My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 2×03 Review: “Public and Private”

My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime season 2 episode 3, titled ‘Public and Private’, offered some interesting developments concerning the villainous speedster linked to the Trigger supply.

One of the ways to know how well-written a story is, happens to be when the narrative decides to focus a plotthread or two on a bunch of supporting and minor characters while the main cast does their own thing off-page for a bit. Creating an interesting roster of characters goes a long way in fleshing out a narrative, and MHA Vigilantes has that in spades. ‘Private and Public’ decided to shine a spotlight on the investigation concerning Trigger, while Koichi and PopStep appeared for a couple of minutes doing stuff that wasn’t linked to the investigation at all. And even though I’m a fan of Koichi and PopStep as our main protagonists, I have to say that I wouldn’t mind seeing the supporting characters getting more spotlight on occasion.

I’m going to get the Koichi and PopStep scenes out of the way before I talk more about the bulk of the episode. While facing off against a group of mech-inspired thugs who used aggression to catch the attention of uninterested girls, Koichi discovered a new way to use his Quirk. The season 2 premiere showed him reversing the way he used his Quirk to stick to flat surfaces. And in episode 3, we saw that Koichi could use his Quirk to repel objects as a defensive maneuver. The particular scene against the thugs showed Koichi using his legs to keep stuck to a wall while using his hands as a shield to repel the mini rockets fired at him.

I’m so here for Koichi finding new ways to utilize his Quirk because, as I have been saying in my reviews, our young hero needs all the upgrades possible if he’s to stand a chance against the incoming threats.

While explaining his repel move to PopStep, he brought up the fact that apparently he had always been able to use his Slide and Glide Quirk with only his feet. However, as a child, doing so would cause him to lose his balance a lot, and having a helicopter mother made Koichi get used to using his sliding Quirk while hunched over instead of standing. I’m quite excited to finally see an adult Koichi sliding and gliding through his town on only his feet instead of needing to have three points of contact with a surface.

Also, instead of just using his hands to repel attacks, if Koichi focused enough, he could release a powerful shockwave from his palms. He demonstrated doing so, causing PopStep to lose her balance and the shockwave shattering a window. I liked how the vibe of the scene took a turn for the comedic when PopStep reminded Koichi about Knuckleduster’s “punch-first-ask-questions-never” demeanor. Koichi wasn’t a fight-type hero. So, he needed to be very careful when using his Quirk offensively so as not to get caught up in the adrenaline rush that accompanied taking an offensive stance.

Koichi and PopStep still considered Knuckleduster as their role model. A bad one that they shouldn’t mimic, but a role model nonetheless. I have my fingers crossed that Knuckleduster reunites with those two soon. I kind of miss him.

Coming to the bulk of the third episode, it opened with a crowd of people about to be attacked by three giant monsters. Of course, All Might swooped in and made quick work of the monsters, showcasing the drastic difference in powers between the top hero and vigilantes like Koichi. What followed was All Might (as Toshinori Yagi) meeting with Tsukauchi. The two talked about the Trigger situation, with All Might being concerned about the speedster Tsukauchi faced.

All Might’s inability to play favorites when saving people from danger was also mentioned. While All Might was friends with Tsukauchi, the police detective couldn’t have All Might on call, as doing so could cause potential enemies to find a pattern of sorts when taking hostages or blackmailing All Might. Being the top hero meant the public didn’t need to know a single personal thing about said hero. All Might was supposed to be of service to everyone, devoid of any personality except his superhero persona.

Another interesting thing that came up was Tsukauchi’s dynamic with his sister Makoto. I liked how the narrative positioned the siblings against each other. Tsukauchi was all about upholding the law against vigilantes, while Makoto had PopStep as a client. I enjoyed how Makoto didn’t budge on her stance over refusing to give Tsukauchi personal details about PopStep. Even though Tsukauchi wanted to interrogate PopStep concerning the recent event at the mall, he had no legal authority to force PopStep to come in for questioning. I continue to be a fan of Makoto.

A whole lot of information about the speedster was shared this week, which, frankly, I wasn’t expecting. A veteran hero with a similar Quirk, named O’Clock, was mentioned. The Quirk that Tsukauchi was dealing with didn’t simply give a boost of speed to the user. No, it sped up everything, making the user experience something similar to slowing down time. It also meant that the user’s thinking ability and perception were sped up. The audience knew that from episode two. So, it was nice to see Tsukauchi and his team arriving on the same page, too.

Coming back to O’Clock, apparently, he had retired, and no one knew how to track him down. It was common for superheroes to retire when they grew too old or felt the hero life wasn’t for them anymore. Certain retired heroes, especially street-level heroes, would go off-grid to keep themselves as well as their loved ones safe from criminals looking for revenge.

While the possibility of the current speedster being O’Clock did come up, following the unfortunate theme of a hero turning into a villain, the theory was put to rest because the current speedster was too young. Eraser Head brought up the speedy villain being a relative or student of O’Clock, and one of those two things was confirmed, with the speedster addressing O’Clock as his mentor. He’s able to hit 8 times during an acceleration burst, unlike his Master’s limit of 4 hits. Again, I wasn’t expecting so much to be unraveled in a single episode.

Not only that, but it’s also shared that the speedster wasn’t the one running things. Apparently, he’s been working for a mysterious person connected to the Trigger Factory, even allowing those shady people to record data when he used his Quirk. The mysterious person even encouraged the speedster to start using guns. Yeah, this yellow-scarred speedster is a major threat.

Poor Koichi and PopStep are unaware of what’s happening. My babies.

Before I conclude my review, I have to talk about the conversation Kamayan had with Eraser Head and Tsukauchi. I felt for Kamayan. He underwent forced Trigger-surgery to be transformed into a giant mantis-like monster. Now, unable to return to his human form, Kamayan was stuck trying to operate in a society that wasn’t built to accommodate beings like him. Even though Eraser Head said Kamayan should get used to how things were, I liked how Kamayan stood strong in his mission to change society to accommodate others like him. Accessibility for everyone!

Did you watch My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime season 2 episode 3 ‘Public and Private’? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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