To be totally honest I’m not sure how I feel about Illegals taking a three-episode diversion for the Eraser backstory. This is important material, don’t get me wrong – and this is an important role a series like Vigilante can play in a larger mythology. Not to mention I like all the featured characters. But objectively I think three eps is too long. It helps that the season is 13 episodes but even so, this is the only time Kouichi and crew get to shine. To be clear it’s not a matter of the anime padding this out – this is how the manga handled it. I suppose if I felt 100% certain Vigilante was getting a complete adaptation I’d be less concerned (I’m probably at about 80% on that question).
How much of this is really new? I’d say we basically knew the core facts already. It’s a matter of texture – by giving more context to the power trio’s roots we do feel like we get to know them better. Yamada seems to have changed relatively little – he was balls-out, top of his lungs straightforward from the beginning. We only know Oboro – AKA “Loud Cloud” – from flashbacks like this, of course. He’s more Present Mic than Eraser – brash, confident, upbeat and direct. But he was important to the young Aizawa, that’s for sure. Not just in practical terms (he gave Eraser his first set of goggles) but as an inspiration and role model.
You gotta feel for Aizawa. An introvert teamed with two hard-core extroverts – and even more so if you include the future Midnight and the present His Purple Highness (Koyama Rikiya). But Aizawa chose a profession where he was going to have to work on himself. He is indeed tense as hell, as Prince Purple scolds him. And he has little sense of just how powerful (massively) his quirk is. And it’s one born to be paired with others, so the partnership with Shirakumo – and eventually Present Mic – makes sense. In Purple he finds a hero who specializes in developing rookies, which is another lucky break for Eraser.
As for Sensoji (Horii Chado), he’s the irritant in the oyster here. Strictly an Illegals original, he pushes Aizawa to stand up for himself. Sensoji is originally paired off with Yamada – they’re at the same agency – but the latter is already tired of him and seeking greener pastures. There’s an extended battle with a smoke-generating villain (complete with lit butts) which prompts Loud Cloud to lend his glasses to Eraser. The value of teamwork makes itself very clear to Aizawa here, even if Purple continues to rag on him for his demeanor. If that’s the best smile Aizawa can muster, I’d just let him be as dour as he wants.
Where this is all building, of course, is to the tragedy we know is coming. That’s an event about which we’ve only gotten bits and pieces, largely because Horikoshi had too much on his plate to really go into detail. For Aizawa and Yamada this will be the moment that defines their lives as heroes, and it’s one you expect this series to treat with the requisite seriousness. What will be especially interesting for me is how it ties that event back into the main story that it – and not the parent series – is telling.
