My Hero Academia’s timeline is proving controversial for one reason

My Hero Academia is close to ending after finishing the last arc, but fans are still split over the lack of timeskip in the story.

The story of My Hero Academia is pretty linear. It starts with Deku getting One For All and enrolling in U.A. The rest of the plot follows him and his classmates as first-year students, and it’s only in the epilogue that the characters are seen in their second year of high school.

That means all the major incidents, including All Might’s fight against All For One, the Paranormal Liberation War, and the Final War, all happen within the span of one year. This particular detail has many fans wondering whether a timeskip would’ve been better for the story.

Timeskips are a pretty common element in shonen series. Big franchise like One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and more recently Black Clover and Boruto, all have had a jump forward in time at one point or another. The timeskip acts as a breaking point between two parts of the story, showing the difference between the before and after of the characters.

Kohei Horikoshi/Bones

However, My Hero Academia ignores this trope, choosing for a continuous narrative instead. Whether this has benefited the story is debatable, as fans have all kinds of opinions about it. Some say that a timeskip isn’t necessary but having Deku and co progress over three years would’ve been more authentic. 

The protagonist, particularly, could’ve used the time to master One For All. Given the power of the Quirk and Deku’s lack of physical strength at the beginning, those three years would’ve been more believable than him rapidly getting stronger over just a few months. 

“I don’t think people necessarily want a timeskip. But the fact that the entire series happens in a year is not only ridiculous, but wholly unnecessary. It’s honestly my biggest problem, there could have easily been more time between events, more time to grow, and less massive powerups,” commented one Reddit user.

“My Hero Academia absolutely needed a timeskip,” was what another had to say.

But some think a timeskip would’ve only hurt the story. Most series initially received backlash due to their sudden move forward in time, and it might’ve been the same for My Hero Academia. According to them, showing the characters as older teenagers wouldn’t have added anything to the story.

One fan wrote, “Honestly, I don’t think the series ever needed a major timeskip and I’m glad it didn’t.”

Another pointed out, “Tons of school-based series and regular battle shonen in general don’t have major timeskips halfway through the story.”

Though we’re possibly not going to get a timeskip anymore, with the manga ending so near, it seems the author has paid attention to his readers’ opinions. The epilogue chapters will show the main cast going around the country as second-year students. Maybe by the end, we’ll get to see the crew graduating their hero academia. 

For more on these superheroes, check out My Hero Academia Season 7 release schedule and where to watch My Hero Academia Season 7. You might also like to know more about the last My Hero Academia chapter and Bakugo’s redemption arc.