My Hero Academia: Why The Anime Totally Changes One Arc
There are many changes from the manga in My Hero Academia season 2, including one specific arc. Sometimes in anime, there are filler storylines and episodes added to better pace the show against the original series. In My Hero Academia’s case, the first episode of the season is usually a recap to help fill the gap of months to years of absence. Other times, certain scenes are taken out and changed for censorship reasons. My Hero Academia deals with mature themes yet is still largely catered to younger audiences. This means omissions are common in a lot of its fight sequences. Season 2 is no different in the fact that there are changes made to it.
My Hero Academia season 2 covers three major arcs from the manga. The first is the UA Sports Festival which spans twelve episodes. While the events of this particular arc remain contained within one day, the revelations and choices characters make within the festival later have major ramifications on the future of the entire series. Next is the internships arc, which also involves the hunt for Hero Killer: Stain. It showcases Izuku Midoriya (Deku) learning how to better control One For All, with him and the rest of his classmates mentored by different pro-heroes. Finally, the Final Exams, which is the last arc of the season, goes over Class 1A fighting against pro-hero teachers in hopes of passing and joining in on the Summer Training Camp.
The anime majorly changes the internship arc of season 2 by showcasing more of the actual internships outside of just the three students involved in the fight against Stain. While there’s still a heavy focus on Deku’s meeting with Gran Torino and training One For All, there are also a lot of snippets of the other students' internships from both Class 1A and 1B such as Momo Yaoyorozu, Minoru Mineta and Itsuka Kendo. Some of these stem from canon manga chapters while others are anime interpretations of off-screen events mentioned in dialogue. One of the main reasons why an anime does something like this is to bulk up the contents of each episode to meet the runtime as well as the intended episode count of a season.
Other little things added to this arc help better transition one scene to the next and form a more cohesive story. For example, Endeavor fighting off a muscular Nomu and chasing after a flying one is an anime-only scene. But the path in the manga in which he, Gran Torino, and other pro-heroes end up meeting the students who capture Stain stays the same. Adding the extended scene of Endeavor and the two Nomu helps explain the lag between his conversation with Gran Torino and his arrival at the alleyway. It also transitions well with his chasing of the Nomu into the group and explains how he instructs other pro-heroes on where to go. While these scenes are non-essential in the grand scheme of My Hero Academia, they’re very helpful in smoothing out some of the deeper dives the manga lacks.
However, the most important reason why the anime changes the internship arc is to help highlight characters outside of Deku. As My Hero Academia's main character, he has the privilege of being central to the story. But there are a lot of characters other than Deku who are also essential to future storylines with interesting journeys of their own. The expansion of the internship arc helps set up future dynamics like Katsuki Bakugo and his relationship with Best Jeanist. It puts the spotlight on the female characters, specifically Ochako Uraraka (Uravity) and Tsuyu Asui (Froppy). In general, the arc focuses more on the students of UA, making the most of the "academia" portion of the show's title.