Why My Hero Academia Needs A Time Skip

My Hero Academia latest “Paranormal Liberation War” arc has revealed some major developments that have immediately changed the entire course of the series. The latest manga chapters have seen the pro heroes and Class 1-A students in an all-out war with the League of Villains’ new army, the Paranormal Liberation Front. The villain’s leader, Tomura Shigaraki has undergone an enhancement process that has transformed into the most nightmarishly powerful villain ever, and a lot of major characters’ lives are on the line. The Paranormal Liberation War definitely feels the end of one volume of My Hero Academia; and the series needs a big time skip afterward.

My Hero Academia: What Is The “Paranormal Liberation War”?

The current story arc in My Hero Academia is the “Paranormal Liberation War”. The name of the storyline comes from the team-up of the League of Villains and the Meta Liberation Front, with the latter being a group of radicalized and highly militarized quirk users, who follow the works of Destro, a revolutionary who felt that legal restrictions of quirk use went against the natural order of things. League of Villains leader Tomura Shigaraki fought Destro’s son Re-Destro for the mantle of leadership, and won that fight. Under Shigaraki, the two groups merged into the “Paranormal Liberation Front” with the goal of launching the biggest coordinated villain attack that Japan has ever seen. The Pro Heroes countered by an embedding a spy (Hawks) within the Paranormal Liberation Front, and launching their own surprise counterattack against the villain army. 

My Hero Academia’s New Big Bad

If fighting an entire villain army wasn’t enough of a threat, My Hero Academia has revealed a  game-changing power-up for its central villain: Tomura Shigaraki. All For One and his mad scientist disciple Dr. Ujiko put Shigaraki through an intense power-up process, which has completely transformed the psychotic young man. Shigaraki now has a boosted disintegration quirk; All Might’s strength and durability; and the original All For One quirk, along with all the stolen quirks that come with it. In short, Tomura Shigaraki is now the most god-like being in My Hero Academia’s history. The question of how the heroes can even defeat him looms large, but even if they do, with the level of power Tomura Shigaraki has achieved now, the entire world of My Hero Academia is going to be changed. 

My Hero Academia’s Villains Are All Powering Up

Aside from Shigaraki, the villains’ Nomu monsters have also been upgraded. Dr. Ujiko has produced High-End Intelligent Nomu that have nearly unbeatable regeneration powers and multiple quirks, with cunning and strategic conscious minds, to boot. There’s even a class of “Near-High-End Nomu” that are just as powerful physically but mentally are totally under Shigaraki’s control. All For One’s giant pet monster, Gigantomachia, is also Shigaraki’s to command. Even the League of Villains members like Twice, Toga, and Dabi have call cut loose and unleashed more destruction/murder/mayhem than ever before. The villains have gotten scary real, and they aren’t playing around anymore. All of Japan is now under threat and the heroes will have to evolve to keep pace. 

Major Heroes Are (Likely) Going To Die

As My Hero Academia has moved into its Paranormal Liberation War arc, there have been death flags planted around any number of major hero characters in the series. As of writing this, All Might, Eraserhead, Endeavor, Hawks, and even Bakugo currently seem to have their heads on the chopping block – and quite a few pro hero characters have already been killed or maimed in the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front. By the time this war is over, the survivors are going to be stepping into a whole new era of My Hero Academia. 

The Old Story is Ending

My Hero Academia‘s Paranormal Liberation War arc is pretty much the climax of everything this first volume of the series has been building toward. Shigaraki is taking over the mantle of evil leadership from his master, All For One, and the kids of Class 1-A are getting exposed to horrific events that will change them forever, going forward. As the younger generation officially steps into their time to lead the way, and old heroes die off or are forced to retire, My Hero Academia needs to take a solid break, in order to properly set-up the next chapter of the story. 

A New Kind of Hero

My Hero Academia’s story of young heroes in training has been great, but as stated, the war has changed everything about that story, and the kids in it. Even if things turn out very well for the heroes (which it won’t), the rapidly evolving danger of the villains, and the stresses they put on the current quirk-based society, will require some kind of equal change from the pro hero world. For the kids of Class 1-A that’s going to mean growing up real fast and dealing with some potentially devastating losses, in order to become the next wave of heroes willing to protect a world that’s now more dangerous than ever. 

Time Skip: New Story For A New Era

After the war is over, and a new status quo takes hold, My Hero Academia needs a time skip. A passage of time will let series creator Kōhei Horikoshi truly rebuild his world and the rules governing it, from a “fresh start” perspective. That approach creates instant intrigue about how the quirk-based society has changed, and how the surviving heroes and villains have all had their lives reshuffled as a result. We would potentially get some major new character designs for an older Izuku Midroiya, Bakugo, Todoroki and other Class 1-A kids; not to mention, upgraded forms of their powers. Meanwhile, depending on circumstances, the villains could be rebuilding from the shadows in different ways – or could be in control of society, with heroes now operating as outlaws in a corrupted society. 

This change isn’t just for narrative purposes, either. Horikoshi and the My Hero Academia fandom never saw the year 2020 playing out the way it did. The series’ themes about the young generation coming of age and the values they inherit has taken a radical turn. The entire idea of authority and heroism has morphed almost overnight – and series like My Hero Academia, which revel in the symbols and myths of heroic figures, are going to have to grapple the hardest with that new thematic weight. If nothing else, My Hero Academia needs a time skip simply to recognize that the series has been operating by old-world standards – and will continue forward on a different foot, in the very changed world that we (hopefully) arrive in, sooner before later. 

My Hero Academia is in production on season 5 of the anime. Online chapters of the manga can be found HERE.