kirishima's debut fight against the pill popping blade guy is a symbolic commentary on kirishima working hard to enhance his quirk after lots of struggle VS a crackhead. the fact that kirishima is disgusted by such drugs and works hard to curb it is !!

"saira your mic is on lol"

the beauty of this fight lies in how their powers progress. mr crackhead’s quirk suddenly and uncontrollably grows and while kirishima takes time to build it up, thus emphasising the gradual build that he took to get to unbreakable in the first place

mr crackhead looks literally unhinged whereas kirishima is controlled and focused. he is aware of how long unbreakable can last, how it burns him out, how much damage it causes his own body - on both ends these people try to push their limits, getting hurt in the process

also just the sheer fact that kirishima spent years and years trying to build on his quirk to become something more than just partial hardening. that he tried to make himself stronger after repeated training

and then this crackhead mf shows up, pops a pill and just BOOM exagerates his quirk - must have invalidated so much of kirishima’s blood sweat & tears

would have made his blood boil but he stayed focused

kirishima’s triumph in battle is not only satisfactory but successfully shows that hard work > than pill popping wussies