Summary
Seven seasons strong, with an eighth and final on the way,My Hero Academia’s road has been a long one, paved with some incredible storytelling and unforgettable characters, all with very little filler along the way. However, apart from the anime-original films that have graced theaters around the globe,Studio Bones has also produced severalOVAs throughout the series' run, some of which have never been available to stream.
Since the anime began in Spring 2016, there have been eight OVAs (Original Video Animations) produced by Studio Bones, either as extensions of the TV anime or tie-ins to the theatrical films. At times, they’ve been adaptations of supplementary material, but a lot of the time, they’ve been completely original stories that play around with some fun ideas and thrive on character interactions.
The Anime’s First-Ever OVAs
Save! Rescue Training!
It’s a weird sensation watching the first-everMy Hero AcademiaOVA because it magnifies how much the show has changed, in ways both nostalgic and a bit sobering. On one hand, it’s cute seeing the students of Class 1-A back when they were still getting to know each other. On the other hand, though,that means reliving characters like Bakugoand Mineta at their most irritating.
Set after the incident at the end of Season 1, “Save! Rescue Training!” follows Class 1-A resuming their training at the simulation facility to make up for their previous session being interrupted. Unfortunately, the OVA feels like a cheaper version of concepts that would later appear in the main story, such as the class learning the importance of how to deal with civilians during a rescue. There’s not enough here to justify hunting down the OVA for a watch.
VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED
Training of the Dead!
The very start of this OVA adapts a bonus chapterthat explores Tsuyu’s family backgroundand her friendship with Habuko Mongoose, a girl with a snake-like appearance. It’s adorable and sets up a completely original story wherein Class 1-A participates in a survival exercise alongside students from Isamu Academy, where Habuko goes. Things take a turn when one of Isamu’s students activates a quirk that turns people into zombies.
After an underwhelming OVA beforehand, this one was quite fun. The team behind the movieMy Hero Academia: Two Heroesramped up the comedy for this episode thanks to creative quirks on behalf of new heroes and just solid character interactions across the board.It felt like an episode ofAngel Beatsor some other classic comedy with moments of chaotic absurdity.
Short and Sweet or Long and Boring
All Might Rising
There’s not much to be said about “All Might Rising” and that’s because it’s short - like, under three minutes short. It’s based on a one-shot that was handed out to viewers who went to seeTwo Heroes, and frankly, if it had to be animated, it should have just been tacked on to the intro of the movie in the first place. It briefly recounts All Might’s journey from the moment he lost his master to when he left for America to get stronger. Powerful imagery, but otherwise nothing that couldn’t already be inferred.
VERDICT: NOT ESSENTIAL
Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training
Sometimes, in modern shōnen, fans disparage the slower parts of a story as “filler” without consideringif what perturbs them isactuallyfiller. “Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training” is whatMy Hero Academia’s haters think the regular show is like. Similar to “Save! Rescue Training!”, it feels sort of pointless because it’s just a precursor to another similar arc in the main story. Worse than that, it feels like the writing and the performances completely phone it in.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect this was made as a supplementary work to introduce these characters to new viewers who couldn’t be bothered to watch previous seasons before jumping in. As it happens,this two-part OVA is based ona drama skit performed live in 2018. It just ends up feeling drawn out and any traces of clever ideas are few and far between an otherwise unimpressive story.
Departure
Similar to “All Might Rising”, this one is short, but it’s honestly worth every second for how great it looks, with Animator Yuki Hayashi stealing the show. His use of perspective and his playful warping of the character designs yield some extremely entertaining comedy. It’s a short comedy sketch that is overflowing with great animation and goes to show what a strong talent Hayashi is (See for yourself).
The Baseball Episode That Wasn’t, and Other Oddities
HLB - Hero League Baseball
It’s a baseball episode, folks, and similar to a beach episode, there are only two types of people: those who love them and those who will skip them. Personally, I loved it. The narrative is exactly what one should expect, but the animation is on point, and it’s refreshing to see an OVA where none of the main characters star in it, which brings out the best in the supporting cast.
VERDICT: IT’S A BASEBALL EPISODE (DO WITH THAT WHAT YOU WILL)
Laugh! As If You Are in Hell
Conceptually, this might be the most interesting OVA yet. A mysterious villain is vandalizing property but no one can apprehend him because his quirk causes a paralyzing fit of laughter. What drives the heroes to intensify their hunt is nothing but petty revenge. A low-stakes story for sure, but a cute one nonetheless, that experiments with some creative action concepts,like Bakugo fighting while blindfolded.
VERDICT: RECOMMENDED
UA Heroes Battle
When the students find themselves sequestered in their dorms during Winter Break, Togata arrives with a new invention from the Support Course: a card game based around the Hero Course students. By placing a character’s card down, the game board creates a virtual battle. This might have produced some cool “what if” fights had it not been for each student having those obnoxious bug eyes inside the game. There are interesting ideas, but they’re surrounded by lackluster comedy and a premise that can’t quite carry a full episode.
With that,My Hero Academia’s OVAs are generally more good than bad, but they never go as far as they could and arguably should.Contrary to the movies, where Studio Boneslets loose and experiments with crazy spectacle and original ideas, these bonus episodes and shorts fall short of their potential to expand on and elevate the work of the series. Even so, it would be nice to see Bones continue to produce OVAs, even after the anime is finished.
