My Hero Academia: All OVAs, reviewed

Important takeaways

• My Hero Academia has eight OVAs and they are mostly good.
• “Training of the Dead” may be the funniest thing to come out of the anime, and “Departure” amazes despite its short runtime.
• Overall, the OVAs are fun but rarely reach their full potential.

Seven seasons strong, with an eighth and final one on the way, My Hero AcademiaThe road has been long, lined with some incredible storytelling and unforgettable characters, all with very little filler along the way. But aside from the anime originals that have graced theaters around the world, Studio Bones has also produced several OVAs throughout the series' run, some of which have never been available for streaming.

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. Sometimes they've been adaptations of supplementary material, but many times they've been completely original stories that play with fun ideas and thrive on character interactions.

Anime's first ever OVA

Save! Rescue training!

It's a strange feeling to see the first one ever My Hero Academia OVA because it magnifies how much the show has changed, in both a nostalgic and somewhat sober way. On the one hand, it's cute to see the students in Class 1-A when they were still getting to know each other. On the other hand, though, it means reliving characters like Bakugo and Mineta at their most annoying.

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 cheapened version of concepts that would later appear in the main story, such as the class learning the importance of dealing with civilians under a save There isn't enough here to justify hunting down the OVA for a watch.

VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED

Training of the dead!

The very beginning of this OVA adapts a bonus chapter that explores Tsuyu's family background and her friendship with Habuko Mongoose, a girl with a snake-like appearance. It's adorable and creates a completely original story where Class 1-A participates in a survival exercise with students from Isamu Academy, where Habuko attends. 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 pretty fun. The team behind the film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes upped the comedy for this episode thanks to creative quirks on behalf of new heroes and just solid character interaction across the board. It felt like an episode of Angel Beats or any other classic comedy with moments of chaotic absurdity.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Short and sweet or long and boring

All Might Rising

There isn't much to say about “All Might Rising” and that's because it's short – like under three minutes short. It is based on a one-shot that was distributed to viewers who went to see Two heroesand honestly, if it had to be animated, it should have just been attached to the movie's intro in the first place. It briefly tells All Might's journey from the moment he lost his champion until he traveled to America to become stronger. Powerful imagery, but otherwise nothing that could not already be inferred.

VERDICT: NOT IMPORTANT

Do it! Do-or-die survival training

Sometimes, in modern shōnen, fans disparage the slower parts of a story as “filler” without considering whether what bothers them is actually filler. “Do it! Do-or-die survival training” is what My Hero Academias haters think the regular show is like. Similar to “Save! Rescue Training!”, it kind of feels pointless because it's just a precursor to another similar arc in the main story. Worse, it feels like the writing and performances completely dial it in.

If I didn't know better, I'd suspect this was done as a supplemental effort 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 on a drama skit that was performed live in 2018. It just ends up feeling drawn out and any traces of clever ideas are few and far between in an otherwise unimpressive story.

VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED

Departure

Like “All Might Rising,” this one is short, but it's honestly worth every second for how good it looks, with animator Yuki Hayashi stealing the show. His use of perspective and his playful distortion of the character designs make for an extremely entertaining comedy. It's a short comedy sketch that overflows with amazing animation and shows what a strong talent Hayashi is (See for yourself).

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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 kinds of people: those who love them and those who skip them. Personally, I loved it. The story is exactly what you'd expect, but the animation is on point, and it's refreshing to see an OVA where none of the main characters star in it, bringing out the best in the supporting cast.

VERDICT: IT'S A BASEBALL EPISODE (DO WITH IT WHAT YOU WILL)

Laugh! Like you're in hell

Conceptually, this might be the most interesting OVA to date. A mysterious villain vandalizes property but no one can apprehend him because his quirk causes a paralyzing laugh. What drives the heroes to intensify their hunt is nothing more than petty revenge. A low-stakes story to be sure, but a sweet one, experimenting with some creative action concepts, like Bakugo fighting blindfolded.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

UA Heroes Battle

As the students find themselves in their dorms during winter break, Togata comes up with a new invention from the Support Course: a card game based on the Hero Course students. By laying down a character's cards, the board creates a virtual battle. This might have made for some cool “what if” fights if it wasn't for every student having those nasty bug eyes in the game. There are interesting ideas, but they're surrounded by lackluster comedy and a premise that can't quite carry an entire episode.

VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED

With that, My Hero AcademiaOVAs are generally more good than bad, but they never go as far as they could and arguably should. Unlike the movies, where Studio Bones lets loose and experiments with crazy spectacle and original ideas, these bonus episodes and shorts lack their potential to expand and elevate the series' work. Even so, it would be nice to see Bones continue to produce OVAs, even after the anime ends.

My Hero Academia now streaming on Crunchyroll.