History#
At the beginning of summer vacation in her first year of middle school, Manami Aiba wrote a long love letter to a schoolmate she liked who, in return, dismissed said letter and made fun of her with his friends, thinking of her as a stalker. Pained by the rejection and mockery, Manami stopped believing in anything and fell into a depressive state.
She became a reclusive adolescent with no goals or aspirations, gluing herself to her computer all day long, even contemplating suicide. At some point during this time period, she hacked into Feel Good Inc.'s systems, replacing their ads with "Optic☆Kitty" just to see if she could.[1] One day while surfing the net, Manami came across one of Gentle Criminal's videos about him changing the world's deplorable state for the better. She was so moved by the video that she managed to pull herself together.
Now considering Gentle as her light, Manami desired to meet him. She used her computer skills to find the place where he lived and introduced herself to him as his greatest fan, eager to help him in achieving his dreams.[2] She wanted to go out with him on their capers instead of staying back to do the hacking. At first, Gentle didn’t want her to become an accomplice to his misdeeds, but he eventually caved to her demands.[3]
After spending time with him, Manami became attracted to him. Her only concern was Gentle would say something about the dark rings under her eyes, but he didn't. In fact, when he realized her concerns, he used a permanent marker to give himself dark circles around his eyes so they could match hers. He accepted her for who she was, and when he decided to make her his sidekick, he came upon her code name, La Brava. That was one of the happiest moments of her life.[2]
Synopsis#
U.A. School Festival Arc#
La Brava is recording Gentle Criminal as he robs a convenience store. When a group of heroes arrive to stop them, La Brava cuts the video at the request of Gentle, only to restart it once the heroes have been defeated. Later, on a rooftop, she informs Gentle that their video of the robbery isn't receiving as many views as they had hoped. While busy monologuing, Gentle accidentally spills tea on La Brava.[4]
The next day, because their account had been deleted again, La Brava uploads all of Gentle's videos and takes pleasure watching Gentle's debut video. La Brava gushes over Gentle as Gentle himself asks her if the convenience store robbery video has been uploaded. She replies that she already uploaded it. Gentle appreciates La Brava's hard work as he pours himself a cup of tea. Gentle tells La Brava that they will commence with today's video after he has drunk his tea.
In the video, Gentle Criminal labels himself as a modern-day gentleman thief who punishes those who behave in an ungentlemanly way, such as attacking the store for hiding expiration dates of Plump Pudding that was about to expire, even though there was evidence about the misgivings of the sales. After uploading the store video, La Brava is infuriated that the video has not gotten any views despite Gentle's dashing performance.
La Brava tells Gentle that Stain's biographical video and the prominence of the League of Villains both stole the spotlight from them. Gentle agrees with La Brava on the fact that violence can make a spectacle, and points out the differences between them. La Brava and Gentle talk about their next project which involves U.A.'s School Festival. Gentle believes that if he invades U.A’s School Festival, he could become the center of attention.[5]
During the following days until the festival is celebrated, Gentle is seen working non-stop on his next project. This worries La Brava since he has not had a tea break in an entire week. As La Brava goes to fetch some tea, Gentle comments that there is a growing discontent towards heroes among people and praises U.A.'s preparations but criticizes their resourcefulness when faced with the unpredictable. La Brava is concerned with the idea of sneaking into the U.A. School Festival and asks about the students. Gentle reassures her by telling her that the infiltration is a wake-up call for them to grow stronger. La Brava gets goosebumps from Gentle's response.
On his computer, Gentle decides to double check the route they will take to get to U.A.'s School Festival, a plan that consists of first spending a good time in a café enjoying a cup of Gold Tips Imperial Black Tea before infiltrating U.A.. La Brava has a fundamental role in this operation as her hacking skills will be used to infiltrate U.A.'s internal network and disable the sensors.
Gentle praises La Brava for her excellent support, saying he is glad to have a partner like her and remembers when she arrived at his home proclaiming to be his fan, eager to help him carve his name into history. Thanks to her help and computer skills, his popularity increased. Gentle ensures La Brava that he will make the U.A. infiltration a success not to secure the future of the world but as a response to her feelings. Crying tears of joy, La Brava hugs Gentle, proclaiming her love for him, to which Gentle replies he loves her too and vows to succeed in the infiltration.[6]
On the day of the attack, a disguised Gentle and La Brava run into Izuku, who apologizes, while the disguised Gentle is more worried about losing the aftertaste of the Golden Tips Imperial. Gentle and La Brava attempt to leave wanting to avoid further contact but after hearing that Izuku has some knowledge about tea, Gentle cannot help praising him, although he and La Brava both know that they are endangering the mission.
Their worst fears are fulfilled when Gentle comes to the conclusion that Izuku is a student at U.A. with Izuku managing to figure out his identity as the villainous Gentle Criminal in turn, deducing that he and La Brava intend to cause problems at the festival. Seeing that it is too late to cover up since Izuku is not naive, Gentle faces Izuku as he tells La Brava to turn the camera towards him.[7]
While La Brava recognizes Izuku from somewhere, Gentle tells her there's been a change of plans and to keep the camera recording no matter what. He removes his cape and hat and tells his listeners to bear witness to his dazzling ambitions. When Gentle blasts Izuku across the street using his Quirk, La Brava becomes surprised at his elasticity power. They both decide to escape, but Izuku gets up and chases them, so Gentle sends him through the air with his Gently Trampoline. Gentle bids Izuku farewell as they bounce away on his Gently Trampolines.
La Brava remembers that Izuku is from U.A.'s Sports Festival and tells Gentle this fact, which surprises Gentle who doesn't want to be involved with Izuku further and decides to quickly infiltrate U.A. before the boy gets the chance to alert them. Deku manages to stabilize in the middle of the air and shoots Gentle with a Delaware Smash Air Force, then swoops over him, smashing him into a construction building as La Brava cries out.[8]
A civilian who was walking around witnesses this, but La Brava excuses Izuku and Gentle's battle with the statement that they are filming and asks him to transmit it to the neighbors, although La Brava is aware that this lie will not buy much time. Desperate to the idea that her beloved Gentle may be having problems, La Brava runs towards the construction site and reaches them, just to be shocked to see Gentle hanging on a construction beam and pleading Izuku to let him go.
Izuku tells Gentle that the moment he enters U.A.'s School Festival, the alarm will go off and the festival will be cancelled immediately with nowhere for him to run. Gentle mentions alarms do not concern him as his partner in crime, La Brava, will render the alarms ineffective. In this way his plan can succeed and the festival will not be suspended, a win-win situation for both. Izuku quickly refutes his argument saying that it will make an even bigger problem, and Gentle can’t deny that Izuku is right, which shocks La Brava again.
Knowing that Izuku has no intention of letting him go, Gentle resumes the fight, and La Brava asks him to retreat. He tells her not yet and uses his Elasticity Quirk to remove the bolts from the steel structure, warning Izuku that one of the steel beams can fall on the bystander with which La Brava met before. As Elasticity’s effects wear off, the structure collapses and Izuku swiftly catches the steel beam and barely holds it up.
Determined not to continue the fight, Gentle uses his Quirk to turn a crane's hook into a slingshot and launches himself and La Brava out of the construction site. Izuku attempts to stop them by firing a long range attack but Gentle dodges it. La Brava sees that Izuku refuses to give up and that she has no choice but to use her Quirk.[9]
Retreating from the construction site, Gentle and La Brava discuss her Quirk until they are interrupted by Izuku appearing above them. Charging at them with super speed, Izuku manages to pin them both down on the ground. Looking at Gentle, La Brava shares her love for him which empowers him to overthrow Izuku. As Gentle delivers an attack on Izuku, La Brava watches on, only for Izuku to be unaffected.[2]
When they are knocked back by Izuku's attack, La Brava becomes emotional and apologizes for her love not being enough. Gentle tells her that nothing can prove that her feelings weren't enough. Watching on as Gentle and Izuku continue to fight, she cries out for him to win.[3]
Izuku and Gentle clash with La Brava cheering Gentle on. Izuku is beginning to be overpowered by Gentle's enhanced strength which Izuku assumes to be the work of La Brava's Quirk. As Gentle knocks back Izuku, La Brava takes the opportunity to bring out her computer and use special wireless technology plans to hack into U.A.'s internal network to disarm its security. However, when she moves closer to U.A. due to her initially being out of range, she isn't able to proceed further as Hound Dog and several clones of Ectoplasm have caught a whiff of Izuku and Gentle's battle.
La Brava returns to Gentle and sees that he has been defeated by Izuku. Gentle orders her to run away, but a crying and flabbergasted La Brava demands Izuku to let Gentle go. While hitting Izuku, she yells about how Gentle poured his heart and soul into their U.A infiltration plan and that she is unable to live without him. Knowing that La Brava is fine with committing criminal acts as long as it's with him, Gentle realizes that if he allows La Brava to escape, she will go on to commit an even worse crime.
Blaming himself for La Brava's nature and knowing that she will be charged as being an accomplice, Gentle musters up the remaining strength given to him by La Brava's Quirk and pushes Izuku off and into the air, using his Quirk to bounce Izuku away. Gentle hugs La Brava as he tells Izuku to fly away for the sake of La Brava's bright future. As Hound Dog and the Ectoplasm clones reach Gentle and La Brava, they declare their surrender.[10]
Wanting to protect La Brava and having a heart for looking out for others, Gentle lies about kidnapping La Brava and brainwashing her, requesting to pardon La Brava as Izuku arrives back, who understands what Gentle is trying to do and plays along. The teachers takes Gentle and La Brava to the police station.[11]
Later, at the Police Station, the investigators are astounded by Manami Aiba's hacking talent and wonder if she has ever used her advanced computer skills for the sake of the world, to which she states that everything she does is for Gentle's sake.[12]
Final War Arc#
After the Paranormal Liberation War and the fall of Tartarus, the villains raided seven other prisons to release all their inmates. Only in Mizuki Prison no inmate manage to escape, as they were all defeated by Danjuro Tobita. When the Police Force arrived, Officer Gori asked Tobita what he wants as a reward for stopping the criminals. He simply responded he wants to see La Brava again. His request was granted, and when they are reunited, they embraced and couldn't hold back their tears of joy at seeing each other again after so much time apart.
Several weeks later, with the Heroes' numbers dwindling rapidly, the remaining Heroes prepare themselves for the Final War against the villains led by All For One. While most of the Heroes successfully draw out the villains and split them up all over Japan, La Brava was recruited by the Counter-Force to assist in their efforts, specifically to help triangulate the location of the villain's headquarters while Gentle was given the chance to redeem himself by helping them.[13]
When Skeptic managed to hack into U.A.'s systems, as well as their subterranean evacuation system, La Brava gleefully managed to pinpoint his exact location, and sabotaged his hacking, as she declared that while it was a lot of work to track him down, nothing is too much for her, all for the sake of Gentle.[14]
While continuing to hack Skeptic's servers, La Brava reminisced on the time in her past when she had hacked into Feel Good Inc.'s servers, commenting on how his coding habits haven't changed since then; this earns an enraged and flabbergasted reaction from Skeptic upon the revelation, asking her if she has any idea how money it cost to fix the damage.
La Brava further decides to taunt him by playing the Optic☆Kitty's again on his monitors, having them dance and take over his entire system. With La Brava hacking every computer screens, Skeptic prepares to flee, however she had already given a heads-up on his location to the Heroes and he is arrested by the Ketsubutsu Academy High School students and Hound Dog.
The team reports to Naomasa Tsukauchi that the U.A. Fortress is continuing to fall and is about to crash into a nearby coastal city. They tell La Brava to do something, but she says due to the system being wrecked by the last impact, she needs to write a new program to keep the joint in the air, even though there isn't enough time to do so. One of the officers says it was a mistake to leave their last line of defense to a convicted villain, but Naomasa responds that even if they've committed a crime and they can't erase the past, it's not always a lost cause.
As the structure continues to fall, Gentle suspends himself in the air in front of U.A. Empowered by Lover Mode, as La Brava tells him how his joy brings her loads more joy of her own, Gentle unleashes his Gently Super-Lover, releasing his Quirk to prevent U.A. from falling and trampoline in the air.[13]
Due to the sheer weight of the fortress, and despite being empowered by Lover Mode, Gentle is now struggling to hold onto the falling U.A., telling La Brava that his Elasticity has reached its limit. She tells him to hold on just a bit longer as she puts the finishing touches on her flight system program. At this same time, Gentle notices the Business Course students filming him and the current events of the battle, saying that it is their job to use this to help maintain better relations between Heroes and the people.
Taking advantage of this, La Brava surprises the Business students by hacking into and taking control of their phones, as the electromagnetic barrier being destroyed made it easier for her to do so. Naomasa is confused at what she is planning, just as she reveals that she's already fixed the flight system and proceeds to broadcast the phones' footage live across the internet, declaring that despite Gentle being content with it, she won't let his efforts go unseen. La Brava then activates her new program and U.A. begins to float in the sky once again, making it much lighter for Gentle to hold again.[15]
The live broadcast on Gentle's channel proceeds to go viral, inspiring many news outlets to head out onto the field to film the battles, all to keep the rest of the world informed.[16] While La Brava continues to coordinate with the Heroes from the headquarters, things take a turn for the worse when All For One manages to defeat the Heroes and leaves the battlefield for Tomura.
At this same time, they end up running into trouble as the Underground Evacuation System beneath U.A. where the civilians are being kept runs into issues. Naomasa panics and demands a status, where La Brava tells him that the evacuation system is back online, and while most of the blocks are moving, some of them stopped from inside due to someone interfering with them.[17]
As the officers try to keep track of the evacuation blocks and All For One's locations, they learn of further trouble realizing that Dabi's heat signature in Gunga has significantly increased to the point that in about ten minutes, his body will explode and cremate everything within 5 kilometers.
Both Naomasa and La Brava realize the danger of this revelation, as the latter informs them that while most of the evacuation blocks are back online, some of them that stopped in-between U.A. and Shiketsu are still underneath Gunga, meaning that they will be directly within the estimated blast zone.
Everyone begins to panic unsure of what to do, when All Might's voice calls out to them on the communicator, revealing that he assigned the plan of stopping Dabi and saving the civilians to Shoto and Tenya, and is personally confronting All For One himself.[18]
As Shoto and Tenya head to the Gunga Mountains to stop Dabi's imminent explosion, and the Heroes deal with Himiko and her swarm of Twice Doubles, La Brava and the Counter-Force team watch the live feed of All Might suiting up in his Armored All Might exosuit, preparing to fight All For One for the last time.
Realizing about the intense rematch between All Might and All For One starting, La Brava immediately proceeds to stream the footage, causing the officers to tell at her for doing. Thinking about the danger he is putting himself in, Naomasa defeatingly tells La Brava to cut the feed, because all she'd be broadcasting is the brutal death of a former hero just to buy a few minutes from All For One reaching Izuku.
All For One unleashes a destructive laser blast at All Might, however, he uses Hercules to activate a shield to protect his body in a coating ball, defending him from the attack. La Brava and the officers were completely astonished that All Might managed to withstand such an attack, as he blasts forward into the air to fight him head-on.
All Might and All For One confront each other, with All Might using several gadgets on his suit like electrical wires to keep All For One pinned down and unable to effectively fight back. With the Counter-Force in awe of All Might's prowess, La Brava asks Naomasa if he's still gloomy about how things are going to go, as All Might delivers a powerful kick right at All For One's face.[19]
Despite putting up a very brutal fight, All For One managed to defeat All Might and destroy his armored suit. He had managed to reach U.A. and drags the battered All Might with him, so that he can kill the Symbol of Peace in front of everyone. All Might attempts to detonate himself to take them both out, but All For One refuses to let him die a heroic death, and destroys his gauntlet, now having him completely at his mercy.
With Izuku unable to help preoccupied with battling Tomura, La Brava calls out to Gentle to warn about All Might being in danger, which he responds now that U.A. is floating he can assist. However, All For One fires a powerful laser blast at U.A., forcing Gentle to once again focus on keeping the structure afloat. All For One carries All Might's body above his, ready to rip him apart, as everyone watching the live broadcasts around the world reacts in fear and anxiousness, praying for someone to save him,[20] which is thankfully answered when Katsuki Bakugo swoops in and steals All Might from All For One.[21]
Eventually, Katsuki finally defeats All For One, while Izuku and Tomura's fight makes it all the way to Mt. Fuji. Mei Hatsume gets in contact with La Brava and uses one of her drones to fly over to capture the battle in-progress. She talks about how she is able to make use of it through their satellite upbringings, boasting about U.A.'s performance even when on the fritz. She tells La Brava about how she had created it a while back to tell Izuku about his gloves, mentioning how he's her client, so she has to keep observing him to provide better service, while La Brava says he's the one who got her beloved arrested, which ended up making him even more wonderful of a person, so she has to support him too. She gets access to the footage on the drone and begins live broadcasting it for everyone to see.[22]
Sometime around this time, Eraser Head gets in contact with Naomasa, revealing that he managed to get "Kurogiri" under control, requesting the coordinates of the remaining active Heroes, intending to warp them all to Izuku's location to provide assistance in his battle.[23] With an army of Heroes at Izuku's location in his battle against Tomura, they give him a lending hand to make him reach to Tomura, before bashing him with a Smash right through his chest.[24] Izuku finally manages to defeat Tomura once and for all before the villain succumbs to his injuries and dies as his body disintegrates into ashes.[25]
Epilogue Arc#
After the war ended, Gentle is released after his contribution has been officially acknowledged and he is pardoned of all his crimes. She and Gentle shares a tearful and happy reunion.[26]
Eight years later, Danjuro and Manami are seen to have married and formed a company named GeL Inc., which is a combination of their aliases, "Gentle" and "La Brava".[27]