Sentenced to be a Hero – Episode 1

What’s it about? Xylo Forbartz was a former unit captain for the Holy Knights until he was arrested for killing his former goddess ally.  The high courts refused to listen to his reasons and sentenced him to become a “hero” as punishment for his crimes.  Even if he dies in combat, he’ll constantly be resurrected to fight in battles against his will.  Despite his circumstances, he’s determined to find out who betrayed him during the trial in order to avenge his fallen comrades.   

The holidays were an especially busy time for me this year.  I didn’t have time to watch trailers for the new anime season at all, so I basically picked my shows randomly in the hopes that some of them might be decent offerings.  I was fully prepared to hate this show solely for being a double-length premiere, which at this point should be a crime.  Very few shows deserve that privilege (Oshi no Ko being a rare exception) and oftentimes it doesn’t really do anything to enhance the story.  That’s why Sentenced to be a Hero is a nice surprise because it utilizes its length to show us the brutal reality of living in a fantasy world and the politicking behind the scenes.  There isn’t any useless exposition and it trusts the audiences’ intelligence to figure out the qualities of the main characters.  

Honestly, I’m just grateful this isn’t the usual slop of low-tier fantasy shows that normally comes out every season.  While it doesn’t entirely reinvent the formula, what makes this premiere unique is that “heroism” isn’t viewed as something glorious and/or honorable.  “Heroes” like Xylo aren’t on the battlefield because they want to risk their lives for some mythical greater good.  They are forced to fight without any rest and if they refuse their orders, the higher ups will kill them without the possibility of being resurrected.  It also begs the question why certain crimes are given the same punishment, for example, why was Xylo’s fellow conscript, Dotta, convicted into heroism for the act of thievery? Based on his skills it’s obvious he primarily performed high-end heists, so did he end up stealing from someone he wasn’t supposed to? 

These are interesting questions, and I like that the narrative forces the characters to re-examine the unfairness of the world they live in and what they can tangibly do to change their circumstances.  I also like how the end of the episode hinted at the politicking behind scenes and that there are people who have a keen interest to ruin Xylo and keep him away from power.  

The only character who truly felt out of place in this mayhem was the goddess named Teoritta.  She looks like a child and nothing irritated me more than seeing her beg for any form of validation from Xylo.  Their dynamic just didn’t work for me and if that’s all their relationship is going to be then I don’t see myself enjoying the rest of the series.  The only decent woman character in the series is the commander, Kivia, who is taken seriously as the leader of her Holy Knight unit and isn’t sexualized in any form.  Hopefully, she remains compelling without her becoming the eventual love interest for Xylo and begins to defer to him for any important decision making.  I know I sound jaded, but my expectations for women characters in male-led fantasy shows have been ruined before so I’m just trying to prepare myself for my inevitable disappointment.  

The animation quality alone deserves plenty of praise because not only does it look good, but the action sequences are spectacular.  I’m a sucker for animation that features obvious fine linework and muted watercolor backgrounds and a subdued, almost faded color palette.  It just gives the series a nice aesthetic appeal, but if I had one complaint, it’s that the fights are too long.  There were several moments during the premiere where I kept asking myself “when will this fight scene end?!”.  I understand the series wants the viewers to understand how unrelenting this world is, but I mostly felt overstimulated and wanted the series to focus on the plot again.  Despite my growing dislike of double length premieres, this was a good start and it at least deserves the 3-episode test just to see if it sinks or continues to swim.