Category: My Hero Vigilantes

Koichi Haimawari and Soga Kugizaki to the rescue!

I love love LOVE both Soga and Koichi saving Knuckleduster. His two pupils coming through, preventing their mentor from sacrificing himself was something I really wanted to see. KD is smart and all, but he’s been on a path to self-destruction since losing his quirk. He’s more than willing to die as long as he takes the Villain Factory with him. Thankfully, his students had other plans.

Experiment Number 6. We finally know your backstory.

First things first, No. 6 was born human! That blob was the audience seeing him through his perspective as someone with agnosia. So much for No. 6 being an artificial human in the literal sense, but, as someone on a forum I visit reminded me, the nameless 6 was probably picked up from one of Ujiko’s orphanages. That would explain why the mad doctor doesn’t know the cause of No. 6’s agnosia.

Born human, huh? We don’t know if No. 6 originally had a quirk, but he’s got several now. Was his body modified to help contain multiple quirks? Was he given a copy of the All For One quirk? Or is it both? For now, I’ll go with both, seeing as No. 6’s invisible mentor (AFO) seems capable of independent thought.

After everything No. 6 has done. All the death and destruction, I feel a bit bad for the creep. I think he truly meant what he said about only wanting to become like O’Clock. The problem with that being AFO twisting his desire into one built on suffering. AFO taught No. 6 cruelty of the highest caliber then let him loose on Naruhata. You bald bastard!

He’s baaaaack!

Knuckleduster is here! And with that, the final two pieces needed to finish this battle has arrived. Or should I say three? Or…four?

Let me explain. One, we have Knuckleduster. He had to return to finish his arc, which is tied to the very heart of My Hero Vigilantes: The defeat of the Villain Factory.

The Crawler is currently doing what he does best, protecting civilians. Now, it’s KD’s turn to take on the monstrous Number 6. And unlike Koichi, he’s got no problem killing the artificial human. How? Well, I’m sure Oguro has a plan or two. The guy is as tactical as Batman, he’s got this. I hope.

Next, location. We’re at the final battle stage, Old East Naruhata. An area containing few civilians and near Koichi’s apartment. The best place to deal with a walking explosion monster. Remember that object under a cover Soga found in Koichi’s apartment building? Yep, that should come into play very soon.

Well…I didn’t see that coming.

I knew “O’Clock” wasn’t a real vestige because of how casually he talked about violence and killing. I just dismissed it as further proof Number 6 was losing his high-speed mind. Guess what, kiddies? The O’Clock vestige is actually an All For One vestige! Dun-dun-duuuun!

And if AFO’s a vestige, then that means Number 6 currently possesses a copy of the All For One quirk! Yeah, AFO didn’t give No. 6 each of his quirks one at a time. No, he simply gave the artificial human a copy of his quirk with the others pre-installed. That’s incredible news! Why? Because AFO only gives his quirk away if it furthers his goal of obtaining a new body free from the effects of quirk singularity. “This experiment” had to be referring to No. 6 himself. How far can he push the limits of his body? That’s what AFO wants to know, and it looks like he’s gonna find out.

It’s hard to avoid the obvious Goku Ultra Instinct jokes when he’s pretty much doing it.

This is a loooong fight. But, I get it. It’s the final battle. The last confrontation between our main protagonist and chief antagonist. It all ends with this battle, so I can see why it’s being milked for all it’s worth.

Plus, the audience has to understand why The Crawler is winning. Sure, I knew, but My Hero Vigilantes’ covered in subtlety. This is the creators’ way of making sure everyone’s on the same page. And what is that page? Quirk Evolution + Fighting Style.

Crawler.
Manga: MHA – Vigilantes [Ch.108]#MyHeroAcademia #mha #bnha pic.twitter.com/llu93Zbg3Z

— HEXAMENDLE (@HEXAMENDLE) August 28, 2021

We’ve seen quirk evolution in the main series several times. Aizawa getting the students past their quirk limits thought rigorous training as well as the League of Villains growing stronger from their constant battle against Gigantomachia early in My Villain Academia. The more you train your quirk, the stronger it becomes. That’s a given in this universe, and we know Koichi’s had years of illegal quirk usage, so, yeah, he’s at peak quirk performance.

No turning back now. Number 6 put The Crawler at the top of his sh!t list. Careful, Koichi, or you’ll end up as his toilet paper.

Party’s over. The Crawler VS No. 6 is no longer some quick exercise to get rid of a pest. Now, it’s war! No more playing around. No. 6 went all out this chapter and still lost, forcing the artificial human to transform into his final(?) form. Let that sink in, No. 6 rushed Koichi using Overclock and lost. Wow!

This, kiddies, is the cumulation of years of training and on-the-job vigilante experience. The Crawler didn’t gain his subconscious reaction overnight. He forged it in battle throughout the years. Basically, his body became a warrior, even if Koichi’s general thinking is that of a peacekeeper. Koichi has mastered his quirk while at the same time gained a truly powerful survival instinct. But, despite knowing all that, No. 6 will not stop until Koichi’s dead.

♫Hey, he just hates you, and he is crazy
But here’s Number 6, so crawl him maybe♫

The Crawler VS O’Clock II continues. I’m just gonna jump into it. Number 6 wants to know how Koichi’s reacting to his Overclock speed. Well, I got a theory.

Slide and Glide is a full body energy force.

Not just limbs, the energy Koichi generates embodies him from head to toe. That’s why he’s able to generate a force field on his back. It may also be the reason he’s able to keep up with Overclock. Perhaps Koichi’s energy field also heightens his senses. His eyes, ears, everything is turned up to eleven when in danger without the vigilante realizing it.

A shield! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? Brain, go to your room!

Koichi using Slide and Glide’s repulsion power to block Number 6’s bomb fist attacks makes perfect sense! Last time I talked about The Crawler and Number 6’s similarities and opposite attributes. Well, we got another one: Defense VS Offense. Koichi isn’t trying to beat No. 6, just keep him distracted long enough for help to arrive. It’s a good plan in the short-term but there’re some problems.

The biggest being when’s help coming? This chapter essentially removed All Might from the equation. As far as the public and he knows, the Naruhata blackout wasn’t caused by a villain and while there have been reports of disturbances, nothing on the level of mass hysteria and chaos has been reported (All part of No. 6’s plan.). Basically, the Naruhata blackout isn’t worth the Number One hero’s time according to the news. Which is fine because that’s where Knuckleduster will eventually come in.

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.