My Hero Academia Just Set a Record That Leaves One Punch Man Season 3 in the Dust

Two hyped superhero anime showed up this season. One landed like a pro. The other tripped down the stairs. If you have even glanced at IMDb lately, you already know which is which.

The setup

Both series walked in with pressure. 'My Hero Academia' had to close the book on years of arcs and dangling emotions. 'One Punch Man' finally hit the Monster Association material fans have been waiting on forever. On paper, both should have crushed. In practice? One did. One did not.

MHA Season 8: 9s, week after week

The final season of 'My Hero Academia' pulled off a rare flex for a long-running shonen finale: every single episode cleared 9.0 on IMDb. No wobble weeks, no last-minute dip, just steady execution from start to finish.

"Every episode in MHA's final season scored above 9.0 on IMDb."

Why it worked: the show leaned into payoff. Big turns had room to breathe, quieter beats were treated like they mattered, and the direction trusted the writing instead of sprinting to the next explosion. Even the slower chapters stayed sticky because the character work kept paying off.

MHA Season 8 episode-by-episode IMDb scores

Ep 1 - Toshinori Yagi: Rising/Origin: 9.1

Ep 2 - The End of an Era, and the Beginning: 9.6

Ep 3 - The Final Boss!!: 9.8

Ep 4 - Quirk: Explosion!!: 9.7

Ep 5 - History's Greatest Villain: 9.1

Ep 6 - Wrench It Open, Izuku Midoriya!!: 9.3

Ep 7 - From Aizawa: 9.6

Ep 8 - Izuku Midoriya Rising: 9.8

Ep 9 - Epilogue, The Hellish Todoroki Family: Final: 9.3

Ep 10 - The Girl Who Loves Smiles: 9.2

Ep 11 - My Hero Academia: 9.6

OPM Season 3: the floor falls out

Meanwhile, 'One Punch Man' Season 3 did the opposite. The season kicked off with hype and then spent most of its run confusing people, drawing below-standard ratings, and collecting complaint threads. The midpoint is where it really bottoms out: an episode rating of 1.4 is the kind of number you almost never see for a legacy title.

OPM Season 3 episode-by-episode IMDb scores

Ep 1 - Strategy Meeting: 3.8

Ep 2 - Monster Traits: 3.6

Ep 3 - Organism Limits: 3.5

Ep 4 - Counterattack Signal: 3.2

Ep 5 - Monster King: 3.7

Ep 6 - Motley Heroes: 1.4

Ep 7 - Counterstrike: 2.4

Ep 8 - Ninja Tale: 6.7

Ep 9 - Brave Child: 5.8

Ep 10 - Immortal Bloodbath: 2.4

Yes, there was a small late bump (Ep 8), but by then the damage was done. Midseason frustration drowned out any remaining hype, and the numbers reflect that slide.

Why one worked and the other did not

• MHA treated its endgame like an endgame: clear storytelling, weighty moments, and character arcs that actually land. It did not lean on spectacle; it trusted its writing and direction, which is why even slower weeks played.
• OPM S3 stumbled on the basics. The animation dipped right when the Monster Association arc needed muscle. Fights felt stiff, pacing went lumpy, and the manga's controlled chaos never made it to the screen. Direction kept undercutting tension, so big beats arrived flat.

The bottom line

'My Hero Academia' exits with a clean, hard-to-argue accomplishment: a wall of 9s and a finale that respects its characters. 'One Punch Man' Season 3 is the cautionary reminder that even a beloved brand can face-plant if the adaptation misses what made the material sing. The sting here is not that MHA won; it is that OPM had every reason to be standing right next to it.

Where to watch

'One Punch Man' Season 3 is streaming on Hulu. 'My Hero Academia' is streaming on Crunchyroll.