Before I dive into the last season of my Hero Academia, I figured that I would cover my thoughts on the last few episodes of Vigilantes' first season. I don't know if this would be considered unpopular among the fanbase, but I definitely wasn't blown away by this season.
Episode 11:
This episode was pretty good. While I still stand by all of my issues with Koichi and Pop's relationship, Pop holding onto Koichi's sleeve for some comfort while the other girls were insulting here was the most endearing moment in their friendship. It was a small moment of trying to find comfort in a friend instead of tsundere nonsense. Plus, it's an all too relatable moment of being bullied for your appearance.
I'll give them credit for making Pop more tolerable with this whole idol show preparation. She was far more focused on her practice and even when things were getting rough for those other idols, she wanted to help them out instead. Her characterization was better here, to the point where I probably would have been more okay with Pop if this was how she was from the start. Does this improve my opinion of Pop? No. If anything, it feels like a course correction or damage control. Pop has had little to do this entire season beyond being a tsundere. This feels like the writers realized at the last minute that the female lead hasn't had anything of substance to do and decided to do this idol performance to make up for that. While it does make her personality more tolerable at least, it really makes it feel like Pop is in the wrong story. She has no real motivation for being a vigilante beyond her crush on Koichi and that motivation is incredibly weak to being with. She clearly is more passionate about being an idol and that's perfectly fine. It just clashes with the premise of this spin-off.
If anything, it feels like Pop would be more fitting for a slice of life spin-off about idol performers in the My Hero Academia universe. It would be a weird premise for this universe given that part of the appeal of the franchise is having characters with a bunch of different superpowers, but Japan does love its idols and idol anime, so there would definitely be a market for a spin-off like that even in this franchise. To be clear, I'm not saying that Pop is completely unnecessary for the story per say. I am saying that her drive to be an idol doesn't really work with the premise of the series and her motivation, or lack their off, to be a vigilante does not help matters. It mainly just continues to make me see her as such a blatant token girl of the cast.
Koichi's whole running gag about saying blunt things to other girls felt pretty off, like borderline out of character. It's one thing to do that with someone you know like he can with Pop, but it's pretty different to do that with complete strangers. It wasn't that bad, but it just felt weird to me.
It was pretty cool to see Eraser again, although I wasn't expecting him to fight off against that eel Quirk user. The confrontation between Knuckleduster and Hachisuka was really intense. That was just the start of the fight, but seeing them dart across rooftops was already really cool. I was sure that the Bee Quirk was Tama's, but it turns out that she was another victim of the Bee User instead. That does make sense given what they established in the previous episode, but it wasn't entirely clear until he was calling out to Tama.
Episode 12:
This episode was pretty good. Despite some technical problems due to the fight and some second hand embarrassment for Pop's initial talk with the crowd, I was surprised that the performance went well. I was semi positive that it was going to be interrupted given all of its buildup and Hachisuka's role in the show. I guess that would have been a bit too predictable, even if it did almost happen before Knuckleduster caught up with Hachisuka. I thought that there would be more to this idol performance beyond keeping Koichi and Pop out of the fight against the main villain of the season. I can't blame them for not including them in the fight since it was necessary for Knuckleduster to take on this fight on his own. It just doesn't seem like the greatest sign to have the main character have no real impact on the climax of the arc beyond being a distraction. Eraser allowing for the Eel kid to listen to the show was a nice gesture though.
The fight between Knuckleduster and Hachisuka/Tama was really good. It was brutal, intense and having most of the fight take place in an alley made it feel more like they were caged in. Getting Knuckleduster's backstory was pretty interesting. He didn't have a great relationship with Tama and partly because he was yelling at her, dismissing her musical interest and never being an actual father for her, that led to her being taken over by the Bee Quirk. It really paints him in a much different light. Knuckleduster is still gruff and aloof, but he's also a father trying to save his child. While he wasn't the best father before, reflecting on his actions after losing his daughter and his wife being seriously sick would allow him to realize his mistakes. It's also just a very parental kind of thing to realize the mistakes one makes in raising a child. It's a much more compelling reason for him to become a vigilante than I was expecting. He could have given this information to the police or pro heroes for them to save Tama, but it was personal. He wanted to be the one to bring back his daughter by any means necessary.
He was also more willing to get his hands dirty than the pros would, even going as far as working with the underground dealer who help villains. Emphasizing how many pain killers Knuckleduster was on definitely felt like a death flag at the time. Although, it would also explain why he was able to get in direct combat while not being in a lot of pain despite being Quirkless himself. He was also so devoted to saving his daughter that he was willing to potentially endanger himself and her body. It did work, although it was such a huge risk. He was able to get the Bee Quirk out of Tama, but it unfortunately went to another host. It makes sense given that there's still more to this series, but I don't know if this effectively new version of the villain will be as appealing as Hachisuka was.
Episode 13:
This episode was pretty good. I hated that I found myself agreeing with Captain Celebrity on his stance for Koichi's vigilante efforts. Granted, he was saying out of much more self-centered and selfish reasons, but he unfortunately had a point. Koichi's Quirk just isn't capable of handling most threats, especially with the villains getting bigger and stronger. Pop's Quirk is useless in combat and her main skills so far are crowd control and calling the police when they're over their heads, which is pretty much useless too. I shouldn't be agreeing with the stuck up gross cheater of a pro hero here, but I unfortunately am right now. Koichi seemingly will keep doing what he can, but he would be better suited getting actual training instead. That would help him to potentially use more of his Quirk so that it wouldn't be so weak too.
I was surprised and confused that Knuckleduster did in fact come back in that flashback. It wasn't quite clear to me that he had seen Koichi and Pop since the idol performance. Honestly, I was kind of surprised that he was alive. With nearly dying in the fight and being on so many pain killers, I thought that they would have killed him off. That might have been a tad too dark and losing both parents at once would have been way too hard on Tama too. Still, I had a feeling that Knuckleduster would effectively give up on being a vigilante if he did survive. While trigger is still being used and potentially getting worse, he has no real reason to keep fighting the battle himself. He was fighting villains and learning about Trigger so that he could save Tama. Now that he has, Knuckleduster has no reason to put himself in harms way, especially when he needs to be there for Tama now.
I kind of still hate how they're seemingly trying to keep Soga around as a supporting cast member. It would have been a lot better for Koichi to be there instead, if only because he's a more friendly face than Mr. Spike vest, but Knuckleduster has kept Koichi and Pop far away from his real motivation and life. He cares for them to a degree, but it is pretty telling that he seemingly didn't want to say goodbye to either of them and instead chose to leave his gear behind. I really did love Knuckleduster's proper reunion with Tama though. She's in a lot of pain and losing a mother is a pain that no one can bear, but her father is there for her now. It's a sweet moment and a great use of the famous “I am here” line. If this the last we see of Knuckleduster , he went out on a hight note. He accomplished his goal and gets to have the time to help Tama so that they can rebuild their relationship together.
Koichi signing at another performance was a bit strange, but it did lead to another villain attacking him. While I understood why he needed to be saved, I don't think it's a great note to end the season on. Instead of making it feel like Koichi is ready or at least somewhat capable of taking on threats on his own, he feels out of his depth. If his Quirk had powered up again to save him instead of Captain Celebrity of all people saving him, then that might have been a bit better. I did like that Koichi kind of admitted that he hyped up Knuckleduster as his master in his memories. They did train and I can see why he'd refer to Knuckleduster as Master, but they didn't have a typical kind of mentor/student dynamic. It was mostly one side, primarily due to Knuckleduster's distant personality.
The season finale does work well as a good stopping point. The main threat of the season has been dealt with and Knuckleduster gets to be with his daughter. But I don't think it leaves the best notes for Koichi or Pop. Koichi still feels like he isn't ready for any kind of major fight and Pop still feels like she should be in a different show. Her board was meant to be all about her idol performances and she's much more invested in being an idol, which again is fine but doesn't really work for a show like this one.
As for the season as a whole, I think it's mixed at best. The last five or so episodes were much more engaging than most of the season, so that definitely helped to improve the show. But the writing still feels pretty sloppy and at times flat out sexist. The show never completely recovers from episode one for me. Using attempted sexual assault against the female lead is a horrible first impression, especially when the guy threatening her and beating up the main protagonist is suddenly humanized shortly afterwards. It's just hot garbage writing that really bleeds into Pop's writing in general.
However, I should emphasize that I think that there are issues with Koichi too. Walking away from said attempted sexual assault really was a terrible impression for him as well. I think that he did improve after awhile, although I think you could also say his backstory connection with Pop was also damage control to make him more heroic. He does actually have believable motivation to be a hero and risking his safety to save Makato was easily his best moment of the season, but personality wise, he just seems okay. He comes off as a slightly more jaded version of Midoriya at the beginning of the season and he becomes more optimistic as he does vigilante, but he doesn't really seem that engaging either. Beyond the novelty of having an adult protagonist, I just don't think he's anything to write home about. He's generally likable and far from the worst protagonist, but I don't think he's that interesting either.
While learning about Knuckleduster's past did really improve my opinion on him, I'd also still say he doesn't come off particularly likable. I still hate that he was smoking and the way he wrote it off when Pop confronted him about it. It feels even more bizarre considering he was trying to find his daughter, so potentially destroying his health with cigarettes seemed even more stupid in retrospect. That being said, he still turns out a lot better than I expected and if this the end of his story, then at least he got a good ending. Given the poster for the new season, he'll probably still be featured to some degree most likely.
I've talked a lot about Pop already and I still stand by everything I've said about her.. I initially just hated her sexist writing, but then I realized that I hated her too. She has nothing of substance to do until the idol performances start and while that does make her more tolerable, it also highlights that she shouldn't be a vigilante. She should just be an idol. Her motivation is completely lacking compared to the two male characters, which is really telling. Koichi has his heroic nature and drive to help people to the best of his abilities. Knuckleduster is a father risking everything to save his daughter. Pop has a crush on Koichi. That is just not a good or compelling motivation for her to effectively risk being arrested or killed. Even if they had more history together, I don't think it would have worked. To be clear, I'm not saying that Pop hasn't made any contributions to the story. I am saying that because of her Quirk being virtually useless and her lack of motivation, she really shouldn't be a vigilante. She has no real reason to do it and her role in the majority of these fights could be replaced by a cell phone or headset. It's possible that she'll have a bigger role in season two, but I highly doubt it. She''ll probably be a damsel in distress again. People have complained about how female characters are handled in the main series and there are some valid issues there, but Pop is easily the worst written female character in the franchise. Her writing bothers me way more than any issues the female characters in Class A have. Having more than one token girl in the cast definitely helps.
The pacing for some plot beats have also been sloppy, such as with Soga suddenly becoming more humanized or Koichi's powers. Knuckleduster's story on the other hand had a whole season's worth of buildup to give it proper payoff. That allowed for the fight to have a lot more weight and emotional impact than it would have otherwise.
While this series wasn't as hyped up as My Hero Academia was, there was still some hype. I've seen people for years wishing for a Vigilante adaptation and claims that this is better than the main series. Even with the improvements in the last chuck of the season, I don't think that this series lives up to the hype at all. The writing and characters feel a lot more sloppy to me by comparison. It may not be fair to compare this to the main series, but even going by the first season of My Hero Academia, it was a lot better. It was admittedly mostly setup and fights, but it was good setup with likable/interesting characters, great fights and solid emotional beats even within the first thirteen episodes. Vigilante has some good fights with some good emotional moments, but not nearly as consistent or well handled. Again, it doesn't feel fair to compare the two, but with this being a prequel spin-off, it's kind of inevitable. It's not exactly flat out terrible, but I just don't really see the hype. I'll still watch season two. It could improve more if the Knuckleduster was any indication, but I wouldn't be surprised if it still feels weak to me, especially after the My Hero Academia finale..
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