What Is To Be Hero X About?

Imagine a world of superheroes. We can do that, we know Marvel and DC comic worlds. But instead of these heroes just having powers their powers are stronger the more people love them. That is the world of To Be Hero X. And Hero X is the hero who is most loved.

The show is all about those heroes and the ones who are in the top 10. They all want to be Hero X or at least will be taking place in the tournament to see who will become the new top ranked hero. The show is all about their stories and how they got there.

And I won’t go into more detail than that.

Who is To Be Hero X For?

Firstly, I do want to comment on fan service in this, because that will determine some of it is for you or not. But really, I like to do that all the time because people’s tolerance levels are different. There is very little fan service in this show, and it is never dwelt upon if it happens.

I think that this show is for people who are up for some fun animation. But there is more to the show than that, this is a show that is for people who want that slower build into characters and to delve into them at a deeper level. Is it heavy with plot, there is a lot of story throughout that connects to the whole, but it is also very focused on the characters.

What Didn’t Work For Me?

It is a bit jarring the first time you finish up the story with one character. Mainly because you get to like the character and then you move on to the next one. This is not a bad thing, but it is somethin to be aware of when going into the show.

It is also a bit tricky to keep track of the timelines and when it falls into line with certain characters. Generally you can make sense of it, but they reference events that might be occurring at a different point in other characters stories. And they do a solid job of giving you dates for things, but that is still a lot to remember.

What Worked For Me?

The animation on this show is amazing. And it should be, there are a ton of different studios working on this anime. And it shows in the different stories how there is different animation that is used. They are done to tell different and unique story beats and character stories. And there are some bonkers fight and chase scenes that use animation really well.

I also like the stories. Not all of them resonate with me quite as well, but how they intersect is really interesting. And the vast majority of the character stories are ones that I really enjoyed and I could connect with the characters. Each of them is unique as well and deals with some interesting things that unfold the larger story.

And without going into spoilers, I think the overall plot is interesting. This idea that the more people love you, the better hero you are is really interesting. And it has some very questionable implications to it as well that they dive into in the show. And where it ends, I think that is interesting and it makes me ready for a season two. I think there is a lot more world building that can be done around the main plot. But I suspect season 2 is going to focus a lot on the tournament.

Final Thoughts on To Be Hero X

This show definitely caught my interest throughout the whole show. I think the animation drew me in, but the plot and the characters really kept me there. It takes a bit to figure out everything that is going on in To Be Hero X. And I would say, there are elements that make me want to rewatch it right now to pick-up on some of the bigger story implications that I might have missed. To me, that is the sign of a good anime to watch because it kept me engaged and keeps me wanting more.

If it was one consistent animation style would it be as good? I think it would be. This is not an anime with style over substance but with the lead of BeDream making this and the animation partners, it rocks. And that is something else I didn’t mention but I feel like I always want to listen to the music both the opening and ending credits, but also the music in the show. The amount of time and effort that went into this show is very impressive and makes for a great show visually and story wise.

To Be Hero X is one of my top new anime this year. And you know from the last anime round-up that I have watched a ton of anime this year. So it is sitting pretty as a favorite.

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Plus with both Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (oh yes it is) filming right now there are a lot of rumors around each. And we are getting closer to D23 so new rumors are starting to pop-up for that. We try and go through as many as we can and see which ones we think are real.

Thanks for Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends as word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast, and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find for people looking for a fun Marvel podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, and Spotify or wherever you get your friendly neighborhood podcasts.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you, again, for listening and for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions: What Character, Group or Story Do You Want to See Get Reset in the MCU?

Who is someone that would make sense to reset? Let us know who you’d like to see get reset and how that might look.

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below, or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. And there is now the Facebook page, as well, where you can join in the conversation here. And follow us on YouTube for more content here.

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And checkout the video from the 10 Minute Marvel YouTube where I go over the different possibilities for the Fantastic Four being set in the 60’s.

Thanks for Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends as word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast, and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find for people looking for a fun Marvel podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, and Spotify.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you, again, for listening and for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions: Do You Like the Fantastic Four Casting?

Who do you like best in the Fantastic Four casting? Or is there one that you maybe don’t like as well? Let us know, and let us know who you’d have liked to see cast instead. Plus, let us know your thoughts on the X-Men ’97 trailer. Are you excited for more animated X-Men or is it a pass for you?

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below, or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. And there is now the 10 Minute Marvel Facebook page, as well, where you can join in the conversation here. And follow us on YouTube for more content here.

Thank you again for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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The Dragon Prince – Plot Overview

Warning, if you haven’t watched the show at all, spoilers ahead for the whole series.

Season 1-3 Recap

Let’s recap everything to get to where we are. Rayla and the moon elves come to assassinate the King after he and Viren took down the dragon king and destroyed the Dragon Prince’s egg. However, that egg is found in the castle. And one of the moon elves, Rayla joins with Callum and Ezran to go on the run with the Dragon Prince’s egg to try and get him back to his mother. Things don’t always go smoothly but they work their way over there through the first three seasons.

Viren, meanwhile, is making a play for the throne which Ezran struggles to know what to do with. And he attempts to track down the boys and Rayla to get the egg back. Even sending his own children after them to get the egg and let a mysterious accident happen to them. But that doesn’t work and it culminates with Viren leading troops into Xadia, the elven lands, to get the egg back, all with a mysterious little voice Aaravos whispering in his ear, helping him along the way.

Season 4

We jump forward two years. Ezran has taken the thrown, Viren is back, after being thought to be dead, and now the threat is new. No longer are they trying to get the Dragon Prince, Zym, back to his mother, but now the threat is the return of Aaravos.

Season 4 brings the characters back together after having been apart. As well as gives us more of the history of Xadia and the lands and what Aaravos had done prior to being put into his prison. And without saying much more, that’s the basics of the story to avoid spoilers.

What Doesn’t Work?

The time jump makes sense, to some extent, and there is a story reason for it. But it also adds in some complications for everything. When you do a time jump you need to explain where characters have been and what they’ve been up to. I think it works for some of the characters pretty well, Claudia for example, but not for others as much, Rayla. However, you need Rayla’s story for some of the tension and development of everything.

And I think that a show like The Dragon Prince, with the actual time gap between seasons suffers a little bit. As the characters age up, you kind of expect the show to mature a little bit. And The Dragon Prince has never kept from dealing with tough topics. But some of the characters or situations are basically done for humor in ways where it cuts into heavier or more meaningful moments. Now, it is a kids show, so that is the reason, never let it to get too heavy in any moment, but it could have been handled better.

What Works?

I think the overall story is the right way to go. Aaravos needs to be the next big bad guy. There is not the pressure of getting Zym to his mother anymore. So some new bad guy needs to exist. And Viren could work for that, but it’d feel a lot like a retread. I believe it was smart for them to look to a new main villain.

Viren’s arc for this season I think worked really well. It was almost a passing of a torch early in the season and he returns to his power at the end. No details for you on how that works though as it is a spoiler. But his arc makes a lot of sense and I like that they given characters who are villains depth and arcs for what they are doing.

And finally, I really like the handling of the elf and human dynamic. It is two years later, but things aren’t perfect. In fact, a lot of times, things still struggle. And that is one thing that the Dragon Prince always does well. It tells a story where there are comparisons to the real world. But it shows light on things that are hard to see in real life. Mainly that real change, coming together, it takes time, it takes work, there are going to be differing opinions. But if it truly does matter, then the fight to make those changes happen does matter as well.

Final Thoughts on The Dragon Prince Season 4

Is this my favorite season, I don’t know that it is. There are elements that are great, though. And without getting into spoilers, it is hard to talk about them completely But there are elements that aren’t as fun. And some of that is the time jump and the need to explain it away. I wish they hadn’t done it in some way. But at the same time, it is needed.

One of my likes, how it handles the struggles of the elf and human dynamic is really good. And that is not as strong without that time jump. However, another element, that with Rayla, it feels like it’s tacked onto there for no amazing reason. They needed to explain it, they want more drama. But this show is better when it allows some things to work out just because they do. Overall, still a great show and still a really fun season.

Is this going to be a season that brings in new viewers or makes it worth pushing through? No, I don’t think it is. But if you like the show, it is reason to keep watching. Do you like like The Dragon Prince?

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What is Anime?

Let’s start out by talking about what anime is. Anime is a Japanese style of animation that is extremely popular over there. Think kind of how classic Disney has a certain style, so you can tell when something is a classic Disney film. When you see something that is anime, it generally has a somewhat unique style.

I think the best way to talk about anime is to give examples. The best known anime is probably Pokemon or Dragonball Z. These have specific looks to them and a lot of it is setting up for fighting and then fighting. Now, you might think that anime then equates to a kids cartoon. That isn’t really the case, though. There are a lot of anime that delay with much more mature themes. A lot of them fall more into the adult animated or at least teen category. Think something that’d be on Adult Swim, they do have an anime block, but often less goofy.

So, what are some hallmarks of anime. The first is over the top plots. Chasing down magical dragonballs to then get a wish, that’s pretty normal for anime. You might have mechs fighting giant kaiju or an anime about the worlds best cooking school and the craziness that happens there. But it can be over the top in a much more serious way. Stiens;Gate is an anime about time travel that doesn’t pull it’s punches.

What Do I Look For In An Anime?

This is a bit more like my campaign game one. I look at a lot of factors but I’ll care less about certain factors if others are good. I will spoil my first one is going to be plot. If the plot is amazing, I can put up with a lot of other things.

1. Plot
2. Amount of Filler
3. Quality of Dub
4. Amount of Fan Service
5. Animation Style

Plot

Like I said, plot is always going to be the first thing that I look at. Why, because there are a lot of anime with similar plots. I don’t mind at all if an anime has a goofy plot, but I want it to be interesting. Some of my favorite anime, the likes of Stiens;Gate and Cowboy Bebop are quite serious. Others, like Food Wars and Assassination Classroom are not nearly as serious.

Amount of Filler

So this is a term that I’ll define quickly. Filler is basically anime episodes that are used to pad out the length of anime either because they have caught up to the manga it is based off of, or to get more episodes into a season. Basically, episodes that don’t have anything to do with the main plot and are added in there to fill out the out the amount of content. Clearly, I don’t want a ton of those.

There are some anime, Bleach being an example, where around half the episodes in the whole series are filler. Oddly enough that’s better than the anime where 20% are filler. Why, because when half are filler it’s easier to skip those large chunks. When it’s less you might have every third episode is filler and that’s hard to skip them when you don’t know if it’s filler or not.

Quality of Dub

Now, this one some anime fans will say is sacrilege. Anime should be watched in Japanese with subtitles according to them. And some anime are definitely better that way. In fact, ones with poor quality dubs into English or another language, do watch with subtitles. But I sometimes want it on to only half watch. If I half watch with subtitles I miss most of what happens in the anime. So having a quality dub in terms of the voice acting is very important.

Amount of Fan Service

Another term to define, what is fan service. This is basically when a movie has some nudity to make it edgier, that’s the best American comparison I can think of. Basically nudity, or scantily clad characters, for the sake of the audience not for the sake of the story. And while American shows and movies might slip in a little bit, anime can put in a lot.

Now, this doesn’t rule out an anime for me, Food Wars has a lot of this in it. It kind of makes sense for the plot of the show. But there are other anime, A Wise Mans Grandchild for example, where it is just added in for no reason. And in particular it starts to show up a lot in the middle of that show and just doesn’t make any sense. So it depends on the anime for sure, but generally too much fan service and I’m less interested in the anime.

Animation Style

Finally, we have animation style. Now, this one is very subjective. There are some styles that I think are pretty fun, there are others that don’t work well for me. Some are more cartoony while others try and draw their anime more realistically or with more detail. But the animation style can make a difference, it if it doesn’t look as smooth in terms of movement then I’ll be less interested. And generally older animation can be harder to get through in animes.

Are All Criteria Equally Important

I think you can already tell how I’ve written, the answer is no. Now, plot is always going to be important. If the plot isn’t engaging I’m not going to stay interested. Blue Exorcist is a great example of this, the plot started out interesting and then it just dragged on and on. Eventually I wasn’t interested anymore so I stopped watching it because there was just too much left before the payoff.

Other than that, I can work through most things, fan service might be the next one where if it’s just too much, then that might get me to stop watching an anime. For the fan service, at least, you can checkout IMDb and see the parental ratings on a lot of them to get an idea of the level. Granted, I’ve watched some with severe amounts of fan service, I’m looking at you Food Wars, and it was still worth watching.

Let’s Do An Example

In fact, let’s do an example using Food Wars as to why I picked out that anime to watch. And how well it does on every scale in terms of being an anime that I would have picked. Some of why I picked it, I will say, is because it was recommended to me.

The Plot

So, the plot on this one is really weird. That generally interests me because there are some anime about food, but about food and a culinary school where they battle each other by cooking, that is different. A unique plot or an isekai plot will generally interest me, I’ll write about isekai later and what that is in the future.

Amount of Filler

I hadn’t heard that Food Wars had much filler. I won’t always look it up ahead of time. If I haven’t heard it has a lot of filler then I will assume that it hasn’t had a lot of filler. Watching it, I will say, not much filler in the show. For some other anime, like Bleach again as the example, if I’ve heard there is a lot of filler I’ll look up to see how much actual filler there is.

Quality of Dub

For the quality of the dub, I always test out the anime. If the voice work isn’t good I’ll stop watching it. It’s hard to know about the quality of the dub. Most of the time newer anime the dub is going to be pretty good. But some of the older dubs are going to be rough. And, I won’t lie, with something like Food Wars, I wouldn’t have watched it if it hadn’t been dubbed.

Amount of Fan Service

Now, this is there I’m fairly different from what I said, this anime has a ton of fan service. Is it needed for the plot, most certainly not. Does it enhance the plot, kind of. I think they could have gotten across how wonderful the food was without the fan service. But I will say, it matches the tone of the anime, this is not a serious anime. And while it is way over the top, especially in the first episode where it is almost done for the shock factor, it blends in better in the subsequent episodes.

Animation Style

This is an animation style that I like. I think I’d say it is what most modern anime’s look like in terms of animation. The design is nice and clean and it just works well. There’s nothing wrong about it, there’s nothing that makes it stand out. And while I’m watching an animated show, I want the plot to be the lead on it, so this work out well for me.

Will This Work For You?

Yes, I think that this will work for you. However, you can see a lot of them are subjective, what level of dub you’re willing to listen to. If you’ll like an animation style or if you’re willing to get around filler. And maybe you don’t like isekai or fantasy as much as I do, then you can find the sci-fi or slice of life plots instead. There’s probably an anime out there for everyone, just know that compared to some of the others topics I’ve done thus far, there is a ton of anime to sift through an with the varying taste, it can be a lot of work.

What is your favorite anime?

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What is It?

Brotherwise Games is putting out a tactical minis game based off of the Netflix animated show, The Dragon Prince. Put together a team of your favorite characters and lead them into battle. Will Callum and Soren be able to take down the team of Claudia and Rayla, only your game will decide.

So for what this game is, it looks like it’s a card driven tactical battle game. Like I said, you create your team of characters and then using card play you maneuver and attack your opponent trying to knock out their characters. The game uses a charging systems where characters can charge up powers to do bigger attacks to knock out their opponents even faster. Each characters cards are going to give them a thematic feel like you get from the show. Soren is more of a tank, while the rogue like Rayla will jump in and out of battle.

Why Am I Hyped?

I am hyped because of the theme and because of the card play in the game. I recently have gotten in three games of Super Fantasy Brawl. That was another skirmish tactical battle sort of game but with objectives that you are trying to complete as well. It had simple systems and card play. I hope that this game is similar to that. I think it’ll be more about taking out your opponent than Super Fantasy Brawl was, but if the card play and game play is as fast, that certainly sounds cool.

Brotherwise Games is kind of known for creating games that are lighter. Examples being Boss Monster and Call to Adventure. Now, I have only played Boss Monster and that game is just hanging in my collection. The theme is fun and the 8bit artwork is great for it. The game play is just fine. I do have Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archives that I need to get to the table. But with the fact that their games tend not to be that heavy, I’m thinking this one will fall in line. And because of the theme, this might be a tactical game my wife would be interested in trying.

When And Where Do I Find It?

The when is still up in the air. You can sign up over on Brotherwise Games site to get notified when the pre-orders go live. But it is going to go to retail for $40 with 8 characters to start. So 8 minis, the board, and 16 cards per character, it is a pretty solid deal in terms of value. I’m glad that this going to retail because I think it should have mass market appeal.

Hype Level

Quick refresher on how the hype level works. It is from 1 to 5. Five is super hyped. One is hyped. I’m not going to do a “Let There Be Hype” if I’m not hyped about it as well.

1 of 5

Now that seems low, like I said it’s my favorite animated show possibly ever. And for sure best one for kids. What keeps it lower is the fact it’s a tactical skirmish style game. Those games come out a lot. And I have Super Fantasy Brawl, which I love. Since I’m getting more characters for that and the game is easy to play, I’m not sure that I need to get this one.

What is your hype level for The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged? Let me know in the comments below.

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5 – Futurama
Yes, it’s an animated show that had a weird break in the show, but I love it. The humor is great in the show and for a show that is a comedy, there are so many heartfelt moments that tug at your heart strings, it’s very impressive. And for all of that, you still have Bender and Zoidberg who are generally just weird. I think what works so well in Futurama is that it feels like it relevant to life without taking time to bring up specific real world events. Other animated shows lose some of the timeless quality that Futurama has, because they try and talk directly about the real world instead of talking generally, over all, it’s a show that I can sit down and watch most episodes over and over.

4 – Supernatural
There have been a few seasons of Supernatural at this point, and I’m a few seasons behind at this point. But the fact they’ve been able to keep it going so long and while it isn’t always extremely new and fresh, they have done a ton of different things with the show. I like how it has transitioned between strong horror elements and then lighter episodes and seasons that are meant to be more self aware and goofy. I think it shows that the show has evolved over time, even if the characters seem to have stayed pretty similar throughout the whole show. Will I ever get caught up on Supernatural, who knows, but the episodes that I have watched, I really enjoyed the show, and that was around 10 seasons worth.

3 – Dark
I haven’t watched the second season of this yet, and I feel bad about that, but the first season was so amazing. I love the idea of time travel in stories, and sometimes they manage to get it right, Dark gets it right. This show is so extremely thematic and atmospheric that you get sucked into it from the very beginning. Downside is that I think it’s best with subtitles, not dubbed, but if you can get past that fact, the story is really engaging and weird. Definitely one that I need to get back to soon and start from the beginning and go straight through season 2. The downside to the show is that it is dark, so while I watched it in the later parts of winter, it can be a bit depressing to watch.

2 – Psych
Some of it as to why Psych has dropped is that there hasn’t been any new Psych, but we’re getting a new movie in 2020, so that might push it back up again. But Psych is a show that I can sit down and with the exception of the first season which I’ve seen so many times, I can watch and enjoy basically any episode. The humor is great, the stories are absurd and fun, and overall they just get the show right. The chemistry between the characters is really good as well. I also love the references to different bits of older pop culture that are strewn throughout almost every episode and different spoofs of movies and TV shows that they do in their episodes as well.

1 – Stranger Things
With three seasons under it’s belt, I can definitely say that this is my favorite show. Every season has been good, and I think through three seasons, I can only think of one episode that’s been bad. The kids on bikes aspect of the show as well as the other circles of people are really well done. The characters all have issues and flaws and the monsters are generally pretty disturbing. I like the 80’s feel of the show, and I really like how it takes horror tropes from that time and runs with them in interesting ways. Overall, it wasn’t close for my favorite show.

Kind of a weird combination of shows, let’s see if my honorable mentions help clear it up at all?

Honorable Mention:
Rain
The Simpsons
Grimm
Doctor Who
The IT Crowd

There are a lot of good shows out there which have just fell to the wayside for me. Killjoys was a ton of fun to watch, but I’m behind on that one now. The Mandalorian is coming out and while the show has been great thus far, it’s not even done with one season yet, so I couldn’t put it on my list. What are some shows that you really enjoy?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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Let’s start out by talking about what an anthology series is, since the term might not be familiar to everyone. When you think of a television show, you generally think of something that has the same characters throughout the whole season or series, and possibly there will be a plot going through the whole season. An anthology series is just short stories with completely different characters, completely different plots and settings, and in this case, completely different animation styles. They do, however, tend to be around a similar subject matter, in this case, love, death, and robots.

So how does it work to watch a show?

I think that it’s an interesting idea for a series. There are some of the episodes that are extremely well done, there are some that are just okay, and there are some that a pretty poor. However, in all of them, the animation is very strong, even in the more basic animations, and they tend to match the animation style very well to the story for the episode. Some of the stories have hyper realistic animation, while others have a more stylized feel or a sillier feel. And that’s the case with the subject matter, some of the episodes are silly, some of them are just lighter feeling, while some others try and be extremely heavy.

For me, that’s the issue with some of the episodes. They try and act like they are deep and clever, and while they might have very good animation, they tend to actually be pretty flat and heavy handed story telling. Overall, I would say that the anthology suffers a fair amount from that, there are just enough scattered throughout that you feel like it’s trying to beat you over the head with an idea, that isn’t particularly well presented, in hopes that it will be considered smart. This is often a weakness in the short film/short episode format though, because you don’t get a chance to develop characters, and you’re trying to condense an idea into a short period of time. And that’s something that short films really lean into.

But with the storytelling, there are a number of the episodes where I want to see more of what is going on. There are some worlds that are created which are very interesting and you feel like there is a lot more to the world to be explored. This is a positive and a negative, because you know you aren’t likely to get more ever, but you definitely want to have more, and those stories feel the strongest. I guess the best way to describe it is that the those episodes felt like they had a living world around them versus just this one static slice of the world that was cut out to make the point they are going for.

I do want to add in a disclaimer that while this is an animated series, it is not a kids series. It’s not even the Simpsons, it’s much more adult than that, and there is a lot of sex, nudity, language, violence, and gore throughout the show. So be careful when you watch it and who you watch it with, because, it does use a pretty heavy hand on some heavy subjects.

So what do I think of the show?

It’s a hit or miss show for me. There are some worlds that I definitely want to explore more and stories that captured me, there are other parts that are too heavy handed. I can recommend it for appreciating the various animation styles as some of the animation is amazing, and all of it works with the stories being told. But there are a number of the stories that are just too much and feel a bit like a waste of time to watch, because you get the point they are beating you over the head with at the very beginning, and after that it’s just the stuff in the disclaimer.