Oh, Koichi. You were so close.
It was bound to happen; the kindhearted Koichi, unable to finish off the evil No. 6. It still sucks to see it though. So, does this mean Koichi will overcome his empathy and beat the living snot out of No. 6? I doubt it. That’s not The Crawler. Sure, he fights, but he’s not a mega violent person. I think Koichi’s friends and allies will help him take down No. 6. That plus No. 6’s decent into madness and eagerness to destroy Koichi will ultimately be his undoing.
Loving the hero/villain relationship between Crawler and No. 6. Both are speedsters, one modeling himself after All Might. The other, born from All For One’s evil ambitions. The two even look like similar to their morality adjacent mentors (Koichi’s costume and No. 6’s no-face). Not to mention, learning No. 6 modelled his Rokuro Nomura face after Koichi’s! It’s so fascinating watching a glorified sociopath wanting to become a hero go head-to-head against an overly sympathetic vigilante. This alone makes this arc one of my favorites of the entire series.
Wish I knew a psychologist who reads this series. I’d love to get their take on No. 6. His obsession with having an identity, wanting to become the next O’Clock, and his major hate-on for O’Clock’s true successor even though he wears his hated enemy’s face. Mamma Mia! That’s a lot to unpack there and I lack the mental closet space to do it myself. I just know it’s good storytelling.
Soga knew No. 6 is a talker. Yep, I’m guessing Soga found a journal of some sort containing everything Knuckleduster knows about the villain. KD’s fingerprints are all over this final arc. From the special hospital wing to the secret item(s) Soga discovered in Koichi’s building, the good guys will owe most of the credit of saving the day to the missing vigilante.
I wonder if Soga will use the secret weapon next chapter? With the Anons back in standby mode, it’s the perfect opportunity to assist The Crawler. Poor Koichi. How could he survive that bomber onslaught? Two ways: One, he sped away by the skin of his teeth. Two, body armor under his costume. Heck, maybe both. All I’m sure of is Koichi ain’t dead yet!
This was a great chapter! The Crawler VS No. 6 fight was a long time coming and I’m loving every panel. Koichi’s kowtow move was a fun callback to him VS Soga way back at the beginning of the series. You can tell Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court planned this whole arc out from the very start. Wait? Is this the first time I ever mentioned My Hero Vigilante’s creator’s by name? Oh, crap! Time to kowtow, or at least, buy them a fruit salad.
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 
2 replies on “Empathy VS Apathy [My Hero Vigilantes 104]”
Yeah; No 6 has some……some HEAVY BAGGAGE there. It’s like he wants to be Koichi- to have his friends and his life- but wants to be his own person. He’s stealing Koichi’s face and contemplated just manipulating Pop again, but can’t “step into that position” fully. It’s kind of confusing and hard to put into words- especially since I’m not a psychologist.
But what I DO know is that Koichi’s in a little bit of trouble. If 1 more “chink” in his plan comes up; it might just send him over the deep end- he may feel he has nothing to lose. And someone with nothing to lose vs someone with EVERYTHING to lose is just a bad match up.
Soga’s DEFINITELY gonna show us what was under that tarp in the next 2 chapters. Who knows; maybe half way through next one we’ll see it. And once that’s used and fails to finish it; Knuckleduster will show up and help out his successor………which is what will push him over the edge.
You know; I might have seen that coming- Koichi about to shoot No 6, and then stopping. But for it to be because of Pop? Man; what a “left turn!!” And I like the art when we saw her face.
This is going to be an interesting next chapter. I wonder how Koichi managed to survive that one………..
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All that and we still haven’t gotten to No. 6’s backstory! There’s a lot left to this final arc!
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