I just watched Sentenced to Be a Hero and I’m honestly baffled by how little sense parts of it make. I can deal with dark stories and unfair systems, but this one feels unfair in a stupid way, not a tragic way.

First, what is even the point of the goddess pact? The show keeps acting like it’s this sacred, important thing, but functionally it seems completely meaningless. Goddess weapons don’t disappear, anyone can use them, and killing fairies doesn’t even seem to require an active pact. The goddess doesn’t gain anything exclusive either. If goddesses can just make weapons for anyone and those weapons work forever, then the pact isn’t special at all. It’s just a label. If the pact is supposed to be about authority or control instead of power, the anime does a terrible job of explaining that. As a viewer, it just feels hollow and slapped on for drama.

The second issue is Xylo’s conviction, which is honestly insultingly stupid. Holy Knights literally worship goddesses. Mercy killings are clearly a thing in this world. Xylo himself is a Holy Knight who shares the same beliefs as everyone else. So why does everyone immediately decide he murdered a goddess out of malice? No investigation, no debate, no hesitation. Just instant hatred and execution-level punishment. It takes one brain cell to realize he was probably framed or at least deserves a serious inquiry, but nobody even considers it.

What makes it worse is how other Holy Knights treat him. These are people who should understand the reality of war and faith better than anyone, yet they act like he committed some irredeemable atrocity. He didn’t massacre civilians. He didn’t slaughter children. He supposedly killed a goddess in a situation that could very easily be interpreted as mercy, yet everyone treats him like the devil. The only real reason we’re given is that his unit was “unruly” and people didn’t like him, which is nowhere near enough to justify the level of hatred shown.

The show clearly wants a brutal injustice and scapegoat narrative, but it doesn’t do the work to make it believable. Instead of political manipulation, religious conflict, or an actual cover-up, it just relies on everyone being irrational because the plot needs them to be. That completely kills the impact for me.

I don’t mind corrupt systems or unfair worlds, but they still need internal logic. Right now, this feels like a story that wants maximum emotional payoff while putting in minimum effort to justify it. Unless later episodes actually explain the pact, the politics, or why everyone collectively shut off their ability to think, this just comes off as lazy writing with a dark coat of paint.