Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals 613y5k

Most of the viewers coming to watch this spinoff of MHA have already seen the original story, I'm here to tell you that I'm part of the minority who have heard of MHA and watched a few episodes but never attempted to catch up to it, because there were a lot of things that I found annoying about MHA, like this Deku, that Deku, and yes, last but definitely not least, Deku. It might be one of the only anime where I couldn't even finish a single season because I can't handle a second of watching the biggest mediocre villain come to life versus the ... wimpiest main character made for mainstream. In Vigilantes, it's a bit different.

It introduces three different characters into the setting of MHA, and by different, I mean introducing a Batman without the brain, Spiderman without the uncle, and a random high-school girl dressed up in a kinky way, because you need your weekly dose of fanservice. There's also the main plot being the usual implication of a bigger bad doing something behind the scenes without bringing any thought into the lore for it to stand out. Yeah, it's not the most original, but the appeal comes because of the name Vigilantes stampled in its title, so you get heroes acting faster than usual or like superhumans brute forcing their way through the scene. A lot of their action scenes shows them not doing herolike things while also being a bit brutal and niche. But they are all acceptable things that I can follow without it feeling forced. And yes, because there is no Deku to be found.

Since it is still a spinoff of MHA, so you're still going to find a lot of familiar characters that have appeared in the original story, however thanks to the timeline of this anime being set before the original story, the story can still have time to get its own identity while being set in the MHA Universe, without overrelying on the original cast of MHA. Unlike MHA, who feeds its main story with implications of masterminds playing behind the scenes, Vigilantes does the same thing, except it's a lot faster and straightforward to it, so you get to see some growth in between character development and plot tensioning. But the best part? There's no Deku in here.

The theme the anime decides to do is to follow a comic book like format, and it does that somewhat decently, it shows sound effects as you would commonly see for an serialized superhero comic book, with each impact being followed up by a romanized sound effect that is complemented by the production's sound quality. The anime looks good too, although it doesn't leave a strong impression of what MHA is known for, those little bursts of ember that carried the entirety of MHA whenever everything aligned together for one epic moment after another. Also there is no Deku, so you get to see a lot of better scenes.

I'd like to say that Vigilante is a decent show, not because of its story, its characters, its nuances, its music, its design, or any of that schtick I just mentioned. It's not by far the best product you could find for a spinoff of MHA, when it's handled by a subdivision of Bones, and it's lacking some talent you'd usually find in the main story. But I can say that Vigilante is worth the watch because it's a bit more straightforward and has no Deku in it. So there you have it. Whatever you just read, it may not be the best, but I hope you get my point.

Thank you for reading.

Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals extends the themes of the My Hero Academia universe into the shadier quarters of heroism, positioning itself as a derelict version of our superhero digs, for lack of a better term. These three episodes of Bones Film, however, are weighed down by they lack lustre. The show follows the exploits of a Quirk-weak college kid who goes rogue, and want's to be a gritty rebellion but feels more interested in utilizing tropes we have seen before, with tired characters and and uneven quality.

The Good: The premise has some promise; the act of being an unlicensed hero and fighting crime ... absent of consequences that ranked pros dismiss is a defiant 'get bent' to society. The seedy crime underbelly tries to provoke questions about moral blending, suggesting a realm where justice walks the tighrope over a chasm of desperation. The trio of misfits fighting crime has a scrappy charm about them. Action sequences are fairly vibrant and kinetic, with a distinct comic book energy inside the martial arts choreography, conveying an electrifying comic-book feel enhanced by lines and colors. The title sequence boasts a thumping anthem and the sound design is gritty and foreshadowing a life lived on the urban fringe, raising the stakes in a tantalizing way.

The Bad: The story trudges like a disheveled drifter reminiscing from a failed adolescence, rehashing shonen tropes from tired standbys (underdog struggles) to cringe-worthy mentor rants, diluting the potential for excitement. The heroic theme of vigilantism barely scratches the surface of moral decay, choosing instead to portray class and societal divides as unrefined aesthetic choices. The main character is without substance, and the desire for him to be driven seems to be a place to glue the plot together, and the main characters fall short on the case of archetypes. Their quirks work like fashionable luxury toys without a hint of grit. The animation wanders away from competent backdrops and unrelenting stand-still poses are evident of limited resources, The score drops lightly out of scare and there is no drama or tension in the confines of the audio design, so fights feel lame more than anything. This is not even an interesting take, it is simply MHA in grunge filter, but meek in nature.

I was looking forward to gut-punch swipes to the genre, The vigilante intrigue had me interested and hopeful, but this take on the framework is fragile at best or an uninspired echo without the fire like MHA. The premise is promising, the art teases at grandeur, and the line of storytelling is spineless. The main character is forgettable and the aesthetic is weak at best, although I feel that someone who is a faithful follower of shonen might take a bite of it. Ultimately, Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals is less a roaring triumph like a marvel Netflix show like Daredevil, and more like a dull pencil drawing of the original with faded colors.

WOW! Why isn't this series making any noise like the Main Series?

Im starting to believe superhero fatigue hit a new high thanks to Disney Marvel, DC, Amazon Prime (They Boys & Invincible) milking the genre in all the freaking wrong ways. Like I have to dig deep to find any one talking about this series and I can tell you right if this series aired in 2017 or 2018 with this animation it would have imploded but I dont see this.

Why? I don’t get why barely one talks about this series.

Like seriously — this is some of the best stuff to come out ... of theStudio Bones. The animation is top tier. The writing is solid, the pacing is tight, and the characters? Way more grounded.

People would be losing their minds over this series in the 2010s... ughhh

I honestly think Western companies have done irreparable damage to the genre. Disney-Marvel’s ran its cinematic universe to the ground. DC’s been all over the place, and the “edgy” takes like The Boys or Invincible are too cynical for anyone to like after the first season.

I get it — people are tired. But Vigilantes isn’t like that. It’s a street-level story with heart.

I had to dig to find anyone even recommending it. And that’s wild because this thing actually adds to the MHA world in a meaningful way. Like, it gives real context to the flaws in Hero Society and shows a side of it we don’t really see in the main series.

Anyway, give Vigilantes a shot. It's not loud or flashy, but it’s smart, emotional, and it stuck with me way more than I expected.

I was initially skeptical when they announced this project cuz I didn't think it would translate well to anime and the manga itself isn't quite a standalone, and I doubted that it would get the Bones triple A production budget.. but after watching all the episodes that has aired so far, I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to pull it off, even ironing out the kinks and the pacing of the manga. I am excited cuz Koichi,imo, had a better character and quirk development than Deku and if the anime follows suit, the plots and fights will only get stronger and intriguing from here.. ... Fully recommended, it can hold the candle to the main MHA.

This is a spin-off taking place on Boku no Hero Academia happening 6 months before the main series starting.

That's important for two things:

- while you can watch this without reading/watching the main series, a big selling point here is having the opportunity of seeing things from another side and some of these aren't as enticing if you haven't seen them before, like watching Ingenium as a hero instead of a fallen background character, Eraserhead and a few others as heroes instead of teachers that need to occasionally step up, low powered villains having chance to cause some havok etc

- having a more casual approach to ... the universe, without the need of great threats, powerful villains and such. This is not a story about someone who became the number one hero so there's no need for on par nemesis.

This series follow the daily life of Koichi, a failed wannabe hero (in the sense he can't actually act as a pro hero since he doesn't have a license), along with Pop Step (an underground idol) and Knuckleduster (a Batman-style vigilante).
Since none of them have powerful quirks, they mostly deal with neighborhood level villains, mostly a "villain of the week" per episode, although within a bigger plot behind, so there's time to spare to watch their interaction outside action and eventually meeting a BnHA character and learning more about them.
It starts a bit slow, but it keeps going forward as more characters are introduced and more plot is revealed.

Overall is a nice and chill series and doubling for those who liked BnHA and wanted to see more of the non-student characters.

As a longtime My Hero Academia fan, I went into Vigilantes with cautious optimism—and honestly, it’s a mixed bag, especially when it comes to the protagonist. The setup feels a bit shaky: a guy with a perfectly usable quirk who dreams of being a hero, yet spends his youth aimlessly drifting until college, only then deciding to become a vigilante doing random good deeds. That motivation feels paper-thin at times. Things only really get going when he meets Knuckleduster, a quirkless man investigating the underground drug “Trigger,” which kicks off the actual plot.

Honestly, following Knuckduster would be a better fit because he cant do hero ... work as he is quirkless but then you would fall into 'great value batman' and I can see this is why they added the college student as the MC

Narratively, there are cracks. But in an era where Marvel and DC are stuck in an endless loop of recycling half-century-old characters, this series at least tries to inject something fresh & new characters into a genre that's beyond oversaturated. It’s flawed, sure—but at least someone is still trying to create new characters and stories.

I’m not going to be too harsh. I'll give it an A for effort, because at this point in superhero media, every archetype has been done, every power explored, and every twist attempted. We’re running on fumes here, and Vigilantes is one of the few trying to keep the engine going.

Final Score: 8/10
The story alone sits around a 6–7/10, but the animation and adaptation by Bones Studios elevate it above standard. If you're craving something new in the superhero genre, this might be your best bet for a while.

MHA spin off, honestly pretty clean and interesting, its pretty nice that horikoshi made a spin off showing us the underground life by, diving us deeper into the MHA series, and making us understand not all hero's are powerful because strength doesnt define our crew its their will to defend the citizens even though its hard and harsh that makes the characters interesting and a bit relatable to some people because our main characters being terrified but still pushing forward is a really great way to show us the city life, that not all high level hero's can participate in, but doesn't mean they don't ... show up sometimes when our main crew cant handle the villain's , this just shows us another perspective of the original my hero academia and its really beautiful, in conclusion I think anyone who watched the original show would love this, me personally I enjoyed this because of the point of perspective horikoshi showed us, sorry for the short review am new here and ty for reading.

I am not coming at this review as an OG MHA fan (which I am one), but rather I am coming at this as a fan of the original MHA Vigilantes manga. And I have to say? The show is a great adaptation of the manga so far. Is it perfect? No, it's not. But it's really good despite its faults. And there are a few reasons why the show did what I wish OG MHA's anime did.

1) Characters.
I loved Izuku, Ochaco, and other OG My Hero characters, but there were way too many of ... them. With Vigilanties, there are only a few that we fully follow. Those characters are Koichi Himawari (The Crawler), Knuckle Duster, and Pop Step. With Koichi he's a better MC when compared to Izuku because of how he's trying to fix the system outside of it, and without pretending it's perfect at the start. Pop Step, despite her outfit, was a cool character as she had her ambitions without trying to be a vigilante. And Knuckle Duster has his own thing around the world of Vigilanteism. And his background is... A spoiler for late in the manga, so I won't say. And the voice cast is good at bringing to life the characters from the manga to an animated format. There was a small censor with Pop Step, specifically in her outfit, that I think makes the show a tad bit better than the manga, but that's my opinion.

2) The story.
The story is a general "there is a spooky force going on in the background that you need to watch to learn about." And you'll see it for sure. But seeing how they set things up, I love how things are going. And I love how the anime is setting things up amongst what the OG did. Heck, it takes place ~5 years before the original series, so besides some of the pro heroes, you don't have to worry about whether or not you'll see the main MHA crew in the show.

3) The concentration and pacing.
There are multiple chapters of Manga in one episode. The first two did 1.5 chapters per episode. But it looks like 2-3 might be how they end up doing the later episodes. And this works because of the format of which is happening in which the show is. It's not to fast, but still fast enough to where you can cruise along.

4)The opening and closing songs.
When I write this, only one OP and ED have been released for the show. But I do prefer it to OG MHA because of how fitting it is with and without the visuals. That is not to say that OG MHA had bad songs, just that this is the best of them all.

5) Standing on its own.
I know I compared it to the OG MHA series, but that's because it's in the universe. But even without it, you can perfectly watch this show without worrying about who you'll see, and what is happening in the other series. It does everything it needs to without being overtly clingy to the OG.

Overall, whether or not you liked the original MHA or not, heck whether or not you like the manga or not, I would heavily recommend you the show. It gives you a good chance to see the series that made me love the MHA verse. Even if it's not your cup of tea, I think you'll enjoy it.

Story and Characters: MHA Vigilantes takes place 6 years before the main series, before the main crew (Deku, Bakugo, Todoroki, etc) ever went to UA. It focuses on "illegal heroes" who either don't have quirks or whose quirks aren't strong enough to be ed as official heroes. These vigilantes, despite not being ed, are trying their best to help out society in the ways they can, whether its defeating villains that would otherwise go under the radar of the pro heroes, or just doing regular good deeds. Although it is a different perspective, at the end of the day its still same old MHA. The ... main characters feel like carbon copies of the MHA cast (weak guy with a good heart, discount All Might, and damsel in distress) - almost exactly one for one with the main series. For now I feel zero emotional attachment to the main cast of Vigilantes as it feels like they just ripped off from the main series, and added zero creativity and originality to their cast. On top of that, the story so far is very much villain of the week style, where each week a new big bad guy shows up and our guys have to defeat them - a formula which I am not a fan of. Overall, the story is bland, basic and not interesting at all. By far the weakest aspect of this show for me.

Score: 4/10

Animation: The animation in this show is quite good, but that's not surprising at all because its studio Bones. There are a few clean fight scenes here and there, although considerably less than the main series. This is a shame as they are not able to showcase their fluid fighting choreography to the fullest, which is an area where MHA tends to shine.

Score: 8/10

Soundtrack: The OST in this show is good, but after all it's Yuki Hayashi, so this is to be fully expected. It gets you hyped and hits you in the feels when it needs to.

Score: 7/10

OP & ED: Both the op and ed are extremely weak for MHA standards. While the visuals are pretty, the songs are generic and almost put me to sleep because of how boring they are.

OP score: 5.5/10
ED score: 6/10
Mean score: 6/10

Voice Acting: The voice acting in this show is good. Although the VAs for the main cast are lesser known, they portray their characters well and get the vibe down of each of them quite accurately. The voice work in this show won't blow you away, but it gets the job done.

Score: 7/10

Overall, MHA Vigilantes is a disappointing addition to the series. As it stands, it is "fine". Not terrible, but doesn't stand out among all of the heavy hitter series that come out each season. Considering how much manga readers had been hyping this up, praising the writing quality and saying how much better it is than main MHA, I fail to see where all this praise comes from. Maybe the story will get better and maybe the characters will start to feel less one dimensional as we move forward, but as of right now, I can't recommend it to anyone other than die hard MHA fans (and even then the main series is still better, since it was good from ep 1). As someone who has been following MHA since 2018 and who has seen every season and every movie, this new addition for now has very little to offer. Ultimately, although MHA vigilantes is visually appealing, it lacks direction, focus and substance.

Overall score: 6/10

My Hero Academia: Recycled Content

You know, in many ways, I kept trying to ask myself what exactly was there that I did not like about the main character of this anime, that I like so much about Midoriya. As I kept watching the show, and I kept trying to understand it, it finally clicked.

It's because this dude isn't irable, nor relatable, nor likeable

For this review, I decided to rewatch the first episode of my hero, and it perfectly sets up and explains what did All Might see in Midoriya that day.

Midoriya had lived his life being picked on by everybody, and worst of all, ... he kept getting assaulted by the very person alongside whom he had grown up.

Since childhood, Midoriya had to live knowing that his biggest dream, his biggest ion since he was 4, would never come to fruition. And yet even still, as a child, he couldn't tear himself away at his idle, at the one icon he believed in no matter what, even at the time of being practically guaranteed to stay average for the rest of his days, while the very person who has been bullying him his entire life, will thrive simply by having been lucky to have been born with a quirk.

And yet, no matter all of this, what does he do?

When he sees all-might, he clings onto him like glue, and does not let go

THAT, is when I became invested in Midoriya

THAT, was when he had proven he had shown me reason to care

CLEARLY, even All Might, in all his time being a super hero, had never encountered somebody that was actually willing to have gun as far as to cling onto him.

And what happens next?

He meets the true all-might, the face under the smile, and what he hears that day ends up being some of the ugliest truth he could ever ask for. He had lived his entire life, and clearly, when given the chance, was given the opportunity to seek out his idols approval, and yet what did that idol do? He did the right thing

He told Midoriya the truth

Hero work isn't a joke, this isn't a game, this is no musical where everybody gets their happy ending.

Unless you have a quirk, you will DIE out there, and the last thing all might of all people is going to do, is inspire somebody to seek out that death and carry the guilt of that sin on his mind, more than he has had to have done for long enough as it is.

And what happens next, was when I was sold

Midoriya abandon's all hope, he abadon's his idle, his parents, his life, all of it

To save the same prick that had burnt his cherished notebook and had detered him from becoming a hero all his life.

He let go of all his hate, fear and joy, and just ran at the impossible head on, same way he had clung to all might prior to the fight.

THIS was when I was HOOKED. Midoriya, a helpless loser, was given every reason to give up, and yet he didn't.

He didn't let his hope die, which ultimately allowed him to inherit his true key to achieving his goals


Now, with all of this, all this that you are most likely familiar with, what exactly does Vigilantes do?


We see slider-boy
- being born with a quirk he doesn't develop
- skip his entire childhood exposition, hence removing any significant trauma that may have been a catalyst for his wanting to be a hero
- provide no showing of potential, besides him having a quirk
- him doing community service at night, while playing dress-up and pretending to be a hero
- gets bullied by the same gang of thugs... thrice...

But ok, maybe I am being too harsh, maybe his moment of glory is when we see the true reason behind why we should care about this guy.

Ok, the girl that clearly showed appreciation in his community service, shows him some affection, what does he do?

- Disregard her playful comments
- Gets flustered over what he does
- Walks away

Like bro, if you truly do understand how deep at the bottom of the barrel you are, you must at least appreciate the consideration of somebody as popular as a literal pop-star, going out of her way to show their appreciation for what you do, despite how trivial it may truly be.

What happens next?

That same person who had showed him hints of affection and sincerity is getting assaulted by the same thugs that were bullying him earlier. And by god all mighty, if this shit didn't make my head 10% balder from how much balding I experienced in this scene, I would be the lucky party walking out of this nightmare.

"Um Pardon?" owo

"Wait, that's too far, stop it" >w<

ARE YOU JOKING? THATS IT? CRY FOR HELP, WHALE LIKE A PIG AND BEG THEM TO LET HER GO, DO SOMETHING?????

DUDE THEY"RE LITERALLY ASSAULTING HER, SHE IS GENUINELY ONE MASK TEAR AWAY FROM GETTING VIOLATED, WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOINGGGG. YELL, SCREAM, ATTACK, DO SOMETHING....

Bandit: "Oh, is it? And who are you to tell us what to do?"
Bandit: "Scram with that lame hood"

"Hey, its not lame!" VwV

...what.....

WHAT....

ARE YOU SERIOUS, THIS PERSON IS GETTING ASSAULTED AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR POSER ASS FUCKING HOODIE? I bet all-might would have ground slammed you into the pavement had he seen that you care about his hoodie over doing what he stands for. GET UP AND CALL THE COPS YOU SPINELESS EGUANA

Bandit: "SHUT UP"

Him: "Yeah, youre right, its not my business, sorry to bother you"

Well, I hope that you at least catch a reason to run around the corner and call the cops and....

*catches glimpse of the girl getting assaulted

Him: "No my hoodie isn't lame..."

I genuinely don't care that you had your revelation that you have some sort of orbs down your pants
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will save this god forsaken dogshit character from being salvagable.

Are you kidding me.

YOUR REASON TO ENTER BACK INTO THE FIGHT, IS CATALISTIZED BASED ON THE INSULT OF YOUR FUCKING HOODIE???

I'm done

You're done

This is over

We are done here.

Knuckle Duster, while being a sick character, is just a batman rip off that is more off the rocket and is portrayed as much older and poorer than batman ever were.

Pop-fart is just a dumbass idol girl that does nothing, doesn't strive to be a hero, and yet clearly follows the two main characters because she wants to be one.

And the main character, well, you heard enough of him already as is.
He is a whiny little baby, that does the equivalent of cleaning army toilets and yet thinks that he is ready to shoot a gun.

The only reason knuckle duster has picket up this loser, is out of desperation, rather than actual interest or promise within him. He works above the law, and as such, is not picky about partners, especially ones that he can easily manipulate.

Together, they make the: RECYCLED SQUAD

This entire show, is just recycled content, concepts and character art, built around the world of MHA, which occasionally runs into real MHA characters, to make you vaguely think that you are watching something actually good, when the reality couldn't be further from the truth.


They definitely decided to drop this series now because:
Season 7 was genuine peak, and the publishing company is trying to milk the series before it ends after S8. With considering how Season 7 ended, and following similar trends in all other media, with the climactic end of a series, it is certainly hard to pull off a sequel series, as it ends up having to compete with the quality comparison of the finished work. (IE - Marvel burnout after endgame).

Add more fuel to the fire by adding those feelings of "Oh hey, thats that one character from the other show, ITS ALL CONNECTED". Finally, most obviously, try to milk a series they know is doomed to fail because it is literally using recycled content and concepts, so may as well push the toys and merch of this series, while the fab of mass buying my hero content is on the rise.

I actually love My Hero Academia, and despite all the undeserved hate the show gets because of its degenerate fanbase, it still piqued my interest one day. The last two seasons even earned a spot among my 10/10-rated anime. And yet, I couldn't be more disappointed with the vigilante series than it could have been possible.

It's funny that Knuckle Fister teaches the main character to aim for the garbage, as that is precisely where this series belongs

This anime falls drastically short when compared to the original. The characters are painfully dull and lack any kind of depth or charisma. The fights are uninspired, the plot is incoherent, and it’s hard to understand why anyone would be interested in this alternate storyline. Especially considering the drug subplot was a minor element in the original series, its central focus here feels forced and unnecessary. The show lacks both logic and direction. You’d at least expect solid animation or compelling battles, but instead, we get a protagonist who’s even less interesting—and far less capable—than Deku, with a completely underwhelming ability. Overall, it’s a pointless ... spinoff that’s not worth your time.