I'm Here is the first episode of the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime.
Summary#
On a sunny day in Naruhata, a massive Villain is rampaging through the streets before chewing on a motorcycle to satiate his uncontrollable hunger. From the rooftops, the No. 1 Hero All Might swoops down and slams the Villain into the ground with a single Detroit Smash. The surrounding civilians are in awe of the Hero's strength and charisma, including 19-year-old college student Koichi Haimawari.
After All Might picks up the downed criminal and soars off into the sky with a mighty jump, Koichi then runs off to try and make it to school on time. As he turns into an alley, he bumps into a trio of thugs. Their leader, Soga, then pours the soda he was drinking on the ground and pins it on Koichi, before ordering the student to grovel on his feet and apologize.
Koichi does just that, which causes Soga's associates, Moyuru and Rapt, to laugh at his lack of a backbone. Soga walks up to kick Koichi in the head, before the young man slides back towards the open street with a Kowtow Evasion. He then flees from the angry thugs by coasting on the sidewalk using his Quirk: Slide and Glide, which allows Koichi to move along a surface by sliding across it as long as he touches it in at least three places. However, it's not much faster than a bicycle, which causes him to get comments from bystanders about its usefulness and how his usage of the Quirk makes him look like a cockroach.
Later that evening, Koichi stumbles into a crowd watching a guerilla singing performance by Pop☆Step. As she sings and bounces around using her Leap Quirk, Koichi notes how much the girl shines with her performance and Quirk, despite him not being too impressed with her singing or the fact that she conceals her face with lots of makeup. The young man then leaves since he's running late for work, as he remarks at how people tend to admire those they look up to and do the opposite with anyone below that pedestal.
Koichi eventually makes it to his cashier job at a convenience store, though he gets his pay docked for the missing time. Just then, Soga and his crew walk through the doors, before dragging Koichi out the building and into another alley as payback for running. Soga pins Koichi to the fence and threatens him by brandishing a set of Spikes from his fist, before he and Rapt toss him to the ground and kick him repeatedly.
Koichi later walks home, disgruntled by his beating and the fact that the Police haven't been keeping up with arresting people like them. He then decides he's going to try "that" out tonight. Once he makes it back home, he throws on an All Might hoodie, black underclothes, sneakers, leather gloves, and a face mask, before heading out into the night using Slide and Glide.
Koichi proceeds to go around the city helping several civilians with small problems like returning dropped objects and giving directions, since doing good deeds for people using his Quirk lifts his spirits. He's been doing this so long that people started recognizing his nighttime persona, referring to him as "Nice Guy" for all the help he's given them.
Koichi decides to take a break and is then stopped by a resting Pop☆Step in an alley, who offers him a bottle of soda and says she recognizes him as the "Cockroach Guy" picking up all the litter on the streets. The girl asks if he's trying to do an All Might cosplay with the "lame hoodie" he's wearing, which he confirms since he's trying to imitate the man in order to be useful to society.
Koichi starts to leave, but not before thanking the girl for the drink and advising her not to get too carried away with her "idol joke" so the Police won't try and catch her. Pop starts to get riled up at Koichi's comment about her work and then accidentally taps Soga on the cheek, who has suddenly appeared behind the two in the alley along with his cronies.
Soga and Moyuri grab her wrists and throw her against a wall, as they recognize Pop from her revealing costume and her reputation online for the performances she does in it. Soga then forcefully squishes her cheeks while insinuating that her makeup makes her look like a Villain, as the girl screams that she doesn't reveal her face to the public. Moyuri threatens to take pictures of her unobscured face and post them on the Internet for her defiance.
Behind them, Koichi is gently telling them to stop their behavior, which only angers the three as they tell the boy to get lost as their business with Pop has nothing to do with him. As Koichi begins to leave, he stops and sees the terrified face of the girl being harassed. The young man then moves in to try and aid her like he usually does in costume, as he attempts a sneak attack on Moyuri's leg using Slide and Glide. Unfortunately, the move does nothing, and Moyuri picks up Koichi by his hoodie and tosses him aside.
Soga moves in and kicks Koichi in the face with a spike-protruding shoe and asks why the guy they just beat up is trying to play Hero and meddle where he doesn't need to. The man then proclaims that he'll give Koichi and the store he works in more than a light beating with his Spike Quirk, and afterward he and his crew will strip down Pop☆Step and upload naked photos of her online. Koichi asks him why he's going that far, and Soga angrily replies that's its simply because he's an annoying brat who got him angry.
As Pop☆Step screams for the Police, Rapt mockingly asks why she's not calling for a Hero instead and does an impression of her calling for All Might to save her. Soga corners Koichi and moves in to punch him in the face with his spiked hand, as the college student accepts that someone like All Might won't fall in from the sky to help them at this moment. Just then, a large man in a trench coat, brass knuckles, and a bandana, jumps from above and into a heap of trash bags. The man kicks off some of the bags and confirms that All Might isn't here to save them, because he's here instead. After walking off the heavy fall thanks to the trash cushioning it and some well-trained body placement, the man then strikes Soga in the face with a powerful punch and sends him flying into the ground.
The other two thugs ask who he is and what he's doing. The man calls himself Knuckleduster, and says he specializes in cleaning up the streets from trash like them. In quick succession, Knuckleduster knocks the other two hoodlums out and then checks their tongues for an unknown reason. Koichi tries to leave out of fear that he'll get beat up next, but Knuckleduster stops the boy and offers to turn him into a Hero if he can help him in his work, as he sees promise in him. Koichi tries to deny his interests in being a Hero, but the older man calls him out for lying since he looks up to All Might and enjoys helping people.
Koichi starts to admit it but says he doesn't have a strong enough Quirk to help him work up into getting a Hero License. Knuckleduster detests the idea of needing powerful Quirks and proper certifications to be a Hero, as all that matters is one's ability to take action when something needs to be dealt with. Koichi freezes as he realizes the man is a Vigilante: a person who uses their Quirks to do good outside of legal oversight.
The two then turn to see Pop☆Step grabbed by an injured Soga, who threatens to slice the girl's face up using his Spikes. Seeing Pop cry out for help and remembering Knuckleduster's earlier assertion, Koichi's vigor reignites, and he slides into Soga while tackling him into the ground. Knuckleduster praises Koichi for his actions, as he properly finishes off Soga with another punch and sends him flying into the trash pile. The Vigilante checks his tongue too and says he's not the type of person he's looking for.
Knuckleduster once again offers Koichi the chance to train under him to be a Hero and learn how satisfying it is to punch a Villain in the face. Koichi once again nervously declines, as he can only think about how much crazier he is than those hoodlums instead of the fact that he saved him.
After the three leave, Soga and his crew walk off into the city while cursing their defeat. In the middle of the road, they are approached by a man with a ponytail and a bold scar on his face. Soga asks what he wants, as the man offers them three vials containing something he says will help them. The three then inject the substance into their bodies, which causes their physiology and Quirks to transform, and motivates them to wreak havoc in the city.
At Koichi's Penthouse, Knuckleduster explains that he's hunting down the source of a Quirk-enhancing drug called Trigger that's been going around the city. When someone uses it, the narcotic causes their Quirks to grow more powerful at the cost of their sense of reason, turning them into Instant Villains. Koichi asks why they shouldn't just let the Heroes and Police deal with them, to which Knuckleduster explains that they can't since Trigger users tend to pop up suddenly in heavily populated areas, making them difficult for regular crime stoppers to handle.
The man says the duty falls on people like him and Koichi and asks the student to help him take down Villains and check their tongues in the hope of finding the source of the drug, since a side effect of using Trigger is a user's tongue turning black. Knuckleduster then promises to hunt down and inspect the tongues of anyone they find while beating up those who don't comply, which Koichi writes off as the man joking with him.
Knuckleduster is very much insistent on his threats, as the next evening he's accosting random civilians while Koichi hangs onto him in his night costume. The two are then reunited with Pop☆Step, who asks what they're doing. Koichi tells her the situation and says that he's only following Knuckleduster to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Pop criticizes the older man's blind methods of tracking down his targets and advises him to look up key phrases online relating to random Villain popups to try and narrow down his search pool.
Knuckleduster completely ignores her in favor of approaching a salaryman with a briefcase walking down the street. The man drops his briefcase from the commotion, and the container pops open to reveal three Hero figurines, which he explains as part of his work at a toy company.
Knuckleduster wants to hit him anyway to make sure he's telling the truth but is then stopped by a cloth stringing up his wrist. A tired voice then asks if the Vigilante is one of those Instant Villains that have been crawling around everywhere these days, as the three turn to see the Erasure Hero: Eraser Head.
Characters in Order of Appearance#
Luminescent Baby Endeavor (Fantasy) Hawks (Fantasy) Best Jeanist (Fantasy) Edgeshot (Fantasy) Mirko (Fantasy) Present Mic (Fantasy) Midnight (Fantasy) Knuckleduster Nice Guy Pop☆Step Izuku Midoriya (Mentioned) All Might Soga Kugisaki Moyuru Tochi Rapt Tokage Ichimoku Samazu Teruo Unagisawa Inko Midoriya The Scarred Man Mario Kugutsu Thirteen (Figurine) Eraser Head
Quirks#
- Luminescence
- Hellflame (Pictured)
- Fierce Wings (Pictured)
- Fiber Master (Pictured)
- Foldabody (Pictured)
- Rabbit (Pictured)
- Voice (Pictured)
- Somnambulist (Pictured)
- One For All
- Detroit Smash
- Slide and Glide
- Kowtow Evasion
- Leap
- Spike
- Lizard
- Ignition
Locations#
Battles & Events#
Anime & Manga Differences#
- Izuku Midoriya narrates the prologue in the anime. More Heroes are also shown off during the sequence and includes depictions of them using their Quirks.
- The anime omits the manga beginning in media res, showing the climax of the battle against Mario.
- In the anime, All Might makes his debut by announcing his presence on top of a building. In the manga, All Might makes his debut by shooting down from mid-air.
- After watching All Might defeat the Villain, Koichi says he's late for class in the anime, while in the manga he's late for work.
- The anime doesn't include Koichi being lectured by a police officer for using his Quirk out on the street.
- Koichi bumps into Soga and his crew for the first time in an alley in the anime, while they're out on the street in the manga.
- Kowtow Evasion's name isn't mentioned by Koichi when he first uses it in the anime.
- Koichi sees Pop performing later in the evening (after class) in the anime, while in the manga it's immediately after evading Soga's crew.
- Ichimoku Samazu and Teruo Unagisawa are seen in the crowd, earlier than their first appearance in the manga.
- Pop☆Step's full song is heard in the anime.
- Koichi warning Pop about incoming police is omitted in the anime.
- In the anime, Inko Midoriya's cameo reflects her younger, taller appearance. In the manga, she has her current, smaller appearance.
- After arguing with Koichi, in the anime Pop is about to slap him when she accidentally hits Soga, who was standing right behind her. In the manga, Pop runs off, bumping into Soga while she was yelling at Koichi.
- Koichi's visualization of his attempt to save Pop from Soga's crew is omitted in the anime.
- In the anime, Soga and his crew first threaten to expose Pop's identity by uploading unmasked pictures of her online, which then escalates to stripping her down and uploading explicit photos of her after Koichi tries to fight them. In the manga, the second threat is said first, with Soga adding that he and his crew will violate her before doing so after Koichi intervenes.
- In the manga, Mario is the one who hands Soga's crew the Trigger drug to use. In the anime, it is Number 6, introducing him significantly earlier than in the manga.
- In the anime, Soga injects himself with Trigger at the same time as Rapt and Moyuru. In the manga he doesn't do it until he meets Koichi again. The anime also removes the scene of Soga being offered the drug.
- Scenes of the Trigger-enhanced trio wreaking havoc in the city are included in the anime.
- In the anime, Knuckleduster speaks with Koichi at the penthouse the same night they meet. In the manga, it's the following morning.
- The anime excludes the scene of Koichi trying and failing to get some bystanders to flash their tongues for signs of Trigger usage.