My Hero Academia: Vigilantes – How Does Koichi Haimawari’s Name Reflect His Abilities?

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Summary

  • Koichi Haimawari, aka The Crawler, slides across the ground to do good and keep the streets (literally) clean.
  • The kanji used in Koichi’s name signify navigation, neighbourhood and ashes, which connect to his Slide’n’Glide Quirk.
  • The My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ setting is influenced by Batman and Watchmen, while the protagonist mirrors Spider-Man.

The animated adaptation of “My Hero Academia: Vigilantes” is simply stunning. This series delves into the grittier aspects of the superpowered world portrayed in the franchise, focusing on characters who still maintain a strong moral compass and take matters into their own hands, much like iconic Western comic heroes such as Batman or Spider-Man, even though they aren’t officially recognized hero professionals.

One street protector who goes by the name of Koichi Haimawari, also known as The Crawler due to his ability Slide’n’Glide, is reminiscent of the main series in its penchant for clever naming conventions when it comes to characters and powers, and Koichi Haimawari certainly fits this mold.

First Of All, Who’s Koichi Haimawari?

Streets Will Remember The Name

19-year-old university student Koichi Haimawari leads a double life: by day, he’s a student; by night, he aspires to be a hero like All Might. Unfortunately, due to his unique Quirk, becoming a professional hero is not an option for him. With the ability to create ring-shaped projections from his hands and feet that allow him to glide swiftly across surfaces, Koichi has adapted this power into his alter ego, “The Crawler.” As a masked do-gooder, The Crawler spends his time helping those around him and keeping the streets clean, not just metaphorically, but by picking up litter and sorting trash for recycling.

The public admires Koichi for his work as ‘The Crawler’, affectionately calling him “Nice Man”. When they hear his alias, they joke about him being “The Cruller”, a play on words due to the similarities between ‘crawler’ and ‘cruller’. However, it is worth noting that these words can sound different when spoken by native Japanese speakers, as ‘ku-ro~ra’ and ‘ku-ra-ra’ have distinct pronunciations. Additionally, Koichi’s unusual ring-like appendages resemble the French style cruller, a type of fried dough pastry. As always, it is crucial to examine the written Japanese form of his name carefully.

How “Koichi Haimawari” Plays On Words

“Crawler” Indeed

The name “Koichi” is written as “灰廻航一”, consisting of four characters. The first character, “灰”, translates to “ash” and is also found in the word “hai-iro”, meaning grey. The second character, “-mawari”, can be recognized by anime enthusiasts, particularly those who have watched “Mawaru Penguindrum”. In this context, “Mawaru” refers to “turning”, “revolution”, or more fittingly for Koichi, “neighborhood” or “surroundings”. The name Koichi is a common Japanese male name that you may recognize from Koichi Hirose in “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4”.

An intriguing aspect of Koichi Haimawari lies in his unique choice of kanji for his first name. Instead of the typical kanji for “Koichi”, he uses 航, which is more commonly associated with navigation. Following this is the number 1, making his name a less common variant. This particular usage of 航 often appears in words related to navigation, such as “koukuu” (aviation) and “koukuuki” (airplane). However, it’s worth noting that the term “hikouki” is more commonly used for airplanes in Japanese, which translates to “flying machine”.

In a more casual and understandable way, we can say that the atmospheres of Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight from DC played a role in shaping Vigilantes’ setting. However, our main character appears to have been motivated by the character of Spider-Man.

– Hideyuki Furuhashi in an interview with MangaForever at Naples Comic Con 2019

This demonstrates that the themes of travel, exploration, and dirt are associated with Koichi, symbolically referred to as “The Primary Navigator of the Surrounding Ruins.” This phrase encapsulates his character traits and Quirk, which enables him to leave footprints resembling ash or debris. Additionally, there’s a hidden reference here, as Koichi’s crawling behavior sometimes mirrors insect movements, highlighting some similarities with Marvel Universe’s Spider-Man, Peter Parker.

In an interview at Naples Comic Con 2019, Hideyuki Furuhashi, one of the creators of “My Hero Academia: Vigilantes”, acknowledged that the character Koichi Haimawari was modeled after Spider-Man. The overall series was influenced by comics like Watchmen and Batman. While both Koichi and Spider-Man are known for their crawling abilities, Koichi is often called “Nice Man” or similar terms in Japanese, which means kind. This characterization aligns with the friendly nature of Peter Parker’s “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”. The name Haimawari can also be interpreted as “neighborhood” or “surroundings”, further reinforcing this connection.

You can stream “My Hero Academia: Vigilantes” on Crunchyroll, and if you prefer reading the manga, it’s available on VIZ Media’s website.

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2025-04-28 16:44