#teaching notes

Observation notes:

We don’t have much Shōto in this chapter that is meant to introduce the ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”), also repeating some things that were said in the previous chapter.

Everything is fundamentally reduced to two glimpses of Shōto as Īda informs Midoriya he won’t be part of his group as he will join Shōto’s group along with Yaoyorozu and Kaminari so as to challenge Midoriya.

Cultural notes:

Kibasen (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”): a sport activity that mimics a battle between mounted warriors, and is a standard event at sports days. Three people form the shape of a horse with one rider riding on top of it (騎馬 ‘kiba’), and compete to win by snatching the opponent's hat or headband. Normally in a Japanese cavalry battle only two teams will fight, though, in some variations of it they might have more than one horse (in short more people play but they are all split in two groups). Also usually one team has lost if either they lose their headband or the rider falls on the ground. These rules are happily ignored by the manga that only set a time limit. A timelimit can also be used in normal cavalry battles when there are two teams with more horses, so the winner can be declared according to which team managed to lose less horses.

Retcon notes:

So this chapter makes explicit how, in this Hero saturated society, there isn’t enough Hero work for everyone. Heroes have to steal jobs from each other, or they might not manage to have enough to eat and be forced to close their agency. We saw it right in Chap. 1 with Mt. Lady stealing the Villain from Kamui Wood, but it was subtly hinted in chap. 13 as well, when we have All Might defeat Habit Headgear and Mt. Lady points out if All Might keeps this up they will end up out of business. Basically this means there is not enough work for them.

Jump to chap 186 and all this will be retconned by Hawks who will claim he wants to make this a world where Heroes have time to kill, all this implying that Heroes are actually suffering of overwork because there is too much work for them. Now, I get that with All Might’s retirement things became worst but, canonically, it is implied it was a subtle worsening, after all All Might retired in August (and he was working less than 3 hours prior to his retirement) and Hawks says this in November and in those 3 months nothing catastrophic happened.

This societal retcon is more due to Horikoshi identifying himself with Heroes than a planned evolution. At the beginning of BNHA, in 2014, he was a young author struggling to continue get published, hence the idea that the world is in a dog-eats-dog status, by the time Vol. 20 came about, in 2018, he was a successful mangaka oberate with work who longed for some free time.

Even if we go and assume both problems exist (minor Heroes don’t work enough, major Heroes work too much), the Hero situation is nowhere near comparable with the one of a mangaka. Major Heroes aren’t forced to overwork or they will lose their job, it is their own choice to also work to stop minor Villains that could be handled by minor Heroes and it is society’s fault for not better distributing the Hero forces (think to small villages like Shōji’s where there are no Heroes that try to save drowing little girls or kids getting scarred, or Nabu island which remains without a Hero and so 20 Hero in training teenagers are sent there without even an adult supervising there to practicize).

Teaching notes:

I guess the idea to put a lot of pressure on the one on the top is meant to teach the students what being at the top means... but it is not a grand strategy as there are 42 students and just one person at the top who will feel the brunt of it. Even if we spread it to his group members, it is not really the same and honestly it seems to serve more the purpose of the story than the purpose of teaching the students something.

So, as said in chap 22, nowadays sport festivals tend to avoid the ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) due to the risk of injuries and media scrutiny and, when they do it, they use helmets, crash mats and strict spotters. Of course here they don’t care at all about the risk of injury there is not a single protection item used by the students because, as the previous chapter said, is a battle for survival.

Midnight though also says another thing.

MIDNIGHT ‘“Kosei” hatsudō ARI no zangyaku FIGHT! Demo…… akumade kibasen. Akushitsuna kuzushi mokuteki de no kōgeki-tō wa RED CARD! ippatsu taijō to shimasu.’ ミッドナイト「上位の奴ほど狙われちゃう──────────…下克上サバイバルよ！！！」 Midnight “It's a brutal/cruel fight with Quirks in action! But... it's still a cavalry battle. Any malicious attacks aimed at breaking down the opponent will result in a red card! You'll be ejected immediately.”

While it is nice that they say you can’t harm the opponent and that they will be expelled if they do because it is still a cavalry battle well... WHERE WE SEE THIS?

Skipping how the story adds rules as the battle goes on, we see that Bakugō attacks Team Midoriya with his explosions and yes, they stop him but, again, they could have failed to do so and then Kaminari gives a shock to everyone which is not healthy and could have caused someone to fall... but no red card for him.

Long story short it feels more like lip service than anything else but, truth to be told, it is also tied to Horikoshi’s way to handle Quirks and things that can be deadly (think at the explosions of the previous chapters) as if they weren’t.

We also have some Heroes discussing the sport festival claiming U.A. High is doing the festival in such way to prepare the kids to be Heroes in a society where dog-eats-dog, revealing that Heroes won’t hesitate to get in the way of other Heroes, dragging them down, all to gain the credits for defeating a Villain (remember how Mt. Lady stole the victory from Kamui Wood in Chap 1?).

In another manga this would be a good point of discussion for how this kind of society is wrong, but here society is just accepted as it is, and the students aren’t encouraged to change it but just to deal with it and become part of the system so they too can steal jobs from other people. It is really not an inspiring teaching, especially for kids that should become Heroes.

On the other hand they observe that the Cavalry Battle might also help forming cooperation spirit, so the kids can learn to coordinate sidekicks or do team up with other Hero agencies... but this doesn’t really seems the core of the exercise since, with competition spirit flared up as much as it can go, we see Īda refusing to join Midoriya’s group because... he is challenging him too. He wants to show to the Pro he is better than Midoriya.

Midoriya Izuku ‘(Mō hajimatteru!! Zenin… teki. Sōda… boku wa ima toppu… tomodachi-gokko ja… i rarenai--!!)’ 緑谷出久「(もう始まってる！！全員…敵。そうだ…僕は今トップ…友だちごっこじゃ…いられない──！！)」 Midoriya Izuku “It's already started! Everyone's an enemy. That's right... I'm the top now... I can't just pretend to be friends anymore──!!”

This doesn’t really promote team spirit between future Heroes but competitivity, with alliances done merely out of self interest so as to lead them to victory or to be noticed by the Pro.

Translation notes:

Īda calls Shōto ‘Todoroki-kun’ (轟くん “young Todoroki”). ‘-kun’ (君/くん) is usually used for addressing males younger than the speaker. However teenagers in the same age group can call each other with ‘-kun’ and this is what Īda does with his male classmates.

Attentive readers might notice that here Midoriya uses an expression similar to the one Shōto used in chap 23. Shōto said they couldn’t do ‘Nakayoshi-gokko’ (仲良しごっこ “pretending to be friends/companions” and Midoriya says they can’t do ‘tomodachi-gokko’ (友だちごっこ “pretend to be friends”).

‘Tomodachi’ (友だち) is a general term for “friends”, while ‘nakayoshi’ (仲良し) specifically means a close or “intimate” friend, often used to describe a close-knit group of friends. ‘Tomodachi’ can be casual, but ‘nakayoshi’ emphasizes the closeness and good relationship between people. Likely Shōto used ‘nakayoshi’ to emphasize even more how they were the opposite of it.

Extra notes:

In this part of the story becomes prevalent the attitude at revealing things AFTER they have happened. For example this cavalry battle allows such a peculiar formation like the one of Team Mineta or allows riders leaving their units as long as their feet don’t touch the ground...

While this is used mostly for humoristic value, this will be a technique Horikoshi will slowly start to like more and more even for what’s not fun, that gets revealed without foreshadowing and often, after it had happened (see for example in chap 29 Īda’s new technique that appears out of the blue to solve the problem at hands). While this kind of technique can surprise the reader, when abused it ends up on feeling a cheap resulution and expedient for surprise.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 17 - Strategy, Strategy, Strategy (策策策 Saku saku saku)

Added parts notes:

There is not much to say about the additions, we only have some more glimpses of Shōto.

Changed parts notes:

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Kōzoku ni michi tsukucchimau ga… ) Ushiro ki ni shi teru baai ja nē… !’ 轟焦凍「（後続に道作っちまうが…）後ろ気にしてる場合じゃねえ…！」 Todoroki Shōto “(I’ll make a road for those behind me but…) this is no time to worry about who’s behind me…!”

Observation notes:

This chapter covers the final part of the race, the one in which Midoriya too joins the battle for the first place. While I do hate the fact that they had the kids run through a minefield I do like the idea that Midoriya managed to win the race using his brain, even though this is clearly a Quirk competition. Of course the situation is as unreal as it can be, not only because explosions who sent Midoriya flying that much would have seriously injured everyone who happened to be caught in the blast, but because Shōto (and Bakugō) had an overwhelming advantage on him and Midoriya is also carrying with himself an armor plate who should have slowed him down and had to search for mines to create such a big explosion so, really, Shōto and Bakugō were ahead enough that they should have won. Still Shōto managed to keep his cool and to worry for what was really a source of troubles, Midoriya in front of him and I love how, despite being the one who is less used to explosions differently from Bakugō, he still managed to come second ahead of him and even seems less tired than him. Even though he didn’t manage to get first place Shōto showed himself to be a very strong adversary.

We then have Midnight telling us how only the first 42 can move to the next round.

42 isn’t a random number, class A and class B, together make 40 students and they should be the best the school has to offer so it would make sense they would all qualify. Two slots remain open for two students who want to try to move to the Hero course by winning the sport festival.

Midnight then introduces the next event, a ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) in which each participant will have a headband with point values assigned according to how he placed in the obstacle course race.

By the way you might remember that when talking about chap. 22 I mentioned that nowadays sport festivals try not to include ‘kibasen’ (騎馬戦 “cavalry battle”) due to safety reasons or that, if they do include it they also use helmets, crash mats and strict spotters so guess what will be the second event? Yeah, a cavalry battle and in the explanation Midnight will make no mention of safety measures... and we will see in the next chapters none will be in place... which means the last will have 5 points and the first will have 10.000.000 points.

Cultural notes:

Kyōsō (競争 “competition”): in Japanese culture, it is a fundamental element in order to aims for ‘jiko no kōjō’ (自己の向上 “self-improvement”). Competitiveness is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, partly due to a societal emphasis on achievement through hard work and a belief in the importance of status and credentials. Parents instill into their kids the idea they must keep working hard. The way they know their hard work is succeeding is by how many people they’re beating. Competition between students to enter high schools and universities is so high that kids sometimes spend a majority of their time studying in order to get on the right track for the right school. Sometimes students break down, burn out and drop out. Some face bullying for not getting into good schools. Some even withdraw from society, too taxed mentally to face the hurdles of life and education. The exams to get in the desired school are so hard that they have a word for it, ‘shiken jigoku’ (試験地獄 “exam hell”).

Sessatakuma (切磋琢磨 “to strive for mutual improvement” Lit. “To cut and polish hard stones and carve and polish jewels”): it signifies improving oneself by learning from others, a concept commonly expressed as friendly rivalry, mutual encouragement, or diligent application through study/work together. In manga/anime this idea can be brought to the extreme. While the first even was focused on individual competition, this second event mixes individual and group competition, better expressing the idea of striving for mutual improvement both through rivalry but also through mutual aid.

Retcon notes:

Similarly to what Horikoshi did with Chapter 18/19 the final scene of the chapter with Midnight explaining how the cavalry battle will take place is partially retconned/repeated/expanded in the next chapter. One might miss it because they are both two dialogue scenes if it wasn’t for Midnight repeating the rules, even if in an expanded way.

Sexism notes:

I have been unsure if to add this because Shōto likely didn't witness how Mineta managed to get there groping Yoyorozu, but I decided to include it because... everyone else in the arena likely did and they didn’t boo Mineta. The crowd is willing to boo Bakugō because he fights seriously again ‘a poor girl’ (Uraraka), but doesn't care Mineta takes advantage of Yaoyorozu to both complete the race and grope her, especially grope her and this tells us something about the society Shōto lives in, one that finds okay what Mineta did but not that one could fight seriously against a girl.

Teaching notes:

‘Taijin jirai’ (対人地雷) really means “anti-personnel mines” as the English translation says. Modern anti-personnel mines include small, low-yield blast mines, which blow off the ankles or shins of anyone who steps on them; and relatively large, fragmentation-type jumping mines, which, when activated by a trip wire or foot pressure, first launch a small amount of explosive into the air about 1-2 meters high, then explode, scattering steel balls and other explosives within, killing enemies within a radius of several dozen meters. This kind of mines are generally buried underground, but they can also be secured to a hidden location and, when activated by a trip wire or other means, scatter steel balls and other explosives horizontally in a fan pattern, killing or injuring. The 1997 Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, also called the Ottawa Treaty, which was signed also by Japan, bans the use, possession, production, and transfer of mines, and provides for the destruction of stocks and assistance to victims. The Convention commits States Parties to destroy all anti-personnel landmines in their possession or control, “as soon as possible” but, in any case, no later than four years after entry-into-force of the Treaty for the concerned State. The only exception to this rule concerns mines that can be kept for training purposes relating to detection, clearance and destruction. These, in any case, must be kept in very low numbers.

Now, okay, the story insists that those mines aren’t that dangerous (even if they sent students and Midoriya flying but whatever, realism was clearly not what Horikoshi had in mind) but I still can’t see a good reason why a teacher would think that getting copies of banned mines with low explosive power to have students run through a minefield is a good training exercise beyond the Doylist fact that Midoriya needed something that would send him flying.

Also Midoriya deliberately caused another explosion very close to Shōto and Bakugō that sends him flying and that could have seriously injured them since it was powerful enough to send Midoriya flying but again, in this sport festival everything goes and Midoriya, Midoriya who threw away his chance to make points to save Uraraka, who will throw away his chance to win the sport festival to help Shōto, here doesn’t worry at all he could injury him and Bakugō in a way that Recovery Girl might not be able to fix. And really, great action scene but as far as teaching goes this is no good.

At least Aizawa is honest. When Present Mic remarks his class is amazing and asks what he is teaching them he said he did nothing and that his students got fired up on their own.

And then we have All Might’s speech.

ALL MIGHT ‘(Kimi no shindearou “‘hito o tasukeru’ HERO”… kono taiiku matsuri wa, rokotsu ni soko to sōhansuru ‘hoka o ke otoshite’ kisou ba… Ninki shōbai no men ga ōkī gendai HERO. ‘Tanin yori ue ni’ to iu donyokusa wa. Kimi dakara koso erandaga… kimi dakara koso no jakutenda to omotte ita. Chō kiyū datta na!! Gomen na! Nakimushi wa hayaku naoshita hau ga īkedo na!)’ 轟焦凍「(君の芯であろう『〝人を救ける〟ヒーロー』…この体育祭は、露骨にそこと相反する〝他を蹴落として〟競う場…人気商売の面が大きい現代ヒーロー。〝他人より上に〟という貪欲さは。君だからこそ選んだが…君だからこその弱点だと思っていた。超杞憂だったな！！ごめんな！泣き虫は早く治した方がいいけどな！)」 All Might “(Your core is that of a "hero ‘who can save people’"... but this sports festival is a blatant contradiction to that, a competition to “kick others down”... Modern heroes are largely a popularity business. They are greedy to be “above others”... I chose you because of how you are... but I thought it was also a weakness unique to you. I was worrying for no reason!! I'm sorry! You should get over your crybaby ways soon!)”

So basically this sport festival is a competiton that tests the students on their ability to kick others down in order to get to the top, with Heroes/scouts coming to choose who is the better one at kicking the others, instead than the one who is better at saving others. And All Might is happy because Midoriya too can kick down people, because if he weren’t capable to do this it would be a weakness. And the majority of people in Japan is interested in seeing how good are teenagers aiming to become Heroes at kicking everyone else down.

When you think at one Todoroki Enji and at how he aimed to be Number 1 and at what he was capable to do in attempt to get at the Number 1 spot remember how he went to a school who, less than a month after he started attending him, told him the most important thing, the thing for which he would be chosen by other Pro, was his willingness to kick other people down and become the Number 1 and how the whole society supported this kind of teaching. What was important wasn’t how many people he could save, not how well he could cooperate with others, but how good he was at kicking people down.

This is what the sport festival watched nationwide more than the olympiads teach now. Because sportmanship and team cooperations are an outdated concept.

Yeah, All Might says he also chose Midoriya because he has this drive to save but guess what? No one else will choose Midoriya impressed by how he was willing to throw his match to help Shōto. Yeah, his problems with his Quirk probably didn’t help but NO ONE felt like chosing him and helping him to overcome them (except All Might’s old mentor though I doubt Gran Torino would have done it if Midoriya hadn’t been All Might’s protégé).

I will save most of the discussion about the cavalry battle for the next chapter as the scene gets repeated and expanded there.

The only thing I want to discuss is this line that close the chapter.

MIDNIGHT ‘Jōi no yatsu hodo neraware chau──────────... gekokujō SURVAIVAL yo!!!’ ミッドナイト「上位の奴ほど狙われちゃう──────────...下克上サバイバルよ！！！」 Midnight “The higher up you are, the more likely you are to be targeted... It's a survival game of overthrowing the ruling class!!!”

So, in case you were thinking this exercise was to promote group spirit since well, the cavalry battle is played in teams, well, this is true only tangetially. The goal of the cavalry battle is still to promote an extreme competitivity in the students and see what they are willing to do to win since this sport festival is also an elimination game.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 16 - In Their Own Quirky Ways (みんな個性的でいいね Minna Kosei-teki de Īne)

Added parts notes: The scenes again are expanded a bit, and we are even shown Shōto and Bakugō running after Midoriya. A weird addition is that we see that Shōto is using his ice when they are in the tunnel, supposedly to propel himself forward? I am not sure because he hadn’t done it before and, actually, his ice would be more useful to freeze Midoriya’s legs than anything else but whatever. The anime also shows a screen showing in replay the moments in which Midoriya surpasses Shōto and Bakugō. The images are exactly the same we saw on the anime only now they’re on screen. We however gets another image of Shōto before the episode ends.

Midoriya Izuku ‘Tsumari, START koten ga mō...’ 緑谷出久「つまり、スタート地点がもう...」 Midoriya Izuku “In other words, the starting point is already...”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Saisho no furui.’ 轟焦凍「最初のふるい。」 Todoroki Shōto “The first filter. ”

Yaoyorozu Momo ‘Amai wa Todoroki-san!’ 八百万百「甘いわ轟さん！」 Yaoyorozu Momo“You’re too naive, Todoroki-san!”

Bakugō Katsuki ‘Sō umaku ikase nē yo hanbun yarō!!’ 爆豪勝己「そう上手くいかせねえよ半分野郎！！」 Bakugō Katsuki “It won’t work half bastard!!”

Todoroki Shōto ‘CLASS renchū wa tōzen to shite, omottayori yo kerareta na.’ 轟焦凍「クラス連中は当然として、思ったよりよけられたな。」 Todoroki Shōto “Of course I expected it from my classmates, but more than I expected (from the other classes) were able to avoid it.”

Mineta Minoru ‘Todoroki no URA no URA o kaite yatta ze zamaa nēttenda! Kurae OIRA no hissatsu...’ 峰田実「轟のウラのウラをかいてやったぜ。ざまあねえってんだ！くらえオイラの必殺...」 Mineta Minoru “I’ve outwitted Todoroki. Serves you right! Take my special mo...”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Ippan nyūshiyō no kasō teki (read: VILLAIN)-tte yatsu ka.’ 轟焦凍「一般入試用の仮想敵（ヴィラン）ってやつか。」 Todoroki Shōto “Are they the fake enemies (read: Villains) for the general entrance exam?”

Yaoyorozu Momo ‘Doko kara okane dete kuru no kashira...’ 八百万百「どこからお金出てくるのかしら...」 Yaoyorozu Momo “I wonder where the money comes from...”

Todoroki Shōto ‘(Sekkakunara motto sugē no yōi shite moraitē monda na.) KUSO oyaji ga miterunda kara.’ 轟焦凍「（せっかくならもっとすげえの用意してもらいてえもんだな。）クソ親父が見てるんだから。」 Todoroki Shōto “(If they were going to do it, I wish they had prepared something even more amazing.) My shitty old man is watching after all.”

Gakusei ‘Aitsu ga tometa zo! Ano sukimada! Tōreru!’ 学生「あいつが止めたぞ！あの隙間だ！通れる！」 Student “He stopped them! There is a gap! We can get through!”

Todoroki Shōto ‘Yame toke. Fuantei na taisein toki ni kōra shitakara… Taoreru zo.’ 轟焦凍「やめとけ。不安定な体勢ん時に凍らしたから…倒れるぞ。」 Todoroki Shōto “Don’t do that. I froze them when they were in an unstable position… They’ll fall.”

PRESENT MIC ‘1-A Todoroki! Kōryaku to bōgai o ichido ni! Koitsu ~a SHIVYY!!! Sugee na!! Ichinu da!! ARE da na mō nanka… ZURII na.’ プレゼント・マイク「1-A 轟！攻略と妨害を一度に！こいつぁシヴィー！！ !すげえな！！一抜だ！！アレだなもうなんかズリィな！！」 Present Mic “1-A Todoroki! Conquering and disrupting at the same time! This guy is refined/gives shivers! That’s amazing!! He’s first place!! That just feel… unfair!!”

Observation notes:

Shōto is technically present in all the scenes, the entrance in the stadium, the athlete’s oath and, of course, the first event, the obstacle course race.

In the manga we however see him solely during the race. In it Shōto comes out immediately as the strongest, immediately getting first, making harder for everyone tail him by freezing their feet on the ground and destroying in a blink the robots that had caused troubles during the Hero course entrance exam.

Up till chap 16 the fact Shōto’s ice can harm others was always kept into consideration but, from this point on, the story will stop considering it and viewing it only as a way to stop others when they get trapped in it, and not as something that can cause frostbites. Shōto will then freely use it as he is doing now and let people trapped in it without anyone caring/worrying.

Something else worth to mention is that the way Shōto uses to dispose of the robot is dangerous for the others but... again the story doesn’t care because the whole course race is dangerous and no one cares (actually they play it for laughts) which makes harder to judge what he did negatively (credits when it’s due Shōto also warned the others not to try to pass but the image shows the others were way too close already and the fall could still involve them even if they were to remain where they were). Sure is Shōto comes out as superior though here we also have the first hint regarding a conflict between him and his father, in form of Shōto calling Enji ‘kuso oyaji’ (クソ親父 “shitty old man”).

On another note Bakugō’s previous insult for Shōto and the current one are both based on Shōto’s Quirk. While Shōto is no Heteromorph and their type of Quirk is the same, ‘hatsudō-gata’ (発動型 “activation/operative type”) it is interesting how Horikoshi chose to create Quirk-tied insults. From a Watsonian point of view we can suppose they are a left over of the previous discrimination over Quirks that was so pervasive even people with Quirks who don’t consciously mean to do discrimination, end up on using other people’s Quirks as a way to insult them and society accepts this as normal.

Cultural notes:

Senshu sensei (選手宣誓 “athletes’ oath”): it is a pledge made by athletes at athletic events, with the representative of the athletes vowing to “follow sportsmanship” and “fight fairly.” In Japan it is used in almost all if not all the athletics events and it is often the same as that used in the Olympics. Normally a representative from each of the participants raises their right hand diagonally forward and takes the oath. Bakugō though doesn’t raise his arm, if this is done out of disrespect or because somehow the gesture had been seen reminiscent of the Nazi salute with people proposing to change it and Horikoshi deciding he wanted to spare himself the drama is unknown.

Here you can see the one Tsubasa does in Chap 17 of “Captain Tsubasa” (キャプテン翼) a spokon manga created by mangaka Takahashi Yōichi in 1981 and which lasted till 1988.

...and just to get a more interesting comparison, the one Hyuga, Tsubasa’s rival does in answer in the following chapter and that more or less matches the one Bakugō did because BNHA takes a lot from old mangas.

Shōgaibutsukyōsō (障害物競走 lit. “obstacle course race”): it is a race in which participants compete to reach the finish line the fastest while overcoming various obstacles set up along the course and that yes, is often included in school sport festivals. It tests physical acuity and balance ability. Typical obstacles include jumping through nets, hoops, balance beams or balance disks, vaulting boxes and hurdles, using a hula hoop and doing laps. What are normally not used as obstacles are the ones we see in the manga, starting from the ‘STARTING GATE’ (スタートゲート), continuing with the ‘ROBO INFERNO’ (ロボ・インフェルノ), ‘THE FALL’ (ザ・フォール) and the ‘ichimen jiraigen’ (一面地雷原 “minefield”).

Teaching notes:

Honestly I don’t know how to consider this one. The whole obstacle course race is a deadly trap with no Hero making sure the students won’t die during it so it is horrible teachers would consider to put their students through it, especially the ones who aren’t even part of the Hero course but when something happens during the race the whole thing is ALWAYS played for laughts so no one gets seriously injured. We see it in this chapter, in which Mineta, after getting such punch from a robot, should at the very least have some broken bones or by how the robots falling, should have killed someone (but no, in the next chapter it will turn out the only two students involved couldn’t get injured this way). If the story were to keep this up and commit to be a comical manga, at least as long as the sport festival goes on, I would be fine with it and not call it out, but since the story itself mentions the dangers are real and Midoriya will end up breaking his bones during the last part of the festival I am more inclined to consider this seriously and think it is horrible teachers would let their students go throught it and THE WHOLE JAPAN would watch and not care at all.

Translation notes:

Bakugō calls Shōto ‘hanbun yarō’ (半分野郎 lit. “half guy/half bastard”). ‘Hanbun’ (半分 “half”) is likely a reference to Shōto’s Quirk while ‘yarō’ (野郎 “guy/bastard”) is a more nuanced word. It litterally means “son of the field” as to imply he is a “rustic person” and can be used to say “guy/ fellow/chap/buddy” however if you aren’t familiar with that person, it comes out as rude so it’s often translated as “bastard”. Bakugō has already used a derogatory name for Shōto that was based on his Quirk, ‘Kōri no yatsu’ (氷の奴 “ice bastard”) in chap 11, now he has officially switched to this, which he will keep on using through most of the manga.

Mineta, same as Kirishima, calls Shōto just ‘Todoroki’ (轟), without adding any suffix. He does so for all of his classmates. On a general line, when calling someone, in order to be polite, you should use the surname plus a suffix (-sama, -san, -kun…) so Mineta comes out as less formal/more casual/rude when talking with/about his classmates.

Shōto calls his father ‘kuso oyaji’ (クソ親父 “shitty old man”). Now ‘oyaji’ (親父 “old man”) is a rather nuanced word. Let’s say it’s a more colloquial-sounding way to say “father” which can also used to refer to middle-aged or elderly men. It’s not exactly rude (though some Japanese people consider it as such) but it’s definitely very informal, similar to saying “my old man” in English but (often) without an affection. Again, it’s nuanced and depends on the contest. Within one’s own family, teenage and older children, especially males, tend to start using the term to address their fathers at home. In public though, older children will typically call their own fathers ‘otō-san’. Using such word in many cases gives a ‘rough guy’ vibe. The fact that Shōto ALWAYS uses it regardless of him being in public or not, is already kind of rude as it is a clear show of disrespect. Here though he also adds ‘kuso’ (糞/くそ “shit”) to ‘oyaji’ (親父 “old man”). ‘Kuso’ (糞/くそ “shit”), usually written in katakana (クソ) is generally used as a curse word with the meaning of “shit”/“damn”/“fuck” though of course the nuance changes according to situations. Combined with ‘oyaji’ works as a pejorative and turns it into something that sounds like “shitty old man”/“damn old man”, in short makes it an insult or express angers toward that person.

I couldn’t find what ‘SHIVYY’ (シヴィー) means. It might be a deformation of ‘SHIVER’ (シヴァー), in the sense Shōto gives people shivers, but it can be a deformation of ‘shibui’ (渋い), which means “refined/elegant”. The manga went for “cold”, chosing the first option, the anime subs went for the second. Do your pick.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 15 - Roaring Sports Festival (うなれ体育祭 Unare Taiikusai)

Added parts notes: We get some tiny glimpes of Shōto as class A gets inside the stadium.

They had Shōto apologize after he has iced the whole building and is running away.

Todoroki Shōto ‘Warui na.’ 轟焦凍「悪いな。」 Todoroki Shōto “Sorry.”

The anime takes advantage of the fact it is animated to expand the scene in which Shōto freezes the robot, showing it to us bit by bit.

They also added a bit more commenting from Aizawa and Yamada after Yamada comments it is almost unfair.

Aizawa Shōta ‘Gōri-teki katsu senryaku-tekina kōdōda.’ 相澤消太「合理的かつ戦略的な行動だ。」 Aizawa Shōta “That was a rational and strategic move.”

PRESENT MIC ‘Sasuga wa suisen nyūgaku-sha! Hajimete tatakatta ROBO INFERNO o mattaku yosetsukenai ELITE-ppuri da!’ プレゼント・マイク「さすがは推薦入学者！初めて戦ったロボインフェルノを全く寄せ付けないエリートっぷりだ！」 Present Mic “Just as you’d expect from a recommended student! It is the first time he fought them but the Robo Inferno couldn't even get past to his elite moves!”

Changed parts notes: In the manga Shōto contents himself with only icying the ground and the feets of the other players. In the anime he goes overboard as he seems to ice the whole building with a blast of ice of some sort (which, if done realistically, would also have sealed the exist for him as well as freeze completely all his opponents) and then as they somehow survived to that blast of ice, he iced his feets. It’s visually impressive but practically it doesn’t work well.

Teaching notes: