My Hero Academia Missed Out By Not Giving Us a Timeskip
My Hero Academia is quickly moving toward's its conclusion and the Final War Arc is sparking something of a big debate amongst the My Hero Academia fandom. Basically, the issue that some fans seem to be having with the way that My Hero Academia is approaching its end is that it feels too rushed – not so much in the timing (Kohei Horikoshi has been hard at work on the series since 2014, anyone can understand him wanting to finish), but rather with the how the series has measured out time.
The debate about whether or not My Hero Academia should get a timeskip has been going on since the series first presented its school-related premise. A lot of fans thought that having Izuku Midoriya and Class 1-A start training to be heroes at U.A. high school meant that the series would take one of two paths:
- Either My Hero Academia would explore each new year Deku and Co. went through (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) before they had a final battle with All For One and the League of Villains.
- There would be a timeskip that advanced the progression of the schooling, so we'd get to senior and the "final exam" of war with the kids of Class 1-A older and more developed in their powers.
As it stands, My Hero Academia went with option C: pulling Izuku and his friends out of school in their second year, in order to "graduate" to actual pro-hero service, in the most intense war against villains since the days of All For One's reign over Japan. There are a lot of fans who are having trouble buying into that idea, as it seems far-fetched that (even with special training) the kids we met at the beginning of the series would be war-ready in just two years. More to the point: by largely making the school years aspect of the series obsolete, My Hero Academia squandered the main appeal of its unique setting (a school for superheroes).
The power-leveling issues have become much more prominent since My Hero Academia's final arc saw Shigaraki become the ultimate supervillain; All For One sprung his original body and the worst criminals in Japan from prison; and the most powerful members of the League of Villains (Dabi, Himiko Toga/Twice, Kurogiri) all unleashed their ultimate powers in last-ditch efforts to slay the heroes. Fans have continuously criticized the series for losing the logic of its power-leveling, to the point that few believe Deku (even with all his One For All powers unlocked) has a chance of stopping Shigaraki and/or All For One.
In short: My Hero Academia really did miss an easy opportunity to use the tried-and-true shonen timeskip trope to improve its story and fan response to it. But that doesn't mean there isn't still the opportunity to skip over time in a different way that still helps the series: a My Hero Academia sequel series has been something fans discuss just as regularly, and the right timeskip could make it a truly exciting concept for fans.
My Hero Academia releases new chapters online to read for free.