My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie Review

My Home Hero is a crime-drama exploring the darker side of human nature. Audiences have been forewarned to expect something darker than usual with this complex crime saga. Created by Masashi Asaki and Naoki Yamakawa, My Home Hero unfolds as a gritty crime saga featuring animation produced by Tezuka Productions (The Dawn of the Witch, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Omega). Featuring theme song music performed by Chiai Fujikawa (opening) and Dizzy Sunfist (ending). Featuring a leading voice performance by Junichi Suwabe.

My Home Hero is produced by Akiko Nabeiwa (Fairy Tail, The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments), Fumihiro Ozawa (Ascendance of a Bookworm, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy), Hajime Maruyama (The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), Hideo Momota (Laid-Back Camp, Plunderer), Hitoshi Yagi (Locodol, Maetel Legend), Nobuhiko Kurosu (Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, Restaurant to Another World), Yoshiki Maeda (The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior, Peach Boy Riverside), and Yoshiyuki Shiotani (Death March to The Parallel World Rhapsody, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord). My Home Hero isn’t a cute and fluffy anime for the kawaii crowd. Rather, My Home Hero is a darker series intended for mature audiences.

The home isn’t always a safe haven. Danger can arise and make a home a dangerous place to be. In order to help protect his beloved daughter from harms way, Tetsuo (Junichi Suwabe) decides to take actions into his own hands and murder Nobuto – his daughter’s violent and abusive boyfriend. In order to get away with the crime, Tetsuo decides to cover up the murder. Yet things don’t get wrapped up in a neat little bow – the abusive boyfriend has a yakuza leader father who might not be so happy with the loss of Nobuto.

Things become scary and fast when Tetsuo only has two choices – reveal himself as the killer or assist the violent yakuza gang with a mission to solve the disappearance of Nobuto. The gang wants to find Nobuto at any cost – could Nobuto be dead or alive? Tetsuo has his secret to hide from the yakuza now – was it worth it to protect his beloved daughter?

Tetsuo is a complicated lead character – wanting to protect his daughter from an abusive and violent boyfriend but at any cost. Tetsuo makes a difficult decision in killing the boyfriend and the entirety of the story revolves around this action. The character exploration are much darker than many anime series. The character designs by Masatsune Noguchi (The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses, Hakushon Daimaō 2020) are certainly less imaginative and aim for a more grounded and somewhat realistic stylistic approach – the designs feel less fantastical and are closer to reality on My Home Hero.

The cinematography by Natsumi Uchida (The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World) is one of the more effective aspects of the series. The dark and grittier cinematographic style is a far cry from many sunnier looking anime productions. The darker storyline is reflected through the cinematography – enhancing the tone and atmosphere.

The score composed by Kenji Kawai (Mob Psycho 100, World Trigger) is a decent addition to the series. Kawai is a talented composer and someone with a great understanding of the world of anime. A great composer with a good knack for darker scores, Kawai does a solid enough job with the music for the series.

Written by Kohei Kiyasu (Run with the Wind, Ikoku Nikki), My Home Hero is a grim story and one with plenty of pitch-black darkness. The concept of the story is certainly darker than usual and has some bleakness to it that makes it a more mature offering as an anime. A more grounded crime saga.  

Directed by Takashi Kamei (Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy – Earthrise), My Home Hero isn’t for the faint of heart. My Home Hero is darker than your usual anime series and will appeal more to fans of gritty anime like Death Note, Psycho-Pass, and Ajin. The audience is different from the cute-and-bubbly anime series of the world and some might find the series too bleak for their taste – others may enjoy in the dark and gritty nature of the series. For those who enjoy a dark anime, My Home Hero is worth a look.

My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, My Home Hero is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation is crisp and pleasing on the release. The color reproduction looks excellent with the animation highlighted well with the encoding. The darker aesthetic of the series is a highlight.

The Blu-ray release provides a solid encode by Crunchyroll. One of the strengths of the Blu-ray disc format is the superior encoding compared to streaming video services. Streaming video services tend to provide video quality with lower average bit-rates compared to physical media. Blu-ray discs tend to offer a higher video bit-rate and better encoding with superior picture-quality for home theater enthusiasts.

My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The sound direction by Takumi Itō (In Another World With My Smartphone, Duel Masters King) is well reproduced on the release. Dialogue is crisp and clear. Soundstaging is excellent on the release. Both audio presentation options being in 2.0 stereo means neither the dubbed or subtitled version has any distinct advantage in regards to surround activity or spatiality.

The Blu-ray release benefits by providing lossless audio encoding. One of the hallmarks of the Blu-ray disc format has always been the lossless audio encoding. Streaming video services only offer lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. For home theaters with quality sound systems and audiophiles, the superior option is clear – the physical media format is advantageous and wins.

My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run of the release comes with a limited-edition o-card slipcover. The o-card slipcover adds some extra value to the packaging. The slipcover features unique key artwork that is different and unique compared to the artwork highlighted on the sleeve art featured underneath the slipcover.

Next Episode Previews (HD, 5:24)

Promo Videos (HD, 4:14)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Unfortunately, on disc supplements are sparse on the release and it is close to barebones. The set could have been significantly better and more well-rounded with some extra care and attention given to the supplemental materials. The release could have been more impressive for series fans with some audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, and more. The provided extras are close to barebones and don't add any substantial value to the release. This is certainly unfortunate and fans won't find that extra value with the release.

My Home Hero: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My Home Hero is a gritty and dark anime for mature audiences looking for something far different from the norm. Fans of dark anime like Psycho-Pass and Death Note will want to consider checking it out. A dark anime with a distinct aesthetic for the world of the series. The animation reflects the series tone and genre sensibilities.

The Blu-ray release provides a quality high-definition presentation and lossless audio encoding. The release also includes a nice-looking o-card slipcover. The one major drawback of the release is the lack of meaningful on-disc supplements. Fans of the series may wish to consider a purchase. Audiences new to the series might wish to check it out first (especially given the significantly darker sensibilities of the production). Such is sometimes the draw with darker anime series with a target audience of mature viewers.