My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Episodes 1-2

I love My Hero Academia's world. It's simple, but there's so much potential to tell stories with different levels of social commentary. While the mainline show has faltered in places, I think it gets to the heart of a lot of the societal issues plaguing the hero system that the world relies on. A spinoff series that focuses on a different set of characters who aren't officially recognized as heroes is such a brilliant concept. It's a concept so brilliant the show barely does anything with it in the first two episodes…

Put the torches and pitchforks down, I didn't dislike this premiere at all. Far from it, as there were a few things done better here than in the original series, like the art direction. The thick outlines, the bright colors, and the onomatopoeia showing up whenever characters perform key actions look gorgeous. It's an aesthetic that I wish the mainline series adopted, considering that the whole franchise is a love letter to comic books, so the show adopting more comic book aesthetics just makes more sense. Maybe the main series needed to use a streamlined style for the production? It's hard to say, but aesthetically, this show is a treat for the eyes.

It's just a shame that for a show that so heavily emphasizes the idea of heroes operating without official licenses, we don't see a lot done with that concept based on these first two episodes. Maybe we're still in setup territory, but it feels like the show is trying to highlight a flaw in the system by not fully recognizing these guys as heroes, when I don't think they've done anything extraordinary yet to justify that stance. It just feels like a bunch of characters running around performing hero duties, except now they have to make sure they don't get caught by the cops.

That being said, I do like all the characters. The chemistry is strong, and there are a lot of cute comedic moments. If we're comparing this premiere to the mainline series, it is lacking. I like that our main character, Koichi Haimawari, is a different type of nice person from Deku. He's more of a civil servant doing the best given his limitations. Unlike Deku, he's originally not striving for anything beyond what he's originally deemed himself capable of, so I assume his character arc will be about him eventually reaching a similar point that Deku did at the beginning of his series. I'm not the biggest fan of the fact that he was willing to just walk away from a bunch of thugs potentially sexually assaulting a woman in an alley. That feels like a writing oversight or something that wasn't communicated clearly, but outside of that, he's a solid protagonist.

The person I'm most curious about is Knuckleduster, who hits that sweet spot of deranged yet endearing. This guy is crazy in some of the best ways possible, and seeing him try to justify his violent tendencies has been a highlight of this premiere. I also think Jason Marnocha does a fantastic job voicing him, capturing that threatening undertone to his voice while still having a bit of an everyman feel. I'm very happy that the show has a dub, as I've always tried to watch MHA in English since the beginning. Not sure if it'll last throughout the entire series, but so far, all of the new and returning characters are performed well. My Hero Academia has always had an above-average dub, and it looks like Vigilantes will be no exception.

There are the parts with this hidden drug, the police involvement, the backstory of Knuckleduster, and how all of this will come together by the end. There's a lot of potential, despite what I considered to be a lackluster start. However, considering how popular this series is, I am very happy to see what else it has in store.

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