With over 140 episodes, My Hero Academia has been one of the most consistently popular anime of the new generation. Studio Bones has managed to release a brand-new season almost every single year since 2016. And now, this faithful adaptation of Kohei Horikoshi’s masterpiece is approaching its climactic conclusion.
While My Hero Academia is nowhere near as long as some of the other shōnen anime that inspired it (like Naruto or One Piece), it is still an extensive show. Some of its arcs take place over the course of a good number of episodes, which is quite impressive for a seasonal anime. But which arcs are the longest ones yet?
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6 Joint Training Arc
10 Episodes
At first, 10 episodes may not seem like much. But it’s important to keep in mind that almost every season of My Hero Academia is made up of two 12-episode cours each, which means that the Joint Training Arc is the entire first half of Season 5. This makes sense, since this arc featured the long-awaited training exercise between Class 1-A and Class 1-B of U.A. High School.
The Joint Training Arc had the difficult task of showing how much Class 1-A had grown after the events of the Shie Hassaikai Arc. It was also the first time that a lot of the characters in Class 1-B had a prominent role. So viewers were introduced to these characters' personalities and their quirks. And it all worked quite well, because this is a long but fun story arc.
5 Dark Hero Arc
11 Episodes
With a difference of just one episode, the Dark Hero Arc barely beats the Joint Training Arc in length. However, its context in the story is completely different. This is the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War, where dangerous villains are roaming Japan and innocent civilians have fewer and fewer Pro Heroes to call for help.
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This is also when Izuku Midoriya decides to leave U.A. High School to find and face All For One by himself. A lot of important stuff happens in these episodes, like his rematch against Muscular and his intense encounter with Lady Nagant. Then, there's the crucial moment in which his friends and classmates from Class 1-A try to reason with him, so he goes back to school with them.
4 Provisional Hero License Arc
12 Episodes
In Season 3, the Provisional Hero License Arc shares a lot in common with the Dark Hero Arc. It, too, takes place after an extremely important moment in the series: the final battle between All Might and All For One. The aspiring young heroes of U.A. High School have gone through some dangerous experiences with real villains, so they need to get stronger and obtain an official Pro hero License.
The Provisional Hero License Exam is quite long in and of itself, since there are many characters from other Hero Schools — like Ketsubutsu and Shiketsu — participating in it. On top of that, the anime added a few filler fights that were not in the original manga, which extended this arc’s length. It all concludes with the fateful encounter between Deku and Bakugo, which was a huge turning point for the series.
3 U.A. Sports Festival Arc
13 Episodes
This is the first true long arc of the My Hero Academia anime. It takes place over the entire first cour of Season 2, which means that just this one arc is as long as the entirety of Season 1. But it was definitely worth it, because this is where the fascinating world of this series opened up and showed viewers how inspiring and thrilling it could be.
The length of this arc is caused by many factors. Several different events that make up the U.A. Sports Festival, which includes one-on-one matches between many different students). Then there's the intense rivalry between Deku and Shoto Todoroki, and even a few "seeds" that are planted for the Hero Killer Arc that immediately follows it. All of this worked in the anime’s favor, since this became one of its most popular arcs.
2 Shie Hassaikai Arc
17 Episodes
The Shie Hassaikai Arc was infamous among manga readers for how long it was, even before it was adapted into the anime. The final product took place across the final episodes of Season 3 and the first half of Season 4, which was way more extensive than anything that came before.
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There’s a lot going on in this arc. It introduces Mirio Togata, Sir Nighteye and Overhaul, who would become one of the most threatening villains in all of My Hero Academia. This is basically a rescue plot. A bunch of heroes must go into the Yakuza’s base of operations and save Eri, a young girl who is being exploited by Overhaul because of her powerful quirk. While some fans are not too fond of its length, the Shie Hassaikai Arc ends up being rewarding, especially because of the amazing final battle at the very end.
1 Paranormal Liberation War Arc
20 Episodes
Most (if not all) shōnen anime have one long arc that completely changes the course of the show, like the Marineford War Arc in One Piece or the Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc in Naruto. In the case of My Hero Academia, this is the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. This arc is the culmination of a lot of different plot beats that had been building up over the course of many seasons.
After joining forces with Dr. Kyudai Garaki and the Meta Liberation Army, Tomura Shigaraki’s evolution is completed, and the Pro Heroes have to stop him before he destroys all of Japan. Ultimately, this becomes an all-out war between heroes and villains, meaning that this arc features a huge cast of players from both sides. Almost all of them engage in an intense battle.
The Paranormal Liberation War Arc takes place across the final episodes of Season 5 and most of Season 6, since it even surpassed the “one arc per cour” limit of previous seasons. In the end, it was important for Bones to take their time to adapt this big event that changed the world of My Hero Academia forever. Only time will tell if the anime adaptation of the manga’s final arc will be just as long, or even longer.
My Hero Academia (2016)
- Seasons
- 7
- Studio
- Bones
- Creator
- Kōhei Horikoshi
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll , Hulu
