To Be Hero X

“Sorry. That was a lot for a dog.”

The last week has felt a bit like being battered from all sides by the world, and sadly I don’t have X’s ability to dispatch those who mean me harm with the click of a finger. BUT at least there’s TO BE HERO X omg. That final episode is definitely a contender for one of my fave anime fights ever… the use of changing artwork styles, the slow reveal of the full extent of X’s powers, the DOG, the colours, the shifting dimensions, THE DOG…!

If you haven’t watched this brilliant anime, I highly recommend it. Here, superheroes’ powers are boosted by others’ belief in them (aren’t we all, eh?), known as Trust, and of course, corrupt corporations own them, and move them about like pawns as they vie to have their own chosen few occupy the top positions. It’s somewhat like The Boys, but less cynical, more character-focused, and with ten Vought Internationals instead of one, all equally evil and all overseen by an equally evil “regulator.”

The show is told in an anthology format, focusing on a different hero every few episodes, and told in a non-chronological order… a format that is like catnip to me as I love piecing together a story like this. The character work is brilliant, the animation is so inventive, and the overall themes about the power of self-belief, the dangers of putting people on a pedestal, and how greedy corporations ruin everything (I’m trying not to be too spoilery but X is just the best and it is so fitting that the only character he can truly open up to is four legged) are so well explored. Also the theme tune is a proper banger innit.