Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 1

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 1 by Hideyuki Furuhashi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is a fanfiction spin-off manga of the fantastic My Hero Academia series, and I'd say it was a pretty bold move to try something like this since it has such an amazing behemoth to live up to. So? How does Vigilantes compare to its predecessor? Well, if you noticed my rating you might have guessed that I didn't think it did a great job.

Vigilantes was a mixed bag for me. There were certain parts that I liked, but then other parts that just soured the whole experience.

The concept is a plus, for me. It takes a look into a new aspect of this hero society that the main series doesn't show: The underground heros who act illegally without a license, who help out with slightly smaller crime like street fights and whatnot, and who help tackle bigger busts like drugs from different angles that pro heros can not. They're not restrained by the law or by society's rules like the pros are, and as their thanks they have to stay away from the cops so they don't get thrown behind bars. A bit ungrateful*, them.

*If you want to read a book where vigilantes are fed up with being restrained by the law and are rebelling to take over society, try reading Marissa Meyer's Renegades, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, much better than Vigilantes.

The main character is Koichi, a 19 year old first year in university. His introduction paints him as a pretty big dillweed loser who bows at people's feet and whose first instinct is to agree and walk away when told to do so by someone currently sexually assaulting a girl...



Ahem. But yenno, what makes a true hero isn't how you act automatically in the presence of evil, it's about how super-awesome-sick your superpower is! Right? Or... Wait. Did I get that backwards? It sure seems like Furuhashi-sensei (the author of this manga) did when he wrote that scene... And then consequently forgot he wrote it because...



Yeah, uh, you can just move right along, masked guy, there's no one here that has the right answer to your question. Except then they act as if Koichi does... Am I missing something here??? He acts EVENTUALLY, yes, but I thought the whole point was that you act IMMEDIATELY and without prompt or thinking about it. This was just a specific thing that I thought was really dumb.

Anyway, speaking of that masked guy... I sure liked him! Vigilante name: Knuckleduster! He actually DOES act like a hero. I mean, if you're okay with heros killing people, then all Knuckleduster does is beat the ever loving shit out of people! Pretty A-Okay and heroic by those standards! He actually lives by hero ideals (though, granted, not their laws), and he's hilariously over the top violent while he's at it. I even love the classically comic-bookish way that he's drawn, so it's an overall great time to read about and look at him.

The next main character is someone who I don't have anything negative to say about personally, but who plays a big role in the worst part of this first volume. Kazuho Haneyama, vigilante name: Instagram Ass Model Pop☆Step. The contents of his volume include introducing and setting up the angle of the story, the characters, and Pop getting captured/sexually assaulted not once, not twice, but THREEEEEEEEE times!!!!! Come on!! It was the same damn thing over and over again, the only difference being Koichi getting slightly better at using his quirk to save her each time. I was actually shocked at the lack of creativity, and at Furuhashi's audacity of milking the ever loving shite out of what should be a dead trope.

That honestly killed this volume for me. How could I enjoy a volume that plays its readers for fools who wouldn't mind just reading the same thing THREE times in the span of FIVE chapters? Really? Huge disappointment. The things that happened between these dumb kidnappings were definitely entertaining, but got super ruined and overshadowed by said dumb kidnappings. Way to really bring home the fact that your main heroine is fucking useless, and to only use her as ass-service and as a prop to make your main male leads look better. Honestly disgusting. I wasn't mad at this book during or right after reading it, but damn has it got my blood boiling thinking back on it.

I don't even want to say anything else. I've said enough. Is Vigilantes as good as My Hero Academia? TLDR: No fucking way. Not even fucking close. Horokoshi NEVER and WOULD NEVER pull this kind of fucking bullshit.

If you shut your brain off and just read it for the thrills and detective aspects of it then you'll have an entertaining and fun read. Heck, even I mostly enjoyed myself while reading it. It's just that if you turn your brain back on during or after reading it, you'll realize it's actually pretty shit.


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Read my My Hero Academia Reviews:
✪ Volumes 1-10
✪ Volumes 11-20

View all my reviews