My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 1×2 Review: “Takeoff”

Featuring four action-heavy confrontations, a lot happened in ‘Takeoff’, the second episode in the My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime series.

Picking up right where the debut left us off, we got Eraser Head vs Knuckleduster while Koichi and Pop Step stood on the sidelines not knowing how to offer any type of assistance. To be fair, I think they also didn’t want to get involved in Knuckleduster starting a fight with a licensed Hero. The mere thought of Eraser Head assuming Koichi and Pop Step might be villains was stressful enough for the young vigilantes-to-be.

I liked how the creative team didn’t drag out the secret behind Knuckleduster’s Quirk. Eraser Head used his “Erasure” Quirk on his muscular opponent thinking that would be enough to stop someone likely using a Quirk that enhanced their strength and endurance. However, Eraser Head’s Quirk didn’t work on Knuckleduster because he was… drumroll… Quirkless.

So, yeah, Knuckleduster’s a Quirkless man running around the city being a vigilante and facing people with dangerous Quirks. Eraser Head didn’t reveal his secret to Koichi and Pop Step. So, it will be interesting to see how the teens will react once they eventually find out the truth.

Knuckleduster vs Eraser Head was choreographed well. The experienced Hero quickly adapted his hand-to-combat prowess to beat his Quirkless fist-focused opponent. The difference between the skill levels of the two men was huge. I’m kind of impressed by Knucleduster’s passion for saving his city, but the dude’s in way over his head. Things are only going to get tougher from here on out. 

The guy working at the toy company from the debut chapter ended up being a significant player in the latest episode. Pop Step recognized him on socials as he was running away from the vigilante vs hero fight. Social media showed the guy being in locations where recent surprise villains had appeared. Pop Step and Koichi gave chase to question the guy. However, their pursuit didn’t go as planned.

The three bullies from before, powered by Trigger, showed up. The leader and the flame-guy attacked Koichi while the flying reptilian guy went after Pop Step who continued to leap after the toy company employee. I knew Koichi wasn’t ready to take two opponents at once. So, it was nice to see Knuckleduster make quick work of the two thugs by equipping himself with a brick.

As for the toy company employee, it’s revealed he had Trigger hidden inside his toys. He used the drug on himself to undergo boosted Gigantification via the Quirk Playtime. The guy grew an extra pair of hands and proceeded to play with the flying reptilian thug and Pop Step as if they were dolls while stomping through the city like a kaiju. I don’t know if it was a side-effect of Trigger or the Quirk, but the giant behaved like a child.

Facing the behemoth led to Koichi experiencing a spike in his speed as he rushed to save a falling Pop Step. The debut told viewers Koichi’s Quirk allowed him to slide as fast as a slow-moving bicycle. However, it’s obvious his Quirk allowed him to be a lot faster. Apparently, Koichi’s inhibitions and fear of getting hurt were holding him back.

Though I don’t fault Pop Step for being helpless during the situation (frankly, none of the trio were capable of defeating the giant), I do hope the anime allows Pop Step to earn a win against an enemy. As of right now, she’s coming across as Koichi and Knucleduster’s PR agent rather than an actual vigilante.

Now, I’m not saying I want every lead character to be a fighter. Some people aren’t cut out for battle and that’s okay. Perhaps Pop Step is one of them. However, if that’s the case, I do hope she doesn’t require constant saving to progress Koichi’s story. Again, I want her to get a win by herself even if it isn’t during a 100% battle situation.

Eraser Head promptly subdued the giant by using his Erasure Quirk, again demonstrating the difference between our vigilante trio and an experienced Hero.

The third confrontation involved Pop Step alerting Koichi about a fight between two middle school boys (clearly designed after Cyclops and Wolverine from the X-Men IP). Koichi asked the two to stop their heated argument and proceeded to state his new hero name, The Crawler.

I liked the humor during the scene. The two boys were unamused by the somewhat locally famous Nice Guy wanting to go by the name The Crawler or, as they put it, the Cruller. He even got beaten up by them but withstood damage due to Knuckleduster giving him some armor to wear underneath his superhero suit.

It’s Pop Step who had to finally step in to break up the fight and use her online stardom to get the boys to calm down and keep an eye out for anyone using Trigger.

The fourth (I know!) confrontation involved Koichi and Knuckleduster teaming up against another Trigger user. Their opponent had incredibly hard skin and super strength. I liked how the two worked together. Also, while he’s Quirkless, Knuckleduster knew a lot about Quirks. His knowledge led to him beating up their current opponent until they lost focus and deactivated their hard skin ability.

As for the narrative themes in MHA Vigilantes, we got Eraser Head and Knuckleduster sharing their opinions about heroism and vigilantism. Knuckleduster stating how vigilantes could stop people before a crime was committed made sense for a character like him. Of course, Eraser Head didn’t agree with the sentiment. But then again, as far Knuckleduster was concerned, it was better to seek forgiveness than ask permission. He was doing what he could to keep his city safe. Registered heroes didn’t have the time or the orders to walk around keeping an eye on what was happening the way vigilantes could.

While Eraser Head didn’t press charges against Knuckleduster and even thanked him for his help, I think Eraser Head might have acted a bit differently if Knuckleduster wasn’t Quirkless. He’s still a risk due to being a vigilante, but it’s a different type of risk compared to someone “misusing” their Quirk for vigilante work.

However, that didn’t mean the trio were out of the woods. ‘Takeoff’ concluded with the police appearing at the location where Koichi and Knuckleduster had defeated the hard-skinned villain. We got introduced to police officer Sansa, a character who had the head of a tabby cat on a human body. He’s shown talking to a male investigator who wasn’t a fan of vigilantes. The law’s coming for our lead trio as Trigger continued to spread across the city. 

Did you watch My Hero Academia Vigilantes season one episode 2 ‘Takeoff’? 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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