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My Hero Academia is now in its final arc, and so far, the chaos has been completely sublime in the ongoing fight against the forces All for One has gathered. From fight scenes to character drama, nearly everything about this much anticipated final saga has fans on pins and needles, waiting to see what happens next.
It's worth noting that My Hero Academia likewise corrects one of the biggest flaws that shonen anime and manga have as a whole: The fact that side characters continue to battle the main villain without any of the central trio showing up there. It's an interesting idea that, once again, places My Hero Academia's deconstructive tendencies in the foreground.
This article will show how My Hero Academia's final arc does this in substantially more detail.
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Disclaimer: This article will go into My Hero Academia manga spoilers, likewise with anime spoilers for other anime discussed. The opinions represented here are subjective.
Examining how My Hero Academia's final arc fixes a big shonen manga flaw
What is the flaw in shonen anime?
All shonen manga and anime usually have a certain problem during their conclusion - Everything depends on one character, at most two or three. Everyone else is either horribly injured, or take a backseat, or are not powerful enough to intervene in the fight.
Examples of this in action are littered all over shonen anime, key among them being Dragon Ball Z. In Dragon Ball Z, the main villain is usually defeated by Goku exclusively (minus the Androids and Cell).
Similarly, in Naruto, the final villain Kaguya Otsutsuki is defeated by Team 7. In One Piece, Luffy beats Kaidou. The list goes on, with many other examples like Yusuke Urameshi having to solo Toguro.
These examples all take into account the predictability factor. It's how a lot of shonen anime operate, usually giving the spotlight to one or a small number of characters that grow stronger over time and eventually fight and defeat the final boss. Everyone else either gets to watch or is relegated to the sidelines.
As will be illustrated below, this is a problem because it just makes the story feel bloated with its cast.
Why is this a problem?
This is a problem as it contributes to make a lot of shonen anime and manga feel extremely stale and repetitive towards the end of their series. It also tends to, from many fans' recollections, have far too many interesting characters being pushed to the side to make room for the main characters.
Dragon Ball Z pushed aside many of the Dragon Ball characters aside from Krillin, and anyone that wasn't Goku, Vegeta, or a half-Saiyan like Gohan, was quickly shoved off. Naruto had plenty of characters that gradually began to lose relevance due to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura being the three leads.
The wealth of examples also leads to the idea that only powerful individuals should go after the main villain vs. getting help from a group. The power of friendship and bonds is a trope after all, but it seems almost null when the main characters have to do the heavy lifting at the end.
This is where My Hero Academia comes in. The series has already been able to show off how group dynamics are better than individual heroics. It has also scoffed at the idea that individual heroics are the be-all and end-all of heroism.
How My Hero Academia's final arc shapes up to fix it
My Hero Academia is often given the label of deconstruction anime due to it tearing down more than a few shonen anime cliches. The main character, Deku, isn't entirely all-powerful and often gets hurt from his powers. His rival, Bakugo, neither starts as a villain nor turns into one.
The final arc of the manga is likewise shaping up to fix the aforementioned problem of having so many characters and yet not having any of them make a difference to the end of the story.
The first part is that all three of the main trio of U-A heroes (Deku, Bakugo, and Shoto) aren't even fighting All For One. Shoto was settling the score with Dabi, Bakugo was critically injured, and Deku is all set to fight Tomura Shigaraki.
As that's going down, several other important events are going on. La Brava is countering Skeptic's hacking to bring down the mobile UA fortress, Lady Nagant reappeared on the battlefield to snipe Tomura, Tsu and Ochaco are fighting Toga, who is armed with Twice's quirk. Spinner is also leading a riot to free Kurogiri and is getting more monstrous, whereas Ashido and Kirishima seem to be battling Midnight's Killer.
All For One, meanwhile, is being fought by a team led by Endeavor, which includes Hawks and Tokoyami. What this means is that the supporting characters are all doing important things, including fighting the main villain. This is somewhat unprecedented, as it's usually the main hero that fights off the villain.
Why does this matter?
This ultimately matters for My Hero Academia and shonen anime/manga for several reasons. The first is that supporting characters are getting a real chance to shine, which has usually been one of My Hero Academia's strengths, giving it an edge over its contemporaries.
The second and most significant is that it shows the idea that groups do matter more than individual effort. As much as My Hero Academia has had All Might punch a problem away in the early arcs, it always takes time to pull back and let the audience know that there are organizations and other people affected aside from him or the main characters.
Izuku Midoriya might be the central protagonist of My Hero Academia, but that doesn't mean he does everything alone. When he tried that prior to this arc, he nearly got killed and required Class 1-A's intervention. The entire plan the heroes all made to separate the villains required a huge level of cooperation that isn't quite seen in other shonen anime.
This kind of group-help dynamic, where the main protagonist is simply one person in a group, is a really good change up. It's much like the Avengers all coming together to fight Thanos, or the epic battles of Lord of The Rings. Everyone has a villain to take down, and everyone has a role to play, so nobody's really left out.
To summarize, My Hero Academia has once again flipped a trope on its head. This time it's the "lone hero fighting the villain" trope, as the supporting cast of Endeavor, La Brava, and others is really turning the tide against the leveled-up All For One. The final arc is shaping up to be much more of a wild ride than previously anticipated.
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