Dead Rock

Dead Rock (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine since July 2023, with its chapters collected in five tankōbon volumes as of July 2025.

Dead Rock
First tankōbon volume cover
Genre	Adventure[1] Dark fantasy[2]
Manga
Written by	Hiro Mashima
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA: Kodansha USA
Imprint	Monthly Shōnen Magazine Comics
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	July 6, 2023 – present
Volumes	5

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 (ヤクト)

Yakuto is a Dragon Root demon who is cursed with the ability to transform his arm or entire body into that of his "Root" ancestor, a black dragon, which reduces his lifespan. Appearing timid and mild-mannered, he is actually a ruthless boy who plots to kill God for exterminating the rest of his people, including his family.

Frey (フレイ, Furei)

Frey is an Ifrit Root with the ability to manipulate fire. She enrolls in Dead Rock to satisfy her love for battle, as well as to surpass her older sister, who failed to graduate from the school.

Raizen (ライゼン)

Raizen is an Orochi Root swordsman who can create seven duplicates of his broadsword. His weapon contains the soul of a cursed princess, whom he seeks to rescue with the power of a Demon King.

Hien (ヒエン)

Hien is a Fenrir Root who freezes whatever he cuts with his katana. As the son of the Fenrir Fort's lord, he aims to save his homeland from an eternal winter his family is wrongfully believed to have caused.

Mikoto (ミコト)

Mikoto is a Lich Root and necromancer who reanimates and controls the dead as zombies. She is also an undercover member of Ghost, the demon world's secret service agency, who targets Dead Rock's corrupt faculty members.

Hani (ハニー, Hanī)

Hani is a Thor Root and living haniwa giant who can shrink in size and wields a hammer imbued with lightning. He is intelligent and analytical, desiring to study humans rather than conquer them.

Zelecia (ゼレシア, Zereshia) / Chako (チャコ)

Introduced as Chako, a seemingly weak Yatagarasu Root crow, Zelecia is a humanoid Black Wizard Root with powerful black magic that she suppresses with her crow form. She shares Yakuto's ambition of killing God.

God (神, Kami)

God is the most powerful being in the three worlds of existence, presiding over the demon world as principal of Dead Rock. He is believed by Yakuto to be a fake who replaced a previous God.

Publication

Written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima, Dead Rock started in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine on July 6, 2023.^[2][3] Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes, with the first released on November 16, 2023.^[4] As of July 9, 2025, five volumes have been released.^[5]

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.^[6][7]

Volumes

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	November 16, 2023[8]	978-4-06-533310-5	March 4, 2025[7]	979-8-88-877350-5
"God of the Demon World" (魔界の神, Makai no Kami) "School Rule Number Three" (校則第三条, Kōsoku Daisanjō) "Classroom Massacre" (皆殺しの教室, Minagoroshi no Kyōshitsu)
2	April 9, 2024[9]	978-4-06-535370-7	June 10, 2025[10]	979-8-88-877374-1
"Death Arena" (大闘技場（デスアリーナ）, Desu Arīna) "Fire Cry" "God Saves" (ゴッドセイブズ, Goddo Seibuzu) "Curse Velocity" (カーズベロシティ, Kāzu Beroshiti)
3	August 7, 2024[11]	978-4-06-536168-9	August 12, 2025[12]	979-8-88-877478-6
"Yakuto vs. Cougar" (ヤクトvs.クウガ, Yakuto vs. Kūga) "You Can't Have My Prey" (獲物は渡さない, Emono wa Watasanai) "Slaughter" (惨殺, Zansatsu) "Deep Cry" (ディープクライ, Dīpu Kurai) "White Calamity" (白い厄災, Shiroi Yakusai)
4	February 7, 2025[13]	978-4-06-537931-8	February 3, 2026[14]	979-8-88-877511-0
"Class F vs. Bren" (F組vs.ブレン, Efu-gumi vs. Buren) "Dead or Alive" (デッド・オア・アライブ, Deddo oa Araibu) "Ghost" (ゴースト, Gōsuto) "The Afternoon Portion" (午後の部, Gogo no Bu) "Eiji and Dest" (エイジとデスト, Eiji to Desuto)
5	July 9, 2025[5]	978-4-06-540094-4	—	—
"The Slime vs. the Nine-Tailed Fox" (スライムvs.九尾の狐, Suraimu vs. Kyūbi no Kitsune) "Words I'm Burning to Say" (伝えたい炎（ことば）, Tsutaetai Kotoba) "Hecatoncheire" (百手（ヘカトンケイル）, Hekatonkeiru) "The Rule Murmuring Death" (死を囁くルール, Shi o Sasayaku Rūru) "A Rondo of Flame and Wolf" (炎と狼の輪舞曲（ロンド）, Honō to Ōkami no Rondo)

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format

23. "Ifrit" (炎王（イフリート）, Ifurīto)
24. "A Class on Living" (生きる為の授業, Ikiru Tame no Jugyō)
25. "Consolation Prize" (残念賞, Zannenshō)
26. "Faith" (信仰, Shinkō)

This incomplete list is frequently updated to include new information.