TO BE HERO X
Director: Li Haoling
Producers: Aniplex, bilibili, BeDream
Studios: Pb Animation Co. Ltd., LAN Studio, Paper Plane Animation Studio
Streamer: Crunchyroll
Release Date: April 5, 2025
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, donghua
This was first published on K-Comics Beat.
Once again, Adam and Hilary return to cover the Lucky Cyan arc of To Be Hero X. Packed with pop music, zombies, and a magical transforming guitar, this arc takes the series in a wilder direction than usual. Can the animation quality keep up? And what about Luo, Cyan’s unlucky friend and confidante? Plus, we talk about that cameo.
The following write-up contains spoilers for episodes 8 through 10 of To Be Hero X.
Roller-skating former cult leader idols
Adam: After Lin Ling and Yang Cheng’s stories, we’re now diving into the Lucky Cyan arc. What did you think of this one, Hilary?
Hilary: Lucky Cyan must’ve blessed the whole show, because I don’t think we’ve had an arc that really missed.
Adam: I’m starting to appreciate how every arc brings its own tone. Lin Ling’s felt like an origin story with a suspenseful twist. Yang Cheng’s was a tragic tale of a boy who sacrificed his loved ones to reach his goals. Lucky Cyan’s story, by contrast, feels… kinda goofy, but in a way I liked. I love that the world of To Be Hero X makes room for roller-skating former cult leader idols—and somehow, it works.
Hilary: The roller skating, guitar-toting, and yo-yo rolling all fit surprisingly well alongside the darker cult storyline. But it never felt jarring to me. I think that’s partly because this arc focused solely on 2D animation. You could really see the anime influence in Cyan’s facial expressions.
Adam: What did you think of the 2D animation? Did you miss the 3D side?
The worst that To Be Hero X has looked so far
Adam: To my eye, the Lucky Cyan arc marks the roughest To Be Hero X has looked yet. That’s not to say the show doesn’t have its moments—I enjoyed Lucky Cyan’s chibi expressions, and episode 10 experiments with some fun stylistic choices. It’s just not the level of visual storytelling I’ve been hoping for, especially after the earlier 2D-animated sequence that introduced Moon.
That said, this arc takes a lot more visual shortcuts than previous ones. I noticed several crowd characters rendered in CG, and the difference between them and the 2D animation is jarring. There’s a moment in episode 8 where a man walks down a staircase while police harass a pamphleteer in the foreground. The pamphleteer and officers are drawn in 2D, but the background character is a stiff, robotic 3D model—and it totally breaks the scene’s immersion. 3D crowds work better when the whole crowd is CG, not when it’s awkwardly mixed.
Episode 10 in particular feels rough around the edges. Despite the creative visuals, some scene transitions just don’t track, like when Cyan walks into an office and suddenly teleports into a church. The climactic fights aim high, but fall short of the choreography we’ve seen in earlier episodes. I’m genuinely concerned that To Be Hero X might struggle to maintain the visual polish it established early on.
Good and evil and zombies
Adam: Story-wise, I think this arc stayed pretty consistent with what we’ve seen so far. The transition from Cyan’s guardian warning that her powers must never be exploited by the orphanage staff… to him immediately making her the orphanage’s cult leader? That was a great dark joke. What did you think?
Hilary: Some of the animation felt a little stiff, but it didn’t take me out of the story—probably because I don’t catch those things the way you do!
Out of all the possible directions Cyan’s arc could’ve gone, “orphan becomes cult leader” was not on my bingo card. But it works. Cyan isn’t a cult leader in the traditional sense. The orphanage director manipulates her into becoming a symbol—someone he can control and use to “save” the orphanage. And, of course, to soothe his own ego after failing as a hero. If Cyan succeeds, then in his mind, he does too.
On the surface, this arc felt like the most straightforward so far. We got a clean-cut clash between “Good” and “Evil”: Cyan’s bright color palette versus the orphanage director’s monstrous design. And then there’s Fear… which, apparently, turns people into zombies. That one threw me. In a show where heroes have weird powers (shoutout to Firm Man), I don’t know why the zombies broke my suspension of disbelief—but they did.
Still, if you dig into the orphanage director’s motivations, it’s not all black and white. I think he genuinely meant well at first. Early in the arc, he told Cyan she could come to him if anyone tried to take advantage of her powers. The irony is, he’s the one who ended up exploiting her the most.
The power of Fear
Adam: Yeah, it’s tricky. Throughout the arc, people keep telling Cyan who she is and what she should be doing. The orphanage cult wants her to act as their spiritual leader. The hero sponsorship group, DOS, first tries to rebrand her, then exploits her to push their own agenda. She’s neck-deep in hero politics—and she’s still just a kid.
The one time she seems genuinely happy is when she escapes the orphanage and starts singing her own songs on the street, free from the pressure of her trust-based powers. It paints a strangely rosy picture of homelessness, but maybe that’s the only time in her life she’s been able to make decisions for herself.
The zombie element of Fear felt a little on the nose, but honestly, that’s kind of To Be Hero X’s whole thing. The show’s already portrayed society as quick to assign or revoke powers based on popularity or outrage. So why not turn the public into literal enemies, infected by their own worst instincts? Sure, in reality, public opinion and media influence are more nuanced—but for a bold, broad superhero satire, it works.
Hilary: I’m honestly surprised the orphanage director never tracked her down through the street videos her former followers were taking. I kept waiting for him—or that Lady-Whose-Husband-Leaves-Her—to storm in and drag her back. It never happened. Which, honestly, both relieved and disappointed me.
Good for him
Hilary: To Be Hero X has stayed pretty consistent with its theme of how society exploits both heroes and the concept of heroism itself. Every arc so far has shown how people twist these heroes into something they’re not—just to serve their own interests. That theme still exists here, but DOS changing Cyan’s image doesn’t feel as malicious to me as what other organizations did to Lin Ling or E-Soul/Yang Cheng.
Also, this is the first arc where no one dies! I absolutely expected Luo to get stabbed by the orphanage director after discovering the truth about the plane crash.
Adam: Right? From the moment Luo showed up, I thought, “That’s it. This kid is done.” But he actually made it through. He’s the first “tragic best friend” to survive a hero’s arc in this show. Good for him.
Everyone else in Cyan’s life tries to use her powers for their own gain. Luo is the only one who genuinely wants her to be happy. His unluckiness powers might not be as flashy, but they help level the playing field between them. I do think the show undercuts Cyan a little by making her rely on Luo’s songs and even his guitar skills. Wouldn’t it have been more empowering if she had created her own?
That said, tying Luo’s song to his parents—and using it as a connection point between him and Cyan from when they were young—is a really sweet touch.
What did you think of Luo? Did his quick return to Cyan’s side after their fight feel earned to you? Or should we just celebrate him as a loyal friend and the undisputed rollerskating king?
#Friendshipalwayswins
Hilary: When the orphanage director told Luo the “truth” behind his parents’ deaths, I really thought we were headed for a Nice vs. Wreck scenario in the final fight. Like, Cyan might end up killing her friend—by accident or on purpose. The setup was all there: Lucky Cyan versus Calamity Luo. Fortune vs. misfortune.
Luo forgiving Cyan and becoming her friend again felt a little rushed to me. Maybe he’s just a better person than I am. But if I helped a friend escape an orphanage and they ghosted me for months? I’d be resentful. Add in the director feeding him all those lies, and yeah—I’d need more time. Maybe that just shows how deep his bond with Cyan runs. #FriendshipAlwaysWins
What did you think about Luo? And since we’re on the topic of misfortune, how did you feel about the director claiming Cyan’s luck comes at the expense of someone else’s bad luck?
Adam: You’d think having the power to win the lottery on command would be amazing, right? But every time you win, someone else loses. Maybe they needed that win more. Do it enough times, and you’ve basically robbed a dozen other people of their chance. It’s the same kind of moral calculus that To Be Hero X keeps playing with—treating “trust value” not just as the source of superpowers, but also as a mechanism for discrimination. It’s cool that the show doesn’t let these powers exist in a vacuum. There’s always a cost.
Fortune versus misfortune
Adam: Of course, getting too worked up over the lottery is kind of silly. We know that, at least in our world, there are more than enough resources to feed everyone—lucky or not. But I think that’s part of the show’s larger point about society. Lucky Cyan’s existence as a constant source of fortune creates greed, jealousy, and all sorts of bad behavior. She’s not allowed to just be—everyone, except for Luo, wants to control her. That has to be incredibly frustrating.
I really would’ve loved a full-on luck battle between Cyan and Luo. Just that moment in the second episode of this arc—when a truck crashes into the compound and opens a path for her escape—opened up so many delicious possibilities. Was that good luck or bad luck? Did Cyan cause it? When does her power actually help her, and when does it leave her exposed? Throw in the guitar bow and her other tools, and you’ve got so much room for creative chaos.
Hilary: I keep wondering what the actual limits of her powers are. We do see her try to reverse her fortune with a scratch ticket, only to get that oh-so-predictable “Better luck next time!” message.
But yeah, the director’s claim—that Cyan’s luck comes at someone else’s expense—felt pretty spot-on, especially in the truck scene you mentioned. That crash helped her escape, but it left Luo behind. One person’s lucky break is always someone else’s disaster.
Considering we got cameos this week from Queen, X, and Shang Chao’s dad, I’m hoping we’ll see the show dig deeper into Cyan’s powers in future episodes. There’s so much left to explore.
Cameo time
Hilary: What did you think of Shang Chao’s dad showing up, or Queen stepping in as a mentor figure for Cyan? And do we think X was the one who gave Cyan her first coin?
Adam: I’ve been wondering about that last bit. I can’t say for sure, but I love that X’s first in-person appearance might just be a cameo with plausible deniability.
I was really happy to see Queen’s connection to Cyan come into play. I’m not sure she’s quite as warm or trustworthy as she appears—To Be Hero X thrives on flipping first impressions. We might get a twist in the next two episodes. But still, it’s refreshing to see a potential superhero friendship that doesn’t instantly spiral into betrayal, murder, or emotional devastation.
Everything’s starting to line up. We got a peek at Queen, X, and Cyan competing in a larger tournament. Fear is now a global threat. DOS—whose agents we’ve been seeing in the opening credits—is finally making moves. And next week, we hit the halfway point. Got any predictions? Should I start screaming now that we’re ten episodes deep and Ahu still hasn’t shown his face?
Hilary: Dammit, Adam. I was literally about to bring that up! We’re halfway through this thing, and there’s still no sign of Ahu, our number one hero. This episode would’ve been perfect for a cameo. He could’ve been the one to drop the coin in front of Cyan! But nooooo, maybe-X had to swoop in and steal his moment.
You dropped this, Queen
Hilary: Queen’s arc is only two episodes, which makes me a little nervous it’ll feel rushed or underdeveloped. Cyan’s arc didn’t have the same nuance as the two before it—but that might just be because she’s so young. From what we’ve seen of Queen, though, she’s clearly ambitious. She wants to be X. The preview for the next episode teases a Queen vs. X showdown, probably showing us how she lost. I’m really looking forward to that.
We still have Queen, Loli, Ghostblade, The Johnnies, a mysterious episode about “the building,” Dragon Boy, Ahu (finally!), and X himself coming up. Any heroes you’re excited to see? Got any predictions?
Adam: Hard to say. I’m definitely curious about Loli, especially because the ending credits seem to hint at a connection between her and Yang Cheng/E-Soul. The rest are more of a mystery to me. But I’m hyped to see how they’ll interact with the heroes we’ve already met—and whether we’ll love them or just barely tolerate them.
I’m also eager to see how Queen’s story stacks up to Cyan’s. Like you said, Cyan’s arc was kind of a rags-to-riches fairytale, almost like something out of a Disney Channel original. Queen, on the other hand, seems a lot more intense. Hopefully, her arc explores new ground rather than retreading familiar themes.
That said, I’m a little worried about the animation holding up, especially if we’re headed toward some big “hero tournament” arc in the second half. Any word on whether the series is taking a break?
Hilary: Nope—full steam ahead until September. No breaks that I can see! Fingers crossed that the animation quality stays solid. Director Li Haoling mentioned that the rest of the episodes are already completed, so hopefully that’s a good sign.
I do wonder if the tournament will get its own episode or just pop up in the background moving forward. If it’s a one-off, we probably won’t get much story for X, especially since he’s only slated for a single episode.
She can shoot as many arrows as she wants
Hilary: Something you said reminded me—we should really give kudos to the creative team. I’m impressed not just by how different each hero’s story has been, but also by how well they’ve managed to tie them all together. That’s no easy feat. I hope they keep the momentum going and keep giving us interesting heroes!
Adam: It’s so rare these days to see a 24-episode series with an original story and cast, and the breathing room to actually build a world. I don’t know if To Be Hero X will hold it together all the way to the end, but I’m glad the artists got the chance to go big with it. I’m rooting for them to stick the landing!
One last question for you, Hilary: what did you think of Lucky Cyan’s music? Would you go to her concert and watch her shoot arrows from her guitar bow?
Hilary: As long as the arrows aren’t lethal, she can shoot as many as she wants! I’d definitely pay to watch her guitar transform into a bow—that alone is worth the ticket.
I was surprised she was singing in English, but I guess it makes sense. It’s probably the most “universal” choice considering how many dubs To Be Hero X has. That said, I’m not much of a concertgoer—too many people, too loud! Still, I’d totally buy her music and keep it in rotation on my phone. What about you? Are you a Cyan-nator? A Lucky? Whatever her fandom name is?
Adam: Her songs give me strong Christian rock energy—but hey, considering she was raised in a cult and her favorite track is a lullaby written by her boyfriend’s dead parents, I can’t hold that against her. She’s just trying her best. I wouldn’t call myself a Lucky, but I’ll always defend their right to exist.
Anyway, C’ya next time. Queen’s arc drops next!
To be Hero X airs in the United States via Crunchyroll.
