In this My Hero Academia Vigilantes non-spoiler review, I preview what fans can anticipate from the latest installment in this heavyweight franchise.
I watched the first two episodes of My Hero Academia Vigilantes without knowing anything about it beforehand. Just so you know how deep into MHA I am: I’m up-to-date with the anime but not the manga. I have two Hawks figures in my collection, among other merchandise, and appreciate the seiyuus in MHA a lot, having watched countless of fan-subbed interviews on YouTube (thank you for your services).
Two essentials you need to know: My Hero Academia Vigilantes is a spin-off prequal to My Hero Academia, set in a time before Midoriya Izuku’s adventure. However, we don’t really know exactly many years beforehand the story takes place. Various sources puts it anything between four to eight years, without any direct confirmation from the source. Does it matter? Not at all.
Secondly, it’s based off the manga of the same name, penned by Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Betten Court. Vigilantes is set in the same universe as My Hero Academia, but the original writer and mangaka, Kohei Horikoshi, was not involved in its production.
Now that we’ve gotten that down, the big question arises — should My Hero Academia fans bother watching Vigilantes?
My Hero Academia Vigilantes review
Obvious from the key visual, there are three main characters in My Hero Academia Vigilantes: Plain-looking Koichi Haimawari, our protagonist, idol Kazuho Haneyama, known by her stage name as Pop Step, and Iwao Oguro who goes by Knuckleduster.
Koichi Haimawari possesses the quirk Slide and Glide, which only activates if he has at least three contact points. It’s established from episode one that he has nothing to boast of.
We learn that he’s a big fan of All Might, so much so that he disguises himself in an All Might cosplay, then goes around helping people at night, earning him the nickname “Nice Guy.”
Sound familiar? My Hero Academia Vigilantes shares similarities with MHA, starting off the story with a “weak” protagonist who admires the number one hero in the world. Oh boy.
At the start of the story, the trio really doesn’t really get any better than this. Pop Step also possesses a mobility ability called Leap which lets her jump up to a medium height. Two episodes in, she spends most of her time screaming for help and needing saving, so unfortunately, there aren’t any strong female characters who are good role models at the moment.
Naturally, mobility abilities aren’t the best to fight villains, so at least we have old man Knuckleduster who can pack a punch… but without a good personality to match.
While I can’t say I like any of the three main characters, I do appreciate their symbolism in My Hero Academia Vigilantes. By the time law enforcement or heroes are deployed, it’s usually too late because damage is done. These vigilantes prefer to remain as unregistered heroes who take action first, putting out small fires before they turn into big ones, exemplifying what they believe is true heroism.
Opposing this ideology, of course, are officially licensed heroes, the characters in MHA we know and love. Outside of the trio is where these characters shine. At the end of episode one, Shota Aizawa (Eraser Head) happened to walk by as Knuckleduster harasses a salaryman carrying a briefcase, setting up for more air time in episode two.
A young, handsome Eraser Head who hasn’t been so jaded by the world, it’s refreshing to see him in his prime. I want more! Another side character in the police force shows up in episode two too, whom you’ll recognize from the main series.
My Hero Academia Vigilantes makes me want to look forward to seeing more teachers in their slightly younger days and find out more about their captivating backstory which we didn’t get enough of in MHA. I’m also open to having Koichi grow on me as long as the series delivers on exploring more deeply the conflicting ideas of what heroism is in this quirk-filled world.
Watch My Hero Academia Vigilantes on Crucnhyroll. Weekly episodes air every Monday.
READ MORE: 5 best anime to watch if you like My Hero Academia
