The final season of My Hero Academia continues to deliver major shocks, with the recent defeat of the series’ greatest villain setting the stage for an epic conclusion. The story now pivots to its most critical confrontation as Episode 5 arrives this weekend.
Fans watched as Katsuki Bakugo successfully defeated All For One in Episode 4, ending the legacy of the symbol of evil. With that monumental battle over, the anime’s core conflict between Izuku Midoriya (Deku) and Tomura Shigaraki is now the main focus. This upcoming episode promises to bring their ideological and physical clash to the forefront.
The Fall of All For One
Episode 4, titled “Quirk: Explosion!!”, provided a deep look into the tragic origin of All For One. The episode revealed he and his brother, Yoichi, were born to an unnamed woman in a back alley during the dawn of the Quirk era. After their mother’s death, the two boys were left to fend for themselves.
From infancy, All For One displayed a selfish nature, believing everything within his reach belonged to him. In a pivotal moment, the episode showed he even stole his own mother’s Quirk as a baby. As the brothers grew, the contrast between them became stark. While All For One used his meta ability to steal and kill for survival, his physically frail brother, Yoichi, remained empathetic and dreamed of becoming a hero like the ones in his Captain Hero comic books.
Driven by a desire to possess his brother, All For One named him Yoichi and forcibly gave him a Quirk, unaware that Yoichi already had one of his own. This act set in motion a centuries-long conflict. After Yoichi was freed by a resistance fighter named Kudo, a furious All For One killed his brother, only to realize that Yoichi’s essence had already been passed on, eventually becoming the Quirk known as One For All.
In the present, a furious All For One, enraged by Bakugo’s persistence and seeing the visage of the Second User, Kudo, within him, released all his Quirks in a monstrous final attack. Bakugo, understanding the mechanics of his own Explosion Quirk, outmaneuvered the villain. He activated explosive sweat beads planted inside All For One’s body, causing the Villain’s own Quirk Factors to rebel. Bakugo ended the fight with a massive explosion, reducing All For One to a helpless infant who then vanished from existence. An exhausted Bakugo declared victory, telling Midoriya to “give him hell.”
What to Expect in Episode 5
With All For One gone, Episode 5 is set to fully focus on the long-awaited final battle between Deku and Shigaraki. This is more than a simple fight to determine who is stronger; it is a direct clash of ideals. Shigaraki represents the embodiment of All For One’s destructive legacy and hatred for hero society, while Deku carries the hopes and selfless spirit of all the heroes who came before him in One For All.
The preview for the new episode confirms that this central showdown will begin in earnest. With most other battlefields across Japan wrapping up, the final war’s outcome now hinges entirely on this single fight. The episode will decide whether hope can still shine in a world that has been pushed to the brink of collapse.
Release Schedule and Viewing Details
My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 5 is scheduled to be released on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
New episodes air first in Japan on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV before becoming available for international audiences. For viewers around the world, the episode will be available to stream on Crunchyroll shortly after its Japanese broadcast.
The release times for new episodes are consistent each week:
- 5:30 PM Japan Standard Time (JST)
- 1:30 AM Pacific Time (PT)
- 4:30 AM Eastern Time (ET)
- 9:30 AM British Summer Time (BST)
For fans who prefer the English dub, Crunchyroll has confirmed that Episode 5’s English dub will be released on November 15, 2025. New dubbed episodes arrive on the platform weekly, following a two-week delay after the original Japanese version.
The final season is expected to run for a total of 11 episodes, concluding on December 13, 2025. This schedule allows the anime to adapt the remaining chapters of the manga’s Final War Arc and the concluding Epilogue Arc, bringing the nearly decade-long story to a close.
Also Read: My Hero Academia Final Season Episode 2: What Happens After Stain Joins the Fight?
