Fantasy anime Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 is continuing with a second season. An ultra teaser visual and announcement trailer have been released.
Following the news, Crunchyroll announced that it had acquired the new season for streaming.
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A Sentenced to Be a Hero game subtitled -Game of the GODDESS-, developed by mobile game studio VIC GAME STUDIOS, was also revealed.
Sentenced to Be a Hero adapts the light novels written by Rocket Shokai and illustrated by MEPHISTO. Yen Press describes the light novel series 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…
The anime’s first season began airing on January 3 (JST). It was originally meant to start in October 2025.
The Sentenced to Be a Hero books began in 2021 and have eight volumes as of January 2026. They are published under KADOKAWA’s Dengeki no Shinbungei label/imprint. There is a manga by Natsumi Inoue.
The story previously debuted as a web novel on Kakuyomu in 2020.
Staff (Season 1)
• Director: Hiroyuki Takashima (Symphogear XV co-action director, The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls U149 assistant director)
• Assistant director and creature designer: Yoshiki 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 (current)
• Yohei Azakami as Xylo Forbartz
• Mayu Izuka as Teoritta
• Shizuka Ishigami as Patausche Kivia
• Shun Horie as Dotta Luzulas
• Shunichi Toki as Venetim Leopool
