Ranked #117

Strobe Edge (Manga)

Strobe Edge is a story, which starts off as a seemingly normal story, a typical shoujo, but because of its superior story pacing and character development, it is able to become something special and unique.

The mangaka decides to start the story off with a very familiar situation. Ninako, a girl who is very naïve towards love, falls in love with one of the popular guys in school, Ren. At first, all seems good, but we soon find out Ren actually has a girlfriend. Then the manga introduces another boy called Andou, who loves Ninako, and thus the typical love triangle is formed.

Well, the plot itself isn’t exactly deep, but it’s developed extremely well. For example, the mangaka leads you to think that Ninako and Ren would make the perfect couple but then decides to throw in a flashback story of Ren and his girlfriend and how deep their relationship really is. Continuing this, she makes it seem like Andou might end up with Ninako, but manages to keep Ren in the triangle stil. I’ve never read a story that there wasn’t a couple that I supported, but I’m actually neutral towards this love triangle. The story makes you feel that, whatever couple happens, it won’t be a happy ending still.

This story is really good at showing unrequited love. It shows the true aspect of love, love is not always happy. Even if you give your lover to someone else, there won’t necessarily be another Prince Charming to come and pick you, because love is not easy to get rid of/change. It tackles the question, if I love someone, but that person doesn't return the love back, should I continue loving this person or should I give up? Also, the way it makes romantic situations is very praiseworthy. The manga especially reuses the “train love incident” a lot, where Ninako and Ren are alone in the train. Still, every single time this happens it’s still very interesting as Ninako has different feelings. The love in this story is realistic and it’s developed well.

I feel that the only really well developed characters in are Ren and Ninako for now but I’m sure the mangaka is going to focus a bit more on Andou later on.

Ren – At first, he seems like a grown up, your typical overprotective boy that most girls like. He doesn’t seem to talk much, so it seems like his character is very mysterious at first, but slowly we see that he is a very confused character. He knows he loves his girlfriend, as the history/bond he developed with her is very strong, but his overprotective character takes the best of him as he starts to care for Ninako, and realizes it too late, that he has feelings. While in the beginning, we see him as a strong character, he further develops into one of the weakest characters in the story.

Ninako – A typical shoujo main character, a girl with love problems, but isn’t able to really understand love yet. But don’t underestimate this, as Ninako gets smarter. Yes, she gets smarter, unlike so many other stories I’ve read, Ninako slowly, but surely, starts to become more experienced. Furthermore, Ninako only loves Ren, no matter how hopeless it seems to her, she still chases only after Ren. We may see that she’s very selfish, to be trying to steal a guy who already has a girlfriend, and Ninako knows she’s selfish. She finds herself questioning if its right for her to keep loving Ren so much, but she realizes, no matter how wrong it is, she still loves him too much. I love her determination, and with this trait, even if Ninako looks very weak, she's probably the strongest character in the story.

I’m probably thinking too much here, but since the art is very shoujoish, I always feel that the art greatly enhances the effect of a typical setting. As if, it wants us to realizes that she’s using a typical shoujo setting and turning it into something new.

I love this manga. Honestly, I think it’s probably my favorite shoujo manga. It’s enjoyable, well developed and each chapter is worth the waiting. This is one of the only mangas, where after I finish reading one chapter, I want a chapter right away, even if there is no cliffhanger. I’m happy to have touched such an amazing story, and it’s been worth every single second of my time.

I will end this review with this.
Love is not that simple and will always hurt someone.
And Strobe Edge has depicted this better then any other manga I've read. read more

I suppose that this is a usual technique for writing 'credible' reviews, but let me tell you now that I am, in fact, a considerably jaded romance shojo (I'll be talking about 'romance shojo' in particular for this review) reader. I read any shojo title with the initial thought: "I'll drop this once it gets boring." This is because I've read quite a lot from this genre and in fact, I started my love for anime and manga with shojo.

Why, then, out of all of those titles, have I decided to leave a review for this seemingly ordinary and cliche, been-there-done-that shojo?

This is because Strobe Edge managed to get that spark running again for me.

But before I go into that, here are the basics.

STORY

Strobe Edge’s story is nothing that deviates from the usual. Ditzy, clumsy, awkward girl falls in love for the first time for the most popular guy in school. A love triangle ensues with the girl, the popular, lead guy and the guy's bestf friend. Nothing new.

What I like about Strobe Edge (and what I’ve read from Sakisaka Io-sensei so far) would be the way she handles cliches. She handles them – for the lack of a better, more accurate term – sincerely. She puts nothing complicated out – no extreme characters, no denseness, no ridiculous plot twists, because first love is already complicated enough.

For one, Strobe Edge isn’t exactly a biased manga - although we have a clear set of leads, Sakisaka-sensei made the journey towards the obvious end worth it, like they aren’t just going to end up together JUST BECAUSE they’re the lead characters, but because of what they - the main characters and the involved parties - went through to get there.

Strobe Edge is a manga that'll make you want to have your first love all over again.

CHARACTERS

I love Strobe Edge’s characters. They follow cookie-cutter patterns, but at the same time, they break away from them.

Ninako can be like any other girl out there experiencing the haplessness of first love. What made her stand out for me among the hordes of shojo heroines is that she is straightforward, honest and she just wants her friends to be happy . Ninako has been consistent so far: she is as awkward as she is sincere, and although she falls in love for the first time, she doesn’t really go out of her way to find it and be dramatic about it.

Ren is your typical heartthrob. Quiet, mysterious, not able to express his real feelings, and, well, really good-looking and smart. But something’s different: he’s taken, and he isn’t really all that willing to throw all those memories away just for the lead shojo character. Despite his attraction to Ninako, he loves his girlfriend not only because he’s supposed to, but because of the memories they share. In the end, he's just a regular guy, who doesn't know how exactly what's right.

There is the clear third party: Andou. Andou is Ren’s ‘best friend’. He is a happy, outgoing playboy who knows just the right moves. He falls in love with Ninako and changes for the better: that is, he decides to ditch his old ways and take on the path of true love. Typical. Now, onto what’s different: he loves Ren, as well. They aren’t really close as best friends are supposed to be. In fact, they both share a trouble-filled relationship. But for some reason, Andou is attracted to Ren and he treasures their friendship. This, however, doesn’t get in the way of his love. He doesn’t throw away either of them. He fights head-on and he says that he won’t give up until he has a chance.

The side characters (especially on Daiki’s side) are given proper attention, and they really just don’t blend in the background and act as characters who can be thrown out of the scene when it’s not convenient for them to be there anymore. Faceless roles are rare (actually, I don't remember any).

TECHNICALITIES

ART: Again, nothing really special here. Typical shojo style - good-looking boys, cute girls. What I love, though, is the pastel-y feel to it, even if it’s black and white, reminding me a bit of Honey and Clover (anime).

DIALOGUES: Quick, easy to understand, and pretty sincere and honest with what it wants to play out.

Xx

I began with Strobe Edge reeling from the disappointment that I faced with Ouran. I stayed for a whole different reason.

Getting back to my first point: What spark did Strobe Edge fire up in me, and how did it do it?

Strobe Edge is enjoyable because it doesn't pull off its story with flashy plot twists.  In fact, at its core, Strobe Edge is esentially a love story, and it doesn't try to become something that it's not.  While in that process, it still manages to effortlessly tap into friendship and growing up (among other things) because those are inevitably connected to love in the first place.

Strobe Edge is a manga that'll make you want to have your first love all over again.

I adore this title, and will definitely have it up in my bookshelf once it gets licensed in English. read more