My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 2×06 and 2×07 Review: “Rain and Clouds” and “Glass Sky”

My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime season 2 episode 6, ‘Rain and Clouds’, and episode 7, ‘Glass Sky’, took viewers back in time to follow Eraser Head as a second-year student at UA.

‘Rain and Clouds’ opened in the present with Aizawa getting a call from Midnight. She’s been enjoying her time at UA as an instructor while working as a Pro Hero. Fellow UA graduate, Present Mic, was also about to begin his new job as an instructor. And Midnight wanted Aizawa to join the roster, too. Even though Aizawa told Midnight he wasn’t interested in teaching the new generation of Heroes-to-be, fans of MHA know he will take on an instructor position soon. As someone who likes Eraser Head as a character, I was quite excited about the handful of episodes exploring his past and connecting MHA Vigilantes version of Aizawa to the MHA version.

After assisting Koichi in capturing a villain who enjoyed bullying kittens, the pair stood under some cover while it rained. This led to Aizawa asking Koichi what he intended to do with the kitten they just saved. For those wondering, I’m with Aizawa on this one. Even though a person might feel inclined to look after an abandoned kitten when holding such a cute animal, owning a kitten is accompanied by a bunch of responsibilities. Similar to Aizawa, I also think Koichi wasn’t in a position to look after such a pet yet. Our young protagonist was still a student, had a traditional job, and also spent his time doing vigilantism around town. Not to mention how expensive the vet bills could be.

While they waited, Aizawa reminisced about his time as a student faced with a similar predicament. However, unlike Koichi, Aizawa was aware of his limitations as a potential pet owner. The kitten in the cardboard box was adorable, but Aizawa couldn’t bring himself to carry it home. At least, he left his umbrella so the kitten could be protected from the pouring rain.

Turns out, that Aizawa’s been a bit of a downer all his life. Though his demeanour came across as a bit weird or depressive to those around him, to me, Aizawa was (to some extent) realistic about his position in life. In a world full of heroes and villains, Aizawa wasn’t born with a Quirk capable of elevating him to the very top, even if his goal was to become a hero. Aizawa wasn’t All Might. He had more of a Support Quirk instead of one that would be incredibly helpful on the frontlines.

I think the narrative handled young Aizawa’s insecurities well. He was still trying to figureout the proper application of his Quirk and what kind of hero work he would be best suited for. Not only that, but a majority of other students weren’t fans of his ability. And I don’t blame them. Aizawa could easily block their Quirks if he wanted to, and nobody wanted to feel such helplessness, let alone because of a fellow student they were supposed to work alongside.

In contrast to Aizawa’s gloomy energy, his friends Hizashi Yamada and Oboro Shirakumo were full of life. Yamada was loud as heck, which gelled well with his soundwave-associated Quirk. Shirakumo was impulsive with no sense of personal space, especially when it came to being naked around others. The dynamic between the friends followed the typical trope of pairing gloom-and-doom type of characters with bubbly ones, with the clash of personalities allowing ample opportunities to learn from each other.

Midnight ended up interacting with the boys as a third-year student. The younger version of Midnight was very similar to the adult version. I couldn’t help but laugh when it was shared how young Midnight’s idea of creating the perfect superhero costume led to the government passing a law preventing heroes from possible indecent exposure. I mean, to be fair, her goal was to change the perception around superhero outfits. So, yeah, she did manage to accomplish that, even if it didn’t pan out the way she had wanted it to.

With the second-year students needing to find an agency to gain Work-Study credits, it’s Midnight who made the offer to Aizawa and Shirakumo about joining His Purple Highness’s Agency, which was called Team Purple Revolution. His Purple Highness was all about fostering young talent. And yeah, it’s clear that His Purple Highness was inspired by the iconic singer Prince. As for Shirakumo, his design was inspired by Goku (Dragon Ball), complete with a flying cloud and a bo staff.

‘Glass Sky’ followed Aizawa and Shirakumo’s time fighting villains and protecting civilians while working under His Purple Highness. Their current opponent was a guy who could release smoke from his body. Said thick smoke messed with visibility and irritated the eyes. I liked how His Purple Highness commented on each character’s performance during the mission. Midnight made the right call to ensure the civilians were safe instead of chasing after the culprit. Even though Shirakumo wanted to apprehend the villain, he had enough sense to stay with Midnight to help the civilians. His Purple Highness complimented Shirakumo’s willingness to take action. The young student would only get better at making the right decisions with experience.

As for Aizawa, he was expecting to be called a failure for not being able to stop the thief by himself. However, His Purple Highness was more concerned with Eraser Head’s dark outfit. According to His Purple Highness, heroes were supposed to be a beacon of hope for civilians, and this involved looking bright and happy. Sigh! Poor Aizawa just can’t catch a break.

A major emotional moment in ‘Glass Sky’ was the reasoning behind adult Eraser Head wearing goggles. Turns out, Shirakumo gave young Aizawa his goggles so he could use his Quirk the next time they faced the smoke-producing villain without the smoke irritating Aizawa’s eyes. The goggles were also supposed to act as a symbol of Aizawa and Shirakumo’s friendship. Yeah, I understand why certain fans ship those two.

Aizawa and Shirakumo’s teamwork worked well against the smoke-releasing bad guy during their rematch. They were also victorious during a 1-vs-2 battle with a fellow classmate who had been bullying Aizawa.

‘Glass Sky’ concluded with the young boys, including Yamada, talking about creating an independent Agency so they could keep working together as a team. It made for a nice little moment between the boys, relating to how we all had certain dreams during our college and university years. But of course, life had other plans. In retrospect, I’m glad things worked out the way they did for me. However, when you’re younger, you just can’t help but think about things differently, especially as students ready to enter the professional world.

As for the kitten, Shirakumo brought it to school, leading to Midnight adopting it.

The next episode’s going to take a very dark turn for the young Heroes-to-be, which I’m bracing myself for. As I said, poor Aizawa just can’t catch a break.

What did you think of MHA Vigilantes anime season 2 episodes 6 and 7?

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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