Damn You, Heroes! Why Won’t You Die?
Creative Staff
Story: Sakuma Sasaki
Art: Asagi Tosaka
Translation: Jordan Taylor
What they say
Shinichi Sotoyama might just be the world’s most average high schooler. That is, until he finds himself summoned by the Blue Demon King to a fantasy world—just like his favorite RPG games! Except this Demon King is pathetically begging at his feet, lamenting the arrival of some “heroes”..who apparently have infinite lives and respawn over and over again?!
Unlike his hysterical summoner, Shinichi coolly takes on the challenge of fending off these pesky heroes, literally shaking hands with the devil. But the demon clan is about to find out that his tisted mind is darker than the worst of them.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When I first heard about The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’s Heroes, I will admit that I was not interested in reading it. The story sounded like it was about a duplicitous villain, someone so heinous and evil that he would stoop to any low, commit any villainous act—murder, rape, assault, the whole shebang—and do it with a smile. None of that sounds like something I would enjoy, so I was very leery when I received a copy of this series to review.
Having finally read it, I’m not sure if I feel let down or relieved.
The series really isn’t anything like what I thought it would be. Sure, Shinichi isn’t the most morally upstanding young man and isn’t above stooping low to achieve victory, but he’s not really evil either. In fact, I wouldn’t say he was evil at all. Outside of humiliating the heroes, using cheats to train and grow stronger, and getting close to an innocent girl in order to turn her away from the human’s side, he’s a pretty upstanding guy.
Yeah, I know. That sounds bad. Let me explain.
So, starting from the beginning, Shinichi is summoned to another world by the Blue Demon King, who wants him to defeat the invincible heroes who keep getting respawned because they were apparently gifted with infinite lives. The reason he summoned Shinichi is because he wants to give his incredibly kind daughter delicious human food. That’s it. The Blue Demon King is wrapped around his darling daughter’s finger and wants to grant her wish of eating human food, which apparently tastes leagues better than the awful garbage that can scarcely be called food in the demon world.
Doesn’t sound very bad, does it? Unfortunately, demons are evil according to the Goddess Elazonia, and since this world is ruled by the church who worships the goddess, it doesn’t really matter if demons are evil or not. Reviling them as evil is simply a matter of course. As natural as breathing. So, basically, demons are the good guys and humans are the bad guys—at least, this is what the story is like so far. All the demons want is to give the Blue Demon King’s daughter—an adorable girl called Rino—delicious food. Meanwhile, the humans attacked the demons without even giving them a chance to explain themselves.
Thus they summon Shinichi.
There is a surprising amount of entertainment value in this series. First, I really enjoyed the humor and byplay between the characters. In particular, the way Shinichi played the straight man to both the Blue Demon King and Celes—the Blue Demon King’s maid. The Blue Demon King is constantly doting on his daughter, which ruins his image. Meanwhile, Celes is always insulting Shinichi by calling him a pervert and thinking up all manner of lewd scenarios that he “wants” to commit upon her and the other girls in the story.
The second aspect I enjoyed was the oddly strong romance between Arian and Shinichi. It happened oddly fast. Arian and Shinichi met in one chapter, and then Arian fell in love and could even admit it. I found her very endearing. Of course, the romance also has me worried. I’m rarely ever satisfied by romance in light novels because they tend to shy away from committing the protagonist to anyone, which means the romance often stagnates. It’s kept me from reading volume 2.
In Summary
I would say this light novel is an overall strong start. It has likeable characters, an interesting take on the isekai genre, and a protagonist who doesn’t seem dense like most isekai protagonist’s I know. The idea of a high schooler being summoned to another world by the demon king to give his daughter delicious food is just ludicrous enough of an idea that it feels original. Whether or not this originality can last will depend on the author’s ability to write.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 16, 2019
MSRP: $14.00
