My Hero Academia’s prequel story, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, is finally getting an anime, and its premiere is already on the horizon. Just from the trailers, Vigilantes appears to be the exact sort of rebranding the franchise needed both visually and narratively, and with how big the original anime has gotten, there are plenty of reasons for Vigilantes to be just as exciting, if not more so.

What Time My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 1 Releases

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes' Release Schedule Explained

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes will stream new episodes weekly on Crunchyroll, which can be accessed through the app, its website, or third-party websites like Amazon Prime. While an exact streaming schedule hasn’t been provided, episode #1 will premiere in Japan on Monday, April 7 at 11:00 PM Japanese Standard Time (JST), and based on time zones, that means that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes episode #1 will premiere on Monday, April 5 sometime around 7:00 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 3:00 PM British Summer Time (BST).

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ Story Explained

What To Expect From My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place several years before the anime and stars Koichi Haimawari, a young man who failed to make it into a hero school and now lives as an ordinary college student. Koichi tries to live out his lost dreams by doing good deeds around his neighborhood, but with a Quirk that only lets him slide around the ground at the speed of a bicycle, he still can’t do all that much. Nevertheless, Koichi still ends up throwing himself into a dangerous situation to save someone which leads to him being saved by the Quirkless vigilante Knuckleduster.

As gruff a person as Knuckleduster was, he nonetheless ired Koichi’s bravery, telling him that he had the makings of a true hero, even if his Quirk wasn’t conventionally powerful. From there, Knuckleduster decides to take Koichi under his wing, and with additional help from the underground idol Pop Step, they form a vigilante group protecting Naruhata from trouble whenever the regular heroes are unavailable. At first, it’s just them dealing with a few mundane crimes now and then, but soon enough, Koichi and his friends become embroiled in a massive conspiracy involving a Quirk-enhancing drug called Trigger.

When In My Hero Academia’s Timeline Does Its Prequel Take Place?

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes' Timeline Explained

With My Hero Academia: Vigilantes being a prequel to My Hero Academia, that, of course, begs the question of how many years it takes place before the story. While the timeline is never explicitly stated, a flashback in the final arc of the manga establishes that Mirko is 23-24 at the time, with that also coming about after three years go by in-universe from the start of the manga. Based on that, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes starts six years before Izuku and his friends entered U.A., at most, ultimately ending a few years before the original story would start.

All of that can be seen in how the returning characters are handled, of course. Not only have All Might’s injuries not affected him to the same extent as they had by the time he met Izuku, but Aizawa hasn’t become a teacher yet, and Endeavor’s far worse than in the main story, as he has yet to go through any of the character development he went through there. Everything about My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ presentation perfectly establishes it as a prequel story, even if it never explicitly states anything, and overall, it’s great to watch it all play out.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Will Finally Make The Series Feel Fresh Again

Why My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Is So Exciting

As popular as the My Hero Academia franchise is, many fans of both the anime and the manga have criticized it for being somewhat repetitive and for not exploring enough of the world beyond what’s relevant to Izuku and his friends, thus making what should be a large and vibrant world feel small. As such, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes offering a new perspective on My Hero Academia’s world allows for a story beyond the scope of what the main series provides, and that’s great for old and new fans alike.

There’s also the visual component to consider. The My Hero Academia has been criticized for its inconsistent and often lackluster art and animation in recent years, but trailers for Vigilantes show off not just an improved animation style, but a far more vibrant color palette, as well, so will be great because of how much it changes the original series both visually and narratively. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is plenty exciting for My Hero Academia fans old and new, and hopefully, it will more than live up to the hype.

Be sure to watch My Hero Academia: Vigilantes episode #1 when it releases on Monday, April 7.