Not one or two, To Be Hero X has ten protagonists, which is both bizarre and fascinating. How can a story have ten main characters? Moreover, most of these characters are played by renowned voice actors, including the likes of Natsuki Hanae, who has previously played Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer, and Mamoru Miyano, who has played Light from Death Note.
Trying to figure out how ten main characters co-exist within one season must have been challenging. At the same time, this narrative decision impacted more than the story. Getting all these experts on board is a daunting task in itself. The makers of the show discussed this during an interview, and here’s what they had to say.
The challenges faced by To Be Hero X makers due to its protagonists
To Be Hero X is listed with 24 episodes in total, and after every few episodes, the focus shifts to a new hero. Every new hero becomes the main priority, while the others still have their lives ongoing in the background. So, in a way, the idea of ten protagonists isn’t just a gimmick, but the story really lives up to it.
During an interview with Cocotame, Makoto Takashina from Aniplex shared how these ten protagonists were a challenge beyond the story. He explained how the voice actors were chosen:
All 10 main heroes are protagonists, so we made offers while thinking about the ideal candidates who would fit the image of the characters, and miraculously, everyone accepted. The fact that we were able to get such busy cast members to appear was also possible because of the omnibus format.
Getting the right voice actors onboard isn’t even the end of the challenge. Aligning their dates and schedules is another important factor in the entire process. Moreover, what about the budget? Most of the heroes are voiced by renowned voice actors, so the budget must have been a lot. It’s a huge risk to invest so much ín such a complex idea.
The format helped greatly with the recording, as mentioned by Takashina. The heroes appear at different times, so most of the voice actors must have been able to record their parts individually. Similar to how the format helped behind the scenes, it has kept the story organized as well.
The format of To Be Hero X is its greatest strength
Despite having so many protagonists and so many stories, the plot of To Be Hero X has remained surprisingly uncluttered. This is simply because the story focuses on one thing at a time. This also leads to many cliffhangers, and the story continues to be interesting due to the constantly shifting focus.
All the heroes are explored well and given a good amount of screen time. It doesn’t take time for fans to dive straight into new stories one after the other; however, the side characters are not as interesting as the heroes. While the format helps the heroes, the side characters suffer a great deal.
The story focuses on the heroes, and the villains are quickly defeated without getting any time to shine. To be fair, most of the villains so far have been victims of the more cunning characters. We’re yet to see the villains properly.
That might be the focus of the next season, as the upcoming episodes will be focused on the remaining heroes. For now, it seems like the show’s biggest strength and challenge all come from the heroes.
To Be Hero X is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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