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.
