Earlier this year, we shouted out two Crunchyroll dark fantasy anime that both hewed to the premise of raising a child in the heat of battle. Of them, Sentenced to Be a Hero is, without a doubt, the show that cranks things up to 11 both in its narrative and, especially, in the sakuga department.
Those are a lot of words to sum up everyone who’s seen the show calling it peak, and we don’t begrudge them that sentiment. Sentenced to Be a Hero‘s action hits so hard, Crunchyroll put up its entire premiere on YouTube for free so everyone can bask in its glory.
The show proper follows a mercenary named Xylo who’s been sentenced to be a hero. That’s not a good thing. It’s a punishment dealt out to criminals, forcing Xylo and his fellow RPG heroes with colorful backstories to reincarnate as subhuman weapons for kingdoms to send to the front lines to battle demons and other insurmountable threats. With each death, they lose more of their sanity until they go berserk. Xylo’s crime was the grave offense of killing a goddess.
There’s more to that story than he lets on, and Xylo ultimately comes into contact with a new all-powerful goddess named Teoritta, who stubbornly makes him her chosen noble knight. Together, they embark on a journey as a kind of found family battling all kinds of demons, uncovering deep-seated conspiracy theories, and dishing out life-affirming head pats along the way.
At Anime Expo 2026, io9 spoke with Studio KAI director and creature designer Yoshitake Nakakoji, chief animation director Yasutaka Kimura, and character designer Takeshi Noda about how they made Sentenced to Be a Hero‘s unreal action sequences look so outstanding in Crunchyroll’s must-watch dark fantasy anime of the year.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: When Sentenced to Be a Hero first came across Studio KAI’s desk, what aspects of its world, themes, or characters made it feel like a project the studio absolutely had to animate?
Yoshitake Nakakoji: There was definitely a pull, and we really wanted to make a hardcore, real dark fantasy-themed animation. And also, the characters were really great as well.
io9: Which character in Sentenced to Be a Hero’s ensemble is your personal favorite and why?
Yasutaka Kimura: For me, it’s Tatsuya because he’s very simple and straightforward. And he has that on-and-off while he’s fighting and not fighting, so that gap between the personalities makes it fun to draw each side of him. And it also makes him a very unique character in that sense.
Nakakoji: (Laughs) For me, Zofflec, an older man. He’s very fun to draw. But generally, I just like him as a character.
Takeshi Noda: I generally like characters with long beards. In the original works, it only shows up in writing, so to express that visually and to really think deeply about how to match the world setting for Sentenced to Be a Hero and really contemplate how I would express that visually, that process for me was very enjoyable.
io9: The anime features some truly ambitious feats of animation, from large-scale creature battles to intricate character acting. What lengths did the team at Studio KAI go to in order to realize these sequences, and how long did some of the more complex cuts take to bring to life?
Nakakoji: For example, in episode one, there was that really epic, big, large-scale battle that was a little bit hard or impossible to visually convey just through animation illustrations. So, to combine that seamlessly with 3DCG was something that was very challenging because a character and a creature drawing [themselves are] very simple, but the cohesion with the CG can sometimes be challenging and needs more adjustments. So that’s something we were challenged by.
Noda: In regard to the intricate character acting, a lot of the heroes carry complex emotions and heavy baggage. We wanted to make sure that we made them multifaceted with a lot of inner conflict bubbling to the [surface]. And we tried to express that through facial expressions, of course, and working closely with the director to make that happen.
io9: From a production standpoint, which action sequence this season required the most work to nail—whether due to creature design, choreography, or effects—and what hurdles or breakthroughs defined the process of getting it right?
Kimura: Episode one, of course, but also episode three inside the cave. There was a last-minute decision of “Should we add more or less shadow?” It was really hard to decide what would be the perfect combination, and adjustments definitely took time. And the cohesion with the CG took more time than expected as well. Episode one, for certain, but also the action scenes in episode three and towards the end.
io9: Each of you brings a different creative lens to the series. Looking back at season one, which sequence stands out as your personal favorite—whether for its animation, emotional impact, or the challenge it presented during production?
Kimura: I think episode six, where Xylo and Teoritta finally fight together side by side. We can see the evolution of their relationship, which was not seen in previous episodes, and that development within the characters in the story is something that was a milestone for me.
Nakakoji: Also episode six, I agree. We knew that if audiences could just make it to episode six, we’d be good. So the pressure to build up to that and make sure the audience was engaged to that point was a challenge—and episode six was a huge turning point as well. So building up to that was definitely something that we paid attention to.
Noda: For me, the last part of episode one, where Xylo was sentenced to be a hero. I think it was a great highlight for me because it highlighted not only that scene but also my challenges to get there. I had to think through the perspective of the animation producer and work closely with him to arrive at the image of Xylo and the emotional expressions [of] him that I needed to portray—his anger. I really wanted it to come across through the screen as well.
Also, I was under a lot of pressure because I had little time. So I put a lot of pressure on myself to work quickly as well. But I think all my hard efforts actually came through in the final conclusion of how Xylo looked in that episode. And the challenges that I faced kind of mirrored that scene, which is why it was the highlight for me.
Sentenced to Be a Hero is streaming on Crunchyroll, and season two is in production.
io9 is on the ground at Anime Expo 2026. We’ll be bringing you updates on all the biggest panels, screenings, and announcements, plus exclusive one-on-one interviews with the people behind some of the best and most popular anime around. You can check out all of io9’s Anime Expo coverage here.
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