Film

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

Name: My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 2021
Cast: Daiki Yamashita, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Yuki Kaji, Ryo Yoshizawa, Kazuya Nakai

A globe-trotting My Hero Academia film that expands the universe beyond Japan, pitting Class 1-A against an international terrorist organization with an apocalyptic vision. Energetic and visually generous, it's designed for fans who want more of what they love—higher stakes, bigger action, new locales—without asking them to rethink what they came for.

TMDb rating

3.8

If you liked this

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes2018

The earlier film that perfected the formula: intimate character moments, spectacular set-pieces, and genuine stakes. If you're enjoying this one, Two Heroes is the obvious next step into the franchise's film catalogue.

But It's still very much fan service—you need to care about these characters already, and it doesn't teach you much new about the world beyond confirming these kids are genuinely heroic.

Jujutsu Kaisen 02021

Another anime film from the same era with identical DNA: young heroes, expanding world-building, jaw-dropping animation in key scenes, and a villain you almost sympathize with. The emotional core hits harder here.

But Tonally darker and more genuinely unsettling. If you came to World Heroes' Mission for adventure, this will feel like a shift toward real consequences and grief.

One Piece Film: Strong World2010

A Shonen Jump film that does exactly what World Heroes' Mission does—takes the crew somewhere new, raises the stakes globally, and delivers the spectacle fans want. Proof the formula works across franchises.

But Twelve years older and showing it. The animation is functional rather than stunning, and if pirate adventure doesn't grab you instantly, the thin plot won't hold you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Redline2009

Both are animated action films that exist to showcase what animation can do that live action cannot. World Heroes' Mission has spectacle; Redline has spectacle that also rewires your brain about what the medium is capable of.

A hand-drawn sci-fi action film that took seven years to complete and looks like nothing else ever made. Every frame is a technical marvel, the colour and movement vocabulary is alien, and it builds to action sequences that redefine what 2D animation can express. Pure visual intoxication.

But The plot is genuinely paper-thin—a space race, basically—and the pacing is deliberately art-house languid. If you need narrative momentum or emotional stakes, you will be bored for the first forty minutes. Also, good luck finding it; it's been delisted repeatedly.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train2020

The gold standard of anime films: massive emotional payoff for series loyalists, technical animation that justifies the theatrical release, and a villain who genuinely matters to the ongoing story.

But You absolutely must have watched the show first. Jumping in here is like reading chapter five of a novel. And it's slower than you'd expect—the spectacle earns its space.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train poster

Attack on Titan2013

Shonen storytelling that actually escalates. If you want to see what happens when a show refuses to stay small, and when the scope expands to genuinely geopolitical questions, this is where anime ambition goes.

But By this point you're forty-plus hours into a dense narrative. The character work is phenomenal but assumes you've been paying attention since 2013. Jumping in is impossible.

Dororo2019

A darker, more thoughtful take on action and heroism. Two broken people learning to fight for something beyond themselves. The animation in battle sequences is as good as World Heroes' Mission achieves, but the writing is deeper.

But Episodic, slower-paced, and genuinely melancholic. If you want constant forward momentum and optimism, this will feel like a slog in the middle section.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners2022

Ten episodes of propulsive storytelling with animation that rivals theatrical releases. A protagonist who is genuinely rough around the edges, a world that's hostile rather than welcoming, and an ending that doesn't pull punches.

But Brutally violent, sexually explicit, and thematically dark. The video game connection might feel like a hurdle, and the finale is deliberately devastating rather than triumphant.

Record of Ragnarok2021

Pure spectacle: historical and mythological figures in hand-to-hand combat designed to be watched, not analyzed. If you want animation that swings for the fences every single round, this delivers.

But Plot is irrelevant, character development nonexistent, and the dialogue can be aggressively silly. It's tournament anime at its most shameless about being exactly that.

Inside the Game – Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty2023

Both expand universes beyond their origin point and ask audiences to inhabit new worlds. But where World Heroes' Mission asks you to follow the story, Phantom Liberty asks you to make choices within it. A wildcard in format and engagement style.

Not a film, actually—it's the live-action adaptation cut together from the video game's cinematic sequences and story beats, reframed as a feature. A surreal experience that captures why games matter culturally: interactive storytelling that lets you live inside the world rather than watch it.

But It's fragmentary and sometimes incoherent if you haven't played. The uncanny valley of character animation in cutscenes, and the tonal whiplash between gameplay and cinema. Fundamentally a different medium pretending to be film.

Inside the Game – Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty poster

Promare2019

Both prioritize the joy of animation and spectacle over plot. But Promare does it by stripping everything away; World Heroes' Mission does it within a detailed, complex universe. Opposite approaches to the same philosophy: animation first, story as frame.

Japanese animation at its most visually distinctive: a fire-fighting action film done in a style that looks hand-drawn but uses CGI in ways that feel organic. Colour and movement so bold it borders on psychedelic. Thirty minutes of pure kinetic joy.

But The plot is nonsense—genuinely, unapologetically thin. If you need coherent worldbuilding or character arcs, you will be frustrated. It's a showcase, not a story. Some find the visual style overwhelming rather than beautiful.