Sentenced to Be a Hero episode 6 delivers a strong finish for an otherwise so-so setup at the siege.

I must say, I was impressed with how well everything came together in this week's episode. I was not as invested in the far-too-soon return of the miners nor the chaotic rogue hijinks of the latest team member - both elements came off as weaker than the rest of the show. Turns out that going back to focusing on Xylo and Teoritta was the right call because this week was mostly about them and, shocker, I really enjoyed it.

The sequence in the tunnels with Tatsuya was a good palette cleanser for starters. Lots of bloody carnage, where the action was claustrophobic and grisly in the best possible way. It looked great while leaning into the horror tone the show is so deft at. The fact that it managed to do this by flipping the script on our perspective was nice - this week, it's the heroes being horrifying while the villains are running in terror with Tatsuya playing the part of the avenging angel. It's an interesting philosophical question, too, to ask who is the more inhuman of the combatants in this fight: the magically modified undying murder man, or the ostensibly normal humans who have aligned themselves with the faeries against their fellow humans? Whatever the answer, Tatsuya's attacks were cathartic and terrifically brought to life… er, death.

Xylo and Teoritta's showdown with the big beastie was excellent. The sub-theme of the two of thing being more alike than different and that being the source of Xylo's angst is a compelling one, something I hope the show explores more of in the future. The general tempo of the fight wasn't too noticeably different from the last time they fought a giant flesh tower of eyeballs, but there were a few new twists that kept it fresh. I loved the way Xylo opened the giant pit for Teoritta to drop the barrage of giant swords down on the monster. The sword-summoning shtick is a cool defining feature for the little goddess. Additionally, the fact that she had to push through the beast's defenses to press the swords further before it could corrupt/absorb them was neat. It showed that even her summoning powers require some level of effort and exertion, which helps explain why she might not be the first line of defense despite her celestial moniker.

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Sentenced to Be a Hero is currently streaming onCrunchyroll.