“My Hero Academia” season 4 is exceptionally exciting for fans and one reason is that it covers the longest arc ever in the manga series. That story arc is called Shie Hassaikai, one of the most important parts of the Rise of Villians Saga.
The initial chapters of the Shie Hassaikai arc were already covered at the final episode of season 3, obviously, to let anime fans know what is going to happen in “My Hero Academia” season 4. It has also confirmed that Kai Chisaki, also known as Overhaul, will be the next installment’s main villain.
The Shie Hassaikai arc actually ran for an entire year. It opened with chapter 115 in November 2016 and officially concluded in chapter 162 that was released in December 2017. Overall, it had 42 chapters so this arc alone has enough material for a complete one anime cour. This is considering that each episode in the past seasons usually covers up to three manga chapters. So this most likely means the longest arc in the series will conclude in “My Hero Academia” season 4.
As of this writing, the producers have not yet announced if “My Hero Academia” season 4 will have the same episode count as seasons 2 and 3. Each had 25 episodes or the equivalent of two cours. Judging based on the currently available manga chapters, pushing for a two-cour season 4 could mean covering all the story arcs before the currently ongoing storyline called the Meta Liberation Army arc.
On a positive note, the manga series has been on a consistent weekly schedule and “My Hero Academia” season 4 is not due to premiere until October. This means the manga series will have enough time to keep a comfortable distance from where the anime series to avoid storyline overlap.
“My Hero Academia” season 4 is the only anime series installment not getting released in April. In late December, it was confirmed that new episodes will not arrive until October this year because the new anime “MIX” was given the “My Hero Academia’s” usual spring time slot.
