A new anime series is getting a TV adaptation and it looks like fans are ready for a fun ride! Subaruichi’s The Legendary Hero is Dead manga has been getting a lot of hype over the years and now the upcoming anime adaptation has been confirmed. The show will be directed by Rion Kujo at LIDENFILMS, the studio behind Tokyo Revengers.
The anime will be released in 2023 and will be a spinoff of the manga’s Kingdom of God arc, which is set to debut in Shogakukan’s MangaONE app on May 9, 2022. The anime will also feature a cast of new characters.
Characters
The story follows a radish farmer named Touka Scott, who has been living in the southern village of Cheza along with his childhood friend, Yuna Yunis. The two have been trying to protect their farm from monsters by building a pit trap of bamboo spikes. Unfortunately, a monster attacks the farm and Touka’s trap fails.
While he’s distracted, a local hero named Shion arrives to save the village and falls into Touka’s trap. Touka is then forced to take matters into his own hands to save the town from the monster. He ends up killing the hero and accidentally destroying one of his own pit traps, leaving him dead and stuck inside the hero’s body.
Now Touka’s soul is in Shion’s body and he needs to get to Hell’s Gate so that the demons can’t destroy him and his village. Touka’s childhood friend Yuna joins him on the adventure, hoping to help them save the world from the monsters.
Necromancers
Touka’s allies include a small necromancer called Anri Haynesworth who was an ally of Shion when they were together. As she tries to revive Shion, she finds that Touka’s soul is in his body and can’t be regenerated. So Anri decides to force Touka’s soul into Shion’s body so that he can get to Hell’s Gate in his place.
Margaret Farom
Margaret Farom is the fiancee of Shion and is very much in love with Touka despite knowing that his body isn’t actually the hero’s. She has a great appetite and can gain weight at will. She is very receptive to Touka’s friendship and can be incredibly affectionate towards him.
The main villains in this series are four original Necromancers that were responsible for the destruction of the gods and took over the world. The Necromancers can extend their lifespan by consuming human souls, which is why they’re still around in this world.
Book Ends:
The ending to The Legendary Hero is Dead is a bit of a twist. It sees Touka deliberately pushing the hero Larkvlad into a big pit trap. It’s a pretty blatant book end, but Touka uses this to foil the hero’s resurrection trump card and get his soul trapped in his Holy Sword.
Hopefully, the plot will follow up on this with a more epic battle. If the series does, I’ll be interested to see if Touka can get Larkvlad’s soul out of his sword. It would make the climax more epic and fun to watch!