I initially shied away from this show. Aside from the rather difficult pronunciation of the title, “To Be Hero”, the capsule and accompanying picture was a bit difficult to take. However, when you get into the show, it is the same kind of disjointed run you have seen with “One-Punch Man” and “Mob Psycho 100”, in that you have a hero that really doesn’t know what to do with himself or his life, either before or after. And some kind of hero!

We begin with Ossan (far left), a handsome yet undisciplined man. He is a divorced father who has a job as a toilet seat designer. There is a really crazed scene where he is picking up girls with the line about him being a toilet seat designer, wearing the seat itself about his neck (although he is concerned about the entire commode) and having a jolly good time at some host club. He lives with his daughter Min, (that fetching lass up there in the middle) who excels in both academics and sports but detests Ossan, owing to his slovenly nature, lack of morals and an acute inability to be at home. A wife and daughter get in the way of being a skirt-chaser. And are an extra drag on the money portion of the fun.

One day, while on the toilet, Ossan is sucked into it and is taken to an alternate universe, where he becomes a hero charged with protecting the world! Wow, now he can REALLY score with the babes. However, there is a major fly in the ointment: in exchange for this phenomenal cosmic power, he transforms from his handsome form into a chubby blob. Yup, that bloated guy in the disgusting shorts is Ossan. His fight to save the world and protect his Min-chan begins. But not without a ton of problems.

Min does not see this blob as dad, but as some kind of pervert slob. Ossan is forced to move in with his neighbor, Yamada (far right; he’s actually much shorter than that), so he can keep an eye on daughter. What does daughter do when dad goes missing? Nothing; he’s done this crap before and will do it again. Urgh, it’s so irritating! Then come the invading hordes, wanting to destroy the Earth, but Ossan can fight like there’s no tomorrow. He also has to do battle with First Prince. Uh-huh, that guy in the green t-shirt is a space alien who has fallen for Min and wants to be with her forever. Not if daddy has his say! And not if First Prince’s daddy has HIS say!

Although a short run (about 11 minutes per show), they do manage to pack a lot into it, although the pervy Mr. Yamada shtick gets worn thin a bit quickly. Can Ossan convince his daughter as to whom he really is? Can Min ever forgive and accept Ossan back into her life? What does Mr. Yamada honestly do all day? You are going to have to watch.

The show does well, as they set up the rather cartoony situations (ladies, are you really going to fall for a guy who wears a toilet seat around his neck like a horse collar? Just askin’!) and then get to the more serious issues about what family really means. We do see an emotional growth for Ossan with his double struggle of understanding his role in all of this and the depth of care he has for Min. Could there be a second season? That is on the table, as we haven’t concluded things.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           7 (Hot and cold approach)
Plot                  8 (Executed quite well)
Pacing              7 (Does drag at points)
Effectiveness   8 (Mostly Ossan’s resiliency)
Conclusion       7 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service      0 (A similar show would be “Honey and Clover”)

Overall            8 (A few loose ends about)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Daughter, I am right here.