Dead Rock


Dead Rock is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine since July 2023, with its chapters collected in six volumes as of December 2025.

Plot

Dead Rock is an academy in the demon world where students are trained to conquer the human world as demon rulers. Yakuto, a young demon descended from a black dragon, is one of seven applicants who pass the school's deadly special entrance exam into Class F. On his first day of class, Yakuto murders his homeroom teacher and reveals his true objective is to kill God, a supreme evil being who serves as Dead Rock's principal. To this end, he involves his classmates in his plans as they fight to survive Dead Rock's brutal curriculum, murderous teachers, and ambitious rival students.

Characters

;Yakuto
;Frey
;Raizen
;Hien
;Mikoto
;Hani
;Chako
;God

Publication

Written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima, Dead Rock started in Kodansha's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine on July 6, 2023. Mashima has stated that he had not intended for the manga to be a long series, but extended it due to positive reader reception. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual volumes, with the first released on November 16, 2023. As of December 9, 2025, six volumes have been released.
In July 2024, Kodansha USA announced that it had licensed the manga for English release in North America, with the first volume released on March 4, 2025.

Volumes

Chapters not yet in ''tankōbon'' format

Reception

Reviewing the first English volume for Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman rated it three stars out of five, criticizing the large number of characters introduced in the first chapter, but expressing interest in its setting; MrAJCosplay wrote more positively, giving it four stars while praising the "air of mystery" surrounding the characters.
Ian Wolf of Anime UK News reviewed the first three English volumes. He gave the first volume a score of six out of ten, calling it a "decent enough opening" but finding "it hasn't really got into its stride yet in terms of fleshing out the other main characters and their motivations." He rated the second and third volumes a score of seven, calling the second volume "enjoyable", and commending the third volume for its death scenes. He also commented on the volumes' English translation and lettering, calling it "generally fine" but criticizing the size of the small translation notes, and appreciating the added end sections providing context to its translation conventions.