One donghua has taken the internet by storm, dropping seemingly out of nowhere after years of production behind the scenes, China’s comeback as a leading contender in the anime market.

To Be Hero X is a collection of hero stories that explore the human behind the mask, branching down their different paths and how they rose to fame or keep that power that makes them uniquely qualified to serve their community. In this world, the faith of the people gives you inhuman abilities, and audiences get a glimpse of just how commercialized this has become to maintain positions of power and influence. The donghua’s namesake is derived from the strongest hero of them all, X, whose mysterious abilities seem to be changing the very reality of the world itself.

To Be Hero X is Innovative and China’s Most Stunning Project By Far

Paving the Way as the First Major Hit in Anime and Donghua

To Be Hero X is part of an anthology and actually the third of its installments, following To Be Hero and To Be Heroine. Aside from just blending 2D and 3D, it mixes elements from both Japanese and Chinese animation and storytelling, having been a collaboration effort between three different studios: Pb Animation Co, Studio LAN, and Paper Plane Animation Studio. Backed by Bilibili, Aniplex, and BeDream, this series had all the makings of success after a long four-odd years in development.

With stellar voice acting, drop-dead gorgeous animation, and a storyline that keeps fans hooked until the very last second, To Be Hero X is everything that can be done right if studios are allowed the time and resources to carefully curate their art. To Be Hero X, as both a donghua and an anime, masterfully weaves together two cultures down to its animation and writing, marking its success with a well-received debut and laying down the foundations for other franchises to follow in its steps, allowing for a more diverse range of the medium for fans to enjoy.

“A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats” Chinese Animation Only Grows

Placing Pressure on Japan as Fellow Competition

It’s been no secret that the anime industry has been struggling as of late in Japan these last few years. With the market at an all-time high and major companies like Netflix and Crunchyroll continuing to reinforce their efforts as distinguished hubs for an eager fanbase, the workforce behind producing anime is continuing to crumble because of poor work conditions and tighter time crunches due to rising expectations.

Models that had once given rise to spectacular anime like One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Black Clover don’t keep audiences as engaged as they used to when these shows would premiere every week. Due to inflated filler and not a lot of progress in the story in tandem with declining animation quality because of the toll this demands of animations, annual anime has proven insufficient.

Even select seasonal anime are not making the cut because studios either rely way too heavily on shortcuts or manage a project so poorly that scheduling issues leave very little time for a quality product to be delivered to fans, such as the case with One-Punch Man. Japan’s overproduction of anime has led to major lapses in judgment where standards are continuously dropping in order to cater to a hungry market. While hits like Solo Leveling break records with every season drop, likewise there are The Beginning After the End fans demanding a complete overhaul only two episodes in.

Chinese animation and donghua aren’t going to stop at To Be Hero X, there are already massive projects underway that will only continue to showcase the country’s potential as another leading force on the anime scene. And that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Crunchyroll has branched off by adapting a manhwa to newfound success and having donghua enter the sphere can allow for further inclusivity and a diverse range of story beats that haven’t been explored yet through anime.

Isekai is often mocked for the incredible saturation it’s brought to anime these last few years. But with other countries now stepping up to fulfill the demand, fans can begin exploring new ventures that help expand their horizons in an ever-growing medium that continues to evolve with each new hit.