Fans have been anxious to see the third season of My Hero Academia ever since it was announced because the series is one of the most popular action series currently running.
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The next arc of the manga is definitely a fan-favorite, so fans have doubly excited to see it play out in the anime series. But now that the third season is on the horizon, now is the time to catch up on all of the available information for the upcoming season before its official arrival.
Read on for everything you need to know about My Hero Academia‘s upcoming third season and feel the hype of going plus ultra all over again.
When Does It Premiere?
Season 3 of My Hero Academia is set to premiere April 7 according to Funimation:
“Classes are back in session and anime’s favorite super heroes in training have returned to U.A. High School for another exciting season of “My Hero Academia.” Funimation revealed today that Season 3 of the top-rated series will premiere on Saturday, April 7, 2018.”
This is great news for fans since that means My Hero Academia is part of the increasingly more prominent Spring 2018 anime season which includes series like Tokyo Ghoul:re, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Persona 5 the Animation, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online and more. But if it’s as effective as Season 2, then the competition shouldn’t be a problem.
Are There Any Trailers?
Hyping up the upcoming season 3’s April release, there are three official trailers for the series currently available. The first trailer for the series (which you can find here) merely teases the return of the series by hyping many of the new situations the characters will find themselves in.
The second trailer (which you can find here) is the more involving of the two as it not only reveals new characters, it introduces many of the new additions to the League of Villains as well as introducing the main conflict of the upcoming arc of the series, the “School Trip” arc.
The third is Funimation’s first trailer for the series (which you can find here), featuring the English dub of the series and revealing much of the returning voice cast for the upcoming season.
How Many Episodes Will There Be?
Much like the first two seasons of the series, the third season of My Hero Academia is confirmed to go on for two cour. In layman’s terms, this means the anime will be around for at least two sets of 12-13 episodes instead of finishing within a few weeks much like most seasonal anime releases.
The third season is confirmed to run for 25 episodes, which has greatly excited fans who were hoping the series would stick around for as long as possible. This also means the series has more time to explore the themes of the upcoming School Trip arc.
What Will It Be About?
But what is the “School Trip” arc? It’s the upcoming arc of the series which challenged the students of Class 1-A in the manga more so than they have been in the past. Funimation has released the following synopsis for this arc:
“Summer is here, and the heroes of Class 1-A and 1-B are in for the toughest training camp of their lives! A group of seasoned pros pushes everyone’s Quirks to new heights as the students face one overwhelming challenge after another. Braving the elements in this secret location becomes the least of their worries when routine training turns into a critical struggle for survival.”
But most fans are expected the third season to go beyond this.
Could It Go Beyond The ‘School Trip’ Arc?
Most fans are theorizing the “School Trip” arc to wrap up within the first cour of the series (the first 12-14 episodes) and since the arc naturally leads into the next, Hideout Raid, most fans are expecting the season to go out on its high note.
What is the Hideout Raid arc? In this arc, pro-heroes attack the base of the League of Villains in order to rescue a student and there’s a huge battle at the end to cap it off. As fans can see in the background of the first key visual for the third season, All Might is facing down All For One and that’s something that doesn’t happen until later in the Hideout Raid arc.
The characters involved in the poster as well also have key moments in the Hideout Raid arc and that could be why they’re in their superhero garb rather than their school uniforms as seen in the first trailer for the series. This would be a great way to end the third season on a high note.
Are There New Characters?
Thanks to the new School Trip arc of the season, the series will introduce many new characters to the series like The Pussycats: four heroes named Mandalay (voiced by Chisa Suganuma), Ragdoll (voiced by Meiko Kawasaki), Tiger (voiced by Shinnosuke Ogami), and Pixiebob (voiced by Serina Machiyama), and the key character for the School Trip arc, Kota Izumi (voiced by Michiru Yamazaki).
There are also new villains who join the League of Villains’ raid on Class 1-A as their training in the forest. There’s Mustard, voiced by Kiyotaka Furushima, who has a sleeping gas quirk, Moonfish, who has the “Tooth Blade” quirk voiced by Shuhei Matsuda, and Muscular with a muscle augmenting quirk voiced by Kousuke Takaguchi.
But those are the only confirmed characters for the season so far, unless the Hideout Raid rumor comes to pass.
Will There Be An English Dub?
Much like the first two seasons of the series, there will be an English dub. Though Funimation is indeed changing the way it’s doing things for the third season and revolutionizing the way English dubs are distributed in the West.
According to Funimation’s press release, the first six episodes of the English on the same day and time as the Japanese language release of the series on FunimationNOW:
“As with last season, the first six episodes of “My Hero Academia” will simultaneously stream on the same day and date as the Japanese TV broadcast – in SimulDub™ on FunimationNow in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Australia and in subtitled simulcast on Hulu and Crunchyroll.”
This’ll be great for fans of the English dub who normally have to wait a few weeks after the subbed episode to air to watch the dub.
Where Can I Watch?
Now that you know My Hero Academia‘s third season is set to premiere on April 7, and that English dubs will be available on the same day, where can you watch the series?
All 25 episodes of the series will stream with an English dub (the first six of which will be available on the same day as the original language release) on FunimationNow, and will be available in its original Japanese with English subtitles on both Hulu and Crunchyroll.
How Can I Catch Up?
Of course, now that you know where to watch the upcoming season, what if you need to catch up? Luckily both of the first two seasons are available for streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and FunimationNow in their original Japanese language with English subtitles.
Unfortunately, the situation’s a little murkier with the English dub of the series. while the English dub for the first season is widely available, the second season’s dub has yet to release. But thankfully, Funimation has confirmed the first 14 episodes of the second season’s English dub will be available for both purchase and streaming April 3:
“Ahead of the Season 3 premiere, Funimation will be releasing “My Hero Academia” Season 2 Part 1 on home video on Tuesday, April 3. Season 2 Part 1 will be available as a Blu-ray/DVD combo or a Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Limited Edition in a special chipboard box along with an assortment of collectible souvenirs including a 40-page art book and set of ten holographic trading cards. Also on this date, the English dub of Season 2 Part 1 (episodes 14-25) will become available to stream exclusively on Hulu.”
Now you’re ready to watch the third season of My Hero Academia! It’s the best time to be a fan of the series as the manga is currently running strong and the series is even set to get its own film this Summer featuring an original story outside of the manga and anime!
