To Be Hero X

Episode 5

If the first arc of To Be Hero X didn't exist, this episode would play very differently than it does. In a vacuum, this is the story of a man who looks up to superheroes and dreams of being one, to the point he acts on stage as his favorite hero (the one who once saved his life) at a theme park. As an orphan largely alone in life, he's embarrassed by his lofty goals and has little self-confidence, except when on stage and behind a mask. But when he has the chance, he runs towards danger instead of away from it—he does the right thing, as a hero should.

However, within the context of the greater series as a whole, things get a lot more complicated (and I mean that in the best possible way). On the surface, Yang Cheng's story feels a lot like Lin Ling's. Both are normal nobodies who wish they were superheroes, only to have that role thrust upon them. The big difference here is that Yang Cheng dreams of being E-Soul while Lin Ling wants to be his own hero. This completely changes the type of hero they are/will become.

Then we have the fact that the first arc taught us all the rules of the world, about how the power of “Trust” works. While it may seem crazy that Yang Cheng gets super powers—even minor ones—from a single person's belief in him, the trick is that this one kid sees Yang Cheng not as Yang Cheng but as E-Soul. Thus, Yang Cheng is usurping E-Soul's powers using the kid as a conduit, much like how Lin Ling took over Nice's powers.

Then we have the whole E-Soul anniversary event happening in the background. Without context, it looks like nothing more than an event to celebrate one of the first big superheroes. But knowing what we know, what Yang Cheng is involved in is almost certainly far more than a simple “best suit actor contest.”

At this point, E-Soul has been a slave to his powers and public perception for 34 years. This almost certainly puts him in his 50s. As we saw with Moon and Firm Man, it is incredibly hard for a hero to retire, because their fans will never want them to, and thus their powers force them to continue as heroes. Only through extreme willpower or by tricking their audience could a hero set themselves free. E-Soul is likely attempting to do the latter.

While Lin Ling became Nice by pure chance—by being at the right place at the right time—E-Soul and his team have the luxury of picking a new E-Soul whenever they wish. As E-Soul has always worn a mask, all they need to do is find someone who is a lot like E-Soul—who walks, talks, and acts like him—and then let the powers do the rest. And, as there are people all across the country who put on his suit and act like him daily… well, it's a buyer's market, so to speak. And thrown into this, we get Yang Cheng, a person who is not only an E-Soul suit actor—one of the top three in the country, as selected by E-Soul's PR team—but also one who does something superheroic by saving a kidnapped child.

That said, the whole situation surrounding Yang Cheng is a coincidence that simply feels too perfect. It's as if he is being groomed by an external force to become the next E-Soul. My guess is that's exactly what is happening—that his rich classmate Shang Chao knows that Yang Cheng was a suit actor who was once saved by E-Soul, and set up the kidnapping for this very purpose. After all, he has the money and, as a judge for finding the best E-Soul suit actor, has access to all of Yang Cheng's info.

But if that thought weren't unsettling enough, the first arc's cliffhanger casts a dark shadow over this episode and (almost certainly) the entire arc to come. After all, this isn't just the origin story for the new E-Soul. It's the start of the answer to the show's biggest ongoing mystery: Why did E-Soul murder Moon?

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• It's important to note that the E-Soul that killed Moon doesn't wear any of the myriad E-Soul costumes we see in this episode.

• While I treated things in the review as if there had only been one E-Soul up to this point for the sake of brevity, it's entirely possible that E-Soul has already been replaced many times and that Yang Cheng is simply set to be the newest in a long line of them.

• For context, the official website lists E-Soul as the number 9 hero in the rankings, with Lin Ling's Nice at number 10. The singer that Yang Cheng wants to take Xia Qing to see, Lucky Cyan, appears at number 7.

• Judging by all the dates and context clues scattered about—i.e., no one mentioning X as the top hero, no word of the impending tournament, and Lucky Cyan being known as an up-and-coming singer and not a top hero—this arc appears to take place before the first.

To Be Hero X is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.