Sentenced to Be a Hero 1×06 and 1×7 Review

Sentenced to Be a Hero anime season one episode 6, titled ‘Defense Against Corruption at Mureed Fortress 2’, and episode 7, ‘Feigned Day Off at Port City Ioff’, had the characters address the unexpected threat of humans siding with the Demon Blight.

With Xylo and his crew being surprised due to the arrival of cloaked humans working together with Iblis in the previous episode, ‘Defense Against Corruption at Mureed Fortress 2’ picked up from that point, with Xylo and everyone else frantically trying to turn the tide back in their favor. Even though Xylo had come up with an effective strategy to kill Iblis without losing any of his team (and other soldiers), he had no idea about the Demon Blight sympathizers showing up. Those traitors played a vital role in taking down the defenses around Mureed Fortress, leading to a bunch of good guys dropping like flies.

Even though Xylo’s fight with Iblis was cool, I have to say that artistically speaking, I appreciated the sequence featuring Tatsuya murdering the Demon Blight sympathizers inside the sewers. The decision to switch to the enemy’s POV while Tatsuya hunted them down was awesome to witness. It also cemented how dangerously feral Tatsuya was as an opponent, even though he was part of the good guy team. He was not taking any prisoners.

While dire, things worked out in Xylo’s favor with the arrival of mercenaries chasing after Dotta (he had stolen from them! Ha!) and soldiers under the Mastibolt family banner on the battlefield. The addition of new players confused Iblis, allowing Xylo to lure the creature into a trap away from the fortress. This was where Xylo had planned to destroy Iblis, ensuring no one had to die because of the poison created specifically to end Iblis (contrary to what the military had planned).

Even though episode 6 was quite intense, I couldn’t help but smile when the Mastibolt soldiers showed up. I knew Venetim was lying when he said he wouldn’t ask the Mastibolt family for help after Xylo told him to refuse their offer. Venetim’s going to do what he thinks is right. And hey, I don’t blame him. I think we can all agree that Venetim, while not effective in battle like Xylo and the other team members, is highly effective when coming up with strategies.

I could tell that Xylo wanted Venetim to refuse the Mastibolt family’s offer due to some history. Turns out, there was a valid reason, which I’ll get to when talking about the events that took place in episode 7.

Coming to Xylo and Teoritta vs Iblis, it was a visually interesting fight with Iblis undergoing grotesque transformations to try and counter Teoritta’s giant swords and Xylo’s attacks. Running out of time, episode 6 showcased Teoritta’s ultimate attack. While she was capable of summoning numerous normal-sized swords, she could also summon a couple of gigantic swords instead. Not only that, but Teoritta could also focus all of her energy into summoning a single blade called the Holy Sword. According to Teoritta, there was nothing the Holy Sword couldn’t destroy.

From what I could understand, after watching Xylo use the Holy Sword to stab Iblis, I think the Holy Sword can be considered a “cheat” weapon. Apparently, if something couldn’t be destroyed or killed by such a weapon, it would switch to wiping said thing from existence. From what the animation showed, I think the sword ended up creating a black hole for just a split second to send (the still fighting) Iblis away from Xylo’s dimension, hence, technically, still fulfilling Teoritta’s promise of how there was nothing the Holy Sword couldn’t destroy. The Holy Sword is so petty, I love it!

Also, yeah, considering how such anime narratives go, of course, the Goddess deemed useless by the military because she could only summon swords ended up having the most OP ability.

Another thing I enjoyed about the final battle was how Dotta and Tsav played a part in creating an opening for Xylo against Iblis. I do enjoy seeing supporting characters acting in such a manner to benefit the main character when dealing with a dangerous enemy. It’s something I’m still waiting for Jack of All Trades, Party of None to do.

Due to Xylo being injured, we got a bit of a timeskip with our hero waking up inside the hospital, only to be greeted by Kafzen Dachrome. Their conversation shed more light on there being a group of humans wanting to live alongside the Demon Blight, called Coexisters. Not only that, but Xylo’s actions had caught the attention of many higher-ups. Considering they were responsible for sentencing Xylo in the first place, I’m looking forward to seeing the amount of trouble they will continue to cause him.

As for the more emotional beats, I liked the conversation between Xylo and Teoritta. Even though she comes across as a kid eager to be praised for being a Goddess, she’s quite perceptive, especially when it comes to Xylo’s feelings. I had mentioned Xylo (a human) being okay with operating as a weapon for the government, while asking Teoritta (a weapon) not to do the same in my previous reviews. However, I wasn’t expecting Teoritta to confront Xylo on this so soon in the anime, but I’m glad she did. Xylo needed to get with the program. Teoritta, similar to Xylo, wanted to do her part in saving people.

Their conversation and the fight with Iblis allowed their relationship to grow stronger, leading to Xylo finally patting Teoritta’s head. I was not expecting to be quite emotional over mere headpats. So, kudos to the creative team for that. Teoritta deserved such praise from Xylo.

‘Feigned Day Off at Port City Ioff’ continued with Xylo’s recovery while also giving him a new mission. Turns out, his actions had helped Kivia pull some strings to get Xylo and his crew away from the frontlines for a bit. The latest mission was about keeping Teoritta safe in the port city of Loff from heretics who had been expelled from the Temple. Tensions were brewing between the Temple and the Military, with many Temple members refusing to accept Teoritta as a valid Goddess. Not only that, but the Coexisters were also a threat.

We got introduced to Jayce Partiract, the team’s dragoon, who rode a female dragon named Neely. Jayce came across as quite cocky, talking about how he had managed to kill more Demon Lords than Xylo. He’s also very attached to Neely. Regardless of his ego, I think Jayce came across as one of the more sensible party members, especially compared to Tsav, Tatsuya, and Norgalle. Jayce’s crime was trying to free dragons from being used as weapons.

As for Xylo’s relationship with the Mastibolt family, it turns out that it’s because of Frenci Mastibolt being his ex-fiancée. Though Xylo used the term ex-fiancée due to him being a Hero and thus not even considered human to be marrying anyone else, Frenci still called him her fiancé and had been working on getting him a pardon.

I liked Frenci as a character. She stuck to the point during her conversation with Xylo and Teoritta. She also sensed Kivia eavesdropping. As someone who had been ordering troops around to fight the Demon Blight to keep her territory safe, Frenci appeared to be a female character who gelled well with Xylo, even though she wasn’t a frontline fighter. Frenci’s the one who told Xylo about a Demon Lord named Spriggan, who was capable of taking on a human appearance.

While walking around the city, Xylo, Teoritta, Kivia, and Tsav got attacked by heretics. And while they were able to easily face such a threat, things took a turn for the worse when they got confronted by a female assassin named Shiji Bau, who seemed to be working with a strange guy named Boojum. The new characters made for an action-packed fight, with Shiji Bau and Boojum being opponents Xylo didn’t want to go up against if he could help it.

A timely fireblast from Neely saved our gang, but they were still worried about the type of enemies they would need to defeat this time around. Even though one might assume that Boojum was Spriggan, I think he might be a human being possessed by Spriggan. Yes, he spoke strangely, as if still learning his surroundings. But Teoritta also mentioned that her natural hesitation to harm humans wasn’t strong when she looked at Boojum. I think if he were indeed Spriggan, Teoritta wouldn’t have felt any hesitation at all.

Sigh! Our heroes just can’t catch a break. But also yay! Because the show is moving quite nicely.

Did you watch Sentenced to Be a Hero episodes 6 and 7? 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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