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Episode 16 (Vigilantes)

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Public and Private is the sixteenth episode of the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime and the third episode of the second season.

Summary#

On a bright day in the Okinawa Prefecture, a gigantic, living Shisa statue bursts out of the ground next to a shrine and starts attacking civilians. As the citizens try to flee, they quickly change direction as they're also blocked by an equally colossal goya plant wriggling its vines, that has somehow mutated and gained sentience from the recent stormy weather. Things only worsen by the second, as off in the distance and hopping through the surrounding forest towards the people, is a giant piece of Okinawan tofu that was spawned out of mutant soybeans.

Eventually, the escapees are surrounded on all ends by the three odd Villains with no chance of escape in their grasp. Then from the sky, help arrives, as the No. 1 Hero All Might dives down onto the ground. In no time flat, the Symbol of Peace knocks the giant statue into the air with a smash and chops the giant fruit and tofu block into pieces. The instant the threat is neutralized, All Might instantly leaps back into the air, saying that he's immediately needed elsewhere. The citizens cheer for the man, as he effortlessly soars to his next destination.

Afterwards, All Might, now back in his true form as Toshinori Yagi, enters the cafe of his agency: Might Tower. He sheepishly greats Naomasa, who's waiting on him for a meeting, and apologizes for wasting the detective's time. The Hero tells him about the situation he had to fix down in Okinawa but assures that he's not trying to make excuses for being late, especially considering he always looks forward to these meetings since he isn't often blessed with genuine conversations. As he gets his paperwork out, All Might freezes and shouts upon noticing the man's casted arm and bandages.

After explaining how he got his injuries and the nature of the Scarred Man's Trigger operation, and settling down All Might from another concerned outburst, he tells the other man that it's no big deal, as his only major injuries were some cracked ribs and a collarbone fracture. This only makes the No. 1 Hero cringe in shame and tells Naomasa that he would've been there in a second to snuff out the problem with a simple phone call.

As convenient and helpful as that would be, the detective strongly disagrees. Due to All Might being the Symbol of Peace, a public pillar of heroism that indiscriminately exists for everyone, Naomasa believes that the man shouldn't be picking his battles to this degree. He asserts that if any details about the No. 1 Hero's private life were leaked to Villains, in this case who he has a higher tendency to aid over others, it could be weaponized against him and force stressful ultimatums.

While a bit ashamed, All Might sees the man's logic, and nervously offers a present a rescued civilian gave him the other day as a gift. Naomasa warmly accepts the item and offers to trade it for a souvenir he picked up in Osaka. All Might's gift was a fancy set of rose-scented bath salts, which the Hero thought would be perfect for Makoto. While Naomasa assures that his little sister would love it, he asks All Might to not mention that he specifically bought it for her, which the Symbol of Peace swears on. While the man thinks it's due to safety concerns, the detective clarifies that it's because Makoto is a rulebreaker that always tries to fish sensitive information out of her older brother, and he doesn't want to imagine what she'd do once she snags a line of contact to the No. 1 Hero.

As evening falls, Naomasa makes it back home to his sister typing away on her laptop as usual, though this time she doesn't greet him as he walks inside. After some more awkward silence, Naomasa offers Makoto the bath salts, though the only words to come out his sister's mouth is an accusation that he's trying to bribe her. The man sternly says that a "co-worker" bought this for her hoping she would like it, and says she'll accept the gift if there's truly no strings attached.

Naomasa then immediately drifts to an earlier conversation the two had about Pop☆Step, which the college student expected before telling her older brother that she's not giving up her client's information and putting her at risk of criminal prosecution. The detective says it's not really like that, and that it's only standard procedure that the idol be questioned, since she was caught up in the Villain attack in Osaka. Makoto says the girl should only be interrogated at her discretion since she was a victim of the attack, which Naomasa agrees with based on the statements given by Fat Gum and Monika.

Makoto then adds that Pop just wants to put the whole incident behind here since there's no real incentive to question her anymore, but Naomasa doesn't drop the issue and moves onto the girl's activities as a Vigilante and an unlicensed street performer, topping with the fact that Pop is a minor and could get injured. The woman says the complaint is irrelevant since all of recent work has been official performances under FeatherHATS and managed by her.

Eventually, Naomasa gives up on pressing his sister, though reminds Makoto that she's responsible for Pop's safety when she works under her. The woman then decides to take a look at the bath salts and immediately notices it's a fancy import, and the fact that it was stored in a new bag from Might Tower instead of one that shares the same branding as the item. Just as he was afraid of, Makoto tries to pry her older brother about him potentially having a contact with All Might's agency. Frustrated, Naomasa spitefully revokes the gift and walks off. As his sister complains about him not even being the type to use bath salts, the detective pettily declares he's going to start now.

The next morning, at Recycle Shop: Hoppers, Naomasa is sitting in on the meeting between the mutated Kirihito and the Hotta Brothers, as promised by Eraser Head for the twins' cooperation in their Villain Factory investigation. Kirihito angrily says he's about to squeal to everyone about how horribly he's been treated since his rampage. The twins can't wrap their head around their friend being so hung up on it, and Eraser Head adds that it isn't surprising considering how he was acting before he got arrested.

Naomasa adds that he isn't even being charged for his attack in the city since it was verified that he was a non-consenting subject of Trigger experiments, with Eraser Head suggesting that Kirihito go after those who wronged him directly. The man say he is indeed mad at whoever modified his body, but his real grievances lie in how drastically his quality-of-life has shifted. He's too big to inhabit his old apartment and is incapable of opening doors now that his arms have been permanently transformed into praying mantis forelegs.

After getting stopped from detailing how he has to go to the bathroom now, Kirihito complains that their neighborhood isn't really built for people like him, with the brothers adding that the man has been crashing in their warehouse for the time being. Naomasa does bring up that there's specialized housing options for those with unique body types like this, though Kirihito just complains about now being restricted on where he's allowed to live.

The brothers bring up that it's just how these types of things are dealt with, but Kirihito counters by saying things like improvement in infrastructure and social services can expand on things like these. As Ichiro and Jiro doubt their friend's genuineness for those societal issues, everyone gets a whiff of rose petals and notices the smell of the bath salts Naomasa used, which embarrasses the detective.

Later in the day, Naomasa meets up with All Might once again at the cafe in Might Tower. After noticing the rose scent leaking out as soon as he lifts his hat, the detective comes clean to the No. 1 Hero about not giving Makoto the bath salts. All Might asks if the two had a fight of some kind, which prompts Naomasa to complain about how different he and Makoto are despite being related.

He complains about how she frequently breaks promises and bends rules in her favor, and tends to only hear things that personally benefits her. Naomasa also hates how she's quick to do nothing but negotiate with him on everything, and the fact that whenever Makoto gets into major trouble, she expects her older brother to constantly bail her out of it. The No. 1 Hero does understand where Makoto might be coming from in terms of how she treats Naomasa, considering she might see her as a family member first and a law enforcer second. The detective just boils it down to Makoto acting spoiled, with All Might deflating and saying he can't find any argument there.

Elsewhere, a quartet of high school karate club students from the "3rd Planet From The Black Hole High" arrive to the front gate of an all-girls school, with the intention of the forcing the student body to go on dates with all of them. They start to make advances on the girls, but all they manage to do is scare them away.

The Crawler slides in to stop them — from a distance far enough to where he won't get smacked by those he's scolding, as he clings to the brick wall of the school gate. Unfortunately, the Vigilante's precautions are punished, as one of the students turns his ire on and fires his Spear Hand Missiles at The Crawler.

The projectiles just narrowly miss their target as the college student panics, and in the midst of things, he ends up blocking one of the missiles using the repellent force projected from his hands. This bewilders him, as he notices his hands are acting as repellants, while his legs are still independently using the attractive force of his Wall Crawling to keep him anchored above ground. Before he comes to any sort of realization, The Crawler is beaned in the face by a missile and falls to the ground with a bloody nose.

Pop leaps down to check on the friend, but is unfortunately met with the karate club students turning his harassment on to her. After getting hopelessly infatuated with the idol and asking if she wants to participate in several kinds of "romantic training" with them, Pop only responds with a rejecting screech of disgust.

At the police station, Naomasa, Sansa, and Eizo review the security footage of the Scarred Man taking down all the police officers in one attack before escaping. The detective notes that the Villain broke out of custody, stole and set off ten firearms, and escaped in about one second. Eizo thinks the man has some type of acceleration-based Quirk that affects the speed of how his brain processes information instead of just physical movement, with him hearing accounts that people with abilities like those tend to amplify their body to where the world around them appears to be moving in slow motion.

Sansa notes of a few Heroes on file having Quirks like that, mainly to assist in sharpshooting and martial arts, though Eizo says the Villain doesn't use his power with a comparable degree of precision. Naomasa theorizes that the Scarred Man's Quirk has been enhanced by Trigger to get to its current state and promises to look for any matches in the Quirk registry.

After the detective asks Eizo where he heard of those anecdotes about those types of perception-based speed Quirks, he later takes a trip back to Hoppers to meet up with Eraser Head and asks if he has info the High-Speed Hero: O'Clock. The Hero says he's only heard him through stories and tells Naomasa that he's a last generation Hero with a relativity-based acceleration Quirk. He was also famous for his instant four-hit combo he could pull off with his ability, though Eraser Head notes that the man has been inactive in the field for at least a few years. The detective confirms this fact and says that while there are no details on file, O'Clock mysteriously stopped renewing his Hero License years ago.

As the Hottas complain about the two using their shop as makeshift cafe and meeting spot, Eraser Head asks Naomasa about why he's so interested in O'Clock. The detective gives the Hero some details on his investigation in the Scarred Man and his Quirk heavily resembling O'Clock's, and is trying to find out if there's a connection between the two individuals. Eraser Head suspects that O'Clock has switched from a Hero to a Villain after going inactive, but Naomasa debunks it on the grounds of the two individuals being too different in age.

The main two things he's falling on is the fact that Quirks are hereditary, and that it's common for people to mentor someone with abilities similar to theirs. While it still mostly speculation, Naomasa is sure that one of these avenues will get him some answers, though it doesn't lead anywhere without any clues on where O'Clock might be. Ichiro figures it might be tough considering Heroes tend to go into hiding after retiring, with Jiro adding that the chance of that would increase if someone like O'Clock has picked up tons of enemies during his career.

Jiro tells Eraser Head to be careful of people like that, though the man sternly says he doesn't care if any "criminal scum" is concerned about him or not, especially since underground Heroes like him are familiar with shady characters. Eraser Head says that Heroes tend to retire if they're too old to continue their job or they're rendered feeble by a critical injury, and with any luck, O'Clock is quietly living out the rest of his days in private.

Later at night, near the top of a skyscraper, the Scarred Man in the middle of training with a punching bag. After getting himself warmed up, he activates his Quirk and speeds towards the bag. He then lands eight punches on it in an instant, before breaking into his cooldown state and deciding to call it a day on training. The Villain says eight hits is the limit on what he can do in his accelerated state, with his current build and stamina, and aims to hone his skills even more to surpass that limit. His boss, who is speaking to him on a nearby laptop, suggests that he incorporate firearms into his combat to cover any weaknesses, considering it worked out so well in Osaka two days ago.

The Scarred Man denies the suggestion, explaining that he prefers to feel the impact of his blows himself. His boss accepts the decision and expresses appreciation for the man for all the data he's gathered from fighting with his Quirk. After the Villain ends the call and shuts down the laptop, he says that he'd only think about using guns if he was backed into a corner and prefers to use nothing but his raw strength in battle, just like the man he calls "Master" and is currently staring at a large poster of: O'Clock.

Back at Koichi's Penthouse, the college student walks in to see Kazuho doing her homework. After handing her a soda from his backpack and fetching one of his own, Koichi tells the girl that he's been working on a new move. He then takes the can and places it into the palm of his hand, and after a bit of concentration, he fires it into the air using the repellent force of Slide and Glide. Kazuho is shocked, especially since she remembers him needing to be practically on all fours to even use his Quirk at all, but Koichi says he was doing stuff like sliding around on two feet as a kid and has over time repressed it due to not mastering those skills properly.

Thanks to that fight with the karate club students from earlier in the day, Koichi figured out to develop it into a proper Ultimate Move. By using his feet to anchor himself to the ground like a sumo wrestler, and by straightening his body and tightening his core, he is able to fire blasts of repellent energy with his hands using arm thrusts. He dubs this move as a new aggressive form of his usual methods of combat: his Scrappy Thrust Style.

He then gets a bit too excited showing it off and accidentally blasts Kazuho aside while blowing a hole into his window. The girl then brings him back down to Earth and shows him the bag containing Knuckleduster's brass knuckles, reminding Koichi that he hung these up as a reminder of what type of person he shouldn't try to be: someone who gets drunk on power and goes around wrecking things and hurting people for their own benefit. Koichi agrees on putting a lid on his new move for that reason, which Kazuho immediately backs him up on.

Even after his mysterious absence, Koichi says his old master is still teaching him lessons every day, though he and Kazuho liken the old man to a "reverse-role model" instead of a regular mentor.

Characters in Order of Appearance#

All Might Naomasa Tsukauchi Makoto Tsukauchi Fat Gum Monika Kaniyashiki Kirihito Kamachi Ichiro Hotta Jiro Hotta Eraser Head Snatch (Pictured) Sansa Tamagawa Eizo Tanuma Koichi Haimawari Kazuho Haneyama O'Clock (Fantasy; Pictured) The Scarred Man Villain Factory Boss (Voice) Shoko Haimawari Knuckleduster

Quirks#

Locations#

Battles & Events#

Anime & Manga Differences#

  • The scene with All Might battling Villains in Okinawa is extended in the anime.
  • When All Might yells in the middle of the cafe, the anime shows the other patrons staring at him before he quietly sits back down.
  • When Kirihito complains about how his new body prevented him from going home, the anime adds him complaining about how he can't open the door with his arms now.
  • During Naomasa and All Might's second meeting, the news feed shows the crime in Nagoya the latter stopped in the anime, where he defeated a giant shrimp tempura rice ball.
  • The anime replaces the Mazinger Brothers of the "Mazinger High Karate Club" with the "Karate Club from the 3rd Planet From The Black Hole High", with the group now resembling Mechagodzilla and Moguera instead of Mazinger characters.
  • In line with the power sets from their source material, the anime now shows Koichi getting pelted with finger missiles instead of rocket fists. The attack also comes from one student instead of all four.
  • The schoolgirls' looks and their uniforms are slightly redesigned in the anime, and they don't wear headbands resembling alien antennae. More of them are also shown in the scene instead of just two.
  • After Koichi gets attacked by the karate club, the anime shows Pop Leaping down to check on him, before getting harassed by the boys.
  • The anime slightly extends the visual of O'Clock knocking out a criminal.
  • In the anime, The Scarred Man talks to his boss through a laptop, while in the manga it's through an earpiece.
  • When Koichi tests out his Scrappy Thrust Style, the anime shows Kazuho catching the can he used it on.
  • The anime slightly extends the flashback of Koichi sliding on two feet as a kid.

Trivia#

  • The three karate club students that are based on Mechagodzilla reference three separate versions of the character: its Heisei era design, its Showa era design, and Kiryu, a cyborg version built from the remains of the first Godzilla. The student based on Moguera is modeled after the character's debut design before it was adapted into the Godzilla franchise.
  • Their high school name is taken from the planet and alien race that built the original Mechagodzilla.
  • The design of the girls references the Xilliens, a race of aliens that first appeared in Invasion of Astro-Monster, another Godzilla film, in which all the females of their species look identical to each other.
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Source & attribution

Adapted from My Hero Academia Wiki · Contributors · Revision 493867 · CC BY-SA 3.0

This is a community reference. Chapter citations are retained; interpretations and media differences should be checked against their original sources.