Episode 7 (Vigilantes)

Makoto/Truth is the seventh episode of the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime.

Summary#

At his college, Koichi is struggling to stay awake in and keep up with his classes, as his nighttime Vigilante work is taking up most of his time and energy. After another lecture, Koichi starts eating lunch while simultaneously taking notes on all the stuff he slept through for an upcoming test. He is then approached by a striking young woman from his class who greets and asks to sit down next to him.

After commenting on his multitasking, the woman, Makoto Tsukauchi, asks to see the Hero Sociology textbook he's reading from, one which their shared professor wrote. She commends the book's material, but criticizes its messy writing, and advises Koichi to refer to a club member who's previously taken the class to copy notes from. Koichi sheepishly states it would be solid advice if he was actually in a club, and Makoto jokingly calls out the student for being a loner.

Makoto then offers to "take care of Koichi", which slightly flusters him. After identifying Koichi's name, major, and his reputation as "The Creeper of the East Naruhata Ruins" on campus, she elaborates that she's looking for someone to show her around that area. Makoto offers to help him catch up on his schoolwork in return for him guiding her around eastern Naruhata.

The next day, Koichi and Makoto head up to his Penthouse, which Pop☆Step is currently lounging in. The young idol starts panicking as she notices the two college students chatting outside, before diving behind her changing curtain with her shoes and bookbag. Koichi enters the abode and asks Makoto to stay outside while he tidies the place, which the woman abides by while playfully riffing him for being suspicious.

Koichi notices Pop's items on the ground and chastises her for not cleaning up after herself. He then looks to the All Might hoodie that goes with his Vigilante costume and reminds himself that he can't leave any trace of his secret identity. The man tosses the belongings, as well as Knuckleduster's empty beer cans and takeout boxes behind the changing curtain, unknowingly pelting his teammate with everything.

Once settled, Makoto asks for Koichi's course schedule while he brews some coffee for the two of them; Pop is discreetly leering and baring her teeth at the woman through the curtains. Makoto then starts separating his classes into three categories: "nothing matters but the final exam", "assignments are everything", and "as long as you show up". The woman then promises to pool together the lecture notes and past exams questions for the classes under the first two labels and advises her underclassmen to not make attendance slip for the third.

Once his courses are broken up, the pair then move on to review the Hero Sociology material for their upcoming exam. Makoto then flips through the book and begins reviewing Chapter 3 of Koichi's Intro to Hero Sociology textbook, which highlights the friction between vigilantism and the Hero Licensing system.

The textbook defines vigilantism as a transitional system where people step up to keep the peace during waves of social disorder, and groups who take up the cause tend to get absorbed into official Hero systems once society stabilizes, with the alternative being outright elimination. The movement was born shortly after the fallout brought on by the sudden appearance of Quirks, birthed by everyday citizens who wanted to use these new abilities to keep things orderly. After some time, various laws were passed to officially govern and regulate habitual Quirk usage, which soon led to the modern Hero system.

As Koichi tries to play off him knowing all of this at the top of his head, Makoto tells the man that this anecdote is more complex than how it's described in an academic setting. She then points him to the place where the first Hero Licensing system was established: Rhode Island, where 189 Vigilantes where operating by the time the "Rhode Island New State Statute" was passed. Of those 189, only seven were approved to become official Heroes, which the rest being legally classified as Villains.

While there is some kernel of truth written in the contents of book Koichi was reading, Makoto believes the system wasn't originally created to promote Heroes, and instead it was to personally define what makes someone a Villain so they can be legally persecuted. Even in the present day, the current laws governing public Quirk usage are still hotly debated, with some saying their right to bear arms and self-determination are being infringed upon by regulation their abilities like this, and other believe the terms "Hero" and "Villain" feel arbitrary in several cases. As Makoto excitedly reads and tags notes in the book for her study partner to look over for later, while Pop grows more annoyed at her "showboating", she states that vigilantism and Hero work are more diametrically opposed nowadays despite their shared origins.

Makoto then tells Koichi to review what she said verbatim as well as the pages she tagged, and he should be able to pass the exam without any issues. As he thanks her for the help, Makoto asks him about the deciding factor between legally sorting Vigilantes between Heroes and Villains as a bonus question. Koichi thinks it boiled down to whoever followed the law, but Makoto cheekily says the real answer's a secret and saved for her personal thesis. She tells Koichi that she'll give him the real answer once he helps her out with her tour around Naruhata, and the man reassures his commitment but is unsure of his usefulness to her.

Makoto tells him that she's planning to do some field research on the Naruhata Vigilantes, as modern-day vigilantism is incredibly rare and she wants to study them in order to gain a new perspective on how the current Hero system came to be. Koichi, while trying to keep him and his teammates alter egos under wraps, tells Makoto that the trio won't be that hard to get a hold of since they've been doing tons of work to keep the streets safe, but warns her not to get in danger due the group's constant run-ins with Villains. The girl puts an arm around Koichi's shoulder and optimistically says that she's got nothing to worry about with him as her bodyguard, which causes him to blush.

Later in the evening, Makoto leaves and says goodbye to Koichi, reminding him to meet her at the station on Saturday at 10 AM for her field work. The college student then closes the door and says he has to think of a way to throw Makoto off his scent safely, while fawning over the fact that he gets to meet up with her Saturday.

Once she leaves, Pop throws back the curtains and startles the boy, angrily pointing out the stupid grin on his face. As night soon passes over them, Koichi is reviewing his notes while Pop is whining to him, as she calls Makoto a "shameless floozy" who barges into people homes, with the irony totally lost to her.

Meanwhile, Makoto is typing up more of her paper at home, as her older brother, Naomasa, returns from a long day at work and greets his little sister. She tries to sweettalk him for any details on the Quirk-related crimes he investigates, with the man telling her that it's classified. Makoto then pushes him further and asks if he can score her any interviews with some well-known Heroes on the subject to compensate, which he also brushes off. Naomasa advises her to not run up to Villains for interviews she can use for her paper, as he doesn't want her to get involved with criminals in any way.

Makoto sees her brother's labeling of Villains as narrow-minded, as she believes the actions of Heroes and Villains overlap enough to blur the line supposedly separating them. Naomasa doesn't want to debate with her since she's better at it than he is but tells her that how Villains use their Quirks is a slippery slope. He believes they can easily plummet from believing they're not crossing any lines to blindly and blatantly stepping over it. Makoto cheekily writes his comment off as him advising people to never "step over the line", but Naomasa tiredly states he's just warning her not to get into too much trouble.

A few days later, Koichi is outside the Penthouse with Knuckleduster while workshopping a new Ultimate Move: High-Speed Double Sweep, which allows him to mix up low sweeps and the precise movement options of Slide and Glide in order to keep himself safe and his opponents on their toes, while also granting him plenty of escape options.

The older man commends his student's work and creativity, but Pop stubbornly tells Koichi that his moves are weird and cowardly. Knuckleduster asks about their teammate's bad mood, which prompts Koichi to tell him about his situation with Makoto.

Knuckleduster warns him to be careful, as one mistake could cause a flood of police officers and Villains to head their way. The man brings up that he could just silence Makoto using violence, but Koichi frantically tells the man he won't let things get to the point where that's necessary. Knuckleduster trusts the college student to handle things this time but tells him to not mix his professional and personal life. Pop hurriedly agrees with both of the older Vigilante's comments, though out of jealousy instead of safety concerns.

Koichi later meets Makoto by the station, and the former is immediately enamored by her looks and outfit. Pop is hiding behind a sign and stalking the pair in full costume, angrily stating that the woman looks average at best. Makoto pulls out a map on her phone highlighting the areas where the Naruhata Vigilantes have been sighted most often and suggests heading there to conduct street interviews with the public to garner their reception as impromptu Heroes.

Makoto wants to approach this way to tackle her thesis about the factor that kicked off the split between Heroes and Villains. Her personal theory is just popularity, citing how Quirks vary so widely in power that laws can't uniformly govern all of them, so it would fall on their users to discern and act on what's right. She also brings up the Hero Billboard Charts, which is essentially a popularity contest, with the "popular" angle being more pronounced back then.

The pair conduct their first interview with Ichimoku and Jube, who give their opinions on all three of the Naruhata Vigilantes. They express their loyal love for Pop☆Step's idol work as well as her new initiative helping keep Naruhata safe, are horrified by the manic violence of "Freaky Fist Grandpa" and subtly allude to "The Cruller" being right in front of them while getting up in Koichi's face to mess with him.

The two continue to get similar comments from all types of people around the city, like children, vendors, salarymen, hardcore Pop☆Step fans, etc. When Makoto tallies up and graphs the all the perceptions, the data is also very clear cut: people like Pop's looks and is mostly known for her butt, Knuckleduster is not widely known but the few who do know him view him as violent and scary, and The Cruller is helpful but also called creepy in several different ways, with the last set of results causing Ichimoku and Jube to burst out laughing.

The woman's laptop is suddenly snatched by a jogging thief: a penguin-faced Villain who goes by Emperor Yotsuura, who has a Quirk that supposedly allows him to move around and dribble a ball like a professional soccer player. Ichimoku and Jube give chase to the offender, as Koichi follows suit, handing Makoto her camcorder.

He quickly turns into an alley and begins suiting up as The Crawler but is interrupted by Pop Leaping down to ask why he's bothering getting into costume. Pop argues for "the group's sake" that if Makoto's laptop gets stolen then it'll deter her from investigating them, but Koichi refuses and says he can't turn his back on the woman. He then confidently tells her that he can show off a bit out in the open as long as he keeps himself properly disguised, and Pop dejectedly mutters over him doing that with Makoto around before he slides off to back up his allies.

The Crawler moves into the open street and easily catches up to Emperor Yotsuura, before approaching him from behind with his new High-Speed Double Sweep. The Villain however easily dodges and nails the Vigilante in the face with his soccer ball using an Emperor Shot, sending him flying into a bunch of construction barriers and traffic cones.

Ichimoku, Jube, and Pop soon catch up, as the former fires his laser into the thief's back, sending him to the ground and the laptop into the air. Koichi slides in and secures the laptop, while the two middle schoolers start furiously stamping the Villain into the pavement.

As Makoto soon meets up with the commotion, Koichi, now out of costume, returns her stolen device and says he fell down as he was running to explain his scratched face. The woman asks if he was the one who stopped Emperor Yotsuura, and Koichi smugly says The Crawler swooped in to help. Ichimoku says "The Cruller" didn't actually help out this time, while Jube is tying up the thief with a rope.

As evening falls on the city, Ichimoku and Jube take their leave, and Makoto thanks Koichi for his help. The woman hopes that she'll be able to get a close view of one Naruhata Vigilantes next time like her classmate allegedly did, as a still-watching Pop cringes at the prospect of a "next time". Before they take off, Makoto holds out her hand and asks Koichi to answer a question for her.

The young man grasps her hand and asks what she wants, and Koichi unknowingly falls under the scrutiny of her Quirk: Polygraph, which allows her to detect the authenticity in the words of someone she makes physical contact with. Makoto confidently asks the young man if he's secretly "The Cruller", which Koichi casually denies, indicated as a truth. Makoto is a little put off and apologizes for the accusation, unknowingly losing out on the crucial information due to her own misidentification of her classmate's codename.

Later that night, she sits at her laptop unsatisfied with the data she's gotten for her paper and tells her brother that she might have "lost her touch" for figuring out the truth of these things. Back at the Penthouse, Pop and Koichi are reading off more of the comments gathered by the citizens on them. The two start complaining at each other about their less than savory reception in Naruhata, with Koichi in particular annoyed at everyone calling him "The Cruller" and not "The Crawler", as Knuckleduster is nonchalantly reading the newspaper.

Characters in Order of Appearance#

Koichi Haimawari Makoto Tsukauchi Pop☆Step Naomasa Tsukauchi Knuckleduster All Might (Fantasy) Endeavor (Fantasy) Best Jeanist (Fantasy) Ingenium (Fantasy) Midnight (Fantasy) Ichimoku Samazu Jube Namimaru Kuin Hachisuka Emperor Yotsuura

Quirks#

• Slide and Glide
• High-Speed Double Sweep
• Hellflame (Fantasy)
• Fiber Master (Fantasy)
• Engine (Fantasy)
• Somnambulist (Fantasy)
• Soccer
• Emperor Shot
• Leap
• Beams From His Eyes
• Wooden Swords From His Hands
• Polygraph

Locations#

• Naruhata
• Hitonami Univercity
• Koichi's Penthouse
• Tsukauchi Home
• East Naruhata Station

Battles & Events#

• The Crawler, Ichimoku & Jube vs. Emperor Yotsuura

Anime & Manga Differences#

• The ending of Koichi's college lecture is slightly extended in the anime.
• When Makoto recognizes Koichi for his awful reputation at college, the anime includes a visual featuring a creepy version of Koichi.
• Pop noticing and hiding from Koichi and Makoto is slightly extended in the anime.
• A moment of Pop peeking out of her hiding spot in the Penthouse to glare at Makoto is added in the anime.
• Makoto's history lesson on Vigilantes is extended in the anime, including new visuals of the Heroes, Villains, and Vigilantes that began appearing in America.
• The anime adds a shot of Pop growing more annoyed with Makoto as she's continuing her review with Koichi.
• The anime includes a short scene of Makoto removing her contacts, referencing the cover of Chapter 13.
• When Makoto mentions using social media to gather information about the Naruhata Vigilantes, Koichi doesn't think about how Pop did the same thing like he does in the manga.
• The building Pop is hiding on when she's stalking Koichi and Makoto is much taller in the anime.
• During the field research, when Makoto talks about the Naruhata Vigilantes, the anime shows an image of the three looking more villainous than in the manga.
• When Pop is advising Koichi to let Makoto's laptop get stolen, the anime adds close ups of her face to highlight the more jealous intentions in her argument.

Trivia#

• Brazilian comic illustrator, and Marvel Comics artist, Rubens Bernardino Silva, known as R.B. Silva, was responsible for several of the images used in the history lesson on Vigilantes.^[1]