In a world where superpowers are a gift to protect the weak and fight evil, Suou Kouki has always dreamed of becoming a hero. But when his moment of despair awakens a hidden power, his dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Now, armed with a dangerous ability, Suou finds himself on a path he never expected—one where the line between hero and villain is perilously thin. The Raven Dark Hero is a gripping manga that explores the dark side of power, ambition, and morality, as Suou's journey forces him to confront the consequences of becoming the very thing he once sought to destroy.

The Raven Dark Hero is created by Tonkye, drawn by Akira Mitsuya, with original character designs by Sinsora. English translation by Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements. Lettered by Tom Williams. Published by Titan Manga (November 4, 2025).

Kevin Cormack
Rating:

With The Boys', Invincible's, and To Be Hero X's current worldwide popularity, dark superhero TV is having a moment, seemingly bucking the trend of generalized superhero fatigue caused by the constant churn of Marvel and DC cinematic universe slop. The Raven Dark Hero, a manga adaptation of Tonkye's as-yet untranslated web novel, is an attempt to capitalize on this trend, and it works… to a point.

Protagonist Kouki Suou is a surly, edgy teen with poor social skills who has all but given up on his childhood dream of joining the National Defense Force and becoming a hero. Much like Deku in My Hero Academia, he isn't “gifted” with superpowers, so is destined for an ordinary life of mediocrity. He's almost resigned to an unremarkable future, and tries his best to hide his disappointment and jealousy when his childhood friend is recruited to the National Defense Force.

Kouki isn't the most interesting or charismatic of leads, in fact I find his initial sulky demeanor and self-pitying schtick to be very off-putting. Weren't I obliged to continue reading for the purposes of review, I'd probably have dropped this after the underwhelming and incredibly derivative first chapter. It doesn't help that the Gantz-style overly clean digital art style is ugly as hell.

Thankfully, things improve a little once Kouki is killed by a random thug. Kouki's death triggers the activation of his hidden ability, “Revive Hunter” (shades of Solo Leveling, another story to which The Raven Dark Hero owes an enormous debt). This resurrects him while also copying the ability of his murderer, which leads to a rapid escalation in Kouki's power to almost absurd levels even in this first short volume. Obviously, the National Defense Force aren't the good guys they claim to be, and Kouki ends up on the wrong side of the law, dying a few more times, collecting new powers like Pokémon as he progresses. It's a naked power fantasy of the edgier variety, with Kouki presumably intending to become something of a cross between Batman and MHA's All For One, and while the ugly art doesn't improve, at least the plot begins to move quickly. I doubt I'll read any more of this, but it's okay at what it attempts to do, I suppose. Eventually.