Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 6, by Hideyuki Furuhashi, Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2019

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 5. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called…vigilantes.

After returning from an eventful trip to Osaka, Koichi starts experimenting more with his Quirk—does he have more potential than he first thought? Detective Tsukauchi continues to investigate the instant villain incidents, quietly enlisting the help of Eraser and even consulting All Might. And now, with Hachisuka out of the picture, the shadowy figure behind the Trigger drug has enlisted a new and even more dangerous agent…

Review:

This is the first time that Pop and Koichi are really on their own. In the author comments, there's lots of mentions of Koichi figuring out how to be a hero on his own, without the guidance or help of the old man as the tough guy. But I didn't really see a whole lot of that from Koichi in this volume.

Pop and Koichi take a trip out of town for her idol career, which means they stumble into some real hero business. There's some cameos from some main heroes in the main series, which was fun. And the way that Pop and Koichi coincidentally end up helping, but also sneak away without the heroes really knowing who they are, was a fun adventure.

It all felt very episodic, though. I know there's a bigger plot in this series, I'm just not quite sure where it's going or when it'll get there, honestly. I would even be okay if we were getting more romantic sub-plot, but there are only tiny hints while Pop flirts around it and Koichi remains oblivious, pretty much.

I don't mind this series, but I'm not hooked, either.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 5, by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2019

Volumes: 8+

Spoiler?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called...vigilantes.

Disaster at the Marukane department store's grand reopening was averted thanks to the efforts of Koichi, Pop Step and their band of low-end idols. But a greater calamity was prevented by the clash between Knuckleduster and his own wayward daughter, Tamao, who was possessed by the villainous Kuin Hachisuka! In the end, Knuckleduster nearly had to kill Tamao to free her from the evil entity controlling her. Now that he has achieved his goal and saved his daughter, is Knuckleduster through with his life as a vigilante?

Review:

Since the old man has pretty much taken himself out of the picture, that leaves Koichi and Pop to themselves. Supposedly this means Koichi will be forced to take a more lead role, but I don't see that happening at this point.

For most of this volume, Pop and Koichi are off at a mascot event out of town. During this innocuous event, there's some drug smuggling in which undercover cops and heroes are helping out with. Pop and Koichi miss most of this, though they do get caught in the wreckage.

This was a fun volume. It's always neat to see the heroes from the main series show up here, and how it might connect. There wasn't much plot progression, but it was still fun.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 4, by Hideyuki Furuhashi, Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2019

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called…vigilantes.

The sinister Hachisuka continues to haunt the Naruhata district, distributing the Quirk-boosting drug Trigger. Knuckleduster continues to track her and is closing in. Meanwhile, Pop Step receives an unexpected invitation to perform at the Marukane department store’s grand reopening. With Makoto helping out, it’s going to be nothing less than an all-out entertainment extravaganza! But that’s only if she can organize a disorganized group of performers in time for the show!

Review:

While there is a lighthearted plot in this volume—Pop Step joins with a larger group to put on a collaborative concert, something she hasn't done before, and causing a different kind of attention for herself. This is an interesting plot, I suppose. I felt mostly meh, though I guess it was nice to see when Pop was able to use her normal routine to entertain during the crisis, and seeing her grow some more confidence in herself.

But during all this, we see that Knuckleduster has decided to stop avoiding it and confront Hachisuka upfront about all the bugs, only they have a surprising connection. I hadn't really considered this, but I guess it feels a little cliché, and maybe that's why it bothers me.

Now that one potential villain is possibly down, I'm guessing that we'll get to meet a new one in the next volume. We'll get to see where this bug-virus plot progresses to next.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 3, by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2019

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called...vigilantes.

Review:

The plot doesn't move too much forward in this volume; instead we meet a new character, and Koichi's mother comes for a visit.

Koichi meets Makoto at school, and she turns out to be a reporter. This could be trouble for Koichi, given that he's an undercover vigilante. Koichi decides to help her out, despite all this, and then when his mother shows up, there's some drama, and a life or death situation. This takes up most of the volume. Pop shows up a few times, and we meet a new narcissistic hero.

It was an all right volume, not too exciting for me, and the plot line didn't feel very necessary to me. At the end, we got to see some extras with the heroes from the original series. That was a little interesting, as well.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 2, by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2018

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be an official hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called…vigilantes.

Koichi and his “friends”—Kazuho, a.k.a. Pop Step, and the mysterious Knuckleduster—have teamed up to protect their neighborhood (unofficially, of course). But even petty criminals with Quirks can be dangerous, and taking them on shows Koichi that he’d better not underestimate them. Sizing up the opposition is important, especially when some of the villains are definitely out of Koichi’s league and more sinister threats lurk in the shadows…

Review:

Koichi meets a real hero in this volume, who works in a group and fights crime, and is honored to be scouted, offered a spot on his team. It's Ida's brother, I believe, and he's a nice guy. Koichi and him end up running together on some days, by coincidence at first and then forming a kind of bond during it. Koichi is proud to be given the opportunity, but he's kind-of already on a team, sadly.

Koichi reveals his true idolization for All Might in this volume, which ends up revealing a connection between him and Kazuho from when they were younger. Koichi is left clueless, though, as Kazuho hides her crush and her history with him, and how he saved her. It's a cute memory, and gives some understanding for her character.

This is a fun spin-off series. The characters are odd, and it's nice to see when it relates to the main series. The main plot was mainly just lurking in this volume, as we got to know the villain and see what she's working on in the background.

I'm intrigued, and enjoying this so far.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Volume 1, by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2018

Volumes: 5+

Spoiles?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the world of My Hero Academia, not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. However, not everyone can be an official hero, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called…vigilantes.

Koichi Haimawari couldn’t make the cut to become an official hero, so he uses his modest Quirk to do good deeds in his spare time. Then one day, a fateful encounter with some local thugs leads him to team up with two other unlikely heroes. None of them really know what they’re doing, but they’ve got the courage—or foolishness—to try. But they soon discover fighting evil takes more than just being brave…

Review:

Given the world of this series, it makes sense that there would be vigilantes running around. Not only because these things always happen—though, of course. But also because there's such a strict law system for how heroes can do things, of course people would want to use their powers secretly. That's kind of where superheroes come from, you know?

Koichi has a pretty low-key power in which he slides along the ground, so he's not qualified to be a hero. But he still wants to do good, so he helps people at night. But he gets into some trouble, and he tends to get bullied, so he stumbles upon some allies. First being a big, gruff older guy, and the other being a pop-idol girl who sneaks around to give people shows around town. There's a villain sneaking around throughout this, causing chaos for the public, with big nefarious plans.

I like the idea for this series, and the group of characters are interesting. It's just okay so far, but I think it has potential to be a lot of fun.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!