Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals Episode 5 Discussion

@thewiru I honestly don't know why people hate on MHA so much. I want to understand, also if you dropped after Overhaul then you missed the Paranormal Liberation Front arc which was so peak fiction.

@animefanftw123 I can understand liking Stain, but he's too extreme in his ambitions. Izuku Midoriya is somebody who has always had the spirit of a hero and he grows far more than most other characters and he's the catalyst for others to do the same. I don't see any character even being comparable outside of Katsuki Bakugo or Tomura Shigaraki for the best MHA character.

Regarding some point people are discussing here:

Is it better than the originals series?
Yes, I dropped the manga right after the Overhaul arc, but my main complaint was how HeroAca always seemed to be in "a controlled environment", where here things seem to have a lot more freedom (Kinda thematically lines up with being a hero vs a viligante, huh?), that's not to talk about the stories being a lot more personal and the artstyle objectively superior (And I rarely use that word).

I was thinking about it, and some guy on /a/ kinda said it very well: Vigilantes is kinda structured like a super-hero comic, isn't it? Each episode usually covers two chapters, and it's very blatant when that happens because each half feels "different" from the other. It's manga likely follows the "Every comic issue is someone's first" mentality where each chapter must also act like an interesting story in it's own.
I can even imagine the covers "In this issue, the special appearance of the super hero Ingenium?", "The secret past of PopStep? Check now in the newest issue of VIGILANTES!", "A new vigilante? Just who is the mysterious Stendhal?".
I'm not much into comics, so I would like someone who's into them to confirm if those vibes align with reality.

Is it a spoiler to say who Stendhal is?
First of all, people here are officially posting theories, but if that enough classifies as spoilers, it just tells you how fucking obvious his identity is, LMAO.
Come on, guys, Vigilante's manga started in 2016, season 2 of HeroAca was there in 2017, for anyone at the time reading it it would have been obvious from historical context alone, and now we have a character with the same fighting style and voice-actor, COME ON.

What really bothered the most was the fact that POP STEP WAS EATING THE FLAN WITHOUT KOICHI CONSENT??? Like, yeha, we know the old man also take Koichi's beer and that IS ALSO FUCKING HORRIBLE. Why they want to show things that not normal japanese people would do? The fact that POP STEP was only ashamed because Koichi told her he wanted to eat Pudin, UGH.

Also, wtf is wrong with her? something as important as Koichi's past about heroes SHOULD BE SAID INMEDIATLY.

I don't know POP STEP AGE, but I know for a fact that she is a fucking brat.

@KingBaller06 Of course Deku would have the most "growth" as its his story.

Stain though is best character as his ideal is the most believable out of every character.

So while Deku is getting growth, hes also fitting into Stain's ideal character.

@animefanftw123 Izuku's ideals are just as believable, if not more since he starts out as a naive kid who sees everything in black and white, and then through his vigilante work and his fight with Lady Nagant, he realized there's a gray area to heroism that he overlooked, or simply never considered.

So no, Izuku Midoriya is the best character, with Bakugo coming in second.

Small world, turns out the little "boy" Kouichi rescued as his first hero act was actually Kazuho. She goes to make a confession but Knuckleduster is hanging around like a third wheel the size of a tractor tire XD

I don't get why they let the hardening guy go. Sure, it might be his first offence, but he caused a shitload of property damage.
But not to worry the new Ninja vigilante is on the hunt. Oh look a call back to Ninja Scroll, that was a great movie.
Seems like Mr. Ninja is Stain ver.0.1 as the MAL character list just outright spoiled it.

@rasterman7 What do you mean by use of quirks and scope? Is there too much going on in your opinion?

Also what moments do you feel are too slow or fast in MHA? Why do you feel more disengaged with the main series?

Stendhal is definitely Hero Killer Stain before he was Hero Killer Stain.

Stendhal is definitely Hero Killer Stain before he was Hero Killer Stain.

@seweholmes Bro, its just a story and not that big of a deal.

@KingBaller06 I'm not sure why are you asking me so many questions but basically:

- In terms of scope since this is a prequel there's no end of the world stakes so no need to go over the top and the show can focus on minor villains in comparison for a more "down to Earth" confrontation. Also, we don't have to pay attention to like 20 characters from the same class, only the main 3 so the show has more space to not only not remind us every episode what their quirks are since we can see them, but how they work and can be used (like when Koichi met with Ingenium).

- In the original series the high school nature of it and the fact that depending on the arc there either huge stakes, training or a festival definitely made the pacing feel either too slow or too fast. Like, those who have watched it can tell that there's a huge difference between what happens in season 4 and 5, and season 7, but not in terms of content but the story itself. Also, too many seasons can make the show feel uninteresting if the characters are uninteresting, time seems like it's not moving, too much unengaging dialogue, among other reasons.

In the end, this spin off is to me more or what I was hoping the original series would be and wasn't.

Man, Koichi really fucked up his college debut, huh? Poor guy. But why tf did he think it was a good idea to bring chicks into his apartment, which literally looked haunted in the middle of the night? Lmao. Maybe being an All Might fanboy killed his brain cells. But seeing how he's such a huge All Might fan with a very strong sense of heroism, I wonder if All Might would've picked him to inherit One for All if Koichi had met him in the alley instead of Knuckleduster.

Pudding is indeed very good. As soon as I saw that pink hair, I knew that "boy" from Koichi's flashback was Pop Step lol. The production value of this anime is so good man. I like the artstyle more than regular MHA. I'm glad the animation is doing it justice. Anyway, I don't think Pop Step will be able to confess anytime soon. Probably at the end of the season. Can't wait to see that happen. This ship is sailing well so far. Btw I couldn't find the age of Pop Step aka Kazuho Haneyama anywhere. But she's a high school student. Assuming she's in 3rd year, she's probably 17-18. Meanwhile, Koichi is 19 at the start of the story. So Idk why some people are losing their minds over these fictional characters when they're pretty clearly around the same age.

Stendhal? Yeah, you're not fooling anyone, Stain. Ig this was him before he went apeshit and became a hero killer. He wasn't that bad as a villain killer.

I gotta say, it's been a long time since I've enjoyed MHA so much. And it's thanks to a spin-off, not the main series.

Can't say I agree with mods deleting my thread. This episode completely normalizes that a murderer and rapist walks around AND casually meets up with the people he tried to murder and rape, and it's presented like it's nothing. Fucked up anime.

@rasterman7 The only difference between Seasons 4, 5, and 7 are simply that the story gets better and there are more layers revealed, such as Aoyama working for AFO and being born quirkless, Deku having access to the quirks of the previous wielders, which makes logical sense since AFO gave his little brother a stockpiling quirk.

The stakes of the main series were established early on, with All Might telling Deku that he may have to face the evil of AFO someday since he's the current OFA wielder, so everything has been slowly building up as both sides have been strategizing.

The cast may be bigger in the main series, but it focuses on specific characters when needed. For example, Season 2 focused on Tenya's path of becoming a true hero and progress of the relationship between Izuku and Katsuki, along with establishing Ochaco's feelings for Izuku, developing Momo's hesitation, and Shoto accepting the power he inherited from his father. These things continue to be built as the series progresses along with Hero Society as a whole changing due to the events that take place.

There was never anything that went too fast or slow.

@KingBaller06 I don't know what you want from me man, I simply disagree with that reasoning and you're being too persistent.

There is quite a difference between seasons, the stakes changed, the focus on the characters is a mess as before seasons 6 and 7 some of them like Shoji or the invisible girl barely get any and it's already too late for me to care, and yes there are times that the show goes too fast and too slow.

@rasterman7 No, there aren't any times where the show is too fast or slow. Give some examples if you feel strongly about that.

All I'm doing is expressing my disagreements with you. I think the focuses are fine and as the audience we're slowly learning about each important character.

Holy yap, ain't serious bud stop replying to every comment and get a life 🗣📢

@KingBaller06 No, you're being annoying and disregarding what I'm saying because it doesn't allign with what you think about the series. Please stop.

@rasterman7 No. I asked you for your in depth reasons for your opinion, and simply expressed my disagreements, just like anybody else. I even asked you for specific examples to substantiate your points, but you haven't done so.

I don't know how you believe what I'm doing here in in any way disregarding what you've said or annoying.

So to put it simply, my behavior will not change, so stop whining.

@KingBaller06 Ok then this is my last reply to you since you somehow don't see how annoying you're being with all these replies not only to me but it seems to many other people in these forums. If you wanna start a discussion you don't send 4 questions in one message. You also don't pry into others into giving you exact examples simply because you disagree or you don't see the other's point of view. You take the others opinion, maybe challenge it and add something or let it go into another direction if the mood is right. In this case, I'm explictly telling you I want you to stop replying to me. Take the hint.

PS: Maybe do the count of how many message you've sent in this thread alone and try to sustain the fact that there's nothing wrong with your behaviour.

Awwww Koichi saved Pop when she was still a child. Really wish she returns his precious sweater to him at some point. I'm rooting for those two!! 💙🩷

@Saww_Duss
Well, I don't HATE IT, but there are plenty of thing I dislike about it: I don't like the backgrounds and the color palette much.
Unless you're watching the BD version, a lot of scenes have that ugly "screen darkening" effect.
As I've written, the story up to where I read it seemed too much "on the rails", "controlled environment", we almost never got to "see the world", just what was shown to us (At the time, after the first Todoroki fight, I really thought that he would escape from home and Deku would have to make a whole reflection about being a hero and... no, it didn't happen).
The fact that it didn't kill characters caused some of them to become "dead weight", e.g. after Iida's character arc in the Stain arc, there was no more things for him to do or reasons for him to be there, same goes for Todoroki. I always interpreted Overhaul's arc as the authro having written himself into a corner and wanting a "soft-reboot" where we abandoned half the cast and the places we were used to in order to be in a completely new setting that feels more like having the structure of a movie, so to speak.

When asked by my favorite scene in the whole manga, I always respond that scene where they're disguised on the streets in that arc where Bakugou is kidnapped, because it felt for the first time that it broke free from it's "on the rails", "controlled environment" formula.

I do appreciate the anime's addition of original episodes, such as that one focused on Tsuyu or the one with the girl with the monocle.
Other than that, my issue with HeroAca was that it was just not that interesting and it's pacing was bad.

There's one more thing, though: It always bummed me how everyone just accepted the rules of that world about how heroes work and powers are regulated as a "matter of fact", and that the story never seemed to explore this aspect, which is why Vigilantes makes me happy, since it's almost entirely about exploring those aspects (Well, the manga more than the anime, I heard that many parts focusing on that were cut).

In regards to an anime focusing on a high-school where each student has a "quirk", I just think that Mairimashita Iruma-kun does it better.

@thewiru Honestly these are pretty valid criticisms. I've never really thought of it like that, and yeah Lida hasn't done anything for seasons upon seasons, but I think they got better at reducing the "heroes always win" spiel that always happens. By that i mean the villains actually accomplish things now and there are more desperate situations, and yeah it is hard to make 25 or so characters have a constant spotlight. Obviously characters like Koda and some other forgettable one's won't have a big purpose in the story and they'll just be there, but a lot of the characters do have some great character growth.

For example, Kirishima's fight during the Overhaul arc (the one where he's with fat gum and those other dudes), he reflected on his previous actions, and because of that he acted differently in the paranormal liberation front war arc. Honestly I still think there are a lot of good things to MHA, and I guess you're right there is a bit of a controlled environment where no one will die, but tbh I don't think the anime would be any better if some random class A kids died. Especially since it would be one with low relevance (they wouldn't kill off someone like Shoto).

Also I mostly like that they focus more on the villains and their motivations more in the 6th season. It used to be very one sided where we all were against the villains and heroes could do no wrong, but the villians and their motivations have some logic to them, and it creates a gray-scale to the otherwise black and white view of the world (even Deku acknowledged that the world wasn't black and white in season six, this is more evidence of growth)

as for the color plaettes and what have you, I haven't ever noticed that stuff nor has it bothered me, I'm surprised you picked up on that lol.


Anyways I see why you don't enjoy MHA, but I feel like there's a lot of good elements to it regardless.

She wears a seifuku, meaning she's in middle-school (Let's assume last year).
In the flashback scene, Kouichi is in his last year of middle-school, while she doesn't use an uniform and wears a handoseru, meaning she's a JS at that point.

I don't see a problem with this, though, it's the same relationship dynamic we had in Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.