My Hero Academia Filler Guide: Can Any Episodes Be Skipped?

My Hero Academia takes a very American concept — the superhero — and gives it a shonen anime twist. And surprisingly, it does so with very little filler. 

As of December 2023, My Hero Academia has 138 episodes with almost every episode being manga canon. There are no filler story arcs, either. 

That is an extraordinary lack of filler, especially when you compare it to Naruto or Dragon Ball.  Still, there is some filler hiding amongst the episodes.  

This filler guide can help you catch up with this series before season 7 arrives.

My Hero Academia Basics

Kohei Horikoshi created My Hero Academia (a.k.a. Boku no Hero Academia) in 2014. Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump has published the series since then. So far, Shueisha has released 405 chapters (or 39 tankobon volumes) of the manga.

The anime began in 2016. It has six seasons, with season 7 expected to arrive soon (maybe in 2024?) 

There have also been three MHA anime movies — Two Heroes (2018), Heroes Rising (2019), and World Heroes’ Mission (2021). 

Unlike most superhero stories, the series takes place in a world with a lot of superpowers, or as MHA calls them, “Quirks.”

However, having a Quirk isn’t enough to become a superhero. To become a true hero, you have to go to school, pass exams, train, and eventually get a license.

My Hero Academia Plot

In My Hero Academia, a boy born with no superpowers rises up to become a great superhero-in-training. 

Izuku Midoriya — a.k.a. Deku — gets help from his favorite superhero, the powerful (and hammy) All Might, to acquire a unique superpower which is passed down from one user to the next.

With this power, Deku is able to enter class 1-A of U.A. High School, an academy for aspiring superheroes.

By the end of season 6, the series takes some dark turns, as some superheroes face the consequences of past actions.  

Story Arcs and Filler

The My Hero Academia anime sticks very closely to the manga. This could be because of the pacing. For example, season 1 contained only 13 episodes. The series then paused from June 2016 to April 2017 before continuing. 

1. Entrance Exam Arc (episodes 1-4)
2. Quirk Apprehension Test (episodes 5-6)
3. Battle Trial (6-8)
4. U.S.J. Arc (9-13)
5. U.A. Sports Festival (13.5-20)
   • Note: 13.5 is filler
6. Vs. Hero Killer (26-32)
   • Episode 32 is “anime canon”
7. Final Exams (34-38)
8. Forest Training Camp (39-45)
   • Episode 39 is filler
9. Hideout Raid (46-50)
10. Provisional Hero License Exam (51-62)
    • Episode 58 is filler
11. Shie Hassaikai (62-78)
    • Episode 64 is filler
12. Remedial Course (78-80)
13. U.A. School Festival (81-86)
14. Pro Hero (87-90)
15. Joint Training (91-100)
16. Meta Liberation Army (100, 108-112)
17. Endeavor Agency (101-106)
    • Episode 104 is filler
18. Paranormal Liberation War (107, 113-131)
19. Dark Hero (132-138)

My Hero Academia Filler episodes

• 13.5, Hero Notebook — a recap episode
• 32, Everyone’s Interships — anime canon
• 39, Game Start — a recap
• 58, Special Episode: Save The World with Love! — connected to the Two Heroes movie
• 64, The Scoop on U.A. Class 1-A — a recap
• 104, Long Time, No See, Selkie — Connected to the World Heroes’ Mission movie

OVAs

Most of the OVAs are considered anime canon. Departure is spin-off manga canon.

• Save! Rescue Training (2016)
• Training of the Dead (2017)
• All Might Rising (2019)
• Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training (2020) — at Netflix and Crunchyroll
• Departure (2022) — based on a spin-off prequel to World Heroes’ Mission
• Hero League Baseball (2022) — at Netflix and Crunchyroll
• Laugh! As If You Are in Hell (2022) — at Netflix and Crunchyroll
• U.A. Heroes Battle (2023)

Any good filler?

Although filler is not manga canon, it’s not necessarily bad. If you have time for it, you might want to watch:

• Episode 32 is “anime canon.” The episode expands upon the internships, which are canon (just not shown in the manga). It’s also a Froppy episode, if you’re a fan of her.
• Episode 39 is a recap, but it’s also a pool episode. 
• Episode 58 is linked to Two Heroes, which is anime canon. It features some of All Might’s past.
• Episode 104 is a beach episode.

My Hero Academia movies

None of the movies are manga canon, but they aren’t necessarily filler. In fact, Horikoshi considers them to be canon.

•  Two Heroes (2018) is anime canon. It takes place during a summer break, between episodes 38 and 39.
• Heroes Rising (2019) is not included in the manga. But it could be considered canon. It contains spoilers for the Meta Liberation Army arc.
• World Heroes’ Mission (2021) is manga filler. But it contains spoilers for the Endeavor Agency arc.

Where to Watch My Hero Academia

We have an article on where to watch My Hero Academia. Or, keep reading for a couple options:

1. Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll has the series, the Two Heroes movie, and several of the OVAs.

If you encounter streaming problems in your region, we have an article on how to fix some issues. 

You may need a good VPN, such as Surfshark, to stream content on Crunchyroll.

2. Netflix (Singapore)

Netflix Singapore has the series, all three movies, and several of the OVAs. 

Confusingly, Netflix lists the OVAs as regular episodes. Unfortunately, this messes up the normal episode numbers. Episode 104 is listed as 108.

Also, Netflix skips filler episode 13.5. This would be fine, except 14 becomes 15.

You can find Two Heroes here.  Heroes Rising is available here. And World Heroes’ Mission is here.

(Note: Ad-supported Netflix plans may run into problems.)

How to Watch My Hero Academia Anywhere in the World

This method works on both desktop PCs and mobile phones or tablets.

1. Purchase (or start a free trial) of a VPN. I can confirm that Surfshark works for this purpose.
2. In the settings, choose Singapore as your location.
3. Fire up the VPN and wait for it to do its magic
4. Once you’re connected, navigate to Netflix (browser or app)
5. Search “My Hero Academia” in the Netflix search bar and you should see the anime pop up.

Enjoy! Please note that if your Netflix library doesn’t update to reflect the country you selected in your VPN, you may have to clear the Netflix cache first and try again.

To do this on mobile, go to settings -> apps -> Netflix -> clear cache. To do this on PC, you have to clear the cache in your web browser.

I’ve had no trouble using this method and I still use VPNs to watch anime from various Netflix country libraries daily.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this guide to My Hero Academia.

Personally, I think the series is one of the better shonen series available right now. With this guide, and a good VPN, you should be able to watch MHA anywhere on Earth.