One fantasy anime was originally scheduled to make its debut this year before getting hit with a very long delay, and now the series has dropped the first look at its 2026 premiere with a new trailer. The Fall 2025 anime schedule is already looking to be a strong line up the closer we get into it, but it could have been much stronger if a few of the series ended up making the deadline. But through the last few months, a couple of anime had unfortunately been hit with a big delay as one gets ready to make its premiere next year instead.
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The TV anime adaptation for Rockt Shokai’s Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 novels was originally scheduled to debut as part of the upcoming Fall 2025 anime schedule, but had since been delayed due to production issues behind the scenes to better ensure its quality. But now that’s set to make its full premiere this January as part of the upcoming Winter 2026 anime schedule at the start of next year, Sentenced to be a Hero has dropped a new trailer you can check out below.
Sentenced to be a Hero Reveals First Look at 2026 Premiere
Sentenced to Be a Hero was originally scheduled to premiere this October, but will now be premiering sometime in January as part of the 2026 anime schedule. This new look at the anime also reveals new additions to the voice cast with Shoya Chiba joiningย as Jayce Partiract and Yoko Hikasaย as Neely. They’ll be joined alongside previously confirmed cast members, Yohei Azakami as Xylo Forbartz, Mayu Iizuka as Teoritta, Shizuka Ishigami as Patausche Kivia, Shun Horie as Dotta Luzulas, and Shunichi Toki as Venetim Leopool. Many of which can be seen in this new trailer.
When the new anime does make its premiere next year, it will also be kicking off with a special hour long episode (which should make it a great premiere after such a long delay) and its new episodes have also been confirmed to stream with Crunchyroll too. Hiroyuki Takashima will be directing the new anime for Studio KAI with Yoshitake Nakakoji serving as assistant director and creature designer. Kenta Ihara will be overseeing the scripts for the series, Takeshi Noda will be designing the characters, and Shunsuke Takizawa will be composing the music for the anime.
What Is Sentenced to Be a Hero Anyway?
Thanks to the amount of Isekai we’ve seen over the last few years, the trend has started to shift back to traditional Fantasy anime worlds instead. That has also evolved to the point where the new anime releases have taken these Fantasy elements in dark new directions, and Sentenced to Be a Hero: The Prison Records of Penal Hero Unit 9004 looks to be coming out at the perfect time to really make good on all of the promise from it thus far.
This series follows a criminal who has since been sentenced to become a Hero forced to fight the demon army and die and be revived over and over again. It’s meant to be a punishment for the worst of the worst, but soon this newest hero meets a goddess and the two form a new connection that changes their world. Now that the anime is coming next year, we’ll see if it can meet its high expectations.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
