Sentenced to Be a Hero 1×02 and 1×03 Review: “Spearhead the Recapture of the Zewan Gan Tunnels”

Sentenced to Be a Hero anime season one episode 2 and episode 3 were focused on Xylo and his team trying to rescue a bunch of miners from the Zewan Gan Tunnels.

With the premiere of Sentenced to Be a Hero being very action-heavy, the second chapter took a bit of a breather to expand the lore before throwing Xylo and his team back into battle with the faeries, which continued into episode 3.

Even though Xylo made a pact with Teoritta, he was not interested in keeping it. However, he couldn’t end the pact unless both decided to do it or if the Goddess died. So, yeah, Xylo was stuck with Teoritta.

Due to this being a world where defeated Heroes were brought back to life with the price being their memories and sense of self, I liked how the narrative introduced us to a character named Tatsuya. Apparantly, he’s been through so many resurrections that he’s nothing more but an empty shell of a man who only followed orders. Tatsuya was shown to be quite powerful in the fight sequences featured in the two episodes. However, it’s clear that he’s not the person he originally was. He barely said a word and stared into space when not fighting.

Understandably, Xylo didnt want to end up like Tatsuya. That’s why he’s shown to be very strategic during battle. Xylo wanted to keep his memories intact because his goal was to find the people responsible for the death of his original Holy Knight team, as well as the events that led to him having to kill the Goddess Senerva. Xylo’s current motivation worked for such a story, which (from the looks of things) will feature a lot of political shenanigans.

Another Hero in Xylo’s current party was a man named Norgalle Senridge. As far as Norgalle’s concerned, he’s the true King of the land. His delusion caused him to interact with people as if they were his subjects. At least, the good news was that Norgalle was the type of “King” who would put his own life on the line to protect others. Also, he’s quite proficient at crafting Sacred Seals. Such seals can be used for defensive and offensive purposes. From what I could understand, Xylo had enough energy to use two seals. Thus, explaining the reasoning behind his explosive daggers and the boots that allowed him to jump across vast distances.

While powerful, the Sacred Seals ran on Luminescence. Almost every object contained some kind of Luminescence that could be used to activate a seal. However, the Luminescence would run out, leading to the objects needing to absorb sunlight to recharge. Due to the current mission taking place undergound, the risk of the seals, including Xylo’s seals, running out of juice helped raise the stakes even if Norgalle was talented enough to create handmade seals that consumed power at a slower rate than the mass-produced ones.

The character Venetim, from the premiere episode, also returned. He didn’t accompany Xylo and the rest into the mines, as Venetim was shown to be more of a passive character focused on collecting and relaying information. But I have a feeling that when needed, Venetim would be able to showcase some impressive attacks.

With Xylo, Teoritta, Norgalle, and Tatsuya venturing into the mines, they soon got a distress call from Kivia and her Holy Knights. Even though Kivia’s able to hold her own against the insect-like faeries swarming the mines, I have to say I would like to see her do a lot more. Kivia did show faith in Xylo and stood up for him at the end of episode 3, even if the Heroes broke numerous rules. That’s why I think she will eventually play a role in helping Xylo seek his revenge. But as the Commander of the Holy Knights, I’m yet to be awed by Kivia’s skills the way I was by how Norgalle and Tatsuya handled the battle. I need to see Kivia getting a significant role in a fight against a Demon Lord soon.

Xylo being Xylo didn’t want Teoritta to accompany the party deeper into the mines to rescue the survivors. Even though he’s harsh about it, the narrative made it clear that he was looking out for her. It was a suicide mission, especially with Kivia and her troops needing to stay behind because their orders were to block the mines even if survivors were inside. The last thing Xylo wanted was to relive having to kill yet another young Goddess because of the Blight’s influence.

Even though we are only three episodes in, I’m enjoying the dynamic between Xylo and Teoritta. In a sense, they are on opposite sides of an argument. Xylo (a human) has fallen into treating himself as a weapon because of his past. While Teoritta (a manmade weapon) kept getting reminded by Xylo to think of herself as more than a mere weapon and find the will to live life on her own terms.

Oh, Xylo, my poor man.

I think Xylo’s aware of the irony behind wanting Teoritta to be more than just a tool for the government while basically being the opposite himself. But at this point, seeing himself as a tool was the only way he could reach his goal.

I appreciate stories that put in the effort to fleshout supporting characters. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when episodes 2 and 3 of Sentenced to Be a Hero took the time to have Norgalle and Tatsuya play a significant role in the mission.

Norgalle showcased his leadership skills, using his speech to rally the miners into picking up arms and working as a team to escape the mines together. They knew Norgalle wasn’t really a King, but hey, what mattered was seeing someone so adamant about protecting them. Not only did Norgalle put a seal on each weapon for the miners, but he also threw himself into the heat of the battle to protect “his subjects”, even sacrificing a leg in the process. If only we had similar leaders in real life.

Tatsuya went on a rampage, trying his best to defeat the Demon Lord Lotus, especially with Xylo and the rest needing to stay behind a protective barrier so as not to fall under the Demon Lord Lotus’ immobilizing screams. I hope we get a flashback about Tatsuya’s life.

With the Demon Lord Lotus defeated, I liked how the third episode concluded with the miners being thankful for the Heroes, even though the general sentiment was that only the lowest of low criminals were punished to serve as Heroes. However, knowing Xylo’s backstory, it’s safe to assume that numerous Heroes out there were wrongfully convicted (something that does unfortunately happen in real life). I think the narrative is building toward the public understanding more about Heroes and realizing that the government officials are upto no good.

The ones giving Xylo orders are likely not going to be fans of him receiving public support. So, let’s see if they do something to increase the chances of him dying during a mission.

Did you watch Sentenced to Be a Hero anime season one, episode 2 and 3? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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