Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals 2nd Season

(Spanish Review on my list)

The story of these vigilantes who do good without expecting anything in return continues. Positive aspects of this season include:
- Toned-down fan service
- The protagonist began training and developing his powers
- Supporting characters have significant roles
- They aren't entirely outside the law, which explains why they aren't arrested, given that they're always present where trouble is and don't really hide their identities; they're practically public figures, and by the end of the series, everyone recognizes them

Negative aspects include:
- Too many episodes dedicated to a single villain who operates from the shadows, only for the villain to disappear for three years
- They ... spend so much time at concerts and social events where problems involving the same villain always arise, which is odd considering our protagonists are always there and the police and other legal heroes are so ineffective
- The relationship between the protagonists is stagnant (I'm not looking for a romance, but at least more trust and communication)
-What was the point of the Eraser Head flashback?... It wasn't bad, but it would have been better in an OVA. It doesn't add anything to the vigilante series.

And well, maybe it's telling the story slowly and hasn't reached its climax yet. I have to wait for it to progress further so I can really get excited and give an overall opinion of the anime...

As a fun fact, you realize now that All Might is a beast. Deku never even came close to him, haha. Clearing a green area, removing wildlife, flattening the earth, and slowing the fall of a state with a capacity of about 55,000 people in around... I don't know... 7 seconds... wow... that's insane. You don't realize those exaggerated feats in the original series, haha.

The first season of the My Hero Academia spin off "Vigilantes" took me completely by surprise and ended up being much better than I anticipated. Now the last season of the main series "My Hero Academia" ended not too long ago leaving a hole on the anime market which the second season of Vigilantes could fill. Sadly, I must admit that I was a bit let down. This sequel season ended up being much slower and more uneventful. The only two good parts were the few episodes where we saw Aizawa sensei’s backstory and seeing all the heroes and All Might in action in ... the final episodes. But other than that, most of the season was actually kind of boring if I am being brutally honest. It sort of lost the heart and charm it brought in the first season, and I felt like I could have skipped most of it, aside from the two examples I mentioned.

Koichi and Pop Step played a weirdly secondary role in this season, even though this is supposed to be their show, which was honestly baffling. Yes, it felt nice to play detectives with Aizawa and see heroes like Midnight and All Might, but this is not their show. They should only play a small role, if at all, which this season did not get right. Sidelining the stars of your spin off for major characters from the main series is never a good idea and undermines the entire reason for the spin off to exist in the first place. This is not an All Might or Eraser Head spin off. It is a show about "The Crawler" and "Pop Step." And sometimes I had to remind myself of that.

The action was pretty lackluster aside from the last two episodes, and I found myself zoning out while watching. A lot of time is focused on various concerts and other entertainment events, which objectively speaking did not make for the most exciting experience. It feels like Vigilantes lost its identity a bit, which is a shame in my opinion. Because now that the main series has ended, the potential for the spin off is endless. Yet this season ends with what can only be described as a sad whimper. The relationship between our two protagonists did not advance at all, even after a two year time jump. While I am aware that this is not a romance, there were seeds planted in the first season for that relationship to develop, but it does not happen here. It just stagnates and keeps the same status quo, which is a missed opportunity in my opinion. Speaking of time jumps, we do not even see the main antagonist being defeated since he just disappears, only to be teased again in the after credit scene. And if you consider that a lot of airtime was spent on just him, it feels odd to not see a conclusion to his arc in this season. That opens the door for a future season, but at this point, I think they should wrap up the story soon. It is starting to lose its charm, and it would be a shame to let it fall into irrelevancy.

In total, I cannot fully recommend this season of Vigilantes, as it has more negatives than positives. Most fans of My Hero Academia will probably still enjoy it, but do not expect something on the level of the main series. There are some fun episodes with cameos from beloved characters, but as much as I love them, they tend to overstay their welcome. It is pretty good, but not on the same level as the first season. Which is pretty sad, because the potential is definitely there. This sequel just fails to follow up on it for the most part.

I'd like to say something positive, but the season felt incredibly empty.

I don't think I've ever been disappointed with the amount of content in an anime. People always question other things, like the pacing, animation, character design, etc. The content itself had never been a problem for me, until I came across the second season of Vigilantes. It's a sequel that does absolutely nothing for its main duo. Koichi and Pop Step feel like extras in their own series. They aren't given any spotlight to stand out, no stories are told that benefit their characters, and they don't even have a fight that's interesting to ... watch. Koichi is one of the worst protagonists because he doesn't prove himself worthy of the role. In a series that aims to expand an already established universe, you can't afford to have your protagonist do absolutely nothing. Of the 13 episodes, only about 5 are worthwhile, and Koichi doesn't play a significant role in any of them.

We have the magnificent Knuckle Duster, without whom this series would be buried six feet under. Knuckle Duster does things so well that sometimes you wish he were the true protagonist. He's the only one who continues the plot established in the first season. He keeps fighting Trigger's smuggling operations and, on top of that, he's the one trying to capture Six, the season's villain. While Koichi and Pop are playing Idol Simulator, Knuckle Duster is fighting to the death with the main villain. In just a few episodes, Knuckle Duster manages to do what Koichi hasn't been able to in two seasons. That's sad, because Koichi has potential, but they simply don't take advantage of it.

What ultimately kills the season is Eraserhead's flashback. Eraser is my favorite character in the My Hero Academia franchise. When I learned they were going to show his past with Shirakumo, who would also become important in the main series, I felt like there was a goldmine there. It's just an origin story with a sad ending, but it doesn't tell you anything about Shirakumo. At the end of the flashback, you're left with zero useful information and can't connect the dots about how Shirakumo changed into the version shown in the main series. I thought this would be a perfect complement to My Hero Academia, but it wasn't; apparently, they were afraid to tell something so important in a spin-off. ERAser's past isn't bad, but the character didn't need an origin story. He needed to show that bond that would follow him into the main series.

Captain Celebrity steals the spotlight at the end, but it's not all that great. His best episode is the flashback where he meets his wife, but even that's not something worth highlighting. Vigilantes has a serious problem because it always seems like its protagonist is getting in the way. It seems like whenever they want to tell a story, they don't know what to do with Koichi or where to put him. Nobody is asking for a fanservice festival with characters from the main series; we just wanted to learn more about the world.

In the end, this world turned out to be as small as Koichi's ability as a protagonist.