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To Be Hero X - Blog Posts
Okay, two things for To Be Hero X. One, just finished episode four and omg, wow that was awesome. Definitely can recommend this to anyone who likes superheroes with a unique take on the genre. I’m never one hundred percent on anything till the end (thanks GoT trauma) but it’s been really really fun so far! Lin Ling is my boy and I adore him!
Two, I’m definitely cosplaying this character at some point. Love her
well that's one way to resolve a love triangle
6 episodes in and I should know better by now, Shang Chao was getting too likeable...
I just finished watching the 4 episode of tbhx and like... the way that your fans can make you literally do things that you don't want to do is so terrifying? Lin Ling was literally IMMOBILIZED while he was playing Nice, just because some of his hardcore fans didn't want him to go and save the person he loves.
I can't help but think - what if that's the one of the reasons why Nice killed himself? What if just one too many people, got fed up by his sickeningly sweet image and lashed out thinking "Fuck you, go kill yourself"? What if Lin Ling's "You're going to be replaced" was the thing that tipped the scales towards that?
And we've seen that heroes pretty much can't do things that people aren't expecting of them to do. So why was Nice able to simply fall and die? If people really believed in him and his perfection wouldn't he be physically unable to just fall to his death? That once again leads me to believe that maybe one of reasons why Nice did it, was because a lot of people WANTED him to do it.
just watched tbhx and can't stop thinking about them
I fucking love how it isn't even foreshadowing, they just beat us with a fucking stick and then punch us in the gut
LH0's Q&A sesh on L0's arc (it's implied he'll do this type of Q&A after the conclusion of every arc)
EDIT: summary below the cut now 👍 please lmk if i got anything wrong etc
So first off, L0's arc is chronologically the last events that happen in this season, so OG Nice absolutely will show up in the later episodes as well. There's mention of OG Nice going berserk/黑化 (corrupted from light to darkness) and LH0 is looking forward to when the audience gets to see those scenes. (and uh the off-handed mention of "will L0 also succumb to those pressures/turn dark?" is sllllightly worrying lol)
LH0 also says Nice isn't just a facade/role, but has his own character and story, which reflects the cruelty of the world they're in. It's interesting that he talks about "未來奈斯的命運 the future fate of Nice (or the fate of a future Nice?)" can still be explored, which could mean either OG Nice isn't actually dead, some other schmuck becomes Nice, or just means his story ('fate') is yet to be revealed. I personally think it's 1 or 3 (leaning more towards 3) but who knows. He did kinda put emphasis on "it may be shown later on" so like. take it as you will.
As for L0, LH0 says his story starts off as a typical "wage slave/underappreciated office worker wins prestige and respect" fantasy, but with the end of ep 4 it shows that the world of TBHX can be very harsh and cruel. As for L0's future development, there's tons of possibility for exploration so I guess we gotta wait and see.
About the pacing, the first 4 eps are deliberately fast, but each hero's arc will have a different rhythm since they have different themes. The Top 10 will also have more of a presence in the others' stories.
LH0 clarified that, although Lu Guang from Link Click and Mo Sha/Ghostblade both have white hair, the two works are independent from one another. I'm pretty sure he just likes white hair character designs (tbhx alone has 4 heroes with white hair within the top 10). He thinks Ghostblade's story will probably take us all by surprise, and he's a little worried about whether people will like it/accept a story like that.
The next question is about whether Nice gets startled by his giant statue in the middle of the night. LH0 intended the statue to be kind of ironic, and confirmed that it's a reminder/symbol for Nice to believe in himself (or like, a reminder of the faith that is put on him as his persona as Nice). As to whether the heroes are more like employees clocking in (打公仔) than heroes, LH0 says each hero has their own ideals, but are also caged by those ideals—the essence of the story is to explore them as people who have faith placed upon them, and how they choose to live their life with those ideals.
Last question reveals that Hero Tower only houses the top 100 heroes, meaning Enlighter was not a resident at rank 249. The lowest floor can fit 2 rooms + 1 living room, so it's decently spacious even for the 100th hero. That said, I personally feel like this makes the competition (especially among the lower ranks) fierce, since they will lose housing if they don't maintain their place. And given how Firm Man was presumably kicked out of the Tower by the end of ep 3, a single shift in perception can cost you your accommodations. (I also kinda assumed family or significant others can move in, since Moon was supposedly living with Nice... we never knew her rankings but ep 2 did say she was not very well-known until her 'relationship' with Nice.)
(this also raises the question of what happens if multiple ranked heroes decide to bunk together/live on the same floor—with how it works I assume that means floors would be empty? for example if no. 25 and no. 46 decided to live together, does that mean one of their floors would stay empty until rankings change?
also nobody knows who X is, so idk if he even lives at the tower...)
so uh, he's free now, but at what cost???
Lin still really needs to be set free from the actual mess he is in, my man did NOT sign up for any of this. I mean like literally he did but that's besides the point. How was dude supposed to know about Nice's boyfriend bestfriend?
he's so cute (ignore the horrors he's about to witness)
yeah ok I was right, rewatched it and I enjoyed it much more the second go around
Hmmm ep 3 didn't hit as hard for me ngl. Like don't get me wrong, absolutely fucked how badly the public's perception can screw you over, poor man couldn't shit or sleep properly, that's some body horror right there. I like how this episode reinforced how you have to be careful with your image or stuff like that can happen, but also that was already shown pretty well with Moon only teleporting to Nice and Lin Ling developing OCD (or pre exising ocd getting worse idk). I guess it was showing the physical effects rather than powers and mental effects as well as commenting on toxic masculinity, but something about it just didn't really hit me.
Again though, something didn't feel right to me. Perhaps that was due to this feeling more like a stop gap between ep2 and ep4 as well as getting Nice/Lin Ling to the top ten. (but also like him not already being top ten didn't need to happen sooooo) Overall the episode did not feel bad, just not at the same level. Which I can't expect tbhx to be constantly going actually insane, so that's on me. (not a dis on the show, I just set the bar at Pluto after the first 2 episodes, need to bring that back down to like, maybe the moon, which is still insane, but i have faith) I also maybe just need to rewatch ep3, i could've missed a detail that would make me lose it. The facial expression on that one guy's face in the Firmman backstory segment was hilarious tho. 10/10 background character
Was that really the real Xiao Yueqing at the end??? How did God Eye find her? Or more importantly, how could he even get her to put on her hero outfit??? I didn’t think she packed that with her when she left… How did he even suspect that XYQ is still alive????
Hmmm ep 3 didn't hit as hard for me ngl. Like don't get me wrong, absolutely fucked how badly the public's perception can screw you over, poor man couldn't shit or sleep properly, that's some body horror right there. I like how this episode reinforced how you have to be careful with your image or stuff like that can happen, but also that was already shown pretty well with Moon only teleporting to Nice and Lin Ling developing OCD (or pre exising ocd getting worse idk). I guess it was showing the physical effects rather than powers and mental effects as well as commenting on toxic masculinity, but something about it just didn't really hit me.
Again though, something didn't feel right to me. Perhaps that was due to this feeling more like a stop gap between ep2 and ep4 as well as getting Nice/Lin Ling to the top ten. (but also like him not already being top ten didn't need to happen sooooo) Overall the episode did not feel bad, just not at the same level. Which I can't expect tbhx to be constantly going actually insane, so that's on me. (not a dis on the show, I just set the bar at Pluto after the first 2 episodes, need to bring that back down to like, maybe the moon, which is still insane, but i have faith) I also maybe just need to rewatch ep3, i could've missed a detail that would make me lose it. The facial expression on that one guy's face in the Firmman backstory segment was hilarious tho. 10/10 background character
i can't stop thinking about it...
...so obviously i made it myself
History Will Say They Were Roommates
CRUNCHYROLL?!
Spiderverse: Previous hero dies tragically while saving your life and with his dying breath entrusts the mantle of his great responsibility to you, conveniently also a bearer of superpowers
To Be Hero X: Previous hero fingerguns at you as he walks off a building. Thwarted at the killing-yourself game, you are kidnapped by his PR team and forced to do the dead guy's job
what if you were SOME GUY and the first time you meet a famous superhero is when he KILLS HIMSELF and then you get KIDNAPPED and told you have to ADOPT HIS IDENTITY and your new girlfriend HATES YOU and your new arch nemesis is GAY and tries to KILL YOU because you’re not his REAL BOYFRIEND
i'm really so curious how deeply tbhx is gonna go with its whole premise of "heroes are made and gain powers based on trust" because i really wasn't anticipating that
1) moon/xiao yueqing has teleportation-based powers but because everyone wants her and nice to stick together, her teleportation leads back to nice which was INSANE to me
and
2) lin ling is becoming increasingly more worried about being clean and perfect which is a side effect of nice's image of perfection which is indicating that this whole trust system can have mental effects??? and that's horrifying to me???
we are 2 episodes in, how deep is this gonna go
that episode 2 adds the implication that nice committed suicide out of treeman forcing him into a straight showmance, on top of all the other pressures, adds an undeniably tragic twist. to dig a little deeper, though, I can’t help but think of a few things:
1) that we have heard absolutely nothing from nice’s family (or wreck’s, for that matter).
2) that nice & wreck wanted to be heroes together — and the company forced them into this position.
from these, i do draw the conclusion that Nice wasn’t closeted in his personal life. The lack of a family contacting Nice after weeks of silence; there’s a distance, if they’re alive, that I think many gay people can relate to.
I draw the follow up implication, then, that Nice wasn’t just forced to remain closeted; he was forced back in.
the love he had hoped to maintain even through it was being devalued by the company as they began working to push Nice into the top ten. He had a “true love” show scheduled with a woman who loathed him — and had just seen a promo (sent by Lin Ling) indicating that the company planned for him to begin pushing for the top spot. In short, the closet doors were not just closed, but locking shut, with no room for Nice behind them and no path of escape.
If Treeman wanted take Nice’s life from him, then he would take Nice from them.
Yeah I feel that a bit, definitely fast, no doubt about it. But it's just barely not jumping off into the deep end of crazy pacing though imo. I do hope the current pacing is just due to needing to establish some stuff before we get to the real meat of the story.
Also the chaotic pace of it all and it being confusing is probably how Lin feels about everything too. So maybe they're intentionally going for that rather than them wanting to rush to other stuff.
minor flaw with tbhx
to be hero x has stunning animation, captivating sound design, interesting characters, and fantastic fight choreography, but i feel the pacing is so fast that it can be a bit chaotic
it's hard not to get emotional whiplash at times. better pacing would really allow the emotional highs and lows of tbhx to hit with the intensity these moments deserve. i wish the writers would allow moments to breathe more or perhaps work on writing scene transitions with a bit more flow.
im definitely planning on investing my time into this show and im going to continue watching, but the pacing issues are sometimes hard to ignore. Part of me thinks these two episodes have been so quick just because the writers really want to speed to telling a later part of the story sooner. if so, i look forward to seeing the potential of this show's writing once it gets it's footing then.
I need to see more flashback scenes with these two SO. BAD. genuinely any interaction with og nice and wreck pls pls pls
i knew haolin would come in clutch
ok last post (for now...) but like, Nice canonically having OCD? I have so many feelings about it.
So far, it's been portrayed as the stereotypical "needs things neat and organized" thing which fits his powers but isn't necessarily OCD. Some people do that but it's a stereotype that is often considered harmful because it makes the disorder seem more benign than it is.
OCD is, at its core, an anxiety disorder. Compulsions (repetitive actions such as washing hands over and over, checking locks multiple times, etc.) are typically a means of staving off anxiety of "something bad" happening. That fear of "something bad" (i.e. obsessions) can be anything from internal to external, such as fears you might be a bad person or fears your house will burn down or that you'll be contaminated and fall ill. Compulsions try to treat that. It's not necessarily logical and people with OCD often know that their compulsions aren't reasonable but it's not something they want to do, they feel like they have to do it no matter what or there will be consequences.
Now, if they really are going to give Nice accurate OCD, then I imagine it's not just about his powers--it could be a pre-existing condition simply worsened by it. After all, both Wreck and Moon's feelings towards Nice don't change just b/c of what people believe their relationship to him is, even if their powers change (Moon teleporting to him, Wreck destroying the buildings Nice's affiliated corporation sells).
So I really hope they portray Nice having some form of moral OCD honestly. He probably wanted to be a hero genuinely at first but then began to realize that the world is very complex, and if he makes one mistake? If he doesn't give himself to the hero cause at all times? If he has to see his friend possibly harming civilians just to make some business richer? He's constantly watching himself, making sure he doesn't just look perfect, but is perfect morally. But his very existence as a corporate hero is antithetical to that.
And it's not just the guilt after the fact of making a mistake, it is a constant fear even when there's proof to the contrary. I've been thinking recently about how "perfection" is such a terrible state--you must strive to constantly maintain it. You don't "make up" for a mistake, you can only constantly check yourself to make sure you never do it again. If you slip up once? That's all the effort to "get better" down the drain.
I just...feel so bad for Nice now...
Lin still really needs to be set free from the actual mess he is in, my man did NOT sign up for any of this. I mean like literally he did but that's besides the point. How was dude supposed to know about Nice's boyfriend bestfriend?