Hero Heel is a Japanese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written and illustrated by Makoto Tateno

Makoto Tateno

, who also uses the penname Shinjuku Tango, is a Japanese manga artist who made her debut in 1986. Tateno regards her influences as being Go Nagai and Osamu Tezuka. Two of her best known works are Yellow and Happy Boys...

. It is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing

Digital Manga Publishing

Digital Manga is a company that licenses and releases, in English, Japanese anime, manga, and related merchandise. The company has several subdivisions: Digital Manga Publishing, which publishes Japanese manga, novels and instructional and illustration books in North America with multiple imprints,...

, which released the manga through its imprint, Juné, on April 8, 2008. Biblos released the manga on August 10, 2005 before it went bankrupt in 2006. Libre Publishing

Libre Publishing

Libre Publishing is a Japanese boys love manga publishing company. It was founded on May 8, 2006, and is the successor to Biblos , which folded due to the failure of its parent company....

 took over publication in Japan and released the manga's three tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

between June 30, 2007 and March 10, 2007, publishing the last two volumes first then the first volume. The manga is licensed in Taiwan by Egmont Manga & Anime

Egmont Manga & Anime

Egmont Manga & Anime is one of the largest publishers of manga in Germany. It was founded in the year 2000 as a daughter company of Egmont Ehapa, after the manga boom in Germany became apparent around the turn of the millennium. Since 2003, EMA has been part of Egmont vgs in Cologne.- History :In...

 and in Germany by AnimePro.

Reception

Mania.com's Julie Rosato comments the manga for its "juxtaposition of the themes of the TV show and the actions of the people who play the characters, because it's trying to ask us to determine what makes a hero and what a villain " and just who is which when the cameras stop rolling". Coolstreak Comics' Leroy Douresseaux comments on the author's artwork, saying "she’s also able to draw skinny, pretty boys (with long, wavy hair) that honestly look masculine, even Masaki Minami when he’s getting (essentially) raped!" A later review by Douresseaux comments on the author "whose work usually emphasizes an attention to detail in matters of love similar to that of a prose romance novel, gets in the heart and soul of those matters here – capturing a deeper sense of longing and yearning."

External links

• Mania Vol 2 review