To Be Hero X Ep 21 & 22 Review: Dragon Quest
We’re getting down to the few last ep of this season. And we only have, well, technically 2 more “heroes” to get through. And this arc, we have Dragon Boy. At this point, each arc isn’t just one single hero’s story anymore, but many intertwined. This one has Nice, Dragon Boy, and even X joining the fray – totaling 3 top-10 heroes at the end of the season. The only casualty? another true hero.
Dragon Boy’s background is pretty vaguely shown and quite…simple. But I guess establishing everyone equally would take too much time and effort. Dragon Boy seems to be a human experiment of sort – where he was “handled” by other adults trying to push him to his limits – using his special power of extreme endurance and tenacity. No matter how hard he got hit, he always get up and return it two-fold. He can also “transform” into a demonic-like form with enhance abilities. To be honest, I don’t think Dragon Boy really fits his persona, perhaps Demon Boy is a better name, but still.
Dragon Boy is, of course, a misguided savage. He thought everyone that call him trash are trash themselves, and want to rid the world of those “trash”. A “clean-up” operation, you can say. And of course, who else would take in such a person but our resident mastermind, Mr. Rock. After failing with Ghostblade, and E-Soul, Rock sent his 3rd assassin – Dragon Boy – to “infiltrate” the top 10 rank by just straight-up killing another hero – Smile. We have seen Smile before – during his fight with Bowa. He lost his X title then, and back then, his smiling face sometimes can seem uncanny and creepy. But it turns out, that’s his genuine smile and he was a true good-hearted hero. He inspired others, he protected the weak, and kept smiling through everything.
Dragon Boy is, of course, a misguided savage. He thought everyone that call him trash are trash themselves, and want to rid the world of those “trash”. A “clean-up” operation, you can say. And of course, who else would take in such a person but our resident mastermind, Mr. Rock. After failing with Ghostblade, and E-Soul, Rock sent his 3rd assassin – Dragon Boy – to “infiltrate” the top 10 rank by just straight-up killing another hero – Smile. We have seen Smile before – during his fight with Bowa. He lost his X title then, and back then, his smiling face sometimes can seem uncanny and creepy. But it turns out, that’s his genuine smile and he was a true good-hearted hero. He inspired others, he protected the weak, and kept smiling through everything.
But of course, the life of a top hero isn’t simple. And aside from X, I don’t think there’s any top heroes that can enjoy life like an ordinary person. Smile is effectively estranged from his family. It was irony when he has shown the entire world his smile, but he rarely got to show it to his own wife and daughter. I guess that’s the fate of most true hero in this world – or even “fake” hero – for that matter, is that they will never have a normal life due to the expectation of society placed on him. Smile can only de-stress by drinking and snacking with his weird age-gap friend: X. Yes, the ex X’s best friend is the current X himself. And their personality couldn’t be more different – like an uncle and his nephew. Their relationship is a bit awkward but very wholesome. But I do wonder how Smile came to know X and his identity and his power as well.
But what’s has to come…finally comes. Dragon Boy ambushed Smile and provoked him with his daughter’s pendant – teasing that he killed his family. We don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t count that out. Dragon Boy wanted to provoke Smile enough so that he would have a chance to use his unique abilities. Smile and Dragon Boy’s power are similar in terms of visual – a Homelander style where they are both superhuman. I really like how Smile fight and it’s quite different to how he did when he faced Bowa. Dragon Boy style is…however…a bit dull. He only got that “glowing when hit” thing like Black Panther’s suit, and his attitude while fighting really set him up to be hateable.
But what’s has to come…finally comes. Dragon Boy ambushed Smile and provoked him with his daughter’s pendant – teasing that he killed his family. We don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t count that out. Dragon Boy wanted to provoke Smile enough so that he would have a chance to use his unique abilities. Smile and Dragon Boy’s power are similar in terms of visual – a Homelander style where they are both superhuman. I really like how Smile fight and it’s quite different to how he did when he faced Bowa. Dragon Boy style is…however…a bit dull. He only got that “glowing when hit” thing like Black Panther’s suit, and his attitude while fighting really set him up to be hateable.
Still, Nice showed up during the fight. He was ordered to “observe” the fight and finished off whoever won, basically getting rid of two heroes with one tube of Fear. Well, Nice was clearly a douchebag before, but in this episode, he attempted to redeem himself and recover the soul he’s lost. His idol – Smile – is fighting with his life on the life, upholding the same moral principle that he passed on to Nice a when he was young. Nice snapped out of Shang’s control for a moment and stood on Smile’s side. However, his action backfired because Dragon Boy – after being injected with fear by Nice – literally spat it back out with its potential doubled. And Smile took it all. He quickly transformed into a violent monster that will destroy anything in his path. Seeing Smile so easily taken over by fear really highlight the potency of this material.
Smile’s berserk mode was pretty cool and powerful. Too bad this is Dragon Boy’s arc so he easily beat him back after turning into his own Demon Mode. Shocked, Nice went after Dragon Boy but was left struggling. The civilians saw that and Nice’s trust kinda wavered. However he still has plenty of fans due to good looks (of course!) However, Nice is basically just a plot device in the story now. Bro took so many L that I don’t think he has taken any W in the series. Even his off-screen Ws are orchestrated and fake as hell. I guess in the final moments, he got back the spirit of a hero. And that’s why he couldn’t live with himself afterwards, throwing himself off the building and died.
But the saviour shows up! X appeared and pulled off some insane stuff. His power activated after he snaps his finger (lol sounds like a certain aubergine man). And it seems to be a reality warp that can bend anything to his will. But Rock seems to have detect a crack in X’s invincibility. Let’s see what he can come up with to go against this seemingly unbeatable ability. Maybe he will chop his arm off like Thor did in Endgame lol. But I really like how X just literally turn Dragon Boy into a piece of paper then threw him in the river. To be honest, it feels like he got off super easy. I guess X is too laid back to deliver capital punishment. Even so.
=Aaron=
Smile’s berserk mode was pretty cool and powerful. Too bad this is Dragon Boy’s arc so he easily beat him back after turning into his own Demon Mode. Shocked, Nice went after Dragon Boy but was left struggling. The civilians saw that and Nice’s trust kinda wavered. However he still has plenty of fans due to good looks (of course!) However, Nice is basically just a plot device in the story now. Bro took so many L that I don’t think he has taken any W in the series. Even his off-screen Ws are orchestrated and fake as hell. I guess in the final moments, he got back the spirit of a hero. And that’s why he couldn’t live with himself afterwards, throwing himself off the building and died.
But the saviour shows up! X appeared and pulled off some insane stuff. His power activated after he snaps his finger (lol sounds like a certain aubergine man). And it seems to be a reality warp that can bend anything to his will. But Rock seems to have detect a crack in X’s invincibility. Let’s see what he can come up with to go against this seemingly unbeatable ability. Maybe he will chop his arm off like Thor did in Endgame lol. But I really like how X just literally turn Dragon Boy into a piece of paper then threw him in the river. To be honest, it feels like he got off super easy. I guess X is too laid back to deliver capital punishment. Even so.
=Aaron=
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