Comics / Manga

Crimson Hero: Volume 9

By Leroy Douresseaux
September 30, 2008 - 09:40

The above Crimson Hero #9 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T” for “Teen”

15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi is an awesome volleyball player with great ambitions.  Being a girl, however, makes it hard to get a break in the competitive world of high school volleyball, but she ain’t takin’ “No” for an answer.

In Crimson Hero, Vol. 9, Nobara has firmly entrenched herself with a men’s team, the Eagles.  Now, the Eagles are in a big match against men’s volleyball team of Central Sokai University, and Nobara has staked a lot on what will be her first and last game with the Eagles.  Meanwhile, Yushin, the boy on Nobara’s mind, also has some trouble on his mind.  Has Nobara moved on to another guy – a fantastic volleyball player who respects her game?

THE LOWDOWN:  I was at a public library a few weeks ago during the Beijing Olympics, and I overhead a young female worker (college age, perhaps) there expressing the kind of hard enthusiasm for the U.S. Women’s Olympic soccer team that I usually here from guys panting for their favorite football team.  I was struck by that, and it made me think how much has changed for women’s competitive sports since the early to mid-1990s.  Young women are given the opportunity to compete, especially at a college level, in sports like soccer and softball because public universities and colleges have to fund them at or near the same level as they fund male sports teams.  [I know that I’m being general about the legacy of the early 1970s law commonly known as Title IX – reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 1992.]

With this in mind, I find myself totally digging on Crimson Hero.  Not only is it a shoujo manga (girls’ comics) about love, but it’s equally a sports comic book in which young women are coming into their own, both as women and as competitive athletes.  It’s well written.  It’s well drawn.  It’s a winner.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of sports manga will enjoy the high-flying volleyball action of Crimson Hero.  Regular readers of the magazine, Shojo Beat, will want this title in their hands.

A-

 

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20