My Hero Academia and Durkheim: a Case Study of Blood and Hair As “Sacred” Objects in a Japanese Anime Television Series

doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/P2RKD

My Hero Academia and Durkheim: A Case Study of Blood and Hair as “Sacred” Objects in a Japanese Anime Television Series

Dr. Ronald Lorenzo, Prairie View A & M University

Abstract designated as sacred, and people regard the sacred with awe and respect. In religions, The Japanese anime television series My gods and spirits can be sacred, but also Hero Academia, originally airing in Japan as people, places, and things. Boku no Hīrō Akademia, revolves around Durkheim noted that two substances of superheroes and their superpowers. Often, the human body conferred universally with these superpowers are associated with the sacredness are hair and blood. Both blood and hair of the characters in the story. substances are associated with power. Thus, Characters increase their superpowers blood has been used in religious ceremonies through the consumption of blood or hair. as part of initiation rites or to mark a place Likewise, characters lose their superpowers or object as holy, even when blood is used through the loss of blood or hair. How these symbolically through the use of the color substances are linked to power, and how red, for example. Religious injunctions they are portrayed are not idiosyncratic, but against the consumption of blood are also a rather based on shared meanings across common feature across religions. Hair, too, cultures. A sociological, theoretical is a universally sacred human substance, framework for drawing meaning out of the also associated with power and respect. use of hair and blood in the story can help Societies establish rules for how hair must illuminate the meaning of these actions in be worn or handled. In sacred places, rules the television series. may exist about how hair must be either In The Elementary Forms of Religious exposed or covered. The hair of sacred Life (1912), Emile Durkheim analyzed people in different religions is worn religion sociologically. Durkheim stated that differently from the way hair is worn by religions are defined by the way they ordinary people. classify the world into the categories of the Durkheim’s observations can be sacred and the profane. In religion, people, extended to examine the way these places, and things can be designated as substances are portrayed in My Hero sacred. Anything that is sacred in religion is Academia. In the series, blood, hair, and the set apart from everything else in the world characters associated with those substances that is not sacred. Strict rules are put in place are often portrayed as having powers above on how to treat anything or anyone normal, or being outside of the realm of the

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 1, August 2018 93 profane. The use of blood or hair as “sacred” novel perspective. In so doing, I will extend substances by the characters in the animated and amplify observations Durkheim made series results in either the gain or loss of about shared social meanings of hair and superpowers. How blood and hair are blood to the animated version of My Hero portrayed in the series is not random or Academia. idiosyncratic, but is based on shared The story of the series revolves around meanings attached to these two substances. the premise that, for an unknown reason, people began to be born with superpowers. Methodology and an Overview of My Soon after, nearly all people living have Hero Academia some kind of superpower, called “quirks” within the story. Quirks range from Boku no Hīrō Akademia or My Hero superpowers that are trivial to powerful Academia (its title in English) is an superpowers that allow a few people to run animated television series or anime airing superhero agencies, where they can earn a since 2016, and based on the comic book or living as superheroes by fighting crime on manga first pubished in 2014 (Hodgkins). behalf of their societies. The story centers on The comic book and its television adaptation a young teenage boy by the name of Izuku were created by Kōhei Horikoshi, and have Midoriya who idolizes All Might, the most been warmly received by fans of the genre famous superhero of the day. From an early and its industry. The story in either form has age, Midoriya aspires to be like his hero All won awards in Japan and in the United Might. Midoriya tragically learns he himself States, including a Sugoi Japan Award and has no superpower. The story hinges around several Crunchyroll anime awards (Pineda; these two unlikely characters, Midioriya Loveridge). with no superpower of his own and All This case study focuses on the animated Might, a famous superhero with the most version of the story. In viewing the shows, I powerful superpower known as One for All. conducted a content analysis of the episodes. The two characters cross paths in a chance Based on my viewing of the episodes, I encounter where Midoriya attempts to began to notice a pattern of themes rescue a classmate from a supervillain, surrounding blood and hair, which placing himself in mortal danger. All Might theoretically I could connect to Durkheim’s recognizes Midoriya’s courage and reveals sociology. This study does not concern itself to him that he has been gravely injured in a with testing a hypothesis but in illuminating fight with a supervillain: His days as a patterns of culture to show how the portrayal Superhero are numbered. He reveals that he of hair and blood follows universal can pass his superpower to a chosen meanings across different societies. This successor, and that Midoriya has proven study also does not concern itself with himself worthy to receive it. testing a theory, only in describing, interpreting, and illuminating observations of the series My Hero Academia from a

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Durkheim and Definitions of the afterlife, the belief in a supreme being or “Sacred” and the “Profane” supreme beings, the belief in a soul, the presence of an organized body of priests or Durkheim’s sociology offers a ministers, or a central religious text. These framework for examining how hair and ideas are not always present in religions, blood are treated as substances that are out generally speaking. Religions can and do of the ordinary. In The Elementary Forms of exist where there is no idea of an afterlife or Religious Life (1912), Durkheim discusses where there is no dogmatic belief in a hair and blood, as well as their broader supreme being. social meanings, based in the context of What then can a system of religious religion as an eminently social experience. ideas, or a religion, hold as sacred? Virtually Durkheim saw religion across cultures, anything can be designated as sacred despite the infinite varieties of differences, including people, places, things, and times. as belonging to a category in itself (22). A place may be designated as a sacred site, Durkheim defined religion universally as such as Mecca for Muslims, resulting in the a system that divided the world of social pilgrimage of millions of people annually. ideas into two categories: Those which a Within Catholicism, the lives of certain society considers sacred and those which are people can be socially designated as sacred, considered profane. Accordingly, profane resulting in people being officially and sacred things could be anything, so long recognized as saints but only after they have as prohibitions and practices were in place died. Religions have times of the week and separating one from the other: times throughout the year that are considered sacred and require changes in the Sacred things are things protected daily life of believers, such as by requiring and isolated by prohibitions; profane attendance at religious services or observing things are those things to which the religious customs in the home. prohibitions are applied and that Specifically related to My Hero must keep at a distance from what is Academia, Durkheim notes that two bodily sacred ([Durkheim 38). substances, namely hair and blood, are considered sacred (136). Blood is especially Anything that is sacred to a group is regarded as sacred: regarded with respect and awe, and is protected from coming into contact, or being To begin with, human blood is such despoiled, by things which are profane. a holy thing that, among the tribes of The distinction between those things central Australia, it is very often which are sacred and profane is a primary used to consecrate the most criterion for identifying religious beliefs, respected instruments of the cult. In according to Durkheim (38). Other features some cases, for example, the that can be recognized in religion are not nurtunja [a sacred object] is defining features, such as the idea of an

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religiously anointed from top to In addition to blood, Durkheim describes bottom with human blood (136). hair as being imbued with the quality of sacredness: Blood in religious ceremonies among the indigenous Australians that Durkheim wrote Hair has similar properties. The about was used to consecrate people, places, natives of central Australia wear and things (136). When blood is not used in sashes made of human hair. The an actual way, blood is used symbolically religious function of those narrow through the use of ochre: bands, as already noted, is to wrap certain cult objects… Accordingly, The religious nature of blood also the operation of hair cutting is a explains why red ochre has a ritual act that is accompanied by religious role and is frequently used special ceremonies. The individual in ceremonies... This is because having his hair cut must crouch on ochre is regarded as a substance akin the ground with his face turned in the to blood, by virtue of its color (136). direction of the place where mythical ancestors from his mother’s side are Hence, blood, the color red, and power are thought to have camped (138). associated with each other, not just in indigenous Australian religions, but in other Like blood, hair too is associated with religions as well. In the Catholic Church, for power. Across religions, hair is considered example, the symbolic use of blood – and its sacred and is protected against the things in association with power – can be seen in the the world that are profane. Different rules red vestments worn by cardinals. In Tibetan exist on how and when hair can be Buddhism, monks – most famously the displayed. Women in various religious Dalai Lama – wear dark red robes. Even faiths, for example, show religious devotion outside of religion, red is associated with by covering their hair: Muslim women wear power, for instance in that powerful hijab to cover their hair, Sikh women may individuals in various fields walk on red wear turbans, and Catholic nuns cover their carpets at public events. Walking on the red hair with coifs or veils. Religious men also carpet is restricted to members of the public. follow rules on the sacred quality of hair: An early reference to walking on a red Medieval Christian monks would wear their surface comes from the play Agamemnon, hair in distinctive tonsures to set them apart in which the returning, victorious king is from other men, and present day Buddhist invited to walk on a crimson path (Page). monks shave their heads as a sign of piety. Interestingly, Agamemnon refuses the A final note must be appended to the invitation, stating that such arrogant discussion on hair and blood as sacred behavior would surely incur the wrath of the objects. Durkheim states that hair and blood gods (Page). are collective representations. Collective representations are ideas held by a group,

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 1, August 2018 96 and these ideas can be superimposed onto these are questions that touch on phenomena phenomena in the physical world (Durkheim as collective representations. 230). Hair and blood are biological The religious nature of collective phenomena, but they have social meaning representations is important to establish, attached to them by different groups of even when speaking of things outside of an people, making them into collective explicitly religious context. Within the representations. Hair and blood do not just context of My Hero Academia, the bodily exist – people infer meaning from those substances of hair and blood are treated bodily substances. Durkheim noted about similarly to sacred objects, with power collective representations: attached to them and with rules about how they must be handled and by whom. We can understand now how it happens that the totemic principle Portrayals of Hair and Blood in My Hero and, more generally, how any Academia religious force comes to be external to the things in which it resides: Throughout the first two seasons and because the idea of it is not at all into the third season of My Hero Academia, constructed from the impression the portrayals of hair and blood as thing makes directly on our senses representations have been central to the and minds. Religious force is none story. Hair and blood are often associated other than the feeling that the with superpowers. The loss of hair or blood collectivity [a group or society] is often associated with a character inspires in its members, but projected becoming weaker, while consuming hair or outside the minds that experience blood makes a character stronger. Blood, them, and objectified…. The too, is often used as a story-telling device to sacredness exhibited by a thing is not advance the plot. implicated in the intrinsic properties Early in the story, there is a key moment of the thing: It is added to them. The when Midoriya, the teenage boy without world of religion is not a special superpowers, proves himself worthy to aspect of empirical nature: It is inherit All Might’s power. Midoriya, despite superimposed upon nature (230). having no superpowers of his own, puts his life in danger when he attempts to save a In other words, phenomena such as hair, classmate from a supervillain. In episode 3 blood, death, or disease may be biological in of the first season (“Roaring Muscles”), All nature, but they have social meaning Might explains to Midoriya that the attached to them: What is the appropriate superpower One for All can be passed down, way to wear hair at work, who is qualified to and that he himself received it from his handle blood, how long should the deceased mentor. All Might even says the phrase “my be mourned, and what diseases should be quirk was passed to me like a sacred torch” considered more serious than others? All (my emphasis). All Might prepares Midoriya

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 1, August 2018 97 to receive his power by having Midoriya too much interest in women’s hair, such as first become physically fit. Midoriya accepts hairdressers, are culturally at risk of being All Might’s order to clean a beach front of socially emasculated: If they claim a the flotsam and jetsam that have heterosexual orientation, it will come under accumulated there over the years. Midoriya challenge. accomplishes this task, which can be seen as The association between hair, power, a purification ritual in anticipation of a rite and virility, can cause tremendous anxiety of passage. With his preparation complete, among the public consumers of a story, All Might pulls a hair out of his head and which also creates the possibility for the tells Midoriya to eat it – consuming the associations to be used to comic effect. In DNA in his hair will transmit the opera, for example, the protagonist in The superpower to him. This is a communion of Barber of Seville, by Gioachino Rossini, is a the hair, and that by eating the hair, All barber who plays the role of helping a young Might’s power will be transferred to man and woman meet in clandestine ways Midoriya. against the wish of the young lady’s father. Another portrayal of hair can be seen in In more recent times, the comedy You Don’t the character Minoru Mineta, who first Mess with the Zohan (directed by Dennis appears in Episode 5 of Season 1 “What I Dugan, Columbia Pictures) portrays a man Can Do for Now.” Mineta is soon who wants to become a hairdresser. The established as a lecherous teenage boy, comedy results from the tension created by harboring an unhealthy preoccupation with the story of a man who desires a sex. Mineta’s superpower is that he can pull stereotypically not masculine career choice clumps of hair off his head and use them as while simultaneously being a ruthless super-sticky weapons that can bind an trained commando. In this context, the opponent in place. However, Mineta can tension between a male superhero, Mineta, hurt himself and start to bleed if he pulls too with hair and his exaggerated sense of many clumps of hair off his head. masculinity creates the opportunity for At first glance, the dual characteristics of comedy. superpowered hair and the perverted In addition to portrayals of hair within fixations of Mineta may seem contradictory. the story, My Hero Academia also uses However, as established above, hair and portrayals of blood as central features to the power (including virility and sexuality) are storyline. In Episode 11 of Season 2, “Fight associated with each other. Hence, on, Lida,” the story introduces a supervillain characters in different stories who have by the name of Chizome Akaguro who goes some association with hair also have an by the name Hero Killer: Stain or simply association with virility and sexuality. A Stain. Stain’s quirk is the ability to paralyze prominent example is the biblical story of others by tasting their blood, essentially Samson, who has superhuman strength and robbing superheroes of their ability to move loses it when a seductress cuts his hair. A for short periods of time. Stain’s man who handles women’s hair or expresses superpower, which is essentially vampirism,

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 1, August 2018 98 associates blood with power. The ability to Again, blood and power are associated in paralyze victims is greater when the affected this superpower. Here it is interesting to note superhero has type B blood, reflecting a that in other anime, Beyond the Boundary or Japanese cultural bias against individuals Kyōkai no Kanata, created by Nagomu with type B blood. In Japan, discrimination Torii, features a character with a similar by blood, or burahara, exists against people ability. In Beyond the Boundary, a young with type B or AB blood (Adelstein and girl hunts demons with a sword she is able Yamamoto). Any blood with type B in has to fashion out of her own blood. the Japanese collective representation of In addition to the portrayal of blood as a being impulsive and opinionated, making superpower, blood in My Hero Academia is them less desirable for friendships, romantic used as a storytelling device. There are two relationships, and even employment examples of blood as a storytelling device in (Adelstein and Yamamoto). episode 2 of season 1, “What It Takes to Be Another portrayal of blood and power in a Hero.” A key moment in the episode is My Hero Academia involves a supervillain when All Might loses his superhuman form character by the name of Himiko Toga, also and reverts to his true form: An emaciated, known as Blood Girl. Introduced in episode sickly individual. All Might is portrayed as a 18 of season 2, “The Aftermath of Hero sickly, thin figure with loosely fitting Killer: Stain,” Blood Girl’s superpower is clothes, and with blood dripping out of his also a type of vampirism. Drawn with mouth. Unlike western animated cartoons, vampire-like teeth, Blood Girl is able to Japanese anime is characterized by attention assume the form of her victims by drinking to detail and continuity. If a character their blood. The more blood she consumes, bleeds, the blood will normally be drawn the longer she can take the form of that pooling at the ground or staining clothes. person, and she has the ability to take the There are few continuity errors such as a form of multiple victims. Like hair, blood is character bleeding in one scene and the also associated with power and virility. In blood not being present in another. Since All drawing blood from her victims, either male Might bleeds and his blood is not drawn or female, Blood Girl demonstrates a sexual pooling on the ground below him, the interest in them. viewer can assume that it was drawn as to Most of the characters in My Hero place emphasis in some part of the story, Academia whose superpowers involve blood specifically, that All Might is ill. In fact, All are supervillains. An exception is that a Might reveals to Midoriya that he was superhero, Sekijiro Kan, who goes by the seriously wounded in a fight and since then name of Blood Hero: Vlad King, has is limited in the length of time he can superpowers rooted in the manipulation of assume his superhuman form. This blood. Introduced in episode 13 of season 1, establishes the need in the story for All “In Each of Our Hearts,” Vlad King is able Might to pass on his quirk to a worthy to manipulate his own blood outside of his successor. body by turning it into weapons or restraints.

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Beginning in “What It Takes to Be a whose hair or blood is consumed are Hero,” and continuing throughout typically shown as losing superpowers or subsequent episodes, blood also is used a surrendering their autonomy to other storytelling device to convey powerful bouts characters. of emotion. When All Might loses his In My Hero Academia, the substances of temper with Midoriya, he often yells and hair and blood are not portrayed in this is comically drawn with a cone of blood idiosyncratic ways. Instead, the two spraying out of his mouth. Again, the blood substances are treated in ways that follow is not shown to pool on the ground or shared, universal meaning across societies as splatter objects or people nearby. Since described by Durkheim. anime has few continuity errors, the viewer can assume that the blood was drawn as a References visual metaphor for the exasperation felt by All Might. In episode 23 of season 2, Adelstein, Jake, and Mari Yamamoto. 2017, “Stripping the Varnish,” Mineta faces defeat March 29. “Un-True Blood: Japan’s in an important exam at the hands of Weird Taste for Discrimination Against Midnight, the teacher testing him. Mineta ‘Type Bs.’” The Daily Beast. Accessed begins to weep, which is drawn not as tears 13 July 2018. leaving his eyes but as blood. However, the https://www.thedailybeast.com/un-true- blood does not stain his clothing, pool on the blood-japans-weird-taste-for- ground, and no character comments about discrimination-against-type-bs. blood coming out of his eyes, leading Dugan, Dennis. 2006. You Don’t Mess with viewers to accept blood as a metaphorical the Zohan. DVD. Los Angeles: storytelling device for Mineta’s extreme fear Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. and sadness. Durkheim, Emile. 1995 [1912]. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Conclusion New York: Free Press. Hair and blood are portrayed in the Hodgkins, Crystalin. 2015, October 29. “My anime series My Hero Academia similar to Hero Academia TV Anime Adaptation “sacred” objects. Often, hair and blood are Confirmed.” Anime News Network. associated with super powers, and hence are Accessed 13 July 2018. substances that are beyond ordinary, normal, https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ne or every day – in other words not profane ws/2015-10-29/my-hero-academia-tv- and therefore sacred. Often, hair and blood anime-adaptation-confirmed/.94768. are substances that certain characters can Ishidate, Taichi. 2013. Beyond the Boundary consume, and by doing so affect the [Television series]. Kyoto: Kyoto superpowers of other characters within the Animation. Television. story. Characters who consume hair or blood Loveridge, Lynzee. 2018, February 25. typically are shown gaining superpowers, or “Made in Abyss, My Hero Academia control over other characters. Characters Win Big at Crunchyroll's Anime

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