This Is a Hero! is the twenty-fifth episode of the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime and the twelfth episode of the second season.
Summary#
At Might Tower, All Might, as Toshinori Yagi, is in a middle of business meeting with his staff. As he's struggling to bring up a data spreadsheet on his tablet, he suddenly gets a call from Naomasa.
The Hero leaves the meeting room and answers the phone in the hallway, asking his friend about the call since they usually communicate remotely through text. Naomasa frantically tells All Might there's an emergency at the Tokyo Sky Egg, right around the time that the building began fully collapsing thanks to the supercharged explosion set off by the Scarred Man.
Despite their best efforts to keep it stable, the dome begins to plummet to the ground, putting the lives of all the Heroes and the 50,000 attendees in jeopardy. The Scarred Man is pleased that the tower is finally going to fall, saying that the only way this catastrophe can turn around is if some type of God intervenes.
Back at Might Tower, All Might asks about the noise and for his detective friend to elaborate, as Naomasa freezes up once it sets in that Makoto's life is at risk. Despite how often they are at odds with each other when it comes to their viewpoints and professional goals, Naomasa stills see Makoto as his baby sister and decides to put his love for her above his ethics as a member of the law. While he personally finds it inappropriate, Naomasa breaks his rules and gives All Might a request over the phone: save Makoto, and by extension, the rest of those trapped on the Tokyo Sky Egg.
All Might understands his friend's plight and accepts his request in an instant. Without a moment to lose, All Might rockets out of Might Tower, now in his empowered form as his clothes fly out into the wind to expose his Golden Age costume. In just a few seconds, All Might flies to the scene of the disaster, ready to help and here to save the day.
Effortlessly, All Might delays the broken tower stems's fall with a punch, uses a torrent of wind pressure to clear out a nearby park and stall the plummeting dome, levels the bare soil with a roller, saves all the animals in said park, collects the falling debris, and soars right back up to catch the dome and set it safely down on the clearing.
As the civilians cheer for the No. 1 Hero, the other Heroes begin to recover from the exhaustion, marvelled as usual by the Symbol of Peace's power and ability to instantly correct any problem in his sights. Captain Celebrity and The Crawler are still falling down though, but the college student excitedly and quickly calls out for the other Hero to catch them, which he does. On the way down, All Might properly introduces himself to Captain Celebrity and thanks him for his hard work. He then asks about the The Crawler, who happily says he's just a simple fan before asking for the Hero's autograph.
Later, as All Might addresses the press and gives his support to public services and the other Heroes for the upcoming aid to the civilians, the Scarred Man watches the live news feed from his phone and grows increasingly angrier.
As support to the rattled Tokyo Sky Egg attendees is being distributed, and Koichi shows off his autographed hoodie to Captain Celebrity, Naomasa apologizes to the once again disguised All Might about losing his composure over the phone. The Hero found no issue with the urgency and believes that his friend's worried plea was just what he needed to arrive to the scene on time.
All Might believes that his life as a Hero is just as much a part of his mind as it a job and says he can't really separate his public and private life like others in his field typically do. Whenever he hears a genuine cry for help, All Might can't help but take it personally and do everything in his power to answer it firsthand, as bringing hope to everyone around him is the thing he loves most, and the reason he accepted his power in the first place. After quickly brushing off his comment about "accepting his power" as a slip of the tongue, All Might and Naomasa go to help the civilians, though the Hero makes a promise to himself inside that one day he'll tell the detective the true nature of his Quirk and his role as the Symbol of Peace.
Back from his watching spot, the Scarred Man can't stand that things have been wrapped up so neatly by All Might and the Heroes. He then tosses his binoculars to the ground, breaking them, before once again making a series of rapid-fire selections on his phone with his Quirk.
Suddenly, the remains of the defeated Bombers littered across the street start pulsating and growing, as they regenerate and stick together to form a supersized amalgamation of the monsters that quickly prepares to explode. The Scarred Man knows that if the only benefit to his mishmash of a Bomber was its size, then someone like Eraser Head or All Might could deal with it quickly, so this weapon he dubs the Cluster Bomber is specialized to circumvent that.
Instead of a straight explosion, the Cluster Bomber's skin tears open and out flies a flock of 200 bat-like Mini-Bombers, as they begin to spread out into the area to target everyone near the Tokyo Sky Egg's dome. The Scarred Man says All Might on his own wouldn't be able to handle this, and at best with all the Heroes working together, they could defeat half of the swarm. The other half would be free to kill the Sky Egg attendees, public servants, and bystanders with no one left to oppose them.
As everyone on the ground cowers in fear and struggles to make a plan of action, All Might quickly rushes forward and flexes back into his Hero form, before planting his feet and cocking back his right arm, while spinning it around to gather a massive stock of wind pressure. All Might then thrusts his arm forward and unleashes a Nebraska Smash on the horde of Mini-Bombers, and a small tornado rockets out of his fist and corrals the monsters inside, as they succumb to the force and explode safely afar from everybody.
The Scarred Man can only stare in awe, before he starts laughing and says he's so amazed that he doesn't even care that his stunt was foiled so easily by a move so unexpected and unfathomable. From his phone, his Boss speaks up, and addresses his employee by his proper moniker: Number 6.
The Villain says what All Might just did, and everything he's known for, very much exists despite how unbelievable it sounds. He calls the No. 1 Hero a genuine superhuman who easily bends physics and reality to his will, a true "deus ex machina", and believes that he's the goal Number 6 should be shooting for as he grows stronger.
The scarred Villain rejects that idea, reminding his employer that he's going to be a successor, but not to All Might. His Boss laughs and remembers Number 6's goals, reminding himself that he did give the Villain free will to do as he pleases.
As he tries to give his Boss thanks, Number 6 is shot from behind in the collarbone by an unknown assailant. From a nearby rooftop is Knuckleduster, armed with a sniper rifle, and having finally caught up to Number 6 after countless days figuring out his plans and scouting out the best places to view a sudden attack on the Tokyo Sky Egg from afar.
Although Knuckleduster was aiming for a killing headshot like he once recommended to Eizo, a bird suddenly flew past his scope just as he began to fire, making his shot miss and hit Number 6 in the clavicle instead. Knuckleduster readies another shot to finish him off, but Number 6 quickly gets up before speeding off with his Quirk, first to catch up to and kill the aforementioned bird and then land behind Knuckleduster.
The Vigilante points out Number 6's Quirk and that he has gone under body modifications in order to increase his compatibility with it, known as Overclock. The Villain elaborates that his body has so far been augmented to boost muscle mass and weaken his pain receptors, and the Quirk was "inherited" from O'Clock, his personal Hero and the man who eventually turned into Knuckleduster.
Number 6 tells his "master" that he's been waiting forever to properly meet him, with Knuckleduster expressing that the feeling is mutual before asking Number 6 about his true identity. Number 6 gets a fanboy-ish thrill that his idol wants to know anything about him, but he is disappointed that he now has to tell his Hero that there isn't much of an origin story when it comes to him.
The Villain perceives himself as the biggest nobody to ever walk the Earth, not even having a proper name and literally remembering himself in the past as an amorphous, featureless blob with limbs. The only major detail of his early life was that he grew up as a subject of numerous experiments under the label "Test Subject #6", hence his identity.
The only thing Number 6 wants in his life is to become someone important, and O'Clock is the one person who fits that bill and the only thing he wants to turn into. Knuckleduster chuckles at how the Villain is settling for someone like his old identity, saying that most children would strive for a more unsurpassable, better role model like All Might.
Number 6 tells the older man not to be so hard on himself, saying that while All Might is the pinnacle of his field, he believes living the life of someone so vital to everyone around him must suck, as he basically cleans up every single mess made by people who are several leagues beneath him. Knuckleduster says it's for that reason that All Might has earned his spot as Japan's No. 1 Hero in the first place, and if a person with any crumb of selfishness were to get his hands on that man's mountain of raw power, the entire world would be plunged into suffering.
Number 6 "agrees" that All Might, or anyone for that matter, shouldn't have that degree of power, and ironically having a caliber of strength that can never be topped makes the man's options on how to go about his life severely limited. The Villain wants status as Hero, but also a life where he can go and do as he pleases with no opposition, and any help he does bring to others along the way would be totally indirect.
O'Clock and Overclock is the perfect fit for Number 6's ideal life, as even though the Hero and his Quirk are not mind-bendingly strong, it assures the Villain that he'll always have the first move against his opponents and secure victory before they would even know what has happened to them. Ever since he first saw the Hero on television, O'Clock consumed every part of Number 6's life up to now. When he first saw the footage of the climactic battle that stripped away his idol's Quirk and ended his career, it gave him chills and a call to action. He would then take it upon himself to become the next O'Clock, cementing his dedication by carving a facial scar identical to the one the Hero received in his last battle with a knife, and declaring that it was now his turn.
Knuckleduster says the life he once led is nothing to aspire to in regard to heroism, but his fan tells him not to be so modest. Number 6 then requests the Vigilante to publicly christen him as his new successor to the O'Clock name, but Knuckleduster shuts him down, on account that he already has someone under his wing. Number 6 figures out that the Vigilante is talking about Koichi and tries to rationalize that the college student has no respect for Knuckleduster compared to him, even bringing up how the young man is a huge All Might fan instead of an O'Clock one.
Once again, Knuckleduster says O'Clock wasn't a Hero, and anyone who would be daring enough to get a hold of his Quirk and run around trying to become him is setting themselves up to a terrible Villain that needs to be put down. Number 6, while disappointed, quietly accepts that his "master" has personally labeled him as a Villain, and asks if Knuckleduster's going to try and once again fail to shoot him with the rifle.
The Villain then fires up Overclock just as Knuckleduster goes for another shot, with the Vigilante missing as his enemy knocks him back. The Villain, having completely come down from the high he got from meeting his inspiration, prepares to take down Knuckleduster as the muscles in his right arm begin to bulge and shred the arm off his jumpsuit.
Before he can attack, Number 6 stops, as he hears an audio recording by Knuckleduster coming from a nearby speaker, which is detailing a message to "O'Clock". The audio sounds normal from Number 6's perspective, meaning that the tape's playback speed was drastically increased beforehand. From the tape, Knuckleduster gives a full breakdown of Overclock, with the major note being that when the body accelerates, the acceleration rate fluctuates based on the user's state of mind. If a person decides to throw some punches, the body's speed can be multiplied anywhere from three to ten times, and up to a dozen if the user feels severely threatened by something.
Additionally, while time and practice can shatter a lot of these limits, there are still drawbacks to look out for. Knuckleduster says that there's a principle to Overclock's strengths: the higher the degree of acceleration, the more stress is put on the brain, and as a result the Quirk can time out after just a few moments. Knuckleduster says it can happen if "O'Clock" is trying to dodge a sniper bullet or trying way too hard to listen to an audio recording that is played back at 300 times speed.
Realizing he's been caught in a trap of some kind, Number 6 slides away from the real Knuckleduster and asks the man what he just did. The Vigilante tosses his rifle away before swinging his grappling hook onto a nearby antennae, declaring that it's time for the Villain to be taken down and that he won't give Number 6 a chance to breathe. Knuckleduster then pulls out and presses a detonator he kept hidden in his trenchcoat, causing the building's top floors to blow up, which sends the two men plummeting downward.
Number 6 has no avenue of escape since he can't control himself in the air without anything to run on, and Knuckleduster tells the Villain to guard his head as he lowers himself down and pulls out a shotgun from his coat. The Vigilante then blasts Number 6 in the shoulder as the two hit the ground, and Knuckleduster continues blowing holes in the rest of his limbs so he can't move.
Number 6 weakly wonders why Knuckleduster isn't going straight for the kill, with the man simply saying his priorities have changed, and since Number 6 wants to be involved with him so bad, he might as well trap the Villain and keep him alive for later. The Vigilante then pulls out his detonator again and says the next blast will take down the entire building so fast that Number 6 won't get a chance to flee and be buried underneath the rubble.
The Villain starts bragging that his brain has recovered just enough to retaliate, but Knuckleduster quickly stomps his face into concrete, before beating Number 6 with his fists to further stall Overclock and saying he wants some intel on the Villain's boss. With the Villain's body now being too damaged and exhausted for Overclock to currently make use of, Knuckleduster prepares to capture Number 6 and flips the man on his stomach.
However, a mass of Bomber cells snake out of the Villain's clothes and onto his arm, with the battered man admitting that he kept some Bomber cells on his person just in case. The cells then engulf Number 6's arm before swelling up and exploding, with the blast hitting both men and traveling up the damaged building.
Characters in Order of Appearance#
All Might Eraser Head Naomasa Tsukauchi Ingenium Ryukyu Snipe Mirko Best Jeanist Gang Orca Makoto Tsukauchi Miu Yu Kazuho Haneyama Number 6 Koichi Haimawari Edgeshot Mad Hatters East Naruhata High Dance Squad Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy Captain Celebrity Bombers Tiger Uwabami Midnight Present Mic Death Arms Monika Kaniyashiki Fat Gum Villain Factory Boss (Voice) Airjet Knuckleduster Kirihito Kamachi (Fantasy) Batto Yobayakawa (Fantasy) Ikajiro Takobe (Fantasy)
Quirks#
- One For All
- Nebraska Smash
- Self-Detonation
- Regeneration
- Propagation
- Cluster Bomber
- Flight
- Fiber Master
- Erasure (Mentioned)
- Overclock
Locations#
Battles & Events#
- Sky Egg Bombing (Concluded)
- Knuckleduster vs. Number 6 (Started)
Anime & Manga Differences#
- The anime shows the Might Tower staff reacting to All Might's interruption, instead of just showing the dialogue in the manga.
- The scene moments before the Sky Egg's collapse where Eraser Head argues with Naomasa about calling All Might is omitted from the anime.
- The support column for the Sky Egg explodes during All Might's call in the manga, while it's already happened in the anime.
- The anime doesn't include All Might stopping to get a picture taken while saving the Sky Egg.
- The manga shows All Might landing with Captain Celebrity and Koichi, shaking the hands with the former, while the latter asks for, and receives, an autograph. In the anime, their landing isn't shown, Koichi asks for an autograph while still in the air, and shortly afterwards, Koichi shows off his signed hoodie, with C.C. remarking how he wasn't as excited for his autograph.
- The news broadcast is cut down in the anime, instead just focusing on All Might's statements to the press.
- All Might hastily running off, transforming back into Toshinori, being found by Naomasa, and receiving a Captain Celebrity hoodie to wear from Kazuho also isn't included.
- Makoto temporarily lamenting about needing to give away their merch and supplies as recovery resources while addressing the rest of the Narufest crew is omitted from the anime.
- In the manga, Naomasa introduces "Toshinori" to Eraser Head, Fat Gum, and Monika, while in the anime the two just walk off together.
- The manga shows the Cluster Bomber in closer proximity to the recovering civilians, while the anime has it further away.
- All Might using his Nebraska Smash on the Mini-Bombers is extended in the anime.
- Number 6 deciding to lay low for a while is not included in the anime, and is cut off by being shot by Knuckleduster.
- When Knuckleduster explains how he found Number 6's location, the manga shows a diagram while the anime uses flashbacks.
- In the anime, Number 6 tells Knuckleduster about his experiments and where he got his name from while explaining his origin.
- The imagery of a selfish All Might when Knuckleduster talks about the man is more detailed in the anime.
- During the scene of Number 6 using the audio recording, the anime adds some shots of Number 6 walking through a crowd while accelerated.
- In the manga, the audio recording is still heard playing after Number 6 steps back, and the real Knuckleduster notes the brain drain mentioned in the message. In the anime, Number 6 simply asks whats going on before Knuckleduster prepares to blow up the building.
- The anime also shows Knuckleduster swinging his grappling hook to an antennae before using his detonator.