#tbhx analysis

[bibibbon]

Nuonuo finding out that her father is alive and gaining a father back in her life while Loli loses her father and is left mourning him by the end of the episode.

Ghostblade failing to protect Nuonuo after doing everything for her while Luoli fails to protect Luo and both being faced with their losses which causes one to leave a hero agency and for the other join a hero agency.

[hollowhourglass]

Okay so I was thinking about what was going to happen with X in the future, how he will be involved in the plot and what his character development would be etc.

And I had an idea and suddenly I remembered the second To be Hero X trailer, in which X appears snapping and making images representing other heroes appear.

And. Guys. Fellas.

I think X might have been looking back in time, and that the entire 2D parts of the whole series is his literal POV.

Let me explain.

As I said, I have been thinking about what X's future whole thing would be. And since this episode's preview dropped last week, I've been thinking that X's character development would be actually caring about being a hero, and taking responsibility for his title and the duties it has towards society.

Personally, I thought it was going to be different, I thought that, after X said his whole "I make a point not to do overtime. Ever" thing Smile would come back at him saying "You know, you do not get to be a hero when convenient. That's not how it works, the people won't stop needing help, society won't stop seeking for safety and reassurance just because it's not a good time for you. Being a hero is dedicating yourself, wholeheartedly, to others, SPECIALLY when you are X"

So obviously that didn't happen. BUT after watching today's episode, and seeing a lot of discussions online, I think the basic idea behind that message WILL appear as part of X's character development.

In my opinion, his biggest flaw right now is that he does not care enough about being a hero. It seems all his power was something that was imposed onto him randomly, and he just went with it and now wants to quit. But as a LOT of people have said, this might not be the same after Smile's attack and possible tragedy. There is a very big chance that, after seeing what happened to his friend, a genuinely nice and good person and true hero, while X had been sleeping after waving aside Smile's confession of feeling sad... it's something that will make a big impact to X's current worldview, something that will push him into revaluating everything he knows and his stance in the Hero world - and very very possibly, making him decide to actually take his role as a hero, as X seriously and seek to do good and fix the rot between the hero industry.

So, I don't know if y'all remember the characters' profiles, but there is a section of likes and hobbies. Guess what one of X's hobbies is.

Information gathering.

So, now put yourselves in his shoes. One of your only friends is very very injured (at least) after being attacked by not one, but TWO heroes that were close to the top ten, right after that friend told you that the Commission was thinking about taking you out of your pedestal.

Now, I can imagine that X's first thought is going to be "I need to discover what the heck is going on. How did we reach this situation"

So he goes to wherever his HQ is

And starts snapping

He watches Cyan

He watches the Johnnies

He watches Ghostblade

He watches Queen.

With only those heroes, he already has a pretty good inside look of the Ruins incident: he can see Ghostblade being told to assassinate Little Johnny, he can see Big Johnny freaking out after being attacked by E-Soul, he can see Cyan and Queen rescuing the whole party.

So, after seeing Rock telling Ghostblade to kill other heroes and Little Johnny's father, a previous X, dying I mysterious circumstances, why not keep looking?

Whatever happened with E-Soul anyways.

Snap

Oh I see.

He also checks "Nice"'s fight against Wreck, you can clearly hear the snap in the background

And for some reason in the Trailer he also looks at Ahu!

So, all of this is to say:

I believe that, after the Smile Incident, X decides to actually take his job seriously, become a new, real type of hero and uncover the secrets behind the hero system and the Commission - and he does it the way he does it best: using his space, time and dimensional powers to gather information, turning the "real" 3D world into 2D (a dimension he has absolute control over) in order to watch everything that has happened so far with the current Top 10 heroes... And so, every 2D segment (or only the ones with a snap) in the 3D episodes, and ALL the 2D episodes are things X is watching, checking every hero one by one and going further and further back in time to unravel the events that ended up creating the Smile Incident, and the situation before the next Tournament.

So yeah, I think one of the big reveals of the X episode, when we are back at the beginning of the series, is that the series itself is a loop X created with his powers, in order to dismantle the system.

Cool eh?

[subtextdecoder]

A Breakdown of Wang Yi (Ghostblade)

I won’t be theorizing here, this is how I interpret the character based on the episodes and my personal experiences. My point is neither attacking nor defending him. I repeat a few things at different points to reinforce ideas that are connected but explained in separate parts. I’ll talk about the technical aspects of the episodes (direction, atmosphere, cinematography, etc.) in a separate post.

I’ve been active in the TBHX fandom since the very beginning of the project, and back when Ghostblade’s first PV came out, most of us were led to believe that Wang Yi had been experimented on as a child, possibly as a reason why he became a hero and an assassin. So when his episode was released, many of us were surprised by how different, yet deeply compelling, he actually is. It’s now obvious why Li Haoling, the director, was the most anxious about how this character would be received by the public. Wang Yi is complex, not only difficult to understand, but also hard to depict in a way that allows for that understanding.

First of all, he has an affective disorder, and we also see signs of sensory overload. Later, he says, “I don’t know how to express emotions, because I can’t even tell what emotions are,” which possibly points to alexithymia, a condition where someone struggles to identify or describe their own emotions. This is common among autistic or otherwise neurodivergent individuals.

It’s important to distinguish terms here: affective disorder refers to a mental health condition that affects mood and emotional regulation, while neurodivergence describes naturally occurring differences in brain function and behavior, not deficits or disorders. Sensory overload is a neurological response that can result from neurodivergence, affective dysregulation, or even momentary stress. In Wang Yi’s case, it’s very likely that these traits and conditions are co-occurring. I’m not a doctor, so I won’t diagnose him, I’m just interpreting what is shown.

Secondly, Wang Yi grows up in a multi-generational household, a close-knit family with constant activity, background noise (TV, meals, conversation), and little privacy. While this can feel warm and supportive for some, for a neurodivergent or sensory-sensitive person, it can easily become overwhelming or emotionally exhausting. In many families, especially those that run a business, it’s normal for children to help out early and learn the trade hands-on, often with the unspoken expectation that they’ll eventually take over. But this can overlook the child’s individual temperament, interests, and needs, especially if the child is neurodivergent, which can already make daily functioning more difficult in overstimulating or socially demanding environments.

In such households and cultures, neurodivergent traits have often been misinterpreted, ignored, or pathologized. Sometimes there’s an intense pressure to “save face” and maintain the family’s reputation, and symptoms may be brushed off as “bad behavior” or “poor manners.” I’m not blaming his family or his culture, but it’s fair to say that his environment didn’t support him in the ways he may have needed.

In Ghostblade’s original PV, it was hinted that he may have been tested or evaluated, though the show hasn’t shown that. It’s possible his family noticed he was “different” and had him checked out, but since that would be speculation, I won’t dig into it. What we can see is that he didn’t receive the kind of early support that could have helped him better manage his internal world.

In the flashbacks, Wang Yi seems to be about 13–16 years old. We see him helping with the family business, and while we don’t watch him explicitly kill the pig, it’s heavily implied through his narration and body language (he’s also holding a knife). His description even includes a series of chemical reactions that happen in the pig’s body, which suggests a functional understanding of biology/biochemistry. This may reflect his present knowledge being layered over the flashback narration, or it could just be that he learned things through practice. Either way, the point is clear: Wang Yi, as a teenager, is used to the idea of killing.

More than that, and this is crucial, if he is both neurodivergent and dealing with a mood disorder, his entire perception of life, empathy, and identity may function differently. For someone like him, the boundary between humans and animals may not be emotionally or philosophically distinct. People with overlapping neurodivergent traits often interpret the world through patterns, emotional consistency, and nontraditional moral logic. He may not see killing a person as worse than killing an animal, not because he lacks empathy, but because he values life in a fundamentally equal way, outside of social norms.

That’s not coldness, that’s consistency in his own worldview.

I’ll take a slight detour to explain this further...

He says: “I come from a family of butchers, but I always thought they could’ve done better. A proper butcher should be like an assassin, minimal talking. Because the more you talk, the more people will know. And even if pigs don’t have the power to take revenge on you, they could still curse you after they die. So I swore to become the coolest assassin.”

In the first part, he’s not demeaning his family’s work as butchers. When he says they “could’ve done better,” he’s referring specifically to how they talked too much while performing their duties, not to the profession itself. The next sentence makes that clear: “A proper butcher should be like an assassin, minimal talking.” To him, taking life, even animal life, is something that demands seriousness, silence, and restraint.

Why silence? Because “the more you talk, the more people will know. And even if pigs don’t have the power to take revenge, they could still curse you.” This is where we see how thin the line is, in his mind, between animals and humans. He equates butchering animals with killing people, not in a casual or careless way, but with a strange kind of solemnity. To him, both are morally weighty acts, and while he still chooses to do them, he understands there's something inherently “wrong” or “shameful” about it.

The idea that the dead can curse the living implies that he feels some guilt or spiritual consequence, something a person completely lacking a moral compass wouldn’t worry about. This belief points to an internal code: he may not stop killing, but he knows it isn't “right.” He copes with this by treating the act with ceremony and silence, dissociating from it emotionally.

Silence becomes his way of self-protection. If he talks about it, he risks acknowledging the wrong, and with that comes vulnerability, shame, and guilt. To speak of it would be to “confess,” to let that guilt materialize and solidify into a part of his identity. If he says it out loud, he’s no longer just doing something wrong, he becomes someone wrong. This is why he sees doing it quietly as the “cool” way, not because he enjoys killing, but because he’s figured out the most emotionally manageable and “cleanest” method for it.

When he says, “So I swore to become the coolest assassin,” it’s not out of a childish desire to murder people or a belief that violence is glamorous. It’s about performing that violence in a controlled, silent, “proper” way, unlike the noisy chaos he grew up in. Silence, for him, is discipline, escape, and a shield against the internal and external noise that triggers his distress. And if he was being trained to take over his family business as a butcher, which to him equals the work of an assassin, then why not just become an assassin instead, when presented the option? That's why he took the offer from Mr. Shang, in his head he'd be doing the same thing, but in a different environment. And living with his family was so traumatizing that the change in his routine, although scary, was worth the effort.

So why doesn’t he say any of this outright? Because he doesn’t fully understand his own emotions. He experiences things deeply, but he can’t express them clearly or in neurotypical terms. He’s not explaining his thoughts to us, we’re watching them unfold as they occur in his head. His emotional logic makes perfect sense to him, even if it isn’t explicit. The words he uses and the words we might use for the same feeling are different, but the emotion underneath is the same.

TL;DR (Short Scheme):

He likely has at least one mental health condition and may be neurodivergent.

He experiences sensory overload and was raised in a chaotic, noisy, overstimulating butcher shop.

He may conflate butchering animals with killing people, not out of coldness, but internal moral consistency.

He shows signs of a moral compass (worry about being cursed) → suggests he feels guilt.

He believes talking about the killing turns it into a “confession,” which threatens his emotional detachment.

He does it silently to avoid triggering distress or moral/emotional chaos, and this “coolness” is a protective, dissociative style, not actual pride in killing.

He struggles to verbalize emotions, so his thought process isn’t cohesive to us, but internally, it’s fully consistent.

Now, back on track. Because Wang Yi’s family couldn’t provide the support he needed as a child, he likely never went to therapy, didn’t take medication, and lived in an overstimulating environment with a lifestyle that offered no accommodations to help him cope. Naturally, he didn’t develop effective coping strategies or self-awareness.

He struggles to connect with others, not because he doesn’t want to, but because he simply doesn’t know how. Others don’t know how to approach him either. He becomes easily overwhelmed by noise (not just any noise). To speak to his family, he would’ve had to raise his voice just to be heard, and even then, being heard wouldn’t have meant being understood. So, why speak at all?

Maybe he did try when he was very young. But gradually, after repeatedly being misunderstood, or realizing that his words didn’t convey what he felt, he stopped. Perhaps even the sound of his own voice, forced louder than he was comfortable with, became unpleasant to him. Like I mentioned earlier, speaking could also feel like a kind of confession. Imagine if every time you opened your mouth, you felt like you were revealing guilt, even when you weren’t guilty. That kind of vulnerability is incredibly heavy.

There are many, many reasons why a person may stop talking. And when it comes to neurodivergent individuals, selective mutism is a common response, not because they don’t feel things, but because they’re often not taken seriously, are made fun of, or dismissed entirely. Talking becomes burdensome. Whether mutism becomes disabling depends on the person, their environment, and what support they have. In Wang Yi’s case, with an overstimulating home and likely no support, he shut himself off.

The Launch of FOMO (Year 19 AC)

When Wang Yi was 19, the social media platform FOMO was launched.

This is when the show’s critique of our society becomes loud and clear. Wang Yi quickly became one of FOMO’s first top stars, not for something he chose to do, but for simply existing: being handsome, being silent. His quietness was seen as a "cute little quirk."

Finding someone attractive isn't inherently bad, and misunderstanding a stranger isn’t either, in isolation. But it becomes a problem when someone’s privacy is stripped away without their consent.

FOMO is basically our real-world social media. On platforms like this, anyone can go viral, often without knowing, sometimes just for being in the background of someone else's video. I have my own reasons for disliking this reality, and I imagine many people do too. Most of us don’t appreciate having our faces or lives shared publicly without consent.

With Wang Yi, it goes further. People don’t just stop by his shop to gawk, they film him, take photos, and post them online, crafting entire made-up stories about who they think he is. It’s heartbreaking to watch him see those numbers climb, realizing that not only does he have to deal with his existing struggles, but now there’s a whole new challenge, forced upon him without warning.

Even his family doesn’t handle it with care. They comment on his “success” without considering how he feels. They didn’t mean harm, but the truth is, intent doesn’t erase impact, and it’s likely they’ve been doing this, unintentionally hurting him, for 19 years. If the people closest to him don’t get it, how can we expect strangers who only see him through a screen to?

To many, going viral might seem like a dream, but for Wang Yi (and for people like me), it would be terrifying. And I’m not even talking about Trust Value yet. Just the unwanted attention alone would be suffocating.

Even for someone who wanted to be famous, it would still be disturbing to have that happen at the hands of strangers, without agency. This is ultimately about consent, or rather, the lack of it. It’s about how predatory our imaginations can become when we stop seeing people as people, and instead view them as products of our own fantasies.

Isn’t that what the show is really about?

When Wang Yi asks, “But who was doing the deceiving?”, the answer is: us. People. We deceive ourselves constantly, because nothing can compete with our own imagination. Often, the wondering brings more satisfaction than the actual truth. Expectation versus reality will always be a losing battle, and Trust Value is a system that capitalizes on that very gap.

And then there's this: who likes being reduced to a single moment, action, or trait? No one. Human beings are much more than what can be seen through a narrow lens. But more often than not, that one trait is all other people choose to, or can, see, and everything else gets erased.

It’s worth emphasizing again: Wang Yi was 19 at this point. He had been struggling in silence for years. And when the world finally noticed him, it wasn’t for who he really was, but for a version of him they invented, without his consent.

At 20 years old, Mr. Shang invites Wang Yi to join Mighty Glory.

In this scene, it's telling that Wang Yi doesn’t reply. Instead, he begins stuffing his mouth with food over and over until he chokes. This moment speaks volumes. The idea of change triggers his anxiety, and paired with possible sensory sensitivities to texture or light, it becomes physically overwhelming, even nauseating. We see him nearly vomit twice in the series, both times when he’s confronted with the pressure of change.

His sensitivity to light becomes more apparent later, when we see him alone in his apartment. He keeps the lights off, something we can assume he didn’t do before, when Zhang Lan and Nuonuo were still living there. Now that he’s alone, his environment reflects his personal comfort: low light, minimal stimulation.

Food texture is another clue. A family member’s comment about pork jelly, and Wang Yi’s own diary entry complaining about the “rubbery” texture of squid, both hint at textural aversions, something very common in neurodivergent individuals with sensory processing differences.

This moment also marks the beginning of his work as an assassin, and there’s a lot to unpack.

When he says, “I never searched for any information on my mission targets, because I know that they are definitely the ones in the wrong,” he isn’t expressing certainty, he’s expressing avoidance. By refusing to learn who they are or why they’re targeted, he spares himself the moral complexity of the act. It’s a way to emotionally detach. No backstory means no empathy. This is both a coping strategy and a form of dissociation, a way to protect himself from the psychological weight of what he’s doing.

His internal moral code, “Greed is wrong, weakness is wrong, violence is wrong, lying is wrong, betrayal is wrong, and knowing too much is also wrong”, isn’t shaped by universal values. It’s rigid, heavily filtered through personal trauma and an urgent need for psychological control. To Wang Yi, the world is overwhelming, unpredictable, and hostile. He craves clarity and order because ambiguity is unbearable. Moral absolutes give him a framework, a simple rulebook to survive in a complex world. This is especially clear in the line “knowing too much is also wrong”, which reveals that he equates knowledge with danger. Silence becomes a form of safety. The more you know, or allow yourself to know, the more vulnerable you become.

Later, he says: “Sheng knows that I'm not the one who wants him killed. So I hope he won't curse me in his death.” This line is key to understanding his psychology. He doesn’t enjoy killing. He sees it as a job, a task he dissociates from. But he still hopes the person dying won’t blame him, emotionally or spiritually.

He knows he’s the one pulling the trigger, yet he clings to the hope that he won’t be cursed—a concept rooted in the guilt and superstition we saw earlier in his butcher-family origin story.

This isn’t just emotional distance, it’s a compartmentalized conscience. He wants to be absolved, even while he continues doing the very thing he believes is morally questionable.

Do I like the fact that he killed Sheng? Of course not. Sheng seems like a great person. But that doesn’t make Wang Yi a villain to me. He already learned something from the encounter: “I also understood what was left behind in Sheng’s words and eyes right before he died.” And something tells me he will learn much more, soon. A lot of people want Ghostblade to pay for what he did, but honestly, I think he already is.

Wang Yi is an unreliable character, not because he lies, but because he misinterprets or avoids his own emotions. His self-narrative is warped by trauma, possible neurodivergence, and an affective disorder. He presents the world through a distorted lens, one that makes perfect sense to him, but might not to us.

His rationalizations are not deceitful, they are protective. They shield him from collapse, but also prevent growth and insight. He speaks sincerely, but the “truth” of what he says is often buried under layers of emotional detachment, black-and-white moral logic, neurodivergent processing and trauma adaptations.

All his defenses, like silence, detachment, and strict moral boundaries, aren’t about power or cruelty. They’re about survival. He’s not evil. He’s someone who has made intense, morally grey adaptations to navigate a world that has consistently overwhelmed and misunderstood him, a world that has not been kind to either his brain or his heart.

Wang Yi with Zhang Lan and Nuonuo

When they meet, we already know Wang Yi’s background, but we know almost nothing about Zhang Lan. What we do see is that she’s constantly on her phone. Her reasons are never made explicit, maybe it was a form of escapism, maybe she was struggling emotionally, maybe it was just a phase or a habit carried over from her teenage years. The important thing is that despite their differences, she and Wang Yi connected strongly enough to build a relationship, though not necessarily for the same reasons.

I don’t want to over-speculate, since we’re not shown Zhang Lan’s internal world, but to me it never felt like she preferred silence or struggled with interaction the way Wang Yi did. Rather, it seemed like she didn’t want to be bothered, like she wanted to remain in the digital world she found comfort in. That doesn’t mean she was disengaged all the time; it’s just that the show emphasized her screen use to signal she was often emotionally absent. Life happened around her more than through her. Still, she did look at Wang Yi. He didn’t demand much, and she didn’t either. In that mutual lack of pressure, they found a kind of ease. Their silence wasn’t cold, it was comfortable. If they hadn’t wanted to be together, they simply wouldn’t have been. But they did, and in their own ways, they loved each other.

Eventually, they even got married. That could’ve been for any number of reasons, legal, cultural, personal. Since I don’t share the cultural context, I won’t assume the exact motivation. What matters more is that a year later, when they discover Zhang Lan is pregnant, it’s the first time we see her fully present. It’s as if she wakes up from a long, dreamlike state. Interestingly, Wang Yi’s first reaction isn’t focused on the pregnancy itself but on Zhang Lan’s unexpected emotional shift. Her intensity confuses him, and as with all other major changes in his life, it scares him.

There’s some debate about whether they should’ve talked about the possibility of having a child beforehand or taken more precautions. But honestly, given the state they were in when they met, is it really surprising that the idea of a baby might not have even crossed their minds? What seems “obvious” to some people isn’t always obvious to others, especially for those living in dissociative or emotionally withdrawn states. And isn’t that exactly how it often goes in real life? All around the world, children are born to people who weren’t prepared, caught off guard by a reality they hadn’t anticipated. Whether it was “right” or “wrong” is beside the point, the baby is here, and that’s what matters. The focus has to shift to what happens next.

By Year 23 AC, Zhang Lan and Wang Yi divorce. Nuonuo was around two years old by then, so they clearly tried to make things work for a while. We don’t know much about what their life looked like as a family, and we still don’t get any real insight into Zhang Lan’s point of view. But based on what is shown, it’s not hard to understand her frustration. She changed, he didn’t. It’s possible she ended up taking care of Nuonuo mostly on her own, effectively living as a single mom despite being married. That kind of dynamic can wear a person down.

That said, I don’t think she was supposed to “parent” Wang Yi. But once she had a shift in mindset, could it have helped to gently encourage him toward professional support? Maybe she tried and he wasn’t ready. Maybe she didn’t know how. Because we don’t see her attempt to truly understand or support him on that level, it’s easy to frame her as the “villain,” but I don’t think it’s that simple. Even if she had taken him to therapy, it would have required immense time, patience, and a total unlearning of the only survival strategies he’s ever known. Therapy isn’t a quick fix, especially not for someone like him.

From Wang Yi’s side, the divorce clearly disturbs him. As we've seen before, abrupt shifts in routine or environment aren’t just inconvenient, they can be physically and emotionally destabilizing. He likely depends on predictability to feel safe. Sudden change can trigger anxiety, panic, or shutdown. For someone who struggles to identify and regulate emotions, the emotional fallout from change can feel overwhelming or even paralyzing. He can’t always process or verbalize what he’s feeling in the moment, and without tools or external support, even small changes can feel catastrophic. That’s why he clings to Nuonuo’s bunny after Zhang Lan leaves, just like a child would. It’s a regression to a comfort behavior from earlier stages of development.

But it’s important to recognize why he struggles this way. Wang Yi was already silent for most of his life. He never developed speech, and when someone can’t or doesn’t speak, whether due to selective mutism or another condition, they miss out on key experiences: emotional expression, social negotiation, and the feedback loops that support emotional growth. Without verbal interaction, it becomes so much harder to name, process, or regulate feelings.

Emotional maturity doesn’t just happen. It usually requires modeling from caregivers, practice in safe social environments and support in understanding one’s own inner world. Without those things, a person may stay stuck in developmentally delayed ways of reacting, struggling with boundaries, engaging in black-and-white thinking, or withdrawing completely when overwhelmed.

And when a neurodivergent person is repeatedly misunderstood, dismissed, or punished for their struggles, the result is often the same: they shut down even more, stop trying to explain themselves, and rely on self-protective behaviors, like staying silent or acting like they don’t care. It can make them seem emotionally immature or detached, when in fact they may feel very deeply but have no safe way to show it.

Wang Yi’s silence isn’t passive, it’s protective. It’s the safest place he’s known his whole life. So when Zhang Lan tries to push him out of that silence, even if it comes from a place of care or desperation, it shatters him. He’s left raw and vulnerable, because he doesn’t know another way to exist. And when someone’s only coping strategy is stripped away, it doesn’t create growth, it creates panic.

I think that if she isn’t happy, then yes, ending it is for the best. But if you love the person you’re with, wouldn’t you at least try to understand them a little? The truth is, Zhang Lan never really knew Wang Yi. In fact, they probably never truly knew each other. And they didn’t have to, not at first. Ironically, their bond as a couple was built on a connection that didn’t rely on deep understanding. But once she changed, what once wasn’t a problem became one.

And I’m glad she changed, otherwise, Nuonuo’s childhood might have been a lot worse. Zhang Lan became a caring mother who gave her daughter warmth and love. None of them are villains here. They’re like real people who made mistakes and, sometimes, the wrong choices, “wrong” according to each of their perspectives.

Wang Yi couldn’t be a father, not because he didn’t want to be, but because he didn’t know how. People grow at different paces, and some carry issues so deeply rooted that even realizing something basic can take decades. That’s just reality.

The heartbreaking part wasn’t Zhang Lan leaving Wang Yi. That was probably the right decision, she wasn’t happy, and forcing things would’ve made them both miserable, which would have affected Nuonuo too. What was heartbreaking was Zhang Lan telling Nuonuo that her father was dead, denying both of them a chance to connect, something Wang Yi already struggled with.

His means weren’t perfect, but his brain works differently, he lives by an entirely different set of internal standards. In the scenes where he follows Nuonuo, he says, “I began to understand why my father observed more than participated when teaching me to butcher pigs.” I think that’s his way of realizing that, like his own father couldn’t connect with him, he’s now unable to connect with her. So all that’s left is observation.

Zhang Lan rejecting the plushie he brought for Nuonuo also broke my heart. Honestly, I’m 27, and I’d cherish anything my dad gave me, especially a plushie. But after telling Nuonuo that her father was dead, it’s not like she could give her that gift without unraveling the story or pretending it was someone else’s gift.

In real life, what Zhang Lan said at the park could be extremely damaging to someone like Wang Yi. “She’s already an adult, and you picked that as her birthday present.[...] You don’t know a damn thing about her![...] Did you ever really care about her at all? Have you ever really understood her?[...] It’s fine, you’re already dead to her, anyway.” But within the show, Zhang Lan had to serve as the catalyst for Wang Yi’s development. This role unfortunately casts her in a “villain” light, not because she is one, but because of how her actions serve the narrative. And to be fair, many people in real life act just like she did, some might grow from the fallout, like Wang Yi did, and others may not.

Wang Yi didn’t take it lightly. Remember when he went home, visibly in pain and frustrated? He says: “It appeared to me that I really didn’t know anything about my daughter anymore. Not what she was thinking, nor what she wanted to do. Turns out there are some questions that can only be answered when they’re answered out loud. At that moment, I felt the urge to open my mouth, but I still couldn’t manage to say anything.”

He realizes that just when he thought he was starting to understand things, he isn’t. It’s disorienting and painful. And he’s right, some questions can only be answered out loud. Verbalizing thoughts often reveals what we really think or feel. Until we speak it, we might not fully grasp it ourselves. Speaking something makes it real and invites understanding from others. But for people who struggle with self-expression, like Wang Yi, this is incredibly difficult. Verbalizing isn’t just expression; it’s a tool for clarity, and it’s one he doesn’t have.

That’s why, in his own way, he tries to know Nuonuo through observation, following her, mimicking her. It’s not ideal, but it’s what he can do.

Also, we need to remember that speaking and expressing yourself are two different things. Even if he started talking, he likely wouldn’t be able to communicate what’s in his mind clearly or comfortably. At 39 years old, after at least two decades of silence, it’s unlikely he’d regain expressive speech easily, if at all.

The same goes for writing. I’ve seen people ask, “Didn’t he ever think of writing down what he means?” — but that misses the real issue: he can’t express himself. Not verbally, not in writing, not even through drawing. He doesn’t know how to make himself understood, and sometimes, he doesn't even understand himself.

Is it really that hard to grasp?

The reason he writes in his diary is because it’s something only he is supposed to see. Writing to someone else is entirely different. He does know basic gestures, but unfortunately, people often talk over his gestures or put words in his mouth, so they’re not very effective.

Ironically, he can’t willingly express his emotions, but his facial expressions are very expressive. He didn’t seem like this in the past, but now he is. What changed? Many things. As time passed, he probably developed new coping mechanisms, and his desire to connect with Nuonuo only grew stronger. By following her, mimicking her actions, and doing other things we probably didn’t see, he naturally became more expressive over time. It’s still not a change that helps him communicate clearly, and it’s mostly subconscious, but it shows that gradual change is, indeed, possible.

Also, and this may sound strange, it’s actually very common for people with selective mutism to be talkative in their heads and keep a personal diary like his. These are just two of many coping strategies that help neurodivergent people organize their thoughts and maintain a sense of control and order.

Because his brain needs a strict sense of order to function, he clings to his rituals and actions. That can come across as controlling, even toward others. That’s why he’s so overprotective of Nuonuo, and why he sees Luo Li as a threat, she brings unpredictability, which makes it harder for him to process and increases his anxiety.

And yes, it should be obvious to us and to Nuonuo that he’s the “creep” she and Luo Li are talking about. But it’s not obvious to him. Not even close. He’s never been taught how to “read the room.” That’s just one more way his childhood neglect left lasting damage. Had he been supported growing up, he could’ve developed into a functional adult. But in many ways, he didn’t, and that’s not his fault.

Could he have sought help later in life? Sure. But when you don’t even understand what emotions are, when you can’t tell what you’re feeling or whether your actions are problematic, you don’t have the foundation to seek help. That’s what makes it so hard for him.

His acts of service, like protecting Nuonuo from afar, gifting Zhang Lan whisper flowers, or eating the squid so Nuonuo wouldn’t have to, show us that even if his methods aren’t perfect, his intentions are full of love. Whatever love means to him, he loved Zhang Lan, and he loves Nuonuo more than anything.

I’m so glad Nuonuo read his diary. He couldn’t have expressed those feelings directly if he tried; it likely wouldn’t have come across as genuine. But in his diary, writing just for himself, he could finally be honest. No pressure. No fear. Just the truth. That’s why what she read felt so real. It wasn’t meant for anyone else to see.

Nuonuo didn’t just bring joy into his life, she gave him a second chance at experiencing the basic things he missed as a child and teenager. Through her, he learned things that should have come naturally but didn’t, simply because no one showed him.

I’ve seen people online say Ghostblade is hilarious, an “edgy middle-aged boy failure.” And yeah, I get that a lot of it is said in jest, I laugh too, sometimes, of course we're allowed to. But honestly, I don’t find him funny. Yes, some scenes with Nuonuo are cute or awkward in a charming way. But the intentional exaggeration, despite funny, also feels unsettling, a direct contrast to the loneliness and pain underneath. It makes it less funny and more melancholic to me.

Sure, he’s got cute things about him, but he’s also deeply traumatized, and to me, trauma isn’t cute. I see fans treating his behaviors as endearing quirks when, in reality, he’s a product of lifelong neglect, and that’s exactly part of the show’s critique. But again, everyone is entitled to their interpretation. Some hate him and think he deserves to die alone. You’re free to think that too. I just, personally, disagree with treating him either like a baby or a monster, the extremes.

I’m not saying he’s excused for destroying other people’s lives just because he doesn’t know better. He still has to face the consequences of his actions. And by “face the consequences,” I mean emotionally dealing with the weight of what he’s done once he chooses to confront it, it’s a kind of self-inflicted punishment. Some people might think he deserves to be punished directly, but that’s not the point here. The goal isn’t to frame or absolve him, but to explain why he does what he does, regardless of whether those actions are seen as good or bad.

The very idea of “good” and “bad” is already quite arbitrary; neurodivergent or not, everyone is different and will have their own opinion about what those terms mean. In other words, Wang Yi isn’t excused for doing harmful things, but he absolutely has the right to be human and make mistakes, like all other characters do. All of them are very realistic and relatable in one way or another.

It’s really sad that his intentions aren’t bad, yet they sometimes lead to actions that are irreversibly destructive. Talk about realistic...

I wish he’d go to therapy. I love him so much. It breaks my heart.

To be quite frank, all characters could benefit from some therapy.

[uraniathegypsy]

To be Hero X Agencies

So I've been thinking alot after Ep. 4 (for....reasons 🥲) but opened up and brought attention of somethings.

One of them being that we get to see more of other Hero Agencies, glimpses of how they operate, and what each of their "brand" is for the Hero Commission.I'd like to dedicated this post on the info that we know and my on personal theories on them.

TREEMAN

First off, we have the Treeman Group whose CEO is Mr. Shand. For their employed Hero/Villain rooster so far has featured:

Nice

Moon

Wreck

Firm Man

Blankster

Lin Ling ( new recruit )

Translated desc.- "a hero agency that makes good use of marketing to shape the hero's personality" (@tbhx_officialCN)

From what we've seen, the mangers and staff take in precaution on how their heroes are depicted on stage, their meet-ups with fans, as well as crafting a boosting narrative for their heroes trust values to grow in the eyes of the fans. They are not above bribery, coercion, and stunt casting in order to push their quota ( as seen by the actions of Miss.J )

Also from what I've seen and gathered, it seems that Treeman possibly owns much of the real estate and city development in this world cause much of their promo features a lot of residential areas and shopping districts with their brand on them.

So maybe them hiring people to play the part of villains is because they are the ones who are able to rebuild plus reshape how fans live and consume.

FOMO

Up next is FOMO, which literally stands for "Fear of Missing Out". Their CEO seems to be this young guy named Zac. Their rooster so far consists of:

Loli

Ahu

Translated desc.- "provides ordinary people with opportunities to speak out and become famous" (@tbhx_officialCN)

So from their general description they seem like the mostly are in tune with what regular people are doing, and finding out what's new and fresh.

From the look of their office space, FOMO it's the most colorful and lively of the 4 agencies. It gives off what a lot of start-up tech, social media, and web HQs like Google and Youtube.

It's possible that most, if not all, of their heroes started out as Influencers or people that became heroes through viral moments on the web. Maybe their dark side is that their heroes have to keep coming up with more new, and exciting acts or content to please their fans to keep raking in Trust Value.

It could be more possible that FOMO has the same guide lines like YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. ( Which would be pretty bleak ^^')

MIGHTY GLORY

Third, we have Mighty Glory whose CEO is the mystery guy right here. Their rooster, as far as we know, consist of:

E-Soul

Ghostblade

Dragon Boy

Translated desc.- "The ace hero organization Mighty Glory has successfully cultivated many high-ranking heroes" (@tbhx_officialCN)

Just looking at the main heroes they have, this agency mainly focuses on acquiring heroes that have a wide-ranged of fighting and physical skills.

They also seem to have morally gray code and ethics. Some not against pummeling or killing those that they deemed "deserve it".

My theories on the CEO is that he is collects and sees their heroes how a Roman Emperor does with Gladiators. They are valued solely on their combatant attributes and merciless displays, but are kept in line behind the scenes like wild animals or slaves.

DOS

And lastly, we have DOS. I have yet to find what it the abbreviation means, but this is their CEO, Mickey. Their hero rooster, so far in the show, consists of:

Queen

Lucky Cyan

The Johnnies

Translated desc. - "DOS pursues high efficiency by acquiring a large number of small hero companies to grow stronger." (@tbhx_officialCN)

So it seems like they are the largest AND most powerful agency out of the collective 4. It has a very...Disney way of acquiring more heroes to cultivate it's company.

They have means to tap into different markets of branding for their heroes.

On one brand, you can appeal to animal lovers and sell marketable mascot plushies, and on the other, you can appeal to pop star and music fans who want to see their favorite idol to succeed.

Not to mention they hold one of the strongest powerhouses to take the title of X.

O_O!!

Disney Evil! This company is willing to obtain and cultivate their heroes so it can become the most controlling Hero IP out in the world (This CEO is Steve Jobs and Bob Iger rolled into one).

So if their was ever a chance or motive for these agencies claim to dominance. it's DOS.

So I hope you enjoyed my on-the spot, collective analysis and ramblings on the agencies so far. I'm still holding on to some other theories and little details I spot that I want to post soon (hopefully a shorter one ^^')

[viscari-a]

Sensuality in Nice’s portrayal as a parallel to exploitation

Portrayal and Design Among all the characters, I think Nice is the one portrayed most sensually. I felt this way most in the PV’s. There’s a lot of long, elegant lines, slow and enticing movements, hands holding onto Nice, and even Nice’s own hands, sliding down the frame that he sits in.

In many ways, the MV is very seductive. It draws you in, catches your eyes, forcibly makes you linger. Instead of a more bright ‘idol’ type or a sunshine ‘golden’ boy type— both of which could fit—, it’s seductive. Compared to all the other MVs, it’s the only one that’s sensual. Dragon Boy, who is half naked, is more of an action type. The women (since I’ll talk more about the femininity aspect) are mysterious and cool (Queen), bright and admirable (Lucky Cyan), and cute and reliable (Loli).

There’s also all the ballet, a sport specifically designed to make the body look as appealing and beautiful as possible. I’m not going to go into it much because how sensual ballet is is a very subjective thing, and it has a ton of history I’m not nearly knowledgeable enough to talk about about.

What I can talk about, though, is Nice’s hero suit. The fact that it’s a form-fitting body suit is obvious. More importantly, it’s a fairly simple design, yet almost all the design aspects of it accentuate his body.

The collar makes his neck look longer. The metal part makes his shoulders broader. The orb draws attention to his chest. The line connects down to a V that makes his waist seem smaller and points to his crotch. The lines on the sleeves makes his arms seem longer. The V of his boots makes his legs look longer. The cape as well, helps draw the eye, and the flowy movements of it, hiding and revealing all at once, can be seen as enticing.

Elegant neck, broad shoulders and chest, thin waist, long limbs: it’s an ideal body. And ideal bodies are usually the ones most sexualized. Like the hands in the PV, he has a body that people would want to have or want to touch. Like the rest of his image, his body is commercialized by the hero suit, purposely designed to be desirable.

For a point of comparison, I’ll use Dragon Boy, who shows far more skin than Nice. He also has a good body. He has tattoos, he wears leather belts, and both of these things can be seen as sensual but his image isn’t sensual at all. It’s rebellious. The lack of clothes isn’t meant to be sensual, it’s to catch the eye and differentiate from the norm (the norm being…wearing a shirt).

The tattoos accentuate his body slightly by catching the eye, but it’s more discomforting than anything else because of how they mimic a skeleton. His outfit has a baggy silhouette that doesn’t particularly draw the eye anywhere. The brightly colored, printed shirt has a boldness to it that lends itself far more to flamboyance than sensual. He’s not wearing shoes. The most sensual thing is probably the harnesses to be honest, and that could also be easily argued as a visual representation of his own restrictions/exploitation.

To be honest, the guy he’s chasing is more fan-service-y than Dragon Boy is, considering the hidden face, strong arms, cropped open top. There are some moments in Dragon’s Boy that can be seen as seductive, but they’re usually immediately followed by something violent or uncanny,, such as Dragon Boy getting on all fours. Despite the skin shown, Dragon Boy’s image is meant to be striking with how it ignores society’s conventions. Plus, half of his PV takes place in a dirty alley, and the other takes place in a bathroom, both things most people don’t want to touch too much.

Compared to Dragon Boy who shows off his entire chest, Nice’s design, while ostensibly covering all his skin, is far more seductive.

Femininity

Sensuality and femininity are, unfortunately yet inevitably, tied. Women’s sexual purity being overtly valued, women’s value as related to impregnation, the consistent sexualization of women in media and real life, etc etc etc. TBHX hasn’t really touched upon the sexualization of women in the series itself (it focuses more, although arguably not very well, on women’s rights, power, and how society tends to look down upon women while also restricting how far they’re able to go).

Instead, the connection between femininity and sexualization most comes across through Nice, a traditionally masculine person (in terms of body shape) who wears traditionally more feminine clothing— particularly as compared to all the other male characters.

Men’s clothing tends to emphasize sharp lines. Nice technically has this in his hero suit when he’s wearing the metal shoulder thing, but he doesn’t always wear that. What he does wear is the flowy cape. In official art, he also tends to be drawn in flowy clothing. Wide leg pants, billowing sleeves, shirts that hang loosely only to be cinched at the waist (once again, purposefully drawing the eye there).

wears white whereas the other male characters tend to wear black. White also has an association with innocence and purity and (Western culture but well known through media) brides, which are all things associated with women. Queen, Lucky Cyan, Loli and Moon all have white as a main color in their hero outfits. Black, meanwhile, is more known for maturity, mysteriousness, sharpness/sleekness. It’s technically gender neutral but men wear black far, far more than they tend to wear white. An easy example is formal suits, or “black-tie” clothing. E-soul, Ghostblade, Lil Johnny (has bits of white but there’s more black), Dragon Boy, Civilian X, Firm Man, etc.

to add to the first two points, X is a character wearing a lot of white and is distinctly masculine. His outfit and themes are full of sharp lines. The white he wears is to distinguish himself from the crowd (and maybe references a ‘blank canvas’ or something) and create a contrast to his civilian self. Nice’s themes of white are for purity and ideals, almost the type that certain people would want to drag down/defile. X’s white is probably more for story purposes and magician purposes. (taken from DCMK Kaito Kid, a bright white, ostentatious suit draws attention. This attention-grabbing aspect is perfect for making sure the audience isn’t looking elsewhere, so that a magician can do their tricks secretly)

There’s a fair amount of skin being shown which is, traditionally, not a masculine thing. I could go into it more and the relation between women’s clothing showing more skin and its connection to the objectification/commodification of women, but I don’t trust my limited knowledge on the topic. Also, I would kind of hope the connection is obvious.

Ruffles. Also in direct contrast to the other male characters’ outfits. Queen’s clothing often has ruffles and flowy clothing too, but the way those are worn are for elegance, and they often hide her figure; flowy top that provides no shape to her chest, wide pants that hide her legs. Nice’s clothing always, always, accentuates his figure.

semi-translucent clothing, which show hints of skin, is reminiscent of wet clothing (specific to Nice’s clothes). It’s almost inherently seductive

combined, his outfits are usually flowy with ruffles, and laid in a way meant to be seductive. Shows off his collarbone, displays his chest, his waist is always snatched. The feminine aspects of his clothing are exactly what lead to his sensuality. (You could call that him being an androgynous, non-normative fashion king, but there’s are plenty of ways to wear feminine clothing in a non sensual manner. Queen is a very good example.)

Note: not related to clothing, but ballet is also a stereotypically feminine sport that’s highly connected to manufactured, hard won and extremely difficult beauty made to seem easy and flawless. And, Nice’s PV is half him doing ballet. In fact, they even transition his figure into a ballerina music box. Fairly clear connection between him and femininity.

There are two parallels that can be happening with this sensuality.

First, being made into a product. Sensuality has been tied into marketing for a long, long time. It’s why most advertisement models fit into the body ideals of the relevant time period. It’s why so many beer ads show beaches and women in bikinis, even though beer doesn’t really have to be connected to the beach at all.

Two, exploitation, in connection to manipulation. Even the phrase “being taken advantage of” is sometimes used to mean “sexually harassed or assaulted”. There’s exploitation for the purpose of sex (grooming, drugging, blackmail), there’s sex for the purpose of exploitation (catfishing, honey trapping, black mail).

In other words, the sexualization of Nice is a perfect connection to his situation. He’s forcibly made into a desirable product, exploited by the company he’s under. He’s ideal, he’s the perfect boy, he’s enticing, he’s sensual. And all of this is manufactured, at the cost of his mentality and autonomy.

He’s a painting inside a frame. A pretty, sensual, enticing painting. A painting that will fall without the frame. A painting with no agency.

extra note: in terms of a painting in a frame, it’s also noteworthy that he’s been brainwashed into thinking he wants/needs the frame. He’s there of his ‘own’ will. It must not be comfortable to sit on, but he’s become used to it. He’s become ‘comfortable’ in it. None of those things are good.

Extra extra note: it’s pretty easy to argue that maybe Nice just like dressing that way. I think he’s fully neutral about how he dresses. When doing the variety show with Wreck, the reason for his white outfit is directly to contrast Wreck’s black outfit, to show off the fact that they’re a duo. Even then, his outfit was fairly masculine, having all the elements of a formal suit except for a jacket. It wasn’t flowy, especially not to the extent his current outfits tend to be. His hero suit, minus the cape, is also very streamline and fairly simplistic. Fully personal opinion, he probably prefers more streamlined outfits, especially after becoming a hero and his anxiety turned to a 100. Flowy outfits with a lot of fabric are very finicky. It’s hard to make sure they’re laying the right way. Billowy sleeves are easy to stain. Since we know he’s anxious about looking perfect, would he really choose outfits that are hard to maintain? It only gives him more stress.

extra extra extra note: it’s debatable if Nice is the person most exploited among the main cast, but considering he dies and has no agency in his life or death— it’s pretty interesting/fun that the most exploited male character is the most feminine. Femininity and exploitation are, also unfortunately but currently, highly tied; it’s a common experience in womanhood.

[fate-catcher]

The Nice and E-Soul arcs feel a lot more stand-alone than the other ones thus far. And not just because they mainly use 3D animation instead of 2D.

It feels like, while they are sorta connected to each other, they're a bit disconnected to the other arcs. Like, main heroes have been showing up in multiple arcs and interacting with other main characters a lot; their stories feel very intertwined. But then we have the first two arcs, which don't really have that. Sure, E-Soul appears in "Nice's" arc, but only for a split second. And whilst Lucky Cyan IS present in the E-Soul arc, she doesn't exactly interact with him.

I think the reason these arcs feel out of place is because the said heroes of each aren't the original heroes; they're successors of sorts.

Like, Nice's arc isn't really about him; it's about Lin Ling taking on his identity and eventually shedding it. And Yang Cheng isn't the OG E-Soul, either.

This uniqueness makes sense to me, since they kinda leeched off the trust placed in already-established heroes instead of personally earning it (well, Lin Ling eventually does). So of course their stories feel out of place amongst the ones of heroes that are indeed the original versions of themselves.

[riri-the-jade-cat]

Something I love thinking about with tbhx is how the different character arcs contrast each other

Lin ling:

A normal person with unknown trust value that gets trust from someone who already has it

Goes from company puppet to a real hero

Has no friends (moon might be a friend but they had the beach scene)

Inspires others

Unknown family

E-soul:

A normal person with no trust value that gets trust from someone who already has it

Goes from a real hero to a company puppet used by the hero system

Gains friends but loses them from hero stuff

Got inspired but became a tragedy

Dead family

Lucky cyan:

A not normal person starting with a high trust value that was forced upon her by others

Becomes a hero to use the hero system for her own goal (managing to succeed, good job)

Has a friend, keeps the friend because she heroed

Inspires others

Dead family

Queen:

A not normal person building her own trust value intentionally

Becomes a hero to break down the hero system

Finds friends along the way because of heroing (she didn't find them, they found her and now they're never leaving)

Inspires others and got inspired

Has an active parent

Loli:

A kinda normal person that is sabotaged by others when trying to build trust and mad about it

Becomes a part of the hero system but does it in an unconventional way (alien tech instead of trust)

Already has a friend but finds a closer friend because of heroing

Inspired by Queen and is mainly inspirational outside the show

Has two neglecting parents, mainly focusing on the kinda deadbeat dad

Ghostblade:

A kinda normal person that gets trust from literally just being there but he's fine with that

Because a part of the hero system and is a puppet from the start

No friends

Inspired by nobody and is a very good example of what not to do in almost all situations

Somehow managed to be a complete deadbeat dad while also being ridiculously attentive in like the worst way (seriously ghostblade wtf)

This is kinda rambling but I have too muchtbhx brainrot

[toomuchblthoughts]

I always like to think about how affectionate Lin Ling is. Like how he shows his care for Moon by cheering her up with his creative ideas during their isolation and the way he holds Moon.

And Lin Ling himself, also did enjoy getting the love and affection too. He also enjoys being loved and adored.

Which sickens me to think about Lin Ling during his days as a marketer. Lin Ling, someone who enjoys companies but never had any close friends when he was a marketer.

He got push to do more work by the company and even with the amount of work he had done he was never been appreciated for his work. He got belittled instead for having a dream.

The only support he has was from the videos that Hero Moon is in. For Lin Ling, it was Moon that support him throughout that harsh work life.

That starved affection that Lin Ling has was only quenched by Hero Moon's words. Be it just a script or the lack of authenticity, if it helps Lin Ling to keep moving forward then there's nothing frivolous about it.