Even when two anime characters come from two completely different franchises, they can still have a lot in common. Two outwardly different people may share a goal, personal arc or even a voice actor, and such is the case for The Quintessential Quintuplets’ Yotsuba Nakano and My Hero Academia’s Ochaco Uraraka. Both share Ayane Sakura as a voice actor, but their similarities run much deeper than that.
Yotsuba is no superhero and Ochaco is an only child, but otherwise, these anime girls would see a lot of themselves in each other if they ever met. Both are cheerful deredere characters hiding many insecurities but are eager — desperate even — to repay the people who supported them until now. Deep down, they both have the heart of a hero.
Yotsuba Nakano & Ochaco Uraraka’s Relationship to Family
Quintessential Quintuplets’ Yotsuba and MHA’s Ochaco are largely defined by the families they hail from, no matter how different those relatives seem at a glance. At their lowest points, both characters feel like a serious burden on their families, and that gave Yotsuba in particular an inferiority complex. She felt like the weakest quint and nearly caused a rift when she tried too hard to stand out with her hair ribbon, and it was because of her the Nakano siblings ended up going to a different school than expected.
Yotsuba was good at sports but terrible in class, and her repeated test failures nearly drove the sisters apart until the other four graciously decided to attend the same school to “rescue” her. Yotsuba also felt like a financial burden on their hardworking mother and told her tutor Futaro that she aimed to study hard, get into a good college, then land a cushy job to repay her family in full.
That last point in particular ties Yotsuba’s character arc with Ochaco’s in My Hero Academia. Just like Yotsuba, Ochaco knows what a financial burden she is on her impoverished but loving parents, so she aims to become a Pro Hero and send them all their paychecks. Ochaco knows her parents love her and always wanted her, but she still feels like a burden. A kind girl like her would eventually feel guilty about it even though she’s blameless — the same is true of Yotsuba Nakano.
These experiences shaped both Ochaco and Yotsuba into proactive shonen girls who wish to humbly support others and stand out — paradoxical as that may sound — and heroically repay their families the debt they feel they owe. The other Nakanos and Ochaco’s parents never even asked for any reimbursement or hinted at it, but both girls feel obligated, and that says many wonderful things about them and their views on family.
Yotsuba & Ochaco’s Relationship to Their Lovers
Even if My Hero Academia is a superhero anime rather than a wholesome harem like Quintuplets, Ochaco Uraraka still shares Yotsuba’s positive experiences with inspirational love. These girls are dearly beloved not just by family, but by the equally wholesome male leads they’re associated with. All five Nakanos fell for Futaro, but it was Yotsuba whose love shone both first and the brightest, and Futaro returned those feelings in full. She found him highly inspiring, and he set a good example for her to follow as hardworking youths chasing their dreams.
Yotsuba owed much to her four sisters, but she also credited Futaro as the one who really made her who she is today. In return, he relied on her as a supportive friend-turned-lover, admitting that without her, he would have given up on the Nakanos early on. Yotsuba and Futaro needed each other, in short, and created a positive feedback loop to inspire and motivate one another.
Ochaco has had a similar experience with protagonist Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia. She was the first one to welcome him to UA — much like Yotsuba was the first quint to accept Futaro as a tutor — and she soon looked up to “Deku” as her personal symbol of peace. Deku was to Ochaco what All Might is to him, and Ochaco would even ask herself “what would Deku do?” when facing a tough challenge.
Ochaco aimed to be Deku in spirit, and in return, he took her kindness toward him to heart. Deku had his own role model already, but he was still an emotionally vulnerable boy scarred by a lifetime of Quirkless intolerance. Ochaco’s warm, positive feelings for him empowered him and affirmed that yes, there are people out there who like him and need him. Deku didn’t openly credit Ochaco as someone who made his career possible, deep down he surely knows that to be true. He just needed one kind girl to say “Welcome!” to get his heart in place to become the new symbol of peace.
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