Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On July 11, 2020, I started and finished Vigilantes’ Volume 5: “Day-Tripping Down to Naniwa”. Written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and drawn by Betten Court, this prequel spin-off series offers a different perspective—the Batman perspective is what I’ll call it—on My Hero Academia’s superpowered society. While Deku and his friends are working hard to become official heroes at school and in real-life hero situations, Koichi “The Crawler”, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster instead choose to moonlight as unlicensed vigilantes.

According to Hideyuki Furuhashi, this volume is considered the start of a season two. When I read that sentence, it made me reconsider how Volume 4 “Family” ended in regard to Knuckleduster, and how that lead to him leaving his vigilante stuff behind with Koichi. Apparently, Knuckleduster will be leaving the picture for a while in order to help Koichi grow as a vigilante. I found reading this volume a struggle as a result without Knuckleduster involved. I was really invested in him as a character, so I’m hoping his absence won’t be a long-term decision. You’re welcomed back anytime, Knuckleduster. I’ll try to like Koichi and Pop Step without my favorite character hanging around.

However, Aizawa / Eraser Head—from the main series, not yet a teacher at U.A.—is becoming a more prominent character in this series, so that was a pleasant surprise.

This volume didn’t have any high stakes in their plot either. Having Koichi and Pop Step become involved with a department’s store promotion wasn’t really compelling since they had done that already in the previous volume. I believe the volume was trying to show these gigs will become a part of the main characters’ life style—their norm—but I found it repetitive. Also, there doesn’t seem to be consequences about vigilantes being vigilantes. A lot of the Pro Heroes—most recently Fat Gum—let them off the hook too many times instead of arresting them. What kind of message is that? I missed when they ran away from the police.

The funniest moment in the entire series—so far—was in this volume though. Koichi missing the train and running after it was humorous in addition to his excitement about sticking to stuff. Koichi discovered his Quirk—Slide and Glide—allowed him to stick to objects like Spider-Man. Pop Step told him to cool it, as his new ability wasn’t that cool.

Overall, I hope the next volume picks up on the action. I’ll give My Hero Academia: Vigilantes a pass on this transitional volume 5 this time around, but Volume 6: “A Rational Man” better bring on the excitement! Let’s keep it reading, everyone! Plus Ultra!

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