A bunch of holy knights were supposed to back the gang up in last week’s episode, but Kivia’s crew never showed up. Obviously, someone sabotaged them, but who? It doesn’t take long before they instantly clue in on the adventurer’s guild. They thus hatch a plan to kidnap the guildmaster for questioning. You know how Dotta has sticky fingers? Apparently, he can even steal a grown ass man. It wouldn’t be the most audacious thing he’s tried to steal; just before he was sentenced to be a hero, he tried to abscond with a dragon in order to save the crown prince. So swiping a guildmaster should be easy, right? Not if he’s flanked by an army of child assassins!
In any case, this is yet another one of those setup episodes — the ones before shit hits the fan. By now, you should know the drill: it’s walk and talk, walk and talk. And boy do they talk. Lots of information is thrown at you at all time. In a show like Frieren, the pacing is languid and deliberate. Shots linger, so we can take in the moment and appreciate the beauty in the world around us, the beauty in the journey, the beauty in our memories, and last but not least, the beauty in the characters’ development. But the world is rotten to the core in Sentenced to Be a Hero, and our heroes are convicts. Corruption festers in every dank corner of this society. There’s nothing beautiful to show off.
In this show, we’ve got to go from point A to point B, and on the way, we’re discussing X, Y, and Z. Go, go, go! Character development? How ’bout character backstories? I look over my notes and it’s just a huge mess of information — information usually conveyed to us via exposition. Sure, we’ll get a flashback every now and then. They usually serve to show us how and why the heroes got their sentence. But for the most part, when Sentenced to Be a Hero doesn’t have brutal action to deliver, it gets bogged down the clumsy storytelling. Ah well, on with the information!
Stray thoughts & observations:
— These three are Kivia’s soldiers, right? I think I recognize the lady: she was leading the snipers when they were in the suicide mission. I’m just a little confused, because the men seem like they’re at odds with Kivia. I suppose not everyone’s going to be loyal to the commander, but this hasn’t gotten much attention in the story. As a result, it feels like it’s coming outta left field.
— Another new face. This time, not only is it a high priest from the Temple, but the man also doubles Kivia’s uncle. We’ll learn later that he’s always supported her independence from her seemingly corrupt parents. He also doesn’t admonish Xylo for interrupting him. Even the soldiers at the table were giving the hero looks, because, y’know, heroes are basically convicts in this universe. But the high priest hears Xylo out. So right off the bat, you want to say he’s trustworthy. You never know, though. Kivia still has the first sword she’s ever gotten, because her uncle had given it to her. Heartwarming, right? But what if it’s only heartwarming to make a last second betrayal seem ever the more painful. I think watching so much anime has ruined the organic experience of watching a story unfold. I can’t help but think, “Why are they giving me this information and in such a manner?”
— Dotta looks so boyish, so it’s always a little jarring to see him be such a trainwreck. You don’t expect a kid to get shitfaced on alcohol like this.
— Xylo thinks Venetim wants to hit on the sniper working under Kivia. Venetim denies it under his breath. What was that about?
— Ugh, spiky-haired Jayce is not so wholesome. What do they even call people who are into dragons? Scalies?
— Dotta name-drops a man known as Rhyno, because he wants to worm his way out of the current mission. Have we met a Rhyno? I don’t think so. I guess our crew of heroes is gonna grow pretty soon.
— Is this that gap moe thing? Well, even after 15 years of blogging, I still think moe sucks.
— I don’t know what to make of Kivia having a crush on Xylo. Nor am I a big fan of her potentially clashing with his fiancee Franci in the near future. Plus, you know Teoritta’s going to join in and get all mad about Xylo not spending all his time with her. It’s just… ugh.
— Seeing Kivia like this just feels so outta place. She’s such a strait-laced soldier, but she’ll have moments where she devolves into a lovestruck teenager. Like we’re fighting for our lives, but we still need to find time to have our hard-ass soldier get all blushy blushy in the corner. Moreover, what is she thinking? She’s a commander in the military, and he’s more or less a convict. There are only two routes open to her: either she gets him a pardon (unlikely), or she becomes a hero herself. Have we met a single female hero — a heroine, if you will — yet?
— From Dotta’s backstory, it sounds like the royal family has long been infiltrated by demonkind.
— Xylo and Kivia walk through a dingy alley full of people getting high on drugs. He then blames this on Jayce. I’m like just like, “Okay… and this is relevant because…?” Sure, it’s world-building. But it just feels like such a non-sequitur when we’re in the middle of a mission to root out the corrupt adventurer’s guild. But what do I know? Maybe drug abuse will somehow come into play in next week’s episode or whatever.
— Dotta’s backstory, then a bit of Kivia’s backstory, then there’s backstory about orphans being raised as child soldiers. It’s a jam-packed episode — jam-packed with exposition.
— When they arrive at the guild, Kivia marches right up to the receptionist, slam one of her hands down, and demands to have someone killed. Her acting chops leave a lot to be desired. She and Xylo didn’t even bother to rehearse this, did they? Ah well, the kids already know they’re coming. Plus, it feels like Xylo never bought into the plan to begin with. I think it was Dotta’s idea to have them pretend to be lovers, right? Feels like Xylo was hoping to stir shit up right from get-go. Well, I’m all for rooting out the corruption.
— Ah, of course Franci is also here. Why not? Let’s have the women fight over Xylo, ’cause that’s compelling characterization in my anime about fighting demons!
— A magic-powered gatling gun. Hm.
— Kivia quickly chops off the man’s arm, so I wondered for a second how they might deal with the children. Will the good guys be just as brutal with them as they are with the adults? Or with kid’s gloves? The answer is somewhere in the middle: Xylo and friends won’t hesitate to give the brats a good, solid uppercut, but we won’t draw blood.
