‘My Hero Academia’ 5th Season to Mix Up the Manga’s Arc Structure

As the Joint Training Arc comes to its close in the 5th Season of My Hero Academia, fans are excited to see what story arc will be adapted next for the remainder of the season. Many readers of the manga are anticipating for the season to cover one of the most popular arcs in the franchise; “The Meta Liberation Army Arc”, which is more commonly referred to as “My Villain Academia” and it shifts the focus of the story towards the League of Villains. It provides some backstory to these characters as well sowing the seeds for what’s to come later on in the show. However, it seems that fans are in for a bit of a switch-up as to what to expect for the story this season.

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Following the premiere of Episode 101: Have a Merry Christmas, a mid-season trailer was released for the anime’s 5th season, indicating that the first arc the second half of the season will delve into is the Endeavor Agency Arc. When watching the episode, you’ll notice that there’s been a bit of a time skip if you’re a reader of the manga. Following the events of Episode 100 with Bakugo and Todoroki obtaining their hero’s licenses and being celebrated in their achievement by their fellow classmates from Group 1A, the next episode immediately starts with them being interviewed over their acts of heroism in defeating a gang of villains. Now, continuity-wise, it all seems to flow as one continuous story, but readers of the manga will notice that the anime completely skipped over the My Villain Academia Arc and it seems to be delving completely into the Endeavor Agency Arc. This no doubt is to prepare fans for the upcoming release of the third My Hero Academia film, “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission“, which is currently set in that very arc.

However, this shift in the story does not necessarily mean that the My Villain Academia arc will be glossed over this season. The aforementioned arc was teased in today’s episode, as the episode started with an ominous “9 days ago” message and a shot of Deika City being desolated. Amongst the rubble was a haunting shot of the League of Villains’ leader, Tomura Shigaraki. Also, in the trailer released today, you can also spot a shot of one of the key players in the My Villain Academia arc, Rikiya Yotsubashi aka Re-Destro.

The 5th season has been confirmed to have 25 episodes. This was confirmed by Toho when they announced the release of 4 volumes for physical release regarding this upcoming season, the final volume ending with Episode #113. This means we have around 12 episodes left for the rest of the season. The Endeavor Agency Arc spans around 11 chapters in the manga while the Meta Liberation Army arc covers 22 chapters. So, there’s a high chance that both arcs will be covered this season, with the Endeavor Agency Arc being the opener for the 2nd half of the season while the Meta Liberation Army arc will close it out. While the order of the story is being changed up for the anime, fans of the popular manga franchise can rest assured that they’re in for fantastic story development in the coming episodes.

Sources: Twitter, GamesRadar