Hero Without a Class: Who Even Needs Skills?! Volumes 2 and 3 Review

Last year, One Peace Books debuted Hero Without a Class: Who Even Needs Skills?! and now the anime adaptation is in the midst of airing. So, this is as good a time as any to return to the manga adaptation and find out how that has been developing.

Volume 1 of the series introduced us to Arel, son of the famous Sword Princess Farah and Archmage Leon. But despite his parents wielding such powerful classes, he himself has ended up classless. But our plucky protagonist wasn’t about to let that get in his way and spent years training before travelling to the capital, where he joined his mother’s old guild: Dragon Fang.

And as we reunite with the cast in Volume 2, Arel is still in the capital, preparing to take part in the Sword God Cup, a prestigious tournament for the best of the best. But first, he wants to grow stronger, so along with Reiner and Lilia, he takes on the city’s giant underground labyrinth. What should be a fairly simple adventure soon turns into chaos when the group is caught in a trap and comes face to face with a Sword God. This should be a foe that’s impossible to overcome for a trio of relatively rookie adventurers, but Arel has some tricks up his sleeve…

Luckily, the three survive, and then it’s on to the tournament where Arel is destined to face off against another extremely powerful foe. Perhaps what’s most surprising here is that after the tournament, Arel decides there’s nothing left for him in the big city and returns home, where he sets his sights on learning magic.

This leads us neatly into Volume 3, which takes us through Arel’s magic learning journey. Due to being classless, it was always believed that he couldn’t use magic. However, thanks to some tips from his Archmage father, Arel soon begins to show that what was thought impossible may actually be within reach. That soon leads him to depart his hometown once more to venture to the (unnamed) city of magic.

Just like Volume 1 of Hero Without a Class, my overwhelming opinion is that Arel has no actual character. He’s just pulled from pillar to post on the whims of the author and the character, who can solve all problems through sheer stubbornness. It’s once again the side cast, particularly Lilia, that shine here as their stories are much more interesting. Lilia wants to save her failing guild, and she has her former incredible adventurer turned deadbeat dad to contend with, which is a storyline that Volume 2 spends a lot of time developing and eventually concluding. Volume 3 is similar in that we meet a bunch of new characters who are also travelling to the city of magic, and they prove a lot more interesting than Arel is himsef. Although I was sad to say goodbye to Lilia so soon, who remains in the capital.

Having said that, I’m perfectly happy to accept Arel’s shortcomings as the price of what is otherwise an engaging read. It’s not perfect, and I think it will only really appeal to fans of the overpowered-protagonist trope, but it’s not terrible by any stretch. I originally wondered if some of the fast pacing was due to this being an adaptation of a light novel and it was skipping ahead, but having watched the anime, this just seems to be the way the story is structured in general.

The main question I have with this one is if it will run out of ideas and grow stale before it ends. There are only four light novel volumes to adapt, so perhaps it won’t outstay its welcome, but we’ll have to see how things go in the books to come.

As mentioned, Hero Without a Class is brought to the West by One Peace Books. Both of these releases are translated by Hengtee Lim, and the books read well. The lettering (uncredited) in particular continues to be varied and adds a lot to the dialogue of all the different characters. In terms of extras, Volume 2 has a colour page, and both include a short story by the original author.

Volume 4 has been released in English already, with #5 following in February, and then nothing else is presently scheduled. There are 10 volumes of this in Japan so far, so we’re at least approaching the halfway mark for catching up.

Overall, Hero Without a Class: Who Even Needs Skills?! Volumes 2 and #3 do little to differ from the series’ first instalment. That’s fine if you’re interested in the side cast or looking for an easy read, but it certainly doesn’t help those hoping for Arel to develop more. Still, if you’re watching the anime or enjoyed the first volume, then you’ll enjoy what they offer.

Our review copies from One Peace Books were supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).