Top 5 Questions That Need Answers in ‘To Be Hero X’ Season 2
It’s been one week since the final episode of To Be Hero X aired on Crunchyroll, and just as “the heroes’ battle never ends,” neither does the endless speculation from fans after the massive cliffhanger the show ended on. The hit donghua’s anthology from Bilibili and Aniplex is a multi-style animation series directed by Haolin Lee (Link Click) and BeDream that takes you into a futuristic world where the heroes of the story obtain powers based on people’s “trust value.” If people believe that a man can fly, he will fly. If a hero loses the people’s trust, then he loses his special abilities.
Trust value is collected, quantified, and then used to determine a hero’s ranking in that society, where the top 10 heroes face off every two years in a special tournament to determine their ranking. The hero with the highest trust value and public support will ultimately emerge as the winner and be dubbed the #1 hero, along with the title of X. At the same time, however, just as there is trust value, there is also “fear value,” the opposite of trust value, which can corrupt individuals into villains and is often fueled by negative emotions such as fear, anger, resentment, or paranoia.
Over the course of To Be Hero X, we get 10 different arcs and backstories involving multiple heroes such as Nice, E-Soul, Queen, Lucky Cyan, the Johnnies, and more. As the show progresses, these seemingly separate stories start to interweave with each other as the actions of one story impact the beginnings of another, until ultimately coming to a climax with all the heroes facing each other off in the next heroes’ tournament.
To Be Hero X is packed with cinematic animation, incredible character development, and fantastic music that blend into an impactful storytelling experience that I would recommend to any fan of the superhero genre. With 24 episodes of the show now available to watch on Crunchyroll and that ending, the donghua has left fans speculating over many open-ended questions that the series has yet to answer. So, in hero ranking fashion, here are the top 5 questions we should have in the back of our minds as we speculate about a potential season 2.
[Warning: This post contains spoilers for To Be Hero X.]
Will To Be Hero X get a season 2?
Let’s kick things off with the most basic question. At the time of writing this article, Bilibili and Aniplex have not yet confirmed a season 2 for To Be Hero X. However, this shouldn’t raise any alarms because all signs point to this series having a second season in the future.
The ending of the show sees the top 10 heroes (and some extras) face off in the biennial Heroes Tournament hosted by the Hero Affairs Commission to crown the next X. After the commission spends much of the episode trying to take out the current Hero X to avoid having him win a fourth consecutive tournament and risk him becoming a god with the potential to wipe out the world, the somewhat mysterious hero finally makes it to the stadium. With all the cameras of the world on him, he unveils his identity before the screen shows the main logo of the show.
We cut to a new cinematic credits sequence, depicting what appears to be a possible glimpse into the storyline for season 2. It features the origins of X as well as the heroes of the tournament coming together to face off against an unknown threat that hasn’t been seen in the show before.
Not only that, but right now, Bilibili is hosting a live voting system where fans can actually influence the events of the show by having them take part in the story and vote for their favorite hero to show their support, basically bringing the effect of Trust Value to life. So there’s a very significant chance that this show will get a season 2.
Director Haolin Li has confirmed in an interview that the original plan for To Be Hero X was to make 48 episodes and that it was divided later on into 2 parts. The latter 24 episodes are in development.
How is Nice alive?
This question is the one that’s been racking my brain the most, mainly because Nice is one of the first heroes we get introduced to and is the hook that draws many fans in when we see him literally walk off a roof and plummet to his death within the first 3 minutes of the show. This sets into motion the first arc of the show as Lin Ling gets forced to assume his identity, eventually becoming his own hero as “The Commoner” and taking his spot as the #10 hero.
While we all presumed he was dead, Nice makes a last-minute reappearance at the Heroes Tournament, sporting multiple cracks over his body and face, as well as his usual casual smile and bright eyes replaced with a “lifeless look.” In that same episode, the audience responds with shock as Nice returns, commenting on his look and speculating about his return, just as the audience in the real world did.
What we know is that leading up to Nice’s demise, it’s been shown that Nice’s trust value was slowly regressing as he continued to get infected with fear. In the final episode, people have speculated that just under the cracks of Nice’s shell is an embodiment of fear waiting to strike. Others have speculated that since his trust value was so high in the top 10, fans were unable to accept the fact that Nice died, and their trust was keeping him alive as a lifeless zombie. However, there is one intriguing clue regarding Nice’s current affiliations.
In a recent post by the official To Be Hero X Twitter, they uploaded a map connecting the different heroes, their companies, and their relations to each other. On that map, Nice is shown to have no current affiliations with any hero organization, including his former agency, TREEMAN. So that’s an interesting thing to keep an eye on for future episodes.
Will the Johnnies’ and Ghostblade’s shared past finally come to light?
Two of the most interesting arcs for me were the stories behind Ghostblade and The Johnnies, not only for their individual struggles and perspectives, but also because of how much shared history these three characters share (even though two of them are not fully aware of the extent of it all).
In episode 15, we learn about Ghostblade’s history and upbringing, a man born unable to express emotions. As he grew up and the rise of FOMO (the in-universe equivalent of social media) began, Wang Yi was promoted by individuals as a cool, silent, mysterious type butcher guy. This allowed him to earn trust and obtain his powers, but in turn, it forced him to remain a mute due to people’s perception of him. With that, Wang Yi was recruited by Shang De to join Mighty Glory, becoming a hero and also working as an assassin.
As an assassin, he would take out hundreds of targets for his company without remorse. On one mission, he was assigned to take out a man called Ah Sheng, a former X titleholder who had retired to move to the countryside with his son. After refusing to come in and help other heroes for the tournament, he was framed under the accusation that he had found a way to use his powers to create life. Ghostblade had completed this task and executed him. Ah Sheng asked as a dying wish to let his son go. At the time of the episode, no one knew what he was referring to… until Episode 17, when it’s revealed Ah Sheng was Little Johnny’s father.
Little Johnny, now the 5th-ranked hero, was motivated by the death of his father to become a hero as he seeks to uncover the truth behind his father’s murder. During the arc leading up to the Ruins Incident (Episodes 16-20), we get to see Ghostblade and The Johnnies interact, sharing both of their perspectives on a car ride as they head to a mission together. We can see how Little Johnny viewed Ghostblade as a father-type figure that reminded him of his own father, making him grow fond of Ghostblade.
Even though Ghostblade was initially assigned to that mission to take out The Johnnies as penance for not having executed them back when he killed their father, Ghostblade opts to protect The Johnnies instead, eventually leaving his company for their shady practices.
Their dynamic is one of my favorites in the whole show. However, the show does not make clear whether The Johnnies ever discovered that Ghostblade was behind the death of their father. This would make a fascinating question and storyline to explore for season 2.
How will Yan Mo’s plan unfold in season 2?
While the primary focus of the show has been to introduce the heroes, their backstories, and their shady managers and business practices, there is one character who, in my opinion, stands out above the rest as an overarching main antagonist: Yan Mo, the CEO of Mighty Glory. Throughout the show, Yan Mo is a master manipulator who has either bent people to do his will or taken them out of the way just to get what he wants.
Yan Mo’s biggest example of manipulation is with E-Soul (Yang Cheng). At first, he acted supportive—helping Yang Cheng chase his dreams and even giving him advice in his personal life. But behind the scenes, Yan Mo engineered many of the tragedies in Yang Cheng’s arc to break him down, make him isolated, desperate with few ties, and thus more malleable. Then Yan Mo orchestrated Yang Cheng’s rise to become the new E-Soul, eventually coming to blows with the old E-Soul, killing him, and successfully claiming his title for himself, thus becoming the new generation’s E-Soul.
Once Yang Cheng took on the mantle, Yan Mo became his manager in the more literal, corporate sense and continued to manipulate him: withholding truths, lying by omission, gaslighting him to ensure absolute obedience. Beyond E-Soul, Yan Mo’s manipulation extends similarly to others (Ghostblade, Dragon Boy, etc.).
But his primary goal, as revealed near the end of the series, is to recreate Zero, the first recorded hero of the world of To Be Hero X. Zero had achieved god-like powers after his trust value had reached limitless heights, and with it, threatened to destroy the world after he got corrupted by fear. Once defeated, the events of that day were dubbed Dawnfall, and the Hero Affairs Commission did everything in their power to cover the true nature of that day’s event, as revealed by X in the final episode.
We know that Yan Mo is also the son of Yan Feng, the creator of Zero. So maybe he’s trying to finish his father’s vision. How that unfolds as we dive into To Be Hero X season 2 will be a fascinating storyline to follow.
A mysterious character appears in the new ED for To Be Hero X
The final episode revealed a new ending/opening, showcasing scenes from X’s backstory, as well as what appears to be a teaser for a battle sequence in the upcoming season, featuring X and all the top 10-ranked heroes facing off against a mysterious threat.
Many have speculated that the mysterious female villain is related to the girl seen earlier in the opening movie, interacting with X in his casual form while using those tarot cards. Tarot cards were also featured in the original opening of the show, as shown here.
Who she is and what mysteries lie in store for her, as well as the significance of the tarot cards, are uncertain, but this much we know: she seems like a very menacing opponent, enough to make X sweat.
What other questions do you need answers to in season 2 of To Be Hero X? Let us know on social media @MyCosmicCircus or in The Cosmic Circus Discord.
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