At some point recently I described Illegals as a kind of Boku no Hero Academia slice of life. Well, that was never more true than with this episode. It plays as if the series it trying to use the opportunity to show us stuff that the parent just doesn’t have time for. We see sides of familiar characters we’ve never seen from them, for starters. But we also see threads in the fabric of the mythology that never got much attention before. The focus in Vigilante is much narrower, with all that implies. I suspect that’s why some don’t like it as much as it deserves, but it’s very much an intentional choice.

I was quite amused to see Okinawa get a shout out in the cold open, given that I just got back from a trip there. Okinawan cultural cliches in kaijuu form – what could go wrong? A lot as it happens – giant goya and tofu can cause real damage, never mind shisa (where it almost makes sense). Fortunately All Might blows into town and takes care of business in typical All Might fashion. We never do get an explanation for why he was there – or indeed, why this happened in the first place. But it’s kaijuu goya and All Might, so I’m not complaining.

That launches into an extended Toshnori Yagi sequence – though more about Tsukauchi Naomasa than anyone, in truth. Given how long All Might has been offline in the parent series it’s nostalgic to see him in action again, and just as dorky as ever. Naomasa is having sister issues – Makoto is way too much of a loose cannon for his tastes. Toshinori suggests it may be more of a big brother thing than a cop thing, but Naomasa is a pretty humorless guy from everything we’ve seen. All Might gifts him some Okinawa bath salts with her in mind, but when they squabble again Naomasa ends up taking them back and using them himself (with unintended results).

The sibling issue relates specifically to Pop (it would to Kouichi too if Naomasa knew who he was). She was a witness to the Osaka incident, and he now knows Makoto has her info. She resolutely refuses to share it, on the grounds like it’s confidential infofrmation and Kazuho has done nothing wrong. I can see both sides of this argument, and I’m pretty certain this isn’t the last we’re going to see of it. Tsukauchi and Eraser also meet up with Kamayan, permanently altered into giant mantis form now. Which is a major inconvenience in a society that treats mutant quirks very differently from power quirks.

Kouichi finally appears (outside of flashback) deep into the B-part. He arrives to break up some very weird guys from a very weird high school hitting on some girls to kumite (spar) – and group date – with them. Kouichi introduces himself as “the guy who gives advice on wholesome romantic relationships from a distance so he doesn’t get clobbered”. The import of this rather bizarre encounter is that Kouichi picks up a new move, which he’ll later evolve into “Suppari Style” – a manifestation of his quirk that allows him to directly attack an opponent.

A few thoughts on these developments. First, Kazuho seems basically to have moved in with Kouichi at this point. But not yet found the nerve to confront him about their shared past. It’s also interesting that she shoots down this seemingly cool evolution – citing Knuckleduster as an example of why. He may be absent but Knuckleduster is still guiding his surrogate kids’ lives in his special way – as a negative example so they know what to avoid. It’s a reminder that he really is missed – not just by Pop and The Crawler but the story as a whole. I’d go so far as to say Vigilante needs him in it in order to feel really whole.