field makes it easy for us to root for his growth; he has upstanding morals and the best of intentions. It’s commendable, while at the same time being his major character weakness, adding a layer of depth to him.

That is because he’s quite prone to holding grudges – another character trait I appreciate seeing, since it is quite relatable to me. (Seriously, don’t upset her, folks – Ed.) From this, he has a small but effective character arc in the limited amount of time we get to spend with him.

He is blinded by his hatred for both Shoto and Endeavor after their initial meetings saw them both being extremely dismissive and cold towards him. But he ends up moving on from these encounters, which threatened to soil the desire he had to enrol in U.A. High School.

Inasa ends up gracefully accepting the result of the Provisional Exams even with this moment clouding his better judgement during the tests. He even apologises in the end when he is able to see how hypocritical he was being with his attitude.

It’s a shame that his job as a character is pretty much done then and there, since from thereon he acts as Shoto’s foil in the same vein as Kid with Luffy and Bazz-B with Renji. As aces of their schools, their ways of approaching others could not be any more different. And since they are so intertwined with each other during this arc, this could not be any more obvious.

As another foil character I hate to see leave the pages/screen as soon as they always do, his boisterous, hot-blooded and incredibly loud self never fails to make me miss him dearly with each and every passing arc. Seeing how well he ends up working with Shoto rather than butting heads with him remains one of my favourite parts of the series, because it’s so incredibly heartwarming to see.

With his simple desire to connect with others — so much so that one of the only times we see him actively be “against” anyone is when he is ignored during the Entrance Exam — he’s a character that is easy to gravitate towards. He’s approachable, and a legitimate good guy. I love him, flaws and all.

Watch the anime now on Crunchyroll.

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