15 Essential 'My Hero Academia' Episodes To Watch, Ranked

With My Hero Academia now complete, it's a great time for newcomers to jump in and for longtime fans to revisit the series' best episodes. When it comes to traversing the catalog of My Hero Academia's wonderful episodes, some certainly stand out among the others.

There are definitely some essential episodes to check out that will be beneficial for getting maximum enjoyment out of My Hero Academia. These episodes are simply amazing to watch. Who doesn't love watching the essentials, and how can people not get excited about one of the coolest action anime?

15 "Tenko Shimura: Origin"

Season 5, Episode 23 (2021)

The backstory of one of the primary antagonists, Shigaraki (Kōki Uchiyama and Eric Vale), aka Tenko Shimura, is an incredibly dark one. It really is heartbreaking, dark, and disturbing, but also vital to helping the audience understand him better and be more compelled by him, despite being a villain in the anime. This is especially important, given the fact that Deku (Daiki Yamashita and Justin Briner), Izuku Midoriya, is dedicated to saving the good person that he knows lies within Shigaraki. The audience needs to see that potential in the villain.

"Tenko Shimura: Origin" is vital for exactly this reason. Being able to understand the villain of what they're watching is essential for an audience to connect with said villain, making them more compelling to watch, rather than being just mustache-twirling and empty.

14 "His Start"

Season 4, Episode 25 (2020)

If anything was clear at the end of Season 7, it's that the Todoroki family is going to go through the wringer. After Dabi (Hiro Shimono and Jason Liebrecht), Toya Todoroki, exposed Endeavor (Tetsu Inada and Patrick Seitz), Enji Todoroki, for the abuse he inflicted on his children as they were growing up, the two have been on a burning path towards each other. Endeavor, however, has gone through a massive character arc that will change how he approaches his eldest son this time around.

In My Hero Academia Season 4, Episode 25, the father's character arc towards being a better man comes out in full force. When he's faced with the High-End Nomu called Hood (Tsuguo Mogami and Daman Mills), he gets close to death, and it causes him to really look inward. He claims that this fight, his burning Hood to shreds, would represent the torching of his past self. If he was going to get out of this fight, he was going to come out a better man, who was going to actually try as a father. The way Endeavor is going to go against Dabi is going to be far different from the past, and this episode is a huge explanation as to why.

13 "Start Line"

Season 1, Episode 4 (2016)

One of the most important moments in My Hero Academia is the one in which Izuku finally gets what he's wanted for so long: being accepted into U.A. High School. "Start Line" is one of the earliest and greatest examples of the greatest character trait of the young hero: his seemingly endless willpower and determination.

Despite not being able to use his quirk yet, he manages to push his way through the try-outs for U.A. and finally finds himself being accepted into the school. However, it's made very clear, as well, that this isn't going to be easy for him, and sets up the conflicts to come in the future, as he now has a whole new challenge to face. It also marks the first time he accomplishes a Detroit Smash.

12 "A Chain of Events, Across the Ages"

Season 7, Episode 13 (2024)

"A Chain of Events, Across the Ages" is one of the most important episodes heading into the series’ endgame. If any episode perfectly describes and showcases exactly the themes, messages, and important concepts to know before the final season. Not to mention, this is easily one of the coolest fights in the series, and …Deku pulls off one of his strongest feats in the entire series: Detroit Smash: Quintuple.

The episode, beginning with the young hero losing his cool after seeing all the destruction caused by his absence—Bakugo, especially—serves as a great character moment for the protagonist, reflecting the time he lost his cool in the previous war, which almost killed him. This time, however, with the help of Lemillion (Tarusuke Shingaki and Ricco Fajardo), Mirio Togata, he overcomes his emotions and unlocks an entirely new form that he utilizes in his fight.

11 "Shoto Todoroki: Origin"

Season 2, Episode 10 (2017)

"Shoto Todoroki: Origin" isn't just one of the best episodes in the series, but it's an absolutely vital one for the character arc of Shoto Todoroki (Yūki Kaji and David Matranga). After one and a half seasons of teasing and lightly touching on what truly ailed Shoto Todoroki—keeping him from using his fire—it was when he would go against Deku in the UA Sports Festival in this episode that things would really start to change for him.

This episode changed the life of Todoroki forever, and as his story builds toward the series' final arc, facing the sins of his father that got him where he is in the first place, watching the place where things started to really change for him is certainly essential. The balance that he has found within himself, mentally and physically (thanks to his new Flashfire Fist: Phosphor ability fully combining his ice and fire sides), was essential to getting him through Season 8's final conflict. He wouldn't have been able to find that balance if he hadn't opened himself up to his fire side in this episode, though, thanks to Deku.

10 "Dabi's Dance"

Season 6, Episode 11 (2022)

If there's a My Hero Academia episode that truly took over the internet—the world—in recent years, it's Season 6's "Dabi's Dance." "Why?" one may ask. It's because this episode reveals one of the wildest plot twists in the entire series. It was a fan theory for quite some time, but this episode fully revealed it and blew the world away: Dabi is, in fact, the son of Endeavor, and, on top of that, he exposes him to the world for his abuse.

An episode like this feels natural to look back on and see where things really began to take a turn for them. It was this episode that truly set their final arc as a family into motion, so it only makes sense to revisit it before a viewer reaches the end of the story. The reveal is chilling, jaw-dropping, and epic — everything needed for a good twist.

9 "Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2"

Season 3, Episode 23 (2018)

The rivalry and subsequent brotherhood that comes from Deku and Katsuki Bakugo's (Nobuhiko Okamoto and Clifford Chapin) relationship is an absolute cornerstone of the heart of the show. Built upon a long-running resentment from Bakugo and a just as long-running admiration from Deku, the conflict between these two built and built until just after Bakugo was rescued and All Might lost his powers, where they would fight without teacher supervision. This battle didn't turn out as either of them had expected, though.

This episode may very well be one of the most important Bakugo-centric episodes in the entire series. This is the full-circle moment for the first half of his character arc for the series, and marked a whole new era for his growth as a character. At the end of the battle, he comes clean about the guilt he feels, thinking he was responsible for what happened to the former number one hero. This is a gigantic part of his arc, and it also did a lot to give Deku a look into his friend's psychology.

8 "One for All"

Season 3, Episode 11 (2018)

Starting the series as the world's number one hero and the absolute pillar of justice, All Might (Kenta Miyake and Christopher R. Sabat) was seen as extremely powerful. However, this quickly changed when young, still powerless, Izuku Midoriya discovered that his hero's powers were fading, and he was on the decline. Things here finally came to their climax when he would have his ultimate rematch with All for One, a fight in which he'd lose his powers once and for all.

Because Season 7 sets up All Might's final confrontation with All For One (one of My Hero Academia's best fights), this episode hits even harder in retrospect. It serves as the last time All for One was beaten, when All Might got to where he is today, and is a direct parallel to the fight that ends up coming about in Season 8. It's the perfect episode for those really invested in the All Might vs. All for One conflict.

7 "Light Fades to Rain"

Season 7, Episode 11 (2024)

Clearly, the 11th episodes are a big deal in My Hero Academia, with the 11th episode featuring the death of one of the biggest characters in the series. Many consider Bakugo to be a deuteragonist, so his being killed in the battle against Shigaraki was devastating and a huge shock. Since Bakugo’s fate becomes a major turning point in the final arc, this episode stands out even more in retrospect. It's unforgettable how Edgeshot (Kenta Kamakari and John Burgmeier) actively works to repair the dead hero's heart and start it again.

"Light Fades to Rain" is one of the most heartbreaking episodes in the entire series, so some definitely may find it hard to watch. The young man did some real damage to Shigaraki, which may have helped Deku a lot in the long run. In hindsight, the episode lands as a key emotional setup for how the final battle unfolds.

6 "Deku vs. Class A"

Season 6, Episode 23 (2023)

To say that Deku had a tough go in Season 6 is an understatement. After the terrible consequences of the war in the first half of the season, he becomes depressed, leaves U.A., and goes out into the world to become a vigilante and work under the Pro Heroes. This arc sends him down a spiral, and it's only through his former classmates that he gets his head back on straight. However, he doesn't go down peacefully and takes every single one of them on in a fight while trying to escape them.

The most important part of this episode isn't the fight, though (despite how badass it is). The highlight is when, after the fight, Bakugo approaches his rival, and in a groundbreaking moment in his character arc, apologizes for the struggle and bullying he put the protagonist through. It's tear-jerking and cements a huge evolution in Bakugo's character that would change him in the arcs to come.