I'm not sure about this one. Like others, I felt it started out very strong and promising, but midway, lost all its appeal. The main character became a bit cliched, the onslaught of melodrama was unbearable, and I'm not sure what was up with the need for all the Explain The Plot To Me voice overs. The romance disappointed me. Like the reviewer before me, I felt that the alternate pairing carried a lot more intrigue and depth. I ended up skimming the final 5 volumes because it just became such a chore to read. Maybe I'll give this another go in a few years and see if I feel differently.

Beniiro Hero started out really strong and interesting but somehow lost steam about two thirds in. At a major junction in the story, the author decided to completely change the dynamics of the relationships by moving one of the main characters to a different house. From then on, the downfall started. Ridiculous plot devices... Tensions that would build up and then fizzle into nothingness... And finally, a sense that the ending was not quite planned this way, but had to be rushed. Case in point, while we get a multitude of volumes building up the strength of the team, when we finally get the sense that they are getting somewhere the manga... ends. Their dreams and aspirations do not seem to ripen after fruiting, so to speak. A final disappointment - but that is my own subjective opinion - is that the mangaka mistakenly pushed the romance for the more uninteresting and bland of the two characters - in fact, the love interest whose character had the least development and depth. He was just...Mr. Perfect. Or Mr. Perfectly Boring. Ho-Hum.

I enjoyed this one, the story is nothing original but the shoujo angle brings something fresh to the sports genre, still it's just decent, the art is good but not great either and the chars are likable, Nobara and Haibiki are a bit annoying but I liked the rest of them, it's a pity that that shoujo aspect is also what I liked the least since I find it a bit excessive, I liked the romance but there are too many unnecessary complications, too much melodrama for my taste, it would have been great without things like Kazu and the last games side drama for example. Still it was a fun read, recommended to shoujo and sports fans.

This is an amazing story. Despite it being a sport manga it had qualities of romance but they were balanced out to not make the sport too boring or the romance too suffocating. The plot was beautifully written and contained a lot of inspiration. The characters had their weaknesses yet were people who you could easily look up to, they were likeable as long as you didn't judge them by first sight. I feel like that's quite a good point, it felt like each character had a shallow and deeper side, the shallow side made us think bad of them at the start at times yet as we slowly see the meaning behind their actions and their deeper side we grow to love them for who they are. The story made the characters grow until the last chapter where you couldn't help but love each and every one of them. This isn't a shallow story but it can still be lightly enjoyed for the most part, it feels easy to read and not tiring. At the start I also couldn't tell who she was going to end up with but it did gradually get more obvious. I also loved how aside from romantic love the author made you feel other types too. It was amazing how the girls got closer together and each understood and treasured each other, the guys as well, when it really counts you can see how far they're ready to go for each other. And near the end it just makes it that much more complete how she showed the family relationships in positive light. It was a touching inspiring read that I recommend wholeheartedly!!

I like the manga, I like the plot, kinda like the art but there's one thing that bothers me a lot. One thing that pisses me off, which I don't think that it should exist in the manga, even if that point plot is the one that makes the story goes climax.

I get it that Haibiki have feelings for Nobara for some time but when Tomo ends up in the hospital, didn't he showed how he was all worried for her? And even though Ichiba and Tsuchiya mentioned that it's more like a 'worry for sister' kinda thing, that kind of action is obviously more like a lover worried bout their partner right? So why exactly must he get pissed off and see Yuushin as a badass when Yuushin told him that he and Nobara likes each other? In my view, I think he's the badass here. Showing affection for Tomo yet liking Nobara at the same time. It was really unnecessary, after all, he didn't even 'try' to catch Nobara's heart besides that few moves in the beginning of the story.

ARGH. Anyway, it's a good manga but some stuff reeeeeeally aren't necessary to be implemented into the manga, lame dramas. Really.

Nobara's pretty much as simple and static as any of the most typical shoujo. It's all about spreading love of friendship and believing in the heart of the cards. The start was okay but quality just turned into quantities of completely unnecessary drama and heartbreak. By the end the series was really mediocre.

Reading this manga gave me a warm feeling all throughout. It touches the heart and makes you see the world in a positive light. This is officially one of my favorites. <3

For those who want to feel determined or a little lost give this manga a try. It's a good one. 🙂

Edit: GAH OMG. AFTER THREE YEARS, THE SCANS ARE FINALLY COMPLETED. THANK YOUUU!! Omg I really liked Crimson Hero. Such strong characters 😀 Determination, teamwork, believing in one another etc. I'm so happy with the ending ^_^ one more great manga to add to my complete list <3

**[Post from Jan 22, 2010] **
I LOVE THIS MANGA! lol I just love.. LOVE how Nobara has such a STRONG character trait! Unlike other girls who would usually cry, she really gives it her all! Yuushin and Nobara.. i can really see how their relationship grew stronger..great manga!

I'M SO SAD IT'S OVER!! I MEAN... I don't know what I'm supposed to do now!! Where can i find a manga like this??!?! It's pretty rare now'a'days you know!!
I can't explain how glad I am that I decided to read this manga! It was worth every minute of every second of my time and I'm so surprised by the negative comments written here. Since I love this manga so much, I'll take the time to put some detail into this just to get other to read it too.

Art: Beautiful from beginning to end, very detailed.

Characters: Some of the best character's I've ever seen and some of the best friendships I've ever witnessed. The amount of hard work, persistence, trust and fragility they all had made this manga into a total gem. The amazing part is that they didn't even start off all that great. Throughout the story, they develop incredible strength mentally and physically and as a reader, even I felt proud of them when they overcame obstacles and sad when they struggled. I laughed when they laughed, cheered them on when they were giving it their all and felt my heart break when they hit rock bottom in their life. I don't think I've ever respected a character as much as I have with Nobara though. Theb best thing about her is that she's strong but she's also very fragile. She cries when it's something very important but she NEVER gives up. When she falls, she always stands up again and it's just refreshing how realistic the mangaka has created her to be. She's incredible. Absolutely amazing and the very definition of "a diamond in the rough." I loved all the characters in this manga. All in all, great characters, brilliant character development.

Plot: I definitely underestimated the plot for this. As I mentioned earlier, I'm very glad I decided to read it because to be honest I hesitated a little. Sports/Romance manga's are tough, I mean, There will be either too much of one or the other and I expected a bunch of whining girls and overly confident boys but this definitely took me by surprise. It had the perfect balance of sports/romance/drama and slice of life. Definitely slice of life. It was very realistic and spot on. I would know because I used to play volleyball and the team work, the crying, the hard work, the frustration, the audience, the cheering, the injuries are all spot on. I think I love this manga a tad more than others because I've felt it all too.

Romance: Can't.get.enough.of.it! I LOVE how it's not so sloppy or overly dramatic or overly innocent. The relationship between Nobato and Yuushin goes beyond any relationship I've seen in other manga's. The amount of trust and they had for each other is truly worth seeing. Just by having each other, they were able to go through the hardest of times. What i found really awesome though was that they didn't just go "omg you're hot, I'm totally in love with you" they built it first. They're friends, comrades, lovers, ers and dreamers. All of that together. I'm just really glad there's a perfect amount of romance in this manga. If it was all sports and just a hint of romance, I don't think I would've kept reading! Great couple, great connection.

Ending:

I wish I could've seen them play during the spring tournament, that would've been awesome too but the ending was wrapped up pretty nicely.

All in all, I give it a 10/10. Please give it a read, I guarantee you won't regret it.
Well, that's said, I think I'll go play some volleyball again.

I started out liking this manga. It was cute and funny with a good balance of romance and sports.
The plot progressed at a good pace, art was good as was the flow.
The heroine was relatively likeable, strong to her word, and a good change from the weepy can't do anything for herself girls.

HOWEVER

about half way through the story, things go down hill. Everything turns double melodramatic and cliches are thrown at you, front left right and from behind.
I actually stopped reading it after a certain cliche that annoyed the hell out of me and just read the epilogue.