Helck is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nanaki Nanao. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website and MangaONE app from May 2014 to December 2017, with its chapters collected in 12 tankōbon volumes. Shogakukan published 12 new edition volumes that feature color pages from the original series run and new covers from April 2022 to July 2023. The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media and by Shogakukan Asia in Southeast Asia. An anime television series adaptation produced by Satelight aired from July to December 2023.
Plot
It has been three months since the Demon Lord was defeated by a lone human hero. While the humans celebrated their victory, the demon realm quickly organized a tournament to choose their next Lord. One peculiar contestant quickly rising up through the tournament is a human hero named Helck, who claims to hate his own kind. Vermilio the Red, one of the Four Elite Lords overseeing the tournament, immediately suspects Helck of being a saboteur and tries to rig the following matches into games of skill, but Helck continues to win. Vermilio soon finds out that Helck is a wanted criminal in the human realm, suspected of killing his brother, who happens to be the legendary hero Cless, the one who killed the Demon Lord. Vermilio still wants to know Helck's true motivation for entering the tournament, what happened in the human realm over the past three months, and what are these mysterious winged soldiers now threatening the demon realm in place of the humans.
Characters
- Helck (ヘルク, Heruku)
- Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); Andrew Love, Luci Christian (young) (English)
- Vermilio (ヴァミリオ, Vamirio)
- Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese); Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
- Azudra (アズドラ, Azudora)
- Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese); Joe Daniels (English)
- Hon (ホン)
- Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); John Swasey (English)
- Asta (アスタ, Asuta)
- Voiced by: Shiki Aoki (Japanese); Kara Greenberg (English)
- Ista (イスタ, Isuta)
- Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi (Japanese); Annie Wild (English)
- Kenros (ケンロス, Kenrosu)
- Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese); Jack Stansbury (English)
- Hyura (ヒュラ)
- Voiced by: Rena Maeda (Japanese); Brianna Roberts (English)
- Dorshe (ドルーシ, Dorūshi)
- Voiced by: Takuya Nakashima (Japanese); Michael Wronski (English)
- Rococo (ロココ, Rokoko)
- Voiced by: Sora Tokui (Japanese); Karlii Hoch (English)
- Piwi (ピウイ, Piui)
- Voiced by: Shiori Izawa (Japanese); Jessica Boone (English)
- Cless (クレス, Kuresu)
- Voiced by: Motoharu Ono (Japanese); Houston Hayes (English)
- Alicia (アリシア, Arishia)
- Voiced by: Reina Kondō (Japanese); Melissa Engler (English)
- Rafaed (ラファエド, Rafaedo)
- Voiced by: Atsushi Miyauchi (Japanese); John Gremillion (English)
- Mikaros (ミカロス, Mikarosu)
- Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese); Brandon Hearnsberger (English)
- Shalamy (シャルアミ, Sharuami)
- Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese); Cat Thomas (English)
- Edil (エディル, Ediru)
- Voiced by: Hiroki Nanami (Japanese); Adam Gibbs (English)
- Zelgeon (ゼルジオン, Zerujion)
- Voiced by: Shuta Morishima (Japanese); Ty Mahany (English)
- Haraoul (ハラオル)
- Voiced by: Satoshi Niwa (Japanese); Greg Cote (English)
- Elise (イーリス, Īrisu)
- Voiced by: Aimi (Japanese); Kelley Peters (English)
- Witch (魔女, Majo)
- Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese); Shelley Calene-Black (English)
- Narrator (ナレーション, Narēshon)
- Voiced by: Shūichi Ikeda (Japanese); Jay Hickman (English)
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Nanaki Nanao, Helck was serialized on Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website and MangaONE app from May 5, 2014, to December 18, 2017. Shogakukan collected its chapters in 12 tankōbon volumes, published from August 2014 to May 2018. From April 2022 to July 2023, Shogakukan published a 12-volume edition that features color pages from the original series run and new covers.
In June 2022, Viz Media announced that they licensed the new edition of the series for English publication since January 2023. In July 2023, Shogakukan Asia announced that they also licensed the series for publication in Southeast Asia.
A spin-off manga titled Piwi: Fushigi na Ikimono was serialized in MangaONE from July 16 to October 8, 2018. It has been collected into a single tankōbon volume, published on November 12 of the same year.
A related manga titled Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga began serialization in MangaONE on August 24, 2020. It has been collected in eight tankōbon volumes as of March 2025. The series is licensed digitally in English by Comikey.
Volumes
New edition
Piwi: Fushigi na Ikimono
Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga
Anime
An anime adaptation was announced by Nanaki Nanao on February 14, 2022, which was later revealed to be a television series. It is produced by Satelight and directed by Tatsuo Sato, with scripts written by Toshizo Nemoto and Mitsutaka Hirota, character designs handled by Yoshinori Deno, and music composed by Yoshihisa Hirano. The series aired for two continuous cours from July 12 to December 20, 2023, on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block and other networks. For the first cour, the opening theme is "It's My Soul" by Hiroki Nanami, while the ending theme is "Statice" (スターチス) by Saji. For the second cour, the opening theme is "Help" by Aimi, while the ending theme is "Hikari" (ヒカリ) by Kanoerana. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series and is streaming it on Hidive.
Episodes
Reception
In 2015, Helck placed eighth in the first Next Manga Award. In 2017, the series placed fifth in the male category of the Hyakuman Hito ga Erabu Hontō ni Omoshiroi WEB Comic wa Kore da! polls. The series' prequel, Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga, was nominated for the Next Manga Award in the web manga category in 2022 and placed 18th out of 50 nominees.
Notes
References
External links
- Helck official manga website at Ura Sunday (in Japanese)
- Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga official manga website at Ura Sunday (in Japanese)
- Helck official anime website (in Japanese)
- Helck (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
