I truly appreciate the effort and vision behind this story, and I can see what the author was trying to achieve. However, I struggled to connect with it due to the structure, pacing, and rhythm. The writing felt a bit off, and the interview concept, while interesting, didn’t quite hit the mark for me—it needed more development to truly enhance the story.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish it, but I still want to thank the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Every read is a chance to learn and grow, and I look forward to seeing what this author does next!

I decided not to publish this review in my channels. Thank you!

this was better than i had expected. it was more poignant and sincere than i had initially thought it'd be. i'm not sure if i like the interview format of it though. the fragments were more interesting, but maybe the interview sections would have been better after the fragments? the plot of this volume is quite literally to answer who killed the hero, but i don't find that to be a very good........point for reading this. it could have had a better presentation of the question, or framed differently. it has the potential to be better.

thank you to netgalley and yen on for the eARC!

Who Killed the Hero?, Vol. 1 is a story that is presented in a very interesting way: through interviews to unravel the relationships that existed around the hero. A timeless exploration that delves into the details that define the relationships between characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this advanced reader's copy.

Ares the Hero, was as plain as he could be. He wasn't the best at swordsmanship, that honor went to his friend Leon. His divine blessing for healing spells was miniscule at best, his other friend Maria though stood close to god so her healing skills were miraculous. And he could barely create a tiny flame with his magic, his very best friend Solon, though, was a magical prodigy. Together with his friends Ares sets out and defeats the Demon Lord, a victory that is bittersweet as Ares loses his life on the way back to the capital, leaving an entire kingdom to wonder Who Killed the Hero?

This was absolutely wonderful and if it doesn't get an anime there is no justice in this world!

Told from the perspectives of the people who knew Ares best an interviewer goes around the Kingdom to not only unravel the mystery of how the Hero died but who exactly was he? Every interview leads the reader a little bit closer to the truth by leaving just tiny pieces of information that if you don't pay attention when you finally find out who killed the hero you will be shocked! However, even if you do figure it out before the big reveal getting to know Ares and his friends is just a ton of fun.

There are a couple of things that put this over the top for me though. One is that Ares is and is not a reluctant Hero. Ares feels a deep obligation to many people to defeat the Demon Lord, even if it kills him, however, he never wanted to do this and because he spends a lot of time comparing himself to other people he genuinely doesn't believe he's the right guy for the role. Which in all honesty is almost aggravating, Ares is just a decent and kind person and the people around him want to be better because of who he is. He is quite simply a Hero.

The other thing is this is truly a story about never giving up and believing in other people. Ares doesn't defeat the demon lord because he's the strongest, the most skilled, or the one with some sort of innate talent; he does because he never stops trying no matter how difficult the task and because of this he is a natural-born leader able to see people's strengths and utilizing them effectively without being a jerk about it. But mostly he simply trusts and believes in his friends.

Highly recommend this for literally everyone, whether you watch anime or read light novels or not it was just simply a bright light.

As always thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for the eArc!

This one didn’t really feel like anything special. At least it wasn’t creepy, but I feel like that’s a low bar to set.

The characters didn’t really stand out (the female characters especially, were pretty archetypal and I think were done dirty by the story overall. Alexia is supposedly super competent in her own right and she spends all that effort chasing after some guy? Pass) and the structure made it so you didn’t really get to see the main cast interact as a group (only one-on-one with the Hero). And also because of the story structure, we didn’t get much action or movement. Almost all of the fighting and traveling took place off-page

I would have liked to see a bit more thrashing against the very strict cyclical nature of the world rather than just accepting that they’ll be doing the whole thing over again in a few decades