‘To Be Hero X’ Episode 2 review: “Moon”

After slapping us with two significant left-field moments in the premier, To Be Hero X pulls the rug out from under us. At the end of Episode 1,  Lin Ling (masquerading as the hero ‘Nice’) returns to Nice’s (Natsuki Hanae, Dandadan) apartment only to find the hero’s supposed girlfriend, Moon (Rongshan Chang), murdered in bed. Following a premiere with wild and unpredictable twists and turns, it seemed only fitting to end on another cliffhanger. And yet, To Be Hero X Episode 2 decides to go another surprising route to keep us on our toes. No matter how much guessing we do, we’re likely wrong.

To Be Hero X 2 picks up on a jarring misdirect. Moon is, in fact, alive. However, how the show goes about it gives us whiplash. At first, the lack of an explanation makes it seem like it was just a dream. But, as the episode progresses and we learn more about Moon and the way her powers have developed, we realize that it was maybe another ploy to free herself, feigning her death to be released. Or, there’s something off with the timeline. The series asks us to hold on and commit to the chaos. Considering the creator is Li Haolin (Link Click), assuming something trickier is at play is no stretch.

In another cleverly executed pivot, we learn that Moon holds no affection for Nice. And she knows that the ‘Nice’ sitting before her isn’t the one she’s been coupled with and showboated around for the last few years. Lin Ling is quick to tell her the truth while Moon rampages in their room, desperate to be let out of her contract as a hero. Because, as we learn, the relationship between Nice and Moon was all a media ploy, a way in which the desires of the public and their fans tethered the two together without their consent.

Moon’s backstory is surprisingly tragic.

This manifests even in Moon’s power. While she originally was meant to be able to teleport herself anywhere, she’s no longer able to travel freely. The fans’ love of Moon and Nice as an item has made it so that the only place she can teleport to is Nice’s side. It’s a bitter and toxic twist of fate that speaks to the thematic core slowly unraveling in the series. While the trust of the masses can make heroes fly and taste otherworldly powers and abilities, the adoring masses can swiftly transform into a bloodthirsty mob. They want their heroes – their idols – to flourish. But only in the ways that matter to them.

It’s a superb touch to a series that digs into what would happen if heroes we didn’t treat heroes as caped crusaders but as idols. What kind of expectations would they endure and have to surpass? To Be Hero X Episode 2 digs into this notion further. The writing is superb as it deals with these details just as Nice is trying to adjust to this world.

The main action takes place around Nice, coming up with a plan for Miss J to let Moon out of her contract. He’ll propose, and the public nuptials will take a tragic turn as she’s “killed” in battle at the hands of Nice’s nemesis, Wreck. But even that doesn’t go as planned because Wreck goes off-book. After all, he, like Moon, realizes it’s not his version of Nice in front of him. What a tragic plot development to learn that Wreck and Nice were once best friends before management split them up to increase public popularity.

It makes Wreck’s reaction all the more emotional when he learns of Nice’s death. While we have to question why Lin Ling is telling everyone who asks the truth of something he spent ages working with Miss J to cover up, it makes for an impactful sequence. And, by the end, the plan works. The public believes Moon is dead, and she’s able to leave for her long-awaited beachside paradise.

The animation of To Be Hero X continues to soar.

To Be Hero X Episode 2 once again delivers a high-intensity blending of 2D and 3D animation, and the switch between the two during the primary fight is effective. It allows the action to become more electric and dynamic, weightless as they fly through the air in battle. The colors also stun in the unusual compositions and add texture and depth to the world, especially in Nice’s descent post-fight, holding Moon. The story is in its infancy, but the scale and scope of the story suggest something epic. The blending of styles and kinetic direction that makes sure to give these fights a larger-than-life point of view makes everything feel big.

Even quieter, intimate moments, such as the one where Moon shares with Nice how her once power has become her prison. The glow of her teleport gun gives the sequence a dreamy aesthetic that helps cocoon the moment in something soft and shrouded in secrecy. The series finds a pocket of necessary quiet among the spectacle and high-voltage animation.

Some overtly cutesy moments and attempts at humor don’t land throughout. However, they never last too long and ultimately add to the characters’ development and personalities. And considering how quickly we need to get to know and care about Moon, it makes sense even if it grates. Who knows if we’ll see her again, but by the end of Episode 2, and considering the potential for her death to haunt the narrative, we’re rooting for her to find her happiness.

To Be Hero X Episode 2 is another exuberant display of a gleeful team of artists throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. With an ongoing mystery hinted at and the world continuing to expand with flourishing pops of color and vibrancy, it’s one of the season’s most unpredictable and exciting new series.

To Be Hero X Episode 2 is out now on Crunchyroll. 

Allyson Johnson

Based in New England, Allyson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.