As the popularity of the isekai genre soars through the stratosphere, there’s one other genre that’s enjoying quite a healthy rise of popularity as well, which is high fantasy with a medieval setting where swords and magic rule the world. After all, those are the worlds that usually become the place where the isekai protagonist is transported into.

From Goblin Slayer to Delicious in Dungeon, this type of fantasy has steadily become more and more common to see on the bookshelf. And now, there’s a new addition to this ever-growing genre. It’s called I’m Quitting Heroing. Let’s see whether or not this title is worth your time through this brief review.

Discussion Time

Leo is the hero who single-handedly subjugated the Demon Queen’s army, and even defeated the Demon Queen herself. He used to have several companions who worked together with him, such as a priest and a warrior. However, Leo felt that those guys were more of a burden than actual companions. After all, from looking for an inn to defeating an army of demons, Leo can easily do that himself. Having people that he needs to constantly rescue is, frankly speaking, a waste of time. So he decided to ditch them. Lo and behold, he managed to complete the mission faster than expected.

Unfortunately, when he comes back to the Holy Kingdom as the man who has defeated the invading Demonic army, rather than euphoria and celebration, what awaits him is dread and contempt instead. The people fear his power, so the royals openly try to assassinate him. Feeling disgusted and disappointed, Leo abandons humanity and goes to a place that can offer a better life for him. So Leo decides to join the Demon Queen’s army.

1. A Lesson In Management

One of the first things that Leo does once he’s become a part of the Demon Queen’s army is to revolutionize how the management works. You see, the Demon Queen’s army is actually helmed by four guardians that oversee different matters within the army, such as logistics, intelligence, training, maintenance, etc.

The funny thing is, because Leo annihilated quite a lot of demons during his last campaign, the weakened Demon Queen ended up short on staff. Which is why things have become quite hectic around their HQ. So as a sign of apology and to show them how sincere he truly is, Leo takes it upon himself to make some changes in how the guardians manage their responsibilities so that everything can run as effectively and efficiently as possible.

In this first volume, Leo teaches them how to divide large tasks into small, manageable ones that can be delegated to the appropriate talents within their ranks so that the generals don't have to micromanage everything. This is pretty much the basics of managerial principles, but it is still quite surprising to see it become an important plot point in a story about a hero and the Demon Queen. It certainly gives the story a touch of realism, which makes it so much more relatable to the readers.

1. An Unoriginal Story

As mentioned above, there are quite a few manga that take place in a fantasy world like this one. After all, the story about a powerful hero against the wicked demon lord is as cliché as it can be. Even the premise of the story itself is actually quite similar to several titles that came before it.

The story about a hero who was betrayed and hunted by the people, finally leading to him joining forces with the demon lord is the premise of a manga called From Betrayed Hero to Invincible Demon King.

Not only that, there’s even a manga that centers around a hero who decides to abandon heroing in order to pursue another life that is much more suitable for him. This manga is called Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside. So as you can see, I’m Quitting Heroing is clearly built on top of similar ideas that have come before it. We’re not saying this manga plagiarizes others or anything serious like that, but it’s not based on purely original ideas, either.

Final Thoughts

I’m Quitting Heroing is another addition to the swords and magic fantasy genre involving heroes and demon lords. It may have some interesting elements in it, such as the aforementioned lessons on managerial principles, but the core ideas behind the story itself are actually built from other similar titles that came before it.

That being said, it seems that the story will develop into something quite new and interesting in the subsequent volumes. Because judging from how the story has developed so far, it seems the next volume will focus on the hero’s origin story. We can see glimpses of modern buildings and skyscrapers sprinkled here and there, so Leo’s story might have something to do with that. You might want to reserve your judgment until the next volume comes out before you decide whether you should buy this manga or not.

Have you read I’m Quitting Heroing? If you have, what do you think about it? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Writer

Author: Harry

Harry is a manga addict first and freelance writer second. While he hasn’t read every manga under the sun, he has read an unhealthy amount of Shounen and Seinen manga. When he’s not writing in Honey’s Anime, you can find him in his personal blog: MangaDigest.com.

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