Helck

Javahat

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Title: Helck

Translated English Title: Helck

Author & Artist: Nanaki Nanao
Publisher: Shogakukan
Status: Finished (2014-2017)
Volumes: 12

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Tragedy

Synopsis:
While humanity celebrates the defeat of the Demon King by the hands of a lone hero, the denizens of the demon world prepare for the contest of a lifetime—a tournament to decide who would inherit the title of Demon King.

Now, three months later, the tournament has been proceeding smoothly—well, other than the fact that the favorite to come out on top is the human hero Helck! With a smile and a wave, he easily bests his demonic competition, all while loudly proclaiming his hatred for humans. Though he calls for the destruction of humanity, the truth of what lies behind his cheery façade remains a mystery.

Doubtful of Helck's intentions, Red Vamirio—one of the "Four Heavenly Kings," who oversee the realm of the demons together—seeks to uncover what the hero is truly after. With the title of "Demon King" at stake, the fate of the demon world rests on her shoulders.

(From MAL)

Why It should be licensed:
At the beginning It may be seen like a goofy and silly comedy manga with the characters doing a tournament to compete for the Demon King title until a more sad and tragic story is revealed over the course of the series. For me, it broke my expectations and what to expect from the story after reading each chapter.

This is one of my favorite manga I've read. I finished it a long time ago but I consider it a hidden gem with the growing fantasy-themed manga series out there and I would definitely support it if it means we could get an official translation of it.

Also it is very important to mention that an anime adaption was recently announced 5 years after the original story ended. This is great news, as it helps to show that the series is very popular that an anime adaptation is approved even if the story already ended several years ago.

Extra note:
While searching information for this post I noticed BookWalker JP website has a new volume which the title is translated (~~thanks to Google~~) as "Helck New Edition (1)" to be released on April 12, 2022. This seems to be a remake or something similar of volume 1.
For me, this seems like good news as the series is popular enough that a remake may be released soon. (I don't know Japanese rankings for this series)

Javahat

@javahat

Just an update to the extra post of the new Vol. 01, BookWalker now has a description of it:

Renewed edition of the royal road fantasy, which will be adapted into an anime!
New cover illustrations by Nanaki Nanao for all volumes.
Color pages from the time of publication on the web and in the app are reproduced.
This product is a new edition with the above added.

Does this mean it is better to get the license of the renewed version? I'm not sure if the original series would include the renewed version as part of it or if they are different licenses.

Torka

Licensed by Viz. This can be closed.