Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals

Living in a superhuman society, it is hard to feel special. Even more so when the spotlight only shines on professional heroes, those legally authorized to use their special powers known as Quirks in public for the greater good.

Kouichi Haimawari grew up aspiring to be a hero, but with a mediocre Quirk like "sliding" that ties him to the ground, he soon came to the conclusion that he could only ever admire them from below. Despite this, Kouichi finds contentment in using his Quirk to carry out day-to-day good deeds, such as returning lost items and helping the elderly cross the street.

However, Kouichi's tame life takes a swing into the turbulent when he is rescued from a back alley brawl by Vigilante, or illegal hero, Knuckleduster. Seeing hero potential in Kouichi, Knuckleduster enlists his help in tracking down the source of a dangerous drug known as Trigger that boosts the user's Quirk at the expense of their rationality.

Set in a time before the events of the original story, Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals follows Kouichi as he chooses to don the reputation of a villain and become a Vigilante, operating in the shadow of the law to prevent crimes from taking to the surface.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Haimawari, Kouichi Main

Umeda, Shuuichirou Japanese

Knuckleduster Main

Mamiya, Yasuhiro Japanese

Haneyama, Kazuho Main

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Midoriya, Izuku Supporting

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

All Might Supporting

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Aizawa, Shouta Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Yamada, Hizashi Supporting

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Kayama, Nemuri Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Iida, Tensei Supporting

Kitada, Masamichi Japanese

Tsukauchi, Naomasa Supporting

Kawashima, Tokuyoshi Japanese

Suzuki, Kenichi Director

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Kuroda, Yousuke Script, Series Composition

Kocchi no Kento Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Apr 21, 2025

BenR98045

Recommended

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 21, 2025

ZeroMajor12

Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 22, 2025

Gwyn223

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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	Poll: Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 21	86 replies	by Mdraj6996 »» Today, 4:53 AM
	Low score - why? Its amazing Valdor_Shinata - Apr 20	39 replies	by Rubyurek »» Today, 4:33 AM
	Poll: Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 14	94 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Yesterday, 7:27 PM
	Enjoyed but felt more of kickass copy in main characters Avamarie316 - Apr 7	16 replies	by Avamarie316 »» Apr 21, 2:34 PM
	Poll: Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Apr 7	145 replies	by Arcanine369 »» Apr 21, 7:57 AM