The first episode of the upcoming Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 TV anime will be screened at this December’s Anime Frontier event in Texas. The session will take place on December 12 from 3.30 PM CT to 5 PM CT.
The episode, which has a 60-minute length, was previously shown at Lucca Comics & Games 2025 in October.
Sentenced to Be a Hero is based on the light novel series written by Rocket Shoukai and illustrated by MEPHISTO, which began in 2021 and has seven volumes as of January 2025. Yen Press describes the light novels’ premise as such:
Heroism—a punishment for only the worst criminals. Those sentenced to the fate of a hero are forced to fight on the front lines against deadly centers of contagion that rot the land and turn its creatures into roving armies of violent beasts. And if a hero dies, their only reward is being brought back to life so they can continue the never-ending battle. But when Xylo Forbartz, a member of Penal Hero Unit 9004 and a convicted goddess killer, comes face-to-face with a new goddess, the pact they forge might just be enough to change the world…
Sentenced to Be a Hero was originally a web novel that first appeared on Kakuyomu in 2020. The light novels are published under KADOKAWA’s Dengeki no Shinbungei label.
There is a manga by Natsumi Inoue.
The Sentenced to Be a Hero anime was originally meant to premiere in October 2025, but was delayed to January 2026.
Staff
• Director: Hiroyuki Takashima (Symphogear XV co-action director, The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls U149 assistant director)
• Assistant director and creature designer: Yoshitake Nakaoji (Symphogear XV co-action director)
• Series composer and scriptwriter: Kenta Ihara (Ishura)
• Character designer: Takeshi Noda (DAN DA DAN sub-character designer on Episode 1, 5, 6 et al.)
• Setting designer: Nobutaka Ike (Belle background art director)
• Music composer: TRYTONELABO’s Shunsuke Takizawa (Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included)
• Animation production: Studio KAI
Cast
• Yohei Azakami as Xylo Forbartz
• Mayu Izuka as Teoritta
• Shizuka Ishigami as Patausche Kivia
• Shun Horie as Dotta Luzulas
• Shunichi Toki as Venetim Leopool
Source: Press release