My Hero Academia Should’ve Been Monthly Instead of Weekly

As My Hero Academia‘s Final War Arc unfolds in the manga, it’s been undeniable that a growing chorus of fans don’t feel like the climactic battle of the series is being handled in the right way. My Hero Academia chat threads are being filled with criticisms of the series’ pacing, its fractured focus, and plot threads that look like they’re in danger of being left dangling. 

Well, a lot of My Hero Academia‘s problems landing the ending can be attributed to one thing: the demands of filling a weekly release date of manga chapters. 

My Hero Academia has no doubt gained a lot of popularity in part because it was one of the big Shonen Jump series delivering weekly content to fans. However, typically the creative demands of the series match the pace of release: artwork that is less detailed, able to be finished on a weekly schedule by a mangaka and a small team. Works that are more complex with action and detailed in design (Attack On Titan, Dragon Ball) require a different time commitment and come structured like full-length comics instead of weekly comic strips. 

At first, it seemed like My Hero Academia was perfectly suited for weekly release. The story of Izuku Midoriya training and learning to be a hero was easy to digest in weekly bites, and the action quotient was mild enough to look good at that level. So it must be said that My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi delivered in those early days – and delivered well. 

However, series evolve and change as they go along – and that has certainly been the case for My Hero Academia. Unfortunately, that evolution has clearly been at odds with the format of the manga. 

It’s been documented that Horikoshi has started to experience burnout in these latest years of making My Hero Academia – both in his personal state, and the conspicuous delays in the weekly release schedule that seem to come with increasing frequency. More than that though, fans have noted that My Hero Academia doesn’t seem to feel like it’s being delivered as a cohesive vision – more like the demands of the pace have overtaken the ability to properly plot and plan the story and character arcs on a deep enough level. 

Had My Hero Academia become a monthly release, Horikoshi would’ve had a lot more time and energy to plan out each stage of Izuku Midoriya’s character evolution; all the necessary story arcs and connections for the large ensemble of supporting characters; and most importantly, ample time to illustrate better action and battle sequences as these superpowered characters inevitably raised their power levels for the final showdown. As it stands, My Hero Academia looks like it will have its anime series inevitably overshadow the manga, for exactly these reasons. 

Are you enjoying My Hero Academia‘s final manga arcs? You can read the series free online.