I Am a Hero

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Alternative Titles

English: I Am a Hero

Japanese: アイアムアヒーロー

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 22

Chapters: 264

Status: Finished

Published: Apr 20, 2009 to Feb 27, 2017

Genres: Drama, Horror, Psychological, Seinen

Authors: Hanazawa, Kengo (Story & Art)

Serialization: Big Comic Spirits

Statistics

Score: 7.90¹ (scored by 14584 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet published' titles are excluded.

Ranked: #1275²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #129

Members: 45,011

Favorites: 1,695

7.90

Ranked #1275Popularity #129Members 45,011

MangaBig Comic SpiritsHanazawa, Kengo (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /22

Chapters: /264

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Synopsis

Insecure 35-year-old Hideo Suzuki is forced to work as a mangaka's assistant when his own series fails due to low sales. As he struggles through a mundane life plagued by hallucinations, he comes to realize that his relationship with his girlfriend isn't that great, suspecting that she may be cheating on him with her ex-boyfriend. After confronting her about the possible affair, however, Hideo feels bad about his inquisition and decides to visit her house to apologize.

But the world as he knows is about to be overturned. At first, not much seems to have changed, but he soon realizes that society has become a living nightmare, as the horrifying reality of what is taking place around him finally begins to sink in.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

I Am a Hero was nominated for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Manga Taisho Award (2010, 2011, and 2012) and is the winner of the 58th Shogakukan Manga Award (2013) in the general manga category. As of November 30, 2015, the series has sold 4 million copies.

The series has been published in English by Dark Horse in omnibus format since April 26, 2016; in Spanish by Norma Editorial since May 24, 2013; and will be published in Argentina by Editorial IVREA in the second semester of 2016. It has also been published in Italy, France, Mexico, Germany, and Indonesia by different companies.

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Related Manga

Spin-off:	I Am a Hero in Osaka, I Am a Hero in Ibaraki, I Am a Hero in Nagasaki
Other:	I Am a Hero Koushiki Comic Anthology: 8 Tales of the ZQN

More characters
Characters

Suzuki, Hideo

Main

Hayakari, Hiromi

Main

Oda, Tsugumi

Supporting

Kurusu

Supporting

Nakata, Korori

Supporting

Yajima

Supporting

Ezaki, Takashi

Supporting

Tomabechi

Supporting

Mitani

Supporting

Jan

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

May 7, 2017

264 of 264 chapters read

Overall Rating: 3

VAPOR_KNIGHTS_ (All reviews)

142 people found this review helpful

WARNING TO ANYBODY WHO IS INTERESTED IN THIS MANGA, BE PREPARED FOR THE LAZIEST, MOST INSULTING COP-OUT OF AN ENDING POSSIBLE

This review is spoiler free. it is also my first review, as I just have to put this warning out here since all the top reviews are praising this manga.

When I started reading this manga, I had fairly high expectations going off what I'd heard from people and the other reviews here. Little did I know, the other reviews were written before the manga was completed. I didn't even realize that the manga was completed myself until I got to the end. if that last chapter hadn't been uploaded and I was under the impression that the manga still had many more chapters to go, I would have easily given this a 9, or maybe even a 10. I loved this manga.

Unfortunately, it was just too good to be true.

This manga was exactly what I was looking for. It had very real characters who you could empathize with, a compelling story that always had you wondering what was around the corner, and the author even took a very interesting turn regarding the origin and motive of the zombie virus that I was eager to learn more about. I couldn't stop reading, and before I knew it, I had reached the 'end'. If you can even call that an 'ending'.

I'm just going to say first off that I don't know the circumstances behind this ending, whether the publisher decided to axe the manga, or they forced the writer to reach an ending as quickly as possible at the expense of a real conclusion. Perhaps the author decided that he did not care about his work anymore, and tried his hardest to sabotage all that he had built. Disregarding the reasoning, the truth is in the paper: THIS ENDING ANSWERS NOTHING, GOES NOWHERE, AND SATISFIES NO ONE.

Right after the final climax (i had no idea that it was the final climax, mind you), suddenly the threat is completely gone JUST BECAUSE, the hero decides "oh well!" and just goes off. All of the questions that you had, all of the big mysteries that were just starting to reach clarity, all the amazing events and concepts that the author was building up to reach some spectacular culmination... gets completely tossed out the window as if it never mattered in the first place. The ending reads like a slap in the face, as if the author is laughing at the foolish reader who wasted their time reading all 264 chapters just to get trolled.

You become attached to these characters and intrigued by the plot, all for nothing.

One of the most ironic parts of this manga is found in one character's lines. One of the characters introduced towards the end of the story is a fan of the MC's manga (the MC is an author of an obscure, unpopular manga before the zombie apocalypse). In reference to the MC, the aforementioned character comments on how "it's so sad for an author to be forced to end his manga in a way that he wouldn't have wanted".

Are you serious? it's almost as if the author knew that his manga was going to have a garbage ending. I CANNOT possibly believe that this author thought this was a good or even satisfactory ending.

To conclude, I want to remind you that this really was a great story before the sudden end. While I won't tell you not to read it, Just remember this warning and expect to have almost no questions answered.

Thanks for reading!

Helpful

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May 27, 2017

264 of 264 chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

Coppy (All reviews)

21 people found this review helpful

I'm gonna let this would-be masterpiece pop my first review cherry.

TL;DR: Imagine yourself chewing a fresh piece of gum. First couple of chews were all hard and boring. But as its flavour starts to release, it motivates you to want more. This continues to build up and up. Until when you've finally chewed and moisturised it enough to have that pleasant squishy feel with its flavour at its prime. Absolute Bliss. But wait. Right now, you are getting told to stop and spit it out. A mix of disappointment, dissatisfaction and perhaps anger, right? That's my experience with I Am a Hero. Dissatisfaction and disappointment read more

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Mar 17, 2018

264 of 264 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

cerwisc (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

I didn't really like this. This is not a manga for people like me, who value meaning, ambition, purpose, ya get it. However, even I can recognize that this manga is amazing. It is the scariest manga that I've ever read, it beats out the "disturbing" scary of Junjo Ito, the "gory" scary of your stereotypical apocalypse survival horror manga, and the "existential crisis" scary of psychological horror, it comes close to jumpscare shock. Why?

Because everything is so goddam pointless. I believe "I Am a Hero" is actually one of the most realistic tellings of an survival horror story. The realism is precisely what gets read more

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Apr 10, 2018

264 of 264 chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

Nimbus-kun (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

It was a really nice ride, one of those where you can't stop reading and wish it went on and on, but the ending was probably one of the worst endings I've ever read.

Great portrayal of how everyday people would react to such a disaster as a zombie outbreak took place and the realism in how it would be handled was a 10/10 for me.

Great plot points and creative thinking that had you on edge while swallowing chapters, that unfortunately, were not explained or developed further.

The characters were really nice and you grew to like them and sympathize with them.

Overall a great manga with read more

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I Am a Hero

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