Extra Content from Volume 9 (Vigilantes).
Buster Union#
The Rough Design#
Buster Union
Bukkomi
Boobs
Cangunnon
Mellorine
Tech Magic
Behind the Scenes#
The requirements here were "They fly in, line up and fire of attacks all at once" plus "A team with enough variety that Mic and Sensoji don't feel out of place" So I did some reverse engineering and came up with these guys. Betten-san and I are from the same generation, so we both had some chuckles about the little touches here, like Cangunnon being inspired by Gundam'''s or the guy that seems to be inspired by the Cho Aniki'' video games but is actually referencing Taro Yamamoto's Mellorine Q shtick.
-Furuhashi
I was short on time, so these are some pretty desperate attempts at characters. But shhh– that's a secret.
-Betten Lump Villain / Sensoji The Rough Design
Various
Sensoji
Villain: Garvey
About 10 m tall
Front view
Stocking up on Quirks makes lumps grow bigger
Behind the Scenes
For Aizawa's first life-and-death battle that forces him to come into his own, the concept was for a villain that only he could deal with (since it uses multiple diverse Quirks) but one that was still a handful for Aizawa alone (due to the difference in physical size). The stocking-up lumps made for great fight choreography, I think.
Sensoji comes of as your basic, clichéd "douchey high school jock" but his personality's very straightforward, and he tells it like it is from a perspective that other characters don't necessarily have, so I really like the guy.
-Furuhashi
One of the original inspirations for the lump villain was the Surinam toad, but when I watched some videos for research, the toad turned out to be way grosser that I imagined, so I moved away from that as an inspiration. (LOL)
Sensoji's costume in the same as Aoyama's, from the main MHA series.
Sensoji's energy emits from somewhere on his body, but the costume channels it through those lines so he can shoot it from his hands and legs.
-Betten Eraser Head & Present Mic (Young Ver.) Behind the Scenes
For both these guys, my request were "lighter equipment than present day," "traditional period" and "shonen-ish." Once you add those googles, young Eraser Head is complete, so to speak.
-Furuhashi
Since those two are in their powered-up forms in the main MHA story, I wanted to imagine these versions as an earlier stage of that. As if they would improve on these designs over time to achieve their eventual styles... Kind of like that.
-Betten
The Rough Design
Student Hero Costumes
Aizawa
Simple
Yamada
Basic costume is pretty much there already
Speakers on legs too The Last Hoodie The Rough Design
Koichi Dark-colored hoodie
Behind the Scenes
It's a new version of the old hoodie, to give off that fresh and shiny feeling of a new season. I wanted it darker to make him look, a little stronger and to hint at the serious story developments to come. But also, from a narrative standpoint, I wanted to make the distinction between the hoodies up to now (with the All Might color scheme) versus the final dark one. That said, it's not like he's literally been wearing just a single hoodie all along, so I wanted the final hoodie to look mostly like the standard ones.
All these minute differences also play into the "only a fanatic could even tell" aspect, as if Koichi might declare, "They're totally different!" That's also kind of fun.
-Furuhashi
Since it's been three whole years since the start of the story. I designed this hoping it would give Koichi's a slight air of reliability– but only a little bit. Find-turning is tricky.
-Betten The Twins & The Trio, Three Years Later The Rough Design
The Trio
Miu
Yu
Behind the Scenes
To show the growth and changes over three years, I wanted the twins' designs to reflect the different paths they're taking– and of course, the Saint Lila's girls had to grow up, literally.
However, the trio is clearly too much to handle in terms of panel space, now that they're so big!
-Furuhashi
The trio's windbreakers and headbands represent the soul they inherited from the dance club president.
-Betten Makoto's Latest Mode & Pop's Early Days The Rough Design
Pop's Early Days
Smaller
Makoto
Behind the Scenes
Makato is facing towards the future, while Pop is looking back at her own origins. Though it wasn't entirely intentional, I think that one scene creates some natural contrast between them.
The concept for Pop's first costume is "school-issued swimsuit" plus "party goods from the 100-yen shop." You're doing great, sweetie!
-Furuhashi
I like to try imagining what happened to transform Pop's first costume into her current one. (LOL)
-Betten Court Nomura The Rough Design
Nomura
Sloppy and noncommittal
Behind the Scenes
The visual concept for this guy was, basically, a more grown-up Koichi. He looks unreliable at a glance, but he gets the job done when it counts. And even though he's a working member of society, he hasn't lost that hero's spirit within. Those are the elements of Pop's idealized Koichi, now manifesting in this new character. When this chapter was released, I was glad to hear feedback like "Pop should just end up with this dude!"
-Furuhashi
He just had to be utterly dull and ordinary. ^^
-Betten Court Rock (Street Clothes) The Rough Design
New Villian Concept
Thick and sturdy belt
Like Shotaro from Kamen Rider W, or the guys from Tiger & Bunny
Messy bangs
Behind the Scenes
Betten-san gave me this design for Number 6's "Rock" persona a while back, but since the character headed to disguise himself and operate in the shadows for so long, we couldn't make use of this version until now. So the feeling now is "Here he is, finally!"
- Furuhashi
Since Furuhashi-san wanted this guy's exterior to suggest he could be a hero protagonist, some elements of his streets clothes are taken from those of a certain Kamen Rider duo and the main characters in Tiger & Bunny. Having his facial features almost transform when his true identity is revealed is a trick you see a lot in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Incidentally, "This is something you see a lot in JoJo, is an off-used phrase in our planning meetings. (LOL)
-Betten Court "What If" Eraser Head Ver. If Shota Aizawa hadn't become an educator
Illustration by Betten Court Message from Oboro Shirakumo Oboro: We got a gift illustration from Horikoshi sensei! Isn't that great, Shota?! Message from Kohei Horikoshi Congrats on Vigilantes 9