'In a world where superpowers are a gift to protect the weak and fight evil, Suou Kouki has always dreamed of becoming a hero. But when his moment of despair awakens a hidden power, his dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Now, armed with a dangerous ability, Suou finds himself on a path he never expected—one where the line between hero and villain is perilously thin. The Raven Dark Hero is a gripping manga that explores the dark side of power, ambition, and morality, as Suou’s journey forces him to confront the consequences of becoming the very thing he once sought to destroy.
'Created by the elusive Tonkye, known for his work in crafting complex, character-driven narratives, and brought to life by artist Akira Mitsuya, The Raven Dark Hero delivers intense battles, emotional depth, and a fresh take on the superhero genre. Mitsuya’s dynamic artwork perfectly captures the raw conflict within Suou as he struggles with his newfound abilities. With stunning visuals and a morally complex story, this manga will keep you questioning: what does it truly mean to be a hero?'
Adapted from the web novel by Tonkye, which has yet to be translated, The Raven Dark Hero takes audiences to a future Japan where super powered beings are now a part of society following a devastating global war, and drops us into the middle of a complex political conflict that will see the young Suou trying desperately to be a hero, but skirting the line of becoming a villain instead.
Set decades after the Phenom, grotesque creatures with amazing powers, appeared and wiped out most of the world's population, we meet Suou Kouki, a depressed and withdrawn teenager at a Tokyo high school. Following the appearance of the Phenom, humans began to exhibit amazing powers and abilities, and were named Specialists. Most Specialists live normal lives, using their gifts to better society, and some joined the National Defence Force. However, those who skirt the law, who use their powers for cruel and terrible ends are outlaws of the state called Firz. Suou, who has yet to develop any powers, dreams of one day joining the National Defence Force and serving his home.
Despite this dream, Suou has almost resigned himself to the idea that he will never develop an ability, and that he will live a normal, uneventful life; something that has caused him to become withdrawn and quiet. It doesn't help that his best friend, Hiro, is outgoing and popular, surrounded by pretty girls, and that he seems to achieve in every way that Suou wishes he could. Then the day comes when Hiro tells him a secret, that his powers activated, and that he's secretly been training with the National Defence Force as an exceptionally young recruit. Now that Hiro is living Suou's ideal life, yet again, the angsty Suou falls deeper into despair.
He doesn't have long to fallow in this, however, as that same night Suou gets attacked by a Firz after Suou beats up a few thugs. The Firz uses his powers to punch Suou through the chest, killing him. It's then that Suou's powers activate, a resurrection ability that not only brings him back to life, but gifts his the powers of the person who killed him. Suou is overjoyed by this, believing that his perfect life might be able to finally begin, until he's attacked by a murderous member of the National Defence Force.
Now Suou learns that despite their public image, the National Defence Force are little more than murderers, killing anyone whose powers aren't registered with the government, even if they've done nothing wrong. With his view on life shaken, Suou makes the choice to forge his own path, becoming a rogue super hero, helping the people of Tokyo; but will this make Suou a hero, or will he find himself becoming a villain?
The Raven Dark Hero is not the lightest read, though not because it's particularly dense or long. The book's got a very depressing tone for the most part. There's very few moments of light to be found here, with the majority of the book having readers hear Suou lament over how awful his life is, how many of his dreams he's failed to achieve (whilst still a teenager of course, so end of the world), and how he has no future worth a damn. Suou is all edge, he's angsty and angry and if I'm honest not hugely enjoyable to follow around even if there are some parts of this world that are interesting.
That brings us to the other thing that makes this a bit of a dour read, there's practically no good people. The revelation that the National Defence Force, who have been made out to be super heroes, are little more than a government sanctioned gang of killers and lunatics isn't as shocking or surprising as perhaps the creators were hoping for, as it fits the tone the book had created up to that point. Readers get nothing to give us hope that there's a whole lot of good during the early parts of the book that when the revelation comes that the heroes are bad it just feels like the logical next step, rather than some kind of twist or surprise.
This is something that bothers me in these kinds of 'super hero deconstruction' type stories, things like The Boys, or Injustice where the main question is 'but what happens when the heroes are awful people?', and the result is just violence, gore, and nastiness. These kinds of stories tend to offer very little hope, it doesn't posit that if the heroes aren't good an actual good person would come along and do better, it instead goes with the notion that everyone is terrible, that being awful is something that every person is in some way. And it feels like The Raven Dark Hero is kind of falling into this trap too.
Yes, Suou is trying to be a hero in this volume, trying to be better, but considering the book ends with him being taken by a terrorist group with them welcoming him, it seems like this is going to be yet another story of a world of terrible people pretending to be good, and a good person trying to be better but ending up just as bad. And I'm kind of tired of that story. Yes, I'm going on assumptions that the story is going to continue down this route, but so far it's done nothing to suggest it's not going to do this, and so I'm meeting it with some scepticism that it's going to do otherwise.
The art on the book is pretty decent, though there are times when it's not the easiest to understand during fight scenes. The book is visually very dark, often set at night, either on dark rooftops, alleys, or old buildings, and when things get frantic and frenetic it's not the easiest to follow. Character design seems fairly basic so far, with only a few characters who stand out. Most of the characters are either regular looking people, or they wear military uniforms, and so there's not a whole lot visually interesting about them. The big 'villain' presented towards the end of the book stands out because they look like some kind of knight, but they're so dark that it's not the easiest design to read. There's a weird werewolf who at least stands out, but looks like kind of a mess most of the time. And whilst there's a couple of women in the book the only one who stands out, or is given any real time, is given the biggest breasts possible, and looks more like a teenage boys lust fantasy than a real human being.
The Raven Dark Hero isn't a terrible book, but there's nothing here that makes it stand out to me amongst other books with the same themes and ideas. It's dark and dour, it's practically all edge with no substance presented yet, and whilst I'm sure it will appeal to teenage boys who think Edge Lord is a complement I think that it's not going to appeal to a hugely broad audience. This is only the first volume, so this might change as the story progresses, and it could end up doing a great bait and switch on us, but at the moment there's nothing here that makes it stand out to me, or that really encourages me to read more.
The Raven Dark Hero Volume One is out now from Titan Manga.
