🎭 To Be Hero X: the anime where marketing defines power
- officialgeekverse
- 6 days ago
- 12 min read
🌏 From the origins of anime to the rise of donghua
Anime originated in Japan, but over time its popularity has spread all over the world. As a result, other Asian countries have begun to develop their own animation styles, largely inspired by Japanese anime. Over the years, these industries have continued to grow, learn, and refine their techniques, eventually creating original works with their own visual and narrative identities.
Nowadays, some of these productions stand out for offering artistic styles and animation approaches that differ from traditional Japanese anime, allowing them to set themselves apart and bring fresh proposals into the medium. When that distinctive style is combined with a well-planned project, a coherent story, and a carefully constructed narrative, the result can quickly capture the audience’s attention.
To Be Hero X is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Directed by Li Haoling, the work has BeDream as its main studio, coming from China, and also counted on the collaboration of companies such as Bilibili and other industry partners for its distribution. Let us now look at what makes this work stand out and why its carefully built and well-argued story, together with its planning and execution, has generated so much interest.
📖 Synopsis: a world where belief means everything
To Be Hero X is an anime (donghua) of action and science fiction set in a universe where superpowers are not obtained through effort or training, but through the public’s trust.
In this world, anyone can become a hero as long as they manage to earn people’s faith. This collective belief is translated into a “trust value,” a metric that not only grants extraordinary abilities, but also defines each hero’s position in a global ranking. However, this system is fragile: when trust decreases, powers disappear as well.
Every two years, a tournament is held in which the most outstanding heroes compete against each other to reach the highest position, known as “X,” the title reserved for the strongest and most popular hero.
Throughout the plot, the story follows various heroes—each with their own background, motivations, and dilemmas—and explores how they face the pressure of fame, the ethical implications of heroism, and a system that can be as demanding as it is unpredictable. Between intense battles and complex decisions, the series offers a reflection on what it truly means to be a hero in a world where everything depends on other people’s perception.
🎨 Animation: a visual identity that evolves
A relevant aspect here is the visual identity of donghua (Chinese animation), which presents subtle but recognizable differences when compared to Japanese anime. In general, the Chinese style tends to lean toward a cleaner and more stylized aesthetic, with defined character features, softer lines, and very careful use of lighting and color.
Unlike traditional Japanese anime, where the linework can be more marked and expressive, donghua usually seeks a more polished and cinematic presentation. This is reflected in more detailed backgrounds, more dynamic lighting, and a visual integration that brings a stronger sense of depth.
Series like Link Click illustrate this approach well, showing animation that combines simplicity in character design with great attention to atmosphere and scene composition. In the case of To Be Hero X, this aesthetic foundation is also present, especially in its use of color, lighting, and animation fluidity.
On top of this, one of the most striking aspects of To Be Hero X is its artistic direction, characterized by high-quality animation that does not remain static, but instead evolves throughout the work. The series uses stylistic variations that respond both to the tone of each scene and to the narrative focus, using different visual resources to emphasize emotions, conflicts, and points of view.
This ability to alternate styles not only demonstrates a clear creative ambition, but also adds depth to the narrative, making the animation function as an expressive language in itself. What is especially remarkable is how, despite this visual diversity, the quality remains consistent across all styles, even in the most intense and dynamic combat scenes.
On the other hand, one of the most interesting elements is the way this visual proposal integrates directly with the narrative. In particular, the animation seems to be linked to X’s power, since on several occasions the style changes coincide with his actions, especially when he snaps his fingers. This device not only reinforces the visual impact, but can also be interpreted as a representation of his ability: the power to reconfigure reality according to perception. The animation is interactive, so to speak, and fun; X practically decides the animation itself.
🧩 Story: ten heroes, multiple paths, one single plot
It could be said that the way the story was structured is as good as it could possibly be; it is incredibly well built and argued. The series creates a certain order in telling each hero’s story, always putting suspense and hype at the forefront of the narrative. It is like a map in which the different stories are entertaining and interesting, maintaining suspense until they eventually cross paths and practically explode.
What is especially interesting here is how each hero’s story intersects with the others, and how these ten people, ten different heroes, whose origins are completely different, influence and contribute to the anime’s main story. They are ten distinct heroes, with purposes, objectives, and personalities that differ from one another. The series does a very good job of making each one stand out clearly from the rest; each of them has their own identity.
This season first tells the origin of each hero, what motivated them or what they had to lose or suffer in order to get to where they are now and enter the top 10 heroes ranking. Even one hero’s story crosses with others, but not only that: one hero’s story can also influence and motivate the creation of another hero. The complexity with which so many threads are gradually tied together among different heroes is particularly interesting. Many threads are connected while always maintaining a coherent logic.
⚔️ Combat: duration, clarity, and spectacle
The combat scenes in To Be Hero X are another of its most outstanding aspects. They not only stand out for their duration, but also for their ability to maintain dynamism and visual clarity throughout the entire sequence. These are extended confrontations that, far from becoming confusing, allow the viewer to follow every movement with precision, making the development of the action easy to understand.
The fight choreography is especially notable, with fluid transitions and an execution that combines rhythm, intensity, and visual coherence. Added to this is a strong use of dynamic lighting, intense colors, and glow effects—elements that not only bring spectacle, but also reinforce the clarity of movement and the sense of fluidity during combat.
A clear example of this is the confrontation between Queen and Bowa, a sequence that lasts for approximately eight minutes of nonstop action. Throughout this scene, the series maintains a high level of detail, consistent animation, and a clearly cinematic composition, demonstrating its ability to hold the viewer’s attention through an effective combination of direction, animation, and choreography.
🧠 System: when faith defines reality
The power system and the way the world of To Be Hero X functions are quite interesting and unique, very different from what other anime propose; its premise in itself is unique. Here, training, effort, or skill are not the most important things. The entire power system of the heroes is determined by Trust Values: values that appear on each person’s wrist and show the number of people who trust in and believe in that hero.
Therefore, what matters here is each hero’s image, marketing, and that is why hero agencies exist. When they see an opportunity and great potential in a hero, they recruit them.
The most powerful hero is decided practically by the public; depending on how the public perceives them, their power can also be defined. If a person is defined as strong, for example, then super strength can become their power. This is a world where faith defines reality. Because of something as simple as that, a person can go through an impactful event, and that event can define what people think and how they perceive them.
A clear example is Cyan, who, after surviving a very unlikely impactful event, was perceived as someone very special, as a person with great luck and good fortune, and that, in short, became her power.
📊 Marketing: the brightest idea in the project
This is one of the most interesting things that can be seen in this anime, to the point that it could even be taken as a clear example for marketing courses. Not only does marketing exist within the anime, but the advertising and marketing strategies used by the agencies toward their heroes are shown in a very clear way, along with the importance of public perception. At the same time, the real marketing surrounding the series can also be analyzed.
There are several promotional videos for the heroes in the story, in addition to the use of tarot cards featuring character images that can come to represent their archetype within the plot. These cards exist both inside the anime and outside of it, reinforcing that connection between the work and its own universe.
But the most remarkable, the most important, and one of the most strategic and creative moves personally seen in this type of industry is bringing the anime’s idea into reality. What they did here was create a website and take the concept of Trust Values so that people could vote for their favorite hero. Depending on who gets the most votes in the real-life poll, it could influence the future development of the story in the next season.
So, for example, even though Queen is in second place in the anime’s hero ranking, in the real-life votes she is in sixth place.
The marketing implemented in this major project is insane, and when good marketing is accompanied by a high-quality and ambitious project like To Be Hero X, then the chances of success will always be high.
👥 Characters: a top 10 with its own identity
The anime revolves around 10 heroes; here is the order according to the ranking proposed in the anime:
X
Queen
Dragon Boy
Ghostblade
The Johnnies
Loli
Lucky Cyan
Ahu
E-Soul
Lin Ling / Nice
There are also the leaders of their hero agencies, who, from the way the anime has been presented, several or even all of them may have bad intentions despite being in charge of various heroes, and those heroes may be being manipulated or deceived. Besides them, there are also other secondary characters who have different kinds of relationships with the heroes, whether affectionate, negative, or directly hostile.
👑 X: the ultimate symbol of trust
In this anime there is also a figure who could be considered practically omnipotent: X. He could be compared, differences aside, to characters like Satoru Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen, in the sense that he is perceived as someone clearly above everyone else. However, more than being a specific person, X is a title: the title of the most powerful hero, that is, the one with the highest Trust Value, in whom society places the greatest trust.
X represents the highest expression of this system, the point at which collective perception becomes power. He is not powerful solely because of himself, but because the whole world believes he is. That is the true key to his power. People perceive him as someone practically invincible, almost like a being on another level, and because of that his power reaches a dimension that seems to go beyond what is normal.
Even so, this position also carries risks. Within the world of the anime, it is implied that an X who remains at the top for too long can become a threat, since an excessive accumulation of trust can break the balance. This makes it clear that the system is not perfect and that even its most important figure can become dangerous, to the point that, in extreme situations, it might be necessary to confront him or even consider eliminating him.
Speaking of the current X, I think he is one of the most creative decisions in the series. Both his design and his personality make him stand out tremendously. His ability, activated with a simple finger snap, gives the impression that he can reconfigure reality almost at will. In addition, this detail works not only on a conceptual level, but also visually, since even the animation itself seems to adapt to his actions, as if the rules of the anime itself changed with him.
But beyond his power, what is truly interesting is how the way he fights and behaves fits his personality. X conveys sophistication, calmness, and control, but at the same time he also appears friendly, relaxed, and even somewhat carefree. He is not presented as the typical solemn or rigid hero who carries his title in a grandiose way, but rather as someone who, despite being at the top, maintains a much lighter and more natural attitude.
In fact, in several scenes he gives the impression that he does not even want to be a hero in the way everyone expects, or that he is even somewhat lazy about taking on that role. And that is precisely what makes him so striking: the most powerful character in the world does not act like someone distant or unreachable, but like someone with gestures, reactions, and attitudes that are much more human than those of many of the other heroes.
Unlike the others, who often build their image around fame, recognition, or the impact they generate on the public, X hides his identity and chooses to present himself to society as an ordinary person. This is especially interesting in a world where being a hero does not only bring power, but also status, money, and influence. Even though he could take full advantage of all that, he chooses to remain outside that logic.
Here too, a clear marketing component can be interpreted within the anime’s own system: many heroes are not only strong, but build their position through their image and how they are perceived. In that context, X completely breaks with that dynamic. He does not seek to promote himself or exploit his image, and yet he remains at the top, which reinforces even more how unique he is within the system.
And this is where I think one of the most interesting ideas of the series comes in: in a world where popularity and perception mean everything, the most powerful hero ends up being one of the most human as well. It is a very well-thought-out contrast, because it breaks the expectation that the person at the top must be the most ostentatious, the most serious, or the most obsessed with their position.
Finally, the finger snap also works as an iconic element of the character. In a way similar to how Goku made teleportation iconic in Dragon Ball, this simple yet distinctive gesture defines X’s identity and gives him a unique trademark within the series. It is one of those resources that, besides looking great, helps the character remain memorable and easily recognizable.
🎵 Soundtrack: epic, emotion, and intensity
To complement everything and make the experience even better, the soundtrack perfectly accompanies the series, especially in the action scenes. And this is no surprise, since the composer in charge is none other than the great Hiroyuki Sawano, who never disappoints in any of his projects. The quality of the music this person creates is on another level.
He has a unique musical ear, and although it may seem impossible, he always manages to surpass himself. He has been responsible for the soundtracks of several very famous projects in the industry, such as Attack on Titan, Solo Leveling, 86, among others. Some standout examples include the incredible epic track “Jeopardy”, the beautiful melodies of the opening “Inertia”, performed by Rei, and the ending “Kontinnum”, performed by SennaRin.
To Be Hero X – Opening (OP 1) | “Inertia”
To Be Hero X – Ending (ED 1) | “Kontinuum”
It is also worth highlighting another interesting aspect that directly connects with the series’ marketing: each hero has their own main musical theme, which further strengthens their individual identity. Among them, one of the most notable is “New Type of Hero” by Griff Clawson, associated with the hero X.
🧾 Conclusion: when a work also knows how to sell its idea
In conclusion, To Be Hero X stands out not only for its visual quality, its spectacular battles, and its soundtrack, but also for the way it takes its concept beyond the story itself. The series does not limit itself to showing a world where perception defines power; it applies that very same idea outside the anime, integrating it directly into its marketing strategy.
This is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting aspects of the project. The way in which elements such as Trust Values, real-life voting, and the construction of the characters’ image are used demonstrates a level of creativity that is uncommon in the industry. Not only is a story about perception and popularity being told, but the viewer is also invited to become part of that same system.
It is precisely for this reason that To Be Hero X can be considered not only a great work on a narrative and visual level, but also a very interesting case study from a marketing perspective. The series does not only entertain, but also proposes a different way of connecting with its audience.
Because, in the end, To Be Hero X does not just tell a story in which perception defines reality… it also shows that, even outside the screen, the way a work presents itself can influence how it is experienced by its audience.
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