5th Worst: Entrance Exam Arc (Episodes 1-4)
We’re sorry—this is honestly low-hanging fruit, but My Hero Academia’s opening episodes do very little to sell its premise. A colorful and whacky society of super-powered people and a (quite frankly) annoying, whingeing main character? Compared to the opening episodes of other shonen series—Jujutsu Kaisen, Fairy Tail, or even something as old as Bleach—Deku doesn’t inspire confidence. Sure, once you push past the first four episodes things get more interesting, but “trust me, it gets better” isn’t a selling point.
4th Worst: Final Exams Arc (Episodes 34-38)
The only reason this arc isn’t higher up the list is because of the ending episodes with Tomura Shigaraki—his intense creepiness and the way he acts like a “fan” of Deku’s is perfectly on-brand and expertly directed. Everything else about this arc is simply a large amount of color and noise that exists to oblige the ‘school’ part of My Hero Academia’s premise. Also, this arc involves far too much Mineta for our liking (and by ‘too much,’ we mean literally any presence at all).
3rd Worst: Joint Training Arc (Episodes 91-100)
For a show all about characters with unique powers, you’d think that the tournament-style arcs would be some of the better ones—but alas, the Joint Training arc takes the unwanted bronze medal for the worst story arc in My Hero Academia. Maybe it’s just us, but the bland environment and repetitive battles tired us out, and the introduction of Deku’s Blackwhip power could’ve been handled better.
At the time, we groaned, thinking that Deku would simply unlock these new powers in a deus ex machina-styled approach, whenever the plot required he “level up” in a critical moment. Thankfully Season 6 dispelled our fears, but there’s little to redeem this arc except for the additional lore regarding One For All.
2nd Worst: Remedial Course Arc (Episodes 78-80)
The Remedial Course Arc is 60 minutes of our life we’re never getting back. Ostensibly a comedic break in between two darker arcs, the entire premise seems flawed—Todoroki and Bakugo’s exam failures can be redeemed by babysitting some kids? What type of licensing system is this?! At least we get a “proper” discussion between All Might and Endeavour, but we could’ve easily done without these three episodes.
It’s a shame that, once again, My Hero Academia seems to stumble on the ‘academia’ part of the premise. At the very least, it’s only three episodes, and they’re all perfectly skippable during your next rewatch…
The Worst Arc: U.A. Sports Festival Arc (Episodes 14-25)
Taking the ignoble prize of the worst story arc in My Hero Academia is the U.A. Sports Festival Arc. Maybe we’re being a little unfair by calling out most of the school-based arcs, but the sports festival was so utterly forgettable we had to read the entire wiki page just to refresh ourselves on what even happens!
So early on in My Hero Academia, with so many competing personalities on the screen, it’s difficult to know who to pay attention to—and the sports festival arc only complicates matters by bringing in other classes that barely get any screen time afterward. The premise itself is fine, but the execution is flawed—an overwhelmingly loud mix of pretend battles, real battles, and rough-around-the-edges personalities that haven’t yet settled into the characters we know and love.
My Hero Academia is at its best when it examines the nature of its own world-building—Quirks, birthrights, and the shape of the world. It’s never been yet-another-magic-school show, and the arcs where it attempts to follow that basic blueprint are—at least in our opinion—the weakest.
© Kohei Horikoshi / SHUEISHA, “My Hero Academia” Production Committee
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