Hizashi Yamada[4] (山田ひざし,Yamada Hizashi?), also known as Voice Hero: Present Mic (プレゼント・マイク,Purezento Maiku?),[5] is a Pro Hero who's an English teacher at U.A. High School.
Hizashi is a tall, slim man with long blond hair, which he wears spiked upwards in a large tuft behind his head, and a small brown mustache. He has rectangular eyes with concentric pupils and greenish-yellow irises (red in the manga), he is almost always seen with a large smile on his face, and is almost never drawn with nostrils.
His hero costume consists of a black jacket with a very tall collar, upturned and complete with studs, and matching black pants and knee-high boots. He sports tan shoulder pads and a red belt and elbow pads, all studded, and black fingerless gloves. His neck is always obscured by a directional speaker which he uses with his Quirk. He always wears a pair of headphones with the word "HAGE" written on the headband and a pair of orange-tinted shades.
His hero costume when he was a second-year student is similar to the current one, although it lacked the shoulder pads and the directional speaker. Hizashi carried megaphones attached to his wrists that he used to boost his Quirk. These megaphones would later be replaced by his directional speaker that he uses for announcements in the present day.
Gallery
Hizashi's costume in the manga.
Hizashi during his time at U.A.
Hizashi's costume during his second year at U.A.
Hizashi without his glasses.
Personality
Hizashi maintains the eccentric persona of a radio host. He often poses when he talks and maintains a certain level of excitement or volume, regardless of the situation. His attitude made Kyoka Jiro mistake him for a simple announcer, rather than an actual Pro Hero.[6]
When in front of a crowd of people, he often attempts to bring his audience up to his level by getting them involved (he sometimes refers to them as his 'listeners', even while on a live stage). He will continue to act this way regardless of the crowds' response. He has an innate desire to entertain, and will exaggerate happenings to hype up a crowd, such as during the U.A. Sports Festival,[7] or volunteer to commentate rather than sitting through a boring event, such as during the remedial hero license training.[8]
Hizashi has entomophobia, as seen during his Final Exam battle round when Koji Koda summoned a swarm of bugs to attack him, causing him to freak out and faint. Because of this, he admits to preferring urban areas over forested ones.
Though he tends to be a jovial individual, Hizashi is capable of great rage as demonstrated by his reaction to discovering that Kurogiri is a Nomu created from the corpse of his late friend, Oboro Shirakumo and his confrontation with the man responsible, Kyudai Garaki. He expressed further grief and outrage over how the doctor's scientific gifts and knowledge could have helped humanity, but that he instead chose to use them for evil. Much later, he angrily punched the man for what he did to his friend.[9][10]
Abilities
Keen Intellect: Hizashi was the first of the teachers to point out the possibility of a traitor in U.A., even stating his reasons for why this would be the case. His deduction proved to be correct after it is revealed that one of the students was the spy for All For One and leaked intel to him.[11]
Bilingualism: Hizashi is an English teacher at a Japanese school, which implies that he is fluent in both languages.
Quirk
Voice (ヴォイス,Voisu?): Hizashi's Quirk allows him to increase the volume of his voice, giving him an ability that is similar to a sonic scream. The sound from Hizashi's Quirk is strong enough to cause people's ears to bleed from far away.
The only known weakness of this Quirk is that the loud sounds do not travel well underground, making this Quirk ineffective against anything that is underground or separated from him by layers of earth.
Ultimate Moves
Loud Voice (ラウドヴォイス,Raudovoisu?): Hizashi raises his voice to higher levels and releases a shockwave strong enough to shatter glass and blowback anything in his way.
DJ Punch (D・Jパンチ,Dī Jei Panchi?): Hizashi throws a strong right hook punch at his opponent.
Loud-Out Shout (ラウドアウトシャウト,Raudoauto Shauto?): Hizashi releases a shockwave of sound to attack a group of targets.
Hizashi's stats, according to the Ultra Archive Book
Power
3/6 C
Speed
3/6 C
Technique
4/6 B
Wits
4/6 B
DJ Soul
6/6 S+
Hizashi's stats, according to the Ultra Analysis Book
Equipment
Directional Speaker System: Hizashi has a device around his neck that allows him to aim his amplified voice in a specific direction.
High Density Weights (Final Exams Arc): Present Mic and the rest of the teachers use these bracelets to give themselves a handicap while they are fighting their students.
Present Mic's real name, Hizashi Yamada, is based on a Japanese radio personality Yamada Hisashi (やまだひさし or 山田ひさし), the host of "Hisashi Yamada's Radi-Unlimited" in TOKYO FM.
At first, Hizashi was supposed to be just a fat old man that would do announcements, but Kohei Horikoshi thought it was boring, so he went for a high-tension guy instead.
The word "HAGE" on his headphones means "Baldness" in Japanese, which may be a nod back to his original design as an old man.
Hizashi has a radio show called "Put Your Hands Up Radio" where he broadcasts nonstop music every Friday night.
In the anime, Hizashi is the one who provides commentary narrations of characters and their Quirks, as well as context narration for certain episodes.[13]
When it came to Hizashi and his Quirk, it was instead Shota who provided the narration.[14]
For episodes where Hizashi's voice only serves to provide narration, his voice actors are credited for said narration (ナレーション,Narēshon?).
Hizashi's first English voice actor, Sonny Strait, also voices Rikiya Yotsubashi.
Quotes
(To the U.A. Entrance Exam participants) "The great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said... 'True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.' Plus Ultra!! Break a leg, everyone!!"[15]