first look at beloved characters like Aizawa but also presented its main trio with little sneak peeks at their characters’ designs. Recently, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes revealed its cast along with promotional images, with one character sheet proving that Studio Bones is choosing to avoid the excessive fanservice in the series by censoring the costume of a major illegal hero.

While also some of My Hero Academia’s characters presented bold clothing choices and had a redesign during the anime adaptation, this time it is the turn of Vigilantes’s female protagonist, whose first key visual features a noticeable change in her revealing costume.

Pop☆Step’s Costume is Censored Ahead of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Release

Studio Bones Could Be Trying to Avoid Controversy

Kazuho Haneyama, also known as Pop Step, is the co-protagonist of Vigilantes, 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 costume by making the heart-shaped opening in the chest slightly smaller and including shimmery stockings in 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 in My Hero Academia’s franchise, and it reflects the objectification of a character that is only around 15 years old.

This way, the decision by the production team could be to try to avoid controversy and 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, as My Hero Academia is also enjoyed by kids. However, that might bring more changes in the anime, as Vigilantes has 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 of My 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 in Vigilantes' anime will help the series not to be viewed in a negative light by the audience and instead enjoy the things that make it a great prequel for My hero Academia.

Source: Anime News and Facts on X