The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1 review: An action rom-com story begins with sub-par animation

The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1, titled The Shy Hero and the Three Princesses, premiered on Saturday, July 5, 2025, on ABEMA Premium and Crunchyroll. As one of the new summer 2025 anime series, the romantic-comedy anime was highly anticipated by many fans. However, the animation quality fell short of what was expected.

This The Shy Hero and Assassin Princesses episode 1 review will mainly focus on the criticism of the first episode, critically analyzing the narrative and the production. From the production quality to the in-depth breakdown of the narrative, here is a complete review of the pilot episode of the new summer 2025 anime series.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1, and reflects the writer's opinion.

The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1 review: A brief recap and narrative criticism

A brief recap of The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1

Still from The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1 (Image via Studio Connect)

The pilot episode started with an introduction to all the major characters in the series, including Toto, the main protagonist, and the three princesses— Ciel, Anemone, and Gore— the main female lead characters of the series. Toto has a strong and intimidating physical stature, but underneath, he is really shy.

On the other hand, the Demon Lord's daughter Ciel, the assassin Anemone, and the seductress Gore are all tasked with killing Toto for their rewards. For Ciel, it's freedom from the confines of her castle. For Anemone, it's for money, specifically 100 million Gil. For Gore, it's all about facing someone challenging to undermine, as she grew tired of her routine.

All three of the girls joined Toto's party but were secretly plotting to kill him. In the episode, all of them make several attempts to assassinate Toto, but fail as Toto snaps out of his unconsciousness. Contrarily, the girls' attempts to kill Toto turned on themselves, and were saved by Toto on multiple instances throughout the episode.

A narrative criticism of the episode

The episode did well as an introductory episode, but somewhere it felt a bit rushed. Studio Connect could have talked about Toto's character and personality in more depth in the pilot episode. Since the episode was on the topic of introducing the characters, a little story narrative could've been saved for the upcoming episode, rather than showing it all in one.

The episode also showed Toto killing the monstrous Black Spider Dragon in one blow. No real explanation or flashback of Toto's immense strength was indicated in the episode. All in all, the episode could've just stuck to the topic of introducing the characters in a better way, rather than expanding on other plot lines.

The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1 review: Production, animation, and voice acting criticism

With the anime being released at a time when the standard of animation is at its peak, the episode's animation quality was substandard. Some character outlines were shaky in the animation, and the color palette was highly contrasted with the background in many instances. Studio Connect, which has produced great anime series in the past, was expected to deliver on this, but fell short.

However, the music and voice acting in the episode were good and reflected well with the scenes and character emotions. The animation could have been much better to match the standard of the manga's popularity and give justice to the well-composed music and voice acting done in the episode.

Final thoughts

Overall, the narrative of The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses episode 1 was passable as an introductory episode to the series but could have scored top marks if the animation quality was better than what was presented. The storyline is also unique, which makes the drop in quality even more disheartening.

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About the author

Ribhu Ghosh is an Anime Journalist at Sportskeeda. With a degree in Journalism under the Calcutta University, his deep-rooted passion for anime and manga led him to pursue a career in writing about the same.

Along with his 6 years of experience as an illustrator and digital artist for various overseas anime studios and companies, he also aspires to write storylines. Ribhu's creative journey has been profoundly influenced by renowned mangakas such as Sui Ishida, Masashi Kishimoto, Kohei Horikoshi, and Koyoharu Gotouge.

Ribhu's enthusiasm for storytelling and illustration is evident in his meticulous approach to reporting. He values accuracy and relevance and always prioritizes thorough research.

If given a chance, he would return to 2014 and be a part of the Tokyo Ghoul series, as he admires its action scenes, story, plot twists, art, and adaptation from the manga.

When he's not writing, Ribhu enjoys illustrating, playing chess, and engaging in outdoor activities like badminton. His diverse interests extend to music, cooking, reading, and gaming, all of which complement his passion for entertainment.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay