Many colorful and fun characters populate the cast of the hit Shonen anime series My Hero Academia, which (as of this writing) is about to wrap up its 4th season. Another season is on the way, and we can't wait to see more action scenes with some of our favorite heroes. One of them might even be Present Mic, a teacher at UA.
Most staff members at UA are pro heroes, from the homeroom teachers Eraser Head and Vlad King to the art teacher, Midnight, and the English teacher, Present Mic. In fact, Present Mic is one of the first teachers whom we see at UA, and he made quite an impression. But there may be more to him than meets the eye. Let's gt to know him a little better.
10 He's Young
In fact, the whole cast of My Hero Academia is on the youthful side; hardly anyone cracks 40 years old. True, All For One is quite old (possibly over a century), and Gran Torino is in his golden years. But most of the teachers at UA are all Millennial-aged.
This includes Present Mic, who is a sprightly 30 years old in the first few episodes of My Hero Academia. He's still got a long career ahead of him, and we're willing to bet that he's still training his quirk and combat skills in case trouble comes knocking. He's not yet ready to pass the baton to the next generation.
9 He's Impulsive
These are Present Mic and Eraser Head back in their student days, and they had different levels of enthusiasm for hero names and costumes. Aizawa just wants to get the job done, while Present Mic wants to make a show of things.
In fact, Present Mic came up with Aizawa's name "Eraser Head" all at once, prompted by Aizawa's lack of interest in making up a name. Present Mic wasted no time in creating the ridiculous but lovable name Eraser Head.
8 He Has Punk Style
Every hero costume needs to have its own distinct style and pattern, as opposed to UA's student uniforms, and many hero costumes are designed to enhance the user's quirk. The colors, materials, and accessories can vary widely.
Present Mic is fully decked out in the punk style of the 1970s UK and 1980s USA, with black leather, fingerless gloves, a studded belt, boots, and a tall variant of a mohawk. Fortunately, he only dresses like a punk; his heart is just as gold as his hair.
7 His Blood Type
In Japan, it is common to believe that your blood type determines your personality, not unlike astrology signs or Chinese zodiac birth years. Present Mic's blood type, according to official My Hero Academia sources, is B.
So, what are B-type people supposed to be like? They are free-spirited, creative, have short attention spans, curious, and adventurous. Overall, we have to say that yes, Present Mic has the right blood type for his personality!
6 His Name
What's in a name? Author Kohei Horikoshi took care to give all his characters meaningful names based on the kanji used to write them, and the meanings often tie into the owner's quirks. What about Present Mic?
His name is Hizashi Yamada, and we should mention that there is a real-life Japanese radio host named Hisashi Yamada, who hosts "Hisashi Yamada's Radi-Unlimited" on TOKYO FM. Care to tune in?
5 He Loves To Explain Quirks
It is Present Mic who explains the quirks of everyone who appears on screen, and we get the impression that he really enjoys it. Not only did he volunteer for the job, as opposed to some generic narrator, but he's enthusiastic.
He helps make quirks more fun this way, and for his own quirk's outline, it was Aizawa who narrated the details. Based on the wording, Present Mic wrote the description for his quirk himself. He must have enjoyed that, too.
4 He Was Radically Redesigned
We all know and love Present Mic for his outgoing personality and colorful ways, but at first, a character like this wasn't even going to appear. At first, author Horikoshi was only going to have a fat, bald old man host the school orientation ceremony.
But the author soon decided that such a character would feel dull, so he invented Present Mic as we know him to keep the excitement up. And as a tribute to the original design, Present Mic has "baldness" written on his hero costume's speaker device.
3 He Gets Concerned About Students
While Present Mic is a goofy and reckless fellow, he is not irresponsible. In fact, he cares a great deal about the UA students, like a big brother, and he was disturbed when Ochaco and Bakugo's duel in the sports festival heated up.
After seeing Bakugo's devastating power, Present Mic panicked and called for an early end to the match, so Ochaco wouldn't get badly hurt. But Aizawa talked him down, explaining that as a proper student, Ochaco deserved a fair chance to show off her abilities and try to win the match on her own terms. She didn't need other people sheltering her like that, though we appreciate that Present Mic cared that much.
2 He Lives A Radio Life
It's easy to see that Present Mic likes to act and look like a radio DJ, with his punk clothes and his headphones and outgoing personality. But it's not just a gimmick for his costume; he lives the life, too.
He likes to watch TV and listen to the radio, and better yet, he has his very own radio show, and named it "Put Your Hands Up Radio." He broadcasts music every Friday night, with no commercials included.
1 He's Modestly Popular
The students and staff at UA seem to have mixed feelings on Present Mic, since he certainly does his job, but he's loud and silly, and he doesn't captivate an audience as well as he'd like. But do the fans like him?
Somewhat, yes. In the first popularity poll for My Hero Academia, he ranked pretty low, at 36th place. He got a break in the second poll, climbing the charts to 17th place. That's not bad; we're guessing his cool personality and outfit made up for his lack of great action scenes.