The Vigilantes spinoff continues with this season and now we’re getting closer to the meat of the series. The big villains are showing up now and the plot is gradually escalating. All Might also gets to have a big action scene which was really cool to see. The series continues to have great production values all the way through with no real weaknesses and I can safely say that it has risen above the first season.

Koichi is a much more experienced vigilante compared to his season 1 days. Knuckleduster has been off the grid for a while so Koichi and Pop have to take care of crime on their own. They’ve done a good job of this though and have made a good amount of friends in the city. They even have time for their day jobs like Pop working as a real idol and Koichi supporting her from the side. Well things are about to get dangerous again as an evil speedster is on the loose. It won’t be easy to stop this guy.

Speedsters are always going to be the hardest characters to write around. Either the character isn’t fast enough to make a difference or they basically end the verse. There are almost limitless uses for a good speedster after all and ultimately this one leans more towards the latter. There are virtually no fighters who can really hope to beat him. There are some pretty creative approaches on how to deal with this but even those do end up using quite a bit of plot armor. Realistically this guy would be wiping just about everyone out until All Might notices and stops him.

The speedster is the best character in the season though. He is smug and dangerous, a really top tier combo. He knows that the heroes don’t have a chance and basically rubs this in their faces. It’s not like speed is all that he’s got either, he’s also a mastermind. He always manages to stay one step ahead which isn’t easy. As the show goes on he is only getting stronger too. I liked the wasp villain from season 1 so this title has really had great villains for 2 seasons in a row now.

The first few episodes are mainly about showing how well Koichi can look after himself and showing how the instant villains are popping up everywhere. For now the cops have no way of predicting where or when they will show up so the pro heroes aren’t able to react very quickly. Koichi continues to develop his powers so that he is ready for them though. We also do get the occasional guest star like Fatgum who helps out during the warehouse battle. It’s always fun to see the pro heroes appear even if this story is mainly for the Vigilantes.

Koichi is also more confident in his own abilities so he makes for a good main character. He’s definitely the oblivious type but always intends to be responsible and helps his community. He is a well balanced main character with no real downsides. Pop is also solid but definitely leans into being a tsundere a lot so she isn’t often honest with her feelings. That can always be a bit of a challenge for Koichi and she can look a little annoying as a result. I think what I was most surprised by when this first came out was how she never got a real power up. She isn’t really able to contribute in the fights at all which is unfortunate. There’s just not a whole lot you can do to make her more important like that. It’s probably why she has the idol career but that feels like a subplot at best.

We take a break from the main plot to get a few episodes about Eraser Head and his old friend Oboro. We learn about how Oboro would go on to become the shadowy villain, Kurogiri in the main series. It’s definitely a very important story arc to be in a spinoff to that was interesting to see. Admittedly I was much more interested in the main plot by this time but the episodes were handled well. It is interesting to see Eraser Head back when he was slightly less jaded. He also wasn’t quite the expert fighter that he would become later on.

As far as flashbacks go it was pretty decent. Midnight and Present Mic also seemed like dependable friends who really helped him on this journey. Without them he would have been even more isolated. Naturally Oboro was also good. He is a lot like Obito from the Naruto series. A kid who is really energetic and ready to help out everyone who he can. He has all the markings of a true hero and it’s a shame that he couldn’t last longer.

We then get to the climax of the season with the Captain Celebrity arc. He is trying to rehab his image which was sorely needed but he will have to do it while protecting a whole tower filled with people from explosives. Naturally if he succeeds then this will be a giant W but the stakes are high. Celebrity had a rough start but he looks good here. How much you enjoy his character will really all depend on how much you think he has really changed as a character. I would say it’s fairly night and day here where he is treated much more as a naive guy who just got on the wrong path before. I like him in the superhero context the whole time but as a person he will need to continue to prove himself more and more. Unfortunately I don’t expect that he will be getting very many scenes in the future to show this.

His powerset is really fun though. He has the All Might type of powers but to a much weaker degree. In addition to that he has an energy barrier that protects him from most attacks. It takes a whole lot to actually pierce it and usually Celebrity would be able to dodge most attacks. This was just an exception because he had to deal with the whole hostage situation. It’s safe to say that he is one of the strongest characters in the series.

This time the subplot actually ended up winning out though. While the main plot had the best animated scene with All Might, the subplot had Knuckleduster return to fight the speedster. It was a really fun fight with great music and tactics. Yes there was some plot armor but the fight is still really satisfying. Knuckleduster showed why he is such a versatile fighter and we got to learn more about his past. I did miss having him be part of the main cast so it was really good to see him return. It’ll never stop being impressive to see just how strong he is for a guy who has absolutely no powers.

The animation is really great as you’d expect. The colors are striking and the action scenes are really fast paced. The explosions are all over the place in a good way and none of the episodes feel like they really got the shaft. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also really good. There are a lot of great themes throughout. The main theme song may not be my favorite but the rest of the ost on the whole is pretty good which is what really counts.

The episodes go by quickly so there is a lot of replay value. There is also a lot of room left for a season 3. Naturally you need that for the big battle with the speedster but we can also look forward to more appearances by the pro heroes. Ultimately I will always think that the heroes are a little too by the book here though. Their hard stance against the vigilantes really just opens the door up for the villains. It’s a constant theme that never actually ends in this series but it’s always worth referencing. It puts Koichi in a tougher spot than he should be.

In one episode we also see Tsukauchi make an argument for why he thinks that All Might shouldn’t save him. He believes that it is just too selfish and All Might belongs to the world at large. I heavily disagreed with this because at the end of the day All Might is a symbol of peace for all. Saving Tsukauchi is just another example of stopping a villain and All Might will drop anything to save him. He would do the same for anyone else that he knows. It may be special treatment but it is not at the expense of anyone else.

If Tsukauchi had just called in All Might during the first battle with the speedster then the whole series could have ended there. As fast as the guy he, he’s nowhere near as fast as All Might. Tsukauchi’s pride prevented him from making the call and that’s the wrong decision to make. I sympathize with the plight a bit since at least I do understand it. I just disagree while All might more or less convinces Tsukauchi to call him in large scale emergencies; you can tell that the guy is still going to be reserved to an extent.

This does work as a great foil to All Might though who looks as great as ever. Since we see him from Koichi’s point of view, we can really appreciate how All Might was the ultimate symbol of peace. He shows up with the big grin and ends the whole stressful situation in an instant. He doesn’t struggle or hesitate. Then when the villain tries to get a second wind, All Might transforms and defeats him in the same instant. This kind of overwhelming power is exactly what scared the villains in the first place and the show reflected that super well. His scenes were crazy impressive here. I’d love to watch a whole series about All Might back around his prime or even the slightly weakened days lke here.

Overall, I definitely recommend checking this one out. It’s not every day that a main series can get a spinoff with multiple seasons like this. It reminds me of a Certain Magical Index and its spinoffs. This show does well in keeping up with the main series and just has a cozy atmosphere. If you missed the older seasons of MHA that were very light toned, then this is always a good change of pace for you. The next season for Vigilantes may start to get more serious as well but there are a lot of happy moments coming up as well. The series is really balancing all of the action/fighting while also being a slice of life/rom-com for Koichi and Pop. It’s doing a whole lot of things and keeps that street level kind of vibe for the series. I’ll definitely be ready for the next season.

Overall 8/10