Sentenced to be a Hero

So this is Suicide Squad, But Cooler? I Like it!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

Sentenced to be a Hero Ep 2 Review

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen a group of convicts be used as cannon fodder by uncaring superiors, I’d have a few extra dollars. Which isn’t much, but it’s weird how I’ve seen it happen multiple times in fiction. That being said, Sentenced to be a Hero is looking to be one of the biggest anime of the season. People are praising it for the story, the animation, and the characters, and it’s not hard to see why. Mother’s Basement included it in his list of heavy hitters for the winter 2026 season; he nicknames it “Gantz of Thrones.” That’s incredibly accurate, in my opinion! The Heroes are people being used as fodder in a war they’re expected to die in, but can be brought back for more, and not all of them are mentally put together. But that won’t stop them from doing their job.

So, despite the premiere ending with Xylo getting arrested and accused of stealing Teoritta, he wakes up in a tent with nothing having happened to him. Which makes sense, considering how he’s already been sentenced to the worst possible punishment as eternal fodder in a war. Credit where it’s due, though: that knight Kivia does apologize for the accusation when they meet up later in the episode. But Xylo couldn’t care less, as he tells her point-blank that she wouldn’t have believed him anyway. He’s right; no one would believe him, so why bother?

What does surprise him, though, is the fact that Teoritta refuses to end their contract, despite knowing what he did…or was forced to do by his circumstances. Some would call her naive, but I see it as her being a good judge of character. Xylo may hide it underneath his bitterness, but he’s a good and decent person. If he wasn’t, then why would he make it his mission in life to find the people responsible for Senerva’s death? He’s such a good person that he’s ready to burn everything to avenge her.

Another Suicide Mission

Speaking of mission, the heroes get their next one: defeating some demons called faeries infesting the mines at a town called Zewan Gan. This is when we are introduced to two more heroes, and, in keeping with what seems to be the theme for them, they’re quite eccentric. There’s his majesty, Norgalle Senridge. He’s an expert in sacred seals and magic, but he’s convinced that he’s the rightful king of their nation and everyone are his subjects. I’d say he’s delusional, but I’ve seen crazier things be true, and he does look out for the others. There’s also his servant, Tatsuya. He’s been a hero for so long, he’s practically feral. It’s tragic for him, but it makes him super vicious in battle.

So, we’ve got a fallen holy knight, a thief, a coward, a delusional magic expert, and someone as feral as Ezekiel from Total Drama. This whole thing is reminding me more and more of Game of Thrones meets that Suicide Squad isekai from a few years ago, but better. Consider me invested in it.

At any rate, their mission is to seal up the mines and make sure the demons don’t get out. That is already a hard job. But to add an extra layer of tragedy, its revealed that the faeries they’re fighting were humans transformed into monsters. The heroes and holy knights are basically having to perform mercy kills. The mission gets complicated, though, when they find a survivor who says there are more deeper in the mines. Kivia has orders to collapse the mines, but Norgalle insists they save ‘his people.’ So what can they do?

You Can’t Ignore Being a Good Person

Xylo shows why he’s a good person once again when he tells Kivia “Screw it. I’ll go save them. If I’m not back in time, feel free to blow the place. Not like you’re going to lose anything valuable.” But as a precaution, he refuses to allow Teoritta to accompany him. Which means if they run into trouble, they’ll be at a disadvantage.

If the extra-long premiere was meant to serve as a first look at this world, then this second episode helps to flesh out the world. And once again, the animation is still gorgeous and I love it. I’m now fully invested into this series and I’m looking forward to watching it over the rest of the season. Next week, we’re likely going to see the heroes race against the clock as we see them try to live up to actual heroes. Bring it on.

I Give “Sentence: Clear the Zewan Gan Tunnels Part 1” a 4/5

Sentenced to Be a Hero Might be Anime of the Year Material!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , ,

Sentenced to Be a Hero Ep 1 Review

Happy New Year, everyone! And what a good year it is looking to be for the world of anime! We are going to see the return of many popular anime that we here at the D&A Anime Blog are all looking forward to seeing. However, I think that the first big hit of the year is an entirely new show. A show that’s animated by some of the people that made the first season of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation a legend of animation. As a fan of that Isekai series and agreeing that the animation from the first season was near god-tier, that fact alone was enough to get me interested in this. However, now I’m going to want to stay for the story, because Sentenced to be a Hero has the potential to be one of the best anime of the year.

I feel so good about being right.

Sentenced to be a Hero Inverts the Praise that Comes with the Word

The hero. A four-letter word that has done more to inspire feelings of hope, courage, and inspiration than any other in existence. It’s a concept that appears in every culture that’s ever existed, and one that comes with respect. That is not the case for the premise behind Sentenced to be a Hero, though. Before we even get to see the animation (which is god-tier), we get a text block explaining what a hero is in this story. In this story, being a hero is a punishment for the worst criminals. They are sentenced to fight on the frontlines in the never-ending war against Demons until they drop dead. They’re not even granted the peace of death, as they’re revived and forced to continue fighting, as unending cannon fodder, for eternity.

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a story where someone called a hero is treated terribly by those they’re having to save. It sure as heck isn’t the first time I’ve seen death being irrelevant to a story. And of course, we have video games, where players are expected to die and then have to start back from their last save. For all we know, science and technology could give people alive today the ability to tell death to piss off for as long as we want.

But dying is still dying, and while Goku and the others are able to shrug it off with zero signs of mental trauma, that’s not the case for everyone. It’s still going to hurt, and even someone with the strongest mentality they could possibly have is going to start cracking if they experience that over and over. And as we are introduced to the world of the show and its main cast, Sentenced to be a Hero demonstrates this in all its nightmare-fueled glory.

Xylo Has a Bone to Pick With those in Power

We are introduced to our main character, Xylo, in the middle of a battle against the Demons as one of his fellow Heroes steals something from their “allies.” The other Hero, Dotta, almost bites it and asks to die so he can be revived. However, as Xylo tells him, dying and then having your soul ripped out of the afterlife has consequences. It will erode away a person’s soul, causing them to lose memories of who they were until there’s almost nothing left. He even makes it a point to say that if happens enough times, a Hero will be like a living zombie!

Now, we may never know for certain if there is an afterlife, or if we reincarnate, or cease to exist. But compared to what Xylo is describing, death seems better. Regardless of whatever crimes a person may commit, I don’t think anyone deserves to suffer a fate like that. Whoever came up with that system must be some morally bankrupt sadist!

What makes it even worse, though, is that the crime that Xylo was sentenced to be a hero for wasn’t even his fault. As the end of the episode reveals, he was put in an impossible situation and left to die.

Goddesses are Little Girls.

In the world of the show, there are beings called goddesses, little girls who were created to help humanity fight the Demons by bestowing contracts on their chosen champions. Xylo made a pact with one such goddess after his unit was sent into a battle as cannon fodder with no reinforcements. That goddess used up so much of her power that she hit her breaking point and started to turn into a demon herself, forcing Xylo to put her out of her misery. If that wasn’t traumatizing enough, the country’s leaders placed all the blame on him, saying he acted without orders, that he was never ordered to fight, and that he killed her in cold blood. And they were saying all of this at his trial right to his face.

Basically, take what Naofumi went through and somehow crank that up to eleven. That’s how bad this is. And so, Xylo did what any sane, rational, understandably pissed-off person would do: he vowed revenge. He vowed that he would find the people who set him up and make them wish they had given him the death penalty when they had the chance!

I’ve seen it happen plenty of times in fiction, but it never fails to grind my gears than to see a good person get screwed over by those in power. It takes a rare kind of person to endure that level of getting screwed over to not want to seek revenge, and while I applaud those who can move on, I understand why Xylo acts so bitter throughout this first episode. He’s saving so many lives and looking badass while doing so, but his so-called allies spit on him anyway when they don’t know a thing. Even worse, when he ends up meeting another goddess, Teoritta, his ptsd is triggered. The girl only wants to help him, but he claims he hates goddesses and tries to drive her away. In the end, though, circumstances force the two to work together in order to win, meaning they’re now stuck with each other. And also Dotta, who stole the casket holding Teoritta in the first place.

Remember how Peak Season One of Mushoku Tensei Was? This is it on Steroids

There was a lot to unpack for this first episode, not the least bit because it was an hour long. But beyond the story, which sounds super interesting, the main draw of the episode was the animation. This show is directed by the people who helped to make the first season of Mushoku Tensei one of the most beautiful anime in living memory. From the bread scene to the fight between Dead End and Orsted to Eris fighting those knights in her solo ova, that first season was gorgeous beyond belief. And this episode was pretty much each of those moments extended into an hour.

To start with, there’s the color palette. Most of this episode is set at night, and they reflect this using a lot of dark colors. It’s doubly appropriate considering how this is a dark fantasy series. The animation is smooth as butter, especially during the fighting scenes. As for the fighting scenes, take the best ones from Mushoku Tensei and yourself what made them look so good. Now apply that to every fight in this episode. It’s a visual feast.

I’ve got a number of anime that I want to cover for the Winter 2026 season, and after seeing this episode, I can say that Sentenced to be a Hero is going to be one of them.

I Give “Sentence: Support Retreat From Couveunge Forest” a 5/5

I’m Already Stuffed from Anime, and 2026 isn’t Here Yet!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

All the Anime RJ Writing Ink is Looking forward to in 2026 (So Far)

Looking back on 2025, it was pretty much a golden year for anime. There were so many amazing series, both new and returning, that graced our TVs, smartphones, and computers. But with the new year upon us, that means new anime to appreciate. So much so that my poor brain is struggling to remember everything we have to look forward to. However, that will not stop me from going over all the confirmed series that I think most people will want to see.

Sentenced to Be a Hero, January 3rd

You would think that getting to be a hero would be a sweet gig, but then you remember all the peril that would involve putting yourself in. Then you have what’s going on in this anime, where being a hero is considered a punishment for criminals wjo are forced to fight against demons. Not even death can save them from this fate, as they just get revived and forced to go through it all again. What makes this anime stand out isn’t the story, though. It’s the animation. The directors behind this anime adaptation are the ones responsible for the best scenes from Mushoku Tensei. The first season of that isekai has some of the best animation you’ll find in an anime, so this could end up being one of the most beautiful anime of the year. I’m very tempted to review it myself!

Speaking of which…

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3

One of the pinnacles of the isekai genre will be returning for its third season sometime in 2026, and I’m absolutely stoked for it. A lot has changed in the life of Rudeus Greyrat. He’s back home with his mother and the rest of his family, he’s now married to both Sylphie and Roxy, and to top it off, he’s now a father. All seems right with the world for Rudy, but as we see in the trailer, things are only going to get crazier for him. The return of his ex-girlfriend Eris is just the tip of the iceberg, as things will be revealed that will reframe the entire story thus far. And as someone who read ahead, I’ve been keeping my mouth shut about everything long enough!

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, January 5th

My Hero Academia may be over, but we still got the prequel spin-off series to look forward to as it returns for its sophomore. After the events at Narufest at the end of the first season, Koichi and Pop are surprised when Knuckleduster up and disappears, leaving them on their own. Nonetheless, they strive to continue their roles as Naruhata’s friendly neighborhood heroes without their mentor. Anyone who misses MHA will be able to rest easy knowing that we won’t be leaving the world of MHA behind anytime soon.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, January 9th

Ladies and gentlemen, peak shonen is about to return. I already talked at length about what we have to look forward to with the third season of JJK in my review of the movie preview, but I just want to remind us that things are going to get crazy. Yuji is a fugitive from a corrupt Jujutsu society, Kenjaku has turned Tokyo into a warzone, and one of the craziest arcs in the story is about to begin. And that’s not even going into the sub-plot about the Zen’in clan!

Frieren Beyond Journey’s End Season 2, January 16th

I have yet to watch the show for myself, but even I’ve heard about the fantasy greatness that is Frieren. And now that greatness is coming back for more. I think that’s all that needs to be said.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Season 4, April

We here at the D&A Anime Blog are big fans of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and for good reason. It’s another example of what I call the Seven Summits of Isekai, and 2026 is looking to be a good year for Slime fans. Not only are we get a new film about Rimuru and the others going on vacation in February, but it’s reported that season four of the anime will be premiering sometime in April. In short, we’re going to be eating well this year.

Dr Stone: Science Future Cour 3, April

Another long-running Shonen series is returning for its final act in the form of Dr. Stone. Despite knowing how things would turn out, I more or less abstained from the second part of the final season because it was way too depressing for my tastes. However, considering how the ultimate goal of the Kingdom of Science remains getting to the moon, I cannot help but want to watch what comes next.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, March 19th

The legend returns, and that means it’s time for everyone to brush up on their JoJo poses and memes. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will be returning for Part Seven, Steel Ball Run, this March exclusively on Netflix. Set in an alternate timeline from the one we’ve known, Steel Ball Run is Araki’s take on the spaghetti western as we see an alternate version of the original JoJo, Johnny Joestar, participate in a race across the United States that hides some deadly secrets. Steel Ball Run is the biggest shake-up to the long-running Shonen series since Stardust Crusaders, but JoJo is still JoJo. So, expect gorgeous artwork, epic posing, and plenty of memes to be made starting in the spring.

One Piece, Elbaph Arc, April 5th

It’s crazy to believe that One Piece will now be a seasonal anime, but it’s for the best. It means that Oda will not have to worry about keeping the manga ahead of the anime, and that the anime can focus more on quality over quanity. And given how the next arc is also the biggest yet, that is saying something. As the Straw Hat Pirates finally make it to the homeland of the Giants, fans will be in for an experience unlike anything we’ve seen up to this point. Having been reviewing the manga on my personal blog, I can say that Elbaph will be worth the wait.

And this is only the anime that I’m aware of and want to watch. There is going to be plenty more to look forward to in 2026. Happy new year, everyone!