I Am a Hero. Nuova edizione, Vol. 1

I Am a Hero

by Kengo Hanazawa, Federica Lippi (Translator)

Hideo Suzuki è un mangaka che non è mai riuscito a sfondare e a trentacinque anni è ancora relegato al ruolo di assistente. Tra fallimenti, delusioni e la strana storia d'amore con la sua ragazza Tetsuko, la vita di Hideo si barcamena in attesa di un successo che non sembra mai arrivare. Tuttavia, un grande cambiamento per lui è in agguato eccome: una svolta oscura e sinistra, che trascinerà il mondo intero in una spirale di orrore e costringerà Hideo a rimboccarsi le maniche e diventare... un eroe.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Seinen, Zombies, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Kengo Hanazawa (花沢健吾 Hanazawa Kengo, born January 5, 1974) is a Japanese manga artist known for his seinen works. He won the Topic Award of the 2005 Sense of Gender Awards for Ressentiment and was nominated for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Manga Taisho for I Am a Hero.

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why did it have to end now finally we see a zombie attack !!!
I am so pumped up for Kengo Hanazawa i like his writing style he is dope and might be the best manga writer i read for if the zombie apocalypse shit doesn't take him away from making meaningful characters and making them have amazing conversation like he did all through this first volume.
he talked about what many things mean to Japanese culture especially manga
he talked a lot about the manga industry and about being a mangaka and what kind of problems face them to get published.
the main character is really interesting and a scardy cat and probably schizophrenic
His relationship with his girlfriend was really cool
i am so glad he didn't rush to the zombie stuff and gave hints all along the manga that it is going to happen eventually but can he continue providing the same level of writing while all the action and running and gunning is happening?
we also got to see him work as manga assistant but it doesn't really give us a good look at the business since he was just an assistant for hentai manga.
I will probably start volume 2 right away i am withholding 1 star to see a little bit more action with the same level of writing

[Xwirus · Rating 5 out of 5]

"El manga que invento nuevos tipos de zombis (muchos)"

Tipo de manga Seinen survival horror zombi apocalypse Gore y actualmente en emisión.

Y presupongo que a nadie le importa pero se a hecho recientemente una película basada en el manga.

Curiosamente el punto mas fuerte de este manga es a la vez su punto mas flojo, a diferencia de walking dead (hablo del cómic) el cual deja bastante de lado el tema de los zombis, y se centra en las relaciones interpersonales, este manga innova en los zombis en si, y esto entre la gente crea 2 tipos de opiniones, los que creen que es original y es aire fresco, y los que piensan que para hacer esto que no lo hiciera con zombis y que fuera un genero que no fuera el survival zombi apocalipse.

Para que os hagáis una idea estos zombis al principio de la serie tienen los mismos patrones que su yo antes de ser zombi, por ejemplo si la persona de antes iba a correr todas las mañanas, luego al trabajo y luego a casa, es probable que el zombi haga el mismo camino corriendo, valla al trabajo y luego valla a casa, a no ser que vea una persona viva en cuyo caso la atacara.
No quiero hablar de mas tipos porque podría considerarse spoiler.

(esta viñeta me recuerda a este cómic ((http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail...), no se si es algún tipo de guiño).

Después tenemos el tema del apocalypse en Japón, que bueno es curioso ver como plantea el autor que se comportarían los japoneses en caso de sufrir una situación similar, a destacar que van dejando notas de disculpa constantemente, con el nombre y el teléfono para que la gente sepa quien les a causado las molestias (por coger un coche de otra persona para escapar de los zombis), o que no asaltan los centros comerciales aprovechando el caos, también es una forma de acercarte a la psicología japonesa u oriental, a mi parecer este punto lo hace bastante atractivo, aunque otra vez pasa como el punto anterior, ¿Los japoneses se comportarían así?, gente planteando en las reseñas que esto es imposible, que nadie sera tan idiota, ¿para vosotros este punto que pensáis?

Y luego tenemos el tema del protagonista.


Review is comming y os matara a todos, así que tenerlo presente, continuare mañana con la review.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ver cómo puedo resumir mis impresiones acerca de éste manga.
Lo cogí de la biblioteca, pues es acerca de Zombies ( o infectados de algún tipo incierto) y porqué una amiga de aquí le otorgó buena nota.
Éste primer volumen basa casi todas sus páginas en presentarnos el que será el protagonista de la historia, su entorno y situación laboral y social. El problema que he encontrado es que los personajes me han caído muy mal, son entre patéticos y medio chalados, porqué una cosa es intentar impregnar de realismo los personajes y otra que sean tan vulgares y obsesivos, a la par que deprimentes..( no sé si así viven los mangakas de mangas, pero es horrible el ambiente diario de los que hay ahí). En cuanto a la ilustración, decir que es diferente, y algunos lo agradecerán, a la típica de llena de personajes con grandes ojos; aquí son Japoneses ( y muy feos, por cierto).
Los que busquéis de un manga diferente, es el vuestro, pero no hay gran acción en su primer tomo, sino las movidas mentales del protagonista y compañía.
Le daré una oportunidad al segundo volumen, y según como lo vea, sigo o no...

[Mehsi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not entirely sure what to think of this manga. Why did I read it I hear you say? Well, not too long ago I saw the trailer for the Live Action movie of this one, and I was interested, it seemed really awesome.

Sadly, the manga just plainly sucks. At least the first volume. I am not sure what to think of the main character, he has delusions, and talks to them (which to me says that he should seek help), he has a girlfriend, though at one point I was confused, it looked like he was cheating, unless that was someone else, but dear lord confusion much? He acts quite weird throughout the day, thinks about sex quite often, even when his girlfriend says no. But he is also dedicated and tries to work hard to get to his dream, being a mangaka and having his own successful manga. Of course, that dream is still far far away. For now he seems to work strange hours as a mangaka assistant.

The manga is clearly 18+, there are several scenes that aren't really for the young, and the last pages of this volume are definitely not for any kids. Dear Lord, that was a creepfest.

I did like that as the manga progresses you see that stuff goes from just a simple virus, to something much much worse. Through news reports (the characters watch the news/listen to the news), but also through characters we learn that something bigger is amiss in the world. People are bitten, people get hit by taxis yet just walk around without a care in the world. I loved how the author did this part, so that is what saves the manga from the 1 star I gave it originally. The sense of dread, the sense of something going bad very soon, I had goosebumps during those parts of the story, I just kept waiting for it all to go wrong, for it all to explode into something bad. And while it took 11 chapters, the horror does pop up.

The art is so-so. It is quite realistic, but at times it was just ugly and horror. The way the faces at times smiles, or talked or did stuff, it was highly disturbing. It is not my kind of art, I do like realistic, but it doesn't need to look like horror.

Will I continue with this confusing, and at times with too much dialogue, manga? I am not sure. I am guessing I will do it, as I am curious on how our main character continues with his life, how he will survive. Luckily he has his gun with him, hope it has bullets.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. The main character has some serious psychological issues, and at times his rants got a little over blown, but I felt like he was a very different protagonist. This volume clearly was setting up his life, as there was very little zombie anything.

As a warning, the cover may show him with a gun, but at no point during the story does he actually use said gun. Maybe in the next volume.

[Jon Ureña · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

I went for this series because I’m working the afternoon shift this week and I want something entertaining to distract me during the empty hours (also to keep me from contemplating how I’m hoping that more of my very limited hours on this Earth go faster and faster down the drain). I knew that it’s a zombie apocalypse story with a Japanese bent. What I got is simultaneously better and worse than I expected, which wasn’t much.

As the protagonist we have a 35 year old mostly talentless manga author who needs to succeed in that industry, because he doesn’t know how to do anything else (that would be me if I hadn’t found this unreliable job that adds zeroes to my bank account, the only reasonable goal for a civilized person). However, the stuff he creates barely sold in the past, and in the present he’s not getting anything published. As if that wasn’t terrible enough for a 35 year old man, he’s schizophrenic and ugly. The author could have extracted some sympathy points from his situation, but he made the guy generally unlikable. Almost the first time he strings a bunch of coherent sentences, he launches on a tirade about how terrible young, attractive female anchors are. He works as an assistant drawer (draw-person?) along with three or four other people so they can release some probably shitty ero-manga that has some other dude’s name on it. The protagonist is mostly considered by the others as a disturbing annoyance by how he tends to speak to himself and in general be awkward and unpredictable. In turn, the moment the protagonist separates from his coworkers, he shits on them for any mild irritation.

Probably the most unbelievable part of this guy’s life is that somehow he has a girlfriend, although she’s an abusive alcoholic. The woman can’t stop going on about how much better her ex is at what the protagonist, her current boyfriend, is attempting to do, which is like one of the worst things you can do to your romantic partner. It’s somewhat implied that she’s probably fucking the other guy on the side. The woman is not evil or anything, just clueless. The protagonist loses some more sympathy points because he attends a mixer (a classic Japanese activity along with karaoke, eating ramen and erotizing underage girls) with younger women even though he’s in a relationship. That mixer is a disaster: the moment the girls realize they got paired with losers in their thirties, who are mostly broke, ugly and talentless, they can’t wait to leave. The author depicts the perspective of the men involved very well: thirty, forty something guys who one day awoke to being that old and having failed to become successful, which for them mostly means producing something valuable, and/or making enough money, so some woman would be impressed and would want to open themselves for them. And I guess that beyond the pretenses and rationalizations, that’s mostly it for everyone with a sweaty meat-tube in between their legs. As a guy, you attempt to succeed at anything under the hope, whether or not you realize it, that if you make it, pussy will come to you. This whole being a person business is just pathetic. In general, the men in this story operate based on whether something will get them more boobs or vaginas, and the women gravitate towards whoever has the most success and resources. Unlike in real life?

The most poignant moment comes when the oldest assistant, a forty something dumpy guy, finds out that the female assistant he fantasized about (an average looking female, but the only one there) is actually fucking the main mangaka guy they work under, who happens to be married and have children. The forty something guy says that as soon as he finished high school he started working as an assistant draw-person, and twenty years later he hadn’t moved forward. In addition, the only woman he knew in real life ended up in a relationship with someone who already had a relationship. The forty year old guy shared the epiphany that he had nothing at all, that his entire existence had amounted to fuck all. I guess people like him expect society to be some pussy communism in which the available females would be shared equally, while in reality it works more like real communism: ninety five percent share the misery, and five percent enjoy the goods.

In any case, in the background of all this miserable “pulling all nighters drawing to release erotic mangas” shit, Japan is collapsing in the usual buildup of a mysterious virus that will explode in a zombie apocalypse. The buildup was way too similar to the current Coronavirus bullshit for comfort. In any case, the protagonist’s girlfriend gets bitten by an elementary school girl, and the volume ends with him visiting her apartment only to realize that the place smells like death, that death maggots are pouring from the mailbox, and that her girlfriend, now turned into one of those fast zombies, is moving to end this man’s whole career.

Regarding the art, this series so far suffers from one of those curious manga things in which the backgrounds are much better than the main drawings, presumably done by the author himself. At times it is a bit distracting, but the backgrounds are very well made and they help a lot to ground the narrative.

I want to keep reading. That’s enough of an endorsement from me.

[Sandra Uv · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75/5

Me ha encantado el comienzo de esta saga, qué protagonista tan peculiar...y ese finalazo WO WOW WOW

[Ben White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start but with some amazing payoffs, this is one of the best zombie books I've ever read. Utterly horrific in parts, astoundingly human in others, it plays with the conventions and expectations of the genre in surprising and effective ways and has the tendency to rip out your heart and stomp all over it at least once a volume. There's a fine line between hope and despair that a lot of zombie stories either ignore or just get wrong, but I Am A Hero veritably dances on that line. The art is also highly effective, grotesque at times but good at capturing the heart of characters--however dark or creepy or weird that heart might be. The zombies themselves are portrayed with hideous effect, and at times the author utilises his medium like a weapon; there's a moment towards the end of the first volume where I honestly didn't want to turn the page.

All in all an excellent series. Highly recommended.

[Almu · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha hecho nada de gracia :((
Me han gustado esos momentos en los que Hideo se pone a filosofar y el final, pero nada más.

[Sin Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read the first ten volumes of this series years ago, and whenever I try to picture what the perfect zombie outbreak story should be, scenes from this manga would come to mind. Last weekend I tried to pick up where I left off, but it was so good I had to go back to reread it from the beginning. It's got everything - fear, disgust, suspense, thrills, despair, relief, love, loss, drama and character development.

The pacing is slow at the start - it begins with the average life of a slightly pathetic guy in an unremarkable town. He has hopes and dreams, struggles in his life, and people around him who are complex and well developed characters in their own right. You won't find Tough But Fair Good Guy Protagonist or Slightly Scummy Buddy - whose sole purpose is to be killed as a plot device for the Good Guy to overcome his aversion to killing - here.

The unhurried pace takes its time to get you involved in the protagonist's life, all to set up a realistic backdrop for the nonchalant unravelling of society and gradual but inexorable descent into chaos. But once the action picks up around volume 3, the suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat. You will grow to care about the characters as they develop, and really feel the loss when they're taken away from you.

The art takes a little to get used to, but stick with it for a few volumes and you'll be rewarded with the absolute best work of any form of media in the genre.

[Sergsab · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Se establece un gran prólogo en el que se intuye qué puede pasar aunque no pase realmente nada.

- La red de personajes se establece para perderse al final del tomo. Nada seguirá en pie. Sólo su protagonista y su miedo. Sólo los fantasmas sobreviven.

- El diseño de los zombies es raro hasta decir basta. Aún desconozco sus atributos. También sus flaquezas.

- El personaje principal es al antihéroe perfecto. Pero empatizar con él es difícilismo. No me importa que muera en el tomo 2.

- Se hace una radiografía exhaustiva del mundo del manga. Hasta el punto de que tu red de intereses cambia por completo. Hubo momentos en el que parecía estar leyendo Bakuman.

- El dibujo también es algo complicado. Realista en extremo. Se apuesta por la fealdad en el caso de que sea esa la realidad ante la que estamos.

- La psicología de las relaciones está bien trabajada. En este punto tengo que decir BIEN! porque el poder y sus ligaduras, propios de las sociedad japonesa, acampan a sus anchas en esta historia.


#Apuntes

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hideo tiene 35 años, siente que la vida no arranca para el, es un artista de apoyo d eun mangaka, no sabe si esta enamorado, tiene dudas, esta aburrido...o sea, es normal, pero también tiene alucinaciones visuales en medio de una epidemia que empieza de a poco....


La mitad de la gente que hablaba de este manga esperaba mas, la otra sigue encantada y agradezco estar en los últimos, me gusta Hideo, es un personaje real, lleno de errores, miedos, dudas aunque el quiere ser un héroe...para el mismo. el arte es fluido, detallado y precioso siendo que me gusta mas otros estilos. La historia tarda en arrancar y si, en las primeras 20 paginas hay ocasiones que uno no sabe que esta pasando, pero es de darse tiempo y la historia te atrapa. Y las ultimas paginas...oh por dios, que buenas ultimas paginas.

[Dusan Prvacki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Da mi neko sada stavi cev na glavu i da mi kaže da moram da opišem zaplet ove mange, rekao bih mu da ne mora da se cima i sam bih povukao obarač.

Hideo Suzuki ima 35 godina, životno je neostvaren, nesiguran, seksualno devijantan i mizogin (kao i svi likovi) i mentalno oboleo. Halucinira i razgovara sa svojim imaginarnim prijateljima, te je linija između realnosti i mašte vrlo tanka, naročito na početku kada čitalac (čitaj ja) ne zna šta ga je snašlo - posebno što je on svojih halucinacija svestan i otvoreno priča o njima sa svojom "devojkom" i kolegama, koji prihvataju to u potpunosti. Niko od aktera praktično nije heroj svoje priče i konstantno krive druge za svoje životne i karijerne neuspehe.

Zaplet, praktično, ne postoji. Činjenica da se sprema zombi apokalipsa (samo u minimalnim naznakama) me tera da se zapitam zašto sam potrošio toliko vremena slušajući izgubljene i nesigurne muškarce, čitajući o seksualno izopačenim mangama od isto toliko izopačenih manga autora, svedočeći dnevnim problemima gubitnika ovog društva kada će sve ionako otići u majčinu. Istini za volju, svako malo postoje suptilne naznake opasnosti koje glavni lik uopšte ne primećuje, opterećen svojim životom, odnosno odsustvom istog, te je onda i čitalac prinuđen da nastavi dalje. Autor je, naravno, namerno okolišao i sve nas kolektivno izmanipulisao da posvetimo pažnju manje bitnim stvarima od apokalipse (i odradio je odličan posao time), ali su te manje bitne stvari toliko dosadne i besmislene i TOLIKO IH IMA da se čitalac na kraju nađe u podjednako besmislenoj situaciji kao i likovi.

Razularena raja bi sada rekla "Ali Dušane, to se zove slow burn, sigurno će makar glavni lik postati heroj svog, a možda i tuđih života i dobiće novu svrhu" ali mislim da sam već dogoreo i da ću svoje vreme posvetiti nečemu smislenijem. Na primer, osmišljavanju Tiktok plesa podrške nastradalima u aktuelnim ratovima.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... there were things I liked a lot and things I disliked a lot. Ultimately the dislikes weigh heavier than the positive, so I won't be reading volume 2. But it was a close call.

I liked: The art - the pacing - the zombies.
The art is interesting and effective, but not pretty. Sometimes the ugliness of the characters made me downright uncomfortable, but that's also what makes it stand out. In some other reviews the pacing was criticized for being too slow, too all over the place, the zombies coming in too late - but I disagree. I think there's merit in the slow build-up; there's tension between the mundane worries of the protagonist and the glimpses of the zombie apocalypse creeping in slowly and then all at once. Those last few pages? Absolutely delicious set-up. Which leads me to...

I disliked: The characters - the crudeness - the sexism.
This volume doesn't have a pacing problem, but you must be okay with spending a lot of time with unlikeable characters. Sometimes that's fine with me, sometimes it's not, depending on what else the text has to offer. This here didn't work for me. Hideo isn't particularly interesting, and I know that's probably the whole point to his character and that he'll develop later on (at least I hope so), but I don't really care enough about him to stick around for that. The rest of the cast is just as annoying, so ultimately this'll be a pass for me.

The art really is fantastic though.

[Hossein · Rating 4 out of 5]

حینی که اینو می‌نویسم دربی مادرید هم در حال پخش ی چشم اونجاست.. (یکم اسپویل)
اولین باری که با زامبی ها آشنا شدم توسط سریال واکینگ دد بود یادمه اون موقع که شروعش کردم شش فصلش اومده بود و در کنار بریکینگ بد و گیم آف ترونز توی اوج بود ... ولی زامبی ها یک چیز دیگه بودن . کانسپتی که به شکل های مختلف توی مدیوم های مختلف استفاده شده سینما تلویزیون کتاب و ویدیو گیم ها ... این مانگا مشهور و پرطرفدار هم راجع به دنیایی هست که مردم توش تبدیل به زامبی مییشن . زندگی ی مانگاکا رو دنبال میکنیم که ی جورایی به نظرم سایکوسیس هم داره و توهم میزنه ... که توی ی استودیو درجه چندم در حال کاره . سعی می‌کنه که سری شخصی خودش رو چاپ کنه و مانگای قبلی که نوشته/کشیده بود بخاطر کم طرفداری کنسل شده بود ... رابطه اش با دوست دخترش رو نشون میده و از اینکه دوست دخترش هی به دوست پسر قبلیش که برخلاف اون یک مانگاکای موفقه اشاره میکنه ناراضیه ... خلاصه شخصیت پردازی و دیالوگ قوی داشت باید ببینم بعدش چی میشه و چطور ژاپنی که مردم توش تبدیل به زامبی شدن رو نشون میده ....

[Juancho Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este primer tomo vamos a conocer a Hideo, donde es rechazado por una editorial, tiene una novia que lo quiere mucho pero que todavía se habla con su ex novio, y con alguno que otro problema emocional, y de esos problemas emocionales nace un amigo imaginario, que le habla a lo largo de este tomo dándole algunos concejos.

En este tomo vamos a ver odios, amor, miedos, intranquilidad, muchas emociones que el personaje principal nos va hacer percibir por medio de Hideo.

El arte es tremendo, les recomiendo este comienzo de serie un comienzo muy bueno, que me dejo con ganas de leerme el segundo tomo.

[78sunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,6 von 5 Sternen
Leider konnte ich mit diesem Manga nichts anfangen. Ich hatte mich sehr auf eine Zombi-Apocalypse-Geschichte gefreut. Leider habe ich die Abgedrehtheit und Merkwürdigkeit dieses Mangas nicht verstanden oder zu schätzen gewusst.
Mich konnte weder die Story noch der Zeichenstil überzeugen. Am negativsten war aber die Charaktergestaltung. Ich fand alle Charaktere extrem unsympathisch, teils psychisch krank und ich hatte wirklich so gar kein Interesse etwas von ihrem Leben zu erfahren.
Ich werde die Reihe definitiv nicht weiter verfolgen.

[Ignacio Izquierdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡¡Zombies!! Este primer tomo se toma su tiempo para crear a los personajes y darles su realidad. Pero por detrás siempre subyace una sensación de oscuridad y ansiedad tremenda, que explotará al final del volumen, dando paso al comienzo de la historia. Me acerqué a este manga después de haber leído muy buenas críticas y no se equivocaban. Llega el enganche.

[Why · Rating 2 out of 5]

2

[Vladimir Veškovac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Najveće razočaranje kad su mange u pitanju.

[Vvvvvvegu u u · Rating 5 out of 5]

cuidao con los avions

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Alexis Benitez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Primero: Esta historia deja cabo sueltos. Es para que sepas en lo que te estás metiendo.


Bueno, ahora sí: te adelanto un par de cosas. Este tomo es introductorio y lo que esperabas ver no se va a desarrollar hasta en el siguiente entrega. Partiendo desde ahi, solo hay que decir que la historia es entretenida y hasta ahí no más, porque conforme vas avanzando vas notando que su principal atractivo es su único punto fuerte: el dibujo (y eso hasta a veces se deja de lado para implementar modelos 3-d o para meter escenarios que son fotografias con filtros para parecer dibujos, o dibujos repetidos en los paneles ¡o incluso dibujos cuyas dimensiones o posturas no concuerdan con las perspectiva del escenario! Y en cuanto a la acción, conforme pasa el tiempo se vuelve repetitiva al igual que ciertos giros de tuerca que involucran a nuevos personajes. Hablando de esto, tanto los personajes principales como secundarios no tienen ni una profundización ni un desarollo ni remarcable ni constante a lo largo de más de 200 capitulos. En cuánto a carácter...hay una buena dupla entre el personaje principal y sus acompañantes por el constraste entre su inseguridad y la decisión de quienes lo acompañan. Un punto que me gustaria marcar es en el pequeño detalle de que los personajes buscan pagar por lo que rompen o roban, o dejar escritos de que lamentan los daños que ocasionan; como si realmente confiaran en que la situación pronto se normalizará y deberán pagar por sus actos. Por supuesto, el prota es harina de otro costal y conforme avanza la trama demuestra que poco y nada le importa su recientenente fallecida novia.

A destacar: también hay deus ex machina y diabolus ex machina. Dios.

A destacar: los zombies especiales, ya sea por su diseño o comportamiento, son desaprovechados. Y es una lástima porque de haber aparecido más seguido habrían implicado un reto de supervivencia más alto.

Por último, el romance entre dos personajes es ilogico porque se vuelve explicito de forma tardía y carece de desarollo previo. Principalmente porque la parte femenina estuvo "inconciente" durante gran parte de la historia.

[John Blacksad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rahatsız edici bir kitap (Ve dibine kadar Japon). Kimileri bu rahatsız edici gerçekçiliği sevebilir. Kurgu formatta çizgi roman okurken ilk cilt itibariyle ben hoşlanmadım.

Japonya çok farklı bir ülke. Yıllardır bu ülkeye dair neşriyat topluyorum. Selçuk Esenbel hocanın “ Japon Modernleşmesi Ve Osmanlı” kitabıyla ilgili bir toplantıda Japonya için “Bildiğimizi sandığımız fakat tanıdıkça, okudukça, öğrendikçe aslında ne kadar az tanındığı, yanlış tanındığı, aslına vakıf olmanın güçlüğünün farkedildiği bir kültür” olduğunu söylemişti. Yıllar oldu. Kelimesi kelimesine böyle değildir ama bu minvalde diyelim.

Bir tarafta saygı dili, hep gülümseme, temizlik, iş disiplini. Diğer tarafta şiddet dolu bir tarih, paçinko, yalnızlık, hentai. Örnekler uzar da uzar. Çok kutuplu ve kutuplarının hepsi kendine has sivri. Japonya’nın bu yüzlerinden huzursuz bazılarını bu cildin üstümüze boca etmesini çok sevmedim. Yalnızlık kültürü, (bize göre) tuhaf sosyal münasebetler, iş yaşamı, cinsel hayat. Küçücük evlerde yalnız yaşayan, hayatta bir yer edinmeye çalışan, tuhaf takıntı ve alışkanlık sahibi insanlar. Baş karakter dahil zaman zaman (olduklarının ötesinde) çirkin çizilmişler. Sert mi sert argo, küfür kullanımı. Artık genç yaşları ardında bırakmış, otuzlarının ortasında, işleri rast gitmemiş, özel hayatı dahil hiçbir şeyde muvaffak olamamış “looser” bir mangakanın/otakunun hayatı böyle berbat olabilir gerçekten.

Yakası bağrı açılmamış küfürlerle de süslenen bu tablo nahoş. Öyle ki (kitabın arkasında zaten bahsedilen) finale doğru haberlerde ve etrafta izlerini görmeye başladığımız virüs/zombi apokalipsi hali bir kurtuluş gibi geliyor.

Çizimler kaliteli. İçerik yetişkin okur kitlesine uygun. İnternette seri 22 kitap görünüyor. Bizde bazen birleştirilmiş emisyon basılıyor. Fakat özellikle 22 cilt sürecekse bu bunaltıcı atmosfere, karaktere tahammül edebilir miyim bilmiyorum. İleride ilginçleşebilir. Fakat “Yürüyen Ölüler” ilk sayı(lar)dan itibaren nasıl bir kaynak suyu gibi doyumsuz bir lezzet sunduysa, bunu yaz sıcağında arabada beklemiş şişe suyuna benzetebiliriz :)

[Hardian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly horror is not really my thing, I liked many, but still it's not my thing. I've got to give it at most 4 stars if I'm really into rating, which already means that I really liked it. But 'I Am A Hero volume 1' is quite different for a horror manga. It's kind of slow-paced, which is really my thing.

I generally like slow manga which lets me contemplate and see things through. And like this manga seems to deliberately being quite contemplative, it shows many silent sequences and quiet moments, which are drawn in really smart paneling.

Having said that it's good at building the quiet scenes (with some for the sake of the horror atmosphere), it's also pretty good at its dialogs. Once it gets to a dialog, it can talk much, but interestingly directed and pretty well-written.

One notable thing about this manga, is that somehow it looks kind of 'architectural'. It acknowledges and utilizes well the architecture of the setting the story takes place. The apartment buildings, the rooms' design, the cityscape, all seem to be well-drawn, well-thought and well-observed. It reminds me of Asano Inio's style of drawing with his awesome detailed backdrops. A difference is that I think, while Asano's backdrops are drawn beautifully almost in every scene with its distinctive lighting as so it serves Asano's contemplation of beautiful landscape, Kengo Hanazawa's backdrops feel like more structural and for functional purposes.

One more thing that I really enjoyed is the awkward scenes which I think are cleverly staged. The opening scene when our main character danced and the most interesting one when he's literally pissing on his imaginary friends while casually talking to him, hilarious.

Overall, I Am A Hero is a well-drawn horror manga which doesn't rush and waits patiently for the right (horror) moments to come, while actually consistently building the horror atmosphere since the very beginning.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hideo is a struggling manga artist, insecure in his relationship with Tekko because her last boyfriend was a famous manga artist. He has to reassure himself that he is a hero (a play on words with his name) and that the protagonist of his manga is not boring. Between working crazy hours at the studio and popping in to visit Tekko, Hideo barely has time to pay attention to the news... which means he barely notices when the zombie apocalypse starts.

The first half of this manga is quite strange, as Hideo often has hallucinations of people he talks to, when in actually he's talking to himself. He's very quirky and the facial expressions he and Tekko make were bizarre to me. He and his coworkers apparently draw very sexual comics and their banter is highly sexual as well (Hideo's one solo work is called "Naked Penis"). The second half picks up when Tekko turns into a zombie and attacks Hideo, who takes a good long time putting the pieces together. After that, the action swiftly moves to Hideo's escape from the city.

I discovered this manga from a blog post about graphic novels dealing with mental illness. I wasn't exactly sure what sort of illness Hideo was suffering from. It was sort of interesting in that if you're accustomed to having hallucinations, you might not trust when you see a zombie. I wasn't a huge fan of the quasi-realistic style of the art (especially when the realistic became bizarre, the characters mouths often made weird shapes) nor did I enjoy the focus on boobs (one character is obsessed with a show called "Boob Morning") and sexuality in general (one character who was having an affair ended up as a zombie with a bitten off penis lodged in her throat). Apparently the series continues with more zombie survival but I'm not sure I liked Hideo enough as a character to continue.

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie version of this manga a couple of years ago, for Halloween, and thoroughly enjoyed the mix between horror and comedy. Getting across the manga at the local library I decided to give it a chance. Would it be any similar to the movie?

Well, for now, in its first volume, close enough. There is humor (even if the obsessions that Hideo has can feel a little bit over-the-top, they add to the overall creepiness, and have a purpose to the story), and there is horror (even if this first volume is more of a slow burner, just setting the story and its 'protagonist').

Because here we have a tongue-in-cheek approximation to 'heroes', with one that has little of it, and remembers the reader of it constantly. He is a failure in his manga work (not particularly an original setting), jealous of his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and a little bit sexist (something seinen and shounen manga many times are guilty of) and not particularly handsome or attractive. However, Kengo Hanazawa does enough of a good job of making Hideo relatable, and of humanizing him. The drawing style is also pretty cool, realistic and dirty and gritty when it needs to.

If you like horror, zombies and all with a "Shaun of the Dead" or "One Cut of the Dead" style, you may enjoy "I Am a Hero".

The best: the story, the characters, the horror/humor mix, the drawing style

The worst: some situations could be seen as sexist and be off-putting (now, is it done on purpose, it is a social aspect, commentary on Japanese culture, etc, etc?; who knows, I am not Kengo Hanazawa; maybe I will have a chance to develop a better opinion in further volumes); it is graphical, so if you are queasy...

Further watching: do yourself a favor and watch the movie

7/10

(Spanish translation by Marc Bernabé)

[Biondy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manga ini... Bagaimana harus kukatakan yah? Aneh mungkin adalah kata yang tepat untuk mendefinisikannya. Sureal mungkin adalah kata lain yang bisa dipakai.

Dari beberapa halaman awal saja Kengo Hanazawa sudah berhasil menciptakan karakter yang "kuat". Bukan dalam artian karakter yang punya badan six packs dan berotot, tapi karakter yang, hmm... belum pernah saya lihat.

Hideo Suzuki, karakter utama komik ini, adalah seorang asisten mangaka yang berusaha untuk kembali sukses. Ya, si Hideo ini dulunya seorang mangaka yang sudah berhasil serialisasi di majalah, tapi kemudian serialnya diputus.

Hideo ini terkesan paranoid. Dia sering melihat hantu (yang entah memang hantu atau hanya sekedar khayalannya saja) dan juga punya seorang teman khayalan. Dia juga sering berkhayal menjadi seseorang yang lebih "besar" dari dirinya sendiri. Dia bahkan sering membayangkan hal itu saat sedang bekerja dan membuatnya sering bicara sendiri.

Hideo punya pacar yang sangat menyayanginya dan juga yang sangat dia sayangi. Namanya Tekko. Hubungan antara mereka ini menarik untuk diikuti dan saya mampu merasakan bagaimana si Hideo ini memang sayang (atau cuma sekedar bergantung?) pada Tekko.

Kisahnya sejauh ini masih berisi kehidupan sehari-hari Hideo. Mulai dari kerja, pacaran, tidur, bangun, kerja, pacaran, terus begitu. Mungkin hal ini akan membuat beberapa pembaca bosan, tapi saya sendiri suka pace yang dipakai di sini, karena membuat saya lebih paham akan tokohnya.

Bagian yang paling nonjok dari komik ini? Sebelas halaman terakhirnya. Baca saja dan temukan kenapa :D

[Rino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm posting this regarding the first few volumes, as volume 1 is mostly setup only. Things don't really get going until volume 2, so if you're not sure whether you'll like this or not, get the first two books together. My ratings are per book, though.

The artwork takes a bit of getting used to, but I found it a lot more interesting than most of the art style one typically sees in Manga. Also, Hideo is a horrible protagonist - and that's kind of the point, in that he is not really a protagonist. He's a nobody caught in the end of everything he holds dear by means of zombie apocalypse, and it's his point of view that makes the story work as wonderfully as it does. At no point did I really like him though, and I don't really think I was supposed to. He does have a rifle, and this not being America, it's what sets him apart.

Now, what this does right (oh boy, and how):
- The zombies are absolutely, gut-wrenchingly terrifying.
- When Hanazawa starts to use his two-page spreads, it's the closest I've ever seen any comic come to pull off a jump scare. It's absolutely brilliant, and he does it again and again.
- The rifle is shot for the first time in volume 4. Once. This manga is not afraid to take its time, and it treats weapons the way they should be: dangerous, and only to be used as a last resort.

Loved it. Whenever a book feels just kind of good, the next one has something in it that lifts the whole thing up to the top spot again. All in all, this is better than The Walking Dead, no question.

[Miguel Lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombies.

Un apocalipsis realista, un apocalipsis en un Japón donde la cultura es tan diferente a la nuestra y donde las decisiones siempre serán diferentes.

Un manga que no se me antojaba, sí, otra historia mas de Zombies. Solo quise comprar el primer tomo de este manga que para mi era otra historia mas. Mi peor error fue haber comprado solo un tomo ya que al finalizar el primero necesitaba seguir. y es que estos "zombies" tienen algo que los hace ser interesantes pero, para mi lo mas importante es como la historia te va moviendo. El primer tomo cabe aclarar que es un poco denso, mucho dialogo, mucho personaje, mucho de todo, pero una vez que se termina todo da comienzo y ya no se puede parar.

El estilo de arte y los dibujos tan realistas es lo que me cautivó por completo y es que no sé si entra en lo bizarro o si la realidad se convirtió en tal. Mis partes favoritas son las ilustraciones de doble pagina, ciudades enteras o simplemente calles niponas, son de disfrutarse. Los nipones saben como sofreír lo que ya está refrito y aun así hacerse de disfrutar como si fuese la primera vez que algo así pasara.

En estos momentos voy por el tomo 11 y es que lastimosamente el manga está siendo publicado y lastimosamente es mensual su publicación.