Lin & Yang: Dark Reflection – To Be Hero X
Okay, so a little bit of background. Superheroes are my bread and butter. Ever since I was a kid, all I can remember is watching ’90s reruns of Spider-Man and Batman the animated series, watching the spectacular Spider-Man on Earth’s Smidey’s Heroes, and completely burning out my original DVD set of Justice League. I grew up back in the prime of the MCU. I remember watching Thor 1 with my dad in theaters, and while it has seen better days, I still enjoy going to the theaters for most of their movies. With James Gun Superman’s recent release, my hopes for a cinematic DC universe have never been higher. One of my long-term goals for this channel is to write my own detailed pitch for a DC universe. And oh yeah, I’m writing a book about superheroes. And now with my job, instead of doing the responsible thing and saving for a car or a house or something boring like that, I’m buying all these omnibuses that I couldn’t afford as a kid. I’ve spent a lot of money on you. Anyway, I’m getting off track here. That’s a video for another day. The point is, I love superheroes. And as you’ve probably noticed from the channel, I love anime. Whenever these two genres combine, I am all over it. So, a little more background. Don’t click off yet. I promise this is important. After this, we’ll actually get to the point of the video. Okay, so I had this series on my channel called the Seasonal Anime Awards, where I would talk way too much about anime that came out for every 3 or 4 months and dub them the best I romance, action, etc., etc. You get it? That series was a lot of fun to make and you can really see my editing style and channel quality grow with each new release. The only thing though was that it was a lot. And with my new job, I just couldn’t keep doing that anymore on a seasonal basis on a quality that I was okay with. A couple of my Discord members, link below if you want to join, came up with the idea of doing it annually instead. So, I’ve been catching up on as much anime as I can over the first half of the year. And oh my god, I don’t know if it’s just me, but this has been a rough and slow start to the year 2025. Honestly, other than a handful, there has not been much this year that has stood out to me on a personal level. Of course, all the big names like Solo Leveling, Fire Force, Dr. Stone, they’re all great. You know, it’s whatever, whatever. But I feel like we haven’t had as many bangers as we’ve had in previous years. But to be Hero X, see, I told you we were getting back to this. 2B Hero X has absolutely floored me. Just as I was getting burnt out on the near endless list of dry seasonals, this show pulled me back in. I ended up binging seven episodes of this in one night. And I only stopped because there was only seven episodes released at the time. Now, if this title sounds familiar, that’s because there’s two other shows that predate this with a very similar title. There’s no correlation between these shows, and you really don’t have to watch them to get into X. because I’m a completionist. I watched them. 2016 to Hero was actually just horrible with legitimate toilet humor and I could barely get through three episodes of that. And while Tubhuan is a massive step up, I was oddly unsatisfied by the end of it all. Honestly, I think it could have been an incredible emotional drama if it kept to the real world stuff and dropped the weird baby world in stance. But that’s just me. Anyway, we are not here to talk about those shows. We are here to talk about one of my favorites and absolute standout shows of the year so far. To be Hero X. Okay, so a little bit of a disclaimer. The first seven episodes are going to be heavily spoiled in this video. The next couple minutes though, that’s going to be a nonspoiler kind of segment review look back of the show as a whole. But once I do get to the main meat of the video, there will be a spoiler warning. you should click off, watch those first seven episodes, and come back to watch what the rest of this video is about. Don’t worry, I’ll be waiting. For those of you who haven’t seen it, let me set the stage. If you’ll let me glaze for a second, this is one of the most unique power systems I’ve seen, and they have a lot of fun with it. The world operates on the power of belief. Some individuals are able to tap into this power, granting them superhuman abilities, and the more people who believe in these heroes, the stronger they become. The world’s heroes are built on their social credibility. The only powers they have are the ones that people believe they have. It’s a deadly game of PR, and one wrong move can cost the world’s strongest hero everything. To take an example straight out of the bio of the show, if for some reason the masses believe that Superman can no longer fly, he’ll lose the ability to fly. With as many drawbacks this system offers, it also can lead to the birth of new heroes in the most desperate of times. All it takes is one person to believe for the greatest heroes to be born. And of course, since public relations play a huge part in how much power any given hero has at a time, corporations run the hero world. Secrets are kept tightly under lock and key. When a new hero pops up and they begin to get any form of notoriety, these corporations swoop in on the business opportunity, erasing any unfavorable aspects of their past that could potentially be used against them. With their old lives gone, heroes in this world only have one goal if they want to keep their power. To aim for the top and to not let their secrets get exposed in the process. Because the seed of doubt can have earthshattering consequences on the career so many dream of. And of course, with the more eyes on them, there will always be at least one person who wants to see their downfall. And did I mention Peter you’ll be [ __ ] so honored there’s a soundtrack for this? But where things really get good is the drawbacks of this kind of system. Heroes who used to be able to teleport at a whim suddenly get stuck into one location because that’s where the public believes they belong. The strongest in the verse are constantly forced to stand firm no matter the situation because the world believes they’ll never kneel. The simple act of walking out the door can become a herculean task if the masses believe you shouldn’t leave. And it’s not like the masses want this to happen. I’m sure they’d be sympathetic if they knew the kind of struggles their heroes were going through. But sympathy doesn’t buy power in this world. And as long as the corporations behind these heroes don’t see a reason to give the public a personal view into their heroes lives, their belief is law. This show could easily become as cynical as something like The Boys, and it’d probably still be pretty good. But there’s an earnesty behind these characters that raise this show beyond the simple message of corporate heroes bad. And the first seven episodes play a massive role in understanding where every hero in this world lands. This is where we’re going to start getting into spoilers for the series. So, if you’re interested in checking it out, pause the video, binge those first seven episodes, and come back to see what I have to say. That took me 20 minutes. Jeez. Ark one follows Lyn Lane, your everyday run-of-the-mill average person. Unlike the heroes in this world, there’s nothing special about him. He genuinely believes anyone has the ability to become a hero, and tries to give people hope by making ads to sell heroes in their products. Ark 2 follows Yang Chen, your everyday run-of-the-mill average person. Unlike the heroes in this world, there’s nothing special about him. Okay? Orphaned at a young age, Young Chang’s goal in life is to give kids the same hope his hero, Esau, gave him by cosplaying as him for birthday events. I’ve seen comments from people noting that these two arcs are fairly redundant. Noting how both MC’s come from little nothing, both come into power after extraordinary circumstances, both rise through the hero ranks at incredible speeds, and both end up replacing the heroes they once idolized. Compared to following arcs within the series, these two arcs do seem fairly generic and pretty safe for superhero stories, especially considering they air backtoback. But I am not those some. There is a vision to these orcs. There is a reason as to why they share so many similarities. Because while Yang Chang and Lingling might seem to share some surface level similarities, the two could not be more different. They are mirrors to each other, two sides of the same coin, a dark reflection. One is an optimistic story of free will and self-acceptance. The other is a tragic cautionary tale of losing oneself to insecurity. From the get-go, while they both idolize their respective heroes, Lin Ling isn’t really doing anything to actively put himself in the spotlight. He accepted a long time ago that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero. And while it’s evident that he believes that anyone has the power to become one, seen through his cringy golden ageesque ad, he’s content with living his life as a normal person. Yang Chen, on the other hand, has devoted his life to becoming just like his icon so that he can inspire and be there for others the way Eel was there for him. He creates his own costumes from scratch. He puts on his own performances. He does anything to put himself in the spotlight for the chance to emulate his hero. Outside the mask, he’s this awkward, insecure, bumbling kid. But when he’s prancing around his EO, he feels alive like he was meant to do this. When both are suddenly thrust into the hero world, the conditions could not be more different. Lingling is practically abducted. After being fired because his ad was a little cringe, he witnesses his idol, a hero on track to the top 10. One of the best out there with a smile that’ll brighten anyone’s day and a literal flying symbol of hope. Willingly fall to their death. When Nice’s agency discovers Lindling has an uncanny resemblance to the now useless idol, they slap some white dye on the poor kid, fake his death, and force him to act like nothing happened. His life is stolen from him in the blink of an eye. All because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. None of it was his choice. He’s pushed forward by who knows how many hands. and he’s forced to go along with it because it’s not like he has his old life to go back to. They made sure of that. At this point, Nice has become more than just a person. He’s become almost like an entity. With the original gone and the world believing he’s still alive, his trust docs are up for the taking. And the longer his company waits, the more money they burn and the greater risk of the public discovering the truth. Lyn Lling is put right in front of the camera and is expected to have a flawless performance. As long as the public believes he’s nice, his body will become the avatar for his abilities. Yangchen though, once his ro start going viral, his life couldn’t be going any better. Yang starts to make a big name for himself right off the bat. He collected his $200 and Pasco before the game even started. After years of being the underdog, years of being overlooked and discarded because of his low trust value, Yang Chen finally has the power to make a difference, to prove to the world that he’s more than just a cosplayer, that he too can be a hero. Some other interesting quickfire parallels that the two go through. Both have to face someone trying to take their trust docs, but while one is a villain, the other is the company that represents their icon’s image. One has to fake a tragedy while the other legitimately has to go through one. One is supported by their icons company while the other is targeted by them. And at the end of it all, both end up replacing their respective heroes at the top. One genre that I really love in anime is romance. And I love how this show incorporates it in these arcs. And these relationships are perhaps the biggest contrast between Lynn and Yang. Moon discovers pretty early on that Lynn is not the nice she knew. After being tricked into a lie detector by the Enlightener, when asked if he and Moon are a real couple, Lynn answers with, “She is my goddess.” That immediately tips her off that something is wrong because the relationship between the real nice and her is anything but romantic. In fact, when she realizes that the original nice is dead, it’s not the kind of reaction a kind and loving girlfriend you’d think would have. So, he’s dead. Did you bought a new one? Why do you insist on torturing me? The power couple that the people know and love is nothing more than a stunt the corporation is pulling because they know it gets clicks. And clicks make them a lot, and I mean a lot of money. Just look at the ads Lynn pumps out for them. He made his life off of this relationship. So many people make their lives off of this lie. This is where we get to see that the life of a hero really isn’t all that is made up to be. As trust grows between the two, Moon reveals that her teleportation gun used to be able to take her wherever she wanted. But after the public entangled her with nice, they expect her to be wherever he is. Now the gun only takes her to nice, the person she resents the most. It is a great scene, and it’s probably one of my favorites in the show. Lynn might slowly be sliding into the role of nice, but he’s still in there. He hasn’t lost himself completely to the character. His personal interactions aren’t a facade. They are how he would genuinely handle a situation. At this moment, he isn’t trying to be nice. He’s just Lynn. What I love about this part of the show is that the relationship isn’t rushed. In fact, the two don’t become a couple at all by the end of the arc. They grow to mutually respect one another. And while the sparks are there for a potential future, they end off as friends more than anything else. While Lin Nice is fighting this uphill battle to even get Moon to talk to him, however, Yang Chan is doing everything in his power to fumble Xia. Poor girl is throwing herself onto him, and he doesn’t see a damn sign. Girl does not need some multi-billion dollar corporation to force her to talk to him. She is willingly putting herself out there and praying this guy gets it through his thick skull. But Chang’s insecurities are simply too much. He doesn’t believe that he’s enough for her. His entire life, he’s been looked down on. With a trust score of practically zero, he’s never seen himself as anything. He defines himself on his ability to mimic Esau. Without that, what is he? How could he be enough for the girl of his dreams when he’s not even enough for himself? Even after he gains his new abilities, he’s still not enough. He might have Iso’s powers. He might have the public’s approval. But how could he be enough for Xia when rich, handsome, and talented Shangcha is always by her side. Yang Chen is nothing in comparison. And yes, you could make an argument that Lin Nice also fumbled Moon, too. After he faked her death to free her of her contract, Moon goes into retirement. But before she leaves, she extends a hand to Lind Nice. The time they shared might have been forced onto them, but that bond that they grew was real. They might be the only people who know exactly who the other is. This doesn’t have to be an escape for just Moon. She knows that this wasn’t Lingling’s decision, that he was forced to be here. Same as her, they can run away together. No more corporations, no more bending the knee to the will of the people, no more powers. But at this crucial moment in their relationship, Lynn Nice hesitates. Not because he worships Moon as this goddess he has no chance with, but because he’s tempted by the status Nice gives him. This is something he’s dreamed of all his life. And now he has a taste for it, and he doesn’t know if he’s ready to let it go yet. Moon sees this flicker, and she leaves without him, wishing him the best. It is within these relationships where we get to see the true core of each character shine through. When Moon comes back, or should I say is kidnapped in a huge public spectacle. Nice can’t do anything to save her. He makes a break for the door, hoping that he’s not too late to save the one person he genuinely cares about in this world. The one person he might have left in this world. The one person who actually knows who he is. But he can’t open it. He can’t even touch it. It’s not that he’s hesitating. It’s not that there’s someone stronger there holding him back. It’s the people that are stopping him. Nice is stopping him. If Moon really has been kidnapped, if she’s really alive, then that means their heroes lied to them. Right now, there’s no telling if that’s the real Moon. It could be a robot. It could be a hologram. It could be a shape shifter. But the moment Nice comes flying in to save the day, that makes it all real. With all the belief that they can muster, the masses pray that Nice doesn’t save this clearly impostor Moon. Because they don’t know what they’ll do if they find out everything they’ve believed in all these years one big lie. And unknown to them, they’re holding nice back. The second he steps out that door, there’s no going back. He’ll be exposed for the nobody he is, and Nice will be nothing more than a passing memory. Those incredible powers will fade until they’re all gone. And for what? For all he knows, the public is right. How could this villain have even found Moon? It’s illogical to go up guns blazing, especially when other heroes are on their way to save her. But this villain isn’t like any other freak of the week. He specializes in exposing people and their past. He was already good enough as an exhero, but now powered by this new substance, the power of fear. He’s able to attain information at a godlike speed. Any hero that’s thrown up against him, no matter how tightly their records might be sealed, is dismantled in seconds. And that’s exactly what he wants to do to Nice. Nice knows there’s no way he could beat this guy. Everything is stacked against him. Even if he could leave the tower he’s trapped in, the second he walks up to him, it’s all over. The Enlightener knows everything. Nice will go back to being a nobody. And nobody can be a hero. But almost with comical timing, Lynn’s ad appears, forcing him to remember his lights in the dark. There was a time where he believed anyone, no matter where they came from, could be a hero. And it wasn’t nice who beat the enlightener in their first encounter. If the real nice had been there, everything would have crumbled. The only reason he and Moon were able to get out of that situation because he answered as himself. Become a hero too. As Lynn Lynn does everything he can to run towards Moon. Powers and status be damned. His best friend is in danger. He discards the persona of nice, throwing away his dreams to save her because that’s exactly what Linling Lling would do. Meanwhile, with Yang Chen, his insecurities turn any potential relationship between him and Shia into Ash. It’s so bad. But when Shia asks Yang out to a concert that he wanted to originally invite her to in the first place, he runs away because of his imaginary rivalry with Shang. It is so painful to watch, but it only gets so much worse from here. After Shang’s death, Yang starts to drift apart, solely focused on revenge, letting his guilt drive him. Of course, Yang feels guilty about Shang’s death. Shang was only ever a target because he sponsored him as the new and improved Esau. They knew the risk, and yet, they still did it. Of course, he wants justice. Of course, he wants to avenge his friend because he was powerless to save him. Or that’s what everyone else believes. You see, Shang wasn’t just shot in some random alley alone. He was shot right in front of Yang’s eyes. Yang’s power gives him a form of super speed, faster than any car and certainly faster than a single bullet. As we enter bullet time, we see the sparks flying off of Viang. He’s locked in. He’s ready to save his friend. He just needs one second, and 1 second is all he has. But he doesn’t see his friend in that moment. He sees his rival in love and his powers choked. For that brief instance, for that one second, the one second he needed. the one second he had in his grasp. He hesitated to save a life because of his own personal insecurities. And the guilt drives him crazy. He becomes obsessed with taking the original EOS’s place to prove to everyone, to prove to himself that he is special, that he has what it takes to be a hero. He’s back on this grind because he can’t face himself if he doesn’t have what it takes. Both Lin Ling and Yang Chang’s fights with their final boss is streamed for the public to watch. Where Lynn is powerless in the fight, Yang has never been stronger. Both fights are brutal and epic with Hiyuki Sana going absolutely off the rails of the soundtrack. Oh my god, I’m going to glaze. Without his power, Lynn is brutalized by the Enlightener. But no matter how hard he’s knocked down, he keeps getting back up because he knows the second he fails, the villain will have no use for Moon. Yang’s fight is so so much more petty in comparison. There are no stakes other than who gets to take the name of Eil. Where Lynn’s fight is filled with tension and dread, Yangs is an absolute spectacle. The masses watch with excitement. With every blow each takes, their trust values rise and fall. It’s one big game of ego. But where the public is split on which Esau they want to see come out on top. They have a very different reaction to Lingling’s refusal to stop fighting. His pure love for Moon touches the hearts of the people. Her death might have been faked, but they can see that his feelings for her are completely genuine. They watch as he does everything to protect the person he loves. And they begin to believe that he’ll never go down. Remember when I said in this world, a hero can be born at any time as long as they have the people’s trust and beliefs? Bit by bit, Lynn starts to generate his own power. No longer connected to Nice, Lynn becomes his own hero. It could almost be considered a miracle, but this is really the Enlightener’s own downfall. In his arrogance, he streamed the event so the people could see their heroes fall. But after all of his hard work, he only ended up making something rare for this world. A genuine hero. This dreamman Yang’s fight plays a pivotal role in his victory as well. He doesn’t get a power boost because he’s the more popular fighter. The agency behind the original ESIL see that the OG is boring the public with his safe and standard move set and they force him to do something flashy to get their interest back. The OG EIL knows the risk of this move all too well. He lost an arm thanks to it back in his prime because of how vulnerable it makes him. But the agency couldn’t give a damn about it. They give him no other choice. Seeing the moment of weakness he was waiting for, the new Esil strikes faster and harder than he ever has in his life. After the dust settles, only one Eil is left standing after that attack. Perhaps one of the biggest tragedies of this arc is that we don’t get much when it comes to who’s behind the original Eil’s mask. And that’s kind of the point. We can make assumptions of his personality, but he’s meant to be a shell of his former self. Any aspirations he might have had are long gone as this corporate world sucked him dry until he was nothing more than the perfect mascot. And that’s exactly what happens to Yang Chan. He gets his wish. He not only gets to step in his idol’s shoes, he becomes his idol. The new Esau steps forward. His new mechanical arm mirroring that of the original. Nothing was learned through his death. The cycle repeats and the world is given an old champion with new paint. And the public could honestly be less bothered. When I first saw those comments saying that these first two arcs were redundant, I could not disagree more. It inspired me to make this video. But if I’m being honest with you, I just wanted an excuse to glaze over my newest obsession. Lin Ling and Yang Chang’s stories couldn’t be more different. Lynn’s stories about a guy being forced into the role of an upandcoming hero. A majority of the choices made in this arc are made for him until the very end. He falls into the mask, enjoying the status of this new life, but bit by bit, also learning just how terrible this life can be. His arc isn’t about becoming nice. It’s about becoming himself. To learn that he is enough and that even a nobody like him can be a hero. He spiritually breaks away from the corporate world. And while he still remains a hero by the end, he is a hero on his own terms. No longer hiding behind the mask of a dead man, but proudly showing off that he and anyone like him can be a hero. Yang Chang is the exact opposite. He allowed his insecurities to get the better of him time and time again. Most of the decisions made in this arc are his and his alone. When given one final out, he rejects the chance to be with the girl of his dreams. Because even after the power, the status, the popularity, and the tragedy he’s gone through, he still doesn’t believe he’s enough. He goes from wanting to honor his hero to needing to replace him after he becomes the one and only Esau soul. He believes he’ll finally find peace within himself only for him to become the exact show the original was and to have nobody that really cares about him by his side. Like I said, these two are mirrors to each other. While they go through similar events, they come out on completely different sides. Lynn was able to beat the system and become his own person while Yang is fully consumed by it, becoming nothing more than a new toy waiting to be discarded. After experiencing these seven episodes back toback, the audience understands the two types of heroes that can be born into this world. Characters like Cyan Queen and Lolli lean more toward Lynn’s individualistic side where characters like Boa and the Disco Guy believe that they are important because the system tells them they are and allow their fear and insecurity to consume them after they’re discarded. These two arcs are essential because now we can identify where a hero was at in their run with just a few pieces of their story, allowing for more world building to take place as the series progresses. Man, I absolutely love this show. Oh my god, I just I honestly can’t stop thinking about it. This video was so much fun to make. If you enjoyed this video, remember to like, subscribe, and comment down below. If you want to talk more about anime with me, I have a Discord where we can do just that. Like I said, we’re thinking of making a huge end of the year anime award/ retrospective video for 2025. In our Discord, you can nominate your favorite shows for a multitude of genres, as well as your favorite opening songs, ending songs, and OSTs as the year goes by. So, if you want your favorites to be included in an absolutely massive poll that I’m hoping a bunch of people will be able to vote in at the end of the year, make sure you join and nominate them before December starts. I have to give an absolutely huge shout out to the patrons, Matthew Garcia, a Glitched Eevee, and Kr. For just $1 a month, they get to see videos like this at least one week in advance, as well as see the fulllength and uncensored version of all of my videos. Once again, thank you all so much for watching. Let me know down below in the comments what your favorite arc of this show was. Me personally, it has to be Lin Ling/Nes. I am a huge sucker for superhero origin stories, and the end of this arc just left me feeling so good. We do not talk about the last 5 seconds. Remember to keep watching anime and I’ll see you in the next
#tobeherox #anime #superhero #comics #manga
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What is a hero? While both are on a familiar path, Lin and Yang find out that no matter how similar one’s road in life may be, their destination will always be different based on nothing else but choice.
After weeks of writing and editing, the video is finally here. I had so much fun making this video! This is the kind of content that I really want to focus on. Breakdowns of shows I like as well as more original ideas. Hope you all enjoyed. Remember to like and subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one
Timestamps:
0:00 Long Winded Intro
3:28 Non-Spoiler recap
6:25 Dark Reflection
24:46 Wrap Up
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