We are gathered here today to celebrate the unsung hero of Yamaku Academy: Sensei Mutou. Am I the only one here who loves this guy? He's a very warm, sincere person that genuinely cares about his students, perhaps one of the most kindhearted characters in the entire game. Though the writing describes him as being decidedly awkward sometimes (I remember one line of narration saying something like 'this guy doesn't know how to interact with people at all), I can't really see him as being anything more than mildly awkward at worst... to me he seems pretty normal and socially competent, if not outright cool.
It seems like he can get the job done. But you get the impression that hes perhaps a little burned out on the job.
But hes sure a hell of a lot better than the schools art teacher.
Overall we don't get that great an impression of the school staff. Hell even the librarian is an odd one.
Last edited by pandaphil on Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things. But vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant." ~ The Doctor.
Dr. Casey wrote:wat. I don't see anything at all creepy about Mutou. He's just a good and honest guy, a bro to the end.
Hisao is one of those few who actually bothered to engage him. Most of the class just think of him as a boring, droning teacher.
"Nothing is beneath man. Everything is permitted."
"...since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. However, it is important above all to avoid being hated."
Dr. Casey wrote:wat. I don't see anything at all creepy about Mutou. He's just a good and honest guy, a bro to the end.
Hisao is one of those few who actually bothered to engage him. Most of the class just think of him as a boring, droning teacher.
I was just joking. I'm glad hisao engaged with him. Mutou seems like he hates life and kids, (Mostly Misha) He needs someone who can brighten up his day.
KeiichiO wrote:
I was just joking. I'm glad hisao engaged with him. Mutou seems like he hates life and kids, (Mostly Misha) He needs someone who can brighten up his day.
Probably just a little jaded. Men of his age sometimes do lose their spark a little.
"Nothing is beneath man. Everything is permitted."
"...since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. However, it is important above all to avoid being hated."
This is a good thread. And yeah i too hold a lot of respect towards Mutou, and although he might a rather aloof or akward teacher, the breakdown scene in Hanako's arc really shows you why this guy is the homeroom teacher. I think througout most of the routes Hisao has a point in the story where he sees that Mutou is much more aware or capable than he thought at first. Plus he has that sort of experience or wisdom underneath his routine attitudes that vastly Hisao with life in general.
As for him hating life and kids: It's worth noting that he seems to have a very relaxed or zen-like approach to life. More similar to Lilly than Shizune in this respect, he's vastly experienced and knows enought to not spend above-routine effort when the situation doesn't need it. He doesn't seem to hate kids or even Misha, but i can see how someone as loud and socially blind (how many times did she almost cause something like Hanako's breakdown?) as Misha could irritate Mutou.
One thing i never understood very well though, why does Mutou seems to have a certain preference or protege-like inclination towards Hisao? I seem to remember he says Hisao is the only student who gets his lecture, and definitively seems to be proud of Hisao above all others.
"It is not reason, more or less furnished, but will that makes the world march"
"Unfortunately, if you can think of something really stupid, someone out there probably believes it." -Xanatos
I've had teachers like that in high school. They had the tendency to focus on that one pupil who seemed to excel in their subject.
If what Mutou says about Hisao being the only one who gets his lectures is even remotely true, he's not an extremely good teacher. I've had teachers like that myself...they're extremely knowledgable about their subject...too knowledgable...so knowledgable they don't always get why their subject isn't as intuitive to others as it is to them. They have genuine passion for their subject, but their lectures tend to be very hard to follow.
Mutou's partially absentminded professor, but he's far more emphatic than most other characters that resemble the stereotype and that makes him likable. Unlike Nomiya, who has Rin as a protegee yet doesn't understand her, Mutou seems very perceptive about what goes on with his pupils, even if he's awkward in his communication. He makes some very profound statements about how disabled kids are still kids (try to look beyond the superficial) and about Yamaku's purpose in general. He's essentially a source of wisdom for Hisao, probably having spent years among Yamaku's students and helps Hisao (who's new to the whole disability thing) get used to his new life.
I think Mutou's not a great science teacher, but a very good homeroom teacher.
Guest Poster wrote:I think Mutou's not a great science teacher, but a very good homeroom teacher.
More or less the gist of my feelings about him too. He's a good person, no doubt, but yeah I remember a similar teacher of my own, only this one was for math. He was a very cool person, but damn he never explained the equations properly! If you had no sense of maths you were pretty much left to figure stuff out on your own and from the textbooks so...yeah, these kinds of teachers tend to be very good teachers for their subject only with kids that already have a talent in it, but with the average ones? Not that much really.
Still, I agree - better homeroom teacher than either of mine, and that's saying something considering my last one was actually pretty good too.
Guest Poster wrote:I think Mutou's not a great science teacher, but a very good homeroom teacher.
More or less the gist of my feelings about him too. He's a good person, no doubt, but yeah I remember a similar teacher of my own, only this one was for math. He was a very cool person, but damn he never explained the equations properly! If you had no sense of maths you were pretty much left to figure stuff out on your own and from the textbooks so...yeah, these kinds of teachers tend to be very good teachers for their subject only with kids that already have a talent in it, but with the average ones? Not that much really.
Still, I agree - better homeroom teacher than either of mine, and that's saying something considering my last one was actually pretty good too.
I would have thought that the first rule teachers learn in their training is to never assume that their students understand the lessons with just one explanation.
"Nothing is beneath man. Everything is permitted."
"...since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. However, it is important above all to avoid being hated."
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things. But vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant." ~ The Doctor.
<KeiichiO>: "I wonder what Misha's WAHAHA's sound like with a cock stuffed down her throat..." <Ascension>: "I laughed, cried, vomited in my mouth a little, and even had time for marshmallows afterwards. Well played, Xanatos. Well played." <KeiichiO>: "That's a beautiful response to chocolate."
