I Am a Hero

Description

Hideo Suzuki is a thirty-five-year-old mangaka assistant struggling to be the hero in his own life by breaking back into the limelight with a new serial all the while juggling his relationship with his girlfriend and his own delusions. However, as hard as Hideo may try, the world seems to have a different set of plans for him; sinister and dark machinations that completely overturn his reality as he knows it.

Note: Was nominated for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Manga Taishō and won the 58th Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category in 2013.

Type

Manga

Related Series

I Am a Hero in Osaka (Side Story)

8 Tales of the ZQN (Side Story)

I Am a Hero in Ibaraki (Side Story)

I Am a Hero in Nagasaki (Side Story)

Associated Names

Ai emu a Hiiroo

Ben Bir Kahramanım

Я — герой

ข้าคือฮีโร่ I am a HERO

アイアムアヒーロー

Groups Scanlating

Latest Release(s)

v.22 c.265 (end) by Death Toll 3 years ago

v.22 c.264 by Todome! 8 years ago

v.22 c.263 by Todome! 8 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

22 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

4 topics, 8 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.9 / 10.0 (701 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.83 / 10.0

19%

20%

28%

17%

Last Updated

January 14th, 2025 2:46pm PST - 4 months ago

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Genre

Action Drama Horror Mature Mystery Psychological Seinen Supernatural
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Trese

I Am a Hero in Osaka

Let's Make a Harem in a Zombie World!

Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Shogakukan

Serialized In (magazine)

Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Dark Horse (11 Omnibus Volumes - Complete | Print)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #676

(-79)

Monthly Pos #1353

(-265)

3 Month Pos #2511

(-199)

6 Month Pos #3180

(-16)

Year Pos #3423

(+734)

List Stats

On 2388 reading lists

On 1523 wish lists

On 1006 completed lists

On 121 unfinished lists

On 523 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

I Am A Hero Approaches 'Climax'

9 years ago

I Am a Hero Manga Gets Osaka-Based Spinoff

10 years ago

Why!?

12 years ago

Puh! (v06)

13 years ago

User Comments [ Order by time added ]

I need to post a subject

by jamie1990
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

There is a level of sophistication and maturity in the storytelling that you rarely ever see in manga.

I would not be surprised if it was inspired by Shaun of the Dead but in my opnion that does not deminish the achievment of this manga.

I am one ovlume through as of writing this comment btw.

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Best zombi manga ever. Sadly with no real ending.

by mamertomamerto
8 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

This is a great manga, to say the least. Characters have depth and the story is very convincing. Rhythm is the major problem of the manga. The first volume is just a prolog, which is ok considering we are talking a long 22 volume manga. During the next 21 volumes the plot will grow slowly and more and more intriguing mysteries will appear, everything is action packed for the most part. But then the final volume comes up, and everything is rushed and most, if not all, of the mysteries will remain a mystery. If you can deal with a manga without a real ending, this is for you. In fact, this is the the best undead or zombi manga you will ever find.

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You get used to the art

by TundraDweller
11 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Any other art style couldn't do this good a job with zombies. The MC has just a touch of heroism, just the right amount to make this as realistic as possible while also providing an enjoyable reading experience. Always on the move with a couple of others, blowing zombie brains off with a shotgun. Despite zombies having taken over the cities with only small pockets of humans remaining, our MC still has scruples about breaking and entering, "stealing", etc. Basically, while law and order is no more, he still shows a sometimes exasperating concern for the law. A nice quirk. And the zombies. The zombies, people. You ain't never seen zombies this creepy. And you ain't never seen zombies this zombie.

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Thought Provoking

by sculamio
11 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

As realistic as a zombie manga can be. Granted, society is presented as very ignorant, twisted, and immoral

DAT subway scene

Really makes you think about what you would do if the zombie apocalypse were to happen. Like right now. Just be sure to...turn around...very slowly.

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awesome

by karoom911
12 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Sorry for my bad english but i just have to say this, i've read many mangas of many geners but so far this was....sorry is by far the best horror manga i have read, and here is what i see is best about it:
1ST the art : its so awesome and realistic, and never get confused by the charcters.
2ND the story : the slow advance of it is what makes the horrer of the story the best.

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Cool

by Thangpro23
13 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

A very good zombie apocalypse manga . It does get my attention at first because i am a fan of psychological . I thought at first it a manga about a insane man turn out it about zombies , as for a zombies manga it progressing verrrrrrrrrry slow until vol 2 i getting to see some zombies action .The character are very confusing me , ok not all the character are confusing but the main character ( Hideo) i keep wardering that he is insane or not .The Realistic Art are cool thought very suit the story and make the zombies extra creepy .Althought the story is slow at first but it very intruding later which make me wanna read it non stop . A very cool zombies manga but need patience reader .

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something good

by herrdachs
13 years ago

Rating: 9.3 / 10.0

to me, this is one of those mangas i cant stop reading after the first few chapters and keep reading a few days later. like dorohedoro, it can perhaps be difficult to get into reading only the first few chapters. however if you keep going you will be rewarded with a great story, and not just jump straight into the action, with that sloppy slapped on background for the prot you tend to see in so many other mangas. i honestly enjoyed it already in the beggining(hell, i didnt even know it was a zombie manga when i started so imagine how friggin joyously surprised i was when i found out!), and it has only become better with every volume in my opinion. now the art is something that i really, really like. not one character looks the same, the one thing that seriously puts me off from reading any more im dal-young, is that every darn character has the exact same face and you cant tell which is which. the gore is fantastic, ive always enjoyed a bit of blood in my manga.

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Having read it all, I still don't understand the appeal

by tigerstar186
2 years ago

Rating: 3.0 / 10.0

I've read the whole series over the past couple of days, and I just don't get it. People talk about this like it's a masterpiece and I can't see why. The only real positives I can give it are the reasoning behind the zombies, as it is a rather original take which makes the horror elements and worldbuilding a bit more interesting, and the art being utterly horrifying for the zombies at times making them feel like a genuine threat. I would compare it to the titans in Attack on Titan, another horror series from the same time. Generally humanoid but they're always just a bit... wrong. Odd anatomy, proportions, and moving in generally inhuman ways. Concept and scares can't carry you for 265 chapters though, you need some actual meat.

The characters are utterly abysmal. No one feels believable, despite supposedly having a diverse cast of people everyone is pervaded by a general 2ch feel. Incels abound and literally everyone calls zombies a ZQN (wordplay on DQN, 2ch-speak for a dumbass) even those who show no signs of interaction with the site and have only been a couple days into the apocalypse. The incel aura really does exist throughout every facet of this manga, with people constantly bringing up how it shouldn't be mens job to go into dangerous situations just because they're men (even when they're literally the only choice) and women are treated as either objects to be won over or complete trash. This mentality is also rewarded with women basically throwing themselves at the protagonist once he has done a few things for them. (Oda Tsugumi had so much potential and then was relegated to "love interest" and "plot forwarding device" )

The worst of all is the main character. It starts out very strong -- he is socially maladjusted, frequently talking to himself and generally having unhealthy attitudes to interacting with other people, even those close to him. He is also schizophrenic or similar as he has multi-faceted hallucinations which frequently play into his struggles to socialize. Great! Genuinely appealing for a start, you have a guy who is not a good person and is in a bad place mentally, and the series has you set up to watch him learn through the apocalypse and become a better person with a better grip on himself. To become the titular hero, go from simply saying it to ground himself to actually embodying it. Except... he just doesn't. He never really becomes a hero. He only helps people when he sees benefit in it for himself or sees something he likes in them (boobs). His hallucinations also just kinda... stop existing? Yajima never appears again and they're never addressed in the plot. They just stop once the apocalypse kicks off, barring a single scene partway through that never explains why. His mentality never really gets better out of trying to adjust himself, he just has less reasons to hate people once the only people around him are women who wish to have sex with him. The only place he really improves is in his self-confidence, but being confident alone doesn't make you a good person.

... Last updated 2 years ago

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The Best Action Manga I've Read

by cecropiamoth
11 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

...and a great psychological manga too. For me, the psychological part is the foundation of the success of the action part. Most of the first volume is taken up building the character of the protagonist. He's an anxiety-ridden guy who longs to be a full-time, successful mangaka...and/or a Hero. Later, unlike most of us who harbor such dreams, he finds himself in a protracted situation where he has no choice but either to be brave and resourceful, or die. And the rest of many chapters of the manga show how, over time, he struggles to be the man he's always wished to be.

"The worm turns" is one of the oldest of story tropes, and this manga does it up proud. The action-struggle part of this story has all the danger and suspense of the best action stories, with the added suspense of waiting to see if this nervous-wreck type guy is finally going to break down under the ongoing stress. I read all the then-available chapters (143) over the course of a couple of days. It was impossible to put down. Any man who's ever admitted to himself that he has a substantial streak of fear in him will probably love it too. Remember, courage isn't having no fear, but fearing and acting anyway.

(And now, in the 200+ chapters, we're getting some romance, and the story seems to be beginning to veer into high-concept science fiction, which I look forward to because it's likely to make the manga even cooler—if that's possible.)

... Last updated 9 years ago

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i love it!!

by Elisabel
9 years ago

Rating: N/A

it is way better than twd by far. It is the life of some common guy, and i loved the fact that the author took the time to introduce it to us. I find it not boring at all.
I really like the art.
I really hope that the scanlations put all the chapters that arent traslated yet

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