Sometimes new anime series quickly lose their popularity and turn out to be more of a fad than a cultural phenomenon. However, My Hero Academia is an example of a shonen series that only gets stronger each season and has managed to progressively build its audience and expand the property without it feeling diluted or spread thin. My Hero Academia focuses on the development of Izuku Midoriya and other heroes, but the frightening villains are often just as important to the anime’s larger story.
Season four of My Hero Academia introduces lots of new challenges and antagonists, with La Brava and her partner, Gentle Criminal, being chief among them. La Brava remains a supporting character but also a fascinating one who’s likely to receive even more attention in the future.
10 She's 21 Years Old
My Hero Academia covers heroes and villains that fulfill the full spectrum of ages and both young and elderly heroes have been focused on. La Brava looks quite young, almost as if she's a child, but she's actually older than Midoriya and the students of Class 1-A. La Brava is 21 when she's first introduced in the series and is now 22. Her hero costume makes her seem a lot more juvenile than she really is. In comparison, Gentle Criminal is 32, which is a decade-long age gap, but not as drastic as it would initially seem.
9 Her Quirk Is Based On Her Love For Someone Else
My Hero Academia has done an excellent job with how they've featured dozens, if not hundreds, of Quirks and they still largely feel original. Some Quirks are powerful in their own right, while others are meant to be used in a support capacity to help others. La Brava's Quirk falls into the latter, and she's able to give a sizable boost in power to whoever she confesses her love towards. This makes Gentle Criminal incredibly dangerous since he typically benefits from La Brava’s Quirk.
8 Her Birthday Is Valentine's Day
It's important to have a cohesive theme, and there are some heroes and villains that easily muddle their message because of an obtuse or cluttered costume. Every aspect of La Brava's identity points towards how she's a heavy romantic and cherishes matters of the heart.
La Brava has created this image for herself, but it looks like it's also beyond her control in some areas. For instance, La Brava was born on February 14th, which is the perfect birthday for someone as enamored with love as La Brava.
7 She's A Master Hacker
The relationship that La Brava has formed with Gentle Criminal typically results with Gentle in front of the camera while La Brava acts as his cameraperson. It doesn't take a ton of tech knowledge to film a video and upload it to YouTube, but La Brava also proves that her skills run much deeper than this. Gentle Criminal's planned attack on U.A. High during the School Festival is only possible because La Brava is able to hack into U.A. High's security system and disable what's necessary. La Brava's full tech skills haven't been revealed, but she's clearly talented.
6 Her Name Itself Is A Reflection Of Her Quirk & Attitude
There's a great amount of thought that goes into the names of characters in My Hero Academia, both in terms of their proper titles as well as their superhero alter egos. In some cases, these connections are more obvious than others, but it's especially obvious with La Brava. La Brava can be translated as "love lover," which is definitely applicable. Additionally, her real name Aiba Manami also contains kanji for Japanese words like love, together, mutually, and affection. They perfectly represent not just how affectionate La Brava is but also her gleefully codependent nature.
5 She’s Committed To Danjuro Tobita
My Hero Academia explores the different cliques that form between superheroes. Izuku Midoriya shifts between different friends during his time at U.A. High, and by season four, there are definite hero groups and duos that have emerged. Some heroes are better as a pair than on their own, which is how La Brava feels.
She has little aspiration to be a criminal on her own, but she loves to improve Danjuro Tobita’s reputation as Gentle Criminal. La Brava will only operate alongside Gentle Criminal, and they’re one of the strongest couples in the series as a result.
4 Her Youth Was Filled With Rejection
La Brava is a character that very much wears her heart on her sleeve, and she believes in giving herself completely to romance. This ideology has been present in La Brava since her youth, but it wasn’t always properly received. La Brava was no stranger to rejection and alienation, which wore down her spirit but never broke her. It caused La Brava to turn inward more and become deeply obsessed with online videos. In a way, the hardships of La Brava’s youth may have helped ultimately steer her towards Gentle Criminal.
3 Her Fandom Brought Her To Gentle Criminal
La Brava and Gentle Criminal are already a team when they’re first introduced in My Hero Academia’s fourth season. However, the two weren’t always together, and there’s a helpful flashback that explains just how these two came into each other’s orbit. La Brava was an isolated and introverted girl who found happiness and validation through Gentle Criminal’s shoddy videos. She realized his potential, and her desire to help him with his cause is what encouraged her to hack his account to track him down and meet up. La Brava is the aggressor in this situation.
2 Her Quirk Faces Serious Limitations
La Brava’s Love Quirk proves itself to be a major asset in battle and it gives Gentle Criminal a big enough boost that he easily holds his own against Midoriya. It might seem like La Brava’s Quirk is practically overpowered with how she can so easily apply a power boost to someone else, but that’s exactly why it’s a Quirk that she doesn’t have free-range over. The power boost that Love provides is only temporary and La Brava’s only able to use it once a day. It’s possible that she could train and help her Quirk improve beyond this.
1 She’s Maybe Aligned Herself With The Police Force
La Brava and Gentle Criminal serve a small story arc towards the end of My Hero Academia season four. They get in over their heads when they challenge Midoriya and what initially looks like a dark end for the villains may not actually be so bleak. An epilogue with Gentle Criminal and La Brava seems to indicate that the police are interested in giving them an opportunity to redeem themselves. La Brava’s formidable hacking skills would be more valuable than anything that Gentle Criminal brings to the table, so perhaps La Brava’s future has her pegged to be a hero.