My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, the spinoff/prequel manga that ran alongsideMy Hero Academiafor 6 years, is finally getting an anime adaptation from Bones, the same studio which produced the original anime. The series was praised for its quality, and for telling a fairly different story from its parent series which may well make it into a better anime.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantesfollows Koichi Haimawari, a 19-year-old boy who didn’t make the cut for hero schools like UA, yet dreams of being a hero nonetheless. Koichi acts as a vigilante in his home neighborhood of Naruhata, going by the alias “The Crawler,” in reference to his Quirk. Koichi makes contact with another vigilante, a Quirkless man known as Knuckleduster, and begins training to become a serious hero, now dealing with threats much greater than the purse snatchers he was previously fending off. Together with an aspiring idol known as Pop Step, they begin calling themselves the “Naruhata Vigilantes.”
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Sees Many Familiar Faces Return
The Prequel Manga Involves Many Pro Heroes
Fans can expect to see more than just new characters, however.SinceVigilantesis set just 5 years before the main series, most of the pro heroes that fans are familiar with are still active, such as Endeavor and most excitingly, All Might himself. While All Might’s role in the series is fairly small, it gives fans a glimpse at what All Might was like in his heyday, something many have longed to see. Other characters have a much more substantial role in the series, such as Shota Aizawa, AKA Eraser Head, who makes contact with the Vigilantes.
Vigilantesdoes what most would expect a prequel to do by exploring some ofthe mysteries left inMy Hero Academia, like the development of the Nomuand how they came to be. It also explores the backstory of some familiar characters like Aizawa, who reveals his past with Shirakumo that was skipped over in the main manga. The series also does a lot of world building by introducing heroes from America and explaining how the hero system works overseas, and exploring the seedier side of the hero world through the vigilantes who operate without a license.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes' New Characters Are Just as Compelling
The New Main Cast Are Fascinating Characters
That doesn’t mean that the only thing appealing aboutVigilantesis what’s already familiar. Koichi is a very interesting protagonist, given that he begins having already “failed” to become a hero. Being a fair bit older than Deku, and aging over the course of the series, Koichi is in a very different stage of his life than Deku is, one that might be more in line with older members of the audience.Koichi’s relationships with Pop Step and Knuckleduster are both exceedingly well-developed, and form a strong emotional core to the story.
Knuckleduster himself is a Batman-style vigilante, using ordinary martial arts to get the drop on villains, even when they wield Quirks far more powerful than what one would expect a Quirkless guy to be able to handle. He’s exceptionally skilled and quite slippery to boot, making it impossible for him to get caught for his vigilante act. Pop Step doesn’t do much fighting, and her Quirk is far more suited to performing, but she’s able to make use of it to help bystanders evacuate when an incident does go down, and her goals of becoming an idol are quite different from Koichi’s.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantesstarts out more episodic, before settling into longer story arcs, including one centered on the villainous Number Six which lasts for most of the series. Number Six is a fascinating villain, with a far more personal goal than All for One or Shigaraki had. The scale ofVigilantes' story is overall smaller than the world-threatening stakes ofMy Hero Academiaproper, but that doesn’t make it even the least bit less exciting.
All in all,My Hero Academia: Vigilantesis an exciting series in its own right, as well as a fantastic addition to theMy Hero Academiauniverse. Fans of the original who aren’t familiar withVigilantesare in for a serious treat, and it should be just what the doctor ordered, given thatMy Hero Academiais heading into its final season. With a lovable cast of characters, some fascinating backstory and worldbuilding, and an extraordinary story,My Hero Academia: Vigilanteswill be excellent new series that anime fans won’t want to miss.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
