My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 12

ヴィジランテ ―僕のヒーローアカデミアILLEGALS― [Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals] #12

by Kohei Horikoshi, Kohei Horikoshi (Creator), Betten Court (Illustrations)

In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called...vigilantes.

As O’Clock and his accidental allies Tiger Bunny and the Rapper try to escape the underground arena, shadowy figures observe the chaos from afar. O’Clock takes on a hooded fighter who seems to be targeting him specifically. Back in the present day, Pop has been rescued, but Koichi and his friends have only a brief respite before the villainous Number 6 puts a terrifying new plan into action. In true vigilante fashion, Koichi must evade the law in order to protect Pop…

Genres: Manga, Young Adult, Fantasy, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Action, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2021

About the author

HORIKOSHI Kouhei
Name (in native language): 堀越耕平
Associated Names:
Kouhei Horikoshi

Born 1986 in the prefecture Aichi, Horikoshi first attracted attention in the second half of 2006 when he entered Shueisha's 72th Tezuka Award for Newcomers with his one shot "Nukegara" and made it to the final six, where he gained himself an "Honorable Mention".
Various short stories in Shueisha's Akamaru JUMP followed over the years until he published his one shot "Oumagadoki Doubutsuen" in issue #2/2010 of Weekly Shounen JUMP.

Kouhei Horikoshi is a graduate of Nagoya University of Arts. He was previously an assistant to TANAKA Yasuki.

Zodiac: Scorpio

Pixiv: 堀越

Reviews

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly love this spin off so much. All the heroes chasing down Koichi!? Epic.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that is a sudden shift in storytelling. Suddenly this comic is the Allmight all the time all the might signal with the might sense and the might ears. Allmight who saved the day and captures 100 villains in seconds. I'm not making this up we went from dark gritty fight club of death to Allmight shows up and totally fails to help our heroes. Oh, and Kurogiri shows up along with this weird super-being pre-Numu Numu. Fighting Master, teenage Tiger Bunny and looking for a good Death Match fighter. Without real help from Allmight the so called stars of the comic manage to survive the fight.
It is such a jarring switch yet again from following the Crawler and Pop*Step or even Master that it is just not fun anymore.

We then flash back to current events. The police have decided that in all the chaos they should bring in a bunch of pro-Heroes to capture one of the stars of Vigilantes the Crawler. The Crawler is the only real problem and all forces will be used to bring him in dead or alive. At the same time we watch the actual evil bad guys move into position. So while the battle of Crawler vs Ignition (and all his sidekicks), Best Jeanist, Edgeshot and Eraserhead is interesting it also shows how bad the current heroes are at not just their job but thinking through a problem and realizing they are the problem here. The police, Ignition and Eraser know Crawler is not the bad guy here (heck they trained with him) yet all this firepower just to bring in a guy worried about his not girlfriend that the heroes failed to protect and then tried to kill Pop*Step in the first place. It is just bad writing. It is like they were tired of making up interesting low power villains for Crawler and Pop to deal with. I just want that kind of story. I want to read a story not based in the main comic with all the over powered heroes in training powering up and fighting even more bigger bads.

Oh well, despite complains the actual handling of the dumbness was entertaining.
Spoiler! From other reviews it seems this series ends in 3 volumes. I will be sad to see this series end even though it lacked focus there were a bunch of excellent tales told.

[Lexine Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

It took me a little while to finish this volume. I kept picking it up and putting it down. I guess because it begins continuing the flashback, and whist it provided interesting information needed for the plot, it felt so intrusive. The current day-plot was put on hold to show this flashback, hinting at AFO's involvement in the instant-villains, and honestly I wanted to resolve that storyline first before going back in time in a flashback.

However, the during the flashback we did get to see All Might in his prime again! All Might's working years aren't really gone into detail about in the main series. Yes we see him fighting tonnes of villains and winning, and we see his past and how he obtained his abilities, but we don't get to see the nitty-gritty. This volume gives us more of an insight into his agency and how he worked with Sir Nighteye. It seems that without Sir, All Might would've run himself dry. It really shows the relationship between them and how much Sir Nighteye cared, even if he did scold All Might a lot.

Then, back to the present day storyline, we are thrusted into the moral dilemma of what vigilantes are classed as: citizens being heroes in their own way, or villains. According to the official in-series definition, vigilantes are a grey area that usually pick up the slack where pro-heroes fail. Yet in this series, different people call them different things. The people who they help call them heroes, but the police call them villains, and even end up chasing them down to arrest them. But, to me at least, that is unfair of the police. It's tricky because you could use the argument that they 'have good intentions', though so do a lot of villains, but if you actually look at the work vigilantes do, it's pretty much the same as pro-heroes, just without the fancy uniforms and police-backing.

It was really cool to see how far Koichi has developed with his quirk and abilities. It started out as an amusing quirk but he's really transformed it into his own. He's pretty powerful now in his own right. It goes to show what a great pro-hero he would've been, had he been given the training and resources as the other heroes.

We also get to see more of the pro-heroes in action that we haven't really seen (except in a life-or-death war, as seen in the main series and season 6 of the anime). It was lovely to see Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Eraserhead in action in a more casual fight.

Finally, I was very appreciative of the catch-up report at the end of the volume detailing everything important that's happened so far as a refresher before the 'final battle', which is a scary concept to think about. It's all coming to a head now. One last fight. In the coming volumes, I hope we get to learn who this mysterious and powerful Number 6 is and how he's possibly linked to AFO.

Overall, this series is amazing and I continue to recommend it to MHA fans.

My Blog

[daniella ❦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

- silver age toshi sir you are SO fine
- SIR NIGHTEYE APPEARANCE!!
- hood nomu...
- afo fleeing the scene the second he hears all might is pulling up
- rip tanuma
- "the same moon is looking down on us both" why is this so cute
- soga they could never make me hate you
- ngl tsukauchi...king i love you but....
- what was in the bag soga found?
- not all the other heroes pulling up to catch koichi ;-;
- AIZAWA
- "naruhata lockdown" goes harddd

[Jeffrey Greek · Rating 2 out of 5]

*flashback begins*
Oh ok. I guess we're going to see how O'Clock lost his quirk. That'll make the halting of the main narrative totally worth it...... Well, nevermind.
Considering how pointless this flashback is, it goes on for way too long.

[Nea Poulain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miruko 10/10 la queremos mucho realmente mucho

[David Codd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still great. Lots of groundwork for laid for the big showdown

[Tib · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are getting super intense! Though seeing Nighteye again and even a young All Might and Fatgum gave me some Feelings for sure.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best timing ever to read about Midnight, Edgeshot, Best Jeanist and Miruko.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The flashbacks surrounding O'Clock and All For One conclude, and then the net begins to close around Koichi as Detective Tsukauchi finally labels him a vigilante and sends pro heroes out to apprehend him.

I didn't realise this series was coming to a close soon, it feels like there's much more story to tell. But given how everything's shifted by the end of the volume, I suppose it makes sense. This one was a quick read, only took about half an hour to blitz all 8 chapters.

[Vail Chester · Rating 3 out of 5]

No expies here. Sad.
But! All Might from the first movie (ie with actual anime eyes) shows up!
Hard to believe this is already the endgame and only now is the biggest fear from the first issue being realized: our crawly boi has a warrant out for his arrest.
The reasons are complete BS but c'mon! He's proven himself more and more and more that you don't need a flashy license to be a do-gooder.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume's quite meh.

[Sunread26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronique complète :
https://sunread26.wordpress.com/2025/...

Extrait :
Plus que trois tomes avant la fin de la série, quel suspense ! Même si je ne pense pas que nos protagonistes vont subir le mauvais sort, j’aurais par contre du mal à déterminer s’ils vont se faire arrêter ou non. J’ai presque même envie de dire que la police et les héros professionnels n’ont appris aucune leçon de cette période. Après tout, il y a encore des vilains qui se cachent parmi les héros dans l’intrigue principale, ça craint. Une manière de dire que rien ne peut être parfait puisque nous-mêmes, nous ne le sommes pas.

Soga continue d’assurer dans ce tome je trouve, il n’hésite pas à se mettre entre les forces de l’ordre et Koichi. Il va même jusqu’à leur expliquer le pourquoi du comment, mais l’autre policier est buté en plus d’être idiot. Pendant qu’ils parlent, le vilain lui, commence à agir. Le bâtiment où vit Koichi semble avoir été abandonné, il n’y a plus que lui qui y vit. Soga semble découvrir quelque chose à l’intérieur du bâtiment, mais on nous montre pas quoi. J’imagine donc que ce sera quelque chose d’utile pour la suite de l’intrigue, à voir. Rien qu’en voyant Koichi s’enfuir, le flic a failli faire une bourde, heureusement, Midnight l’a arrêté avant. La bourde ? Eh bien, envoyer les agents à la poursuite de Koichi, alors qu’ils sont supposés protéger Pop… Je vous laisse donc imaginer ce qu’ils vont faire si l’ennemi arrive à faire diversion à différents endroits de la ville en même temps. Ils sont tellement prévisibles que c’est même plus drôle, ils se rendent même pas compte qu’ils sont faciles à manipuler, c’est dingue. Soga a beau les prévenir qu’ils sont en train de se faire avoir, l’autre ne veut rien entendre… Je veux bien qu’il faut trouver un moyen d’amener Koichi et l’autre à se battre, mais tout de même. Le mec parle aussi de respecter les règles, alors que lui-même ne les suit pas toujours en plus. Tous les personnages risquent d’avoir fort à faire dans le prochain tome, Koichi s’en sort plutôt bien pour fuir. Ses derniers développements l’aide beaucoup, mais les héros sont également malins et ils ont aussi l’expérience. Ils agissent dans le but de l’aider, j’espère donc qu’ils réagiront correctement et arrêteront de faire n’importe quoi.

Les derniers tomes lus de la série mettent vraiment à mal la police, mais en même temps, c’est avec de bonnes raisons. Comme je le dis souvent, le bien se balade avec une grosse béquille tandis que le mal porte des rollers. Les procédures ne font que ralentir les juridictions censées nous protéger, tandis que les malfaiteurs se prennent tous les droits. Tu as le malheur d’agir par toi-même ? Ça te retombe dessus, tant pis si ton action à sauver des vies, tu n’avais pas à agir. Il n’y a donc rien de surprenant à ce que plus personne ne réagisse dans la rue (entre ça et le fait de finir tabassé par un groupe de lâche). All Might représente à lui tout seul une forme de contrepouvoir, puisqu’il agit souvent sans demander avant, alors que techniquement, il a aussi des procédures à suivre. Preuve que quand on est le numéro 1, on peut bien se passer des règles pour faire le bien sans être inquiété. Dommage que ça ne soit pas plus régularisé, quitte à contrôler par la suite et sanctionner en fonction. Les pompiers le disent bien assez, quelques minutes à venir, c’est déjà parfois bien trop long. Dans le cas présent, en plus d’être lente, la police joue le jeu de l’ennemi en se concentrant sur Koichi, plutôt que sur celui à l’origine du problème. Il faut quand même être sacrément couillon pour continuer à le poursuivre lui, alors qu’un attentat à lieu au commissariat pour supprimer les preuves contre le vrai coupable. Le flic a compris que le gonze est lié à plusieurs affaires depuis des années, mais non, l’urgence c’est Koichi… quel bouffon sérieux… Sa sœur est intelligente, mais ce n’est pas son cas visiblement.

[...]

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is quite a bit slimmer than all the previous ones, but no less fantastic! We wrap up the story taking place in the past with a little silliness with All Might and more allusions to how AFO is orchestrating everything behind the scenes. I enjoyed seeing Mirko and Rappa teaming up with O'Clock, and it's nice seeing him back when he was younger and the way he fits into pro hero society. The idea that he found himself less suited to fighting than to stealth missions wasn't something I was expecting and it's a nice subversion of my expectations, as well as an interesting reflection of who he used to be versus who he has become as Knuckleduster/Master.

Another thing I really appreciate in that past story was a scene with AFO. From what a friend has told me, the fandom at large goes gaga in the yaya for that scene because AFO is demonstrating the speech he's giving to Kurogiri with wooden children's block toys, the kind that are compromised of basic shapes that a toddler might play with. I'm not particularly interested in that aspect of the scene (my friend did explain the significance of what the hullabaloo over it is,) but rather the speech itself. AFO says some utterly fascinating things about quirks and society's perception of what makes a hero and especially what makes a villain. Not only is this yet another example of the writing in this side series being excellent and slotting so well in with the main series, but it feels very fascinating as a means of explaining more of AFO's views and goals and machinations.

We jump back to the present of course, and things are beginning to break down. Koichi has a warrant out for his arrest, with a whole lot of pro heroes out hunting for him. Soga really has come into his own at this point and I really appreciate his character growth. I still feel like Pop at least forgave him too quickly for my liking, but he's come a long way and is now pretty vital in how things are including, which I switched appreciate, as he goes to investigate a break-in at Koichi's apartment and stumbles across something pretty major that he needs to warn the police and pros about. We end this volume on quite the cliffhanger with Sixxy putting a plan in action, and booooyyyyyy are the words spoken about that pretty grim and ominous. I'm both terrified and excited for the next volume!

(Also Best Jeanist was in this and he continues to try all of my patience. Though I'm dead positive now, based on the way Betten Court keeps drawing him, that he's like hella gay. Which, good for him.)

[Rachel Consoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finish up KD flashback, police trying to put an end to vigilantism, and the precursor to the ramp up before the finale.

So the knuckleduster flashback felt a bit anticlimactic other than it apparently being the beginning of these drugs going around that soup up villains. Since AFO as behind the brawler and pulled him out once he realized All Might was coming, it seems to be the beginnings of him testing out his nomus in a sort of trial and error. I did like seeing young, uninsured all might, like his eyes aren’t sunken in and his non-buff self is still svelte and healthy. I also loved seeing a glimpse into how he and Sir Night eye worked together, ugh simpler times.

Back to the Koichi plot, there is now a warrant out for his arrest and any other vigilantes, so the cops and villains are hunting our boy down. Another opportunity to show how insane BA the boy has grown to be, straight up evading heavy hitters like Ingenium, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Eraserhead, he’s so fuckin cool. Especially with Eraser because his quirk used to be so lame he’s quickly able to escape while quirk-less, I just adore him. I also love Soga (former thug leader) stepping up for Koichi and basically telling the cops they should be working WITH them instead of going after him. Especially since they’re using their resources to track down a well meaning good person, it distracts from the real problems.

Cut to Rock (nomura/scar guy) who fucked up the older police detective guy who was putting the dots together in cases and used his powers to seemingly cause a city-wide blackout. Seems to be gearing up for the final arc and should be interesting! Excited to see where we go and I just know my Koichi will kick some ass along the way, especially if it’s to protect his girl, Pop.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok turns out this was not when grandpa fist had his quirk stolen, but we see the conclusion of the fight. All Might swoops in to save the day, but All for One and Kurogiri manage to escape. It’s clear that this event was only the start to this plan in Naruhata.

Once that finishes up we return to the present. Pop is still recovering in the hospital, but the police look bad now. After a bombing at the police station, they officially get an arrest warrant for Koichi. They can no longer look away from everything he’s done, which is a shame because he’s done so much good. They even enlist the help of the best heroes around for the job. Ingenium, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and even Aizawa are called in to capture Koichi. He’s doing pretty good at giving them the slip tbh. And that’s when shit goes downhill. Number 6 has implemented his plan and used multiple emg pulses to put Naruhata into a blackout. Still a lil confused on his plan, but I think he’s still going for the whole save the city and become the best hero around. I can imagine Koichi will put a stop to said plans, but let’s see how. Also very excited to see Aizawa kick more ass cause he’s my hubby.

[Lyly ꩜ .ᐟ · Rating 5 out of 5]

LA PERSECUCIÓN A KOICHI FUE BRUTAL, 10/10. ¡MY BOY, NO SE DEJÓ! Su quirk ha evolucionado en sobremanera que ahora puede librarse así de tantos héroes del Top, es una locura todo lo que ha aprendido a hacer con ese quirk de “repelencia” o algo así…

Por otro lado, todo el tema de la policía y Tsukauchi, este último definitivamente confía demasiado en el sistema, y cómo no, si está inmerso de lleno en él. Toda esa burocracia y parafernalia al final es inútil cuando no pueden proteger la vida de una inocente como Koichi sí está tratando de hacerlo. Hay una grieta enorme en el sistema por la que se filtra una maldad que perjudica en tiempo real a personas inocentes como a Pop, y el vigilantismo está para hacerle frente a esas situaciones cuando la sociedad y los héroes fallan.

Me gustó la intervención de Jeanist: “Déjanos recuperar tu confianza”, y también refuto su “Si actúas por tu cuenta quiere decir que no confías en los héroes”, Koichi y Souga tienen toda la razón y el derecho de desconfiar de ellos, después de todo, ¿dónde estuvieron ellos cuando Pop más los necesitó?

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I have stated in past reviews of previous volumes, the appearances of full-fledged heroes (and heroes in training) is an amazing piece to this story and adds a depth to it that should be fully appreciated. I think that one could say before volume 10 that while Vigilantes was what the main characters are, it didn’t have that gritty danger that now exists fully in the book. I will say that I am beginning to wonder if the only way this story ends is full blown tragedy. This volume has the most (to date) villain perspective and I found it to be very enjoyable to see them making moves and plotting future plans. It has given a deep breath of characters which isn’t always existent when speaking about the villain community. That said, I believe this series has a lot to offer and while I felt like it would be ended soon, this volume makes me feel as if the series has a lot of legs left in it. Which is great for it’s fans!

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better volume but the narrative is still all over the place, it doesn't know if it wants to focus on Crawler and Pop Step, All Might's early days or Knuckleduster taking down a fighting ring. Just choose one and and do that, we don't need a prequel to MHA because we already have MHA and their flashbacks. We don't need more of the same at the end of another unrelated series, just focus on your characters.

On top of that we get one whole chapter that recaps the whole series, you'd think since we are on volume 12 people would know what they've read. I will give it credit it for making it cute and having it as a police report but I ain't reading that. Again props for for the foreword which informed us before hand what the chapter is, I really appreciate that and as I've said this volume was a lot better.

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pensé que este tomo sería todo en el pasado por la portada pero bueno, me alegro que no.

Me gustó mucho la aparición de All Might y todo lo que tuviese que ver con All For One y Kurogiri.
No me esperaba para nada que Número 6 se infiltrase en la comisaría y me gustó mucho le momento porque estaba flipando.
AMÉ con toda mi alma el momento de Kôichi mirando la luna y pensando en Pop.
Me encanta como habla Soga y me muero de curiosidad de que es lo que encontró en el edificio abandonado.
El momento de los héroes persiguiendo a Kôichi es una joya y cuando se enfrenta a Aizawa increíble, me moría.

Tengo muchas ganas de leer el siguiente tomo porque tiene pinta de ser la ostia pero también me da miedo por todo lo que pueda pasar.

[Sheepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag one, I loved most of this volume, the dark behind the scenes work and the characters that didn't get the time they maybe should have had, not to mention how gripping this story has been, I was just not a fan of all might showing up, yes he is active currently and the best Hero but still beating 100 bad guys in moments really doesn't build anything here. Overall though a very good volume especially the closing chapters!

[connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i agree with the other reviewers who said the shift in storytelling felt quite jarring. going from the underground grittiness to all might being big and cheerful and saving the day to pop being in hospital and crawler being hunted down just didn't sit well, it felt like they needed a quick way to end the underground stuff without anyone involved dying. other than that, the crawler chase is great, and i'm excited to see where the final arc will take us r/e the status of vigilantes.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still half enjoyed the flashbacks, but I'm more glad that we're finally back to present times with Koichi and Pop. Seeing all the heroes together is always fun, and knowing this series ends in three volumes has me both excited and on the edge of my seat. It's all going down now, the ending is beginning, and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything wraps up!

[Enzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Koichi est désormais un héros malgré son inégalité d'exercer. Il est devenu mon personnage préféré non seulement pour le développement au fils du temps mais également pour ses scènes de combats, particulièrement celle présente dans ce tome.

[Marker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi personaje favorito es Rapt, cada que sale me hace reír.

Sé que es una historia ficticia, pero no logro entender por qué a los malos les sale todo bien y sus planes siempre van saliendo con éxito, habrá algún momento en que sus planes se frustren.

[Litwithlove · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume has peaked my interest in this series again. My opinion on this series really ebbs and flows from volume to volume, but overall I am enjoying it enough to eagerly anticipate the final three volumes.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot, actually. Seeing more of young Miruko was great, and then a bunch of Pro cameos in the later chapters. I still can't say I care too much about the actual plot, but at least this was an entertaining and engaging read.

[LelandraTheLazyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very realistic for the police to be inefficient and ineffective to the point of BEING the problem. The pro heroes however are just boggling my mind like guys what are we doing? Really enjoyed seeing Mirko though, she a bad bitch and the hero world desperately needs her.

[Yaiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ayyy qué tensión!!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love getting to see more of all the heroes but also of Tsukauchi and his relationship with All Might and his previous cases.