Satelight put together a nice trailer ahead of its July 2023 premiere date to get fans hyped for the upcoming Helck anime adaptation. HIDIVE, who will be streaming the series, provided a subtitled trailer for Western viewers. The trailer teases events long past, and events to come. Helck is seen presenting himself to a crowd of demons, proclaims his desire to destroy humanity, and the Red Heavenly King Vermilio questions his true motives.
Satelight also set up official Twitter and YouTube accounts, where potential viewers can find the original trailer without subtitles, for fans to follow, and a home page that provides more series information and art, such as the key visuals below.
The visuals depict two of the leading characters, Helck and Vermilio, as seen in the trailer: where Helck is declaring his intent to destroy humanity, and Vermilio wondering who he is.
Summary
The story of Helck picks up three months after the hero Cress defeats the Demon King Tooru in battle. While the humans celebrate their victory, the demons decide to hold a tournament to crown a new demon king. One of the Four Heavenly Kings, Vermilio oversees the tournament herself, replacing an injured Heavenly King, Azudra, as the manager for the tournament. Upon hearing that a human hero had entered the tournament, her temper flared and she was completely against the idea. However, the hero Helck declared to the entire audience that he hated the other humans, and that he wanted to destroy them, which earned their adoration.
The titular Helck was a hero three months prior to the story’s beginning. With a power level of 99, imposing strength and combat prowess, and the fact that his younger brother Cress defeated the former king, Vermilio wondered why he would turn on his own kind. Despite his imposing stature, he’s known to be kind and softhearted. In the midst of battle however, he is nearly unstoppable. His reasons for turning against the humans will set the stage for Helck’s story, a tale that would shake the foundations of the world itself.
Helck’s Origins
Helck began as a manga series written and illustrated by Nanaki Nanao. The series was published by Shogakukan and ran from May 5th, 2014 to December 18th, 2017, and totaled twelve volumes for fans to collect. Manga collectors in the West would receive it from Viz.
Helck saw two spin-off manga series by Nanaki Nanao. The first, titled Piwi: The Mysterious Creatures (Piwi: Fushigi na Ikimono), followed the titular cute divine creature Piwi as he goes about his day, meeting new people and leaving an impact. This short series only saw one volume as it was published between July 16th, 2018, and October 8th, 2018.
The second spin-off, titled Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga, follows one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Kohaku. One hundred years ago, she saved a mercenary named Cleo Völundio, the key to preventing a cataclysm. Cleo has only recently woken from his coma, and Kohaku has been catching him up on recent events. The series began its run on August 31st, 2020, and it is an ongoing series with three volumes out so far.
Are you excited by the upcoming anime version of Helck? Did you read the manga series first, or are you going to start before the anime begins airing? Let us know in the comments below.
