The My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime is the perfect opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of this Quirk-filled shonen world. It's not enough to just show heroes like All Might, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist in their primes, because this anime needs to do something fresh that the original did not. That includes giving more attention to the finer details of pro hero work, especially for street-level heroes. It's one thing to watch Deku and All Might face All For One as figures of destiny, but the Daredevils and Nightwings of this world need attention, too.

Among other developments, the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime touches on the topic of pro hero retirement in a new and rather grim way. The main My Hero Academia anime did depict heroes like Death Arms retiring in disgrace or becoming too injured to fight, but there's still more to it. The issue of vendettas and secret identities haunts the idea of pro heroes retiring, as Eraserhead and his associates noted in a recent episode. For heroes like O'Clock, hanging up the cape just means trading one set of problems for another.

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MHA: Vigilantes is About Street-Level Heroes, Not Epic Legends

The Anime's Humble Characters Are More Relatable Than All Might or Shoto

Some shonen action anime put most of their stock into the larger-than-life heroes who alter the course of world history. The Naruto anime did that when the likes of Naruto, Sasuke, Madara, and Kaguya all clashed, with the Otsutsuki clan binding them. Bleach did the same with Ichigo, Uryu, and Yhwach in its endgame. Then, My Hero Academia's anime gave token screen time to street-level heroes like Gran Torino while giving far more attention to the characters who are swimming in plot armor, such as Deku and Endeavor. There are good reasons to do that, but now it's time for a different trade-off.

The original anime traded relatable, grounded narratives for epic clashes of destiny, and the franchise has saturated itself. The Vigilantes anime is wise to go in the opposite direction, because bigger is not always better. In this way, Vigilantes can feel fresh and new without having to feel more epic, and it always benefits street-level heroes. Case in point, the second season's third episode discussed the woes of retirement for street-level heroes. It's not all award ceremonies and pensions once a pro hero hangs up the cape.

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Much the opposite, some street-level heroes have it worse in retirement. As Eraserhead and other characters noted, some street-level heroes build up a list of vendettas as they clobber and capture criminals, and those grudges don't disappear when the hero retires. The violent grudges remain while the retiring hero loses access to the industry's protections, such as having sidekicks to support them. Retired street level heroes are the ones who deliver bruising blows that criminals tend to remember, and that makes the retired hero a target to the point they often have to retire in obscurity. Heroes are rewarded for all their hard work by living quietly off the grid, where hardly anyone can see them, praying that their old enemies don't kick down their door to beat them senseless.

It may sound harsh and unfair, and probably is for many retiring heroes, but that's the reality that street-level heroes must accept upon both entering and exiting this profession. For now, the idea of a street-level hero carefully retiring in obscurity is left to the imagination rather than shown, in the context of Eraserhead suspecting that O'Clock's old enemies are catching up to him. But that's all My Hero Academia: Vigilantes needs to do, since this world is too big for the anime to cover absolutely everything. The superhero system is familiar enough so the anime can pay lip service to certain lore tidbits and allow viewers to fill in the gaps themselves to enrich the experience.

Dangerous Retirements Are a Warning to Brutal Pro Heroes

Pro Heroes Must Show Restraint So They Don't Make Too Many Enemies

The idea of street-level heroes retiring and sleeping with one eye open is a worrying one. All pro heroes, either street-level or not, are just doing their jobs to protect innocent people from the dangers of villainy and crime, and plenty often, fire must be fought with fire. Some villains are too strong or too stubborn to be talked down, so they can only be pacified with force. It's great when a talk jutsu or a bloodless capture Quirk saves the day, but street-level heroes may need their fists to do the talking when bank robbers refuse to back down. It's tragic to imagine dutiful street-level heroes fearing for their lives for the duration of what should be a peaceful retirement.

On the other hand, some street-level heroes might use excessive force throughout their careers and end up with enough vendettas that they must keep checking over their shoulder well into retirement. It's a given that at least some villains and criminals will resent a pro hero and seek vengeance. Still, a pro hero can limit this by being the very image of a merciful defender of the people. This is not an easy balance to strike, particularly if a hero's Quirk doesn't lend itself to easy capture, unlike the likes of Tape or Somnambulist.

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Even so, a pro hero is responsible for all of their actions, and if a hero uses more force than necessary or always relies on force to stop crime, then the hero is partly to blame for having to retire in obscurity. Most of the blame goes on the villains themselves, of course, but excessively forceful heroes must acknowledge their role in this, too. Knuckleduster easily comes to mind, since his list of enemies must be a mile long, with countless petty criminals wanting an eye for an eye.

By contrast, gentler heroes like Deku and Koichi Haimawari can keep their lists of vendettas under control. That's why, when allowed to rejoin the battle, Gentle Criminal was redeemed rather than seeking to take Deku's head. Street-level heroes can only hope they can save the day while inspiring their former enemies with such mercy.

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