The word peak gets thrown around a bit too loosely these days. Peak is supposed to be well the peak the single highest achievement anything can achieve. But it feels like were just slapping that label on any old movie TV show game or whatever that has the courage to Not Suck in todays media landscape. And frankly that isnt fair to the fiction in question There are plenty of good great and excellent stories that might not be flawless or lifechanging but still offer a valuable experience all the same. Yes I love a masterpiece as much as anybody but something shouldnt have to be the literal Greatest Of All Time to be worth watching. And we do ourselves a disservice when we only engage with fiction through such hyperbolic terms. Trust me the more you learn to appreciate art without needing it to be peak the better off youll be. With all that said: My Hero Academia is fucking PEAK. In retrospect its kind of a miracle how perfectly timed my experience with this series was. After getting sucked into anime in 2017 the very first two ongoing series I decided to follow were Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia. Both were still in their second season at the time only just starting to show how spectacular they would end up being. But they were far and away the most popular anime at the time so I dove in headfirst and resolved to follow them to the bitter end. And over the years that followed Ive watched them both blossom into not just the best possible versions of themselves but some of the most staggering aweinspiring and meaningful stories to ever come out of this medium. Growing into a young adult alongside Deku and his friends in class A1 has been like discovering and rediscovering an old friend over and over again only falling more and more in love as I realize just how special it truly is. I may have missed out on growing up alongside a longrunning series like Naruto or Bleach like so many of my peers did but having this series by my side has more than made up for it. Ive already written extensively about MHA in my reviews for the other seasons so Ill avoid rehashing myself too much here. Suffice to say its a triumph of shonen storytelling that elevates its simple storytelling with fantastic action setpieces stellar longterm character work and a gripping exploration of the nature of heroism and its role in building a better world. Last season kicked off the final battle with every conceivable character involved and with basically every other plot thread and character arc resolved there the final season can jump straight into the true endgame clash: Izuku Shigaraki All Might and One for All. The greatest of heroes and the greatest of villains locked in an epic brawl for the fate of society itself. Its nothing but one massive conclusion for the hundredplus episodes weve spent getting here the grand finale to everything MHA has been exploring with its themes. If this wasnt an absolute slam dunk of an ending the entire show would be weaker for it. Luckily as we established last season Horikoshi is really fucking good at endings. Theres no other way to say it: My Hero Academias finale is a triumph. Its a bombastic fistpumping utterly transcendent firework rocketing into the sky and exploding in rainbow colors. It takes all the shows commentary all its buildup toward a greater understanding of heroism and funnels it into a knockout blow as powerful as the strongest punch All Might every threw. Every episode is a masterpiece. Every episode had me shrieking with joy and/or bawling my eyes out. And watching Izuku finally smash through the old world and redefine what makes a hero matter is confirmation that this truly is one of the greatest shonen series ever made. I always had faith in this show even when the rest of the anime community turned on it and this finale has proven my faith justified. My Hero Academia was always great why wouldnt its ending stick the landing so incredibly hard? Of course it helps that season 8 is far and away the best the show has ever looked. Im not one of those snobs who thinks MHAs inconsistent production turned it into garbage even in the admittedly rough stretch from seasons 4 to 5. But it does help when the animation is able to fully capture the grandeur of the story being told. And with only eleven episodes and no movie to steal away talented staff Bones has polished this finale into a spectacle worthy of such an apocalyptic climax. Every action scene roars with kinetic joy superpowers smashing across the screen in spectacular sakuga cuts and razorsharp editing. The cinematography is better than ever too with some of the most evocative shot composition weve ever gotten from this show heightening even its quieter moments to gutwrenching emotional heights. Add to that a much more expressive lighting palette and the end result is a visual feast that nails every moment big and small with the drama it deserves. And when it reaches its absolute peak in episodes 3 and 8 the end result isnt just the best episodes of the entire show its a landmark achievement of visual storytelling sure to go down in anime history. I. Am. In. AWE. But as obviously incredible as those big action shots are its the smaller beats and more subtle emotional threads that tie everything together. This finale has to do so much heavy lifting in tying together the complexities of the hero systems failures and Shigarakis place as the hero for villains. How do we sympathize with the forces that drove Shigaraki to darkness without forgiving the blood hes spilled? How do we acknowledge the humanity of the villains who knew this world wasnt enough while building something better instead of tearing it all down? For a show that started so simply My Hero Academia has painted an incredibly nuanced picture of a societys responsibility toward its citizens and what responsibility those citizens have to society in turn. And I think a lot of manga readers were sour on the ending because they just werent prepared to grapple with that level of nuance. So many people would rather pick a side and complain about their faves being done dirty than acknowledge that storytelling is more than seeing your favorite blorbos get glazed. Luckily I already went through this song and dance with Attack on Titan another manga crucified by fans because the ending asked them to face questions with no easy answers though obviously to a much greater extreme. And just as AoTs anime ending proved the haters wrong the complexities of MHAs finale are why this story was worth telling in the first place. No this is not a universally happy ending and it will leave you with uncertainties to ruminate on instead of wrapping absolutely everything up in a neat little bow. But those solemn notes are just as essential to its message as the final glorious return of You Say Run. Theyre reminders of what was lost suggestions of what could have been and proof of why this society needed to change in the first place. Its only in grappling with those imperfections of trying to understand and untangle where the world falls short that MHA makes its statement on heroism so damn powerful. And the final conversation Izuku and Shigaraki share will linger in my mind for a very long time to come. Most of all though? What My Hero Academia offers is hope. Hope that things however bleak can get better. Hope that people are capable of radical change on an individual and social level. Hope that if we truly come together and fight for a better world as one theres nothing we cant accomplish. The hero systems great failure was instilling the belief that ordinary people are meaningless that only the select few Great Men and Woman can enact change for all of us. But no matter how strong he becomes Izuku Midoriya is no Symbol of Peace. Hes not a god among men standing above the rest of the world. Hes just... a boy scared and uncertain but trying to do the right thing regardless because every bit of good he can accomplish matters. And watching him live up to his hero name doing his best no matter the odds is proof that everyone no matter how insignificant they feel has what it takes to become a hero. The power to change the world for the better does not belong to the elite few it lies in US. We alone with our own two hands can fix whats broken and transform society into a place where everyone truly belongs. All we need is the courage to do our best. Its that message that stays with me now that My Hero Academia is finally over. In the 8 years Ive been watching it Ive graduated college moved to a foreign country watched the world fall apart in so many different ways it feels hopeless even trying to fix it. Im not the same person I was in 2017 Ive grown older wearier more disillusioned than Im comfortable admitting. But as I finally say goodbye to this show Ive spent so much time with I realize I believe in its vision for the future now more than ever. I may not have grown up with MHA in a literal sense but it has shaped my understanding of the adult I want to be and the world I want to pass on to the next generation. This show has made my life better. Its made ME better. And now that its finished alongside Attack on Titan I can say goodbye to the person I was when those shows brought me into anime looking forward with the lessons they taught me to the person I know I can still become. Are there flaws? Sure there are. All for One is still a boring final boss whose master plans are so overwrought he might as well have an Authors Immunity sticker slapped on his forehead. Some of the side characters remain underutilized to the end while others probably shouldve been focused on less. There are countless nits to pick if you go looking for them. But just because its an awkward gangly show at times doesnt make this finale any less of a home run. So rarely do these longrunning shonen series pay off every single promise this perfectly or make you feel like every step of this long journey was worth taking. But thats what makes anime so damn special when its done right? It makes you believe anything is possible. From now on this is the bar all future shonen will be compared to. Forget Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer or any other wannabe series thats pretended to hold the crown My Hero Academia is the kind of magic that will stand the test of time for many many years to come. So thank you Horikoshi. Thanks you Studio Bones. Thank you Bakugo and Endeavor for two of the best redemption arcs Ive ever seen. Thank you Shoto for showing how we can rise above the demons dragging us down. Thank you Iida for your endless compassion and loyalty. Thank you Ochako for being the best goddamn shonen heroine ever written. And of course thank you to one Izuku Midoriya a crybaby weakling who showed the entire world what it truly means to be a hero.