To Be Hero

To Be Hero (Japanese: トゥー・ビー・ヒーロー; Chinese: 凸变英雄) is a Japanese-Chinese superhero comedy animated television series and media franchise created by Li Haoling. The first season of the show was co-produced and animated by Studio LAN and Haoliners Animation League's Japanese branch Emon under the supervision of Shinichi Watanabe.^[5][6] It premiered in October 2016, on Tokyo MX in Japan, and on video sharing website bilibili in China.^[7][8]

A second series named To Be Heroine premiered in 2018. The series was directed by Li Haoling and animated by Studio LAN and Haoliners Animation League.

A third series titled To Be Hero X, primarily animated by three studios (Studio LAN, Pb Animation Co., Ltd., and Paper Plane Animation Studio) under BeDream, premiered in April 2025. The series was co-produced by BeDream, Bilibili, and Aniplex.

The series follows Ossan, a 38 year old toilet designer living an ordinary life along with his daughter, Min-San. Following a bizarre event that drastically alters his appearance, he is tasked with protecting the earth as a superhero, despite lacking any motivation or heroic traits. The show blends action with absurdist comedy, using a superhero narrative to parody familiar anime tropes.

To Be Hero was made as a co-production involving Studio Lan in collaboration with Haoliners Animation League and their Japanese branch, Emon. Japanese production was overseen by Shinichi Watanabe.^[9] The series was aired simultaneously to audiences in both Japan and China, Airing on Tokyo MX and bilibili.^[10]

• Tute Hameng (chino) como Ossan/Yashu ^{[ 5 ] [ 8 ]}
• Shan Xin (chino) como Min-chan/Chenmin Jiang ^{[ 5 ] [ 8 ]} (姜 辰敏, Jiāng Chénmǐn)

• Kenjiro Tsuda (japonés) como Ossan/Yashu
• Moa Tsukino (japonés) como Futaba Hanaya/Yuye Hua (花屋 二葉, Hanaya Futaba)
• Yutaka Aoyama /Li Lu como Yamada ^{[ 11 ]}
• Tomokazu Sugita ^{[ 11 ]}
• Takeshi Maeda ^{[ 11 ]}
• Motoko Kumai (japonés) como Hikaru Isago/Xiaoguang Sha (沙 光, Isago Hikaru)
• Omi Minami (japonés) como Tōru Utsubari/Chao Liang (梁 超, Utsubari Tōru)
• Junko Minagawa (japonés) como Min-chan/Chenmin Jiang (ミンちゃん, Min-chan) ^{[ 5 ] [ 8 ]}

La producción en general tuvo lugar en Japón y China, con modificaciones al programa para las transmisiones japonesas y chinas. ^{[ 12 ]} La primera temporada se emitió del 5 de octubre ^{[ 5 ]} al 21 de diciembre de 2016 en Tokyo MX . El anime ha sido licenciado por Crunchyroll para su lanzamiento en línea. ^{[ 10 ]} En China, la canción de apertura es "Insistence" (执念), interpretada por Loki (刘畅). ^{[ 13 ]} Mientras tanto, en Japón, la canción de apertura es "Come to See You" (オープニングテーマ「アイニコイヨ」), interpretada por BRATS. ^{[ 14 ]} La canción final tanto en Japón como en China es "My Dad Protects the Earth" (エンディングテーマ「私のパパが地球を守る 〜我爹守护地球〜」) de Lin Heye. (林和夜). ^{[ 15 ]}

Una segunda temporada de la serie titulada To Be Heroine ^{[ 16 ]} se estrenó el 19 de mayo de 2018. ^{[ 17 ] [ 18 ]}

El 25 de octubre de 2022, Diskotek Media lanzó To Be Hero y To Be Heroine en un solo Blu-ray, limitado a 2000 copias. El lanzamiento incluye ambas series en japonés e inglés. Este fue su primer lanzamiento en formato doméstico fuera de Asia. ^{[ 19 ]}

An animation project titled To Be Hero X had been announced by bilibili and Aniplex in 2022, serving as the show's third season.^[20] The series premiered on April 6, 2025 on Fuji TV and other channels.^[21][22][23] At Anime Expo 2023, Crunchyroll announced that they licensed the series outside of Asia.^[24]

The series follows an anthological narrative. The storylines of each season are unrelated apart from sharing a universe and a common superhero theme.

• Sitio web oficial (en japonés)
• Ser un héroe (anime) en laenciclopedia de Anime News Network