Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals

Living in a superhuman society, it is hard to feel special. Even more so when the spotlight only shines on professional heroes, those legally authorized to use their special powers known as Quirks in public for the greater good.

Kouichi Haimawari grew up aspiring to be a hero, but with a mediocre Quirk like "sliding" that ties him to the ground, he soon came to the conclusion that he could only ever ire them from below. Despite this, Kouichi finds contentment in using his Quirk to carry out day-to-day good deeds, such as returning lost items and helping the elderly cross the street.

However, Kouichi's tame life takes a swing into the turbulent when he is rescued from a back alley brawl by Vigilante, or illegal hero, Knuckleduster. Seeing hero potential in Kouichi, Knuckleduster enlists his help in tracking down the source of a dangerous drug known as Trigger that boosts the 's Quirk at the expense of their rationality.

Set in a time before the events of the original story, Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals follows Kouichi as he chooses to don the reputation of a villain and become a Vigilante, operating in the shadow of the law to prevent crimes from taking to the surface.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Haimawari, Kouichi Main

Umeda, Shuuichirou Japanese

Haneyama, Kazuho Main

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Knuckleduster Main

Mamiya, Yasuhiro Japanese

Midoriya, Izuku ing

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

All Might ing

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Aizawa, Shouta ing

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Iida, Tenya ing

Todoroki, Enji ing

Akaguro, Chizome ing

Inoue, Gou Japanese

Yamada, Hizashi ing

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Suzuki, Kenichi Director

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Kuroda, Yousuke Script, Series Composition

Kocchi no Kento Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Apr 21, 2025

ZeroMajor12

Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

Most of the viewers coming to watch this spinoff of MHA have already seen the original story, I'm here to tell you that I'm part of the minority who have heard of MHA and watched a few episodes but never attempted to catch up to it, because there were a lot of things that I found annoying about MHA, like this Deku, that Deku, and yes, last but definitely not least, Deku. It might be one of the only anime where I couldn't even finish a single season because I can't handle a second of watching the biggest mediocre villain come to life versus the ... wimpiest main character made for mainstream. In Vigilantes, it's a bit different.

It introduces three different characters into the setting of MHA, and by different, I mean introducing a Batman without the brain, Spiderman without the uncle, and a random high-school girl dressed up in a kinky way, because you need your weekly dose of fanservice. There's also the main plot being the usual implication of a bigger bad doing something behind the scenes without bringing any thought into the lore for it to stand out. Yeah, it's not the most original, but the appeal comes because of the name Vigilantes stampled in its title, so you get heroes acting faster than usual or like superhumans brute forcing their way through the scene. A lot of their action scenes shows them not doing herolike things while also being a bit brutal and niche. But they are all acceptable things that I can follow without it feeling forced. And yes, because there is no Deku to be found.

Since it is still a spinoff of MHA, so you're still going to find a lot of familiar characters that have appeared in the original story, however thanks to the timeline of this anime being set before the original story, the story can still have time to get its own identity while being set in the MHA Universe, without overrelying on the original cast of MHA. Unlike MHA, who feeds its main story with implications of masterminds playing behind the scenes, Vigilantes does the same thing, except it's a lot faster and straightforward to it, so you get to see some growth in between character development and plot tensioning. But the best part? There's no Deku in here.

The theme the anime decides to do is to follow a comic book like format, and it does that somewhat decently, it shows sound effects as you would commonly see for an serialized superhero comic book, with each impact being followed up by a romanized sound effect that is complemented by the production's sound quality. The anime looks good too, although it doesn't leave a strong impression of what MHA is known for, those little bursts of ember that carried the entirety of MHA whenever everything aligned together for one epic moment after another. Also there is no Deku, so you get to see a lot of better scenes.

I'd like to say that Vigilante is a decent show, not because of its story, its characters, its nuances, its music, its design, or any of that schtick I just mentioned. It's not by far the best product you could find for a spinoff of MHA, when it's handled by a subdivision of Bones, and it's lacking some talent you'd usually find in the main story. But I can say that Vigilante is worth the watch because it's a bit more straightforward and has no Deku in it. So there you have it. Whatever you just read, it may not be the best, but I hope you get my point.

Thank you for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 22, 2025

Gwyn223

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals extends the themes of the My Hero Academia universe into the shadier quarters of heroism, positioning itself as a derelict version of our superhero digs, for lack of a better term. These three episodes of Bones Film, however, are weighed down by they lack lustre. The show follows the exploits of a Quirk-weak college kid who goes rogue, and want's to be a gritty rebellion but feels more interested in utilizing tropes we have seen before, with tired characters and and uneven quality.

The Good: The premise has some promise; the act of being an unlicensed hero and fighting crime ... absent of consequences that ranked pros dismiss is a defiant 'get bent' to society. The seedy crime underbelly tries to provoke questions about moral blending, suggesting a realm where justice walks the tighrope over a chasm of desperation. The trio of misfits fighting crime has a scrappy charm about them. Action sequences are fairly vibrant and kinetic, with a distinct comic book energy inside the martial arts choreography, conveying an electrifying comic-book feel enhanced by lines and colors. The title sequence boasts a thumping anthem and the sound design is gritty and foreshadowing a life lived on the urban fringe, raising the stakes in a tantalizing way.

The Bad: The story trudges like a disheveled drifter reminiscing from a failed adolescence, rehashing shonen tropes from tired standbys (underdog struggles) to cringe-worthy mentor rants, diluting the potential for excitement. The heroic theme of vigilantism barely scratches the surface of moral decay, choosing instead to portray class and societal divides as unrefined aesthetic choices. The main character is without substance, and the desire for him to be driven seems to be a place to glue the plot together, and the main characters fall short on the case of archetypes. Their quirks work like fashionable luxury toys without a hint of grit. The animation wanders away from competent backdrops and unrelenting stand-still poses are evident of limited resources, The score drops lightly out of scare and there is no drama or tension in the confines of the audio design, so fights feel lame more than anything. This is not even an interesting take, it is simply MHA in grunge filter, but meek in nature.

I was looking forward to gut-punch swipes to the genre, The vigilante intrigue had me interested and hopeful, but this take on the framework is fragile at best or an uninspired echo without the fire like MHA. The premise is promising, the art teases at grandeur, and the line of storytelling is spineless. The main character is forgettable and the aesthetic is weak at best, although I feel that someone who is a faithful follower of shonen might take a bite of it. Ultimately, Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals is less a roaring triumph like a marvel Netflix show like Daredevil, and more like a dull pencil drawing of the original with faded colors.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 3, 2025

Brallon

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (8/13 eps)

The story is pretty mid, mc and popstep already annoy me just like deku did with MHA. The MC's friend college backstory is so bland and downright webtoon slop level 'drama'. knucklebuster is a cool character and his fight scenes are pretty hype. I cannot really try and care about any of the other characters. The MC's power is bland, however i did enjoy the iningenium plot. The fan service on (reminder she is middle school age) pop step in the early episodes is something i really wish this mangaka didnt add. Episode 7 is just the worst of it all. Having people in a ... interview setting compliment her in a sexual way is upsetting. It honestly was the last strike I had for this anime.


I thought MHA itself was bad but this is honestly so much worse.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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