Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2, available for streaming via Crunchyroll.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes made its series debut last week, marking the first official installment of the beloved franchise’s first anime spin-off. With the release of Vigilantes Episode 2 — titled «Takeoff» — the high-profile anime has officially gotten the ball rolling on its narrative, and if it’s a sign of things to come, then fans of the show have every reason to be excited moving forward.
Like the series’ premiere, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2 relies quite a bit on the foundation laid by its predecessor, and by its conclusion, it even reintroduces one of the most popular characters from the original anime into its narrative. However, whereas My Hero Academia is primarily interested in exploring the peaks (and valleys) of superhero society, Vigilantes spends time doing so with a much more grounded cast of characters than its predecessor, creating one of the most relatable contemplations of superhero society that the shonen genre has to offer.
Vigilantes Episode 2 Shines a Light on the Forgotten Part of Hero Society
The Show Proves Being a Hero Is About Much More Than a Quirk
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2 begins with Shota Aizawa — better known as Eraser Head — as he starts to fight Knuckleduster, whom Aizawa believes is harassing innocent citizens with an unknown Quirk. As exciting as their brief clash is, what feels even more noteworthy than the visually stunning nature of their fight is the fact that the episode begins with a battle between two individuals who effectively lack any superpower. Since Eraser Head’s sole power is to negate Quirks, he’s on an even playing field with a Quirkless character like Knuckleduster, forcing the two to fight hand-to-hand until they realize neither is a villain, at which point they go their separate ways.
Watching Aizawa and Knuckleduster trade blows is a stern reminder that, even in a world full of heroes, all it takes is grit and determination to stop a villain. Though it’s a bit early to assert that this is going to be the long-term theme of Vigilantes, Episodes 1 & 2 both spend considerable time giving life to what it feels like to be a regular individual in a world that idolizes all-powerful figures like All Might, creating a clear and cohesive throughline that, thus far, has kept the series pushing in a much different direction than the original My Hero Academia.
Though Izuku Midoriya begins My Hero Academia as a Quirkless teenager, he quickly inherits All Might’s uber-powerful Quirk, One For All. This transforms the series from a story about a powerless boy surviving in a world of heroes to one about a figure of destiny fighting to take down the most evil villain in the history of Hero Society. On the other hand, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes completely avoids this pivot, and in a refreshing turn of events, it seems like the show’s core trio of Koichi Haimawari, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster can legitimately shine a light on what it’s like to be a citizen in the increasingly dangerous world of My Hero Academia.
[Vigilantes‘] core trio of Koichi Haimawari, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster can legitimately shine a light on what it’s like to be a citizen in the increasingly dangerous world of My Hero Academia.
Episode 2 features several memorable fights and flashy scenes, but at no point do its underpowered protagonists come off as anything other than completely vulnerable to the dangerous heroes and villains seen in the My Hero franchise. Through two episodes, this sense of vulnerability has been a defining part of Vigilantes‘ presentation, and altogether, it has helped generate an atmosphere of maturity that doesn’t appear terribly often in the original My Hero Academia narrative. Characters like Haimawari, Pop Step, Knuckleduster and Aizawa are infinitely more relatable to viewers than characters with all-encompassing power like All Might or Izuku Midoriya, so for the series to succeed moving forward, they’ll need to remain the focus of the narrative — not their powers.
Vigilantes Amplifies the Best Parts of the My Hero Academia Franchise
Episode 2 Also Demonstrates the Spin-Off's Need to Keep Pushing Forward
Although My Hero Academia has become an international success for many reasons, there’s no denying that a major part of its popularity in Western markets is the show’s appeal to the American comic book aesthetic. This visual influence isn’t so strong that it overwhelms the franchise’s Japanese art style, but by comparing the fight scenes in Episode 2 of Vigilantes to any combat sequence in the original My Hero Academia, it becomes obvious that the former is making a concerted effort to incorporate much, much more of the comic book aesthetic. From dramatic action poses to literal onomatopoeia bubbles, Vigilantes Episode 2 fully embraces its inspiration, and the result is an episode that actually stands out as one of the most visually distinct anime of 2025.
[My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2] may have introduced its biggest obstacle to overcome moving forward: banality.
Given the saturation of the modern anime market, flashy visuals and solid animation are rarely enough to win over an audience by themselves. That said, it’s certainly much easier to forgive Vigilantes Episode 2 for any perceived missteps after watching the episode, which seamlessly mixes contemporary Japanese animation with the aforementioned American book style. Overall, it’s a visual delight from beginning to end, and even in the most mundane moments, Episode 2 looks significantly better than anything from the most recent season of My Hero Academia. However, as great as it is that Episode 2 of Vigilantes pushes the franchise forward in terms of nuance, groundedness, and production value, the series’ latest installment may have introduced its biggest obstacle to overcome moving forward: banality.
Any spin-off series runs the risk of being criticized as derivative, unnecessary, or unoriginal, so it’s not necessarily cause for alarm that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has featured elements that helped define the original series. Still, it’s a bit worrying that the primary issue that needs to be addressed in the show is the illegal trade of a Quirk-amplifying drug named Trigger — the same drug that pops up multiple times throughout the narrative of My Hero Academia. It’s a legitimate criticism to say that this feels a bit like rehashing material, especially considering the fact that Trigger’s presence in My Hero Academia is proof that the issue surrounding its distribution won’t be solved by the end of Vigilantes‘ narrative.
Ultimately, the reuse of Trigger as a plot device doesn’t hold Vigilantes Episode 2 too much, but it will be something that longtime fans of the MHA franchise should keep an eye on moving forward. Even though My Hero Academia: Vigilantes‘ biggest strength is its ability to examine Hero Society through the lens of motivated citizens, it will need to generate some distance from the original series in order to flourish as its own product. While most viewers aren’t expecting Haimawari and his newfound companions to change the world to the same degree that the cast of My Hero Academia does, the entire idea that non-Heroes matter — a huge theme of Vigilantes — would be majorly undercut is its cast simply retread the original series’ storylines. Thankfully, this potential issue is still on the distant horizon, and based on Episode 2, there’s still plenty of reasons to hope that the visually breathtaking spin-off will continue to give long-time My Hero fans a reason to reinvest in the series.
- Reused plot devices from My Hero Academia could signal trouble for Vigilantes' long-term
