Helck

[Kraco]

"The Demon King has been defeated and now the Demon World is running a competition to choose a successor. A muscular, high-level human named Helck has joined the competition claiming that he wishes to destroy all humans. Is he serious?
Red Vamirio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the entire Demon Empire, is monitoring the competition and cannot trust him. What's the secret behind Helck, and the Human World?" -Manga-Updates


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One of the top fantasy manga of the more recent years. I didn't expect it to get an anime because it features no harems, doesn't rely on fanservice (unless male muscles are your thing), nor an isekaied teenage hero from Japan. Instead it relies on quite a heavy story. That's not a key for an anime adaptation these days. Maybe it's the comedy that convinced a studio boss.

After the first episode, I have no complaints whatsoever. The production values aren't terrible. The characters match my image of them, the VAs are doing good work. This is a must watch for me, along with Mushoku Tensei. Totally different series, those two.

[Ryllharu]

My most anticipated series of the season.

Thoroughly enjoyed the first episode. I've been deliberately holding off a re-read of the manga once I found out it was getting an anime.

[MFauli]

Very disappoiting first episode, unfortunately. Cheap animation and another gimmick meme-story. I'll watch 1-2 more episodes, but this isn't what I expected.

[Ryllharu]

The animation is supposed to be cheap. Its art is pretty faithful to the manga's.

[Kraco]

Very disappoiting first episode, unfortunately. Cheap animation and another gimmick meme-story. I'll watch 1-2 more episodes, but this isn't what I expected.

Anyone who read the manga would recognise this story wouldn't be an easy piece to animate due to the beginning being kind of misleading. In fact I believe quite a few people dropped the manga as well after a few chapters. Manga is cheap to make, however, unlike an anime, which is why that's a nightmare for an anime studio. One big reason why I thought this would never get animated, despite how good it is. So, yeah, your reaction isn't surprising. This work isn't really compatible with the current instant gratification culture.

[MFauli]

Anyone who read the manga would recognise this story wouldn't be an easy piece to animate due to the beginning being kind of misleading. In fact I believe quite a few people dropped the manga as well after a few chapters. Manga is cheap to make, however, unlike an anime, which is why that's a nightmare for an anime studio. One big reason why I thought this would never get animated, despite how good it is. So, yeah, your reaction isn't surprising. This work isn't really compatible with the current instant gratification culture.

I don't get it. What is so hard to animate? Does the animation change to a different style later on?

[Kraco]

I don't get it. What is so hard to animate? Does the animation change to a different style later on?

I didn't mean that. Maybe I could have used a better word, like produce as an anime. Like I said, even the manga doesn't really have a good catch right in the beginning. It doesn't very effectively hook the audience. Lots of people were also annoyed by the 80's action figure looking MC. This is a weakness, objectively speaking. When there are hundreds of other manga to read, or dozens of other anime to watch, if the first chapter/episode doesn't get you hooked, it's no good.

[neflight86]

It was interesting by the end, so I'm in for the ride. Glad they added in some story hooks by the end instead of going full comedy for the whole episode. Learning he killed his own hero brother is a great hook for now.

[Buffalobiian]

I mean, it's decently interesting. If I can get through an entire season of Higurashi based on someone telling me S2 is worth it, this should be fine.

[Kraco]

Episode 2


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"Vermikins", or whatever it was, makes me miss the times long gone when we had fansubs. Maybe this one actually looks sensible to an American, but in my eyes it looks like nothing, which makes it annoying because it's a running joke.

I continue to be pleased by this, keeping in mind I didn't expect Helck to get animated at all, which means I never was expecting a show with UBW level of production values or anything. I love the manga, so this works for me, especially since Vamirio's VA is doing good work.

Too bad I can't talk about the story, to avoid writing spoilers inadvertently.

[DarthEnderX]

"Vermikins", or whatever it was, makes me miss the times long gone when we had fansubs. Maybe this one actually looks sensible to an American, but in my eyes it looks like nothing, which makes it annoying because it's a running joke.

Seems like an sensible localization of Vermillion-chan. Just not sure why you'd bother in subs. Anyone watching on Crunchyroll knows what the hell -chan is.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not familiar with "-kins" either. I get that it's to make the name sound cute and chummy, but that's mainly because I know what Vermillion-chan was supposed to mean. I'd have no idea how to interpret someone coming up to me and calling me Bill-kins.

[DarthEnderX]

I'd have no idea how to interpret someone coming up to me and calling me Bill-kins.

It would probably be Billykins. Since the point is to be cute. You'd use it for a child or pet.

Like if your cat was named Furball, you'd say "Awww, who's my little Furrykins? You are! Yes you are!"

[Kraco]

It would probably be Billykins. Since the point is to be cute. You'd use it for a child or pet.

Like if your cat was named Furball, you'd say "Awww, who's my little Furrykins? You are! Yes you are!"

Yeah, speaking English as a second language in a non-natively English speaking country, I wasn't aware of this at all. Maybe if I had watched more drama TV shows from the USA, I'd know it. Or watch lots of cat videos on Youtube. Alas, I'm not really doing either, so it was an alien structure to me. Seeing how Bill, a person from an English speaking country, isn't familiar with it either, it seems to be a not so perfect localisation. But then again, if more or less everyone in the USA recognises it, it's probably enough for Hidive, the streamer, since it's a Texan company.

[MFauli]

Kraco, since you keep wording yourself as if some unexpected, awesome twist will happen: Can you put in spoiler-tags a hint? Just some vague hint like "an unexpected death is about to happen", "this world is fake" or whatever.

It just feels like the most generic, low-budget isekai-anime so far ...

[Buffalobiian]

Is "-kins" actually something that is commonly used in the USA?

Like... "-chan" is the defacto modifier to make something cute in Japanese.
In Australia, I guess we add "-o" to everything.. like Jacko.. or just "bro"..
I guess I've heard of munchkins..

[DarthEnderX]

Is "-kins" actually something that is commonly used in the USA?

Commonly? Fuck no. But I HAVE seen it happen. It's like something a grandma would say.

[Kraco]

Kraco, since you keep wording yourself as if some unexpected, awesome twist will happen: Can you put in spoiler-tags a hint? Just some vague hint like "an unexpected death is about to happen", "this world is fake" or whatever.

It just feels like the most generic, low-budget isekai-anime so far ...

I feel like no matter what I'd write about it, it would ruin things I'd have personally hated to be told about before the story revealed them. If you check the Manga-Updates reviews, you will see a bunch of people hating the manga, a bunch of people loving it, and a few being meh about it. This doesn't reveal its true nature right off the bat and it's not exactly what it seems to be, which annoys many. I'm not claiming it wouldn't have its problems either. Still a really good one, nonetheless.

Sorry, if you want spoilers, you need to google them. I couldn't decide how much or little to tell.

[MFauli]

I feel like no matter what I'd write about it, it would ruin things I'd have personally hated to be told about before the story revealed them. If you check the Manga-Updates reviews, you will see a bunch of people hating the manga, a bunch of people loving it, and a few being meh about it. This doesn't reveal its true nature right off the bat and it's not exactly what it seems to be, which annoys many. I'm not claiming it wouldn't have its problems either. Still a really good one, nonetheless.

Sorry, if you want spoilers, you need to google them. I couldn't decide how much or little to tell.

Based on the 2 episodes so far, how much longer before whatever twist you're insinuating materializes? If I need to watch 5-6 episodes of a 12 episode-anime before it gets good, I'm out.

[Kraco]

Based on the 2 episodes so far, how much longer before whatever twist you're insinuating materializes? If I need to watch 5-6 episodes of a 12 episode-anime before it gets good, I'm out.

Since anime is always faster than manga, except for the long running shounen shows of old full of filler arcs, it shouldn't take that long for the story to start to reveal itself, bit by bit. Everything that has happened so far is there for a reason.

If you don't enjoy the episodes, just drop the show. Maybe when it's all out, if in doubt, you can download the whole season and have a quicker look, without needing to wait a week for every ep. There are people who dislike this series, so this isn't any must watch series. I was honestly surprised when the anime was announced, as much I like the manga.