Dai Dark
| Dai Dark | |
 First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Zaha Sanko | |
| 大ダーク (Dai Dāku) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Q Hayashida |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Monthly Shōnen Sunday Comics |
| Magazine | Monthly Shōnen Sunday |
| Original run | March 12, 2019 – present |
| Volumes | 9 |
Dai Dark (Japanese: 大ダーク, Hepburn: Dai Dāku; lit. 'Big Dark') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Q Hayashida. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sunday since March 2019, with its chapters collected into nine tankōbon volumes as of October 2025. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.
Synopsis
[edit]Setting
[edit]Taking place in outer space, which is divided between a "Regular Realm" and a "Dark Realm". The regular world is inhabited by two races: Aliens (also translated as 'Spacelings'), who are any type of organic humanoid; and Robos, a mix of mechanical humanoids and remote-controlled puppets. Regular Space is occupied by both neutral and hostile ships, with neutral ships often sustaining themselves by carrying and selling cargo under threat of attack from hostile bandit ships; the remnants of bandit attacks, plundered and destroyed ships drifting through space, commonly litter certain routes. Neutral ships include Great Trees, children's school ships run by Solar Mass' automated light-powered robots, and the Maltekya, merchant ships staffed by lobotomized remote-controlled aliens that avoid attacks by self-destructing with little provocation.
The closest sense of order or lawfulness is the theocratic dictatorship, the Solar Mass (also translated as 'Photosfere'), a series of ancient religious sects based around light magic and rumored to stem from a mysterious location named Zora. While all followers of the religion are dedicated to researching light magic and combating darkness, the faith has splintered into multiple competing sub-sects like The Light Head, who all ultimately serve their own interests. The church's higher-ranking members have managed to extend their lives to the point of being multiple centuries old, essentially living in a state of undeath through light magic and cybernetics powered by it. The church is also responsible for running multiple educational colonies for children, protected and maintained entirely by automated light-powered robots.
Meanwhile, the Dark Realm (or the "World of Darkness") is only accessible to dark beings and must be reached by passing through a black hole or equally lightless area. Dark races include dark aliens, hollow but sentient entities dubbed 'Packages' and other dark creatures of varying intelligence, some of whom possess unique powers. The World of Darkness is completely non-visible to regular beings as even light cannot exist within it, resulting in the followers of Light fearing and hunting dark beings, labeling them as Daemons. Regular entities are unable to tolerate the Dark Realms, which physically and mentally warps them into shadow creatures. The Dark Realm contains unusual technologies, including Skin of Darkness robes which use shadows to protect the wearer, and Dark Cores that can provide power and life to ship entities. A common currency with merchants of Darkness is alien bones, which can be traded for dark magic and dark supplies.
Premise
[edit]Zaha Sanko, a dark alien teen with a mysterious past, lives as a vagrant and fugitive to avoid capture; a legend claims that possessing his bones will grant the owner any wish they desire, resulting in most aliens being hostile towards him. Travelling with his guardian and "Package of Darkness" Avakian, the duo are seeking the person offering wishes for his bones. The pair regularly crosses paths with Shimada Death, another dark alien feared as the God of Death, who commonly feeds off the corpses they create. Evading a series of attacks and using the skeletons to purchase equipment, Sanko uses a Black Core to create a sentient ship named Moja, which also leads Shimada to join their crew. This then later expands to include Hajime Damemaru, another fugitive pursued by the Solar Mass.
Characters
[edit]- Zaha Sanko (ザハ＝サンコ)
- A teenage alien whose bones are rumored to grant any wish, making him a perpetual target. To protect him, Avakian enrolled him in a Solar Mass learning colony under the pseudonym "Meatballs and Spaghetti". Despite the constant threats and his frequent encounters with death, Sanko remains optimistic and friendly. He considers the skeletal being Shimada Death a friend. Sanko defends himself using his innate durability, a malleable shadow robe called the Skin of Darkness (闇の皮, Yami no Kawa), and a bone axe named Flesh of Darkness (闇の肉, Yami no niku) that cleanly strips flesh from bone.
- Avakian (アバキアン, Abakian)
- The Package of Darkness (闇のニーモツ, Yami no Nīmotsu), Avakian is a giant skeleton who acts as Zaha's guardian. He possesses significant internal storage and can reconfigure his skeletal structure, often disguising himself as a novelty backpack to avoid detection. Despite a sinister appearance, he is kind and nurturing towards Sanko, though highly mistrustful of Shimada Death. Avakian's body is covered in a transparent film called the Flesh of Darkness (闇の肉, Yami no Niku), which can mimic body parts precisely enough to fool biometric scanners. He is also capable of Flame Emission (火炎放射, Kaen Hōsha), exhaling intense, non-flammable flames.
- Shimada Death (死ま田＝デス, Shimada Desu)
- The God of Death (死神, Shinigami), Shimada is a flippant entity who feeds on "death", which manifests as spiritual clouds resembling fried chicken. Routinely crossing paths with Zaha since his childhood, Shimada has no interest in his wish-granting bones, leading to a relationship Zaha considers a friendship. While insisting the arrangement is purely symbiotic, Shimada develops an attachment, occasionally saving his life. Shimada claims immortality, can teleport, and can cause death or explosive disintegration with a touch. Possessing the ability to sense death from a distance and preemptively, Shimada can also identify a being's age by sight.
- Hajime Damemaru (一＝ダメ丸, Hajime Damemaru)
- A fugitive from the Solar Mass whose path crosses with Zaha's. Initially attempting to steal his bones to wish for a new name, he instead joins the group, sharing a mutual interest in opposing their common enemy. He is protected by a chitinous armor suit named Naghul'n (ナグールン, Nagurun). Despite being the only non-dark entity, Damemaru is immortal and possesses potent regenerative abilities, allowing him to recover from fatal injuries and develop resistances to previously harmful substances. He can also hypnotize others through prolonged eye contact. He claims to be sixteen, though his appearance suggests adulthood and his true age remains undeterminable.
- Moja (モージャ, Mōja)
- A clay golem quadruped with a dog skull head, powered by a Dark Core that functions as Zaha's sentient ship. A portable duplicate of a larger vessel, it provides the group with both transportation and counsel. As a dark creature, Moja survives within dark space, and its interior exudes enough dark energy to dissolve non-dark entities.
Publication
[edit]Written and illustrated by Q Hayashida, Dai Dark started in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sunday on March 12, 2019.[6] Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on November 12, 2019.[7] As of October 10, 2025, nine volumes have been released.[8]
In July 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they have licensed the manga for an English language release in North America.[9] The first volume was published on April 27, 2021.[10] In August 2025, Seven Seas Entertainment announced a three-in-one omnibus edition, with the first volume scheduled for March 2026.[11]
Volumes
[edit]| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 12, 2019[12] | 978-4-09-129486-9 | April 27, 2021[10] | 978-1-64827-116-8 | |
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| 2 | August 12, 2020[13] | 978-4-09-850215-8 | July 6, 2021[14] | 978-1-64827-267-7 | |
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| 3 | April 12, 2021[15] | 978-4-09-850496-1 | December 14, 2021[16] | 978-1-64827-367-4 | |
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| 4 | November 12, 2021[17] | 978-4-09-850799-3 | August 2, 2022[18] | 978-1-63858-379-0 | |
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| 5 | August 10, 2022[19] | 978-4-09-851251-5 | March 28, 2023[20] | 978-1-63858-825-2 | |
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| 6 | April 12, 2023[21] | 978-4-09-852022-0 | December 5, 2023[22] | 978-1-68579-563-4 | |
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| 7 | January 12, 2024[23] | 978-4-09-853096-0 | August 27, 2024[24] | 979-8-89160-628-9 | |
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| 8 | October 11, 2024[25] | 978-4-09-853641-2 | April 29, 2025[26] | 979-8-89373-259-7 | |
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| 9 | October 10, 2025[8] | 978-4-09-854278-9 | — | — | |
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Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
[edit]Reception
[edit]Dai Dark ranked seventh on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2021 for male readers.[27][28] The series was nominated for the 2022 Next Manga Award in the print manga category and placed fourteenth out of 50 nominees.[29][30]
References
[edit]- ^ "Make No Bones About It: Seven Seas Licenses Q Hayashida's DAI DARK Manga Series". Seven Seas Entertainment. July 2, 2020. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
a wildly creative new manga series from the creator of Dorohedoro in which necromancy, space action, and dark humor collide!
- ^ 『ドロヘドロ』の林田球が放つSFダークファンタジー開幕！ 設定の深さとダークな世界観に浸る. Da Vinci News (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. December 3, 2019. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ ダークファンタジー特集 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on August 24, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ "Dai Dark". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 11, 2018). "Dorohedoro's Q Hayashida Launches New Manga in March". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ 舞台は宇宙！林田球の新連載「大ダーク」開幕、「ドロヘドロ」マグカップの全サも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. March 12, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ 「ドロヘドロ」林田球の新作「大ダーク」1巻発売、ゲッサン付録に別カバーも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b 大ダーク ９ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (July 3, 2020). "Seven Seas Licenses Failure Frame, Donuts Under a Crescent Moon, Dungeon Toilet, Dai Dark Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b "Dai Dark Vol. 1". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (August 22, 2025). "Seven Seas Licenses Girl Meets Rock!, Dungeon Elf, History of the Kingdom of the Orcsen, 8 More Titles". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
- ^ 大ダーク １ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ 大ダーク ２ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 2". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ 大ダーク ３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 3". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
- ^ 大ダーク ４ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 4". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ 大ダーク ５ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 5". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ 大ダーク ６ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 6". Seven Seas Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ 大ダーク ７ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 7". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ 大ダーク ８ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ "Dai Dark Vol. 8". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- ^ 【2020.12.10更新】『このマンガがすごい！2021』今年のランキングTOP10を大公開!!【公式発表】. Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. December 10, 2020. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (December 17, 2020). "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2021 Rankings". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ Morrissy, Kim (June 23, 2022). "Voting Opens for Next Manga Awards 2022". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (August 31, 2022). "Medalist, WITCH WATCH, Akane-banashi Win Next Manga Awards 2022 Results". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
External links
[edit]- Official website at Gessan (in Japanese)
- Dai Dark at Anime News Network's encyclopedia