Episode 17 – To Be Hero X

Little Johnny isn’t exactly a new face in our story. He’s part of Queen and Cyan’s arcs, and in the last episode, he was part of the ensemble cast alongside Ghostblade, Loli, Loli’s father, and Nuonuo. While he was under the effects of fear, we learned a bit about his home life in comparison to the others—that he once had a happy family, only for it to be stolen away from him with the deaths of both his parents. This week, we get to see those events firsthand. But more importantly, we are fully introduced to Little Johnny’s father, Sheng, and through him, we get a deeper look at not only the limits of Trust-based superpowers but also the inner workings of superhero society in the time before even DJ Shindig.

Unlike the other Xs we have seen in this show, Sheng was a healer rather than a fighter. His powers were said to be able to heal anything. However, there is one thing he was unable to heal: his wife’s sickness. The interesting thing about this is that the disease (whatever it was) might not have been immune to his powers outright. Rather, it seems like Sheng was so attached to his wife—so afraid that he might not be able to heal her—that he became unable to.

This is something we have seen back even in the first episode of the series with Lin Ling. While the Trust from all of Nice’s followers was flowing into his body, it wasn’t until Lin Ling believed in himself that he was able to utilize that power to its fullest to defeat his old boss.

Sheng became X not because he cared about being the world’s greatest hero but because being the top hero gave him access to the world’s best medical staff and technology. And so, with the death of his wife, he gave up the title and retired from being a hero. This move not only seems unprecedented but also left Vortex as a weak-looking X, as he inherited the title rather than won it through his skills and popularity.

There’s a lot of subtext in this episode, especially when it comes to Sheng. It’s clear that, as the top hero, he was privy to all kinds of high-level secrets—and those behind the scenes didn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut. This is probably why Ghostblade was sent to assassinate him after he met with Vortex—it would have looked like the two Xs were colluding to anyone even the least bit paranoid.

And to be fair, Sheng was acting against those pulling the strings. Even before he retired—effectively cutting those strings—he hid the existence of Big Johnny, an alien lifeform. He was no doubt acting shady, and this was picked up on—even if the specifics weren’t. Moreover, Sheng’s actions almost certainly stunted the investigation of the UFO and its technology. After all, a metal alloy that can block Trust and Fear makes way more sense when you know that the aliens who made it transform based on people’s emotional states.

The episode ends on a dramatic, if predictable, cliffhanger. Sheng is dead, and Little Johnny mistakenly blames Vortex rather than Ghostblade. This has, in turn, caused Big Johnny to run amok and begin smashing the nearby village. So now we’re left in a chaotic situation as the three fight it out (and Ghostblade watches on). It’s a solid start to Little Johnny’s story with some great world-building, but I’m far more excited to see his life in the time between these events and when he meets Cyan and Queen than those in this chapter we’ve already heard about previously.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I was happy to see that the “bullies” turned out to be just normal kids in the end—and that growing up for a few years with The Johnnies turned them all into good friends.

• I’m interested in this mysterious number 2 hero that Vortex sees as such a big threat that he’s willing to come to his predecessor and beg for him to come out of retirement.

• I wonder if Big Johnny going berserk at the end of Queen and Ghostblade’s arc is due to Little Johnny figuring out it was Ghostblade who killed his dad instead of Vortex.

• The “Downfall” is something that has been mentioned in passing before (and seen in E-Soul’s “Character Story Movie”). It refers to the events of what we would call “Year 0,” where the top hero, Zero, seemingly gained god-like power and turned evil. He was stopped thanks to one young hero: E-Soul. Afterwards, the Commission was formed to stop such a thing from ever happening again, and E-Soul was crowned the first X.

To Be Hero X is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.