MHA: Vigilantes Just One-Upped MHA With THIS Spider-Man Trick!

Primarily, the narrative revolves around the gritty truth of extra-legal crime-fighting, with main character Koichi Haimawari dedicating effort to hone his skills in this area. It’s worth noting that Koichi is simultaneously a student at a nearby university.

In the story, Koichi’s enrollment at the college may not be incredibly significant, yet his dual role as an ordinary student and crime fighter adds layers of complexity that Deku in “My Hero Academia” previously lacked. Interestingly, “My Hero Academia” has historically been influenced by Spider-Man, but “MHA: V” is pushing the anime’s ties to Peter Parker to unprecedented heights.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Adds a Much-Needed Slice-of-Life Element To MHA’s World

Koichi is a Modern Day Peter Parker

As a die-hard fan of My Hero Academia, it’s always a delight to dive into the spinoff series, Vigilantes. Unlike the extraordinary students at Japan’s top hero school, Koichi finds himself in the more familiar setting of a university in Naruhata – making him incredibly relatable and ordinary, much like our beloved Peter Parker. His scenes in lecture halls and the university cafeteria studying hard make me feel as if I could be right there with him. It’s these college moments, though few and far between, that offer a refreshing glimpse into the everyday lives of characters outside the elite hero academy.

Beyond this, it signifies that the “from zero to hero” progression for the main character isn’t solely depicted through flashbacks or dialogue – instead, viewers experience it firsthand and intimately from the beginning. In My Hero Academia, the backgrounds of characters like Tsuyu Asui caring for her younger siblings, Kyoka Jiro growing up in a musical family, and even Deku’s quest to obtain a Quirk and become a hero are often explored. However, Koichi’s backstory is not just an additional detail; it forms a significant part of his daily life, making him familiar to fans as Koichi the college student. This highlights the “zero” aspect of “zero to hero,” allowing fans to truly appreciate the remarkable journey that Koichi has undertaken.

Koichi Balances His Civilian and Vigilante Lives Like Spider-Man

Koichi is a Young Man of Two Worlds

In my world, I find myself almost evenly divided between everyday life as an ordinary citizen and the thrilling realm of vigilantism, much like how fans of Marvel know Peter Parker juggles his dual existence, often arriving late to engagements or facing perils from his foes. Unlike Deku, who immerses himself deeply in the heroic lifestyle along with his peers at UA, we find them sheltered from civilian life to a great extent. The school offers them protective teachers and a secure campus, minimizing the chances of any character resembling Mary Jane Watson being endangered by villains.

Deku shares characteristics with Spider-Man, like his demeanor and abilities such as Blackwhip and Danger Sense. However, in their everyday lives, Koichi is more like Peter Parker. While Spider-Man may have backup from the Avengers at times, he typically works alone, struggling to balance two worlds as enemies endanger his loved ones. Essentially, Spider-Man is a lone vigilante shouldering heavy responsibilities. Similarly, in the significant aspects that matter, Koichi mirrors this struggle as a college student, lacking support from UA, Shiketsu, or Ketsubutsu.

Koichi’s College Setting is a Fresh Perspective on the Hero Industry

UA is Biased Toward Defending the Industry

College serves as a hub for knowledge acquisition, fresh perspectives, and analytical reasoning, and the latest installments of “My Hero Academia: Vigilantes” delve into this aspect in relation to the broader pro hero profession. Characters like Koichi and his peers are intended to investigate and evaluate the pro hero industry from various angles, ultimately forming their own opinions. It’s evident that society holds heroes in high regard as protectors of peace and justice; however, it’s also demonstrated that criticisms of the hero industry are accepted, albeit primarily for academic purposes. This notion was underscored when Makoto Tsukauchi collaborated with Koichi to explore the world of pro heroes together.

The textbook didn’t directly condemn heroes, but it was truthful about the origins of the hero system decades ago. The initial era of vigilantes came to an end when public surveys determined who were heroes and who were villains, and this method has remained since then. Although this system is questionable, with many flaws, Koichi and Makoto discussed it candidly without blindly defending the heroes. As a college student, not affiliated with UA or Shiketsu, Koichi approached the academic topic of heroes objectively rather than instinctively defending them.

In contrast, events similar to these were never depicted in the UA scenes from My Hero Academia, not even when Deku and his classmates were learning about the pro hero business. Some fans might argue that this is because the creators hadn’t developed those aspects of the storyline at the time, explaining why they weren’t included in the initial anime series. It seems plausible, within the context of the show, that schools like UA and Shiketsu wouldn’t allow their students to explore criticisms of the hero industry with an unbiased perspective, as such discussions are typically discouraged.

In a different perspective, students similar to Deku don’t have the same viewpoint towards the pro hero profession as an academic student like Koichi would, because if UA’s pupils began criticizing the system, it could create chaos within UA. Contrarily, students at these hero schools are subtly influenced to perceive the professional hero industry in a favorable light, focusing on its advantages while minimizing its shortcomings. As a result, intellectuals like Tenya Iida or Momo Yaoyorozu rarely question the system, but Koichi potentially could – and perhaps will – as a college student with fewer preconceived notions, much like Peter Parker.

2025-05-25 05:40