“My Hero Academia Vigilante” asks the boundary between “justice and evil” – is there a difference between illegal heroes and villains?

In anime and manga, the popularity and topic of characters tend to be biased towards the main character’s side and heroes. However, the fact that “light” appears bright and bright is the existence of “shadows.”
Focus on enemy characters“An enemy character story – Where is their aesthetic?”The 57th installment is a spin-off of My Hero Academia“Vigilante – My Hero Academia ILLEGALS”We’ll take a closer look at the charm of this.

Vigilante – My Hero Academia ILLEGALS (hereinafter referred to as Vigilante), a spin-off of My Hero Academia (hereinafter referred to as My Hero Academia), is airing this spring.

This work depicts people who are not qualified as heroes, but are active in hero activities, some before the time they were depicted in My Hero Academia. The content depicts the exploits of illegal heroes, so to speak.

A major feature of the work “My Hero Academia” is that it has an official system as a just cause that heroes can legally use force. It is prohibited to use individuality without a license in the public without a license, and the act is a crime.

In the world of My Hero Academia, which depicts the conflict between heroes recognized by the license system and villains who wield their individuality without a license, Vigilante can be said to be the story of those who stand at the boundary between the two. Therefore, the content makes you think about the arbitrariness of justice and evil.

■What is Vigilante?

The title of this work, “Vigilante” refers to a vigilante group. In the world of My Hero Academia, heroes are said to be originating from vigilantes and are said to be the origin. In episode 0, which is the prologue of the original work, Vigilante is explained to All Might in this way.

“Vigirante, this is said to be the origin of heroes, those who voluntarily engage in public security activities, regardless of law.”

However, now that the official hero recognition system has been established, Aizawa Shota explains that vigilantes are a crime.

“However, in a society where a hero-certified system has been established, private vigilantes are a crime. In modern times, it’s at best a variant of an enemy (villain).

Vigilantes are the origins of heroes, but the contradiction is that they are now criminals. Vigilante is a work that dazzles this contradiction.

In the original story, it is said that vigilantes occur naturally during periods of turmoil in society (episode 12 of the original story). However, when society enters a stable period, it is absorbed into the social system. Although vigilantes are the origins of heroes, the reason they have been considered a crime since the establishment of the official hero system is believed to be because they have been absorbed into the new official system.

However, when the official system was launched, how many Vigilantes were officially recognized as heroes was founded, it is said that only seven out of the 189 people, while the remaining 182 were recognized as villains. They have deemed 182 people who worked as vigilantes to help others, and have been called villains and are hostile to society.

What set the difference between heroes and villains? In the original work, there is also talk that the true aim of the hero approval system was “not the approval of heroes but the definition of villains,” but it is suggested that there was some arbitrary nature in the selection.

In this world of works with this background, Vigilante is a work that asks whether it is truly possible to separate heroes from villains by depicting illegal heroes who are active in the present day.

■Koichi and Knuckle Duster’s “Beginner’s Win” Hero Activities

The main character of this work is Koichi Haimaki, who aspires to be a hero, is known as a “kind man” who uses his personality to provide small kindness in town. However, even such kindness constitutes the use of individuality exclusively in the streets, so it is actually a crime. Koichi meets Knuckle Duster, who is an unqualified hero, and ends up working as an illegal hero.

Knuckle Duster says that police and certified heroes can only move after an incident occurs, but he can move preventively even before the law is in place. Just as he said, he is conducting an investigation without his permission, pursuing the outcome of the drug “Trigger,” which suddenly turns people into villains.

Their actions are, in other words, crimes that are intended to prevent crime.

Knuckle Duster sometimes uses force without question, but this is a crucial criminal act. However, it is also true that he and Koichi’s efforts have prevented the sudden damage from villains to some extent, and there are people who have been saved by this “criminal act.”

Their feelings are no different from those of heroes. The contradiction is that despite this, it is still a crime. Their existence, which is intermediate between heroes and villains, can be said to deepen the theme of My Hero Academia. This is the ideal spin-off, delving deeper into the world and theme of the work.

“An enemy character story – where is their aesthetic?” Click here for past articles
(C) Furuhashi Hideyuki, Betsuten Arato, Horikoshi Kohei/Shueisha, Vigilante Production Committee

{Sugimoto Hotaka}