My Hero Academia once again does the unusual by having this late-stage story arc focus exclusively on a brand new character, the American #1 hero, Star and Stripe. While Star and Stripe herself was an interesting and well-liked character, many fans took issue with the arc’s use (or lack thereof) of the potential this character had.

The Star and Stripe arc of My Hero Academia is one of the shortest, effectively comprised of one major battle scene. Aside from the villain, it featured basically no characters that the audience was already familiar with, making it a bit of a risk. Fortunately, Star is a very likable character, going against orders to help Japan because it’s the right thing to do, and it doesn’t take long for the audience to warm up to her.

In fact, part of the problem with this arc is that fans liked Star and Stripe a bit too much for her eventual fate.

My Hero Academia’s Star and Stripe Arc is One Epic Battle

Star and Stripe’s Likability Makes It Easy to Root for Her

As noted above, the arc is dominated by the battle between “Tomura Shigaraki” and Star and Stripe, America’s top hero. Star’s incredibly unique ability, New Order, gives the fight some really interesting dimensions, as her power is incredibly versatile and the perfect match for someone like Shigaraki. It’s easy to see how Star managed to rise to the top spot in the US given her powers. Star’s Quirk is a bit convoluted with its rules, however, meaning some people might have a difficult time following exactly how she’s using her abilities throughout the battle.

While the battle ends with Star’s unfortunate death, she manages to deal massive damage to Shigaraki, destroying his body to such an extent that he’s out of commission for a week, even with his incredible regenerative abilities. Both the manga and the anime don’t shy away from showing how horrifically injured Shigaraki is, really driving home the idea that Star actually hurt him. The fight itself is very exciting, and showcases some unusual things, like the use of intercontinental ballistic missiles, proving that they’re really pulling out all the stops to put an end to Shigaraki and All for One’s evil.

The arc largely works, and that’s mostly thanks to Star being a very sympathetic and relatable character. Like Deku, she looked up to All Might tremendously, modeling her own appearance after his, and that provides her a motive for heading to Japan other than it being the right thing to do. Her ultimate downfall is an unwillingness to kill her own comrades, something most people would struggle with, but her clever use of her Quirk turns what could have been a completely pointless death into an incredible moment of self-sacrifice.

The Star and Stripe Arc Has Its Fair Share of Issues

Should Star and Stripe’s Fate Have Played Out Differently?

Of course, the Star and Stripe arc, while it has plenty of good moments, also has some moments that left some fans scratching their heads, while others were furious with the idea of such wasted potential. The arc as a whole is arguably handled a bit better in the anime than the manga, which adds some fitting music and quality performances, along with a few brief new scenes, that enhance the story further.

One of the key problems many fans have with the arc is the fact that based on what comes after, it doesn’t feel like Star really accomplished all that much with her sacrifice. Shigaraki is said to have lost many Quirks, but the only one fans can say he definitively lost is Reflect, as he’s unable to use that against the laser attack. While he lost Super Regeneration briefly, he was able to get it back by taking a copy from a Nomu, thus rendering its loss moot. It would’ve been far better if Shigaraki lost some Quirks which fans were familiar with, like perhaps Rivet Stab, to give a more permanent, noticeable loss of abilities to the villain.

Another issue with the arc is Star and Stripe herself. Was it alright to kill her off so quickly after introducing her, or was that simply wasted potential? There are certainly ways she could’ve survived this fight; perhaps Shigaraki must choose between Decay and stealing her Quirk, and opts for the latter. Star could’ve survived, but been Quirkless, allowing her a chance to meet other characters. Obviously, Star was never going to be allowed to defeat Shigaraki here. That’s a job that must eventually fall to Deku as the main character, so some fans felt the fight was pointless from the get-go due to that.

And, while the arc provides a good justification for no other nations coming to help Japan in the final battle, even that seems like something that was unnecessary to establish. Would it really have been such a problem to have outside help come in, especially when many international heroes were already introduced in the third movie, World Heroes’ Mission? Having them on the field of battle would’ve given the final war an even more epic feel than it already has, and it wouldn’t have even required much to change in order to fit this in.

Overall, the Star and Stripe arc, while entertaining, is arguably one of the more flawed arcs in the series. While some fans see it as completely unnecessary, others felt that it was a waste of a good character, and both sides have some valid arguments to be made. Despite this, the battle itself is still fun to watch, and some fans may even find themselves a bit choked up when Star finally falls. As one of My Hero Academia‘s final arcs, it definitely leaves something to be desired, but taking it for what it is, it’s still pretty entertaining overall.