English Dub Review: SUPER HxEROS “Bye-bye, HxEROS!”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

We open with a mysterious Kiseichuu saying that today’s the day she disbands HxEROS. But back at the house, Chacha teases Retto and Kirara for staying out all night together and coming home in a taxi for a shared “walk of shame.” But before Kirara can get too worked up protesting, Chacha reveals they’ll be visiting Anno later for a surprise. Retto asks Chacha why Anno didn’t answer when he called, and says he’s worried. After the intro sequence, we see Retto facing off against Nyotaikachuu, who seems to be the start of the character designer team not worrying about any insect resemblances. Retto takes down this Kiseichuu without much effort (or clothes shredding), but the foe gets in one last stinger, and zinger, before disintegrating. Shortly after the censor bug dissolves, Chacha asks Retto if he’s feeling alright because it turns out this particular Kiseichuu’s poison has the power to turn dicks into weasels. Even worse, if not captured and reattached quickly, the effects can become permanent. Thankfully (I guess?) the now-dickless Retto and Runba/Chacha combo are able to capture the elusive critter and bring it back to the house, but the hijinks are just getting started. It’s something of a slippery animal, and escapes to ensure we get a bath scene with gender swapped Retto (or “Hiro”, as he lies that he’s his own little sister as a cover story), Momoka, and Kirara. While the other two wash Hiro’s “pet weasel”, the animal goes stiff, reattaches itself, and resolves this part of the story. The group regathers in the living room in time to catch the news that Anno’s been arrested under the new laws cracking down on depravity. Chacha hands over a USB drive given to her by Anno to use in case of emergencies. Retto charges up his HxEROS gear with it, puts it on and turns the H clockwise as instructed, and finds himself decked out in his new “HxEROS” suit. The new crop-top ensemble was created using Chacha’s hair, amplifies H-energy and is resistant to its effects, meaning their clothes won’t be disintegrated next time they take on a censor bug. Unfortunately, immediately following this new upgrade, the team receives a call that they’re closing the dorm, and HxEROS is disbanded for the time being. Retto is despondant back at home with his sister (the *actual* Hiro) but Kirara is thrilled to have time off from hero-ing to enjoy a normal high school experience. To that end, she invites Retto to the fireworks festival, supposedly so her friend Haruka can ask Date. Retto’s concerned at first that Kirara’s forcing herself to ask him, but eventually accepts, and Kirara runs off with his HxEROS gear until he can start having fun. Unfortunately, Retto doesn’t arrive with Date as planned, because, as Kirara discovers after a bathroom break by the river, he tried to take on a Kiseichuu that’s planning to drain the fireworks watching crowd solo, and without his gear. The two confront the beast, and Kirara dons the HxEROS gear to get rid of it before it can cause any major harm. Once she tranforms back into her festival clothes, they’re joined by the rest of the HxEROS crew, who are ready to keep up the hero gig, and figure out what’s going with an eerie politician who’s policies caused Anno to get arrested.

Our take

Ok, so we’re back to getting a little bit of actual plot to this series, but more importantly: THE SUITS ARE HERE FINALLYYY. While we only see Retto’s briefly and Kirara’s get-up is the only one we see in action, they are, as described by Momoka, very hot. It’s kind of too bad we’ll only see the crew fully decked out for one episode, but it’s worth it to go ahead and wrap this series up, in my opinion.

But back to the actual plot. After a brief revisit from the Kiseichuu Queen (probably? I think? To be revealed, but it’s strongly implied?) we get a fairly sudden jolt into some gender bending when Retto loses his dick, or rather “the source of his manhood” after a sting from Nyotaikachuu. I couldn’t find confirmation of the voice actor for this villain, who gets to call Retto “cocky” before her powers make that exactly not the case, and teases viewers about taking their manhood in the interlude screen, but I think it’s safe to assume it’s Marissa Lenti, but again: UNCONFIRMED.

Since the gender bend gets bent back fairly quickly in the episode, the rest of the time serves as the obligatory yukata  and fireworks episode. I’m actually a huge sucker for these episodes because I love seeing the characters in traditional summer clothes, and of course, the fireworks are always a treat.

Haruka (yet another voice by Marissa Lenti in this series) and Date (always nice to hear Stephen Fu get a few lines, although he’ll always be Ryo from City Hunter to me!) getting together barely counts as a subplot, but it’s a nice look at life outside of HxEROS, and hopefully, what normal romance could be like for our protagonists once they take down the villainous Kiseichuu who’s managed to become governor, which is perhaps a little to realistic about the true motivations of most politicians.

Overall, this series seems to be wrapping up as expected, but it’ll be nice to see the crew geared up and fighting for the actual conclusion next week!