‘My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ Episode 1 review: “I’m Here”

It’s clear that Toho and Bones Film putting My Hero Academia: Vigilantes to animation is an attempt to extend the brand’s life. The main anime will be concluding later this year, and Vigilantes can easily slide into the slot it leaves. A cynic might compare it to something like Boruto, which at first blush exists to keep an IP flowing. The new series is definitely that to a degree — its relevance to MHA proper passed about three seasons ago — but there’s more underneath that mask. 

How to be different without being alienating.

Right from the start of episode one, “I’m Here,” My Hero Academia: Vigilantes works to differentiate itself. The spin off manga being adapted is canon, supervised by original creator Kohei Horikoshi. But the story has its own writer and artist, Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court respectively. As a result, the manga is not only paced differently but also looks occasionally off. Court is a talented artist, but when drawing existing MHA characters like All Might, there are slight differences giving away the emulation. 

Obviously, the anime doesn’t want to separate itself from its well regarded and quality art direction. True to that, when a familiar face appears, they’re exactly as we would expect. However, there’s new aesthetics that actually lean more into the western comic book inspirations of the franchise. Thick black lines surround characters and big actions are highlighted by sound effect words right out of comics or Batman ‘66. This choice helps the new lead characters stand out as different without compromising the familiar characters that appear. It’s a genuinely clever trick that makes Vigilantes stand out while still looking connected. Credit to character designer Takahiko Yoshida and art director Yukihiro Watanabe for a simple but effective solution. 

A less compelling Midoriya.

Episode 1 is a bit of a slow start, however. This is mostly owed to the new lead character, Koichi Hamiwari (Shuichiro Umeda/Jack Broadbent). While he’s older than original protagonist Izuku Midoriya, he’s quite similar even with a quirk. Where Midoriya has an instant appeal thanks to his dedication, Koichi is much more disaffected and less determined. He’s a bit of a hard sell comparatively. Of course, this first initial arc of the series is about character introductions; and once Koichi’s new allies appear things pick up a bit. 

The self-assigned mentor Knuckleduster (Yasuhiro Mamiya/Jason Marnocha) is a Frank Miller character drawn by someone trying to make fun of Frank Miller, which is pretty fun for this franchise to tackle. He’s clearly much older than many other MHA characters as well. This makes for a nice contrast with the internet savvy underground idol Pop☆Step (Ikumi Hasegawa/Macy Anne Johnson). Both of these characters have their hooks figured out from the jump, which makes Koichi’s non-commitment stand out. He has the ability and even possibly the desire to be a hero, but doesn’t seem to have the spine to commit to the bit. 

The pacing is focused on a surprise rather than introducing the new lead.

Unfortunately, the pacing of the episode also keeps Koichi from working through this like a normal introduction episode would. Where traditionally an episode might end from the moment he assists with saving Pop from the street gang attacking them both, instead it continues into the next evening. That does give the episode a good hook for an ending, where a fan favorite character makes a surprise appearance. But it does Koichi a disservice and makes me question if this should have been a two episode premiere. I’m sympathetic to wanting to hook fans with that last moment surprise, however. 

Even if its lead doesn’t get to sell himself very well, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes does have things going for it in this first episode. The episode introduces the tantalizing hook of going outside of the criticized but ultimately lionized system of heroes in this world. The different but not drastic art style shift makes a compelling argument for giving the series a watch. This anime sure is an extension of brand management, but this is a promising start nonetheless. 

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes airs Mondays on Crunchyroll.

Featured image © H. Furuhashi, BETTEN. C, K. Horikoshi/SHUEISHA, Vigilante Project

Travis Hymas

Travis Hymas is a freelance writer and self appointed Pokémon historian out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Known to be regularly obessive over pop culture topics, gaming discourse, and trading card games, he is a published critic featured on sites such as Uppercut and The Young Folks.