Tu Bian Yingxiong X 534h4h

Alright, it's been three episodes, and I think it's time for me to share some thoughts. To Be Hero X might be one of the most creatively bold anime this season.

First, let's start with the obvious. The unique blend of 2D and 3D CG is phenomenal. While I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, it's great to see this kind of experimentation in the anime industry, and I welcome it. The way it mixes styles gives the show a look that stands out.

I genuinely believe this show strikes a balance between strong writing and impressive animation. Now, I know some people might raise their ... eyebrows at my comment about the writing, but let me explain. On the surface, the writing feels a little generic, but I think that changes once you look deeper. As the story moves forward, we start to get small details that hint at something more meaningful. These moments help us see that the story is actually touching on real-life struggles. It shows how things like societal expectations, relationships, and reputation can shape who we are, both in ways that define us and hold us back. You can really feel the writers' intention behind all of this, and it’s clear they want to say something deeper, even if it’s not obvious at first glance.

There was even a moment in episode two that hit harder than I expected. It was a quiet scene, but it stuck with me.

Now when it comes to production, it's clear that a lot of money and effort went into this. You can really feel how much Bilibili and Aniplex invested in making this show stand out. Having Hiroyuki Sawano on the soundtrack brings a whole new level of intensity and emotion. His music always adds weight, and it does the same here. The Japanese voice cast is also stacked. Every line hits perfectly, and the performances feel sharp and full of energy. The English dub is also really solid. Even if you're usually someone who watches sub, it's worth checking out the dub because it holds up surprisingly well.

This t project between Aniplex and Bilibili is the first of its kind, and honestly, it feels like the start of something new. If this collab does well, I could definitely see more like it happening in the future.

If the story keeps building in this direction, I think we’re in for something special.

Elephant out of the room, yes, it looks fantastic. Everyone agrees that not only do the 3D and 2D styles look good in their own right, BeDream transitions between the two beautifully, potentially leading the way for a new artistic genre, but To Be Hero X has... some issues. Most notable out of the gate, the pacing.

While only four episodes in, when it comes to emotional beats, everything moves way to fast. Things happen, characters physically respond, but as far as motivations or emotional reactions beyond the most basic level we don't see any character development. When it comes to shows, imagining being able ... to sit down and talk with the characters, know what they would want to say or do given the chance, means the writers have done a good job at fleshing out the characters. The viewer can imagine a character existing beyond the camera. In To Be Hero X's case, the characters are barely able to maintain their existence even on screen, with close to zero believable motivations or reactions these characters are not given the chance to be themselves, ironically much like the main theme of the show. Rather the inhabitants of this world are hurriedly posed as needed in order to narratively rush from point A to point B, skipping anything that would give someone a reason to care about anyone. While I'm fine with monster of the week type stories, hell, Cowboy Bepop did it, and that definitely manages to write compelling characters, here it just feels cheap, with little direction beyond finding the next story beat to try to make you forget that despite a character dyeing a scene or two ago and that miraculously no one seems to care.

To Be Hero X reminds me a bit of Go! Go! Loser Ranger, a great premise bogged down by poor writing and little to no though put into culminating a greater narrative arc. In Go! Go! Loser Ranger's case, between rushed story elements and little to no sequential storytelling, it was pretty apparent the writers had given up on creating a cohesive narrative and were simply trying to cover the source material as quickly as possible, ignoring answering some of the frankly interesting questions IT raised.

Despite all of this, I am very interested to see how they manage to introduce the entire cast they've heavily d in the opening. If Lin Ling isn't even the true main character (to my knowledge being listed as a ed character until recently) the choice to frontline him for at least the first four episodes without so much as a cameo from the top nine is a... choice?

I guess the three episode rule is turning into seven for this show.

This isn’t really a review but rather a clarification for what the show’s direction is. The timeline of TBHX is presented in reverse, with Lin Ling's story being the most recent event, while the heroes are from the past. The first four episodes are designed to feel more normal or average compared to the brutal nature of the rest of the world. The first four episodes are intentionally fast-paced, but the stories of the later heroes will each have a different rhythm. All ten heroes' stories will intersect, and Li Haoling, the director of the show will conduct a Q&A after each hero's arc.

A ridiculous, absurd, and fantastic anime with a really bad story.The anime's concept is so bad, fake news, bipolar viewers, and image-washing.Being a hero dependent on people and their moods, and gaining powers effortlessly is complete nonsense.Besides, the story is a script written by a 3-year-old.

And they tend to emphasize fake news and manipulation a lot. It's already disgusting to see that in this many episodes, and that's only 6 episodes in. Just wait, there's more of the same, it's already boring.

The animation is 3D. After a few episodes, it gets boring. That's all. It doesn't deserve a luxurious review, since it doesn't deserve anything ... on its own.

I thought after all this time, I was done with heroes. But thankfully, I was wrong.

There's something immensely gratifying and enjoyable about watching stories of these seemingly divine beings, Superheroes, and attempting to live vicariously through them. People have always looked for role-models and the Superhero is the modern solution to that. But in the modern age, people seem to be tiring of superheroes. We've seen so many by now --Superman, Batman, Goku, Saitama, Deku, and Invincible to name a few-- that the novelty of it all starts to fade. "Hero fatigue", they call it. There's only so many ways one can tell the ... same story, over and over again. Courage and bravery will always be inspiring, and society deserves to have stories that glorify these themes, but if you keep saying the same thing over and over eventually it all just starts to sound like noise.

To Be Hero X made me feel a way I wasn't sure I ever could again after all this time. I've seen MANY shows involving heroes or superheroes and it's been so long since any of it has actually felt remarkable to me. I try not to write reviews this early, but TBHX has left such a strong first impression on me that I am extremely confident that this show will be, to me at least, at worst a 9/10 and at best a 10/10. I'll avoid major spoilers, but just know if any of this interests you I'd recommend skipping this review and watching it.

The first episode of TBHX is fast, maybe even too fast, but it does its job of quickly setting up the world and hooking the viewer. To very briefly summarize, an ordinary man is suddenly thrust into the role of "Superhero", specifically the role of a previous hero known as "Nice", and he needs to act as a stand-in.

The existence of Superheroes in this world is considered normal. It's a similar setup to worlds like Hero Aca, X-Men, and The Boys. Superhero culture is intertwined with capitalism and social media in a way that isn't necessarily healthy, but it parallels the way people tend to worship celebrities in the modern age, so it makes sense and feels real.

The power system of TBHX is maybe one of the parts I find the most interesting about the show, because it's a concept I really enjoy but I very rarely see it explored in media (Chainsaw Man comes to mind). Essentially, Superheroes get all their power from the people around them. They call it their "Trust" score, it's a number that can go up or down in relation to how strongly people believe that a person can do something. But it's more than just their powers, it's seemingly EVERYTHING that that person is in the eyes of the public.

To use a previous example, when Superman is done saving the day, he can assume the role of Clark Kent and relax. But people in TBHX can't do that, they are forced to be heroes ALL the time. In ep 1, Nice demonstrates this by doing something particularly dramatic for reasons we still don't know yet, in ep 2 Moon Girl represents this in her lashing out and lamenting the loss of her freedom, and in ep 3 Mister Stand represents this in revealing that he's secretly been extremely stressed because of his expectations of being strong enough to be able to literally withstand anything and carry any burden no matter the size. The people believe it, and it becomes true. Because of this drawback, being a superhero is actually framed as a curse, rather than something more akin to a job or an occupation.

I really enjoy this representation of what it means to be a "hero", because it strongly illustrates how people in the modern age, such as celebrities and influencers, can be pushed in different directions by the whims of their audience. If you were a celebrity, and you wanted to do something different, would your fans let you? Would changing your routine or being more honest be worth the risk of potentially losing everything? The risk of being judged poorly by people who used to fill you with energy and happiness, or the risk of maybe even losing sponsors? In reality there's no universal thing people choose to do here, but commonly you'll see famous people attempt to ride the coattails of their success and try meet the expectations of their fans, rather than carve their own path into something unknown or different.

This show definitely isn't the first to tackle this concept. I'm sure literally everyone knows the "with great power comes great responsibility" quote. But here it's actually true in multiple directions. Superheroes need to be responsible with their powers, but the people, their fans, also need to be responsible with what they choose to believe in, and who they choose to shine a spotlight on. It's almost Marxian in that without the people, Superheroes are powerless, but actually we see the same thing in capitalism too. The only reason the dollar is worth anything is because people believe in it. But I'm getting sidetracked. These are just my own observations and interpretations, and I'm sure it can be viewed in other ways, but that's part of what I think is so cool about the narrative here.

That's all to say nothing of the rest of the show, which is obviously just visually gorgeous and striking. It's not just the gimmick of 3D and 2D animation mixed, it's 3D and lots of different styles of 2D animation as well. As well as the fact that the style change doesn't feel mundane, it feels like there's a good reason for it and I'm really curious to see how that develops. The 3D animation style here is definitely at least somewhat inspired from Enter the Spiderverse as well as Arcane, and in no way is that a bad thing at all. The 3D definitely isn't perfect, and it's maybe the weakest part of the whole show for me, but if you can get past the occasional 3D jank that doesn't always move right or look right you'll likely not be too bothered by the shortcomings. The OP and ED are also straight fire, really solid tracks and animations on both of those, no notes.

If the believing in the strength of another is what it takes to make somebody a superhero, then maybe the same is true in real life. Maybe if I write a good review, and if others do the same, maybe that can be enough to help propel this show forward, so that it can gain an audience and the success that I feel it likely deserves. My actions here might not be enough, but it doesn't hurt to try. Definitely keep an eye on this one. Giving this a 9 for now and possibly updating to a 10 if it keeps the hype rolling.

The bar is being set higher and higher, and chinese are reigning at the top of the pyramid with this banger. Judging from the Character lineup, most of the characters are yet to be introduced yet I find this to be a very epic beginning to something that's gonna be the dark horse of this season. This has both 3D and 2D animation sliding in very smoothly and just perfectly. This is still just a very preliminary review at 2/24, but I was honestly compelled to leave this here before the review section gets flooded (yes that's how popular this is gonna get).

ITS FINNALY OUT OMG OMG

It's so underrated!!! Although there's no hype around its release, it's definitely still a must-watch! The whole show is made in China and has a multiple-style animation. I believe it could end up as good as Arcane or Spider-verse!

The plot is original, and the story layers itself very well. The first episode gets you hooked, something like Oshi No Ko's first episode. It starts strong and instantly does something you wouldn't expect. The plot doesn't drop off either. It just keeps on getting better and better!

The art style is slightly different from traditional anime, but the animation is still fantastic! I ... would say it reminds me of Spider-verse's animation. The amount of movement sometimes is absolutely insane! You can instantly tell that the animators are being paid well. They play around with the animation sometimes too, as it has a multiple-style animation.

Nothing has made it more clear than after watching Episode 4 that To be Hero X is China's first real attempt in grabbing a piece of the pie of global animated series. This is their version of what the Big 3 did back in the day and with the full package in animation, directing, and modernized for today's standards. There's a lot of old school Shonen that has a lot of loyal fans, mostly fueled by nostalgia factors and they may or may not want to it it. This isn't to bring down other series to bring up To be Hero X, but Mangaka's back ... in the day and even now are forced to prolong their series to make the most money for the companies that releases their weekly issues. As of result the quality is going to be diminished and a lot of fillers are hidden behind convenient plot points. To be Hero X cuts all the bs and in essence the purest form of what Shonen was meant to be. Packaged in a ion project with the most insane budget and animation style we've ever seen, not just in "anime", but animated series in general.

I truly believe this series marks the day where Donghua starts to get much more popular and will force the Anime industry to change for the better. Don't get me wrong, I love Anime and it has provided me with endless hours of enjoyable entertainment, but I cannot pretend that there isn't massive issues currently. Too many shows being made and they're mostly unwatchable and notable franchises being ruined by corporate greed. Competition is good for consumers, and I hope To be Hero X won't only improve the prospects of Donghua but Anime as well.

To Be Hero X stands out as the best anime of the season , a refreshing take on the hero genre. With a bold and intriguing premise, it reimagines the world of heroes through a sharp lens of social critique and unexpected depth.

Its characters are bursting with personality, each adding flavor and humor to an already dynamic narrative. The blend of satire and action keeps the pacing tight, while the worldbuilding teases at larger mysteries yet to unfold.

With the anticipation building around the hero tournament, there’s genuine excitement to learn more about the Ten Heroes and how their paths will collide.

I find it a shame that people will not try to watch this show just because of it's animation. I have to say I wasn't expecting much when I started this show but somehow it struck my interests. The animation is probably one of the best aspects ofc, the blend between 3d and 2d is not done just because, if you watch the anime, you will see why they do that sometimes. I would say the only bad aspect to this is that it's pretty fast paced, I do understand that they have 24 eps and will show a little bit of each character, which ... I sometimes just hoped that they would show a little more with more than 24 eps, everything just feels so fast. I will continue to watch this till the end and maybe my opinion will change, but for now on I would recommend this, I did really enjoy each episode, it's only the way they just skip every part that I wish I could see more of it.

This Chinese animation is certainly this seasons best series. The animation is top tier and consistent across all episodes with many different art styles which all mesh well together. The plot is amazing and keeps you on your toes. I love the twists this work brings to your typical hero stories. I think everyone should give this series a go. One of the episodes even made me cry. It's honestly refreshing to not be watching another trope filled generic and overused anime from Japan. Hopefully this spurs on more studios to experiment and innovate more.

In of artstyle, it is similar to arcane. The cliffhangers ... are a bit of a love hate relationship due to the hype it creates for the next episode. The characters are unique and well designed. They actually feel like well though out characters instead of just inserted to fulfill a trope or move the plot along. The fight scenes have been some of the best animation thats been released in the recent years. Their is nothing bad about this series so far.

I am writing this review out of pure malice towards reviewers who does not recommend this anime just because of the "fast pacing". You have got to be an illeterate first grader to not be able to comprehend and process the emotions and motivations this show tries to evoke. All you need to do is to pause once in a while and THINK why things are the way they are, and why the characters are acting the way they do. Or finish the entire episode and reflect on it afterwards. It is not the problem of To Be Hero X that you are incapable of ... thinking that you need everything spoonfed to you. The show is perfect. The storytelling is solid, and the characters DO have character development—it's just that you're as slow as a turquoise. For Bob's sake.

I watched the four available episodes in the Japanese dub (the original Chinese audio is surprisingly hard to find), and boy am I confused by the absurdly high rating this has.

Negatives
Characters
- Lin Ling: Lin Ling comes across as your average down-in-the-dumps shounen protagonist with no redeeming qualities. He stumbles into OP mode, with plot arc challenges painting his character as whiny and flat. There is no background provided about his character that drives his ambitions and goals so he feels very shallow and one-dimensional. I'm holding out hope that the story throws some kind of twist at us that morphs his character into something ... interesting, but given we are four episodes in, it really should have been established by now to give watchers a pull into the story. I really like Natuski Hanae as a voice actor, but when he voices this kind of character, boy does it get grating. His overall high-pitched voice gives a great feeling of light innocence which is perfect for roles like 9S in Nier Automata, but in a whiny MC role it adds to the feeling of annoyance I develop towards the character. Unfortunately, Lin Ling is also a huge simp which makes the voice of Natsuki Hanae even more irritating to listen to as he gushes over this random idol figure for seemingly no reason.
- Moon: Aki Toyosaki is great in Persona 5 and Noragami. For some reason, her voice as Moon is grating to the point of annoying. Was this a choice made by the voice direction?? She seems to be nothing more than a plot device, but that's less of a criticism of her specifically and more of the overall writing because none of the characters are particularly compelling, they all feel rather flat.

World-building/plot
The world building is weak and many world-building points are shoe-horned in to drive the plot. Speaking of which, what even is the plot? The driving motivation for the main villain is not clear, which makes it feel like an empty conflict. So is this mean to be episodic? The episodic storytelling angle is weak since the individual character arcs they focus on are so simple and cliched. There are no opportunities for characters to have any interesting or meaningful interactions - like when Lin Ling tries to talk to Stand-man MULTIPLE times to be met with Stand-man literally walking away saying "I have to go for dinner with my friends". This is such a wasted opportunity to see another side of Stand-man through how he interacts with Lin Ling! And to see Lin Ling express his thoughts other than simping for Moon! Watching this series felt like I was watching a cartoon made for children.

Animation
I appreciate the fairly unique animation style and the concept of mixing 2D with 3D, but I can't help but notice that the studio is trying too hard to replicate Fortiche's 3D style. Ignoring the issue of whether or not they did attempt to copy Fortiche and whether or not I think that is OK, I genuinely think they did a good job of making 3D models that look pretty damn good overall. However, when you package the character models with the rest of the animation choices, it's a disaster. The "painterly" style of shading the models looks good when you want to give the scene an emotionally weighty, artistic feel. However, a lot of the animation sequences are exaggerated and have the characters moving and behaving like caricatures. If the character models themselves were exaggerated (in proportion, color, line weight, or deformation), this would create a cohesive and visually interesting animation style. With the more somber, painterly 3D models, you get a result that looks awkward and half-baked, where you expect the characters to move in a beautiful and visually elegant way, but instead they break out in whatever the equivalent of a chicken dance is. It's like if Batman in The Batman started chicken dancing in the grey expanse. Tonally, what they implemented just was not a cohesive choice.

The 2D animation leaves a lot to be desired - the style is so different from the 3D models and so underdeveloped on its own (the animation is stiff and awkward looking, changes from episode to episode in style, and overall of low quality with little thematic relevance to the story or to other 2D animation styles used in the same series).

Positives
Music
Amazing opening song and music. No further comments.

TLDR? Go watch Tiger and bunny instead. They do the "hero as a celebrity" concept waaaaay better, with interesting characters, dialogue, ,and plot arcs.

It's obvious this show is doing something different with the animation which is nice and fresh compared to the recent slideshows some studios have presented. The hero society trope is not a particularly interesting vibe but the spin with followers giving you, your powers at a detriment is a concept you can take interesting places.

This show so far has the right ideas, BUT the pacing is all over the place in the first 4 episodes and it leaves little breathing room to form attachment to characters and what happens to them. The main character is our viewpoint into how hero society works, and the ... issues heroes have to face, but we don't get much time with him as a person and character-development feels sidelined for exposition and villain of the day missions that are overall brief an unimpactful.

So much happens in these 4 episodes and it seems like they want to make a fast run up so the show is on pace with the context needed for "the main story". The cost is that it's hard to give a damn about what happens to the characters. They've given few reasons to care besides sympathy for the heroes' situation, and that is a pretty optimistic observation at best.

with how the pacing is now it's doubtful that things will slow down but at least the animation is good.
review will change as more episodes come out.

Best animated series 10/10 and good
That's why I give it a score

Good story
Good animation
I like the combined 3d and 2d style they give to this one but not just any 3d but a well structured and done one.
Plus each chapter surprises even more
Do I recommend this Chinese anime?
The answer is yes and that it has good plot.

... I would like to put more but this myanimlist asks me a lot of text but that would be my review of this piece of animation.

In spamish

Mejor serie animada 10/10 y bueno
Por eso le doy una puntuación

Historia buena
Buena animación
Me gusta el estilo 3d y 2d combinado que dan a este pero no cualquier 3d sino uno bien estructurado y hecho.
Además de que cada capítulo sorprende aún más
Que si recomiendo este anime chino?
La respuesta es si y que tiene buena trama.

Quisiera poner más pero este myanimlist me pide mucho texto pero en si esa sería mi reseña de este pedazo de animación

"To Be Hero X" is a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre. With an ittedly weak season, TBHX is the stand-out show and its not even close.

Let's address the elephant in the room, the animation. The animation is outstanding, the blend of 2D and 3D is seemless and fluid. I compare the 3D art style to Arcane or Star Wars: Clone Wars, its not as outstanding as arcane but its better than the early clone wars seasons. The 2D animation is top tier as well. It makes the series very enthralling and captivating.

The series is very exciting so far as it is telling ... the story of different hero's through 1-4 episode arcs, depending on which hero. To simplify the plot, there is a thing in this world called "Trust," everyone has trust and the people's trust and idea of the hero are what give the Hero's their powers. For example, if the populous thinks and "trusts" that you as a hero are super strong, your powers will manifest super strength.

I am looking forward to new episodes.

So far, this show is unlike any other hero story I have ever read or watched. First, it has a unique power system in which the people's trust in you dictates what you can and cannot do; your powers are dependent on how other people perceive you. This allows the story to explore some interesting themes and gives us a view of what heroes would look like in the real world. Each episode feels like it is telling its own story, yet it doesn't feel episodic if that makes sense. The art style and animation remind me a lot of Arcane's. If you like shows ... like "The Boys" or "Invisible," I think this show is for you.

Up to this point, it has been an absolute masterpiece of storytelling, and I look forward to seeing what's in store for the rest of this season.

The anime is bold and stunning in appearance, which is what I most adore about it. Its storytelling is enhanced rather than detracted by the way it combines 2D, 3D, and experimental animation techniques. What begins as a quirky superhero parody turns into a profoundly moving story about identity, loss, and the price of power.

Although the tonal changes may surprise some viewers, they are intentional and closely related to the characters' growth. It's raw, strange, and unafraid to embrace absurdity whilst venturing into dark territory.

At first, it seems like it might be your typical superhero parody, but it quickly flips the script. The story gets ... surprisingly emotional and thought-provoking. It caught me off guard more than once, and I really appreciated that.

Let's start with the noteworthy things about the show. The animation feels new and innovative, switching between 2D and 3D; unfortunately, while the 3D animation has beautiful rendering, it often feels stiff and unnatural. This is expected since the studio seems to be trying new things. Another thing about this show that is noticeable is the interesting world system. Heroes are born out of people's desire for a specific type of hero. If there is a large amount of for a hero, the hero becomes what the fan base wants them to do. All their actions, powers, and somewhat psychological state are born ... from the fans. It is an interesting take on a world full of heroes.

What ruins this show is its writing. The pacing in the show feels…off. The show tries to keep this go-lucky atmosphere that suddenly darkens. The darkness is then brushes it off in seconds in exchange for the light atmosphere. The shift feels very unnatural. The dialogue also feels unnatural and stiff, making scenes feel awkward, not to mention the dialogue is often cringey. The characters feel stereotypical, and their “depth” feels surface-level. For example, the MC Lin Ling’s greatest motivation is Moon, a stereotypical character who is made to play Nice’s lover but is, in fact, against the idea of playing the girlfriend. The show tries to develop a relationship between the two characters but creates an atmosphere that makes me cringe. Moon constantly plays the part of girlfriend even though she's seemingly against it; simply, her character has no substance. Lin Ling, who plays the role of Nice, feels very similar. He is the stereotypical heroicly ordinary guy who is obsessed with the girl. Don't get me wrong; I love heroes who take on a weaker position if written right. Unfortunately, Lin Ling feels like a character that the writers tried to make relatable so that the watchers could put themselves in the character's shoes, but instead, they created something that feels unnatural and ordinary.

In conclusion, this show exceeds expectations in of creativity. The animation style is beautiful, and the world keeps the viewer interested. The weakness of this show is the writing, which has unnatural dialogue, surface-level characters, and bad pacing. However, I want to note that I am still in the beginning episodes and will watch further.

Another banger from China after Link Click.

This show has gripped my attention in every aspect: the visuals, the story, the music, and the action. Perhaps because I do enjoy the superhero genre that I find this "anime" so enjoyable, because to me, this show feels more like a western superhero show than an anime.

We can start with the obvious of using 3D Arcane/Marvel Rivals-like visuals instead of a traditional anime look, and even when it switches to 2D, it looks more like a fighting game than an anime. The score often also uses English lyrics and the story edges on being dark vs ... light-hearted which is typical for a western superhero show.

Conceptually, To Be Hero X brings an interesting twist on the superhero genre by giving complete ability of heroes to their fans by literally being able to control their actions and provide them powers. This brings an interesting dynamic where, on one hand, anyone can become a superhero, and on the other hand, large corporations can "create" their own heroes through power/influence. One can draw a ton of societal commentary based off this, but the show really focuses on the idea of what it means to be a hero (as the title implies). It's not too ground-breaking but it's unique enough that it feels fresh to me.

Honestly, I think the closest comparison to a show is Arcane, not just visually, but even story-wise, they both deal with deeper conflicts with messy characters and high stakes. If you enjoy more mature shows that have drama but still contain amazing non-stop action then you will definitely get hooked into this one.