Meanwhile, back on the ranch…
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Kengo Hanazawa
Translation: Kumar Sivasubramanian
Adaptor: Philip R. Simon
What They Say
With Japan’s zombie outbreak in full swing, some of the infected have been able to hold onto their humanity while exhibiting superhuman ZQN powers—like the strange, underwear-clad hybrid known as Kurusu. The members of the Cult of Kurusu begin looking for more human survivors, keeping watch over their often-unhinged leader. Takashi Ezaki is a young shut-in who may find a reason to live—and love—with Kurusu’s odd batch of fighters, if only his nerves can take it! Now a major motion picture, this hit manga series is presented in a deluxe omnibus format, collecting two of the original Japanese volumes into each Dark Horse edition!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
What makes I Am A Hero stand out from the seemingly endless downpour of zombie comics out there is in its execution. Author Kengo Hanazawa is really thoughtful about what an actual zombie outbreak in Japan would be like, almost to the point of killing any forward momentum of the plot. Lots of small moments like Hideo over-thinking his next move to the point that he’s sent into bouts of anxiety, give a certain amount of quirkiness to the series that helps make it stand out from other stories in its genre. So when this volume switched gears entirely to focus on a brand new cast of survivors, I was a bit skeptical.
While the volume is ultimately just as enjoyable if not better than previous volumes, it does so by bringing itself down to the same level as the stories that it far outshone in volumes before. We’re introduced to a ragtag group of survivors, all from different paths of life, and we see the odd mini-dictatorship that’s gone down due to just how cautious everyone has become in this post zombie apocalypse world. Everyone acts as you think they would in a story about zombies, and that’s what begins to drain the fun out of it. At least when Hideo sought shelter in the roof of the mall, his having to deal with Hiromi’s ZQN status helped keep the story from falling into too much of a rut.
Among the ragtag group of survivors, you have the brash kid, the hardened killer, the motherly figure that’s clearly adjusted her ideals to the changing world around her, among other archetypes you’d expect from a zombie story. To top off the new cast, we’re introduced to Ezaki—a cowardly shut-in high schooler that’s the most out-of-his-element of the group. The majority of the volume sticks to his perspective as he’s brought into the group and slowly learns of the ins and outs of their day. We’re treated to these uncanny moments of normalcy where the gang argues with the mother character (lovingly referred to as “Auntie”) over what to eat for dinner, juxtaposed to scenes where the gang practices how to stab with a real-life captured ZQN. If anything, Ezaki’s hesitation to kill is very similar to Hideo’s in previous volumes, with that willingness to maintain his humanity serving as the binding glue throughout the series.
But where the volume really takes in interesting turn is in its further explanation of the ZQNs. Unlike previous volumes, the gang we’re following this time around acts very certainly about what they do and do not know about the outbreak. Sticking to the fact that most of them met up via chatroom, a good chunk of the characters aren’t afraid to nitpick the situation and systematically figure out what works and what doesn’t work. This results in the gang reaching some very clear absolutes, like the ZQNs all acting on the routines they had as humans, all heading south for some reason, and most importantly the fact that a select few can retain their humanity as a ZQN. Kurusu—the group’s big guns—is an example of the latter, as while he was indeed bitten, he has been able to maintain (enough of) his humanity in exchange for the superhuman strength ZQNs have. It’s a nice twist on what’s already happened with Hiromi volumes past, while also being built up and eventually given its own spotlight in the form of a 3-way fight between Kurusu and two other similarly-abled humans. Granted, it’s all very knowingly downplayed since each combatant leans towards the schlubby and/or normal-looking side and is clad in nothing but their underwear, but it wouldn’t be I Am A Hero without this certain level of “yeah, this is cool, but we’re gonna make it as unfabulous as possible.”
In Summary:
I Am A Hero omnibus 6 serves as a quick, but appreciated aside far from the main cast. We learn a hefty deal of what other groups in Japan are doing to survive during the ZQN outbreak all while picking up on a few more rules of what makes and breaks the ZQNs themselves. And while the drama the unfolds among the group is par for the course for any other zombie story, that’s not to say that its execution is any less charming, especially for a volume where we’re introduced to a whole new batch of characters. It’s intense, fast-paced, heartbreaking, and knowingly idiotic—a slightly different flavor from what we’ve gotten in volumes past.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Manga
Release Date: May 29, 2018
MSRP: $10.99
