You know what I like as much as romance in a manga? Sports. I mean, when the characters are involved in some type of sport it always gives the material a more competitive edge to the manga that it can’t really have otherwise. I think that’s where my love for Prince of Tennis came from, even if it was repetitive at times it always made you feel like watching it unfold because of the characters seriousness in the game. Or maybe it was that I felt like I was somewhat involved in the game even though my lazy ass was sitting down…
Crimson Hero is a romance, sport, drama, school life, manga. What’s so unique about it? Nothing, really. You can pick apart the plot and characters and they won’t be original at all. What’s so good about it? Everything. The story is charming and the characters are funny and creative.
The manga pumps you up and makes you want to pick up a sport - it’s driven in the only way sports or arts can be.
Nobusa’s parents suffer from “I want my daughter to hate me so I will force her to be who I want her to be (or, IWMDTHMSIWFHTBWIWHTB for short) disease. They run a... I’ll call it restaurant, in Japan and she is the oldest daughter set to run it. Only problem is that she loves volleyball and wants nothing more than to play. When she enters high school she finds out that her mom forced the school to disband the girls volleyball team. Being forced into a corner she does what any shoujo lead would do in her situation, runs away and moves into a dorm full of guys as their dorm mother. OK, not exactly like that but the gist of it… Now it’s up to her to fulfill her dream while cleaning up after four guys…
Just going to say that this NEVER happens in real life, so for one I am COMPLETELY disappointed. I’m sure you are too, if not, you are not reading the right manga…
Aww, what a cute pic! :)
I think where the author went right from the beginning was the lines. The way the story unfolds, Nobusa’s thoughts and emotions stand out and it’s easy for a lot of people to relate. She’s confident even if she herself isn’t really so. She’s a great leader actually and a good friend.
There are characters you love right away and could even tell which roles they’re going to be given; like friend-zoned dude, bee-atch girl, loyal friend… add that to some characters having old history with each other and you know some drama is guaranteed to happen.
The art doesn’t really stand out, and realistically it has too much competition since it was drawn in 2003. That itself leaves a huge gap for “fresher” material art-wise, least I think so. It was nice, the only thing that stands out a lot at first are the characters hair styles, but it's nothing major. The lead does look like the main girl from High School Debut a bit and sometimes acts like her too. Which isn’t a bad but couldn’t help but notice. Though technically this one was drawn first, barely.
Another thing is that the movements look stiff, I know what you're thinking: How can movements be stiff when they're not actually moving?... well they can. Just the drawing itself while they're playing looks too serious when it should have been more relaxed at times.
The ending, don’t worry I can’t spoil it since it’s not done scanlating. Which I didn’t know when I started reading if not I wouldn’t have…
I’ll cross my fingers for it to keep being good. I'll let you know!
So far:
8/10
Which is basically my average rating for anything I haven’t finished that can end up being just average in my book.
