My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Ep 9
For most people, getting a visit from their mom would be a cause for celebration. After all, people should normally have a good relationship with their parents. However, there are also the parents that are, simply put, the worst. There are women like Cersei Lannister and Odalia Blight, who see their kids as extensions of themselves. There’s women like Lois Griffin, who belittle their children and spouses to feed their egos. Then we have the overbearing parent that never supports your dreams and always criticizes you for everything you do. And unfortunately for Koichi, his visiting Mom is very much that kind of parent. Just…awful.
Koichi has a Terrible Mom…
Picking up where the post-credits scene for the last episode left off, Koichi’s mom drops in for an unexpected visit, much to his dismay. His mom is…not a good mom, to be honest. When she sees right through his attempts to claim Makoto is his girlfriend, she uses her Quirk to slap him multiple times. Then she denigrates Koichi further by saying that someone like Makoto is out of his league, all the while saying that his dream of being a hero is a foolish notion.
To recap, Koichi has a mother who is physically and verbally abusive with him, has no confidence in his ability to do anything right, and doesn’t even have the courtesy of supporting his wants and needs. It’s sad to think that there are parents out there who act like this and genuinely think that they’re doing their kids a favor. In truth, all this does is hinder the amazing potential that they might have deep inside them. Sadder still, though, is the fact that Koichi doesn’t even try to defend himself to his mom. Instead, it’s Pop in her civilian identity that tries to stand up.
Emphasis on tries, as she gets so flustered she storms off, and Koichi drops the ball by unintentionally insulting her attire.
On a lighter note, though, this episode officially gives us the real names of Pop☆Step and Knuckleduster: Kazuho Haneyama and Iwao Oguro. Bonus points for Knuckle managing to pass off their vigilantism as community service to Makoto and Koichi’s mom.
Thankfully, though, Koichi gets a chance to put his Mom in his place and show his true potential.
But he Puts her in her Place
While Koichi, his Mom, and Makoto are on a tour of Tokyo, their bus turns into a cat monster thanks to an Instant Villain. Ingenium arrives and manages to get almost everyone off in time, but Makoto is stuck on the bus as it’s careening to a broken bridge. With the Hero running low on fuel, his team begs someone to help, and Koichi happily steps up…only for his mom to try to browbeat him into quit “playing hero.” And while he doesn’t say the exact words, his rebuttal has the same meaning as “SHUT THE HECK UP, MOM, AND LET ME LIVE MY LIFE!”
What happens next pretty much proves that Koichi’s mom was a bad parent. When push comes to shove, Koichi forces himself to move through the air…by pressing on it. He flies!
As it turns out, Koichi could do this the whole time, doing it regularly as a baby. However, his mom overreacted and kept swatting him to keep him on the ground.
You see the issue? Koichi has always had the potential to be an amazing hero, but his Mom’s paranoia has left him with low self-esteem and helped to surpress his natural talent. That’s called bad parenting, and it’s something no parent should ever do to their kid. Thankfully, Koichi standing up to her is enough to make her realize her mistakes. It’s not a parent’s place to keep their kid tied down forever.
May we Never See His Mom Again
In the end, Koichi saves Makoto (and exposes his secret identity), and his Mom leaves. Good riddance, if you ask me. If she had done better, Koichi could’ve gotten his hero license by now. At least now he knows that his Quirk is cooler than others give him credit for, though.
