Joseph Luster
July 1, 2025 
The Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 anime—which adapts the light novels written by Rocket Shokai and illustrated by MEPHISTO—was previously planned for an October 2025 premiere. That broadcast has been delayed, however, and will now kick off in January 2026.
According to the announcement, the delay will give the staff the opportunity to improve the overall quality of the series. When it premieres at the top of next year, it will do so with an extended, hour-long special first episode.
Hiroyuki Takashima directs, with Yoshitake Nakakoji as assistant director and creature designer. Kenta Ihara is on scripts, Takeru Noda is on character designs and Shunsuke Takizawa composes music for the Studio KAI production.
Sentenced to Be a Hero began its run online in 2020. In English, it’s published by Yen Press, which describes it like this:
Sentenced to Be a Hero Plot
Heroism—a punishment for only the worst criminals. Those sentenced to the fate of a hero are forced to fight on the front lines against deadly centers of contagion that rot the land and turn its creatures into roving armies of violent beasts. And if a hero dies, their only reward is being brought back to life so they can continue the never-ending battle. But when Xylo Forbartz, a member of Penal Hero Unit 9004 and a convicted goddess killer, comes face-to-face with a new goddess, the pact they forge might just be enough to change the world…
Source: Crunchyroll News
