My Hero Academia: Vigilantes – Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

06-05-2025

Episode 5
Koichi remembers the start of his college life (and what ruined it). He went drinking with some friends and suggested they go to his house afterward to relax. However, his building looks like the scenery of a horror movie, so it isn't the place you would push someone inside, which was exactly the mistake he made. He was excited to have friends over, but he scared them and created a bad reputation for himself. But now, he has people who accept him and turn his everyday life into a party.
As the news talks about a villain with several arms, the same man watches people from an alley. But actually, he isn't preying on them, but being preyed on. A strange and ominous samurai watches the man slowly bleed out before the screen fades.
Then, we turn to the present, 14 months after that event. Pop arrives at Koichi's house and asks him why he's fixing his hoodie instead of buying a sturdier one. She even messes with him by saying that again, but that awakens a fury inside the boy. He's a hardcore All Might fan, so that's precious to him. He even has the entire collection.
Koichi says he doesn't have one, which he gave to someone a long time ago. When he was younger, he wanted to join a school focused on hero training. On the entrance exam day, he wore the exclusive hoodie while rushing to the test location.
Then, he suddenly saw a child with pink hair drowning in a river. The boy jumped to save the kid and gave them his clothes so they wouldn't get a cold. Unfortunately, he didn't arrive on time for the exam, but he hopes he inspired the kid to do some good.
Once Pop gets to her home, we see that she is the child and still has the All Might hoodie. Given she hasn't been doing much to thank him, the girl decides to tell Koichi the truth. However, when she returns to his house, Knuckleduster is already there, destroying the sweet moment and her courage.
In the second half, we see the police releasing the hardening quirk thug who fought the vigilantes before. As soon as he leaves the station, he meets Kuin, who offers him another version of Trigger.
Koichi and Pop☆Step almost instantly find him tearing the city apart and call the cops again. The villain recognizes the protagonist, calling him the Crawler, making Koichi radiant. Unfortunately, he has no time to rejoice, as the man rushes towards him.
While Koichi drags the fight out, Pop calls the police. However, the vigilante makes a mistake and leaves himself vulnerable to a full-force, hardened punch. Suddenly, Stendhal, the ominous samurai from before, comes to his rescue. He easily counters the man and forces him to run away.
Later, while Koichi talks about how much he admires the vigilante who saved him, he gets an invitation from someone who can help him. To his and Pop's surprise, it's Souga, the bully and villain from episode 1. They don't want anything from him, so he leaves without saying what he wants.
Meanwhile, Stendahl is still on the hunt. He cuts off one of the hardening villain's arms and looks at his target list. The next one in there is Souga. However, he isn't alone. Kuin observes him and his plan, ready for a little mischief.
The Episode Review
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes entertains, but it's showing more cracks every episode. Its lack of originality is a real problem, as many elements seem to be there to show we are inside the MHA universe, but they don't add anything to the plot.
For example, Koichi adores All Might because he uses a hoodie that mimics the hero. Still, we don't know why he loves him so much. Even after he gets to explain his adoration, the boy only talks about the merch. The scene serves the purpose of connecting his and Pop's past more than anything else.
Stendhal is another example of the originality problem. His design is amazing, and his goals can deepen the hero X vigilante discussion. However, he also seems like Hero Killer: Stain 2.0 (an antagonist from My Hero Academia).
His weapon, movements, and personality are so very similar that it's hard not to make a comparison. So, although he has potential in this series, it's not nearly as invigorating as it could be.
This is, by all means, not a bad episode. It's fun to see Koichi's relationship with heroism in his past and encounter villains from previous episodes. Also, the animation and action scenes are as amazing as they've always been.
However, it doesn't bring the awe this series needs to get out of the original anime's shadow. And, as mentioned before, using elements from MHA that don't add up to anything here only makes the show feel more plastic.
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