Sentenced to Be a Hero is Jamie Lannister’s Kingslayer arc — with a magical twist

Studio Kai’s adaptation of Rocket Shokai’s 2020 light novel Sentenced To be a Hero is an absolute visual feast, immediately grabbing your attention with a jaw-dropping opening battle that flaunts its animation budget and sets the stage for nonstop eye candy. Yet as dazzling as this anime may be, the story initially struggled to hook me. The 58-minute, movie-length premiere throws viewers straight into a sprawling world with its own rules; no primer included. But if you stick with it, the new show’s knightly backdrop and honorable scoundrel of a protagonist offers a helpful point of comparison: everyone’s favorite Westerosi Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister.