My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Really Deserves Its Own Anime
It's well past time that My Hero Academia's spin-off manga hits the small screen.
For quite some time, ComicBook.com's Team Anime has been rallying for an anime adaptation of My Hero Academia's spin-off series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Much like the main story focusing on Deku and Class 1-A, Vigilantes' manga has also ended. With the seventh season of the anime nearing its season finale, and an eighth season more than likely to cap off UA Academy's story, the anime world would benefit greatly from the side story coming to televisions worldwide. Based on the events of the latest season, Vigilantes receiving an anime adaptation almost feels like a necessity.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes might take place in the same world as UA Academy, but creator Kohei Horikoshi wasn't responsible for the story of Crawler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster. Instead, the spin-off series was brought to life by writer Hideyuki Furuhashi and artist Betten Court. First beginning in 2016, the manga has a six-year run that netted its story over one-hundred and twenty-five chapters. With so many chapters in its library, the spin-off could warrant several seasons before showing anime fans the final adventure of Crawler and his fellow vigilantes.
Vigilantes is Necessary My Hero Academia Lore
On top of showing the lives of superheroes operating outside of the law, Vigilantes also explored the earlier lives of some major characters in UA Academy's atmosphere. To start, the side story walked readers through the early lives of Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight, and Oboro Shirakumo in which these young heroes were students rather than teachers at UA Academy. As My Hero Academia fans now know, the villainous Kurogiri was once the hero Oboro, taken by All For One following a gruesome end in the field of battle.
This particular story feels like an essential aspect of My Hero Academia that anime fans have yet to experience. While the friendship between Oboro and his allies has been alluded to via singular flashbacks, there is far more meat on the bone in Vigilantes than anime viewers might expect. This anime adaptation arriving following the conclusion of the main anime series would also work to fill the void left by the superhero shonen series.
More Heroes' Origins
On top of exploring the aforementioned heroes that would become UA Academy teachers, minus Oboro, Vigilantes also dug into the earlier days of many other professional crime fighters. Most specifically, one storyline saw the likes of Mirko, Fat Gum, and All Might attempting to take down an underground fighting tournament. This particular storyline also featured All For One and gave readers a better look at the underbelly of Hero Society prior to the arrival of Deku, Bakugo, Ochaco, and Shoto Todoroki in Class 1-A. UA Academy's universe is a big one and it deserves an anime to further flesh out the society that follows super-powered heroes and villains alike.
While Vigilantes would make for an excellent anime series, the story could also work well as a film series. My Hero Academia: You're Next hasn't been billed as the last silver screen effort for the UA Academy universe, meaning that the shonen franchise might have a bright future in theaters even when the television anime ends. Wherever Vigilantes appears, its ability to merge past storylines along with the tale of present vigilantes would make for a strong follow-up to the main series' conclusion.
Want to see if My Hero Academia: Vigilantes makes its way to the anime world? Want to stay updated on My Hero Academia's anime before it ends? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Class 1-A.
