My Hero Academia's final war has been a lot shorter than it appears

Modified Apr 23, 2024 09:51 GMT

Key Visual of My Hero Academia's Dark Hero arc (image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia's Final War arc, which has been ongoing for 77 chapters till now, is currently nearing its climax as Deku and his friends from Class 1-A look to put a definitive end to All For One.

The Final War arc will supposedly wrap up the Final Saga of My Hero Academia, which has been running for over 100 chapters now. Typically, war arcs in an anime or manga series are expected to take place in the span of a few days, weeks, or even months at the very least.

However, this was certainly not the case in My Hero Academia's Final War arc, where the final battle between the Heroes and the Villains took place in a surprisingly short span of time.

My Hero Academia's Final War arc has been going on for only a couple for hours

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The Final War arc of My Hero Academia's Final Saga started in chapter 343, and it's currently nearing its climax. It goes without saying that it is the largest arc of the manga to date, featuring a lot of memorable and noteworthy moments like All Might's final stand against All For One, Deku's last fight against Tomura Shigaraki, Bakugo vs. All For One, and Shoto Todoroki vs. Dabi.

While the Final Arc of the My Hero Academia manga may seem like it has been going on for an eternity, it has actually been no more than a couple of hours at best, from a narrative viewpoint.

Although estimating the time of the final battle is certainly no easy task due to the lack of any official confirmation regarding the matter, there are a few bits and pieces of information that can help narrow down the duration of the battle.

Deku as seen in the anime (image via Bones)

Firstly, All For One's battle against Endeavor, up until the point where the former was forced to regenerate himself, can be estimated to be around 10 minutes at best. After the villain rewound his body to its prime condition, he engaged in a fierce battle against the Pro Heroes and the trainees, which he ended up winning with little effort.

This fight was significantly longer than the previous one, since All For One took some time to engage in a monologue before Dabi and Himiko Toga, who were using Double's Sad Man's Parade move, arrived at the scene through the portals. Afterwards, he actively tried to fight and get past the Heroes. As such, this fight should have lasted for a maximum of 20 minutes.

Next up, All For One traveling from Gunga to All Might's location should have taken no more than 5 minutes, since it was long enough for the latter to intercept the former's attack. As for the fight between the two bitter rivals itself, it's safe to assume that it lasted for about 20 minutes in all.

Deku and Class 1-A as seen in My Hero Academia (image via Bones)

This is because it was noted shortly after Toga's arrival that she had a supply of blood sufficient for Sad Man's Parade to last for roughly 30–40 minutes. Towards the beginning of All Might's showdown against All For One, it was stated that Toga's Sad Man's Parade move would only last for 20 more minutes.

When Sad Man's Parade came to an end, All For One was seen gravely injuring All Might, rendering him unable to fight any longer. As such, this fight is more or less confirmed to have happened in the span of 20 minutes.

Afterwards, Stain's death to Katsuki Bakugo's victory against All For One can be assumed to have happened in the span of 10 minutes, a major portion of it being Bakugo's conversation with All Might and Edgeshot.

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Lastly, Deku's final showdown against Tomura Shigaraki can account for about 15-20 minutes, up until the current point of the manga. As of now, it is difficult to predict how much time went by in the dreamscape scenario, which saw Shigaraki disappearing into nothingness and All For One taking control of the former's body.

Taking into account all the aforementioned durations of each battle, the Final War arc can be assumed to have taken place in about 70–85 minutes, or 1 hour, 10–25 minutes in all.

That said, this calculation doesn't include the ongoing fight between TomurAFO (Tomura Shigaraki's body with All For One's mind) and the U.A. High students, which is the final fight of the entire series. It will likely continue for no more than 10–20 minutes, which would mean that all the events of the Final War arc of My Hero Academia would have all happened under 2 hours.