Name: A good, fun watch but feels like it's lacking in some areas
Item: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Rating: 80
Author: toshasal

Waifra

A good, fun watch but feels like it's lacking in some areas · Waifora

For context. I have watched MHA through season 6. and it's one of my favorite anime of all time, so far. I'm waiting to watch the last two seasons until my husband has caught up with me. I also have not read the manga for either show.

I'll start off by saying this show is good. At moments even great. There's a lot that I like about what's going on here. The idea of vigilantes in general, and specifically in the MHA universe, is an interesting concept to explore. Some of the new characters are real stand outs. (Knuckleduster is a personal favorite.) It's cool to see what the returning characters were up to before the events of MHA. I like the idea of this show being more "small scale", and exploring how living in a superhero society affects the average person in a day-to-day sense.I also personally like the art style and animation a lot. It's more comic-booky with dark lines and bold, colorful sound effects. The opening song is also a real banger. Not that that matters. But it's been stuck in my head for days, so I figure it's worth mentioning.

Buuuuuut (and it's a big but), I feel like vigilantes falls short of MHA when it comes to themes, world building, and character motivation. If you're just interested in a more casual watch, with cool action scenes and funny situations, this might not matter much to you. However, I feel like it is a bit of a let down, for me, after coming from MHA.

Spoiler, click to view

I would say that there are two major flaws with the show. First, it does not properly explain how vigilantes function in this society and how society responds to them. We can make some assumptions about what's going on, but I feel like it's a real misstep to not explain it within the context of the show. Either in the beginning, like they do in MHA, where Deku exposition dumps everything to get us up to speed. Or within the first couple of episodes. I feel like this is especially important because, up until what I've watched of MHA, we have never seen or heard of a vigilante before. Not one. So, I would've assumed they don't exist. Or are so rare or inconsequential that it's not a topic worth making a show about. Basically, why should I give a shit about vigilantes or what they're doing? Why is it important? Why is it interesting? And what are the pros and cons of choosing this route vs. being a hero or just a normal person?

This leads me to my second major complaint about the show. Koichi, in my opinion, is a weak Protagonist. Like, narratively weak. (His character arc so far, in a nutshell.) He wanted to be a hero when he was a kid but gave up because he missed the test to apply for a hero program. After high school he's ok with just being a "nice guy" who uses his power to pick up trash and help people with small problems. Then after he meets Knuckleduster and saves Pop Step, he decides to be a vigilante because there's something inside him that still wants to be a hero. I think?

I have problems and questions with this character arc.

He missed one test and then totally gives up on being a hero? Really? Couldn't he have just rescheduled the test and tried again? Or something? My man gave up on his dream real fast. Also in episode 4, Ingenium offers to let him work for his agency! Why would he turn that down?!?!?! It's a much better opportunity with a real hero, where he could do real hero work. Also, Ingenium just scouted him off the street. He obviously has enough skill and talent to be a real hero, soooo...
Why would he choose to be a vigilante? He seemed perfectly fine picking up trash before and he doesn't seem too motivated to be a hero because he gave up pretty easily. Being a vigilante is dangerous and illegal, so why would a normal guy like Koichi choose this path? It makes sense why someone like Knuckleduster would do this. Knuckleduster has reason and motivation, while Koichi doesn't.
Koichi's general attitude, along with his penchant for dressing like All Might make him feel too similar to Deku. However he also lacks anything that makes Deku a unique and interesting character. Not to say another cheerful character couldn't work, or that an "every man" type character couldn't work. I think it could. It's just not doing it for me right now. I find him uninteresting and his choices are confusing.

Final spoiler. Ingenium is cool, hot as hell, and got done dirty. That's all.

Despite all my complaints though, I think it's a good show that is worth watching. If you like MHA, you'll probably like this. It's fun, and entertaining, with some really great fights and character moments. I do want to see how things evolve and I hope some of my issues get resolved as the show continues.