With My Hero Academia Season 8 airing in Fall 2025 and already a contender for anime of the year, it’s the perfect moment to take a little extra time and recap the series before its finale. But as one of the most successful modern shōnen series, it’s difficult to pick up the best part of My Hero Academia’s anime franchise.
My Hero Academia‘s franchise currently consists of an anime series with more than 160 episodes, four original films, and a spin-off series, with each one of them being pivotal in Deku’s development from a quirkless kid to a hero destined to save others from the rule of the League of Villains and All for One.
However, it’s natural for long-running anime to have a few missteps along the way. As a result, while certain parts of the franchise don’t reach the same standard, certain installments have a visual and narrative quality that has elevated the story and become the reason why fans love My Hero Academia.
12
My Hero Academia Season 5 (2021)
My Hero Academia Season 5 is considered the weakest of the franchise for its poor adaptation of the source material. In addition to changing the manga’s vision by altering the order of events and censoring the violence, the fifth season had disastrous pacing. The season adapted episodes 194 to 258, with the Joint Training Arc spanning almost half the season.
The fifth season rushed through the manga, having roughly 14 episodes to explore the Todoroki family’s relationship, the League of Villains’ battle against the Meta Liberation Army, and Shigaraki’s backstory. While it had an emotional payoff and an exciting climax that set up the war against the Paranormal Liberation Front, My Hero Academia Season 5 suffered from inconsistent animation quality.
11
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
The first film in the franchise, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, takes Izuku and his classmates to I-Island, introducing Melissa and David Shield and revealing their connection to All Might. Although Two Heroes gave fans another glance at All Might’s heroic side as he teams up with Deku, it wasn’t as exciting as the rest of the movies.
While its villain wasn’t all that memorable, what makes My Hero Academia: Two Heroes an enjoyable film is its lighthearted tone and comedy and how it connects to the main story by revealing All Might’s past and hinting at the arm support item Deku will receive later in the story.
10
My Hero Academia Season 1 (2016)
The first season of My Hero Academia was a fantastic introduction to the story, immersing viewers in a heroic world and focusing on Izuku’s struggles and relationship with All Might. However, after Izuku’s acceptance into U.A., the season slowed down until the USJ arc and the rise of the League of Villains.
My Hero Academia Season 1 doesn’t go very deep, laying only the groundwork without revealing the characters’ pasts or motivations to draw viewers and pique their curiosity. While it gets off to a promising start, My Hero Academia Season 1 feels shallow compared to the rest of the anime, and its flaws are addressed in the next installment.
9
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission (2021)
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission follows a terrorist organization seeking to eradicate Quirks for fear of their evolution, based on the Quirk Doomsday Theory. As a result, the heroes fan out across the globe to stop them. However, despite its global nature, many beloved characters have little screen-time in the film, which focuses more on Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki.
Rody Soul is one of My Hero Academia‘s best original characters, with a well-developed backstory and friendship with Izuku. However, despite showing impressive animation in Deku’s fight against Flect Turn, the way he was defeated, and its simpler story put it behind other My Hero Academia films. Still, World Heroes’ Mission is an exciting and well-rounded movie.
8
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 1 (2025)
Expanding on My Hero Academia‘s universe, Vigilantes Season 1 offers viewers a brutal look at society and the superficiality of the hero system. Likewise, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes adds a new layer of depth to some of the series’ previous events, being especially intriguing in the way it showcases how villains operate in the real world.
Koichi Haimawari’s strong sense of justice makes him just as charming as Izuku Midoriya. Furthermore, Vigilantes boasts superb animation and combat choreography. However, despite developing its story better than the first season of My Hero Academia, Vigilantes fails to surpass the strengths of the original series’ subsequent installment. Still, Vigilantes already hints that it will become darker as it evolves.
7
My Hero Academia: You’re Next (2024)
My Hero Academia: You’re Next is the last film of the franchise so far, which, despite its unusual placement in the anime’s timeline, manages to complement the story. All Might’s influence and legacy are shown in a negative light, which helps showcase more of Izuku’s role as his successor, becoming a visual delight packed with action and intensity.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next‘s animation quality also surpasses that of previous films, especially in the battle against Dark Might and the fights that make the most of the characters’ quirks. However, You’re Next‘s greatest appeal lies in its original characters and how it conveys that heroes’ true strength lies in inspiring others and working together.
6
My Hero Academia Season 2 (2017)
My Hero Academia Season 2, centered on the U.A. sports festival, finally displays the main characters’ quirks in heartfelt interactions, trials, and confrontations as they start to grow and find what it means for each of them to be a hero. As a result, this season succeeds in making viewers care about other characters, not just Izuku.
Izuku’s match against Todoroki is one of the best in the anime and the first glimpse into Bones’s sublime animation. But what truly elevated My Hero Academia Season 2 was the fight against Stain, which puts the shortcomings of hero society into perspective while also increasing the stakes outside the school’s environment, teasing the dangers they will face on duty.
5
My Hero Academia Season 4 (2019)
My Hero Academia Season 4 had a divisive reception for its change of tone between the dark Shie Hassaikai Arc and the upbeat U.A. School Festival Arc. However, showing the shadows that loom over society with a criminal organization different from the League of Villains in My Hero Academia Season 4, the characters faced extreme situations like never before.
Deku starting to embrace the kind of hero he wants to be is enough to balance out the weaker parts of the season, such as characters who needed more development. Furthermore, Endeavor’s fight against Hood is one of the anime’s best moments, which sets in motion the much more complex plot schemes and twists that were to come.
4
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019)
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising has one of the best villains in My Hero Academia, who is able to steal Quirks in a similar way to All for One, being a powerful threat. My Hero Academia‘s author, Kohei Horikoshi, also took part in Heroes Rising, so the film maintains the essence of the story, and Nine’s backstory doesn’t contradict the manga.
While the students of Class 1-A have their moments of glory, Heroes Rising focuses on Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo. Izuku and Bakugo help and inspire the new original characters, Mahoro and Katsuma, and their tortured friendship and rivalry culminates with the two teaming up for the first time in My Hero Academia‘s story.
Additionally, the final battle against Nine is not only visually spectacular but also reuses one of the possible endings devised for My Hero Academia, giving it that feeling of an epic finale that is difficult to surpass by other battles in the franchise.
3
My Hero Academia Season 3 (2018)
In My Hero Academia Season 3, the League of Villains ambushes Class 1-A while they are training in the forest, displaying intense simultaneous conflicts that keep viewers on edge. However, the highlight of the attack is Deku’s battle with Muscular. The fight represented Deku’s greatest growth, as he single-handedly saved someone for the first time, defeating a notoriously dangerous villain.
My Hero Academia Season 3 is filled with tension and emotion, marking a turning point in the story after All Might’s epic and brutal fight against All for One, considered one of the best in shōnen. The third season also ended on a high note with Izuku’s fight against Bakugo, where the deuteragonist gains the subtle evolution he was missing.
