Unveiling the Shocking Truth: Is My Hero Academia's Momentum Fading Away?

Highlights

The final arc of My Hero Academia has been dragging on for quite some time, potentially causing the series to lose momentum.

The intense and heart-wrenching battles featuring Dabi's fight and Toga's rampage are truly the highlights of the series. However, the arrangement of these battles, interspersed with secondary characters' confrontations, unfortunately hampers the potential for the final battles to truly be extraordinary.

My Hero Academia is now in its final arc, progressing closer to its series conclusion with each weekly chapter release. However, crafting a captivating ending is no easy feat, especially for a long-running series. Many well-regarded series, such as Naruto, Bleach, and Promised Neverland, have stumbled and faltered in their final moments after enjoying years of reign.

Regrettably, a growing number of fans feel that My Hero Academia may be following a similar path. The main concern lies in the prolonged duration of the current story arc. With around 56 chapters having passed since the initiation of the Final War arc, it appears that the narrative shows no signs of concluding soon. Is this a sign of My Hero Academia losing its momentum?

Leading Up To The Climactic Fights

Before we address this question, let's explore some of the crucial plot developments that drive the momentum towards the climax. These are the exciting battles that generate anticipation for the ultimate showdown between good and evil.

The conflict commenced with the heroes implementing a "Divide and Conquer" strategy. Rather than engaging the villains directly, they opted to divide them into smaller groups, teleporting each group to distant locations to prevent any chance of collaboration, and subsequently defeat them one by one. To the heroes' astonishment, the villains, under the leadership of the League of Villains, skillfully disrupted this plan by luring Deku away from his designated battle. It was a brilliant way to initiate the final confrontation, undoubtedly one of the most thrilling moments in the series.

The Heroes vs. The Villains

Following the initial battles, a couple of particularly notable confrontations occur. One involves Dabi, whose overwhelming fury unleashes chaos, prompting an intense struggle as Endeavor's family endeavors to curb his uncontrollable rage. In the second confrontation, Himiko Toga embarks on a heartbreaking rampage, driving Uraraka and numerous other skilled heroes to exhaust all efforts to thwart her desperate, destructive expression of despair towards humankind. These two battles, both mind-blowing and heart-wrenching, undeniably stand out as some of the most exceptional clashes in the entire series.

Now, let's delve into the crux of the matter. All the events that have unfolded throughout the series lead to this pivotal moment, the ultimate clash. It's a monumental battle, a relentless confrontation between the forces of righteousness embodied by Deku and All Might, and the dark depths of malevolence personified by Shigaraki and All for One.

Utilizing the divide-and-conquer strategy, the heroes successfully confine All-for-One, presently residing within the body of Shigaraki, in a highly secure cage. Eraserhead's quirk, bolstered by Monoma's, nullifies All-for-One's quirk.

Regrettably, despite being restrained in these disadvantageous circumstances, All-for-One remains capable of inflicting severe harm on the surrounding infrastructure and causing mortal injuries to multiple heroes, notably Bakugo. Deku must summon all his strength and ingenuity to overcome the challenge of defeating All-for-One/Shigaraki.

Is My Hero Academia Losing Its Momentum?

Not far from the battleground where Deku fights, All Might takes his stance against his arch-nemesis, the true form of All-for-One. All-for-One, having already inflicted significant harm on the professional heroes and UA students assigned to subduing him, leisurely hovers in the air. In spite of currently lacking a quirk, All Might remains determined to defend Deku's fight from All-for-One's intervention. To achieve this, he adorns himself with state-of-the-art armor, a gift from the brilliant minds in the United States. This incredible suit not only boasts extraordinary durability, but also possesses the ability to replicate the quirks of other esteemed heroes, including Deku's black whips, Kaminari's electrical powers, Shoji's tentacles, and even Yuga's naval laser, among others. Nonetheless, confronting the younger incarnation of All-for-One proves to be an arduous and perilous undertaking.

Is My Hero Academia losing its momentum? Is the final arc dragging on longer than necessary? The answer is somewhat. The battles of Deku vs. All-for-One/Shigaraki and All Might against All-for-One should be the culmination of everything that has transpired in the series thus far. They represent the ultimate clash between the forces of good and evil, the clash between the older and newer generations of heroes and villains. The stark contrast between these battles engenders a sense of unparalleled thrill, excitement, and intensity, surpassing anything ever witnessed in the realms of anime and manga.

The issue lies in the storytelling order, not the battles themselves. Instead of placing the supporting characters' battles in between, the author made the decision to have them occur right after Deku's fight. Consequently, the momentum built by Deku's battle is significantly diminished. If the battles had been arranged in a continuous back-and-forth between Deku and All Might, the momentum would have reached its peak by now. To ensure readers remain engaged and invested, it is crucial to maintain a steady climb in momentum until the story reaches its climactic moments. However, this did not happen in this final arc. As a result, the excitement for this arc fluctuates whenever a new battle is introduced, detrimentally affecting the momentum.

In conclusion, My Hero Academia still retains some of its momentum. However, the storytelling structure has significantly hindered the potential for an epic final battle, which could have otherwise made history in the world of anime and manga.

You can watch My Hero Academia on Crunchyroll.