Hiro being in 6th grade is really important.
I was just thinking about this. In the manga, they bring up quite a few times that Hiro is in 6th grade. This is important when it comes to the “just a kid” logic that applies to Hiro and his emotional reactions, but I feel it has another element to it too.
I taught as an Assistant Language/English Teacher in Japan for six years. The age range of my students was from 1st grade elementary school to 3rd year junior high school. Over those six years, I encountered a lot of 6th grade boys that were similar to Hiro. There is a level of haughtiness there that I think Japanese society kind of heightens because of the sempai/kouhai dynamic and the fact that Japanese elementary schools tend to be much more relaxed when it comes to rules and such.
So, first I’m going to talk about the rules aspect. It’s not to say that kids never get reprimanded or in trouble for when they act up, but elementary schools in Japan aren’t as strict when it comes to things like lateness/tardiness to class, bowing correctly, and etc. That strictness really starts coming into play once students enter junior high school and you get things like bells indicating the beginning and ending of class and teachers having students bow like 5 or 6 times in a row until everyone in the gym gets it right.
When I lived in Japan, I often heard that when it comes to discipline, kids could get away with murder. They are viewed as still learning to ins and outs of society and what is and is not socially acceptable, so society as a whole kinda gives them a pass, even if they may be personally annoyed or frustrated by something. Take for instance, when we see those people in the manga that are in the park and who are absolutely frustrated with Hiro. They are thinking about how frustrated they are with him, but don’t call him out on it. It’s similar in a way to how children in Japan will often be loud of the train, but no one will say anything about it, while with junior high or high school students someone may actually call them out on their lack of social awareness.
Once students move from elementary school to junior high school there is a shift in the way that they are viewed and treated. They are no longer children who can get away with stuff. They are now beginning their proper integration into Japanese society and start learning to take on more social awareness and responsibility. We see that, while Hiro does take on personal responsibility, such as when it comes to what he feels as his failed responsibility toward Kisa, he lacks the ability to really take on social responsibility in his interactions with Tohru, Kyo, Momiji, and etc.
This is why I also find it fitting that his growth as a character coincides with his mother being pregnant and him gaining a sibling. It’s yet another example, in a way, of Hiro gaining more of a sense of societal responsibility, since he went from being an only children to a big brother, which is a big mantel to take up in Japanese society.
Finally, along with all of the above, we also have the sempai/kouhai dynamic to think about in regards to Hiro. The sempai/kouhai dynamic isn’t something that just appears or begins to show up in later schooling such as junior high school and high school. Nope. It’s something that students are introduced to from 1st grade on. Most kids who are in their last year of elementary school, no matter where they live, tend to get this inflated sense of self, since they are essentially at the top of the pack now. They are the oldest students, have the most experience among the student body, and etc. But in most places this kinda goes unstated, while in Japan this is actually made very apparent and is actually heightened. Sure, the sempai/kouhai dynamic is also meant to add a level of personal responsibility to students and their actions, but for a lot of 6th grade boys, especially, this just tends to go to their head.
That is, until they enter their 1st year of junior high school and are once again kouhai who have to look up to their sempai. There is usually a large humbling that happens. It’s a shift in character and perspective that I’ve seen happen a number of times with various students over my six years (and not just with boys either, this happened with some girls too). So, I think it was quite clever and fitting that Takaya-sensei focused Hiro’s growth on his expanding awareness of societal expectation and made it correspond with his transition from elementary to junior high school.
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