My Hero Academia's anime character cuts will damage its ending. Although the anime's earlier seasons have fleshed out moments only touched on in the original manga, later story arcs have actually been shortened when adapted from page to screen. These changes, though seemingly minor, are diminishing the important role certain characters have in the story.
My Hero Academia's anime has streamlined manga scenes in the past. The Shie Hassaikai Arc in season 4 notably condensed Amajiki Tamaki's and Mirio Togata's battles, giving audiences only the bare highlights without including the level of detail that the manga provided. Mirio's fight in particular was shortened so much that parts of it were only shown in still images instead of a moving video. My Hero Academia season 5 took this a step further by cutting some of the villains' development from the Meta Liberation Army Arc entirely, especially Shuichi Iguchi's, who is otherwise known as Spinner.
Spinner appears to be a rather unimportant character in My Hero Academia's anime, but only because the series has been erasing his significance to the story. The Meta Liberation Army Arc in season 5 shared many of the main villains' backstories, including what made them turn to villainy in the first place, and also gave them chances to grow and develop. In the manga, much of that arc was narrated from Spinner's perspective as he began to actually believe in series villain Shigaraki Tomura and his mission. Before that point, Spinner had very little motivation in his life thanks to the ways in which he had been mistreated in society, and for the first time, he felt a sense of belonging. Yet, the anime erased Spinner's contributions almost entirely. While the cuts did not majorly affect the plot of My Hero Academia season 5, their ramifications will ultimately weaken the story's ending.
The My Hero Academia manga has been gradually emphasizing just how much quirk society has hurt certain groups of people, making it more likely for them to become villains. For instance, Toga Himiko grew up hated by everyone, even her own family, because of a power she could not control. Instead of being able to learn about her quirk in an environment that was safe for her and those around her, Toga was forced to conform to a world unable to accept who she was. Similarly, Spinner represents mutated quirk users who look different enough from everyone else that the world ostracizes them. Chapter 341 of the My Hero Academia manga highlighted this significance when Spinner learned of the hope he had brought to many other mutants who just wanted to live in peace, free from people's hatred and judgments. However, if this My Hero Academia anime trend continues, his important role will be diminished, or perhaps even erased entirely.
In a show with so many characters, it makes sense why the choice would be made to reduce certain people's screen time to keep the focus on the main heroes, but cutting the villains in My Hero Academia actually goes against its central themes. The character who became a villain because he was ignored or outright hated by society shouldn't also be overlooked in the anime adaptation. Cutting Spinner's role would only prove that the show does not understand its own message.