One of Horikoshi's weaknesses in his writing style is assuming a connection with characters that isn't necessarily there. The villains haven't gotten enough screen time or growth to be very engaging, and a single flashback isn't enough to fill in that gap. They can be fun on screen, and they can have their own hero moments (to their friends), but lets not get carried away...

Case in point, Shigaraki's sudden victim status feels contrived, true or not, and makes Midoria seem more naïve than he should be at this point in the story. I hope it was just an 'inner thought' moment and he never acts on that, as he lacks the leeway in power to do so.

Spinner I like as the only member of the league of villains who had a concrete goal acting in some form of good to his own interpretation.

The villain I'm truly tired of during this fight is Dabi, easily. His shrill laughter and nothingburger motivation really fell flat for me. I'm ready for him to take his exit as his scenes are no longer interesting or even entertaining.

Quote Originally Posted by MFauli View Post
Everyone on Gotwoot except me: "The anime is not depicting the villains as sympathetic."
I stand by that. Struggle and motivation doesn't mean we're expected to side with them. They can have 'reasons' (good and bad and worse) to be villains and most people can separate that with them being antagonists. Conflict is more interesting when there is some plausible impetus to both sides. You can argue how effective they are, but as a storytelling tool, they are a far cry from sympathy; only empathy might be evoked.