Roasting Apple Black, Chapter 1 (Part 2)
Shonen manga teachers, and their sexual appeal
Mikael the Teacher dumps a whole bunch about “no one can impress Me” and says no one should expect to graduate. I was groaning at how we’re five panels into this info dump and he says “You’re gonna have to meet or surpass my standards.” Meet or surpass. Alright my man, we get it, you’re the prissiest princess and you can’t do your job as a teacher.
The whole “no child left behind” debacle has had catastrophic rippling effects on the education system, and a student’s home life will always have a bigger impact on their academic performance than any teacher. But I’m not in a rush to excuse Mikael here. Teachers like Mikael who won’t stop bragging about how no one can pass their class, unquestionably, suck.
I know phone addictions are giving kids these days pudding for brains. I can meet you halfway there. But if you’re just going to whine about how soft everyone is, that just tells me You Are A Shitty Teacher, and you can’t adapt with the times. The kids aren’t the problem, you are. Part of your job description is “inspire the next generation,” or, in common parlance, “bang some pans together and make your students give a shit.”
This scare tactic bullshit of you lighting a cigarette and taunting them with “at this rate, none of you will pass” isn’t inspiring me to push myself, it’s just you being an asshole and telling me you don’t want to be here and do your job. So why should I care?
Let’s look at the army, since Cloaks duties fall somewhere between a political and a cop, and army statistics might give a greater insight to the “cop” side of the equation.
The US army reports that “71% of youth do not qualify for military service because of obesity, drugs, physical and mental health problems, misconduct, and aptitude”. I’m gonna guess obesity is the biggest factor here, cuz hooo boy do we Americans like to eat.
Now if shit really starts going south and the draft re-opens, I promise, they are going to reconsider the obesity limit. Meanwhile, if patriotism hits an all-time high and there’s plenty of people willingly signing up for the Army, you can keep the barrier to entry strict and be a little pickier with who gets in.
Laying it out like this is incredibly redundant, but I want to understand how we, in the world of Apple Black, get to this point, where there’s there’s 10-12 students in the graduating class, and Mikael says he doesn’t expect any of them to pass. Are they enjoying a time of peace and prosperity, so they can keep the bar high? Has a big-ass, pointless war been going on for way too long, so no one wants to sign up for service? What happens to the people who don’t graduate? Does Black Bottom Island have any other schools/training facilities? Can flunkees get their GED down at the community college? Why does one person have the authority to kick someone out. Is there a remedial class they can take so they can try again. I don’t take Mikael’s statement that he’s ~not afraid to make the tough call~ as an indication that this is a no-nonsense, hardass world and he’s the big cheese calling the shots. I’m confused about the fundamental structure of their society.
And before anyone starts calling me a coddled, triggered snowflake who’s crying because I’m reminded teachers can be mean: You can do this trope well. You can make your tough-guy teacher interesting.
First of all, I’m having trouble processing the stakes here… because no one in the class seems to give a shit, either.
JK Simmons in Whiplash is the ultimate “hardass teacher,” and there’s infinite video essays on why he’s the perfect villain. Snape from Harry Potter has endless fangirls thirsting over him— he’s strict, but he’s embodying the “stern British grumparoo/daddy.”
And Mikael’s supposed to be oozing sex appeal, which I know because Whyt goddamn said so. This is the latest content he posted to YouTube:
It’s a WIP of Mikael, with the caption “A lot of girls be s*mping for Mikael from Apple Black.” The bgm sings: “I have no idea what I’m doing, I just know that not doing it feels worse.”
Across the interdisciplinary landscape of Whyt's posts and content, I recall this being mentioned several times: Mikael is soooo dreamy and all the girls love him.
Personally, my favorite sexy anime teacher is solidly a tie between Lady Tsunade (Naruto) and Nozomu Itoshiki (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei).
So Mikael doesn’t fall within my strike zone, but I can believe that people would be into him and this isn’t some bizarro forced meme, courtesy of Whyt (although the more he insists that people are simping for him, makes it feel like a forced meme). Mikael looks like he smells bad. Just like Shoto Aizawa, crown prince of the stinky smelly teachers. He has an absurd amount of porn.
So I did a little digging and found the definitive post on Mikael’s hotness. “Drawing My Character but Everyone Thinks He's Hot,” published June 12th, 2023, on Whytmanga’s YouTube channel.
It’s one of those nothingburger videos where Whyt gives advice to mangaka hopefuls on how to make an attractive character after he accidentally bumbled headfirst into this ikemen goldmine. Every statement is tagged with hesitation, so I don’t know how this qualifies as advice.
Interestingly, we do get some insight about the pages I just wrote about. Here’s how Whyt broke down the scene:
Mikael, from the moment we see him, is smoking right next to a no smoking sign, which tells us, you know, he don’t give a bleep.
The way he talks shows that he is not one to be bleeped with. He gives a brief speech to the class, letting them know that a lot of them are not going to pass, and he's okay with that. And from our perspective, we view him as this hard guy who's just hard for no reason. But in reality, we learn that over time, that he's lost people, and he doesn't want these kids to throw away their lives.
And it’s one of the reasons he reluctantly takes Sano under his wing.
This main character, burdened with responsibilities that Mikael views as BS. And so in weird ways, to protect Sano, he kind of shuts it down and doesn’t believe him and things like that. Doesn’t believe in any of these “mumbo jumbo prophecy nonsense” because, on one level, he doesn’t. But on a deeper level, it's because he wants to protect Sano.
Spoilers, even in Chapter 2, where he beats the brakes off of Sano, because he’s still impressed by him and because he has that soft side, he still lets him pass on one end, maybe to be closer to Sano? To keep an eye on him? Make sure he’s okay? But is also inspired by him to a little bit, which touches his soft side and lets him through.
I’m glad the intent of that “No Smoking” sign is completely clarified. But I wanna zoom in on the reasoning behind why Mikael is so strict and has such a high failure rate. “He gives a brief speech to the class, letting them know that a lot of them are not going to pass, and he's okay with that. And from our perspective, we view him as this hard guy who's just hard for no reason. But in reality, we learn that over time, that he's lost people, and he doesn't want these kids to throw away their lives.”
Well, Mikael, I think you’re in the wrong business.
If it hurts too much to think of these kids throwing away their lives, you’re better off contributing to anti-war efforts. Maybe you can chip in at the antifa commune.
From the looks of it, there’s crime and political strife in the continent of Eden. And if there’s no new recruits for the police force, you need to do something different. This isn’t meant to be a pro-cop sentiment— don’t wanna get too ACAB but, yeah, I’ve got no problem saying ACAB.
I guess Mikael’s toughness is supposed to make him a “jerk with a heart of gold.” But by putting him in this position, I’m confused about how their world works.