Premiere Date
16-06-2025
The following contains minor spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 7, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
My Hero AcademiaSeason 7 was four episodes shorter than every season since the first, but given the sheer volume of joy and heartbreak conveyed across its 21 episodes, you might not have noticed.It is without a doubt thebiggestseason yet, and after half a year spent drinking in its beautiful artwork and earnest, emotion-drenched script, it is by far thebestas well.
Naomi Nakayama, who previously directed 2016’sOrange, took on the role of series director alongside chief director Kenji Nagasaki, who helmed the show’s first three seasons. She took the captain’s chair at a critical juncture and, by all accounts, she knocked it out of the park, displaying an eye for spectacle early on when she storyboarded the first two episodes.
A Premiere with Barely Time to Waste
Last season, fans were left with a cliffhanger. Tomura Shigaraki would reach full power in three days, and America’s #1 Pro Hero, Star and Stripe, was coming to Japan to help. It was an enticing hook, albeit one that feels like such a minor part of the story in retrospect.By the end of the premiere, Star and Stripe has already been intercepted by Shigaraki, who is hell-bent on stealing her quirk. Season 7 has a strong sense of momentum - as expected of a story so close to the end.
It’s a cleverly constructed battle, and an emotional one at that, leaving neither side as necessarily a winner but buying the heroes enough time to prepare for their final attack. Before one can resign themselves to what feels like an inevitable training arc between battles,the reveal of a traitor at UAshatters that preconception and skyrockets the tension once again. Soon after comes the war that the rest of the season - and the series for that matter - will chronicle.
The Start of My Hero Academia’s Final War
The heroes are split up across the country in a coordinated operation to apprehend the villains one by one. Shoto faces Toya in Kamino Ward, where All Might’s career ended. Endeavor teams up with Hawks against All For One in the skies above the wreckage of Gunga Villa.An all-star team is assembled to defeat Shigarakiat UA Academy, which has been converted to an aerial fortress designed to bring him down. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
It feels like the good guys finally have the advantage for once, and that feels glorious, even if it doesn’t last long. It becomes a tug of war, with unforeseen complications popping up quickly and often, with ripple effects that increasingly affect battles that are happening miles away. Season 7 is incredibly efficient at balancing the larger aims of its narrative with the individual roles that the supporting cast plays in building to those milestones.
How Season 7 Rises Above Its Flaws
Of course, the above is not exactly news. What hooked many people intoMy Hero Academiato begin with was Deku; his despair at being quirkless, his bravery despite that, and his jubilation upon learning he couldstillbecome a hero. Since then, this series has consistently handled the backstories of its larger cast with writing and presentation of equal or even greater quality. So it’s no surprise that viewers are still falling in love with the characters this late in the game.
By that token, it’s business as usual for the anime, but what is less flattering are the commonly cited gripes about the adaptation, which similarly persist here (at least early on). Even with strong narrative momentum, some exposition can feel redundant, and flashbacks, even more so. These are not new problems so much as familiar ones that hamper some genuinely strong storytelling.
All For One, “Extras”, and the Lack of Deku
Across eight years and seven seasons,My Hero Academiahas been a celebration and critiqueof superheroes in equal measure. The flaws of its society have been steadily unmasked through increasingly empathetic villains, challenging the heroes to interrogate their complicity, rise above, and be the heroes they claim to be. All the myriad themes that feed into that core are front and center, as the story wears its heart on its sleeve prouder than ever.
This is a story about societal collapse, and how the mere fear of that robs people of their ability to think of a future.All For One explicitly states this as his goal; he wants to be the all-powerful terror living rent-free in everyone’s heads - to quite literally steal the future. All the while, he rejects Class 1A - the next generation, who represent the very future he wishes to snuff out - labeling them as no more than “extras.”
Yet Season 7’s core lesson is that there are no “extras”, something blindingly apparent as a result of Deku’s relative absence. “Relative” is the key word - he’s still there, still an active member of the conflict, and his eventual rematch against Shigaraki is excellent, but the story consciously and cleverly sidelines him to emphasize everyone else. The idea that “anyone can be a hero” isn’t new to the superhero genre, but this story conveys that message with so much more heart than most.
My Hero Academia Reaches New Heights
Something beautiful happens in the latter half ofSeason 7 - probably around Episode 154. Those aforementioned flaws so commonly cited by this show’s detractors all but seem to vanish as the pace quickens, emotions heighten, and the animation goes even harder than it already had. I found myself compelled to cheer and brought to tears more than any show has in a while.
From the joy of unexpected returning characters to long-awaited showdowns, this season didn’t just match the heights of the previous ones - it exceeded them. As good as the first half is, it’s a little shocking how much higher it climbed week by week.It consistently raised the bar, increasing the stakes while shaking up the formula to avoid becoming exhaustive with such a lengthy battle.
This Show Deserves Praise More than Ever
It’s a phenomenal climax, built on eight years of excellent television that sought to adapt long-running shōnen without filler and without compromising too much on quality. Your mileage may vary on the anime’s consistency, but it can’t be denied that what Studio Bones accomplished with this adaptation is impressive. At a time when the landscape of the shōnen genre is changing, it can’t be understated just how much harder this season hitsbecauseit took eight years to get there.
My Hero AcademiaSeason 7 is a marvelous work of TV anime, the construction and execution of which deserves to be held in justas high regard asJujutsu Kaisen’s Shibuya Incident. It is a testament to Kohei Horikoshi’s writing, Studio Bones' artistry, and shōnen’s timeless appeal, that such an earnest tale can stand above even as superheroes are more saturated than ever. In a year full of great shows, this season alone might warrant an Anime of the Year nomination.
