My Hero Academia's latest special broadcast reached 2.7% of households during its Saturday slot on NTV, according to Japanese television ratings data from April 27 through May 3. While the figure sits lower than some perennial favorites, it reflects solid performance for an anime special in a competitive viewing landscape.

The special aired on May 2 at 5:30 p.m., a prime Saturday evening timeslot that traditionally attracts family audiences. Despite facing competition from other major anime and entertainment programming, the My Hero Academia broadcast managed to secure placement among the week's top anime viewership numbers.

Long-running series dominated the ratings period. Sazae-san led all anime with 5.9%, followed by Detective Conan at 5.1% and Chibi Maruko-chan at 4.4%. One Piece maintained its usual strong performance with 2.2% during a late-night Sunday slot, while children's programming like Doraemon (2.3%) and Bluey (1.7%) filled out the lower rankings.

The ratings represent household viewership in the Kanto region, Japan's most populous area, and don't include delayed viewing or streaming platforms—meaning actual total viewership for the My Hero Academia special likely exceeds these figures. In Japan's fragmented media landscape, where audiences increasingly consume content across multiple platforms and time shifts, traditional television ratings tell only part of the story.

My Hero Academia's continued presence on broadcast television underscores the franchise's staying power as both a mainstream entertainment property and a legitimate draw for traditional TV audiences. The series has maintained broadcast slots for years despite the anime industry's significant migration toward streaming services, a testament to its broad appeal across age groups and viewing habits.

These weekly rankings provide a snapshot of Japan's television anime landscape but represent just one metric of a show's reach. Many anime now find their primary audience through streaming platforms like Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video, particularly for international viewers and younger demographics that have largely abandoned traditional broadcast television.