REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ Season 2 Episode 12 – “This is a Hero!”

There are two thrilling sequences in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12 that allow the production team at Studio Bones to demonstrate their immense, reliable skills. While the episode fails to address some of the more pressing narrative issues the season has run into, it makes up for it with sheer spectacle as the imminent disaster forces Tsukauchi (Tokuyoshi Kawashima) to enlist the aid of the number-one hero. 

All Might (Kenta Miyake) has, for the most part, existed on the periphery of the story, contrasting his work as a driving force in the main series. When we do see him, it’s either been through distant heroics that inspire Koichi (Shūichirō Umeda) or, in his skinny form, in one-on-ones with Tsukauchi. Tsukauchi, who, we learn by the episode’s end, still doesn’t know the origin of All Might’s power. 

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12 draws him into the action in a major way once Tsukauchi realizes that his sister is in danger. While he admits that he knows he shouldn’t be asking in such a direct fashion, his fear and panic drive him to ask for All Might to come and save the day. This sequence is strong in two ways. The first is obvious. 

All Might saves the day in a glorious surge of animation. 

The animation as All Might rushes to aid the many patrons tumbling to their doom in the Sky Egg is remarkably done. There’s a swift, kinetic movement that offers a smooth yet quick look at his transformation into the hero the public knows best at this point. The rush of the surroundings demonstrates his immense, god-like power. He can do what others can’t, despite their best efforts; his strength and speed are matched by no other. And the animation gleefully depicts this, both through humor and genuine excitement, in a punchy sequence that cohesively showcases each step he takes to save the day. 

He is, throughout this sequence, the idealized hero. From the effortless rescues of the tower, to sweeping in to save Captain Celebrity (Toshiyuki Morikawa)and Koichi, to ensuring that small cats and dogs are clear of the landing, he is the pinnacle of what a hero ought to be. But it’s not just the image (though that plays into the latter part of the story), because while Tsukauchi later apologizes to him for essentially losing his cool and pleading with the hero, All Might reassures him by saying that it’s that blatant cry that sometimes inspires a hero to move quicker than even they thought possible. They’re motivated by their desire to save. 

The Scarred Man (Taku Yashiro) isn’t done, however, and tries to launch more destructive attacks. One’s that, ultimately, All Might can diffuse. This culminates in the second-best moment of My Hero Academia Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12, when Knuckleduster (Yasuhiro Mamiya) approaches him to put a stop to his destruction. 

My Hero Academia Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12 introduces The Scarred Man’s motive. 

Throughout their interaction, the Scarred Man asks to be his student and to adopt Knuckleduster’s former hero name, O’Clock. It’s a deeply intriguing back and forth, as Knuckleduster admits that most young people aspire to be heroes like All Might – duty-bound and relentlessly in pursuit of bettering the world. The Scarred Man, however, doesn’t so much want to be an ideal but wants to be the hero he idolized, for good and bad. 

Considering how much wreckage he’s wrought, it’s frankly incredible that the series can make us pity him. Or, more specifically, his upbringing. The sequences where he talks about being nothing, a simple entity molded and used as a test subject, are haunting and effective in the simplicity of the moment.

His boss (who sounds awfully familiar, though he isn’t named) refers to him as “Number 6.” He isn’t seen as a person, but as an object to be controlled. And perhaps that’s partially why he looked up to someone with incredible, lightning-fast speed. Someone who could, however they may decide, be in control of their own path, rather than be a puppet. 

Knuckleduster reminds us why he’s a fan favorite in the climactic fight. 

The fight that ensues in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2, Episode 11, is superb. In part because it reminds us that Knuckleduster is a brilliant, ruthless fighter, and in part because the animation steps it up once again. The sequence where the building detonates is extraordinary, depicting each piece of rubble as it begins to crumble beneath them. It’s unexpected based on how fights have been depicted in this world before, so often up close or highlight bursts of power. 

It also excels because of how bloody it lets itself get. While My Hero Academia had its more grizzly moments, Vigilantes often ups the ante to the more “adult” world it finds itself in. Knuckleduster looks to render the Scarred Man immobile by shooting each of his limbs and pummeling him until he’s unconscious. And it almost works until the latter transforms again, taunts Knuckleduster for not taking the killing shot, and detonates himself, setting off another explosion. 

My Hero Academia Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12 embraces its ensemble and delivers two fantastic action sequences. While frustrations remain, they’re easier to overlook when the result is as seamless and dizzying as this. 

My Hero Academia Vigilantes Season 2 Episode 12 is out now on Crunchyroll. 

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