The following article contains spoilers for the first arc of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Summary
- My Hero Academia: Vigilantes will debut on April 7, 2025, adapting the Beginning and Stendhal arcs from the manga.
- First arc focuses on Koichi becoming a “Vigilante” with Pop Step and Knuckleduster, encountering various challenges.
- Naruhata Vigilantes track down the distribution of a drug that turns people into Villains, hinting at future storylines.
My Hero Academia Vigilantes will debut on April 7, 2025, and will serve as a sort of warm up to My Hero Academia Final Season. With apparently 12 episodes confirmed, the first season should adapt the Vigilantes Beginnings and the Stendhal arcs.
Vigilantes Beginning takes place from Chapter 1 to Chapter 8, while the Stendhal arc happens in Chapters 9–11. One chapter per episode seems like a good pacing, but the series could use more chapters in this first season. As the title suggests, the Vigilantes Beginning arc is mostly an introductory one.
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Spring 2025 Preview: My Hero Academia Vigilantes
My Hero Academia’s spin-off manga is finally getting an anime adaptation. What can fans expect from Vigilantes?
Chapter Zero: The Outlaw Heroes
The Concept of a “Vigilante”
It seems likely that the anime will begin by adapting Chapter 0, which was first released as a promotional introduction to the series and later compiled into Volume 4.
In this chapter, All Might and Eraser Head teach the kids of U.A. High School Class 1-A about Vigilantes, outlaw heroes who use their Quirks illegally to protect people in situations where Pro Heroes usually cannot. They also add that, despite not properly following the law, Pro Heroes generally overlook Vigilantes’ actions because they are helping society out of altruism.
Chapter 0 wouldn’t make a full episode, but the first few minutes of the anime may start with it, showing fans familiar and beloved characters right before jumping right into the prequel of the main story.
The Nicest Guy on the Block
Koichi Haimawari always wanted to be a Pro Hero, but he couldn’t make it. Maybe his Slide and Glide Quirk isn’t up to the job, as his sliding ability is only as fast as a bike. But he has the soul of a true hero. So he uses his Quirk to help others when the police are not paying attention.
At the beginning of the story, Koichi is no Vigilante at all. He’s more like the neighborhood handyman. He uses his Quirks, sometimes he doesn’t even use any special ability at all, to run small errands for those in need. Taking out the trash, helping an old lady to cross the street, carrying bags, he can help with any simple thing that may be burdening a soul. And he introduces himself with his heroic code name: Nice Guy. And he wears his All Might-inspired hood — just like Deku, he is a big fan of the No. 1 Hero.
However, he is not that brave when it comes to fighting. Some thugs around the neighborhood make fun of him. Things change when these thugs threaten Pop Step, a street performer who is some sort of local idol. However, even though he wants to fight, he is not skilled, and he is just about to get smacked, a strong — and sort of weird — guy comes to his rescue and beats the thugs out. His code name is Knuckleduster.
The “Naruhata Vigilantes”
Knuckleduster introduces Koichi to the idea of being a Vigilante. While Koichi doesn’t want it at first, he ends up dragged into it anyway. Pop Step later joins them. Since they act mostly in the Naruhata Ward of Tokyo, they are called the Naruhata Vigilantes.
So initially, this is the team and their Quirks:
- Koichi, now called The Crawler (Slide and Glide Quirk)
- Pop Step (Leap Quirk)
- Knuckleduster (name unknown for now, apparently Quirkless)
Together, they make a fun and charismatic team with great chemistry. Knuckleduster is the tough guy who acts without thinking too much, while Pop Step thinks a bit more strategically, but not like a genius or anything of the sort. Koichi is just a regular guy who wants to be a hero — he actually failed the exam because he stopped midway to help a boy (or so he thinks) who was seemingly drowning.
The Past of Fan-Favorite Pro Heroes
A nice part of Vigilantes is that we can see many My Hero Academia characters before the events of the main series. For example, we see All Might and Eraser Head in action — and an extra chapter that might be adapted in this season shows how Eraser Head ended up as a teacher. In another bonus chapter, Endeavour appears (and complains about All Might).
We also see Koichi interacting with a Hero, Ingenium, who teaches him how to train his sliding/gliding ability in order to improve it, meaning that Koichi will probably develop new techniques based on his Quirk.
Building Up to the Next Events
The first arc is pretty much an introduction of the characters and their main personality traits, following a “monster of the week” formula. However, Knuckleduster has formed the Naruhata Vigilantes because he is trying to track down the distribution of a drug called Trigger, which induces/enhances Quirks and is being used to turn people into Villains.
As these are mostly “transitory villains,” it is hard for Pro Heroes to deal with the situation, especially when civilians may be given the drug without their prior consent. So some “villains” are actually victims of a larger scheme. The arc also briefly introduced Queen Bee, who will be a major antagonist in later arcs.
The main My Hero Academia anime series is available to stream on Crunchyroll, which is likely to release the Vigilantes series.
My Hero Academia
Boku no Hero Academia
In My Hero Academia, Young Deku is born into a world where people commonly have something called quirks, also known as superpowers. He himself is born without any, but circumstances lead to that changing. He enrolls at the UA High School, a prestigious academy where the worlds future heroes learn how to use their powers.