Helck

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What is it that makes Helck so enjoyable, I often ask myself. The story is nothing new, nor is the art anything special. The cast is simple: there are good guys and then there are bad guys. It really isn't anything groundbreaking.

But what it has that separates it from other manga is its execution. Helck delivers a heartfelt story filled with laughter and tears in a simple yet elegant manner. There is nothing else to it- it's not convoluted like Death Note, and it doesn't need to be.

All it needs to do to kick-start the whole thing is ask one question: "So, can a ... human who hates humans become a Demon King?"

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Story (8): Helck is a story set in medieval-esque times, with demons and monsters. Just before the start of the story, a hero killed a Demon King. The plot begins with the titular character entering a tournament to decide who will become the next Demon King.

Yes, he's a human entering a tournament for demons.

Naturally, when Vamirio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings (who is higher than a Demon King in the demon hierarchy) finds out about this, she freaks out and tries to sabotage his chances of winning. However, Helck is ridiculously powerful, and he is pretty much a maxed out RPG character at Level 99.

Needless to say, things don't go as planned and it goes downhill for her from there. Along the way, they face a threat to the Demon World, and it seems Helck may know more than he lets up on.

Basically, it starts off as seemingly slapstick humour and One Punch Man-esque jokes before developing into something more substantial.

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Art (8): Nothing special, to be honest. The art is on par with most manga, but it does seem to be getting better as the story progresses.

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Characters (10): The characters, from Helck to Vamirio to the other human characters are mostly stereotypical characters abiding by common tropes, but as the plot thickens the way they interact with one another becomes something special. For example, Helck is the typical hero with the heart of gold, and Vamirio is the cold kuudere loli. But the more they interact with each other, the more interesting they become, building off of each other to create distinct personalities that veer away from their default character templates.

I won't say too much for fear of spoiling, but it's amazing how far the cast has come in 62 chapters (as I'm typing this, that is). I struggle to think of characters that can beat Helck in terms of sheer memorability. Everyone has a role to play in this story, and every one of them fit it so well that it makes my enjoyment seamless. And speaking of which...

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Enjoyment (10): What more can I say? I enjoyed this, and I'm still enjoying this weekly. Also, special mention to translator Rello on Batoto. His one-man translation is the reason why us Helck fans get to even enjoy this hidden gem, and all props to him for bringing this single-handedly to our attention.

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Helck is a manga that is definitely worth reading. It is a simple manga that works off a simple premise, which evolves into an intriguing story that is still simple but absolutely excellent in its execution of said story. It can be touching one minute and boisterously fun in the other, a balance I have found to enjoy greatly. There really isn't much else I can say about this without going into spoiler territory, but I can guarantee Helck will take you for a wild ride.

In short: It's simple, it's elegant, it's Helck.

One of the best manga I read and I've been binging quite a lot recently. No pointless arcs, no mindless action, concludes the story with the right number of chapters. Helck is plot, plot is Helck. However, it is a solid 9/10 that I'm reducing to 8/10 because of the frustrating and regular chapter number retconning from the publisher themselves. Good luck finding a site or source that maintains all the chapters with all the pages. One has to keep 3/4 sites open and confirm they didn't skip chapters and pages.

It's somewhat dated manga and the initial parts may feel generic but the story is ... pretty straightforward unlike myopic or franchise milking repetitive storytelling from the likes of JJK, DS, CSM, Dandadan, One Piece, OPM spanning gazzillion chapters. The closest similar story that comes to mind is actually Attack on Titan and not the myriad generic medieval fantasy stuff. Just that unlike AoT it is not very serious, but not comedic either.

I'll add more as I finish rereading it.

I discovered this manga on Christmas when the first translated chapters were released. I kept it open in my browser tabs for two weeks because I had other manga to read. Three days ago, I read the comments and saw that it already had 49 chapters, so I decided to start reading. I had read the three pages, which is the introduction, and then put it on hold for another two days, until yesterday. That was a good decision, because this manga is awesome! I'm glad I had the chance to read all 52 chapters at once. I wouldn't have been able to live with ... the cliffhangers of the last chapters.

While I was researching to see how many chapters were out there, I was surprised by the lack of information about this manga on the internet. I checked MAL and saw that there are very few reviews and activity. This is probably because the translations are fresh, despite being about 1.5 years old. Anyway, I decided to be the first one to make a review and share this great piece of art with you.

Helck is a parody RPG-themed manga about a hero who participates in a tournament to become the next demon king. As you can imagine, this is going to be a fun read. The manga starts with an explanation of how a hero defeated the previous demon king and how humanity was finally free. (At this point, I thought this story was going to be a standard fighting shounen.) Then, four months later, we are in the demon world where demons come to participate in a tournament where the winner will become the next demon king.

After a brief introduction of the situation, we have the first characters discussing the tournament. The first one is Vamiro, a high-ranking female demon and the manager of the tournament. Hon is the assistant manager. After a small discussion, we are introduced to Helck, the protagonist of the series. He is an obvious mix between Conan the Barbarian and He-man. He is not very charismatic at first (I was about to drop the series when I saw him for the first time), but just like Saitama showed us that he is more than a baldy with a cape, this MC will win your admiration and respect quite fast.

This is all I can say without spoiling anything. Just read the first chapter as a test. You won't be able to stop until you finish it. The comedy in this manga is hilarious, despite the similarities to One Punch Man. The comedy in Helck is less forced. Even when the outcome of a situation is predictable, you will still laugh because it is delivered in such a way.

However, there is more to this story than simple comedy. It starts as a parody, but as the story goes on, it becomes more serious and even darker. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel revolted, and you will find yourself talking to the monitor and the characters in the manga.

Characters: The characters are great. The main protagonist is kind, strong as hell, and badass. You will find yourself loving him really fast. Vamiro, the other protagonist, is cute, cool, and badass too. She is one of the strongest and most important demons, but her attitude towards Helck is one of the strongest points of the story. There are many things to say about her, but let's keep the spoilers away. The rest of the characters are interesting and fun too, from the other important characters to the demon kings we will see only in pictures and hear about in the stories. You will love them all.

Art: The art is nothing special. It is not bad, but it is not great either. However, it is very suited to the story.

Enjoyment: This is the best manga I have read in the last year.

So Helck just finished as of me writing this review. Having completed it, I believe I owe it to the mangaka to write something explaining just why this seemingly one-trick gag manga has found such a special spot in my heart.

To preface this review, let me say that I tend to gravitate to psychological manga; thrillers that are intellectual, that make you think and feel. Things that can be considered 'masterpieces' like the likes of Death Note and Monster.

That being said, Helck is none of those things.

Helck is Helck; I don't think it can be defined in terms of manga conventions and ... plot-structures. It's a thoroughly unique, refreshing and immensely entertaining experience that managed to keep me hooked throughout the entirety of its well-paced plot. So, how did Helck manage to keep me invested?

For one thing, Helck is funny; not the kind of 'funny' that makes you breathe air out of your nose, but the sort that had me genuinely laughing at some of the ridiculous moments and stupid antics on the page. Most of the earlier gags are very reminiscent of One Punch Man, and the authour is very consistent with hitting the right note of comedy. But, more than just that, Helck is incredibly endearing as a manga -- although the characters may seem flat at first, a mixture of strong characterization over development and unique character designs made each of them stick out, and helped define their distinct personalities. Having these characters involved in the gags also gave each of them a sense of formula and healthy predictability -- the gags didn't seem so ridiculous or far out of left field that they were unfunny, because they all seemed to match the nature of the characters being presented. And, believe me, there are plenty of characters with varied quirks that make them endearing.

But Helck is more than just funny. If anything, its greatest strength is the charm and character it oozes, which are only reinforced by the cute, consistent art-style. Characters somehow latched onto me with strong, brazen and consistently written personalities and plot-lines followed simple, easy and entertaining structures.

What Helck succeeds in doing in where so many supposed 'masterpieces' fail, however, is it manages to keep its characters and plot-threads in check. It doesn't forget itself, or any foundational characters or lines. It manages to start and finish in a neat, self-contained bundle that knows its boundaries and doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. And that's what makes it special; it's a self-contained story that gradually becomes something more, easing you into the journey and letting you grow attached to the characters before throwing them into tense and emotional situations.

Anyway, enough of me rambling; it's sort of hard to put down what makes Helck so great. What I can do, however, is put arbitrary numbers to its name!


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Art - 8/10
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The art compliments the tone of the story, and the character designs are simultaneously memorable and clever in that they convey plenty about the characters. The style is cutesy and consistent, albeit rather average. It should be noted, however, that the author is particularly good at doing facial expressions, as well as character designs. Ultimately, it's nothing to cry home about, but is a key component in what makes the manga so good.


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Story - 9/10
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It is what it is; a self-contained tale that evolves into something grander, but only after having eased you into the world. The worldbuilding is excellent, albeit somewhat shallow, and the journey the characters go through is both believable and representative of the manga's key themes and ideas.

Although there are some exposition based chapters that break the pace, they are handled incredibly well and were, in fact, amongst my favorites in terms of plot and character. Definitely a high-point of the manga.

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Character - 10/10
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There isn't much more that needs to be said here. After having become numb to character deaths and typical manga tropes, Helck was a breath of fresh air in that it didn't try to be anything more than what it was. No character came across as annoying or overplayed; they stuck to their strengths and characterization like glue, and developed in a realistic manner.

It's hard to say what made them so enjoyable -- perhaps the way they bounced and played off eachother. Or maybe the dialogue that accompanied them, or the way they were drawn. Regardless, Helck had an imperceptible magic to its characters that made me love them all the way. Truly one of the strongest aspects of the manga, except for one other thing....


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Enjoyment - 10/10
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Above all things, Helck was genuinely enjoyable. It didn't ask me for 50 chapters of exposition and commitment to reach the 'good bit'; it thrust me into the deep-end and respected my intelligence as a reader that I'd be able to adapt to and enjoy the crazy, lucid environment it was throwing me into.

From start to finish, the plot progresses and never halts; it may turn and sidetrack, but it always played to its strengths and knew when to follow the characters that mattered.

It was comedic, emotional, witty and brilliant all in one. Helck is a genius gem that I doubt can ever be replicated in terms of style and nature. It's special and, therefore, I think its worth your while.

The description on MAL doesn't do it justice -- Helck is truly something else.

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Overall - 10/10
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The art style is nothing special, in fact, I would place the level of drawing not very high. However, do not have this dissuade you from reading this series.

The series starts as a very simple and joke like comic. It may seem juvenile, or even boring. Yet, this is just a ploy by the author to hide the true story behind the characters.

I would call this series a very light thriller. There are instances where the reader may be at the edge of their seats eager to find out more.

However, it is no "Monster" or "20th Century Boy", which has a complex web of stories, ... twists and turns, and a high points that are beyond a reader's imagination.

It's surprising that not many people know of this comic series. It is very enjoyable.

"Helck" is a masterpiece that I recommend to both newcomers to manga and long-time readers of manga.

The structure of this piece is simple. The tough protagonist overcomes his past and defeats evil with his trusty sidekick. That's all there is to it, in a nutshell. Why am I so moved by such a story?

The characters, backgrounds, and dialogue ...... are all so detailed and carefully crafted that it gave a new insight to old-time manga readers like myself that it is possible to create such an interesting manga by following the "high road" to the letter.

I am Japanese and have read the original manga. ... I am very happy that this work, which I love so much, is loved by so many people across the sea.

*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 8/10
I've got quite a few things to talk about in the art area so I'll go through the general stuff first. The anatomy and proportions, for what they're worth, in this manga I suppose are alright. A lot of the characters and beings in this manga were really odd in terms of anatomy and proportions. I'm not saying that the art is bad because of the odd anatomy and proportions, I'm just saying how it is. The odd shapes and sizes of the beings in this manga actually added a lot of diversity and depth to the ... story's universe. I think that the unexpectedness and diversity of the people and races in this manga are a good thing; it kept the even the minor characters interesting and created a lot of possibility for the story. There were A LOT of impact shots, particularly towards the end of the manga. There were a good mix of types of impact shots too, but I did feel that there were a lot used for plot twists. I'll explain. Some impact shots to me can be directed differently. For example, some impact shots are directed at the reader or another character and showcases the speaker: the MC may or may not be talking to someone but there will be an impact shot showcasing some sort of emotion or resolution by showing their detailed face/expression & maybe walking away cool-like from something or have a nice-looking background; and example of this is in the chapter where Anne tells Helck something along the lines of, "Come to the Empire, everyone will welcome you." with the sunrise in the background. There was a fine amount in this manga that I felt did their jobs in creating awe and emotion. Another impact shot type I like to think about (by the way, all of this mumbo jumbo is just me) are ones that are reaction based. For example, in Chapter 89.2, Helck makes a verbal resolution and the impact shot in this case is Anne being surprised by those words. I feel like these types that were used in the manga were the best at the character building in the manga. The last type I want to bring up are the plot-twist types. There were, in my opinion, way too many of these. These ones are kind of just there; not usually including a great art scene...usually just "important words." Basically, I thought there were a bit too many plot-twist-like moments in this manga. The plot got very complicated in the span of maybe 30 chapters. Moving onto other bits...There were many showcases of artistic skill in the manga. Frankly, by the end of the manga, was great. However, the art was a journey. The art in the beginning of the manga was pretty basic and honestly about average. The importance of the art journey is that the mangaka clearly shows artistic improvement in the manga. It's wonderful to watch the mangaka settle into their own style and improve their skill when going through a manga from start to finish. What I want to say here is that the art in the beginning was maybe a 6, but because of the gradual improvement, settling with a style, and end-product...the art by the end was great and overall really good. There were a very good amount of nice-looking environmental and scenery shots/showcases. There was also a healthy amount of tones used to keep the panels interesting. Phew...

Panel Progression: 7/10
The panel progression was good. There was thought put behind the panel layout during fights so that things looked nice. There was a good amount of flair in the form of panel-cutting, but that's really the only above-average part about the panel progression. The dialogue and layout conveyed things clearly. I didn't have to do any back-tracking or spend time on thinking about what was going on. There aren't much negatives I can recall from the panel progression, but at the same time there aren't too many things I can praise about it either. All I can say are that the layouts were dynamic, the progression was clear in conveying the story, and there was a pretty nice amount of nice-looking panel-cuts.

Characters: 7/10
The characters were surprisingly all interesting. The major supporting characters were all pretty compelling. The minor supporting characters were kinda nice and mostly just "there" to me. I really liked how much, but not too much to make it bad, detail the mangaka went into building the supporting characters. The supporting characters felt like that had a good amount of depth for what they did in the story and I personally liked quite a few of them. Rococo was a joy and Kenros was amusing. The minor supporting characters all had this sort of comedy to them that made them tolerable and a bit funny to watch. The character designs for the main, major and minor supporting, and some of the antagonists were good to me. The character designs were all interesting and did well to differentiate the individual cast members. The only designs I didn't like were Mikaros and Rafaed. They looked lame for the main bad guys. The winged soldiers is such an interesting design choice for the bad guys. The character growth was good to me in only the middle section. I felt the relationship growth between Helck and Anne as friends was a wonderful thing to watch. Their transition from unquestionable enemies to best friends is something that I'll remember. Anne's personal growth in this regard is astounding. Helck's personal growth in regards to his past and resolve to keep his promise was nice, but I'm really appreciating Anne's and the overall dynamics between the two. Piwi's cool.

Plot: 7/10
The initial plot setup was pretty weak, but what the plot eventually settles into is interesting and unique. It's a different take on the humans vs. demons + demon king trope. The execution of the plot as a whole was good to me and I appreciate that this manga exists for that reason.

Development: 7/10
The overall pacing was a bit slow at the first and final quarters. The middle section of the manga had the best flow and presentation to me. The first quarter was a lot of the tournament, character and world introduction, and plot setup. This part felt pretty slow and is a pretty hard startup I feel for people picking this manga up out of the blue. The tournament felt pretty extended and didn't really hook me which can be a problem for some people...basically I thought the initial chapters and hook for this manga were a bit on the weak side. I felt like the story wasn't really taking off and kind of just loitering around. The plot picks up with a pretty interesting development going into the second quarter. I liked this development. The second and third quarters are probably my favorite part about this manga. The pacing was just right. The atmosphere of the middle section of this manga is something like Kino's Journey. I really wished this part of the manga was a bit longer. The final quarter of the manga felt a bit drawn out to me. There were constant plot twists and an ABSURD amount of deus ex machinas. The first half of the final quarter felt way too slow while second half of the final quarter felt way too rushed. I just didn't like the pacing at all in the final quarter of the manga. Going back to the deus ex machinas...it's crazy. It's crazy how literally everyone but the villains died. They were somehow able to rescue everyone with these crazy, unbelievable and out-of-nowhere reasons. I didn't really like the constant yelling of resolution or reminders of staying hopeful in the final quarter of the manga.

Conclusion: 6/10
I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but a nice culmination. It's the end of Helck's story so it was appropriate to leave the plot-holes standing regarding the demons. The final panel sequence between Anne and Helck is what this manga really is to me. I REALLY REALLY wish this was executed slightly differently. What I mean is that this manga wasn't about Helck's past, saving his friends, or defeating the big bad boss. This manga to me was the journey between "enemies." This manga to me was an exercise in discovering what the other person is really like. One may hear all kinds of things about a person or group, but one really has to see for themselves. That is what Anne and Helck's journey is and that is what I felt like the conclusion was trying to get across. Anne started out as saying, "Unquestionably, he is the enemy!" By the end, Anne is wishing "One day, let us meet again my friend." This culmination of their journey and relationship is truly something I wish this manga focused on a bit more; the whole saving the world bit was a bit too drawn out for me.

Overall: 7/10
I didn't rate this higher because I really wanted it focus on what the plot initially setup up even before the winged soldiers, how Anne distrusted Helck no matter what. I wanted this manga to spend a bit more time on Anne and Helck's journey and flesh out their personalities and dynamics. If I were to separate the plots: Helck's plot which is mostly the winged soldiers and saving the world is around a 6/10. Anne's and Helck's journey is a solid 8/10 to me and could maybe be a 9/10 if it was developed more. Overall, the good things about this manga are the art, the art journey, and the middle section of the story. The parts I did not like were the plot setup, the pacing in the first and final quarters, and the execution of certain parts of the development. Anne and Helck's journey as a whole, their transition from enemies to best friends, is really beautiful and is definitely a reason to pick this manga up.

This is actually incredibly well done.

It is also hard to break this into pieces and judge by separate category.

The manga starts as comedy, and over time starts getting serious. However, it is an amazing ride, and the way the story unfolds is quite gripping all the way till the final chapter.We have a hero, a demon lord, and then thing are not what they seem. Sadly it is hard to tell more without spoiling it.

The art is very well done, although the author is quite fascinated with certain mascot creature that keeps popping up in bonus panels.

Characters are a bit exaggerated for dramatic purposes, but ... within context of story they're believable and work well.

The story is quite gripping and entertaining and kept me interested till the last chapter.

Overall I'd highly recommend it. It is one of the few manga titles that I actually greatly enjoyed, meaning it is quite good.

So if you have the opportunity, check it out.

tl;dr: A manga that uses a good balance of lighthearted and serious moments for a mostly well told plot with an especially well-done friendship between the two main characters. 

The majority of the story was pretty well paced. After the introduction, it had a good dichotomy of the main characters Helck and Vamirio’s side going on a somewhat lighthearted and amusing journey, along with the other main characters Azudora and Asuta’s side having to take on a major foe and the large scale and overarching elements regarding that. Both sides were well balanced and that kept things interesting. This also resulted in slow and steady world ... building that built up a pretty interesting world with interesting mechanics, as well as allowed for a pretty varied set of side characters. It also allowed a good balance of comedy, action, and more serious moments.

Helck and Vamirio are two well developed characters with simple but solid characters arcs, but what I liked most about them was their relationship. It’s a male and female character pair, so usually that would mean romance, but it really never felt that way, but rather that they were just incredibly close friends, and Helck more so seemed to have a love interest in another character named Alicia. A male/female bromance type relationship is both pretty unique in manga and it was handled really well so I ended up getting really invested in it. The other characters didn’t have much development, but they were interesting enough.

The plot was pretty solid for the most part, however when it hit the end game it felt like it got overtly convoluted, and dragged on in that it had too many twists that kept it going after it felt like it should have been over already, but despite that it also felt rushed in that there wasn’t enough time to fully flesh out all the twists before it moved on to the subsequent ones, so it felt pretty badly paced. Still, where things ended up was incredibly solid, and it did a really good job at making the epilogue very satisfying. The art I wasn’t much of a fan of, in that the quality and general style was decent enough, but character designs for the most part were pretty boring and though I did grow used to Helck’s overtly muscular in context design eventually, I still won’t go as far as saying I like it. Also, as another note this manga has a crazy amount of random extra content like omakes and such which are of pretty solid quality. 

I stumbled upon the description and expected nothing but a slapstick comedy. What I got was a deeply intriguing story intermixing lightheartedness with an extremely well written cast. The first few chapters are full of silliness, but the story controls its exposition and world building extremely well. Moreover, one area that Helck succeeds in where many others fail is in writing believable characters. There are no obvious plot holes, and characters who are supposed to be clever use intel and venture guesses with what little information they have in a way that flows smoothly with the action. Some guesses are a bit outlandish, but overall ... nothing breaks immersion. The mystery surrounding Helck is revealed in a timely manner, and matches up perfectly with previous clues and hints that the author drops. Finally, the story does very well in packing an emotional punch where it counts, and even finds ways to explain why characters are being silly. Helck feels a lot like a fantasy world One punch man at the beginning, but becomes an excellent example of fantasy world done right.

Helck is a manga that started off as nothing more than a gag, turned its shaky foundation into an almost plotholeless masterpiece, before dragging on for who knows how long for an epic "final battle" that ends up taking up literally up half of the manga (adjusted for page inflation of the second half of helck since some of the final chapters were rly like 2-3 chapters stuck into one and the last chapter literally had 8 parts to it lmao).

As long as you can somehow sit through the first tournament arc and some of the beginning comedy skits, I can promise you that you'll ... have a good time with one of the best arcs I have honestly read in a while. This in question no joke carries the manga imo. As previously stated, it ties together a lot of absolutely crazy loose strings that I thought could never have been answered properly, and the way that it did so was also very unique, as it flipped the humans vs demons trope onto its head.

Furthermore, the comedic timing in this manga is superb, as it can resolve problems by using gag characters in a satisfyingly way, which is something rly hard to pull off. And the finale has one giant ass turn that uses this so perfectly that it literally left me shocked.

If you care about waifus, then this show is definitely for you, as There are some legit S+ tier waifus in this series. Heck, I don't particularly care for waifus, but some of these characters got me salivating. trust me.

The art in this series starts off kind of rough, especially in regards with helck's nose. it looks so weird. Luckily, the art vastly improved over the course of the series, and it actually becomes pretty decent. Furthermore, the way that they changed the art style was genius, and I didn't even notice when it happened! If ur wondering how, im pretty sure that it used a flashback arc to change it.

anyways, helck was pretty good and I give it ten potatoes out of 16 telephones

from yours truly,
LoliSlayer_.

Helck has an absolutely great start. When i watched the first 3 episodes of the anime, i was hooked. And unable to bear the weekly episode wait, i switched to the manga.

I loved it. Then, i loved it less. and i thought about dropping it. But i kept reading until i finally finished it. I realized that i should have dropped it early on.

Anyway, here's the setting:
The demon lord is just defeated by humans and a new lord is being chosen via an open tournament. and a human named Helck is also participating in the tournament. At the same time, one of the demon ... spies reports that she can't find any humans in the human kingdom and its just "empty". There are also these mysterious winged angel-like beings attacking the demon realm. Who is Helck? why is he here in this competition? What happened to the demon lord? Where are all the humans? Where did these winged beings come from? What a great setting to start with. full of mysteries and a fun set of characters from demon world.

It goes without saying that i fell in love with Helck from the very beginning. But as we keep moving forward, the manga drops hard in quality.

The author probably wrote himself into a corner, so they had to do some forced plot gimmicks to artificially maintain the mystery. After the first serious battle, Helck and Vermi (red haired girl) are forcibly teleported to some random faraway island. Its understandable why it had to be done. Helck knows a lot and he would have easily solved the mysteries at the very beginning of the series. So, instead, we forcibly keep Helck group separate from the rest of the cast for 90% of the rest of the story. I was hoping for more interactions between helck and the demons (rest of the characters).

It also doesn't help that the flashbacks are long and full of tragedy with generic human characters. The stakes increased too much, and at some point, the villains became too other-worldly(literally). As I was reading the climax, I had this nostalgic feeling, and remembered series like Naruto and Gintama. They are also filled with tragedy flashbacks (milking them) and the almost god like villains by the end. There's also stuff like bringing dead people back and giving happy endings to them. I kinda hate undoing death. It makes the tragedy feel like a joke.

With that said, it seems that i am in the minority and most people were more than satisfied with how the story progressed. So, please do give it a try. Because the start of the series is still great. And if you start to get bored in the middle of the story, then its time to drop it instead of wasting your time hoping it will get better.

Helck really good manga in my opinion it starts like a comedy but becomes dark, the comedy wasn't bad but actually I found it funny like in the tournament arc at the beginning where helck join the tournament to become the next demon lord but because he was beating people with one punch, one of the four heavenly kings( demons stronger the the demon lord) vamirio decided to host a cooking contest, chess, horse riding race etc.. so that helck would lose.

After the tournament arc the first enemy invasion happens, the demon castle gets attacked and the demon lord of that castle dies this ... is where the manga starts becoming serious. The enemy are the awakend humans they have wings basically they become chickens hahaha.

These human when they die they can come back to life like in a game it possible thanks to a awakend sorcerer who uses resurrection magic and he is also the king of humans, humans can't disobey his orders because of his power but there some who are not effected like helck or his old comrades.
The king a nice character I had no problem with it maybe because we don't se him much and fight with him ended quickly but from what they showed it was enough for me to understand him.

Now the will of the world it was supposed to be something like god who corrupts people to destroy the world to make a new one in the manga you se ruins of an advanced civilization who got destroyed by the corrupt people that world spawns, it to complicated so gonna end explaining will here and start talking about what I liked and disliked.
What I liked about the will is that it feel something unbeatable something that we can't stop and accept the fate to get destroyed but dis was I felt because how do you even stop the world itself maybe destroying the world but where will you live.
And what i didn't like is that the mc defeated will in 2 chapters maybe 3 it was to fast how you beat the that fast I don't get it.

The character are awesome and also there growth like vamiro who hated humans started to accept them, helck and his last traumas he who one lost will to save humanity regained that spark to do so

Art was good, I liked it

Here are my score of this manga

Story 9
Art 8
Character 9
Enjoyment 8
Overall 8

This might seem like a comedy gag manga but don't judge a book by its cover (or description), this is a dramatic action-adventure with light comic relief that can get pretty dark and emotional.

Story: 7/10
Surprisingly good, did not expect such an emotional plot from what was supposedly a comedy manga. Seriously, it gets dark! There is great threat escalation, there is a real tension throughout the manga. It builds up to the drama so it never feels like there huge mood whiplash between the levity of the earlier chapters compared to the harsher, more oppressive atmosphere of the later ones. I felt there was ... a lot of deus-ex-machina but it's always built up to so it feels justified within the story. There were some events that seems entirely random, which can kill the pacing.

There is some world-building, though somewhat shallow. I quite like the whole "new world" thing (it makes sense in context). It's an interesting concept and it's done well. However, there is way too much "human bad" compared to the basically morally perfect demons. Ironic I know but the actions humans are what initiates and drives the plot so making them into this sort of cartoonish caricature just takes you out of it. There are some humans who get the 'screen-time' (for lack of a better term) to be, well, humanised but I can count them on one hand.

Personally I have mixed feelings about the ending. It escalates too much, too quick and has too many ass pulls to be tense. The author tries to weave together previous events (the previously mentioned random tangents) but it feels like the author retconning gags into something important because he didn't know how to bring the story to a close with the threat escalation that had taken place rather than something planned. It just gets so complicated that it kills the pacing. On the other hand, it was really emotional, seeing the characters we've gotten to know be brought to the very edge in a way I've not seem in many manga. There was a great emotional payoff and it relies on the characters and the relationships they've built up over the course of the manga.

Art: 8/10
Pretty simple but characters are distinct and I really like there designs. Backgrounds and scenery is great, really sets the mood. The fight scenes are fun and are good at conveying the power of the fighters. There are also some real standouts in the more dramatic scenes, working to set the mood (a dark oppressive atmosphere) or get the character's emotions across.

Characters: 9/10
The best part! Now, the characters here aren't unique, not by any means. They're not the most subversive or philosophically interesting. The characters are beholden to tropes to a certain extent. In fact, Helck is the 'Hero', that's his archetype and he pretty much fits it to a T. So what do they have? They're simply the most endearing characters I've come across in a long time. The emotional beats hit simply because they're so likeable. Even the minor characters have little interactions with each other that makes them that much better, helped by the crazy amount of extras in this manga.

Despite the name of the manga, the view-point character is Vamirio. I think she is unfortunately overshadowed by Helck at the start but she eventually grows into her own.

Overall: 9/10
This is a real hidden gem, beneath the gag-manga exterior, is a dramatic adventure story with some of the most fun characters ever written. It's a shame the description undersells it so much. Despite my criticisms of the ending, the rest of the plot is solid and the character interactions carry you through the worst bits. All in all, this receives my unreserved recommendation.

Also, there is no romance between Helck and Vamirio. Holy crap a manga that acknowledges that men and women are capable of just being friends even after hanging out for more than five minutes!

I usually don't drop short manga like Helck just because I can just rush through it and finish it in a timely manner.
Helck, however, dragged everything out so far that I just had to drop it. Sorry, I have absolutely zero interest in anything, whether it be the "final battle" between demons and humans, Helck the hero's inner torment, or what happens to Vamiro. The manga manages to have a dramatic story with the most lacking story progression I have seen. As of this chapter, there have been no good fight scenes, and most of the chapters are filled with dramatic dialogue, if anything. There ... isn't a good sense of the situation at hand despite the entire series focusing on the demon and human conflict, and the sense of scale, strategies used, and positions are poorly managed.
Of course I have to talk about the comic relief, the only good thing about this manga. The Piuy is a nice and cute character, and to an extent, Vamiro is too, but these Omake and random interactions don't save the story at all.

Helck is a well written story from beginning to end. We begin with a tournament to decide the next demon king, since the previous one was defeated by a human, a hero. A human decides to take part in this tournament. His overwhelming ability, not solely his physical attributes, but in every activity is the source of much gag humor. Surprisingly, he is humble and is such a great bro that everyone immediately develops a friendship with him, well most everybody.

Of course this is pretty sus, so Vamirio, one of the top leaders of the Empire (Demon), decides to keep a close eye on this ... human. The question on her mind is simple: is he a friend or foe? Thus begins the start of a long journey where Vamirio learns about this man and it's pretty interesting.

My memory is pretty bad, due to lack of sleep, and binging through this comic in one sitting, but this is one of those mangas that brought out a lot of emotion from me. It's a story of companionship.

Art wise, I feel like many of the characters have such excellent design that they could feature in their own manga/story. The side characters are quite memorable.
There's little to zero fanservice and yet there are so many great potential waifus in this story :_:

I've always loved stories where two or more people, not necessarily friends or even acquaintances in the beginning, are travelling together due to circumstances, and learn to grow and learn about each other, to the point they develop a strong friendship.

This manga has a satisfying ending but will make you wishing for more!

honestly I recommend this manga..

I'm always torn whether to read something or not. Even if it is good. The reason being that it's always bittersweet when you finish a good story.

Helck is a fantasy adventure manga that really shines in portraying the most beautiful frienship/companionship the starts from a kind of "shared goal" necessity and scepticism and builds into complete trust and great chemistry out of pure empathy and genuine kindness.

The manga starts with this gentle barbarian that honestly falls flat as hell with a half naked Conan-style body and naive smile that visits the demon world to check out if "demons are actually bad people" (they are not). Obviously demons, which in this world are very powerful but are actually kind and don't really care about fighting humans, are not sure wether they can ... trust Helck or not.

Helck is the embodyment of the "Hero" stereotype in its purest form. He is otherworldy powerful and looks absolutely invicible, he never gives up and has lived his whole life caring for his little brother and still only worries and cares for all the people around him, always ready to help everyone no matter what. At the start of the manga, he appears and feels, to be said bluntly, incredibly boring.

It is at this point, that Vamirio enters the scenes. She is a high ranked demon in disguise that is afraid of Helck's power and doesn't trust his good will. Here the work gets a lot of comic relef and quickfire gags that are born from the clash of the sharply definied personalities of the characters and they will be persistent throughout all the volumes keeping the vibes high and the experience lighthearted and entertaining.

The plot will start to deepen quickly unveiling tear-jerking episodes and painful past events that will soon need to be addressed, and eventually Helck and Vamirio will start a journey together that will make them both grow immensely and develop a strong bond and a deep trust and understanding in each other toward what will become a very emotional and heartwarming companionship.

All this is accompanied by fun and interesting side characters with rich roles and very peculiar personalities. They will make you laugh and feel for them.

The whole story developes in a very healthy 12 volumes that are needed to really make this frienship shine.

As for the negatives I will say that I kinda wish the author kept it a bit more simple toward the end which is riddled with plot twists and more complicated stuff happening where I didn't really feel the need for them and the pacing which wanted a 3 page small gag-story at the end of every short chapter. The problem with this is that they break immersion really badly but also you don't really want to skip them cause they are funny AF. I just wished they were timed a bit better.

Overall definitely one of the best fantasy adventure manga I've ever read and it was full of emotions and fun moments. Highly recommended especially for every fan of fantasy settings and for those that enjoy a journey that focus on the bonds between characters

It is a great series introduced as Comedy.

Anime adaptation kinda was also half-assed (in terms of seriousness), which kinda isn't unexpected how the story itself starts.


But, one has to still be with it till the end to go through despair and suffering, and then more despair and suffering, and still more neverending efforts while also going through funny omakes and characters like Piwi... That it's undescribable.

I would give it 9/10 but this rating is in Superposition state of 10/10 & 8/10.. which describes helck best.

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As one gets closer to ending each chapter, more things are revealed making the superposition a singularity tending for 10/10, i.e. a Masterpiece.

Power scaling and Battle Diffs over the period is overwhelmingly amazing.

Would love to see a Game based on it,
it'd be a great success if made similar to God Of War 4... I'd love to buy and play that game.

very strong start, SHIT ending. They story has like 10 different twists and untwists none of which land. I think its clear that the author didnt plan much at the start + didn't quite know what to do once the manga got to keep serialising. Reccomend trying it cus its funny and fun but, like, if u get bored partway, don't sweat it. Its fine if u stop reading.

MAL chan telling me my review is not long enough... nuthin more to say. Read the synopsis: does it sounds like it *COULD* be funny? Well, it is. Read it and laugh.

Helck is quite buff. Hes ... pretty,,,,,large -the man is hefty (big number on the charts of size).

SPOILERS:
Theres this bird and like, hes very cute. Reminds me of this manga about a girl with a little pet bird who protects her from ghosts. But it not a bird, its some weird abnormal.....thing.