I Am A Hero #10

I spend the last few days getting up to date with I Am A Hero. Volume 10 was released in November. Already securing a release in France, Italy and Spain, I wonder how far behind the English release is, especially if they want to capitalize on the popularity of The Walking Dead.

Volumes 7-8 finish up the Governor-esque story arc of Sango and his goons at the outlet mall. We see Hideo and "Yabu" searching for medical treatment for Hiromi.

There is a huge contrast between a zombie invasion in Japan, and those we are used to seeing on the Hollywood screen. And unfortunately recent events in America bring that more into focus. But the distinct lack of firepower in Japan calls for a much more cautious approach.

We have seen the zombies develop into the fast zombies of Walking Dead/28 Days Later. But there is also the emergence of repetitive behaviors from their past lives that dominates the zombies actions.

In the world of I Am A Hero a large part of city infrastructure survives intact. The large numbers of Shut-ins (引きこもり) whilst avoiding the dangers outside, have seen their rooms as cages in which they are trapped, and reach out through the still functioning internet for any help that is available. Volume 10 ends with a small group of survivors entering a home and freeing a shut-in boy.

I'm looking forward to seeing the interaction of Hideo and the new group in the coming year. I'm hoping we can see a movie adaption of this sometime in 2013.

More info:
I Am A Hero Official Site: http://spi-net.jp/rensai_sakuhin/i_am_a_hero/index.html
Kengo Hanazawa's Site: http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~hanaman/
Kengo Hanazawa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hanamanko