Somethings can be good to know in advance. In writing moment, the page tells you that its 12 episodes. It´s not correct, only 7 exists. The source material is an original project from Haoliners AL which is a Chinese Studio. You also don´t need to watch the prequel To Be Hero first. Apparently, they are not related plot or character wise, so you can go ahead and watch it as it is. And don´t let the two tags mislead you, I would´ve have labelled this as sienen and drama and maybe romance as well.
Even though only the story only spans for 7 episodes, they have used the time efficiently. It is focused on the important characters, sufficient backstories are provided, and the plot structure is surprisingly detailed. By the synopsis I believe that many can mistake To Be Heroine as a wired Chinese contribution to the Isekai genre, but that would be a wrong assumption. It may appear so for the first 3-4 episodes but evolve much further than that.
Basically, the show evolves in three steps. The first is the establishing platform with a heavy Isekai feeling and you try to figure out what´s going on, failing in figuring out what´s going on, to just sit back and enjoy the ride to see where the they are going to do with all miss mashed craziness (and if you can handle that it switches from Chinese to Japanese audio depending on which “world” our Heroine is in). The second step is the realisation that there is indeed something more going on. Back flashes work both as to get to know the characters and enfolding the next step of the narrative.
And here I need to point out that it’s not random plot points, even the most silly and random scene still service a purpose (even if just for laughs), neither does it do a complete change of story direction. The undertones and metaphors are there from the beginning and done in what I would call a clever way, which made the next step feel natural. Few writers have the talent to really incorporate important details along the way to make the evolution of their story feel like its building on itself smoothly. The third step is the unravelling and conclusion of our Heroine´s story. Because its her story and told from her perspective.
Speaking of our Heroine, I enjoyed her character a lot. In the dub/sub version I watched, her name is Hanaya Futaba. She reminds me of your ordinary high school girl, just living her ordinary life as she always has. Until something happens, and she finds herself in another dimension, summoned by a bold baby with a gold diaper who claims that she is his hero, and that she needs to fight the assassins that the other baby bosses send after him. Like that´s isn´t enough, the babies have the same name as her friends and roughly the same personality in this dimension as in her own. Hanaya first tries to get out of whole ordeal, the whole thing is obviously madness and she want nothing to with it. Use her clothes to summon handsome men fighting for her? What craziness.
I know, you thinking “what the hell?” right now? It is definitely such a moment when first introduced to To Be Heroine. My advice watching this is to just let go and see what it will take you.
Anyway, let me ask you a question. How would you define bravery? I discussed it with a friend a while ago. And of course, the definition will change from person to person. To me is being brave when you go ahead and do things that you are afraid to do, but despite that you pull through when it counts somehow anyway. Because if you feel no fear or hesitation when doing something outside your comfort zone, that´s not being brave for me, then you are just either fearless or stupid.
Why talk about bravery here? Well, because that´s how I would describe Hanaya best. She is brave, not fearless, cocky, arrogant or super powerful as your stereotypical hero. She is a normal girl in unusual situation and deals with it along away. It’s sometimes funny to watch (some of her age girl reactions is spot on). And sometimes its emotional to watch, and sometimes is bloody bad ass to watch.
As other reviewers have been pointing out as well, roughly half of the show has Chinese language and half it has Japanese dub (at least at the time and date when I´m writing this).
I haven’t watch any of Studio Haoliners productions before, but their work on To Be Heroine was very nice indeed. Think a combination of a toned down Kill La Kill and Katanagatari mixed in style and colours. That´s the easiest way I can describe the art style they used. I liked it a lot, it fit the Comedy element in the show, and they knew when to use more neutral colours and animation. Well done. The animation looked great to me, I definitely felt that some love was put into it. Fluid motions, good facial expressions, detailed and lifeful fight scenes, and cool angles. They also get thumbs up for the minimal unnecessary fanservice and the awesome OP.
To summon things up, To Be Heroine is a little jewel that many probably will miss. It mixed comedy, super power, sienen, drama and romance surprisingly well in my eyes. Few can mix those genres together and make it feel natural, but here I think they did a great job. Don´t get me wrong, it´s ludacris at times, but I enjoyed that type of ludacrisness, it was refreshing.
