![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lostinanime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Vigilante-Boku-no-Hero-Academia-Illegals-09-01.jpg\")
<\/a>No need to embellish here \u2013 that was a banger of an episode. Vigilante<\/em> has certainly been on a great run, but the truth of it is this is nothing unusual. It\u2019s just really, really good (and seriously underrated). The manga is a great addition to the mythology but there\u2019s no question, the anime is even better. Call it the Bones effect if you like, though there are other studios capable of delivering it. This is HeroAca<\/em> on a leaner, more human scale. It\u2019s easiest to digest, smaller in its scope but relentlessly on-point.<\/p>\n<\/a>Kouichi\u2019s mom is certainly a lot to take. If any quirk ever suited a personality her \u201cFly Swatter\u201d does, but you have to feel for Kouichi growing up with it. Mom is no fool \u2013 she doesn\u2019t buy the whole Makoto fabrication for a second. But she does like<\/em> Makoto \u2013 who wouldn\u2019t \u2013 and segues into matchmaking mode (albeit somewhat apologetically). When one steps back and looks at it objectively, Makoto is a more realistic partner for Kouichi in a lot of ways, though at this point in time he\u2019s not punching in the same weight class she is. That doesn\u2019t stop Pop (Kazuho) from stressing about it, though.<\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s all about the real names here. Kazuho immediately introduces herself to Mom as such (Kouichi had no idea). Mom\u2019s puzzlement over why a girl her age would hang at Kouichi\u2019s pad is understandable. For her part Pop is adorably nervous around her. Then Knuckleduster shows up, and while one might reasonably expected him to finish blowing this whole thing up, he does an admirable job on Kouichi\u2019s behalf. He introduces himself (we finally get the name \u2013 Kuroiwa), and presents a business card in proper fashion<\/a>. He works for an NPO, he says, whose function he describes in great detail.\u00a0 Kuroiwa even establishes a narrative<\/a> for his and Kazuho\u2019s role in Kouichi\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<\/a>This sort of banter is something Illegals<\/em> really excels at \u2013 I\u2019m always impressed with how natural it is. The funniest line of the episode is Mom telling Makoto \u201cYou\u2019re young, look for a guy your own age\u201d. Needless to say, Kuroiwa is a big hit. But it\u2019s all a bit too much for Pop, who flees in a tangle of adolescent angst. Makoto urges Kouichi to follow and compliment her. But alas he proves much better at the first than the second. Hopefully he\u2019s taking notes here \u2013 \u201cyou look like you put that together in a hurry\u201d is not the right way to address a girl\u2019s choice of wardrobe.<\/p>\n<\/a>At this point Mom, Makoto, and Kouichi head off on a bus tour (gag) of Tokyo, on which Makoto continues to win Mom\u2019s heart. She\u2019s pretty mean about her son, that\u2019s for sure \u2013 she could do a lot better job selling him. Soon enough events intervene, as Hachisuka stages a disturbance which seems very much targeted at Kouichi, using a cat. Thanks to Trigger it\u2019s soon a catbus<\/a>, thanks a quirk called \u201cMonster Cat\u201d. And this seems like a sneaky significant moment, because as far as I know this is the first time we\u2019ve ever seen a non-human animal use a quirk.<\/p>\n<\/a>After this it\u2019s a rousing \u201cSpeed\u201d-esque chase through the streets of Tokyo, as catbus goes out of control and Ingenium<\/a> joins the pursuit. Knuckle had intended to leave this one to the licensed heroes but having spotted Kouichi on-board, he calls Pop and intervenes. Kuroiwa is not all muscles, he\u2019s razor-sharp too \u2013 using a makeshift giant cat toy to lure catbus away from the center of town and onto the expressway. But that expressway has an overpass out thanks to the kaijuu incident last week, and Ingenium only has five minutes to rescue the passengers and prevent a disaster. Crawler, this is your moment\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a>Kouichi acquits himself extremely well here \u2013 notably, it\u2019s Knuckle\u2019s lessons on how to fall which wind up saving him\u00a0 after he saves Makoto. But the headline is The Crawler becoming The Flyer<\/a> \u2013 and it turns out, Kouichi could use Slide and Glide to hover and more when he was a baby<\/a>, before Mom slapped it out of him. It seems to have been the moment that brought it all back, be it adrenaline (nature\u2019s Trigger) or something else. But he can\u2019t reproduce it once the crisis is past, only getting about 30cm off the ground<\/a>. Still, this has to be a game changer \u2013 and not only that, Makoto now knows his secret identity<\/a> (which means she knows Kuroiwa and Kazuho\u2019s, too).<\/p>\n