Sentenced to Be a Hero Unveils New Key Visual

©2024 Rocket Shokai(Dengekibunko/KadokawaPublished)/KADOKAWA/Project Sentenced to Be a Hero

The forthcoming Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 TV anime has unveiled a second key visual ahead of its January 2026 debut. The artwork showcases several characters in mid-combat positions, featuring the tagline, “Fight, even in death.”

The anime initially had plans to premiere in October 2025 and will feature a 60-minute launch episode.

©2024 Rocket Shokai(Dengekibunko/KadokawaPublished)/KADOKAWA/Project Sentenced to Be a Hero

Sentenced to Be a Hero is adapted from the light novel series authored by Rocket Shoukai and illustrated by MEPHISTO, which commenced in 2021 and has seven volumes published by January 2025. Yen Press summarizes the light novels’ premise as follows:

Heroism—a sentence reserved for only the most heinous criminals. Those condemned to the hero’s fate must fight on the front lines against lethal sources of contagion that decay the land and transform its inhabitants into rampaging hordes of ferocious beasts. If a hero meets their end, their only reward is resurrection, ensuring their endless battle continues. However, when Xylo Forbartz, a member of Penal Hero Unit 9004 and a convicted killer of goddesses, encounters a new goddess, the bond they create might be sufficient to alter the course of the world…

The light novels are released under KADOKAWA’s Dengeki no Shinbungei label and feature a manga adaptation by Natsumi Inoue. The storyline was initially conceived as a web novel that debuted on Kakuyomu in 2020.

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: @yushakei_PJ