Hero Tales, Volume 1 Book

(Read my review here for a non-spoiler discussion of the overarching series once I got deeper into the story).

As far as Arakawa materials go, Hero Tales is the series that I personally never see talked about. I don't know if that's my social circle alone, or something more broad about the populace's reception. I do suspect it's the latter, though. Now, I have on occasion stumbled across comments regarding Hero Tales' story - somewhere, for instance, people commenting about how it feels rushed - but given as I find so much respect and enjoyment out of many of Arakawa's other works, I of course had to explore Hero Tales and make my own assessment. I've never disliked anything from Arakawa (and I've hounded A LOT of her materials), so Hero Tales seemed a safe enjoyable bet to me.

And I feel like I made quite a good bet indeed.

I'm enjoying this beginning. I'm drawn in. The first chapter was fine, standard, more or less run-of-the-mills manga introductory material to me: material that, on its own, was fun, but which I wouldn't be able to use to judge whether the story would be typical, uninteresting, or wildly fun down the road. But by the second chapter, I found myself connecting with the characters, enjoying their dynamics, and feeling emotions about the dialogue and events. There's one interaction in particular that got me smiling in Chapter 2. Good bonding moment between Ryuukou and Taitou.

The story simultaneously clips along at a fast pace, not wasting any time to march through the adventure, while at the same time giving us a sense of the ebb and flow of little things (character getting her makeup done, siblings quarreling about water-drenched food, characters enjoying baths in the hot springs, etc). I like it. It's ergonomic, knowing how to make us have fun, while comprehending it's not a story that's meant to stretch out for volumes and volumes.

I feel like each chapter is, so far, a unique "episode," though not 100% self-contained stories. There's a distinct antagonist or antagonistic force in each chapter that is encountered and overcome. There's a unique setting as the characters go through an adventure. All this hangs within the longer overarching arc of retrieving the Kenkaranbu and handling the country's current unpleasant sociopolitical climate. It works.

And I have already connected with the characters. They're distinct personalities that are fun both individually and as a group bouncing off one another's personalities. For me, Ryuukou has become a near-instant favorite; the siblings are both wonderful individually and as a dynamic; and Housei is a spunky addition to the crew. I can't say much about the villains yet, but the good guys team has already shaped up to be fun.

I would love more exploration and explanation of the lore, though I expect that will be continued in later volumes. I also would like more material about the current in-world setting. Everything about the nation's current state has been given to me on-the-go in dialogue snippets, which is natural enough, but I could do with more context myself. I'd like to have a better explanation of why there are refugees. Why Taitou was violently resisting the empire's people. What the role of the Rikka sect priests exactly is. Lots of this could be my own unfamiliarity with the material and culture on which Hero Tales is based. I know this probably would be more understandable to me if I understood the period, the folklore, and the history behind Hero Tales. That said, some of this hinted contextual material is also clearly set up to intentionally be followed through and expanded upon later, and I can only hope that all of it does actualize in later volumes. Some moments in Hero Tales Volume 1 are clear baited set-ups for things that will HAVE be expanded upon. So I have to trust that all the things I WANT to know will be explained. But I would love to be - even here at the beginning - better grounded in understanding the sociopolitical context of this setting more, rather than floating and wondering when I'll get a better grasp of the situation.

By and by, though, I'm really quite happy with this as a first volume. I look forward to continuing the story and spending more times with these characters. I'm so often ho-hum at the end of first manga volumes, and only formulate an opinion about how I feel later down the road. Maybe it's because I know Hero Tales is short, maybe it's because I have a very pro-Arakawa bias, maybe it's because it really is a fun start to the adventure. Regardless. For me. I say it's a promising and enjoyable start!