The following article contains spoilers for the first arc ofMy Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Summary
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My Hero Academia Vigilanteswill debut on July 31, 2025, and will serve as a sort of warm up toMy 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.
Chapter Zero: The Outlaw Heroes
The Concept of a “Vigilante”
Itseems 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 thekids of U.A. High School Class 1-Aabout 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, butthe first few minutes of the anime may start with it, showing fans familiar and beloved characters right before jumpingright into the prequel of the main story.
The Nicest Guy on the Block
Koichi Haimawarialways 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’smore 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. Hiscode 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:
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.
At the end of this arc, it is revealed that the “boy” Koichi saved was actually Pop Step, and she has quietly been a huge fan of him ever since. She just doesn’t know how to tell him that.
The Past of Fan-Favorite Pro Heroes
A nice part ofVigilantesis that we can seemanyMy Hero Academiacharacters 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 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 istrying 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 mainMy Hero Academiaanime series is available to stream onCrunchyroll, which is likely to release theVigilantesseries.
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.
