My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Vigilante - My Hero Academia: Illegals (ヴィジランテ -僕のヒーローアカデミア -), also known as My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, is a spin-off manga written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Betten Court and was published in Shonen Jump GIGA before moving to the Shonen Jump+ app.

Summary
The manga is about a young man who uses his Quirk to help others. After he and a girl are harassed by a group of thugs and saved thanks to the vigilante Knuckleduster, Koichi is recruited to become a vigilante himself.

Style
The manga has a slightly darker tone compared to the original manga. The manga was also designed as a prequel to the main series, with some of the events occurring within the vigilantes' line of duties having ties to the main series.

Production
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes was conceived by Tetsuya Sato, an editor for My Hero Academia, who wanted to make a spin-off of the main series. He first contacted Betten Court to be the illustrator, and then Hideyuki Furuhashi as the writer. When both accepted, he informed Horikoshi of the idea, who accepted, since he is also a fan of Betten Court and has been for a long time.

To make a chapter, Furuhashi first makes the script and sketches the storyboard with frames and speech bubbles. After that, he sends it to Sato who notes down some corrections and opinions before approving it. The storyboards then go to Betten Court, who finishes the artwork. Every chapter is supervised and approved by Horikoshi, who also adds ideas and sometimes tells them what to remove.

Series Impact

 * Vigilantes are introduced.
 * It is revealed that Stain briefly tarried as a vigilante named "Stendhal" before becoming the Hero Killer. It is also revealed how he lost his nose: cutting it off after Knuckleduster smashed it in.
 * Some of the Pro Heroes and their activities before the events of the main series are featured.
 * More details about the Hero System are introduced that later on become the root of the major problems within Hero Society in the main series.
 * A Quirk-enhancing drug, Trigger, which becomes a major part of the Shie Hassaikai Arc, is introduced.
 * Details about Shota Aizawa's past are shown.
 * It is revealed that Shota didn't intend to become a teacher and that Midnight signed him up for the job.
 * Shota did not know the truth about All Might's identity during the events of the manga.
 * Midnight was a third-year at U.A. when Shota was a second-year.
 * Oboro gave him the idea to wear goggles.

Trivia

 * Hideyuki Furuhashi reveals that Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight from DC are his main influences to the setting of Vigilantes; and Koichi is inspired from Spider-Man from MARVEL. Betten Court, on the other hand, said that he is inspired by the aesthetics of the films based on superhero comics.

Reception
The manga has had a positive reception for being unique and telling its story from another angle within the My Hero Academia universe. At San Diego Comic Con 2017, Viz Media announced they would release the manga in English weekly until they catch up to the monthly release.