My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 1×4 Review: “Top Runner”

My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime season one episode 4, titled ‘Top Runner’, offered some useful information behind Kuin’s operations while Koichi learned more about his Quirk.

With Kuin being introduced in the previous episode, I was curious about how she used her Queen Bee Quirk to spread Trigger. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to create Trigger herself, and thankfully, ‘Top Runner’ answered a couple of my questions. It’s revealed that Kuin’s been working with someone who supplied her with Trigger. Kuin’s job was to select people to use Trigger on. The targeted people going berserk were then monitored to collect valuable data.

Kuin’s boss wasn’t happy about the stunt she pulled in the previous episode. He’s more interested in her finding people who were somehow passionate enough to fully unleash the effects of Trigger rather than her randomly administering the drug to create chaos. 

Another thing I appreciated was the writers allowing Kuin to bring up the lead Trio. She wasn’t a fan of them stopping the experiments. However, Kuin’s mysterious boss wanted to keep the status quo, citing that the local vigilantes fighting the newly created villains helped collect combat data without getting the police and Pro Heroes involved. Kuin wasn’t supposed to mess with the Trio. At least, not yet.

‘Top Runner’ had Kuin select a man who was already high on another drug. Such a scene again helped flesh out the anime being set in a city with a whole lot of issues other than Trigger. After Kuin gave him a couple of doses, the Trigger made the man gigantic and capable of causing a lot of destruction with his punches. The Trio appeared on the scene, with Koichi and Pop Step understandably concerned about facing such a foe. Koichi kept the beast distracted while Pop Step encouraged civilians to flee the area. Finally, Knuckleduster appeared ready to go toe-to-toe with the frenzied giant.

I liked how Knuckleduster explained his foe’s abilities. The angry man was charging his punches by directing the energy created in his chest to his fists. However, with him putting everything behind throwing powerful punches, it left the rest of his body vulnerable. Even though it was a tough fight, with Knuckleduster barely avoiding the incoming barrage of attacks, the vigilante in black was able to knock out his opponent.

Due to Knuckleduster not possessing any Quirk, I’m surprised to see his level of strength. I get he’s got an analytical mind that gave him an advantage during battles, but there’s got to be something else going on, too. A supposedly Quirkless human being shouldn’t be capable of exhibiting such brute strength.

The intense fight invigorated Knuckleduster. He had apparently been waiting to go up against a villain capable of taking his punches. Turns out, Knuckleduster’s been holding back when hitting the numerous villains in the previous episodes. Again, how freaking strong is he supposed to be?

Coming back to Kuin, we got a scene where she lured away a man she had connected with via some shady dating app. I still don’t know what she did to Teruo, but I have a feeling it’s something quite sinister. The man she met in ‘Top Runner’ will likely see a similar fate.

As for the rest of the episode, we got to see Turbo Hero: Ingenium aka Tensei Ida chase after a very speedy villain with the Bat Quirk. The first nighttime encounter was a failure, with the villain avoiding capture by attacking Ingenium and causing the Pro Hero to lose balance. It was kind of refreshing to see a hero going up against a villain who hadn’t lost his sanity due to Trigger.

Before the second encounter, we got to see Ingenium introduce himself to Koichi on a morning jog. It made sense for someone like Ingenium to be intrigued by Koichi’s Slide and Glide Quirk. Koichi mentioned how it’s difficult for him to come to a halt if he’s too fast. Koichi explained his Quirk worked by creating and releasing a surface-repelling force from his feet and palms. With Koichi being able to slide backward with ease, it’s Ingenium who suggested that instead of thinking he was pulling the brakes while moving fast, Koichi should simply think of it as sliding backwards. And, yeah, it worked!

Now that Koichi’s leveled up his skills in such a manner, and the bursts of speed we have seen from him when saving someone, I think we will get to see Koichi zipping around the city every soon. The current episode did show three people skating around the city with their Slide and Glide Quirk. They were standing upright and were only using their feet to move as if they had rollerblades on.

Most of the limitations on Koichi’s abilities seem to be self-inflicted. Being around Knuckleduster, Pop Step, and continuing to do vigilante work is sure to help him blossom. Koichi’s the MC after all.

The only thing I don’t see him improving greatly in, as shown in the current episode, is hand-to-hand combat. Knuckleduster’s been training Koichi, but I think it’s obvious our young vigilante isn’t the fisticuffs type. And that’s okay. Pop Step, on the other hand, can surely benefit from some self-defense training. She still comes across as a walking (leaping?) liability, and I continue to hope the writers give her something substantial to do.

The rematch with the Bat villain had Ingenium bring in Team Idaten. Ingenium also increased his speed by taking out the airbags from his suit. Even though the team tried its best, the Bat villain was a bit too much, wildly surprising everyone by revealing he could also fly.

The benefit of having vigilantes was shown when Ingenium experienced trouble running around the city even after he had scoped his surroundings. However, Knuckleduster and Koichi were able to stop the Bat villain because they were able to land a surprise attack due to being familiar with the alleyways the foe had sped into.

I liked how the writing team handled the budding friendship between Koichi and Ingenium. Even though Ingenium instantly knew Koichi was The Crawler, he wasn’t going to report his vigilante antics. I think Ingenium understood the benefit of having such Quirk users around to aid Pro Heroes. Also, Koichi’s quite a likable person. The scene where Ingenium rescinded his offer to Koichi to possibly work for his company after graduation was hilarious. Ingenium meant no ill intent. He had simply realized Koichi had found his calling as a vigilante.

What did you think of MHA Vigilantes season one episode 4 ‘Top Runner’?

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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