The School Festival Arc is My Hero Academia's worst, and it's obvious why

My Hero Academia is a series with a huge fanbase, but it also receives a lot of criticism, some of them are valid and some of them not so much. Regardless, there is no denying that this property has come up with true highlights and others that are quite disappointing, with an example of the latter being the School Festival arc because of a list of problems.

Even though this arc has some of its defenders, My Hero Academia has reached a low point here as this arc doesn't move the plot forward. Moreover, it doesn't give a lot of focus to characters who are really prominent in the grand scheme of things.

There is another fact that this arc works mostly as canon filler for the manga, leaving aside the minor contribution that Gentle Criminal and La Brava have in the final battle.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

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Explaining why the School Festival arc doesn't work in My Hero Academia

Gentle Criminal and La Brava as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

One of the biggest issues with the School Festival arc is that it doesn't progress the story in any meaningful manner.

The arc is focused mainly on making the festival happen for the other departments in UA and making Eri happy after the tragedies she has gone through because of Overhaul. There is a good moment when she smiles since is a good conclusion for her small arc here but the storyline, in general, overstays its welcome and could be considered glorified canon filler.

While not everything is battles and action in a story, the issue with this arc is that it doesn't do anything significant for the main cast moving forward. Only Deku gets a bit of a learning experience while fighting Gentle Criminal, but the empathy he shows here isn't new for his character. On the other hand, someone like Kyoka Jiro is very important, however, she has never had a meaningful role before or after.

It has a bizarre position during the events of the manga and could have been done in a couple of chapters instead of making it an entire arc. While it could be argued that someone like Jiro, who is fairly beloved by the fandom, deserves a moment in the spotlight, she doesn't contribute much in the grand scheme of things.

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More issues with the storyline

A promotional image of the School Festival arc in the anime (Image via Bones).

It is also worth pointing out that the timing of this arc is quite erroneous when considering that, at the time, My Hero Academia has already gone through storylines such as Stain's attacks, the Kamino battle, and the Overhaul invasion. It means that the series has gotten progressively more serious.

Adding a school festival after all of these stories feels a bit underwhelming and struggles to deliver when it's completed. This is a portion of the story that doesn't contribute to the grand scheme of things as far as the plot goes.

Gentle Criminal and La Brava are widely regarded as the best part of this arc and are the only elements here that influence the final battle. Beyond these two, the entirety of the School Festival arc could be removed and the manga wouldn't change that much.

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Final thoughts

My Hero Academia is a series known for having considerable highs and lows and the latter could be exemplified by the School Festival arc. It could have been a much stronger story in some instances but overall doesn't add much to the series.

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