My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Runs Into Pop Step Controversy

For years, many shonen fans believed that the My Hero Academia spin-off series, Vigilantes, would never receive its own spin-off. Now, as the main series approaches its series finale, Studio Bones has confirmed that the story of Crawler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster will finally be told on the small screen. While the initial trailers and promotional material for the series arriving this spring has gotten anime fans hyped, there has been some controversy regarding the main female figure of the side story. In bringing Pop Step from the printed page to the small screen, Bones has made some changes when it comes to the vigilante’s costume.

Like many other heroes in the universe of UA Academy, Kazuho Haneyama’s super powers are such that they hardly seem up to par with the likes of One For All and All For One. “Leap” allows Pop Step to do just what is advertised, aka jumping high into the air should Kazuho be on a solid surface. Should she be on a non-solid surface, her power doesn’t allow her to jump nearly as high. Without going into spoiler territory, her powers do change significantly in the series due to unforeseen events which take place in the story.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Anime Reveals Release Date & Cast With New Promo]

Pop Step’s Costume Changes

In bringing Pop Step’s look to the small screen, Studio Bones has made some changes to the Vigilante’s costume, causing a stir amongst anime fans online. While an official reason hasn’t been revealed by the production house, it’s clear that Bones decided to take a more conservative approach to the hero’s outfit. You can check out the difference between Pop Step in the original manga and the new anime adaptation below.

Changing character appearances from the manga to the screen is nothing new in the anime world. Most recently, One-Punch Man did just that when it came to one of their heroes, “Blackluster,” making some big changes to the character when it comes to the upcoming third season of the television series. It will be interesting to see if Vigilantes is hit with any other changes as it prepares to debut this April.

The Vigilantes Are Coming

If you’re unfamiliar with My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, the spin-off focuses on new heroes that operate outside of the law. Despite this fact, the side story does feature quite a few characters from the main series. Specifically, Vigilantes has story arcs that follow the likes of Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight, All Might, and Mirko earlier in their lives. While the upcoming anime adaptation hasn’t confirmed if its story will continue past its initial season, there is more than enough material from the manga to mean that the spin-off will continue with new seasons following the end of My Hero Academia’s main anime.

Want to stay in the loop on the changes that are coming to the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on UA Academy and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.