Sentenced to Be a Hero 1×08 and 1×9 Review

Sentenced to Be a Hero anime season 1 episode 8 and episode 9, titled ‘Investigation in District of Sodrick’, featured a whole lot of action and betrayal.

Due to Xylo and Kivia’s team being attacked by the very dangerous Boojum and Shiji Bau in the port city Ioff, they suspected that a guy named Lideo Sodrick, the leader of the local Adventurers’ Guild, likely played a role in said sneak attack. And because they couldn’t simply waltz into the Guild HQ to demand an audience with Lideo Sodrick, our Heroes decided to disguise themselves as potential customers looking to hire a bunch of adventurers.

The way the plan came to be gave the narrative some comedic levity. Seeing Kivia dress up as a married noble woman and pretend that Xylo was her secret lover did make me laugh. She was so uncomfortable walking around in the dress and trying to act all romantic with Xylo.

As for whether the plan went as expected or not, of course, it didn’t. This is Sentenced to Be a Hero after all. The moment you thought things had escalated, the intensity level turned up another notch or two. Also, while Xylo was formidable on the battlefield, he’s not the smartest cookie out there, especially not when it came to being stealthy. Knowing that Xylo and Kivia were trying to act as completely different people when Lideo already knew what they were up to also made me smile and excited for what was going to occur next.

Talking about Lideo, he had indeed played a role in allowing Boojum, Shiji Bua, and other criminals to attack the Holy Knights. Lideo’s current mission was to kill Teoritta because he had aligned himself with the Coexisters movement, wanting to hold onto some kind of power after the Demon Blight took over humanity. Apparently, the Demon Blight had been promising certain humans the role of Overseer in the new world order. Lideo wanted the Overseer position as a way for him to continue looking after his family, aka the numerous children the Guild trained as assassins.

Leave it to vile humans to sacrifice their own race in return for riches and power. The Demon Blight understood humanity’s greed and had used that to continue spreading influence across vast lands. Even though Lideo justified his decision by bringing up his “family”, it still came across as an excuse because, at the end of the day, he was okay with selling out billions of humans to the demons. He was nothing more than a greedy coward.

Coming back to Xylo and Kivia’s poor acting chops inside the Guild, I was surprised when Frenci showed up. I had been hoping to see more of Frenci, and I’m happy episodes 8 and 9 gave me a whole lot of her. Frenci’s interaction with Kivia was quite comedic, with Frenci being mildly amused by Kivia’s interest in Xylo while not knowing Xylo the way Frenci did.

Episode 8 also shared more information about Kivia’s past. Turns out, her parents were priests. She had grown up witnessing how corrupt priests influenced followers under the guise of encouraging them to strengthen their faith. Kivia didn’t want to follow her parents’ footsteps, and that’s why she decided to join the military under the tutelage of her uncle. And while I understood where Kivia was coming from, I couldn’t help but side-eye her, similar to what Xylo did. Yes, the Temple was corrupt, but the military wasn’t without fault either. When Kivia brought up how the Guild was evil for raising child assassins, Xylo countered by stating how it wasn’t necessarily different from the military taking in young kids to make more soldiers.

I continue to be a fan of the sociopolitical commentary featured in Sentenced to Be a Hero.

With Lideo deciding it was time to unravel Xylo, Kivia, and Frenci’s identities, the situation inside the Guild turned into a busy battle zone with almost every adventurer and sellsword being ordered to kill the trio. Of course, Xylo and Kivia easily handled their opponents. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Frenci not being a pushover. Frenci also kept her cool when knocking out the assassin kids. She used the seal of violet lightning, called GwemelI, to stun the younglings. I so want Frenci and Xylo to end up together!

Lideo and his sister Iri used the chaos to escape the city. However, unbeknownst to them, Dotta had been tailing them, and our heroic thief was able to capture Lideo. Yay!

Dotta’s backstory showed him being sentenced to be a Hero after being apprehended for stealing a dragon because a young prince wanted him to do so. According to Dotta, the crowned young prince was being held captive. Dotta begged for the Temple and the military to save the prince. The scene added to the narrative of how demons and demon sympathizers had managed to infiltrate high-ranking positions for years now.

Also, Dotta being incredibly kind to dragons, even going as far as feeding his own hand to a hungry dragon, had gained Jayce’s respect.

As for the battle itself, things were going okay until a troll-like faerie showed up, providing further proof that Lideo had teamedup with the Demon Blight. Fortunately, Teoritta appeared with reinforcements, ready to offer Xylo her blessings to destroy the faerie.

The animators continued to do an impressive job with the fast-paced action choreography. There’s so much color in this anime!

After winning the fight, it was time for Xylo and the rest to interrogate Lideo. Xylo wanted the name of the person giving him orders. Lideo shared that the mysterious man was called Mahaeyzel Zelkoff. That name shocked Kivia because it reminded her of a Temple Leader who had fought in the first war against the Demon Blight. So, I’m looking forward to more of Kivia’s past being explored and how it was linked to the Coexister movement.

However, before Lideo could share more information, Iron Whale attacked the Guild HQ, forcing Xylo and his team to exit the building while Lideo ran away. Our leads just can’t catch a break, and I’m so here for it!

Iron Whale’s appearance was due to him and Shiji Bau agreeing to work with Boojum. Those two accepting Boojum’s new mission again linked to the Demon Blight exploiting human greed. Shiji Bau might find an ounce of consciousness down the line. But for now, she’s all about following Demon Blight’s orders for money.

As for the biggest reveal in episode 9, we finally got confirmation that Boojum wasn’t Spriggan. I suspected as much. But it was nice to have concrete evidence this early. And though we are yet to witness Spriggan’s true form, seeing him use Iri’s body as a puppet to kill Lideo and a bunch of kid assassins did help amp up the creepiness of such a smart demon.

What did you think of Sentenced to Be a Hero anime season 1 episodes 8 and 9?

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary