Mineta Minoru

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.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 Some fans think his perverted behavior is largely exaggerated, or at least focused on much more than other perverted characters in BNHA. Other fans don't care or even enjoy that he's perverted and are unapologetic about it,unpopular opinion!, Nov 14th, 2018. 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.ask, October 7th 2019.>
Fan reaction to Mineta likely differs in Japanese fandom and Western fandomMineta's reception in Japan?, 2018 due to differing perceptions about the "pervert" character type and crude sexual humor in animanga, which is rather common in shounen. Fans have speculatedIs the creator of My Hero Academia aware that people hate Mineta?, 2018 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===
* Tsuneta — Asui Tsuyu/Mineta Minoru
* Kamineta — Kaminari Denki/Mineta Minoru
* Bakuneta — Bakugou Katsuki/Mineta Minoru
*Shojineta — Mezo Shoji/Mineta Minoru
===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.
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,Mineta Minoru is Expelled from U.A. High School — 72 works as of 13 February 2019. 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."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. Some fans' opinions are very evident in the canonical's synonymous tags:
* "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:Mineta Minoru, accessed 13 February 2019.
* "(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:
* "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".Mineta Minoru Dies, accessed 13 February 2019.
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"."Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru" tag, accessed 13 February 2019.
===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. writeup of the debacle at comicbook.com
==Fan Comments==
===Pro-Mineta Comments===
===Anti-Mineta Comments===
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:
 
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*Amphibious by unavoidablekoishi
*Define "Villainy" by goldendoodle
*lies ✿ minoru mineta + 『female』reader/oc by kingkarasuma
*Passenger Seat by Doximin
===Fanart===
*purple partnership
*I decided to draw a fan art of something I always wanted to see
*untitled
* Ask Grape Juice!, a Mineta ask blog
===Videos===
*get rekt, mineta
*MINETA FUNNIEST MOMENTS
*The Death of Mineta 
*My Hero Academia Has Anime’s Worst Character
===Meta===
*In Defense of Minoru Mineta, an Unnecessarily-Controversial Character, 2018
*Have I told you guys how much I love Mineta. I think I’m one of the few dozen here in Tumblr that do, August 2016
* I'm Mineta, You're Mineta, We're All Mineta on Manga Therapy - Where Psychology & Manga Meet, August 2017
* Snap Judgement: Slaying the Mineta by Barry Neenan, August 2018
==External links==
* Mineta Minoru on the BNHA wiki
* mineta minoru tag on Tumblr
===AO3 tags===
*Mineta Minoru
*Alternate Universe - Mineta Minoru Doesn't Exist
*Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru
*Mineta Minoru Dies
*Mineta Minoru is Expelled from U.A. High School
===Media Coverage===
*Remembering the Life of Minoru Mineta
*'My Hero Academia' Gets Real Relatable With this Mineta Callout
==References==
Category:2019 Featured Articles
Category:Boku no Hero Academia Characters