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This article contains a discussion of sexual assault.
My Hero Academia: Vigilanteshad a truly phenomenal premiere episode, and it left plenty to be excited about for episode #2 and beyond. It’s great to get more ofMy Hero Academia’s world before the final season comes out this fall, and with how great the premiere was, it’s an expansion to the world plenty worth looking forward to.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantesstars Koichi Haimawari, a college student who failed to get into a hero school and now occasionally lives out his lost dreams by doing good deeds in his neighborhood. One day, after Koichi goes through an act of genuine heroism, he’s made the unwitting apprentice ofthe violent vigilante Knuckleduster, and from there,Koichi gets wrapped up in Knuckleduster’s vigilante crusade to get rid of a dangerous Quirk-enhancing drug called Trigger. It’s a great story forMy Hero Academiafans old and new, and it will be exciting to see where things progress.
What Time My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2 Releases
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2’s Release Schedule
My Hero Academia: Vigilanteswill stream new episodes weekly on Crunchyroll, which can be accessed through the app, its website, or third-party websites like Amazon Prime. Assuming there are no delays, then based on episode #1’s release schedule,My Hero Academia: Vigilantesepisode #2 will premiere on Monday, April 14 at 8:15 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 11:15 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 4:15 PM British Summer Time (BST), with the English dub premiering at the same time and dubs in other languages releasing later throughout the day.
What Happened In My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 1?
Produced By Bones Film; Directed By Kenichi Suzuki
My Hero Academia: Vigilantesepisode #1, “I’m Here”, opens with the introduction of Koichi Haimawari, a college student who can’t hope to be a hero because of his Quirk that only lets him glide across the ground at roughly the speed of a bicycle. Koichi is stuck dealing with a boring part-time job and occasionally being harassed by random thugs, but he does have an outlet for his stress:at night, Koichi will don an All Might parka and put on the guise of Nice Guy, a self-proclaimed hero who goes around doing random good deeds in his neighborhood.
During one outing as Nice Guy, Koichi was joined by Pop Step, an underground idol he briefly interacted with, when the two were accosted by the group of thugs that had harassed Koichi earlier. The thugs planned to strip Pop naked and post pictures of her on the internet, and despite his initial fear,Koichi fought down his feelings of doubt to defend Pop Step from the gang of thugs. Koichi’s efforts amounted to nothing, however, but before the leader, Soga, could do anything to either him or Pop, the two were saved by the intervention of the vigilante Knuckleduster.
Knuckleduster beat up two of the three thugs with an incredible storm of violent fists, all of which he seemed to take a sick pleasure in while simultaneously praising Koichi’s bravery, telling him he had the makings of a true hero. The last thug, Soga, almost attacked Pop Step, but Koichi, with renewed confidence, helped Knuckleduster take him down, and Knuckleduster told Koichi that he would make him his apprentice. Koichi refused, but Knuckleduster didn’t take no for an answer, soKoichi was reluctantly brought into Knuckleduster’s true mission of tracking down a dangerous Quirk-enhancing drug called Trigger.
The next day, Koichi and Knuckleduster began their search for people using Trigger, with Pop Step eventually tagging along. Pop tried to help by using social media to look for potential suspects, but Knuckleduster, being as blunt and violent as he was, kept harassing random people on the street, even accusing a random man of hiding Trigger inside his hero figurines. Knuckleduster kept harassing the man, despite Koichi’s protests, and at the end of it all,Knuckleduster was only stopped by the timely intervention ofrecurringMy Hero Academiacharacter Eraserhead.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Fixed The Manga’s Most Controversial Scene
The One Scene My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Couldn’t Leave Alone
In the manga’s take on the confrontation with Soga’s gang, rather than just say they would post naked pictures of Pop Step to the internet, they also said they would rape her, with one of them even saying she wouldn’t be able to walk when they were done with her. What was left in the anime was still terrible, butMy Hero Academia: Vigilantesedited the manga’s highly contentious sexual assault scene to be far less dark in the anime, and that does a lot to keep the tone consistent with the overarching franchise.
In addition to not being needlessly dark, the change also helps with how later arcs will play out. Despite being introduced as antagonists, Soga’s gang gradually becomes good people who help out Koichi and his friends, with Soga, specifically, getting a lot of character development and arguably becoming a main character, as well. That was always hard to accept because of how terrible they were in their debut, and as such,My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ anime making Soga’s gang less horrendous in their debut will make their later character development far more understandable.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Is The Perfect Anime For My Hero Fans, Old And New
What Makes My Hero Academia: Vigilantes So Good
Even after a single episode,My Hero Academia: Vigilantesis off to a great start. The series respects the tone and general aesthetic of the originalMy Hero Academiaanime while still taking things in a unique direction, so overall,My Hero Academia: Vigilanteswill be greatfor how much it plays into the original anime while still being its own thing. Even people who haven’t watched anything from the franchise before can get something out of it, and that’s the best someone can hope for out of any sort of spinoff.
Vigilantesis especially a great series to watch for older fans. Over the years, many fans of theMy Hero Academiaanime have criticized it for its inconsistent visuals and its often repetitive story, but between the major uptick in art and animation and having a story removed from what Izuku is doing,My Hero Academia: Vigilanteshas the potential to satisfy anyone who’s grown critical of the main series.My Hero Academia: Vigilantesis one of the most hotly-anticipated anime of spring 2025 for a reason, and it will be great to see how it continues to play out.
Be sure to watchMy Hero Academia: Vigilanteswhen it releases on Monday, April 14.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Cast
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, released in 2025, follows Koichi Haimawari, an aspiring hero using his modest Quirk for good deeds. Teaming up with two unlikely allies after a chance encounter with local thugs, they navigate the challenges of combating evil without formal superhero training.
