My Hero Academia Final Season might not animate chapter 431 in the main series

The My Hero Academia Final Season is almost over, and there's a crazy development that's got the fanbase all riled up. It looks like Bones, the studio, may not include Chapter 431, which is called "More," in the main show as part of its finale. Instead, they could choose to release it as an OVA (Original Video Animation) that would be exclusive to that release and not part of the Episode 11 airing.

Chapter 431 was released on December 4th, 2023, roughly four months after Chapter 430 was released in August 2023. At that point, the way in which the final season of My Hero Academia would be released had already been set, and so including an extra chapter would have been disruptive to the way that Studio Bones had envisioned producing the season.

All of this has caused fans to speculate as to how Studio Bones is planning on adapting this late-arriving chapter into their plans. Given that they had mapped out what all of the episodes would be months in advance, and trying to add a last-minute chapter could cause issues with the scheduling of the production. This could explain why Chapter 431 will either be a bonus OVA or a stand-alone episode rather than an episode of the show.

Episode Pacing Analysis of My Hero Academia Final Season

The My Hero Academia Final Season kept a consistent pace for its adaptation throughout the whole season. During episode 9, they went through 3 chapters (424-426), setting up expectations for how to complete the remaining episodes.

Under this show's pacing, both Chapter 430 and Chapter 431 would be available for the series's last episode. Chapter 431 spans 38 pages, which is much longer than a typical manga chapter. So Chapter 430 will have 17 pages, and that puts both Chapters 430 and 431 at a combined total of 55 pages for both chapters in one episode of My Hero Academia Final Season.

Although the previous episodes of the series have been able to accommodate similar page amounts, there is still concern about how rushed it might feel without an extended runtime.

Arguments Against and For OVA Theory

Several factors support the theory that the My Hero Academia Final Season will save Chapter 431 for an OVA. The epilogue falls eight years after everything ended in the main story; it feels different than Chapter 430, which was set right after the events of the end of the manga.

Studio Bones has confirmed they are making an OVA. If Chapter 431 is the OVA content, that would give them more story than just four pages of Eri's bonus chapter. Plus, from a marketing perspective, fans who buy the home video will have access to the entire ending that no one else has.

Many people believe the My Hero Academia Final Season must include Chapter 431 in Episode 11. This chapter is the true ending of the manga and shows all the characters grow up, and when Deku goes back to being a hero. If the anime ends on Chapter 430, it will leave a lot of fans feeling like they don't have the full story.

Studio Bones is showing signs that they want to adapt all of this material. For example, a Redditor said they saw production paperwork at the studio with a document labeled "More," which is the title of Chapter 431, so that indicates that they were planning to animate this all along.

The Eri Oneshot Wildcard

One thing that could make predicting how My Hero Academia Final Season ends more difficult is a four-page bonus oneshot that Horikoshi drew, featuring Eri, and published in an art book. This has led some to believe that the oneshot might actually become the OVA. This leads to the conclusion that Chapter 431 would be used for the main series.

Trending

However, four pages are insufficient to create a full OVA episode, and after it has been created, Studio Bones would still have to create enough original content to ensure that the episode would meet the length requirement for a standard OVA. In this circumstance, it is less probable than if the longer Chapter 431 were used as bonus content or both Chapter 431 and the Four-Page Story for Episode 11 with extended length added.

The ongoing discussion about the My Hero Academia Final Season, particularly related to Chapter 431, shows the difficulty of adapting a living and ever-evolving manga series. Evidence has been provided by the production team that Chapter 431 will be adapted sometime in the future, but no firm date has yet been announced for when Chapter 431 may be animated and released.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback