'My Hero Academia' Embarks On New Festival Arc

My Hero Academia is quickly solidifying its reputation as a go-to shonen series. This year, the anime will unleash its third season to millions of fans, but that isn't all. After all, the manga did just kick off a new story arc with its most recent chapter.

So, all of you Pro Hero lovers need to get ready. The kids of U.A. Academy are about to get festive.

My Hero Academia published its 169th chapter not too long ago, and it marked the beginning of a new arc. The story, which is being called the 'U.A. Cultural Festival' arc, began when Mr. Aizawa informed Class 1-A about their next project.

The sleep-deprived teacher told the heroes their school was hosting a cultural festival. The event, which is held annually, caused some students to complain as they wondered if now was the right time to have such a festival. However, Aizawa said the event was bigger than the Hero Department and its villain-centric woes.

"If the athletic festival is sponsored by the Hero Department, then the culture festival is the domain of the other departments. The level of exposure isn't comparable, but to them, it's an exciting festival," the hero explained.

Of course, the chapter then followed Class 1-A as they tried to narrow down their theme. None of the kids could decide during school, but the heroes all came to an agreement at the dorms. Mino Ashido and Shoto Todoroki threw in their support behind a dance concert, and the kids were quick to loop in Kyoka Jiro for help.

The arc seems like it will delve further into Jiro's backstory, but fans are also eager to see why villains it will dig up. The chapter ended with an ominous threat as a forgotten laptop showed a creepy autoplay video loading.

"The program is decided," the final panel read. "Reflected on the monitor is…?!" There is no telling who this mysterious figure is, but his shrouded face doesn't inspire much heroic confidence. If the one-hit wonder tries to muck up the school's cultural festival, then he is clearly spoiling for a fight.

For those unfamiliar with My Hero Academia, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

Are you ready for My Hero Academia's new arc? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!