If there was ever a story I would want more people to read it would be this one and honestly it feels a little strange saying that. In a lot of ways Helck should just be another generic fantasy heros story that you could find anywhere in this age of Isekai but it manages to stand out among the crowd. It seemingly plays into every trope imaginable and yet it felt refreshing and fun to read. It is one of my favorite showcases to prove that generic doesnt inherently mean bad. Now let me know if this sounds familiar. The plot involves two unlikely companions trying to save the world from a secret government conspiracy using the power of friendship built up along their travels. The heroes are overpowered they have a joke companion character and there are sad backstories everywhere. Everything about this setup is generic so then how does it manage to be so interesting? I think the answer lies in the use of comedy of the series. In the beginning few chapters Helck is almost entirely a comedy series with no hint of a real plot or seriousness. It keeps the mood light before hitting you with the more serious storyline which adds an extra weight to the conflict than youd initially expect. And Helck continues to do this wonderfully throughout the series. During scenes where characters need to learn to come together there is a levity to the mood and when the story gets serious theres not a joke to be seen. The contrast between these two moods keeps the story feeling fresh compared to other stories in the same genre. In addition to that Helck does a good job at making its characters overall likeable. Now this is of course heavily subjective alongside the fact that the comedy will also be but it at least rung true for me. Now there is a tradeoff here since the characters are more one note than not so depending on your taste in characters that might be a turnoff. Thats not to say that they are completely terribly written though. One thing I appreciate a lot in Helck is the way that character weaknesses are written. A story with an overpowered character lives and dies by the way their weaknesses are shown and Helck does a good job in showing different types of potential weaknesses. Whether it be emotional or ideological each overpowered character has their own flaws that contrast their massive strength. Outside of the plot and characters there are a few more things to note about Helck. Similarly to what I mentioned before the mood of Helck is basically my favorite part of it. It balances between comedic serious calming and sad. Each of these moods basically never clash in jarring ways and at their best they compete with some of my favorite scenes in manga though I admit Im a little soft to cheap emotional bits. Additionally and this is a close runner up to my favorite part Helck does an amazing job at showing a malefemale friendship rather than a romantic relationship throughout. At first I was thinking that the two lead characters should end up in a relationship at the end but as I continued on in the story I found myself thinking that less and less. And at the end of the story it came to a fulfilling conclusion to the arc between the two. Now Helck is not a story without flaws. It can actually have quite a few depending on what type of person you are and what you tend to enjoy in manga. It isnt a deep series with themes and takeaways that you can chew on for hours after you read. The ultimate climax of the story can feel too big and overblown the animal side character can be pretty annoying at times and death is admittedly treated a little ambiguously. Of course I dont think that all these take enough away from the story to make it bad or even average in my eyes but to some it might. Helck is perhaps my favorite read in the past few months or so in terms of enjoyment and it makes me just a little sad to not see anyone really talking about it. Its of course not for everyone but I would encourage everyone to at least check out the first few chapters to see if the comedy clicks. If it does then you might be in for a great adventure and it not then maybe pass it. But all in all Helck is maybe the best example of a generic manga being done effectively.