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With the 8th and final season ofMy Hero Academiareleasing in 2025, there has been a lot of TV for fans of the series to enjoy. But on top of these nearly 159 episodes across the 7 seasons so far, there are also now 4 movies as well as OVAs focusing on extended stories in theMHAuniverse, including events not seen in the manga.
If you’re an avidMHAfan, odds are that you have gleefully binged all of this content at some point, but what you may not know is that some content is not available to everyone around the world. In fact, there are a few special episodes that were only released in Japan, and have yet to be translated for international audiences.
My Hero Academia – Save! Rescue Training
This Special Episode Pits Class 1-A Against a Frightening New Villain.
If you are indeed one of those fans who have faithfully watched the entirety ofMy Hero Academia, then the first OVA episode you might remember is in Season 4, which covered a special rescue training mission. But interestingly, not only is that not the first OVA episode, it’s also not even the first rescue training OVA episode.
“My Hero Academia – Save! Rescue Training!” is a special episode of MHA that appeared at Jump Festa, the annual event celebrating Shōnen Jump and all of its outlets and titles. All the way back in 2016, after the airing of the first season, fans at Jump Festa were surprised with the first screening of this special episode. Here’s a very brief rundown of the episode.
This brief summary doesn’t capture all the charm and drama of the episode, especially with its more humorous vibes after the harrowing events at the end of season 1. For example, there are even multiple 4th wall breaks (pretty unusual forMHA) with characters even exclaiming “Because we’re in a Jump Festa special!” whenever Bakugo asks why he is being forced to help Deku. The DVD can still be found on the internet, and with the popularity ofMHAonly increasing over time, it’s not impossible to see this OVA one day widely available on streaming services.
A Rather Spooky Special Episode Sees the Students Face a Zombie Outbreak!
The next special OVA episode was actually released in a special bundle with the manga in Japan. Readers who purchased a limited supply of Volume 14 of theMHAmanga would receive the “Training of the Dead” OVA DVD bundled with it.
This OVA starts by adapting a very short bonus chapter that appeared alongside the main manga in Weekly Shōnen Jump. This bonus chapter focused on Tsuyu’s family and her experiences at her middle school. With her responsibilities at home and being ostracized due to her appearance and behavior, we learn that Tsuyu didn’t have many friends, but after she notices a girl following her around, they manage to become friends, before eventually parting ways to different high schools.
As for the rest of the episode, it takes place after Class 1-A returns from their hero internships. The students are surprised when they are visited by students from a different hero school, Isamu Academy High School (only mentioned in the special episode). Among them is Tsuyu’s old friend from middle school. They announce that they will be joining Class 1-A to take part in a special exercise. The students are placed in the following teams:
The rules of the exercise are very simple: teams should aim to survive as long as possible. Participants must tie up the other teams' members with tape to ensure they are counted as eliminated. The last team that remains wins.
This simple premise is quickly disrupted by the unique powers of the Isamu Academy students' quirks. We see a new quirk that allows the user to project a holographic map that includes data of a person they decide to track. Another student is able to launch a barrage of missiles (this student often clashes with Bakugo), but the final student’s quirk is where this episode gets its name. They release a pink gas that zombifies people it comes into contact with!
These “Zombies” can also infect other people, and this quickly spreads among the teams until only Deku’s team (excluding Tsuyu) and Todoroki’s (only including Hagakure) remain. They become cornered and, in an act of desperation, Deku declares that he will use Full Cowl to blast the zombies away. But, to everyone’s surprise, the zombie effect has a time limit, and right before Deku’s blast, everyone turns back, only to be blown away by Deku’s power. This enrages Bakugo, who charges Deku, and we end the special episode with Deku in the hospital again, this time, due to Bakugo’s revenge.
This episode also included some funny hijinks, much like rescue training OVA. One of the funniest parts is when All Might lands in the exercise area only to turn back into his depowered form. Deku is at first horrified to think that his secret might be revealed, only to realize that All Might’s weakened form also resembles the zombified students, so they think he is just another zombie!
After these special OVAs,MHA’spopularity continued to skyrocket, and every subsequent OVA was released internationally as well, but these special episodes are relics of a time whenMHAwas much younger and was only starting to reach its full potential.
MHA is now available to watch on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix and more where available. You can also read the manga on VIZ’s Shonen Jump App, or MangaPlus.
My Hero Academia
Cast
In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.
