Two New Animated Specials for My Hero Academia

The wait for a new “My Hero Academia” content is over as the series has received a two-episode special this past June 16-19. It will be streamed online this summer, although no specific date has been announced and it’s unclear where the episodes will be streamed just ahead of its sixth season, however, one can asssume the episodes will be streamed on Crunchyroll.

According to a famous Japanese news blog Ryokutya 2089, fans of the series will be getting 2 new OVAs (Original Video Animation). Originally announced as a home video release, both of these OVAs will be released in Japanese theatres. An international release for both specials has yet to be confirmed.

Before delving into new episodes or seasons, let us do a quick recap of what happened in season 5 to set us up for the next season. Currently, in this season, Horikoshi is telling the “Final Arc” of the series, setting the heroes of UA Academy against the full forces of All For One, Shigaraki, and the League of Villains. As the heroes return and get ready to change the world, their next step may just as well be to protect the peace. 

In addition to the specials, the fifth season ended with a post-credit scene showing Class 1-A looking out towards a city full of supervillains. We know that the new season will focus on adapting the Paranormal Liberation “War Arc”, which will see Japan’s pro-heroes engaging in an all-out war with the country’s heroes and supervillains; it will have consequences and casualties for Class 1-A and the Pro-Heroes of the world. 

The finale marked MHA’s long-awaited return to the heroes and it did not disappoint as the episode showed all of the characters at their best. The series has been turning to a darker tone preparing for the future. With season five’s post-credit scene solidifying the color shift, fans have been left in suspense since September of last year, leaving without any new content and wondering what will happen next for the young heroes. 

The First Special 

The first OVA titled “HLB” will feature a story about a baseball match between the pro hero teams. Leading the said teams will be Gang Orca, a pro-hero and one of Japan’s top ten heroes, and Shishido the Lion Hero for Orcas and Lionels, where both UA students and heroes will take part in the said game. The special is expected to be released overseas sometime in June or the summer of this year.  Plot details and release date for the second episode are yet to be announced. 

The official Twitter account of My Hero Academia released a subtle promotional visual appearing to be a baseball illustration. Released by the anime team, it’s a story branching off a special April Fool’s Day visual. The visual art, released back on April 1, 2022, showed the students of Class 1-A playing baseball. Four teams were shown in the visual – namely the Orcas, the Shishido Agency Lionels, Mt. Lady’s Mountains, and the Fat Gum Agency Fats. Jiro will be playing with Gang Orca, Fatgum, Shoji, Amajiki, and Kirishima donning blue uniforms. The other team playing orange will have Mount Lady, Mineta, Sadou, Ojiro, Kaminari, and more. 

The Gang Orca-led Orcas and the Shishido-led Lionels are vying for the top; and as both teams are determined to win, they call upon the students at U.A. for support. Kyoka Jiro and Denki Kaminari, members of Class 1-A were also shown playing in the new league. The team players are allowed to use their Quirks in the upcoming game, although some heroes’ abilities such as Jiro’s don’t seem to be particularly useful. For those who do not know, Jiro has super-sensitive hearing and can target attacks by using sound waves. Now, fans will have to wait and see how they use their abilities to good use. 

The illustration imagined the heroes taking part in “Hero League Baseball” as baseball players as if it was a sports anime.

The Second Special 

As we know, details regarding the second special have not been released yet, but fans can assume it won’t be long after the first episode has aired; and as OVAs are stories that are not adapted from the manga, it may be likely that these special episodes will be lighthearted, following the previous OVAs of My Hero Academia. 

Apparently, according to some, there are promises to “expand the world of UA Academy” which could include focusing on Class 1-B, or more various ways as they did in the past season. It could also be expected to tell a little bit more about the background of the school, which some characters in the works are not aware of. 

With the anime currently working on the return of the highly anticipated Season 6 later this fall, there are also very few details given about what to expect from the new season but The Weekly Shonen Jump magazine teased a more specific date of release on the cover, October 2022. MHA will likely reveal more footage around August or September 2022.

According to MHA’s fandom and promo material used for the sixth season, this arc continues after the U.A students return from winter break. It is also focused on the upcoming battle showdown between Deku and Shigaraki, who received a power boost near the end of the season, and Deku still trying to get control of his Blackwhip ability with trouble never far behind. The pros, unfortunately, аre still trying to аttempt to extrаct informаtion from Kurogiri аnd resolve the mysteries surrounding the Nomus; but аs they leаrn more, it becomes а personаl trаgedy for two of our fаvorites in pаrticulаr. The fans are curious as to how it will tie-up with the upcoming season.

What’s going to be most notable about My Hero Academia Season 6 is that all of the changes will begin in this season. The tonal shift began in the last season continuing with the next. Deku’s appearance will change to reflect the new mood in the season, from his old silly costume turning more dangerous as episodes go by. 

It also appears that fans will be given a short break from the intense battle between MHA’s heroes and villains from Season five’s cliffhanger and in addition to the specials, according to leaks, season 6 will be released in October or November 2022. Attendees at this year’s HeroFes convention will be the first ones to see a special screening of the first episode of the newest season before anyone else can see it. 

Takeaway

Without a doubt, My Hero Academia is one of the most popular anime franchises out there right now. As the fastest-growing manga series today, MHA has been on the NY Times chart for over five years. Both anime and manga are reported to gain popularity worldwide with greater availability being screened on Netflix. 

Much as what we know from the upcoming specials, the same can be said for the upcoming sixth season of MHA. While the anime still has plenty of material left, Horikoshi’s original manga is well into the final story arc, and as he confirmed at the Jump Festa, we will get the conclusion of the superhero series sometime before the 2022 will end. As days go by though, new clues and information have been coming out, guiding us finally to the end of the manga, something fans are dreading to arrive due to nostalgia. But fans are also crossing their fingers that the students of Class 1-A will return for a sequel series similar to Naruto and Naruto Next Generations.