'My Hero Academia' Proves Class 1-A Has Some Serious Competition

My Hero Academia's followed Class 1-A as they've grown as young heroes in training after fighting the League of Villains on more than one occasion. But while they've experienced so much growth, Class 1-B has been right behind them.

The latest chapter of the manga revealed that Class 1-A has their work cut out for them because if they slack for just a moment, they'll get surpassed by Class 1-B's constant and steady work rate.

Class 1-A and Class 1-B began a united training exercise in which they are separated into teams and must subdue the other team by any means. But the true key of the exercise comes in what All Might has to say about the situation. When Midnight asks him who he thinks will win the exercise overall, All Might says that it's a tough call to make actually.

Although Class 1-A has experience dealing with real world villains and have strengthened themselves accordingly, the fact that they keep getting into trouble (such as the forest training being interrupted, followed by rushing into the Hero License Exam) means they haven't always been able to focus on their fundamentals. Class 1-B, on the other hand, has shown more improvement in their grades and exercises because they've managed to stay out of trouble for so long.

All Might asks which of the classes have gotten stronger overall. Class 1-A, which have forged strength through crisis in short but powerful bursts, or the steady overall strength of Class 1-B. The first examples of this came through the first of the battles in the exercise, in which Class 1-B's first squad actually got the jump on Class 1-A's team of Kaminari, Kirishima, Koda, and Tsu. The only reason Class 1-A seemed to have the upper hand by the end of the chapter was due to Shinso's effort, which revealed a tricky new hero strategy.

It remains to be seen if Class 1-B will truly challenge Class 1-A, but early looks at their rivalry may swing more in Class 1-B's direction this time.

My Hero Academia 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 19 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.