Ore wa Kage no Eiyuu ja Arimasen!

[rainboweggs]

I liked the tonal shift at the end of chapter 2 but so far its pretty amusing

 

[DemonHide]

It's a disservice to compare this manga to its similar counterpart. The comedy still hits the spot, and it's not all fun and games. We're only a couple chapters in at this point, but I like it enough to want more. I imagine the author will work to make it more distinct with the feedback he's likely already received; I only hope it doesn't lose its charm as that happens.

 

[Byzantiono]

Seems like quite the rollercoaster. Excitedly waiting for new chapters. But it is a manga, so I expect little.

 

[cestefani]

Everyone saying this is a copy of The Eminence in Shadow (TEIS) is heckin' stupid.
Just because the MC dresses in black and helps people behind the scenes, he's already a Cid Kagenou? You people are goddamn moronic.

Cid likes to be the kind of person who manipulates events in the shadows, protecting both hero and civilians alike.

• Phil is an actual hero that directly helps civilians, but hides his identity not to manipulate events behind the scenes but to avoid being manipulated by the government and church.
• They have completely different motivations.

The plot of TEIS revolves around how Cid wants to play a fictional shadow character fighting against a fictional mega villain organization, not knowing that this organization actually exists.

• The plot of this manga is that Phil wants to keep helping people behind the scenes to maintain his freedom, but his own shenanigans are what makes him even more well-known and beloved.
• The only similarity is that they both want to hide their identity. That's just it.

Cid's magic is at creation-level where he can cause a nuclear reaction and his swordsmanship is a work of art that's both deadly and graceful.

• Phil's magic is the result of his conviction to remain free, unbound by anyone, and it makes him able to manipulate his shadow to trap people in his pocket dimension or physically interact with objects to parry or to pick up the cat, while his swordsmanship is just standard OP MC level, nothing unique about it.
• The only similarity is that the color of their magic is black.

You people need to understand more properly the manga you're reading.

Anyway, I like this manga. Phil may be a "Shadow Hero", but it's not chunni/cringe.

• He isn't some brooding teenager who thinks the world revolves around him. He isn't hiding his identity because it's cool, but because he wants to enjoy his freedom and go to brothels 3 times a day.
• His desire to save people isn't just some naive idealism--he has a little bit of backstory with a friend who died which probably transformed his ideal into a conviction.
• In this manga, magic is born out of strong conviction, so while his ideals may feel cringe or naive, you need to understand that Phil needs to have that level of belief in his own ideals to be able to materialize his magic. Us manga readers are too jaded to have a strong conviction about anything so we probably wouldn't understand why this kind of people do.
• The fact that the people in Phil's territory stayed outside his gates for so long shows how stable and happy his territory is, enabling people to waste time on silly things like waiting to see their idol's face for days. I like that Phil is talented and dedicated enough to his nobility duties, too.

 

[Salfaro]

Decent manga, but nothing amazing. The MC is clearly someone who was created with TEIS+Shadow in mind (and his organization of observers that gets brief mentions), but the actual content of the manga isn't really TEIS at all, and is much closer to what you would see in a typical reincarnation isekai where the MC gets a cheat ability and is born into nobility, or something. Same song+dance of "I wanna live a slow life, I don't want to stand out!" as he gets surrounded by people that inevitably drag him into the spotlight, while flaunting his abilities more than anyone with a brain would if they really wanted to not stand out and lead a slow life.

The fact that he's a "hero in the shadows who got revealed" isn't actually super relevant to the plot beyond the fact that it gives an excuse for him to suddenly start using his powers more openly at the start of the series.