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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Umbrella Academy was originally a comic book series that ran from September 2007 to 2013, and since then has come back in October of 2018. The series is written by Gerard Way, whom you might know as the lead singer for My Chemical Romance. So it isn’t a series created by your typical writers of super hero comics.

Umbrella Academy focuses around a family of adopted children. They were seven of forty-three children born to mothers who weren’t expecting until the day and moment that they gave birth to these children. Reginald Hargreeves, an eccentric entrepreneur adopts seven of these children, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, Vanya, and Number Five – Hargreeves referred to the children by number versus by a name. It was a tough life, but it turned out that most of the kids that he adopted had powers. Luther was extremely strong, Diego could control knives, Allison could plant suggestions in peoples heads, Klaus could see dead people, Ben could summon tentacles from another dimension or his chest, and Number Five could teleport. As children, Hargreeves honed their abilities and turned them into a rag tag team of super heroes who were loved and could stop crimes. But as they grew older, they all left and went their separate ways. Number Five disappeared, and something happened to Ben. It wasn’t until much later when Hargreeves passed away that the five remaining children that he’d adopted came back together to lay him to rest but there are suspicions that his death wasn’t naturally caused.

The story focuses both on the larger plot of what happened to Hargreeves, but in many ways it’s more about what happens when a dysfunctional family comes back together. Can they work together, or have they become so separated and jaded from their horrible childhood that they can’t work together? It’s very much a character piece focused show where at times you really delve into one characters background and them overcoming a demon or figuring out why they are the way they are, and in another episode it’s another character. I think that they give Allison, Klaus, and Luther good room to grow that way. Diego and Vanya are given less room, though some of that with Vanya is that Ellen Page doesn’t do a great job portraying her, and isn’t given the best writing to work with.

I will also say that I think the show is at times rocky with it’s acting. The actor who plays Klaus steals the show, and the actor who plays Number Five when they were kids does a very good job. I’d also put that a fair amount on the writing that the acting is rocky, because there are times where the writing is a little bit hacked together. Not really cliche or trope filled, but it just lacks the polish that you kind of expect to get in the show. This takes what could have been a great show and moves it down to a good show. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some trope heavy parts of the show. There are a couple of tropes that it relies too heavily on, mainly the abusive father and it makes some parts of a pretty complex and interesting story seem a little bit lazy. It takes a story that has a bunch of depth and makes it a bit simplistic.

With that said, I do think there are enough strong characters in it, and while the first episode itself focuses on the death of Hargreeves and the characters coming back together and it is a bit slow, the rest of the series runs at a much better pace. I would say by the time you’re done with episode three, you’re most likely going to be pretty invested in the show. And if you aren’t invested in the show at that point, and the characters in the show, it’s probably going to be a case that the show isn’t for you. If I were to compare to to other shows, I would say it reminds me of a blend of Watchmen (a movie), Dark, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. It really tries to lean into that slower moving plot like Dark does, but it just doesn’t jump into it quite quickly enough, so the story struggles to gain traction. I do really appreciate a good show that has that slower build like it is going for though.

Now, it seems like I’m knocking it a fair amount, and I have been a bit harsh with it. I did watch it through, and towards the end, it was hard to stop and not just binge it. So it does develop into that sort of show that keeps you guessing and wanting more. It also really does make you care about at least some of the characters a lot in the show. And again, I can’t get into too much because of spoilers with what I consider stronger. It is a show that you’ll need to give a few episodes too first before it will really get going, but once it does, it’s worth it. I’d recommend checking it out on Netflix, and hopefully if enough people enjoy it, it’ll get a second season as there is more to explore in the world.

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