My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Episode 11

It really does feel like a lot of pieces from throughout the season are finally coming together as we approach the season's climax. We have Pop literally and figuratively taking center stage with this performance, we get a little bit more of civilian life and how much this actually means to everybody, there's some good comedy bits in there, and we are finally seeing a lot of stuff hit the fan. This was a solid setup that properly showcased the practical and emotional of what is to come. I genuinely don't know where it's going to go and that's a good thing.

The comedy was on point with a lot of the idol and dance group members. Even though I wasn't such a big fan of the running gag of Koichi just being an absolute idiot who can't read social cues at all, I will admit, I kind of like that they're leaning into that, because it has arguably always been present. It's interesting, but the show is making it a point that there aren't a lot of heroes in the area during the event even though it's great to see Midnight again. I do think the show doesn't emphasize enough how much the other heroes are actually getting involved with some of these lingering plot points. Sometimes it feels like they're present, while other times it feels like they're written off a little bit. The drug that is still out there in this area specifically has been creating so many problems the past couple of weeks that I can understand the symbolic gesture of putting on a concert. It's a little weird that the other heroes don't see it that way, especially Aizawa, but considering this is before he meets class 1A, I can understand that this is a more cynical take on him.

I was absolutely right with the bees being the actual villain and the girl just being a puppet. I had suspicions that the girl was Knuckledusters' daughter, but the signs were so obvious that I was kind of expecting the show to subvert my expectations. No, we saved that for Knuckleduster just being absolutely OK with wrecking his daughter's body for the sake of getting to the villain controlling her. That was so metal, I kind of love it, and it definitely feels like we're pulling from more of the vigilante inspirations rather than the pure heroism ones. Considering how untouchable this girl seemed and how much she lingered in the background for the past ten episodes, it's nice to see her actually feel threatened for once. I can see everything going south from her soon, especially since it seems like she is not on the same page as All for One. This is a good episode and I really hope it manages to stick the landing in the season finale.

Rating: