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Sentenced to Be a Hero Anime's New Video Reveals January 3 Debut, Spyair's Theme Song
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The staff of the television anime of Rocket Shokai's Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 (Yūsha-kei ni Shosu: Chōbatsu Yūsha 9004-tai Keimu Kiroku) light novel series revealed the main promotional video, January 3 debut, more cast, and theme song information on Saturday.
SPYAIR will perform the theme song "Kill the Noise." The above video previews the song.
The anime will debut on January 3 at 10:00 p.m. on Tokyo MX. The first episode will be a 60-minute special, and the second episode will air on January 15, with subsequent episodes airing on Thursdays. The anime will air on 28 channels across Japan. In Japan the series will stream on Amazon Prime Video starting on January 3 at 10:00 p.m., and will stream on other sites starting on January 6.
New cast members include:
Lastly, the staff revealed a new "location visual" for Couveunge Forest.
The anime stars:
- Yōhei Azakami as Xylo Forbartz
- Mayu Iizuka as Teoritta
- Shizuka Ishigami as Patausche Kivia
- Shun Horie as Dotta Luzulas
- Shunichi Toki as Venetim Leopool
- Yōji Ueda as Noragalle Senridge
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Tatsuya
- Jun Fukushima as Tsav
- Shōya Chiba as Jayce Partiract
- Yōko Hikasa as Neely
Hiroyuki Takashima (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation episode director, The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls U149 OVA assistant director) is directing the anime at Studio KAI. Yoshitake Nakakōji is the assistant director, and is also credited as creature designer. Kenta Ihara (Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy-, Ishura, Nukitashi the Animation) is writing and supervising the series' scripts. Takeshi Noda (DAN DA DAN sub-character designs) is designing the characters. Shunsuke Takizawa is composing the music. Nobutaka Ike is credited for worldbuilding. Kouta Sugawa is the prop designer.
Yen Press is releasing the novel series in English, and it describes the story:
Heroism—a punishment for only the worst criminals. Those sentenced to the fate of a hero are forced to fight at the front lines against the demon king's army—and if they die, they can expect to be revived and continue the battle. But when their leader, convicted of killing a goddess, meets another goddess himself, the contract they forge may be enough to change the world...
Shokai launched the light novel series on Kadokawa's Kakuyomu site in October 2020, and Kadokawa began publishing the series in print in September 2021 with illustrations by Mephisto. Kadokawa released the seventh volume in January, and will release the eighth volume on January 17, 2026.
Natsumi Inoue launched the novel's manga adaptation on Kadokawa's Dengeki Comic Regulus website in March 2022. Kadokawa published the manga's second compiled book volume in April 2024. BookWalker Global is releasing the manga digitally in English. Yen Press announced on December 12 it will release the manga in English starting in June 2026.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
