My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 1x04 "Top Runner" - reaction & review
Added 2025-04-29 00:33:56 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Here it is - my reaction to episode 4 of Vigilantes! AHHHH I love Tensei so much!!! He's sweet, beautiful, and you can tell he really cares about what he's doing! He's also pretty chill to just be helping someone out with their quirk like that! We also got some great Knuckleduster scenes sprinkled in here! And looks like next time we'll be focusing on Pop a bit too, woohoo! Also what on earth is Bee girl doing?!?! Or do I wanna know??!! Great ep! Enjoy! ~ MH
Comments
AHHH yesss you put into words SO many things I was thinking!! Tensei being in his pro hero prime?? LIVING for it!! The backflip landing??? Iconic. And omg the Iida family animation love is so real—they never miss when it comes to animating speedsters!! 🚀💨 Also yesss Koichi noticing Knuckleduster’s off behavior post-bee arc was such a sweet and lowkey emotional moment 😭 he’s growing so much and I love that for him. The training scenes had me like "go bestie GO" even when Knuckleduster is being a whole menace lmao 💥 And the tonal whiplash of Kuin doing teenager stuff while being full-on evil mastermind??? CHILLS. That scene with the guy and the three doses of Trigger was sooo disturbing but soooo well done. And omg YES to how Koichi immediately shifts gears when he realizes they’re in over their heads—he’s got such good instincts!! 🧠💫 Also the fight scenes were EVERYTHING. Knuckleduster going feral with zero quirk against a dude juiced up on villain steroids?? Sir, WHAT. That final blow??? Chef’s kiss. 👊💥 And omg Pop calling Koichi weak but also being worried?? Peak tsundere energy 😂💕 You hit the nail on the head about Koichi vs Izuku too! Koichi’s more vibes and vibes alone while Izuku’s out here with a quirk spreadsheet and a battle plan 😭 And I LOVED seeing Tensei offer him a job!!! That whole convo about fear and rescue and “right person for the right job” was so touching. Ingenium has my whole heart 🥹❤️ Also can we talk about how hilarious it was that they literally beat that villain by tripping him into Knuckleduster’s fist?? Like. Actual Looney Tunes energy and I was HOWLING. 💀👏 And yesss the ending scene with Tensei and Koichi?? So soft. So warm. So full of potential friendship goodness. I’m SO excited for what’s coming next!! Thank you for sharing all your thoughts—LOVED reading them!! 💕💥🐝 And thanks for all your support, it means a lot!
Melissa Moore
2025-05-05 22:28:10 +0000 UTCOhhh gotcha, thanks for clearing that up! I was not sure but based on the context that makes sense!! That's so true, they are both attractive! Oh that's true, seeing Tenya here does help clear up the timeline! I can't wait to see what happens down the road! Thanks for the heads up on the blood/knife!!
Melissa Moore
2025-05-05 21:40:23 +0000 UTCThis Episode episode was great. I agree the best part of Tensei being in this episode is getting to see more of him when he was still an active Pro Hero. Also love the Buffy cameo. The guys at the start of the episode are such nothing villains & perverts so I’m glad they were dealt with quickly. And yeah it’s crazy how the simplest way to deal with a villain is just punching LOL. I love Koichi being attentive to Knuckleduster acting differently since the stuff with the bees it’s a nice moment. It’s cool to see Koichi training his hand-to-hand since he doesn’t have a good way of fighting right now. With how Knuckleduster punches Koichi when he asks what’s going on it feels like he doesn’t like to talk about himself personally/stuff going on in his head. It sounds like when he is telling Koichi to find another way to fight he wants Koichi to figure out his quirk more & it makes sense that that’s the case in terms of story with how Koichi was taught something about his ability in this episode. Also that rush of attacks from Knuckleduster against Koichi is crazy. It’s cute to see Pop worrying over Koichi although yes ouch that she calls him weak. I like how he discusses how Knuckle does hold back to not kill people it might still be overkill as Pop says but I think it says something about his heroic nature that Knuckleduster doesn’t kill. It’s interesting to learn more about what’s going on with Kuin during her conversation with a VA you should be familiar with. It shows us that she’s relatively high up in what ever plan is going on since she’s trusted to pick the test subjects for whatever data they need as well as being given a stock of Trigger. Since someone mentioned that it’s AFO I think it’s interesting how he talks about mental strength having a direct connection physical strength because it’s an idea that has been explored & shown in original MHA with different characters. Like AFO himself he always had complete harmony of his mind & body until MHA S7 where he is losing control to his anger & focus on All Might which will probably lead to his downfall which makes him talking about that idea in this episode more interesting. I love the tonal dissonance of Kuin talking about this messed up stuff while doing mundane things teenagers do. It’s disturbing to see her stoking the hatred/anger of a man who is clearly not doing well & the fact that she uses 3 doses of Trigger on him is messed up considering that it has to be dangerous. Also Kuin shows off some impressive agility/speed dodging that guy’s punch. I respect that once Koichi realizes they are actually out of their depth with this powerful instant villain he quickly switches to evacuation & distraction mode knowing a hero is needed it shows he has a good head on his shoulders knowing himself & the extent of what he can do right now. Something I love about Koichi is that while he is not normally that fast when someone is in danger he is able to push himself to go way faster to save someone. It’s crazy to see Knuckleduster go up against a villain that people would need pro heroes to handle showing that he is on the level of a pro but the more insane thing to me is him using his raw strength without a quirk to beat this guy who is hulking out & able to focus energy into his fist. The amount of strength Knuckle has not to mention how durable his brass knuckles are is wild. The way Knuckle defeats this guy especially that final blow is so cool I love how you can feel the impact a simple but good amount of animation with how he dodges & deflects hits. Yeah I agree he is a smart & skilled guy even if you might not expect him to be. I like that they emphasize that it’s dangerous to fight without a quirk with even a guy like Knuckle getting hurt although it seems like he’s got a high pain tolerance based on what we have seen so far. It’s hilarious that a good fight against a powerful opponent makes him so happy & excited but hearing that happy tone of voice is also nice. Kuin really went all in with the bee aesthetic even having a bee accessory on her pencil. It’s unsettling that AFO is using the vigilantes to avoid the attention of heroes & police but it’s something he has always been good at. Also thankfully she isn’t doing exactly what you think she’s most likely making the men think she’s giving them sex when she’s actually going to make them test subjects although I would feel worse for this guy if he wasn’t soliciting a high schooler for sex even if it’s fake on her end. I love our introduction to Tensei in this show with his very Iron Man suit up sequence & I like how we get to see what a Pro support team looks like & his backflip landing & ignition moment looks awesome. That’s one thing you can count on with the Iida family is that the animators love them because the animation is gorgeous. I personally think this is a Tensei early on in his career as a hero & isn’t super experienced yet which is why I have no problem with him not doing well against this street racer villain especially with that guy being having some more agility than him. It’s interesting to learn that he used to have airbags in his suit & didn’t have them in the future because of this situation. I really like like how kind & sweet Tensei is to a total stranger helping him learn more about his quirk just because he thought it was cool. It’s awesome to see Koichi solve a problem he has had with his quirk for a long time just with some advice from someone else with a movement based power which allows him to go faster without losing control now that he can brake which is a simple solution but we have seen in MHA that sometimes you don’t realize the simplest solution. Also here is a big difference between Koichi & Izuku is that while Koichi isn’t unintelligent he doesn’t have a very analytical mind like Izuku which is why he didn’t figure out this part of his quirk where I think Izuku would have although part of why that is the case for Koichi is because he didn’t have a pressing reason to improve his ability until recently but I’m uncertain about that. I love that Tensei offers him a job at his agency because he was impressed but also because we get to learn that even if you were not able to go to a hero school you can still get your license. I really like his talk about people who are going through disasters/villain attack feeling a lot of fear which is why he saves them as fast as he can because its the job of a hero as well as the concept of picking the right person for the right job when it comes to his agency & it’s nice to see that in his next confrontation with the Bat villain with heroes with strength, Scout & what looks like combat based quirks. Also him talking about how saving people is like helping lost children is actually connected to how a young Tenya asked his Brother why become a hero when there are people at the mall who also help lost children. And I love the small cute moment of a young Iida 1st learning how to use his quirk early on which is also funny. I love Koichi’s goofy smile after getting Ingenium’s card its great how he is one of Ingenium’s fans. I love how Tensei’s resolve is connected to his sidekicks which is why he was able to get rid of his airbags & trusts them to help him catch this guy. I think it’s cool to see how big his team is & it’s interesting to learn that a reason the city our group lives in is an easy place for villains to pop up/operate is because it’s a maze/very dark in a lot of places which is where the vigilantes come in. It’s hilarious that our group of vigilantes defeats this villain by tripping him right into Knuckleduster’s fist especially the slowdown & noises that villain was making. I love the speech from the vigilantes because they have awesome poses & I like that they talk about how they are there to help the heroes also it’s hilarious that Pop wants it known she has nothing to do with this LMAO. I like that Tensei decides to not go after them because he got a good read of Koichi that day knowing he’s a good guy. I think it’s great that Tensei asks for his card back from Koichi not to tell him what the vigilantes are doing is dangerous/illegal but because he can see that Koichi has found his place which is sweet & I like how he comforts Koichi when he’s disappointed. I love that they are friends it’s awesome. I love how the preview starts with Pop doing it only to be interrupted by Koichi. I love their relationship & as soon as I saw the preview I got so excited because I love the content coming up from when I read the manga. Also Ingenium’s sidekicks are exclusive/introduced in the Vigilantes story and are based on designs fans sent in. I’m glad you are enjoying the show so much. Finally I love the new music in this episode during the chase with discount Batman & the sweet/wholesome music at the end of the episode with Koichi & Tensei talking. Awesome reaction & thoughts. Keep up the great work. :-) <3
Supermonaman
2025-05-02 05:03:34 +0000 UTCSo, for Kuin, it's not that she have a side job foraging with men, it's more that she scam them while searching strong men to experiment with trigger and other things for the mysterious voice, not so mysterious since you didn't really put your finger on, but that is AfO (I mean, his VA is very recognizable so it's not even a spoiler ^^'). So that put another layer on the "how dangerous this trigger things his ?" For Tensei, yes he is fine, but I mean, Tenya is pretty handsome himself, so his older brother, it's natural that he is a fine man ^^. Also, seeing baby Tenya, that confirm that the timeline of Vigilante his way back in comparaison to MHA. Tenya have trouble with his quirk and seem to have like 10 or younger, so yeah, at least five years before MHA. Without saying too much, just like in the OG MHA, we are just at the beginning of Koichi training of his capacity and quirk, so they is room to grow. And yeah, for the next one, try to not forget blood and knife about the new character. I just wonder if we will hear him speak, I don't remember if that the case in the manga at his first appearance.
Spadeas
2025-04-29 15:07:07 +0000 UTC
