My Hero Academia Filler: Six Episodes and a Recap Run
No filler arcs, just six single episodes that ANN's reviewers call filler or recap, plus the Hero Notebook recap before season 2 and the four Memories recaps before season 7. Each one, with its source.
Spoilers throughout. This page discusses story events and outcomes.
My Hero Academia has no filler arcs. Across seven seasons and a final season, the stretches that do not adapt the manga are single episodes, and Anime News Network's episode reviewers name six of them: 32, 39, 58, 64, 89 and 104. Two of those, 39 and 89, are season openers built partly on recap. Outside the official numbering there is also a recap special before season 2 and four Memories recap broadcasts before season 7. Episode 89 needs an exception: its postcredits scene continues the story.
How this list was checked
We read every episode page in the official episode guide, from episode 1 to the final season. It labels only one episode as anything other than story: episode 58, which is titled as a special (特別編). So the classifications below come from ANN's episode-by-episode reviews, which cover episodes 1 to 113 and say plainly when an episode is filler or a recap. For seasons 6, 7 and the final season we found no editorial source naming an anime-original episode, and the official guide labels none. CBR's survey of low-filler anime, written when 113 episodes had aired, counted "only 4" filler episodes without naming them, so we cannot say which of our six it leaves out.
| Episode | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Filler | "それぞれの職場体験", broadcast August 12, 2017. The official synopsis follows Tsuyu's internship with the sea rescue hero Selkie. ANN's review calls it the show's "first real filler episode." ANN's review |
| 39 | Recap | "ゲーム・スタート", the season 3 opener, broadcast April 7, 2018. ANN calls it "another recap episode," adding that it is "not entirely repeated material" but that the new content is "fluff." ANN's review |
| 58 | Filler | "特別編・愛で地球を救え！", broadcast August 25, 2018. The official page calls it a special episode leading into the film (劇場版につながる特別編). ANN describes a "bonus filler episode" that detours from the main story and recommends the average viewer skip it. ANN's review |
| 64 | Filler | "スクープ雄英１年Ａ組", the season 4 opener, broadcast October 12, 2019. A journalist visits the class 1-A dorms hunting for All Might's successor. ANN: "It may be filler, but it's far better than any ole recap episode." ANN's review of 64 and 65 |
| 89 | Recap, filler and postcredits story | "全員出動！１年Ａ組", the season 5 opener, broadcast March 27, 2021: a disaster drill with Mirio playing a civilian and Nejire and Tamaki as villains. ANN's review praises "the good kind of filler content," and its review of episode 90 notes that "every new MHA season starts with a recap episode." ANN's review |
| 104 | Filler | "お久しぶりですセルキーさん", broadcast July 17, 2021. Ochaco, Tsuyu and Nejire answer a team-up request from Selkie on a smuggling case that ANN says is "detached from the ongoing mystery" and ties into the World Heroes' Mission film; the review files it under "this season's filler content." Its handover is a reason to keep it: Selkie calls Ryukyu when the sea pursuit fails, and she combines with Nejire. Our reading values that coordination. ANN's review |
One more episode is partly new. ANN's review of episode 55 says a portion of it is "an anime-only subplot" following Momo, Jiro, Shoji and Tsuyu, and calls the divergence "harmless." Only part of the episode is new, so we count it as a partial rather than a seventh filler episode.
The recap specials
Before season 7, the broadcast slot ran My Hero Academia Memories for four Saturdays in April 2024 (the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th). The official announcement describes them as the important stories leading into season 7, retold with new scenes. They sit outside the episode numbering, and season 7 begins at episode 139 on May 4, 2024, picking up from chapter 329 of the manga, according to the same announcement. An earlier recap special, "Hero Notebook" (ヒーローノート), aired on March 25, 2017, the week before season 2. ANN's episode list numbers it 13.5 and notes "this is a recap episode"; the official guide's season 2 list starts at episode 14. We found no comparable recap run before the final season.
Episodes that are not filler
The extra episode "More," which aired on May 2, 2026 as "episode 170+1" according to ANN, is not filler. ANN's report of the announcement says it is "based on the manga's extra 431st chapter following the original finale." Nor is the six-minute short "I am a hero too" (August 2026), which ANN's encyclopedia describes as an adaptation of chapter 431.5 from the Ultra Age fan book. The four films and the OVAs are separate releases outside the episode numbering; the My Hero Academia watch order covers where they go.
Should you skip them?
On a first watch, episode 39 and the Memories broadcasts are safe to skip. Episodes 32, 58, 64 and 104 are judgment calls. ANN's reviewers liked most of them: episode 32 is "as enjoyable as you could reasonably expect," episode 64 is "far better than any ole recap episode," and 104 is, in its reviewer's words, "what amounts to a side quest." Episode 58 is the one the reviewer told viewers to skip, because it interrupts the license exam to advertise the first film. For episode 89, skip the recap if desired, but keep the scene after the credits.
The manga is the faster route if pacing is the worry, and our sub-or-dub guide covers the English versions. The same treatment for older, longer series is at Naruto, Bleach and Hunter x Hunter.