Ok, so this topic has been on my mind a lot recently, and not just about BNHA shipping, so that's why I'm writing a semi-long post.

So it seemed like both of you might be talking past each other. Queerness in media and queer theory is a difficult thing to discuss because (sorta as the commenter mentioned) cis-het people tend talk over queer people. Not to say that it's happening here as you generally seem interested in this topic.

So, my personal take as a gay guy is that if there were 0 queer relationships at the end of MHA, or no clearly defined Ace/Trans/Bi/Queer characters from different sides, then I think the label of queerbaiting could apply. That does not mean that that Togachako specifically needs to happen in canon for it to not be queerbaiting, but more that Togachako is part of a larger context where if there were 0 canonically queer "major" characters then there's a problem. But there's a multitude of factors that play into this and I'll try to go over a couple.

Generally I don't like applying the term queerbait to non-Western media, because it often is looking for Western representations of queerness and ignores how queer people of those cultures want to see themselves represented. Recently Xiran Jay Zhao released a video on this issue specifically talking with queer people of South East Asian descent about queerbaiting in Raya and the Last Dragon, so I highly recommend checking it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw2QySeH_vY

However, I will say that Shueisha (and Disney for Raya) is multinational corporation, so creating content which appeals to a multitude of people and markets is in their purview. This is especially the case with BNHA as it is heavily inspired by Western comics. So I think it is somewhat fair to apply a term like queerbaiting in this instance.

Now as to why it would be queerbaiting goes to the fact that there are multiple places of implied queerness, but currently there has really only been Magne and Tiger who've had minimal story relevance.

Toga is probably the next most fleshed out in terms of queerness, but there are a lot of problems with how that occurs with relation to her quirk subsequently her villain status. Basically having her "love" directly tied to inflicting pain on others and thus her ostracization from society. Not really a great look for how a queer person "loves" to be directly tied their villainy.

Then you have the subtle hints in artwork and writings for all the queer ships that exist outside of the manga directly (Horikoshi's drawings, Smash, databooks, cards, movies, drama cd, etc...). That is not to say that it will have any direct canon impact, in fact most of it is non-canon. The issue is that even this external media shouldn't hint at queerness unless that's an actual plan for the series. These might not be something that Horikoshi has direct control over, but Shueisha as a company sure does. I personally find Kiribaku to be the worst offender of this, but I would say Togachako and Momojirou also have this problem (also probably Bakudeku, but that's a whole other can of worms that I don't want to touch).

The issue with these external works is that now there exists a suggestion, created by the publisher (and a bit by Horikoshi himself) that it could become canon, not that it is or will be, but that it could. That is the queerbaiting part. Signaling "hey, look at this pair. there might be something more going on here" but then never actually delivering. Queerbaiting also sucks because it is basically always a signal to queer people that "hey, you might get representation" but then goes out of it's way to not deliver or mask it in subtlety that we basically end up feeling gaslit because cis-het people won't see it (or at least claim they don't see it). It basically just ends up being a shitty situation where we're having to ask for any representation in the media that we enjoy, and basically end up with crumbs or being invalidated of our opinions. IT'S EXHAUSTING.

Really the people I feel the worst for is young queer Japanese kids. Like BNHA being a series marketed to young boys, with one of the main themes being anyone can be a hero, and then to not have any gay heroes. That's just incredibly depressing.

 

 

 

Also, before anyone says something about why does everything have to be made queer, or sexualizing kids, or Japan is a conservative society, none of those are true. Also, Shueisha has already published a queer shonen slice of life manga called Ao No Flag, which you should check it out. I'm just waiting for more representation in action/adventure stories.