Dead Rock is a school for demons in the deepest level of hell. Thousands want to attend; only a handful survive the entrance exam. Even fewer will graduate, as the students are free to kill anyone they want, but the reward is worth it: they’re given a human realm to rule. So promises the god who is the school’s principal.

One hopeful attendant is Yakuto, who comes across as timid and apologetic at first, but that’s only the surface. He’s firece and blood-thirsty, with the blood of a black dragon. But his goal isn’t to graduate. He wants to kill the god. Or that’s what he claims.

This was a fast-paced story with many deaths, but not very much gore, and there’s some humour too. The characters were all angry and blood-thirsty, but the first volume didn’t really reveal much about them. Yakuto definitely has a secret. What it is, we’ll learn later.

Art was good, but I had trouble keeping some characters apart. I’m not sure I’d continue with this.

DeadRock
March 4
The creator of Fairy Tail and Eden Zero is back with DeadRock. The series is set in an academy setting, which is different from his past works, but there is a goal to destroy their “God”. This academy is set in the underworld and is difficult to be admitted in, where the students undergo a dangerous and potentially deadly test. This first volume seems to have started to lay the foundation for the series to a point. We see how Yakuto entered DeadRock and his intentions moving forward, as well as why he might think he does with glimpses of what “God” has been doing in the human world. You will probably be left with questions at the end of volume 1- I know I was.
The artwork is similar to that of his previous work and can see some similarities worked into the series. It is a bit darker than his previous works, which was slightly surprising and I am thinking that I shouldn’t get too attached to some of the characters. The characters have different roots which also means they all have different types of abilities. Right now I am loving the character Hani.
It definitely will follow the whole “power of friendship” trope I feel, so do be aware of that if you are not a huge fan of that trope. Also, like previous works there is fan service. There is violence and killing- why I feel you can’t get attached to characters. We do get to see some humor worked in too. Personally, the fan service and violence doesn’t bother me, but I do know not everyone is ok with it. Moving on… Overall, it is a series that I will enjoy reading more and I am interested to see the journey Hiro Mashima takes us on once again. I think what grabbed my attention was that it gave me darker vibes compared to his previous works, which made me want to continue to see what happens next even though it doesn’t necessarily bring something new to the genre. There are aspects that make you think oh that is sorta similar to blank series (like instead of finding Mother, Yakuto plans to defeat their God or how they have to survive and complete a test in order to enter the academy) or so and so has similarities to a certain character from say Fairy Tail.

I initially thought this was going to be another fighting-type school story, but I was not prepared for the twist. While there is fighting and killing in this story, it’s set in a school but differs from many others in the genre. The art is really well done and captures the darkness of some of the scenes. I can't wait to read more of this series.

Hiro Mashima is back in this new Kodansha manga release! DEAD ROCK takes readers to the world of demons, where students are vying for the role of demon lord at a new school. Whoever becomes the next demon lord will be given control of the human world by… well, by God. After passing the rigorous (and deadly) entrance exam, young demon Yakuto starts working on his goal; but it’s not at the same as everyone else’s.

Yakuto sees all sorts of flaws in the way things work. Rather than ruling over humans, he plans to kill God. And considering he’s wielding a source of power believed to be extinct, he might just have a chance. How will he fare? Why is his goal so lofty? Start reading and find out!

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC!

I'm a big fan of Hiro Mashima's previous works, and was exited to see that this was another new series from him. The plot easily hooks the reader as you wonder exactly why the main protagonist wants t0 defeat god and he drags along his classmates for the ride. While it is slightly info dump, I think it all was pretty well done and left at a cliffhanger that got me wanting more.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC

It's too soon to tell. But I'll give it 3 stars for now

The Pros:
I'm a sucker for a fantasy manga set against a school backdrop. I'm lookin' at you: Mashle, Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-kun, Soul Eater, etc
Characters could be interesting
Cliffhanger did make me want to read more

The Cons:
Tone. I liked the blending of humor with dark elements, but I think the author needs to go further. Right now it's reading middle of the road, like he's not sure where he wants to take it.

Pace is rather breakneck. I fear this could lead to prolonged story arcs that get more nonsensical just to keep the story going in the future. It also doesn't give us the opportunity to really latch onto anyone and root for them.

I’d like to thank Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for having this title available to read in advance instantly on the NetGalley site. Dead Rock is actually a pretty great manga. This is the first in a series about a group of students who are attending Dead Rock, a school in Hell where whoever graduates and survives gets to rule the world. There is a bit of a mystery surrounding the main character, Yakuto, but the end leaves you ready to read more. I like the other characters, but I’m on the fence with one kid, Haniwa, who says, ‘Are you stupid’ way too much. It’s hilarious the first couple of times, but after that it’s redundant. That being said I’m excited to read the rest of the series when I’m able to.

This has potential to be fun and interesting. I really enjoyed the first chapter and the amount of world building smashed into it that made sense. However I was constantly distracted by all of the recycled character designs from either Rave Master or Fairy Tale. It's basically Natsu in a demon academy fighting Achnologia with Minerva who uses necromancy and Gajeel minus the piercings fighting with the sword from Rave Master. And as usual with Hiro Mashima and shounen manga in general, any female character who isn't 12 has tits the size of her face.

A fun blend of Fourth Wing, Soul Eater, and My Hero Academia in story and tone. The jokes were a pleasant surprise; I wasn't expecting it to be so funny. The fan service shots brought that back down a bit for me, but I know that's me wanting the genre to be something it isn't. Not sure if I'll keep pursuing the manga personally, but I will be pulling it into the store. I also would tune in if it does well enough to get an anime adaption.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dead Rock is Hell's top educational institution where many students die just trying to get in and even fewer make it to graduation. The prize if you graduate though is ruling Earth.

Initially I was super excited to read this as I'm a huge fan of both Fairy Tail and Edens Zero, Hiro Mashima's previous works. Dead Rock is different as rather than taking place within a guild in a magical world or in outer space, the setting is academic and in Hell. The story follows Yakuto a young demon who all he has ever wanted is a spot at this institution and all of the chaos that ensues when he does get in.

This first volume set up the world and each character, but it will be interesting to see how the story progresses in the volumes to come. Fans will also recognize similar character styles and attributes to favorites from previous works and that only helps to build a connection to these new characters!

I wasn’t a fan of the author’s other work, Fairytale, and was a little skeptical here based on the amount of boob right away, but I ended up really enjoying this. There’s a good cast of characters and no doubt an interesting back story to come.

First of all, thank you for the eARC copy!
This is one of the first mangas I've read. I did watch the entire Fairy Tail anime before so I am aware of his work. (Yes, I did enjoy the anime a lot!)

As for DEAD ROCK 1, I've read through the first volume in one go! The comedy is still there (and the fan-service), despite being set in the world of demons, divided in many, many, many levels. Many students are fighting over who's to receive a part of the human world.

So far, there's little world-building and more focus on introducing, what I assume is, the main cast. The reason why the MC has joined Dead Rock Academy is clear, to a certain extend and I'm curious to see what the full reason is in later volumes.

I do hope later volumes would also focus on the world-building as there's several locations introduced, but little info given surrounding them.

I definitely recommend trying this out if you're a fan of his other work.

It's okay. I like the author from his Fairy Tale anime/manga, but I won't say this one particularly gripped me. The first volume moves blazingly fast with little world building and instead opts to just throw the characters at you and shove why our main protagonist (Yakuto) is doing what he's doing in our faces. Also in the opening act, Yakuto kills someone for seeing what his power's root is and stating "no one must ever find out," but then in the next act, he's just like "yeah it's this." Confusing as heck. Is this a translation issue or is this actually what the author intended??

The art-work is fine. Lots of fan-service for those who want it. I feel like I wouldn't really try this series until I got a few more volumes out and can see a more fleshed-out world/characters.

This stars out a bit like a cross of sword art online with the concept of the levels to get to the prize and MHA with it being a school based systems. Characters have “roots” powers with a huge range of abilities. Demons, Gods, Imposter Gods it’s got a little of everything. Immediately loved the side characters lots of dark humor and quirky personalities. Very intrigued to see where this story goes in the later installments. As always hiro killed it with the art work.

Level 666 of the demon world contains the School of Dead Rock. Everyone in the demon world comes to Dead Rock to improve their power and knowledge.1,000 different creatures battle it out during the special entrance exam for the chance of admittance to Dead Rock. An unlikely gaggle of recruits emerges from this special test. They have passed the initial test, can this class get through the rest of the day at Dead Rock...without being killed? I guess we will see.
The characters in this manga did not resonate enough with me. I know it is only the first volume, but the characters lacked intrigue. I’d be willing to read the next installment.

#ThxNetGalley #HiroMashima

Hiro Mashima is back again but this time with an academia-themes manga set in the demon world. This first volume sets the world up nicely. Where seven students had to go through an entrance exam in order to get into ‘Dead Rock’. Now they’re in and already causing havoc. Yakuto reveals that his purpose for being at the academy is to kill God; he’s hoping to get his classmates help in order to make it happen. The story is a bit absurd yet it has the heard of Mashima’s banter and silliness to the characters that you can’t help but enjoy. While the first volume doesn’t give us much it does tease us with a bit of backstory to some characters and leaves on n a cliffhanger of what might happen to Yakuto. I think I’ll definitely be reading the next volume when it’s released.

the art and story are amazing, it had it's own unique feel to it and I can't wait for the rest!

Thank you for the ARC copy.