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A recent Reddit post on the mainline series’ forum concerning some subject matter seen in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes highlights an interesting piece of commentary on s*xual assault. Written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Betten Court, the spin-off series premiered in August 2016, concluding relatively recently in May 2022.
Despite the mainline series having ended, many fans seem to be engaging now with My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and meeting the series’ key characters as a result. However, the introductory arc of one key character seems to be rubbing many fans the wrong way, mainly for its implicit commentary on s*xual abusers.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes character has Reddit in an uproar for apparent acceptance and forgiveness of s*xual crimes
Reddit user @u/50558148 posted to the mainline series’ subreddit about a moment in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes they had recently crossed. The moment in question sees protagonist Koichi Haimawari and supporting characters Kazuho Haneyama and Iwao Oguro conversing with former villain, Soga Kugisaki.
The particular crimes of Soga Kugisaki which are relevant to this discussion are those of attempted r*pe and murder, which he’s stopped from achieving by Haimawari and company. The group is then seen speaking with and around him in a very casual and friendly manner, implicitly forgiving him for his aforementioned attempted crimes.
Thus, @u/50558148 posted this to Reddit, asking “are we really just gonna forgive and forget the attempted r*pist” to the subreddit’s general audience. The post has become one of the subreddit’s hottest topics since being published, sparking a discussion with many of the forum’s users. Many shared their opinions on the matter, as well as tried to provide context.
Several users, for example, pointed out that as My Hero Academia: Vigilantes progresses, Kugisaki does eventually earn this forgiveness, even if he never outright apologizes. Nevertheless, many emphasized that his change in character is made abundantly clear and almost impossible to ignore.
Nonetheless, or even despite preaching this change in character, there seems to be a near universal acceptance and understanding of how unfortunate this is. While almost certainly not the author’s intention, it does make light of s*xual assault overall by showing that someone can be accepted into a group without apologizing for actions of such a nature.
Many also pointed out how having such an interesting detail appear so early on in the series might be a turnoff for many potential readers and fans. While some fans preached the series’ quality, others instead shared their opinion that the series simply isn’t something they can support with such a casual attitude towards s*xual assault.
Be sure to keep up with all My Hero Academia anime, manga, and live-action news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
