English Dub Review: SUPER HxEROS “In This World Filled With Light”

Overview (Potential Spoilers):

Giant bug aliens known as Kiseichuu have invaded Earth to harvest erotic desire, or “H Energy” from the human populace. Protagonist Retto Enjo vows to become a hero after a traumatic event with his childhood crush Kirara Hoshino. Five years later, the two are in high school, with Kiara having become a hardened soul while Retto secretly takes down the parasitic menace, at the cost of his clothes. Can the two of them work things out? And is Retto the only fighter in town, or are there others out there who share in his mission to protect humanity’s interest in sex?

Our take:

Truly only anime could make hand holding seem obscene, while gratuitous nudity is just kind of something that happens when you’re battling giant bug aliens to protect humanity’s ability to get it up.

Kill la Kill comparisons seem apt, considering the whole “fighting aliens naked” aspect, but, based on the first episode at least, the setup seems to be headed more towards harem hijinks with the occasional action scene rather than a punch-filled thesis on vengeance, family, and fashion. The boob physics in Kill la Kill definitely strain the imagination, but in SUPER HxEROS, they’ve abandoned reality altogether. I get that excessive bouncing is appealing, but as a tit-haver myself, I am BEGGING animators to realize breasts still follow the line of action instead of just floating off in random directions whenever they feel like it.

That said, it’s not all bad! Just not my personal cup of tea, at least judging by this first offering of the English dub. The animation is stunning, especially the eyes! The coloring creates a near ethereal depth, and the lighting is exceptional. Plot-wise, I appreciate that the incident that led to Kirara Hoshino’s transformation from sweet, outgoing girl to “Iron Maiden germaphobe” wasn’t the expected (and somewhat implied) trauma. Instead, it’s revealed to be semi-humorous, and a source of power that will help her and the rest of the SUPER HxEROS defeat the Kiseichuu once and for all. Also, the title is a pun, which I will begrudgingly award one additional point for.

But let’s talk about the dub for a second. Matt Shipman (you may know him as Inasa in My Hero Academia, or Shay in Yu-Gi-Oh!, depending on how old you are) has Retto Enjo go from “stereotypical kid” to “hardened fighter” in about 3.5 seconds. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many octaves it drops, but it was definitely a bit jarring in the opening scene. That said, he lightens up a bit in general scenes, and overall I suppose it’s probably supposed to be indicative of testosterone, since the character’s powers come from his libido.

Brittany Lauda (you may know her as Yuzuriha Ogawa from Dr. Stone or Sandra from Attack on Titan) easily balances Kirara Hoshino’s tough edge in her voice when telling off her classmates with the quivering introspection of realizing her true feelings. While there’s plenty of tsundere in this episode (and undoubtedly more to come), her chemistry with Retto is undeniable. While some of that is due to writing, it probably doesn’t hurt that Lauda and Shipman are married in real life.

Marrissa Lenti (Moze in Borderlands 3) showcases her vocal versatility by providing the evil cackle of Kiseichuu X, the straightforward voice of classmate Haruka, and the bubbly trill followed by disenchanted growl of pop idol Minyarin.

Overall it’s a stellar cast with quality visuals, but with regards to story at this point, I’d have to rate SUPER HxEROS as super silly. But hey, maybe I’ll warm up to it as the series progresses.