Words from the Wayside

Vigilantes: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals (8/10)

Vigilantes is a spin-off story set before the events of Boku no Hero Academia which focuses on vigilantes in a world where being a pro hero is a viable career path. It expands the worldbuilding of BnHA beyond pro heroes and gives more historical information about how society developed after the appearance of Quirks. (Someone in YouTube comments said that Vigilantes is actually more academic about hero society history than BnHA which is more "My Hero Military Camp" sometimes. Absolutely wild and yet weirdly accurate.)

We're introduced to a new set of characters—college student Haimawari Kouichi, "freelance idol" Pop☆Step, and eccentric bruiser Knuckleduster—but lots of pro heroes from the main series appear in supporting roles as well.

( Cut for length and spoilers (for the anime and some of the manga). )

Random stuff:

• There's a distinct lack of protecting secret identities in this show. Kouichi spends more than half the time with his face out in the open even if they explicitly say that vigilantes are technically on the wrong side of the law. (Because even if they're doing good, they're not licensed.)
• There's a trio of characters who are assholes to Kouichi and Kazuho in E01. Like, assault and beat up levels of being assholes. And yet there's some weird redemption thing going for them by the end of the season? We don't need this.
• We get a fair share of Tensei AKA Big Iida in this show and I'm eternally grateful for it. We even get a minute of kid!Tenya struggling with his Quirk!! Cutie!!!
• The animation quality's much more consistent compared to the recent seasons of the main show, and also just higher quality in general. Which is interesting because you'd think that the main series would get more love since it's the central canon. Checking on MyAnimeList, studio Bones produces the main series and Bones Film produces Vigilantes. Poking around the Wikipedia page, it looks like Bones Film is a subsidiary of Bones and different studios in Bones Film work on each series (Studio B for Vigilantes and Studio C for the main BnHA).
• My per-episode reactions are in the comments of the corresponding posts over at bnha_fans. Spoilers abound in the comment discussions, so beware if you check them out.
• S02 is targeted for release in 2026!