My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 2×13 Review: “Graduation and Career Path”

My Hero Academia Vigilantes anime season 2 episode 13, titled ‘Graduation and Career Path’, served as a finale that allowed certain characters to begin new chapters in their lives while setting up yet another threat.

With the previous episode ending on a cliffhanger during Knuckleduster’s solo battle with Number 6, I was expecting ‘Graduation and Career Path’ to find a way for Koichi and PopStep to arrive on the scene to lend a hand. But nopes. The episode progressed unexpectedly, with the battle culminating in a giant explosion with Knuckleduster and Number 6’s fates up in the air. Even though I enjoyed the more character-driven approach featured in the finale, I was a bit disappointed because Koichi and Knuckleduster still haven’t reunited. It’s been too long!

The aftermath of the Sky Egg attack had generated a lot of hype around Captain Celebrity and a bunch of other heroes. Even though CC and Tsukauchi appreciated what Koichi had done during the chaos, our young hero receiving any official credit in the media was out of the question, as doing so would prompt questions about his vigilantism. However, knowing Koichi, he wasn’t running after fame anyway. All he wanted was to keep helping those in need.

CC finally returned to the USA (good riddance!), with Makoto following suit (what?). Turns out, Makoto would be studying in the States for a while. That allowed her to keep operating as CC’s manager overseas. I understood why Makoto and CC’s wife kept such a thing a secret from CC, but I do feel that Makoto should have had a scene where she properly said goodbye (for now) to the Narufest crew.

Coming back to the investigation concerning the site where Knuckleduster and Number 6 fought, analyzing the blood samples had allowed the police to decipher that Knuckleduster was involved. However, the analysis of Number 6’s blood was inconclusive, with the investigators wondering if the sample was even from a human. Though we didn’t get to see Knuckleduster’s injured body being retrieved from the site, I think it’s clear he’s still alive. He’s too good a character to kill without Koichi witnessing Knuckleduster being taken off the board.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the third season revealed how Knuckleduster was being experimented on by the people behind the Villain Factory. Such a development could set up an emotionally-charged reunion where Koichi’s forced to rescue his Master.

A major surprise for me was the finale taking a two-year timeskip. The locals have become fans of Koichi, even remembering to call him The Crawler. The Hopper’s Cafe was open and (kind of) served as a way for low-level criminals to put in the hard work to get on the right side of the law. Koichi was content with his life as a vigilante and was looking forward to his future. Being in his senior year of college, Koichi had been applying to possible jobs and was more than prepared to hang up his vigilante costume upon graduation. According to Koichi, it was time for him to grow up. He wasn’t an official Hero to be saving lives until retirement.

I mean, it’s highly unlikely Koichi will stop being a vigilante after he graduated from college. The Villain Factory and Number 6 were still major threats that were biding their time in the shadows. There’s no way Koichi could live a “normal” life, at least not as soon as he’s planned to.

It did feel like MHA Vigilantes would end with season 3. And you know what? I’m okay with that. I’m a fan of tight narratives instead of creative teams dragging storylines. I just hope that the upcoming third season of MHA Vigilantes will focus more on Koichi, PopStep, and Knuckleduster instead of trying to make me care about characters such as Captain Celebrity.

Did you watch MHA Vigilantes anime season 2 episode 13? Are you excited about season 3?

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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