#chapter 005

Observation notes:

For contest, to help who has no idea what happened here since there is no visual, I will tell you that we are in U.A. HIGH SCHOOL (雄英高校 U.A. KŌKŌ) in the HERO COURSE (ヒーロー科 HERO-KA), in Class 1-A (1年A組 Ichi-nen A-gumi) and we can see it’s the first day of school. Class A Homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shōta, has them undergo a Kosei haaku TEST (個性把握テスト Quirk apprehension test) and the one who’ll place last will be expelled.

Cultural notes:

CLASS meibo (クラス名簿 “class roaster”): a list of the students assigned to a class. It usually compiles information such as the names, student numbers, and contact information of students enrolled in a particular school or class. Most class rosters are strictly organized by the Japanese syllabary (Aiueo), usually in a gender-neutral ordering that does not separate boys and girls. It is primarily used by teachers and administrators for the following purposes: recording daily attendance, tardiness, and early departures, recording test scores and creating seating charts. In the past, at the beginning of the new school year, they were also exposed on physical bulletin boards on the first day of the academic year so that students could discover in which class they would belong. This was expecially relevant in elementary and middle schools as there students would be shuffled between classes at the beginning of each new year in what is called CLASS gae (クラス替え “class shuffle”). When BNHA started though, due to how in 2003 the ‘Kojin jōhō hogo-hō’ (個人情報保護法 “Personal Information Protection Law”) was enacted, schools slowly started to mail the roasters to parents, so that private information wouldn’t be exposed and even obscuring fields were address and phones were. Still Midoriya should have known from it he’s with Bakugō and a Hero nerd like him would have also known he’s in the same class with Endeavor’s son instead he apparently has no idea who are his classmates.

Zasekihyō (座席表 “seating chart”): a diagram or list showing the seating arrangement in event venues such as theaters, airplanes, trains, conferences, and banquets. The main purpose of a seating chart is to help people find their assigned seats or available seats. In Japanese culture, ‘sekijun’ (席順 “seating order”) is very important in demonstrating respect and hierarchy as it reflects important etiquette in Japanese business and social situations based on rank, age, or other social status. In schools though, seats are assigned at the beginning of the year usually according to the students’ numbers, which are given according to the alphabetical order of their surnames (or, alternatively, according to their birthdays). The fact we don’t see the students seated at the correct spots likely means Horikoshi hadn’t decided on the full list of surnames yet. Interesting enough most schools change the seating arrangement each month, reassigning places either by lottery or by a teacher’s will so as to insure the students will manage to have interactions with all their classmates. This doesn’t happen in BNHA where the seating order remains always the same.

Tannin sensei (担任先生): It’s generally translated as “Homeroom teacher” but it actually means “teacher in charge (of the class)”. In fact they follow a class through its whole permanency at school and are responsible for every aspect of the student’s total education, working also as counselor and therapist for them, organizing school trips and experiences, informing them of school activities and school problems and even visiting their parents. Long story short they’re supposed to establish a strong bond with their students. By the way, among the duties of the homeroom teachers in charge of a third year middle school class there’s to hand out 'Shinro kibō no PRINT’ (進路希望のプリント “Career aspirations form”) in which the students are meant to write the high school at which they aspire to attend and therefore for which they aim to try the entrance text exam and he’s also expected to consuel them on which ones to choose if they’re unsure. So yeah, while when talking of the homeroom teacher we think at Aizawa, the teacher who gave Midoriya’s class the forms and to whom Midoriya and Bakugō reported after having been admitted to U.A. High is also a homeroom teacher.

Nyūgakushiki (入学式 “entrance ceremony”) or Shiki (式 “ceremony”): it is the ceremony that takes place on the first day of high school in Japanese schools, to welcome the students in the new school, a ceremony which is held after two other ceremonies for senior students and at which new students don’t take part. The ceremony usually consists of the Japanese national anthem, opening remarks by the ‘kōchō sensei’ (校長先生 “principal”), ‘Fuku kōchō sensei’ (副校長先生 “vice principal”), ‘PTA kaichō’ (PTA会長 “PTA president”) and other teachers. Sometimes the first-year students remain quiet and sometimes they are expected to reply to roll call, but this depends on the school. Then, there is usually a commemorative photograph taken followed by students being led to their classrooms by their new homeroom teachers. Here they will be given a ‘GUIDANCE’ (ガイダンス “guidance session”) in which they will be given information necessary for their student life. It is worth to mention the first day of school is often on Sunday and, after the guidance session, the first year students are free to go back at home.

Joseki shogun (除籍処分 “expulsion”): in Japan, an expulsion at school means “permanent expulsion”. High schools aren’t mandatory so while you can try applying to another high school they can refuse you on ground you were previously expelled by another school if the motive was serious enough. The causes for an expulsion are decided by the code of the school that’s made/approved by the principal. General causes of expulsions which can be found in the “Regulation for Enforcement of the School Education Act” are ‘displaying delinquent behavior’ (which usually includes also smoking and getting a part time job) and being found to have no prospects of improvement, ‘having lesser scholastic abilities and being found to have no prospects of completing their education’, ‘not attending regularly without legitimate grounds’, ‘having disrupted the order of the school, or have otherwise acted against their duty as students’. The principal is the one with the legal power to expel his students, but in fact, the draft of them will deliberate at all staff meetings at schools. Students can also be suspended and be forced to spend at home a certain amount of time. Now you can get why Eraser Head expelling the students would have been such a terrible thing.

In JELLY (inゼリー): a jelly drink sold by Morinaga (森永製菓). that allows for easy energy and nutritional intake. The full name should be ‘Weider in Jelly’ (ウイダー　in　ゼリー) and, more than juice it’s like crushed yogurt, and people say it does taste like yogurt too, specifically pineapple yogurt. It comes in a variety of varieties for different purposes, including energy, multivitamin, multimineral, and protein. Its main ingredients include glucose, fructose, maltodextrin, vitamins, minerals, protein (whey peptides, etc.), electrolytes (potassium chloride, calcium lactate, etc.), gelling agents (thickening polysaccharides), flavorings, and acidulants. It is used in a variety of situations, including pre- and post-exercise nutrition, satisfying hunger, and for growing children. This is likely what Aizawa is drinking even though the name on the pack had been changed so that instead of a big ‘In’, what we see is a big ‘On’.

Seifuku (制服 “school uniform”): the majority of Japan's junior high and high schools require students to wear school uniforms, the one for boys is called Gakuran (学蘭 “western style student uniform” Lit. “study Netherlands”) while the one for girls is called SAILOR fuku (セーラー服 “sailor outfit”). The standard ones would be the ones we saw Midoriya and Uraraka wear when they were in high school but we can see that U.A. high has boys wear white shirts with ties, blazers, and tailored trousers, while girls wear white shirts with ties, blazers and skirts. The gym clothes are unisex. This is apparently something that’s getting common in Japan even if the traditional Gakuran and Sailor Fuku are also still popular enough in high schools as well. By the way generally schools are very strict about appearance so Midoriya’s poorly tied tie would normally make him look bad... though U.A. High doesn’t seem to mind. Bakugō’s baggy pants would also be a cause of concern as this break of uniform regulation is typically associated with “bad boys” (this in manga can mean anything than ranges from them being rebellious to them joining a band to outright becoming delinquents). It seems that the style comes from construction workers, who wear them.

Taisō-fuku chaku (体操服着 “Gym clothes”): it refers to the uniforms Japanese students wear for gym. It is worth to mention in many manga/anime you might see how girls, during gym, wear bloomers (ブルマー), which were introduced in Japan as women’s clothing for physical education in 1903. However, after the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in response to the styles worn by the foreign women athletes, a newer style of bloomers, pittari, which fit the body closer, similar to volleyball uniforms, became commonplace. Around the mid-1990s, however, schools and individuals began to choose sports shorts instead, citing modesty concerns as they exposed the groin and gave a full view of the body and were almost like underwear, which made girls very uncomfortable, never mentioning they became a sexual fetishism with people trying to take pictures of girls wearing them, or even breaking in schools trying to steal them. This leads to their disappearance around 1992. On another note, in 2019 in Nakano, Tokyo, girls have started to request schools to let them decide their uniform regardless of sex. This started with a sixth grader who did not want to wear skirts in junior high school and asked her female classmates for their opinions on uniforms. The responses showed that most of her classmates also wanted the freedom to choose their uniforms. The young student delivered the survey results to the mayor of Nakano, and all of the principals for the ward’s public junior high schools agreed on the proposal, allowing students to freely choose their uniforms. Over 400 schools adopted genderless uniforms for 2022’s fiscal year. There was a lot of support from female students for the adaptation of genderless uniforms and the implementation of slacks since it allowed for more comfort by keeping their legs warm and making it easier to ride their bicycles. The decision for genderless uniforms is also in consideration of sexual minority students. U.A. High also have gym genderless uniforms, which is one of the few not sexist choices in the manga.

Kyōin meibo (教員名簿 “teacher list”): What All Might is looking at is the teacher list. Each school has a binder in which they collect the data of all the teachers they have. The one in U.A. high has printed on it ‘secret’ because on it there are also reserved info. Japanese schools also have binders which collect their students’ data.

Tairyoku shindan TEST (体力診断テスト “physical fitness diagnostic test”): Japanese middle schools conduct an annual physical fitness test, mandated by the Japan Sports Agency, assessing 8 components: grip strength, sit-ups, trunk flexion, side step, 20-m shuttle run, 50-m run, standing long jump, and softball throw, with scores from 0-10 per event for a total out of 80, reflecting overall physical health and trends, with recent data showing declines linked to lifestyle factors like increased screen time and decreased exercise. Aizawa describes it saying it is a “kosei” kinshi no tairyoku TEST (〝個性〟禁止の体力テスト “A physical fitness test where "quirks" are prohibited”), in short he establishes that in the world of BNHA this test still exist and students in middle schools can not use their Quirks during it.

Places notes:

The chapter mentions two location:

ALL MIGHT no Jimusho (オールマイトの事務所（オールマイトのじむしょ）): “All Might’s agency”

Shiritsu Sōmei Chūgakkō (私立聡明中学校（しりつそうめいちゅうがっこう） “Sōmei private middle school”), Īda’s middle school.

For All Might’s agency Midoriya gives us the exact address, Tōkyō-to Minato-ku Roppongi 6-12- (東京都港区六本木 6-12- “Tokyo, Minato Ward, Roppongi 6-12-”). “Vigilantes” will add it is located in Might Tower (マイトタワー) a tall tower clearly owned by All Might considering its name.

Minato ward is known as one of Tokyo’s largest business areas, home to the headquarters of many large domestic companies, (Honda, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NEC, Nikon, SoftBank Group, Sony and Fujitsu), one of the wealthiest residential areas in Japan, and for its relatively high concentration of foreign expats due to the number of embassies and multinational corporations located in and around the area. Roppongi district is famous for the Roppongi HILLS (六本木ヒルズ) development area, an upscale commercial and residential complex, and night club scene. Several foreign embassies are located in or near Roppongi. Long story short, All Might’s agency is in a very upper class area.

In regard to Īda’s middle school it is worth to say differently from public middle schools, Japanese private middle schools can be named after various inspirations, including their founders, locations, noble goals (like harmony, wisdom...), Buddhist concepts, or even abstract ideas, often using auspicious kanji characters for positive meanings like "high" (taka) or "hill" (oka), similar to how English schools might be named for benefactors or local features but with more symbolic Japanese wordplay.

Shiritsu Sōmei Chūgakkō (私立聡明中学校 “Sōmei private middle school”) takes its name from Shu Mai (シュ・マーイ), a female Gossam who served as Presidente of the Commerce Guild during the final years of the Galactic Republic and was ultimately slaughtered on Mustafar by Darth Vader.

Why picking up someone who is a villain to name Īda’s middle school?

It seems originally Horikoshi considered a darker path for Īda, which was also why he gave him red eyes (red eyes are often used as a trope to point out characters who are or will turn out being evil or very violent) but the idea was soon scrapped and the most we have is the Stain arc. Still, the name for his middle school could have been a hint to this.

According to “Ultra Archive” Īda has birth in Tokyo so, very likely, his middle school was also there.

Retcon notes:

There’s actually no Shōto in chapter 5, not even a glimpse but there should be, and not only because he’s present when the facts in the chapter take place, but because the panels show the place where Shōto should sit in his class, but we can’t see him because Horikoshi isn’t showing the students seated on the right seats. This will be fixed in chap. 7.

It might not be a retcon but Midoriya in this chapter also says:

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Maitoshi 300 o koeru bairitsu no shōtai. Ippan nyūshi teiin 36-mei. 18-nin zutsude nanto 2 CLASS shikanai.)’ 緑谷出久「(毎年300を超える倍率の正体。一般入試定員36名。18人ずつでなんと2クラスしかない。)」 Midoriya Izuku “(The truth behind the application rate is less than 1 in 300 every year. The general entrance exam admission quota is of 36 students. They’re divided into two classes with 18 students each.)” [Ep. 5]

In truth the students for each class are 20. Horikoshi, after receiving plenty of questions about it, claimed that count doesn’t include the 4 recommended students (2 for each class, which in class A would be Shōto and Yaoyorozu) and apologized for having been confusing. If he was just confusing or if he hadn’t planned yet for the class to be of 20 people and then retconned it, is up to everyone’s speculation.

Not quite a retcon but the first thing Aizawa has the students do is a test to basically judge their Quirks’ physical strength combined with their own... but then in chap 33 he will go and criticize how the entrance exam was completely irrational for being an exam that basically valued physical strength... which in truth wasn’t the case as the students would have gotten points for saving people too and that they could have done even without destroying the robots. On the opposite side in Aizawa’s test technically, if he had stuck to his own rules, there wasn’t a way to pass without physical strength.

We know Aizawa won’t stick to his own rules so maybe it is a moth point but I still found worth mentioning it.

Teaching notes:

So, like in each high school, the U.A. High students should attend to the over mentioned entrance ceremony and have a guidance session. Such things exist in U.A. High as well but Aizawa decides the students in his class don’t need them and will have a Quirk Apprehension Test. As All Might knows their program will be different, Aizawa clearly negotiated the change of schedule with the principal in advance.

Still the whole ‘for you that will be useless’, looks extremely bad as it is a rejection of a standard school practice WHICH HAS A USE and that other students will follow. It is not just the Hero course who doesn’t follow it, it is only Aizawa’s class.

I get the whole idea of ‘freestyle education’, but having Aizawa arbitrarily dismiss so rudely what the rest of U.A. and the other Japanese school approve as useful isn’t a good teaching, especially since it is not even explained to the students WHY it wouldn’t help them. The test could have waited a day, there was no rush.

Also the whole U.A. ‘freestyle education’ isn’t a really good system as a whole because it lacks of organization and blindly relies on the teachers to do good.

It feels more like Horikoshi is using it as an excuse to do what he wants in his story that as an effective, good teaching method he wanted U.A. High to use.

Timeline notes:

The table that follows is made to give you an idea of the characters’ age when the facts are taking place. On top of each character there is the date of his birthday, below there is the age they has. April is the month in which school starts, so in it you find in which class each character is.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 5 - What I Can Do for Now (今 僕に出来ることを Ima Boku ni Dekiru Koto o)

Changed parts notes:

Differently from the manga the anime gifts us with plenty of glimpses of Shōto and also shows us where he would sit in the class.

We can see Shōto is in the seat number 15, in the last row and, next to him there are Yaoyorozu Momo (seat number 20) and Satō Rikidō (seat number 10), while in front of him there’s Tokoyami Fumikage (seat number 14).

The anime changed a bit Midoriya’s sentence so as to make it clearer and to include the fact there are also 4 recommended students.