Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Why the finales of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece feel like the end of an era in manga
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• Dan Da Dan is weird, profoundly inappropriate, and the perfect anime this season
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect anime hero for the dark times ahead
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others

No matter where you fall on the issue of anime, if you pay any kind of attention to pop culture it'll have become impossible to miss that My Hero Academia has become a cultural phenomenon. Cleverly blending manga and Western comic tropes, the original manga by Kohei Horikoshi finally came to an end in 2024, ten years after its debut in 2014, selling more than 85 million copies worldwide and, along the way, spawning video games, films, and, of course, a hugely successful anime series.

My Hero Academia is the story of Izuku Midoriya, an aspiring hero in a world where 80% of the population has some form of superpower, usually called a Quirk. The only problem? Izuku was one of the few born without a Quirk. His bravery catches the eye of All Might, the world’s strongest hero, who agrees to pass on his incredible power to the young man. The legacy of that quirk, known as One for All, puts Izuku at the heart of a battle for the future of the world.

There are some incredible characters in My Hero Academia as Midoriya joins the prestigious Hero Course at UA, a school specializing in training heroes. It isn’t just the manga and anime to keep track of, however. There are also three different spin-off manga and multiple films to slot into the increasingly crowded timeline. If you’re not sure where to start with this anime phenomenon, here is how to watch and read My Hero Academia in order.

How to watch My Hero Academia in chronological order

Unlike most Shone anime, the films of My Hero Academia are considered canon within the anime series even though they don’t adapt any content from the manga. Characters will occasionally reference events from these films in later episodes, though they seldom have a huge impact on the plot of the episode. Still, if you want to have the full picture of My Hero Academia’s world and events, you’ll need to watch them in the correct order.

• My Hero Academia OVA 3 – All Might Rising (Note that this is a prequel episode that expands on the material in the Two Heroes film)
• My Hero Academia Episodes 1-13
• My Hero Academia – Hero Notebook: Note that this is a recap episode of the first season of the anime.
• My Hero Academia OVA 1 – Save! Training! Rescue!
• My Hero Academia Episodes 14-33
• My Hero Academia OVA 2 – Training of the Dead
• My Hero Academia Episodes 34-38
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• My Hero Academia Episodes 39-52
• My Hero Academia OVA 4-5 – Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training, Parts 1 and 2
• My Hero Academia Episodes 53-88
• My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising
• My Hero Academia Episodes 89-106
• My Hero Academia OVA 7 – Hero League Baseball
• My Hero Academia OVA 8 – Laugh! As if You Are in Hell
• My Hero Academia Episodes 107-113
• My Hero Academia OVA 6 – Departure (Note that this is a prequel to the My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission film)
• My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission
• My Hero Academia Episodes 114-138
• My Hero Academia OVA 9 - UA Heroes Battle
• My Hero Academia: You're Next
• My Hero Academia Memories Episodes 1-4: Note that these are recap episodes that lead up to the seventh season of the series.
• My Hero Academia Episodes 139-present

How to watch My Hero Academia in release order

The easiest way to watch My Hero Academia is in release order. Because the OVAs are generally self-contained, they are often slotted between episodes that aired earlier in the year. You can skip them without missing out on the plot but they’re perfect for fans who need an extra episode or two to tide them over between seasons.

• My Hero Academia Episodes 1-13
• My Hero Academia OVA 1 – Save! Rescue Training!
• My Hero Academia Episodes 14-22
• My Hero Academia OVA 2 – Training of the Dead
• My Hero Academia Episodes 23-38
• My Hero Academia Episodes 39-51
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• My Hero Academia OVA 3 – All Might Rising: Note that this is a prequel episode that expands on the material in the Two Heroes film.
• My Hero Academia Episodes 52-72
• My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising
• My Hero Academia Episodes 73-88
• My Hero Academia OVA 4-5 – Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training, Parts 1 and 2
• My Hero Academia Episodes 89-106
• My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission
• My Hero Academia Episodes 107-113
• My Hero Academia OVA 6 – Departure: Note that this is a prequel to the My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission film.
• My Hero Academia OVA 7 – Hero League Baseball
• My Hero Academia OVA 8 – Laugh! As if You Are in Hell
• My Hero Academia Episodes 114-138
• My Hero Academia OVA 9 - UA Heroes Battle
• My Hero Academia Memories Episodes 1-4: Note that these are recap episodes that lead up to the seventh season of the series.
• My Hero Academia Episodes 139-present
• My Hero Academia: You're Next

How to read My Hero Academia in order

Compared to the anime, the manga of My Hero Academia is already primarily in chronological order. However, there are three spin-off manga titles to keep track of that have been released alongside the main series. The only one that takes place in a specific period is the Vigilantes spin-off, which serves are a prequel to the main series.

The best reading order for My Hero Academia is:

• My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
• Deku and Bakugo: Rising – Note that this is a two-chapter spin-off manga that centered on Izuku and Katsuki during their second year of middle school.
• My Hero Academia
• My Hero Academia – League of Villains: Undercover – Note that this is a manga prequel to the My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising movie
• My Hero Academia Special Spin-off: Endeavor’s Mission – Note that this is a manga prequel to the My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission film.
• My Hero Academia: Smash!! – This is a non-canon comedy manga that takes place at various points throughout the manga.
• My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions – This is a spin-off manga that sees characters from UA Class 1-A paired with other student heroes and the occasional pro-hero in supplemental adventures.
• My Hero Academia: School Briefs – This is a light novel containing slice-of-life scenes from Izuku’s days at UA High.

Where can you read My Hero Academia?

Those wanting to read all of My Hero Academia are in luck: the vast majority of the manga is available through the Shonen Jump app from VIZ Media. This includes:

• My Hero Academia
• My Hero Academia Vigilantes
• My Hero Academia Smash!!
• My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions
• My Hero Academia: School Briefs
• My Hero Academia – League of Villains: Undercover
• My Hero Academia Special Spin-off: Endeavor’s Mission

Unfortunately, unless you can read Japanese there isn’t anywhere to read the Deku and Bakugo Rising manga spin-off. It has yet to be released outside of Japan.

Where to watch My Hero Academia

The bulk of the My Hero Academia anime is all on Crunchyroll exclusively, including the OVAs. However, if you want to watch the films, you will have to go further afield. You can stream Two Heroes and Heroes Rising on Amazon Prime for an additional fee. Oddly, no streaming service offers the most recent film, World Heroes’ Mission, so you’ll have to purchase a physical copy of it to watch it if you missed it on the big screen.

Should I watch the My Hero Academia movies?

While the My Hero Academia movies are technically canon to the anime, this is only because of a handful of references that pop up to characters and activities in them. Their events are largely inconsequential to the rest of the anime, so you could technically skip them if you wanted. However, there are some great moments in there, particularly in the Two Heroes movie where All Might and Deku team up, so they're worth checking out if you have the time.

What’s next for My Hero Academia?

The final chapter of the My Hero Academia manga has finally been released, leaving all of us reeling from the emotional ending to this modern classic, but that doesn't mean we won't be getting plenty more of the anime in the coming years. As one of the most popular ongoing series on the planet, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the anime plans to continue adapting the source material. Season Seven of the My Hero Academia anime was confirmed in March 2023 when Season Six finished airing. It began airing in Spring 2024.

There are persistent rumors that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is getting its own spinoff around the time the anime picks up again, but there haven’t been any announcements about this yet. Until this or any of the other spin-off manga have any adaptations announced through official channels, it is best to take these rumors with a grain of salt.

One thing that doesn't appear to be just rumors is the long-awaited live action adaptation of My Hero Academia from Netflix. We're still waiting for concrete details of how they intend to translated the highly stylized characters and high-powered world to live action, but we know that one of the show's writers apparently believes it will be "a big one" when it finally comes out.

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