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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is one of the most popular ongoing anime series of Spring 2025. As a prequel spinoff to the popular My Hero Academia manga, the series is expected to meet a lot of expectations. However, what timeline does the prequel series belong to when compared to Kohei Horikoshi's magnum opus?
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place 5 years before the main series, when Izuku Midoiriya joined U.A. High. Animated by a branch of Studio Bones, the anime captures the same tone and spirit as My Hero Academia while featuring a protagonist with a little bit of difference. Moreover, some of the Pro Heroes from the main series are featured, in their prime, in the spin-off series.
Exploring the timeline of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Court Betten, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is both a spin-off and a prequel to one of the most popular shonen manga series, Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia. The manga takes place before Deku joined U.A. High and isn't written by Kohei Horikoshi, hence its status as a prequel and spin-off at the same time.
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Just like the main series, the story features a weak protagonist whose dream outgrows himself. However, unlike Izuku Midoriya, who has no quirk, Kouichi Haimawari has a quirk that lets him slide on surfaces without any obstruction. Moreover, the spin-off features an entirely different theme, centered around vigilantes (unlicensed heroes saving human society from villains).
A common aspect in the main and prequel series is the presence of big Pro Heroes like All Might, Mirko, NightEye, and Aizawa. Given the timeline, these Pro Heroes might be in their prime, meaning that All Might is entirely focused on his status as the Symbol of Peace instead of looking for someone who could inherit his ideals.
Out of all these aspects, the 'vigilante' element is the most interesting, given how it entirely changes the narrative. Even though Kohei Horikoshi, the talented author of My Hero Academia, isn't actively involved with the production of the manga, he was still its supervisor, approving scripts and giving new ideas to Hideyuki Furuhashi.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime source is concluded, continuing its serialization from August 20, 2016, to May 28, 2022. The shonen manga series started its serialization in Shueisha's Jump Giga magazine but transferred to Shonen Jump+ magazine after two months of serialization (the same magazine in which it ended its serialization).
The manga series spanned 15 volumes in both Japanese and English. The manga's first volume was released on April 4, 2017 (July 3, 2018, in English), and the last one on July 4, 2022 (October 10, 2023, in English). Viz Media serialized the manga in English.
Final thoughts
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is a fan-favorite on the internet, with some fans even regarding it as better than Kohei Horikoshi's magnum opus. Given how the spin-off series has completed its serialization without any problems, it should be enough to prove that the anime series might also take things to a new level.
Related Links
- 5 things the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime will do better than the original (& 5 ways it won't be as good)
- How My Hero Academia Vigilantes timeline connects to the main series, explained
- 8 My Hero Academia: Vigilantes characters who will shine in the anime
