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
Since To Be Hero X began, our writers Adam and Hilary have been chasing a mystery. No, we’re not talking about why E-Soul killed Moon, what really happened to the original Nice, or whether X is the second coming of the antihero Zero. We mean: where is Ahu, the 8th-ranked hero and the best boy in all the land? What has he been up to? This week, we finally found out.
The following write-up contains spoilers for Episode 23 of To Be Hero X. This was originally posted to K-Comics Beat.
Our boy is here!
ADAM: It finally happened, Hilary. After twenty-two long weeks of waiting, To Be Hero X delivered the long-awaited Ahu episode. Our boy is here! Performing for you!
HILARY: This is a momentous occasion. We counted the weeks and the heroes until we finally met our best boy. Was it everything you hoped for?
ADAM: He has so much range! Ahu can be a clown. He can wear a little tie or a Kamen Rider mask. But he can also decapitate people with an axe. He’s truly the hero we need—a champion for our times, the ultimate expression of doggone determination.
I hadn’t realized until now that the “hu” in Ahu’s name likely means “tiger.” His name in Japanese translates to “Tora.” It’s hilarious that our favorite dog has been named after a big cat this whole time.
HILARY: Yep. The Chinese character for “hu” means “tiger.” So what I’m hearing is…we’re all cat people, even the dogs.
A shift in tone
HILARY: I really enjoyed this episode—not only because it focuses on Ahu, the best character in To Be Hero X (no objections allowed!) but also because it’s surprisingly sweet. Xin Ya rescues Ahu from his life at the circus, and her faith empowers him to save her at a critical moment. It reminded me of Yang Cheng’s start, where rescuing Pomelo launched his hero journey.
This episode marks a tonal shift from the previous arc, especially considering it’s the penultimate episode. Nice’s presence and the way his story circles back to the series’ beginning justify Ahu’s placement in the second-to-last slot.
ADAM: I need to mention that Xin Ya thought Ahu’s tie was a “collar.” How does that even work? Either she doesn’t know what a collar looks like, or she gave Ahu a tie because she couldn’t afford one.
The tonal and visual shift here is significant compared to prior episodes. But I’d argue that Ahu’s episode fulfills a promise To Be Hero X hadn’t delivered until now. The original trailers highlighted stylistic shifts between 2D and 3D animation. After the first two arcs, however, every subsequent arc—except possibly Ghostblade’s—kept the same visual aesthetic.
Blood-red decapitation
ADAM: Ahu’s arc stands out. It’s not just the new character designs; it’s the wider visual vocabulary, from paper cutout fight sequences to blood-red decapitation. I understand why they saved this for the arc about the cartoon talking dog. Still, I wish To Be Hero X could operate on this level throughout. Imagine if every other arc looked just as distinct! That’s the joy of an anthology series.
HILARY: You’re asking for an enormous budget, Adam. Plus time and resources that no animation studio has. Maybe that’s why X appears so rarely—his 2D/3D snap made him impossible to include in earlier episodes aside from a few cameos and the first two arcs.
ADAM: I’d say it’s more a management decision than a budget issue. Look at series airing right now, like My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 from CloverWorks, where staff get creative freedom. By contrast, every To Be Hero X episode is “written and directed by Li Haoling,” with little staff credit.
I wonder whether the team behind Ahu’s episode worked on earlier episodes or if the new style reflects a different team. Either way, it fits the story perfectly—it might not have worked as well during a bloodbath like Episode 20.
Lower than a dog
HILARY: Speaking of Nice, do you have any narrative theories on why the first two arcs used 3D animation? The Nice arc makes sense as part of Ahu’s story, but E-Soul’s?
ADAM: Who knows! I loved the sequence where Nice breaks down across multiple animation styles. I suspect the first two arcs were in 3DCG due to budget—they’re more expensive and run on a separate pipeline.
HILARY: Nice sinks deeper into a pit he can’t escape. He’s done unspeakable deeds, like letting the Black Suits Organization kill Xin Ya, yet he still can’t break into the top 10. He’s “lower than a dog,” the final blow to his ego.
ADAM: Lower than a dog! Nice just can’t catch a break. He plays an evil land developer trying to replace a neighborhood with apartments, so he deserves to be thwarted by a courageous girl and her little dog. Even Xin Ya sees he’s bad news, no matter his smile.
Down2Clown
HILARY: One of the Ahu arc’s directors, Zhike Yang, revealed Xin Ya was supposed to die. But he saved her from Li Haoling’s fridging agenda—a win!
ADAM: Hurrah! I was terrified at the end of the episode that Xin Ya would be yet another woman sacrificed on the altar of To Be Hero X. I’m glad they were able to save her life. Although if that’s the case, I wonder if we’ll ever see her again. Maybe it’s better just not to play the hero game? Xin Ya and Ahu could be out there making YouTube videos instead of subjecting themselves to the indignities of trust value and corporate conspiracies. He could be the new Maru (RIP). What do you think Ahu’s social media handle would be? DogWithATie? Down2Clown?
HILARY: Down2Clown seems the most viable one, but Xin Ya would probably have her own suggestions as to what his handle should be. “Mightest Creature in All the Land” has a nice ring to it.
In the press conference at the end of the episode, everybody thought that Ahu fought off the Black Suits Organization by himself. Only he knows that a white-haired weirdo was the one who defeated him. It reminds me of how Nice took all the credit for defeating the Black Suits back in the Ruins Incident. Obviously, the two of them are in different places, and Nice doesn’t have much agency in his company. I thought it was interesting, though.
X marks the spot
ADAM: Ahu lying about defeating the Black Suits all by himself is certainly interesting. He’s presented throughout his arc as a straightforward hero, perhaps the most purely good of the lot save for Lin Ling. But then at the end he refuses to credit X! I don’t think X himself would mind, and it shows how Ahu is now willing to give himself a chance. But it also exhibits a certain selfishness I’d love to see explored further. The world of To Be Hero X has been so corrupted by trust and fear that even fluffy, loyal dogs have personality flaws. Look what you did to our boy Ahu, Li Haoling! You taught him how to lie! Now imagine how much worse he’d be if you killed Xin Ya.
HILARY: You’re giving Director Li some ideas for the second season, and I don’t like it.
In the final minutes of the episode, when Nice is crashing out over his ranking, I wonder if you caught that snap just before the transition to the 3D animation. Any theories as to its significance? Was that X’s powers at work? A stylistic choice by the animators to switch from 2D to 3D? And if X was the one making that snap, what is his motivation behind making sure Nice and Lin Ling meet?
ADAM: Well, X marks the spot, right? X can be a variable standing in for other things; it can multiply qualities or quantities. I guess that X’s episode will tie many threads together just like Link Click. What threads they pick up and what they leave for later (or ignore entirely? ) is the real question, though. I can’t imagine it’s possible to resolve every one of the show’s remaining mysteries in just twenty-four minutes.
I see the vision
HILARY: If every hero has a screentime of around 2 and a half minutes, it could happen. But realistically, I agree with you. The finale might address one or two things, but it’ll leave enough unanswered questions for fans to mull over and demand a second season.
But what a rollercoaster ride…and we still have one more episode left! Do you have any guesses at all for what’s going to happen?
ADAM: X retires from herodom, resulting in a complex chain reaction ending with Ahu taking #1 hero status. That’s all I’ve got. What about you?
HILARY: I see the vision: X retires and decides the interior designer life really is the way to go. Lucky Cyan goes touring and brings the Johnnies and Queen along. Queen is still a hero and inspiring young women as always, and she and Ahu take turns sharing the #1 spot. Yang Cheng and Lin Ling finally see a therapist for their traumas. Loli opens up a shop where she designs mecha suits. Our awkward stalker dad finally becomes just an awkward normal dad. And Dragon Boy? Well… I hope someone fetches him out of the water soon.
ADAM: I could imagine Dragon Boy training to be a professional swimmer and winning multiple gold medals at the Olympics. A happy ending is always possible!
As for Ahu, I’m glad that (for now?) he was able to earn him and his owner Xin Ya some peace of mind. That is, unless X or Dragon Boy or Nice or somebody else becomes an all-powerful superhero and destroys the world. Until then every dog will have his day.
HILARY: Let’s hope our heroes don’t have it too ruff in the last episode. That wouldn’t be Nice at all!
To Be Hero X airs in the United States via Crunchyroll.
