My Hero Academia’s prequel spin-off,Vigilantes, is coming up soon with a release date of spring 2025, and to hype fans and create anticipation, the anime not only gave itsfirst look at beloved characters like Aizawabut also presented its main trio with little sneak peeks at their characters’ designs. Recently,My Hero Academia: Vigilantesrevealed its cast along with promotional images, with one character sheet proving thatStudio Bones is choosing to avoid the excessive fanservice in the series by censoring the costume of a major illegal hero.
While also some ofMy Hero Academia’s characters presented bold clothing choices and had a redesign during the anime adaptation, this time it is the turn ofVigilantes’s female protagonist, whose first key visual features a noticeable change in her revealing costume.
Studio Bones Could Be Trying to Avoid Controversy
Kazuho Haneyama, also known as Pop Step, is the co-protagonist ofVigilantes, and received backlash due to her imp-inspired costume during the manga’s run due to being very revealing for an underage character. Because of this,Vigilantes' production team chose to censor Pop Step’s costumeby making the heart-shaped opening in the chest slightly smaller and including shimmery stockingsin her design for the anime adaptation. Although Pop Step’s costume is supposed to be the complete opposite of her normal self, she has one of the most exposed costumes inMy Hero Academia’s franchise, and it reflects the objectification of a character that is only around 15 years old.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Shares Epic First Look With New Trailer: Watch Now
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’s highly awaited anime adaptation has finally revealed its release date along with a brand-new exciting trailer.
This way,the decision by the production team could be to attempt to avoid controversyand also due to some TV broadcasters having stricter restrictions on content, since this isn’t the first redesign a character has received in the franchise. Also, the studio might be trying to appeal to a broader audience, asMy Hero Academiais also enjoyed by kids. However, that might bring more changes in the anime, asVigilanteshas more violence than the main series.
Pop☆Step’s Costume Isn’t the First Character Censored in My Hero Academia’s Franchise
Toga Himiko Experienced a Similar Redesign As Consequence of her Quirk
While some ofMy Hero Academia’s female heroes also presented sexualized clothes for underage characters—like Momo Yaoyorozu’s costume which has pronounced cleavage—the character that received a similar redesign to Pop Step was the member of the League of Villains, Toga Himiko.Every time Toga uses her quirk, afterward she appears naked in the manga, which was considered inappropriate and censored in the anime. In the anime, her body is colored white as if she were covered by a white layer similar to a skin suit. This also happens when she transforms into Camie during the Provisional Hero License Exam.
Likewise,Midnight’s hero suit was also colored white in the anime,even though it was skin-colored in the manga and the character is an adult. Nevertheless, this change inVigilantes' anime will help the series not to be viewed in a negative light by the audience and instead enjoy the things that make ita great prequel forMy hero Academia.
Source:Anime News and Facts on X
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
