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I think it is a sweet story and I liked the protagonist for being level-headed and pretty realistic. The love interest isn't super domineering or creepy, and he treats the MC well! I read some of the source material before and was worried that some parts would adapt awkwardly, but it turned out good. It won't blow anything out of the water, but people who are looking for a nice calm romance with adult characters may like it.

The part I have mixed feelings about- I watched the English dub, and I think the sound direction kind of detracted from the experience. The voice acting itself ... is quite good, but for some reason all the conversations seem like they're taking place very calmly in a small room. The bgm (while itself good and interestingly medieval) is also often slow, so combined there's a sleepy bedtime story effect that drains the energy out of dramatic and comedic situations.

So to me the anime (while still being decent in its own right!) seemed waaay more slow and calm than I expected from reading the manhwa, but I wonder if the Japanese dub gives a different impression.

Writing this review partially to clear up something: there are some people who are confused because the series is listed as having 12 episodes, but there are only 7 if you try to watch it. This is because the original 12-episode Chinese version was converted into 7 episodes for the Japanese version, I think due to having unusual episode lengths or something. The series was also heavily edited in that process, which is why pacing in certain scenes might feel a bit strange.

Anyway, the review: For me, the show's main selling points were its animation and story. The animation is seriously good, with the show ... going all out with flashy fight scenes especially. As for the story, I had positive expectations because I'd seen its predecessor, To Be Hero. The story of To Be Heroine was clearly made with genuine passion and care, and without spoiling anything, the emotional parts really affected me. I was also surprised by how far the show was willing to go with its stakes, especially with its kind of school-life, cutesy art style. However, I will also say that the execution of the story could have been a lot tighter. I don't know how much was affected by getting trimmed for the 7-episode version, but sometimes things seemed abrupt or heavy handed. Especially after watching To Be Hero, a lot of worldbuilding and plot elements could have been set up more carefully or tied up more neatly.

I'd still put To Be Heroine above a lot of other shows. When watching it, you can really feel that it was made by a relatively young studio full of passion and creativity. Worth a watch.

What I liked:
- There's a lovely blend between traditional folktale/myth elements and a modern-day shoujo story. It really does feel like watching a myth unfolding underneath the modern aesthetic and I'm a sucker for that.
- I found the comedy funny and I liked the overall light and fluffy tone of the story.
- The art style is pretty and stands out a bit from other anime.
- OP and ED are memorable and cute!

- The characters are all likable. Naturally, the youkai are the real spotlight characters. They each have interesting personalities with long and complicated pasts, so it's quite nice watching pieces get slowly revealed. The ... main character, Nanami, is your standard Ordinary Teenage Girl, but I do like her and found her a little more grounded than some other shoujo heroines I've seen. Part of the story is about her maturing into a capable figure and I'm looking forward to being along for that.

What I didn't like:
- There's not a lot of animation. There's some stylistic things they've done to cover it up but a lot of the show is just still frames and panning shots with one special effect to give it the appearance of motion. It was a bit disappointing because I liked the manga and was hoping to see some of my favorite parts in motion.

- It might be because I've gotten older since reading the manga, but I felt that the main character was way too immature compared to the love interest. I do like her personality- she's a nice girl and a realistic teenager- but the love interest feels too much like an adult. So as she fell in love I spent a lot of time cringing because it felt like watching a kid going after a local park employee whose job includes looking after her.

The first few chapters were pretty weird and silly and made me kind of unsure about continuing this manga, but now I've gotten really into it. It's one of those mostly-comedy series that are also able to hit you with emotional parts and a developing storyline. Similar format to Gintama, I guess? I'm having a lot of fun reading it. There's also a prequel manga if you want more of the seriousness and less comedy, although that will completely spoil this one.

The characters have dimensions! They each have personal character arcs that actually hold weight and affect each other and the overall story. Their ... interactions and decisions are natural and believable and it doesn't feel like I'm being sold something, which I'm so thankful for.

I'm also a sucker for worldbuilding, and that's here as well. The characters come from different places, which each have their own flavor and history that tie into characterization and story. Basically, the locations feel alive. It's nice.

It is a genderbend manga. What really surprised me was that though there were some eye-rolling jokes near the beginning, the author later starts to actually address LGBT+ topics as part of the natural progression of the story. I'm not going to say that it's perfect or in-depth or anything, but it was really nice and unexpected that this silly comedy manga started saying flat out that gay people and trans people exist and are normal.

Honestly I just thought this anime was kind of stale.

I picked it up after hearing that it brought something new to the table (and because I'm a fan of the artists for both the OP and ED), but found it to be just another power fantasy with some D&D flavor. Angsty badass dude does cool fights while collecting archetypal waifus who cheer him on. Nothing against that kind of thing, just isn't for me. Was also let down in the adventure aspect- the few locations they visit are for the most part pretty basic. Although that might be because it's early in the ... story? I don't know what's in the source material, and I'm not inclined to go looking.

It's known for being controversial. I was a little wary of that, but was hoping that a series going out of its way to use such a setting would actually do something to explore those themes and whatnot. Unfortunately it went for the more predictable route: momentary shock value, easy angst/hate button, and a whole lot of naked suffering women. Bit distasteful, really.

I've rated it a 7 overall because the production value isn't bad, and the D&D parts do give it a bit of an identity. If you can get past the distasteful parts and just want to see a cool dude tactically mow down goblins, it's probably a decent watch. The part it shines in is the fight scenes- the creative tactics that were used and the teamwork that the characters had to come up with were really fun and interesting to watch. I think I'd have liked this anime more if it focused even more on stuff like that, instead of spending so much time on one-note waifus and naked suffering women.