Kage no Eiyuu no Nichijou-tan: Yuusha no Ura de Anyaku Shiteita Saikyou no Agent. Soshiki ga Kaitai Sareta node, Shoutai Kakushite Hitonami no Nichijou wo Ouka suru.
Shadow Hero's Daily Life

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8.0/10


Coming into this, I thought “Shadow Hero’s Daily Life” would be one of the many generic retired slow life mangas. However, I couldn’t have been further off. To put it out there, “The Fruit of Grisaia” must have been a huge inspiration for this series. By no means is it a stretch, since the last time I’ve heard of “Grisaia” was eight or so years ago, but even I recognized that one of the arcs in this manga is a straight spinoff of said inspiration. With that being said though, I used to fangirl over “Grisaia,” so it was a nice nostalgic feeling of experiencing ... it once again.

Onto the actual plot, each character gets their own arc with the mc also leaving an influence of them. During the side character’s development, the main character is on a journey himself to find his way back in society. Each character gets their own development, even the ones that are meant be throwaways. With that being said, once the supporting character’s arc is over, they aren’t forgotten about and still leave an impression in the story. For the protagonist, he is an emotionless bast@rd so that might be a huge turnoff for some. However, it seems by the chapter that he is slowly becoming more and more empathetic so he isn’t a one-dimensional brick with no room for growth.

The plot doesn’t lack anything besides for the minor plot holes, but the art is a bit of a different story. I wish the manga had a bit better art, since the fight scenes aren’t thrilling but, not to the point where it ruins the ambiance. However, the immersion would’ve been elevated if said art was the slightest bit better.

This is a great story with great character development. If you were looking for a generic slow life manga with an incontestable mc, then this isn’t the stuff you are looking for. However, if you wanted an emphasis on the progression of characters, this might be the thrill you needed.


Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

While this is obviously the generic fantasy wish fulfillment manga you are expecting there is just a bit of extra flair that makes it above average (in the genre) IMO. In the 22 chapters released so far all 4 of the main characters get a major arc for character development. It kinda feels like a visual novel in how it does these arcs. This leads to some moments feeling inconsistent or impactless but since the style is fairly unique I personally believe this to be a trade off that is worthwhile, though it would depend on how the story develops from here. The main character ... is more of a plot device than an actual main character which is why him still being the focus in each arc feels off. There is some interesting world building elements to the story but nothing has truly been fleshed out yet and it seems like most of it was tacked on as an after thought. The art looks great, character design is fairly unique, especially for this genre. The quality is consistent and stuff like movement looks great. Character writing seems to be a tad bit inconsistent especially for the people around the main cast. Still I do believe there is some potential here, if it's not this manga than this could still open the door for better works by this mangaka.

The manga is nothing but a chimera of every possible cliche you've seen in "ecchi harem" battle academy mangas, but ofc without any ecchi or harem. Think of it as that "Maou Gakuin" anime with one "Anos Voldigold" but even more generic and coupled with an isekai-ish setting (he's a native of the world, but the world unfortunately is the same generic one).

The rest is all standard affair with the cold distant protagonist that hides his past, is op etc but added is the feeling of victimhood of isekai edgy protagonists whose story always starts with: "Abused by his black company", "talents not recognised ... by coworkers", "betrayed by the party" etc to provide him the edginess license. The most noteworthy aspect of the manga in fact is the fusion of the worst aspects of battle academy with the edgy isekai protagonist type of guy.

The plot development is of the usual lurid kind with developments like battle entrance exam and what not, the nobles picking on the OP MC commoner (what else were you expecting? Read the above para again), the very first heroine that the MC must help in her quest for strength.

To close off, it is fascinating how something can be so generic and ordinary that it turns out to be something extra-ordinary, something extraordinarily awful. It's nothing short of magic; a sky touching trash heap born of little pieces of trash.