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My Hero Academia is a captivating anime that quickly rose to fame after its release. My Hero Academia focuses on the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, and his dream to enroll in a prestigious superhero academy.
Living in a world filled with superheroes, Izuku, who was born without any powers, often felt left out. That changed when he inherited the power of My Hero Academia’s best superhero, All Might.
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After four stunning seasons, the anime's fans were undoubtedly excited for season five. Expectations were at their peak, especially with My Hero Academia Season 5's speculated inclusion of important plot points.
However, the fandom soon came to a realization that season five was the biggest disappointment of series. But what exactly happened?
Why was My Hero Academia Season 5 so poorly received?
My Hero Academia Season 5 followed three arcs, beginning with the 'Joint Training' arc of the original manga. The anime proceeded further with arcs 'Endeavor Agency' and 'My Villain Academia'.
Joint Training arc
Fans randomly watched as Izuku learned a new quirk that led to One For All. Right from the get-go, this arc was poorly received because of its irregular pacing.
The Joint Training arc is painfully slow due to the addition of flashbacks. Matter of fact, the majority of episodes were flashbacks. These flashbacks were rehashed versions of things fans were already aware of, making it look like the writers were running out of ideas. And that they merely added it to prolong the episode itself.
There is one specific flashback that made an appearance at least four times throughout this season. This was the flashback of Endeavor abusing his wife and kids to reinforce that he is trying to change. As important as this may be, its repetition makes the 'Joint Training' arc the most monotonous of the series.
Endeavor arc
My Hero Academia made a major mistake that turned many fans off of the Season.
The 'Joint Training' arc was intended to be the prelude to the main event, which was the 'My Villain Academia' arc. Instead of following its own trend, the anime decided to put the Endeavor arc before the My Villain Academia arc. This was done to connect the anime to the movie.
The only redeeming factor of this arc is the villain alluded to in the previous part. This had created slight excitement and anticipation for viewers.
Deku, Baku and Todo were competing against an opponent much greater than themselves in the previous arc. Had the series just continued and put the 'My Villain Academia' arc after this, it would have saved Season 5 as many fans seemed to enjoy the training.
Unfortunately, this did not happen. Putting the 'My Villain Academia' arc last meant the trio were essentially just competing against themselves. Which, in turn, completely eradicated most of the tension built from their training session.
My Villian Academia arc
This arc was supposed to be the savior of My Hero Academia Season 5, but it fell short because of its poor placement in the plot. The 'My Villain Academia' arc was supposed to be placed directly after the 'Joint Training' arc so that the plot would flow chronologically.
Instead, it was placed after the 'Endeavor' arc, derailing the entire season. Ultimately, due to poor placement, this arc had to be rushed.
This arc has 19 chapters in the My Hero Academia manga, meaning it should have been given eight episodes as the bare minimum. Despite this, the arc only had approximately six episodes, which meant it had to be rushed a bit. As opposed to this arc, which was voted the most uninteresting, 'Joint Training' received 12 episodes.
Moreover, the entire arc was spoilt by the anime in episode 15. How was this done? Well, the entire League of Villains was shown together with Re-Destro, for one. This essentially rendered the release of the arc pointless. That, in and of itself, made the entire watching experience a noticeably unpleasant one.
More issues with My Hero Academia Season 5
Expectedly, this shift led to many questions. Not only were fans upset by the lackluster arcs, but they were immensely confused by the storyline switch. Many fans believe My Hero Academia Season 5 is the worst the series has to offer.
These arcs made the content appear subpar in comparison to other seasons. The pacing was all over the place. In fact, the vast majority of episodes simply did not feel the same as other My Hero Academia episodes.
Apart from the general plot being horribly put together, My Hero Academia Season 5 included very little character development. In addition, the visuals were comparable to a low-budget, college-animation project. Needless to say, these visuals and plot seem uninspired after the hype of the manga chapters.
Final thoughts
All things considered, My Hero Academia is, generally, a fantastic anime. Unfortunately, season five of the series missed the mark. With four other spectacular seasons and exceptional movies in My Hero Academia’s arsenal, it’s no wonder fans had such high hopes.
Disappointed, fans had to watch a series they once loved that almost bore them into quitting the anime. Luckily, there is My Hero Academia Season 6, which is expected to be released in 2022. Hopefully, this season will allow the series to redeem itself and work its way back into the hearts of fans everywhere.
All in all, the only thing left to do after such a major letdown is to wait and see where My Hero Academia will go next.
