My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2

Episode 23

There is definitely a lot of charm in this episode, especially when it comes to all of these characters coming together to celebrate somebody that they think is great. Captain Celebrity is far from my favorite character in the show, but to say I'm not at least a little bit attached to him would be a lie. I do want the guy to go home to his family and live a relatively successful life. But will it be enough to hit me as hard if something DOES happen to him? I still can't get over the fact that the show has more or less dialed back some of his more problematic behavior, or is acting like it wasn't a bigger deal than it was back in season one. There's not a lot here outside of just embracing the festivities before the mud hits the fan.

Captain Celebrity might die by the end of this arc. As far as I can tell, he never gets a reference in the original series despite supposedly being one of the top heroes in Japan during this time, which is only a few years before the main series starts if I'm remembering correctly. The show is also very careful not to have Captain Celebrity be too heavily involved with characters who appear in the main show. It took me until this episode to realize that this episode features a bunch of cameos, yet none of them really directly interact with him, and it creates this uncanny sense of separation. It's like the show desperately needs to dance around itself to not create a situation it can't get out of later, which is hilarious considering that back in season one, it felt like the show was a lot more open about having those direct connections with Knuckleduster being the reason why Stain cut off his nose and started acting more extreme.

The other sense of disconnect that goes on with this episode is that there's no tension. Outside of Captain Celebrity dying, I know nothing horrific is going to happen necessarily because an attack of this scale with legitimate casualties would've left an impact on the main series at large. My real investment in this arc depends on how well the show sells me on Captain Celebrity. The next episode seems to be establishing by focusing on how he met his wife. I wasn't expecting that since his wife basically has always existed as a punchline, but it could be sweet.

There is also the added issue of how our main villain is attacking a structure that houses some of the most powerful heroes in all of Japan, except for All Might and Endeavor. I'm not saying it's impossible to make me cry, but it won't be easy.

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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.