Short answer: Earth! Slightly more detailed answer: Japan! If you want an even more detailed answer to where My Hero Academia takes place … read on.
Welcome to Musutafu!
My Hero Academia takes place in the fictional city of Musutafu, Japan! It’s your average Japanese metropolis, except for the fact that it gets attacked by giant monsters and supervillains on the daily. It’s not nearly as bad of a quality of life as any of the cities where One Punch Man takes place (they’re destroyed so often they don’t even have names), but it’s definitely got a little more added stress than regular city life.
The only silver lining is that most of the population has some sort of superpower. People aren’t totally defenseless. Pair that with a super school that churns out powerful young heroes plus a dedicated team of experienced heroes contributing to city security and you know, not a bad place to live. Besides, the city is just two hours away from Tokyo by train if ever you need a vacation or to flee for your life!
While Musutafu isn’t much different than most other cities, it does have some quirks *rimshot*. Quirk-related incidents (i.e. people using their superpowers for good and/or evil) happen at a slightly higher rate than surrounding cities, thanks to the superhero academy, U.A. High School. Superhero hopefuls flock to the city to someday become top heroes because U.A. High School boasts the best superhero training program in the nation. As a result, villains tend to come to the city to test their mettle against the budding superhero population.
Do you want more specifics? You got ’em. U.A. is divided up into specific Departments and Classes to better accommodate the wide variety of super students that walk through the door. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K Classes respectively. Unsurprisingly, the U.A. doesn’t function like an ordinary school. Teachers aren’t beholden to a specific curriculum and can teach classes however they like. They’re even able to expel students at any time for any reason. Expelled students can reenroll, but the expulsion stays on their permanent record. Sure adds to the drama, doesn’t it?
U.A.’s alumni are some of the best superheroes in the world, including Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and the great All Might. How do students get so strong? Competition. Aside from frequent sparring matches, the school also hosts massive sports festivals where students duke it out for glory (and to show off for any Pro Heroes and recruitment agencies in attendance). Other than that, the school is pretty normal. There are after-school clubs, school festivals, and a student government. School is six days a week, but that’s the norm in Japan.
Do you want to enroll? Good luck. The school is closed off to anyone who isn’t a student or faculty. If you don’t have a badge, you won’t be able to penetrate the U.A. Barrier. It’s not a metaphor, it’s literally a giant wall that closes up if anyone tries to sneak onto school grounds without authorization.
Why the tight security? For one thing, many students are famous to some degree, and the barrier keeps out press. Secondly, the barrier was erected to keep out any supervillains who might get the idea to nip new heroes in the bud. That didn’t stop Tomura Shigaraki from breaking in, but afterward the school got even more security upgrades.
U.A. was redesigned into a grid-like campus, with each grid square capable of turning into a high-security shelter shielded by thousands of layers of plates. Each of these shelters can submerge itself underground and propulsion itself away from the school via a system of magnetic rails. If that wasn’t enough, the U.A. was later equipped with underground propulsion jets to turn it into a fully mobile floating fortress in case of attack. Breaking in is like breaking into Fort Knox, if Fort Knox could fly and had superpowered employees. Pair that with an electromagnetic barrier courtesy of the electric-powered students and you’ve got a nigh impenetrable bastion on your hands. U.A. is harder to get into than Yale. Figuratively and literally. You better have a REALLY good essay written, or you’re cooked.
(featured image: Bones)
