This anime is 2026's biggest hit!

Published on January 22, 2026

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Many shows come and go, but among them in each anime seasonal cycle a few tend to shine above the rest. Sometimes it may be a less marketing show like Let this Grieving Soul Retire or an over marketed series that didn't receive as much attention as the studio would have wanted like Gachiacuta, meaning budget doesn't really make the anime popular, it's more to do so with how the story is portrayed and even the adaptation pacing and obviously how faithful it was to the original source.

One such anime has hit both of those high budget but not much marketing and that series is Sentenced to be a hero! Me personally i feel like this show has got everything we wanted. Beautiful animation, some slice of life and an overwhelming feeling of a connection with the MC.

One such anime has hit both of those high budget but not much marketing and that series is Sentenced to be a hero! Me personally i feel like this show has got everything we wanted. Beautiful animation, some slice of life and an overwhelming feeling of a connection with the MC. it is not. BUT there are connections between these two because the director, Hiroyuki Takashime who directs Sentenced to be a hero has also worked on Mushoku Tensei epsiodess. The creative designer for sentenced to be a hero, Yoshitake Nakoji also worked on Mushoku tensei and this is where the animation most likely ties in (the same animation style).

What is Sentenced to be a Hero About

This is a Dark-Fantasy anime which focuses deeply into the war aspect. The main protagonist, Xylo Forbartz, who is a former knight is sentenced to be a hero, and unlike other stories "the hero" title isn't exactly for some brave knight who helps everyone out of kindness and justice, this time being a hero is a title for a criminal. Once a criminal has been convicted of a crime they are sentenced to become a hero which entails fighting on the front-line against the demons. The "hero" title also means if you die in battle you will be resurrected, however each time you resurrect it chips away at your soul and after many times dying you will become a hollow form of your previous self.

This series sees Xylo Forbartz (MC) becomes a hero (convict) and is thrown into battle till he comes accross a godess, Teoritta, who is able to choose a knight to fight alongside her. This gives that knight special powers and Xylo becomes this goddess' knight.

Season 1 episode 1 Review

The first episode starts off right in the action with one of the heroes finding the goddess in a coffin or box of sorts, then the main protagonist, Xylo, appears with an epic entrance. So this fight scene where he saves another hero is what truly engaged me into the series. The way the animation was done looks like something straight out of Solo leveling but with a Mushoku Tensei quality twist to it and the studio didn't hold back at all because instantly after this we get the small details where the camera will lock onto something else in the world to show its surroundings. The only part where I'm sceptical during the first few minutes was the plot was hard to pick up on. I'd say by the end of the first episode you know what its about, which is a good thing in a way. So we might think its only 20 minutes for this episode, well no. The first episode is actually 1 hour long and it's likely this length of time to fit everything in like the plot and what happened previously because the series starts in a middle of a battle so there's no definitive starting point. For example in Mushoku Tensei, he is reincarnated as Rudeus Greyrat and that's when the show actually starts. This series, Xylo had a whole other role before the current events. He use to be a holy knight to another Goddess. This is not a straight forward series, even characters are also introduced in a non-determined way. What picked up the series for me was when the goddess first came out the box (a new goddess not Xylos previous one), this is when we get some kind of explanation on what's going on. During this scene we get deeper into the Main protagonist's grit and character, such as his trust for a Goddess, but this takes a complete 360 turn for me by the end of the episode when we find out what really happened, although I would've preferred it if the protagonist rather changed this mindset toward the people who were actually doing wrong " the officials" instead of the previous goddess he was blessed by. The scene when he first sees the new Goddess named Teorrita, the studio really cooked with this scene. The orange hue colour of the sunset and the Goddess telling Xylo he is her knight gave a sense of something is about to happen, but instantly he turns her down in a direct way, the colors, the camera angle, the animation and the dialogue was a masterpiece. Even though he turned her down in a insulting way, by the end of the episode we can see why and it's more to do with how he cares too much rather than the way he is portrayed now with the false image of caring too little, this is intentional and adds depth to the character. After roughly 25 minutes the series really shines even more when Xylo enters a battle to save the commander of of an allied unit. The animators didn't hold back here either, they went all out with the fighting animation and this is when Xylo accepts Teorrita as his Godess and him as her knight. This instantly grows his power 100 fold and we see just raw all out power and insane animations. I think this is what also hooked in a lot of people, if you a fan of Solo Leveling you will LOVE this series. During this big battle we learn more and more about what the meaning of Demon king is and we also see Xylo and the Goddess grow closer and his true colours start to shine. After this battle the episode concluded with the history of Xylo, showing he had to end the previous Goddess because she was being overtaken by this demon like energy. I would give this series so far a solid 9 out of 10 and I'm really looking forward to watching the rest of the season.

Sentenced to be a hero is currently airing on Crunchyroll and Netflix and Prime Video depending on your region