There's a reason why the summary is so vague. And how it explicitly does not state it's a manga about zombies; what makes this manga exceptionally creepy is how it portrays a zombie outbreak. There's no big TV announcement that goes "MAN-EATING ZOMBIES ON THE LOOSE STAY HOME AND LOCK ALL YOUR DOORS" by some frantic news reporter. There are just little hints here and there, and in the beginning it wouldn't even cross your mind this is gonna be a manga about zombies. The true horror starts when this realisation suddenly hits you.

But oh well, since everybody is just dropping the zombie bomb in their reviews.. HELL YEAH IT'S A MOTHERF***ING ZOMBIE OUTBREAK MANGA.

Ok now moving on ~

Read it if you're into:

A dystopian setting in an urban era/envrironment.
Realistic and detailed art.
Zombie or horror in general.

What I find distinctive about this manga's horror style is its "silence"

Let me try explaining this. Usually in horror manga, the scary visuals make you imagine some sort of noise to accompany it. Seeing a smiling ghost can create a creepy laughter in your head, or a man walking down the alleyway and being followed can create the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing.

In I Am A Hero, there's no sound to the visuals. (especially so in the beginning chapters) This is partly because of its abruptness of the scary scenes, there's usually no build-up to the creepiness, and that makes it even scarier.

Some of these drawings are serious nightmare material. I kid you not, do not even think of showing this to children or your 5 year old brother because this shit will ruin his childhood. And the fact that the plot is made even more believable because of its realism just creeps into your brain and makes you very uncomfortable: it COULD happen to you.

The title couldn't be more perfect as well. On the surface it is a zombie manga, but perhaps the title signifies it's truly Hideo Suzuki's (main character) story. The story of an ordinary guy suddenly pushed into a nightmare and forced to be a hero. Even amidst the incomprehensible terror, the helplessness, and the feeling of loneliness in a very scary world, you can still find the willpower and the bravery to say,

"I am a hero".