This article is part of a directory: Spring 2025 Anime Season Guide: Previews, Episode Reviews, & Discussions

Summary

Koichi's apartment becomes the base of operations for the vigilante heroes in Episode 3.
Pop Step faces overzealous fans during her guerrilla live performance, requiring hero intervention.
Instant Villains emerge due to the Ideo Trigger drug, hinting at a larger political or financial motive.

With the latest episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes here and the main protagonists now introduced, we segue into the daily lives of our three vigilante heroes. Regardless of what type of hero you are, everyone needs a base of operations, which in this case is Koichi’s apartment, although much to his very evident displeasure.

In Episode 3 of the spin-off, we’ll gain more insight into the drug that has been causing chaos in the town of Naruhata, and we’ll also be introduced to our first real villain of the series, Kuin Hachisuka, a part-time villain who loves to cause a buzz. With introductions now out of the way, Episode 3 invites us into the core of MHA: Vigilantes.

My Hero Academia Koichi pop knuckleduster

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 2 Takes Off With Knuckleduster And The Crawler

No longer in denial and with a mentor in his corner, Koichi finally takes the steps to establish himself as The Crawler in Episode 2.

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By Kelsey Knowles

A Look Into Their Daily Lives

The Trio Settle Into Their New Normal

The third episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has arrived, bringing a little slice of life into the mix, showcasing Haimawari Koichi’s daily life away from the vigilantes scene as we cut into Koichi’s life at university. However, the life of a vigilante hero is not as easy as Koichi laments, as he does not get paid for his acts of justice, which is why he continues to attend work and university.

We also get a glimpse into Koichi’s living situation; he occupies the penthouse suite of his building and lives alone. However, having recently met Pop Step and Knuckleduster, the latter, now out of his Vigilantes costume, has made himself comfortable in Koichi's apartment, enjoying a bento and watching television. Even though the intrusion takes aback Koichi, Knuckleduster quickly discloses his identity. While Koichi trusts his new mentor, he remains wary, as he doesn't know the older man well.

What are you saying? This room is a communal space.

After learning that Knuckle broke into his apartment, a young-looking girl soon appears at Koichi’s door, darting in. She quickly dons her flashy makeup, revealing her identity to be Pop Step. With that, Koichi’s apartment soon becomes their base of operations, with Knuckleduster and Pop Step getting familiar with his home and revealing their plans for the day.

The Idol Takes Stage

An Aspiring Idol and Her Overzealous Fans

At the start of the episode, while in Koichi’s apartment, Pop Step reveals she has a guerrilla live later that day. While Koichi works at his part-time job, Pop Step takes the stage with her adoring fans, utilizing her Quirk: Leap, to make her show more entertaining. The two middle schoolers from the previous episode also make their appearance, with Pop Steps Light Sticks and merch, following along with her songs as changed men.

As her popularity grew, she attracted some overly enthusiastic fans eager to shake her hand. Unfortunately, Pop Step's guerrilla show is interrupted by one such fan, who, influenced by the Ideo Trigger drug, attempts to get closer. To thwart the fan, Knuckleduster and Koichi suggest Pop Step retreat to a private area and greet him with a handshake, hoping to calm him down. Sadly, this strategy backfires as the fan becomes even more obsessed. Fortunately, Knuckleduster saves the day by pouring flour over the fan's slimy body, rescuing Pop Step in the process, though she ends up getting covered in flour herself.

After the incident, the trio makes their way back to Koichi’s apartment, commenting on Koichi’s lack of quality shampoo and the lack of beer in his fridge, much to Koichi’s displeasure. As if to display how comfortable they’ve become in Koichi’s home, like a true old man, Knuckleduster walks around the apartment in his boxers while Pop Step blow-dries her hair. If it wasn't clear before, the three truly act just like a family. Although Koichi didn’t think his university life would be like this, he’s satisfied with this new outcome.

Instant Villains Are On The Rise

Drugs Are Never Free. So, What’s The Objective?

With numerous Instant Villains making an appearance, Detective Tsukauchi explains the nature of the new drug. The Ideo Trigger drug is a quirk-inducing substance that works like a Quirk enhancement drug; this drug can also give users a Hero-level Quirk in an instant, making it desirable in this superhuman society. However, as the Detective explains, it is an illegal drug and is unauthorized for use in Japan.

It was also found that all the Instant Villain cases have taken place in limited areas, such as the downtown area near the train stations and East Naruhata, which Tanuma considers a “sketchy area.” However, since they were able to narrow down the location, there is a possibility of finding the source. However, there's only one problem. All the suspects who have transformed into villains state that they received the drug from a stranger, indicating that they were not seeking the drug; instead, it was offered to them.

With this and the knowledge that drugs are never offered for free, Tsukauchi and Tanuma realize there's more to the situation, as a drug lord would never scatter the drugs for free. With this, Tanuma makes a few connections to a possible motive. Although the objective and motive are not clear at this point, either way, the dealers are making an “investment” towards a larger purpose.

It’s not a regular drug-dealing scheme.
It’s a political statement or disturbance of public order.
It could be a large-scale money-making strategy.

Kuin Hachisuka Makes Her Move

With The Heroes Working Hard, Kuin Slips Away With Her New “Friend”

The scene then cuts to Koichi and Pop Step at their new base of operations, aka Koichi’s apartment, where Pop Step learns the two middle schoolers have made friends with the Instant Villain that ruined her live performance. As the two middle schoolers were also aware of the drugs' existence, they formulated a plan to gain more information to find the source of the drugs, with Pop Steps' assistance. However, this plan called for stealth, or not including Knuckleduster, as he may scare away the former villain when he hears the plan.

Hold on. That old man will just beat that kid up again.

With this, Koichi and Pop Step formulate a plan to meet the former villain, but on their way, they soon meet three high schoolers, and one of them recognizes Pop and asks for a picture. Although it seemed innocent at first, little did they know they would come in contact with one of the villains distributing the drug.

Next, we transition into the introduction of Kuin Hachisuka, the villain, and her Quirk. As a part-time villain, she deploys her worker bees, which are laden with potent drugs, to incite chaos in the city. This leads to several innocent civilians getting injected with the drug, resulting in widespread pandemonium as they morph into Instant Villains. Fortunately, a group of Pro Heroes, including Endeavor and All Might, arrives at the scene to offer assistance. However, amidst the turmoil, the former villain Pop Step, who was meant to meet up, becomes lost and is quickly taken away by Hachisuka. With the introduction of the worker bees, we also see who Knuckleduster was really after.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

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