I Am
a Hero
アイアムアヒーロー
When the ZQN virus tears through Japan and the dead begin to rise, a failed manga artist and his sporting shotgun stand between civilisation and total collapse. Directed by Shinsuke Sato. Based on Kengo Hanazawa's award-winning manga.
The ZQN Virus
ZQN — an unknown pathogen that spreads with terrifying speed through Japan. Those infected lose their minds but retain muscle memory and compulsive repetitive behaviours from their former lives. They attack with superhuman ferocity, and anyone they kill joins their ranks.
Unlike conventional zombie films, ZQN are characterised by obsessive, haunting echoes of the human they once were — a cashier who keeps scanning at an empty register, a commuter who endlessly tries to board the same train. The horror is not just visceral — it is deeply human.
Read the full storyMain Cast
Directed by Shinsuke Sato · Screenplay by Akiko Nogi
Protagonist. A 35-year-old manga assistant who has never quite made it. Quietly licensed to own a shotgun — the only thing that separates him from the dead.
A high school girl Hideo encounters during the outbreak. She has been bitten — but by a toothless infant ZQN, leaving her in a half-human, half-ZQN state.
A nurse Hideo and Hiromi meet at a survivor refuge. She believes Hiromi's half-ZQN blood may hold the key to an antibody.
The Manga
Written and illustrated by Kengo Hanazawa, the manga ran from 2009–2017 across 22 volumes in Weekly Big Comic Spirits. It won the 58th Shogakukan Manga Award and sold over 8.3 million copies — one of the most acclaimed zombie manga ever created.
Watch the Film
Available to stream now. Original Japanese with subtitles.