Strobe Edge

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Before Strobe Edge, the only Sakisaka Io work I had read was Ao Haru Ride (which remains my favorite shoujo to this day), so when I saw people online referring to Strobe Edge as Ao Haru's predecessor, I was more than excited to finally give it a try. Stories between the two of them are extremely similar (won't say what exactly to keep review as spoiler free as possible) and while a lot of people dislike that, calling Sakisaka-sensei works formulaic, I actually prefer them that way considering if I had a chance to read same stories are Ao Haru/Strobe Edge just with different characters, ... I would do it 100 times.

Story is a literal definition of love polygon coming-of-age romance shoujo that was very common in the 2000s, and yet it still holds its charm above some of the other titles in the same category, despite following almost the same formula. It had its ups and downs with unnecessarily added drama that gets resolved in like 1-2 chapters (classic Sakisaka-sensei), but they certainly help with reader engagement (and possible heart aches). Also, the few bonus chapters it had were absolutely amazing, and all of them (well, except one) added more context to characters and stories, so I enjoyed reading them despite being put in some rather cliff-hanger moments.

The main beauty and focus of Strobe Edge are its characters (which I admit are extremely similar to Ao Haru Ride characters, but ehh, I didn't mind, and neither should you). From main characters to side ones, every one of them had a lot of love put into writing them without any of them feeling shallow or one-dimensional. Side characters had as much character dynamics and love stories as main couples, making me root for literally all of them. Makes me kinda sad that my journey with all of them is over and we probably won't ever get anime adaptation, but also it's Sakisaka's manga, so I'm hoping I'll see them in her other works just with different names XD.

Lastly, art was beautiful, it was definitely a little bit worse than in Ao Haru Ride, but it just shows the mangaka's development, which is always nice to see. Despite having that average shoujo manga style, almost every panel still felt more beautiful than other titles in this genre.

Overall, it was an amazing read and an honor to express my thoughts on this manga. I'll continue hoping for anime adaptation, just like I'm hoping for Ao Haru Ride to be adapted fully (even tho I'm completely aware there is basically 0% for either of my wishes to be fulfilled). For shoujo fans, this is a must-read, especially at the beginning of the journey to get a good idea of what kind of world this genre of fiction is. If you decide to give it a try, I'm sincerely hoping you'll enjoy it.

*Review contains spoilers*

Story 5/10
So, I do not want to call the story boring, but...nothing really interesting happens. There are no "wow" moments or any storyline that keeps you interested for long. With that being said, there were a couple of things that prevented me from giving story a lower rating:
1-nice twist having the love interest of main character have a girlfriend and initially rejecting main character. This sort of thing usually happens near the end of the story for climax.
2-even though they tried, no love triangles really start! the main character's feelings remained loyal to her initial love interest and she never led on Andou, ... despite his many confessions to her. (I have to add though that I did find annoying and sometimes couldn't understand Ninako's fixation with Ren at first, when nothing had actually happened between them).
3-no characters were annoying or felt like extra.
4-love story develops gradually, which makes it believable.
5-The story doesn't only focus in romance, but it has a strong theme of friendship.
On the things I didn't like:
1-Total cliche of main character being wildly popular and seeming "unattainable", when he wasn't even that cool.
2-Again, why was Ninako so fixated with Ren when the guy barely talked to her at first?
3-The story doesn't really take off.

Art 7/10
The drawings were nice and I really liked how some scenes were played out through the drawings (for ex. Ren and Ninako's confession).

Characters 6/10
I am going start by saying that even though all characters were likeable, none of them really stand out...maybe Andou and Manabu (my favorites). I still don't understand why the entire school had this infatuation with Ren...I mean he was nice and all, but he wasn't "out of this world" for all the hype girls had about him. Even Andou was better drawn that he was. Ninako was very very clumsy and should really get her balance checked by a doctor!! That girl couldn't walk 2 steps without tripping and falling.
Andou was very funny since the start and I often found myself wishing Ninako would chose Andou instead. Even by the last chapter I kept my hopes up that she would take Andou instead. Andou was definitely more interesting and proactive than Ren. Andou's story was actually more developed than anyone in this manga, which sometimes made me feel he was the main character, not Ren. I also enjoyed how easygoing and straight forward Manabu was.

Enjoyment 5/10
This wasn't a pain in the butt, but I didn't drop it because I am that type of person that would only quit reading or watching something if it is too horrible. There were some good scenes (like Ren and Ninako's confession, Ren confronting Ninako about her feelings).

Overall 5/10
So, this manga is just OK. I think it is overrated. If you like reading, then do it for the sake of reading something. If you are looking for an interesting, good story, look somewhere else.

Dont waste your time.
The main character is so annoying and silly ... it makes the story so long because she keeps changing her mind and the ending its obvious from the beginning, it could definitely be a story with only 5 chapters.... no need to be that long. Literally just rereading the same thing over and over again. By chapter 30 i was so bored that i just went to the last one and i was not surprised to see the end was obvious. I stayed too long reading it expecting a change, like a shock ending but nope....
The female main character... I cant ... even describe how annoying she is. They keep calling her kind and that "she thinks about others", nope, she just stupid.
The male main character, he was literally the same the whole time. A slightly change but nothing incredible.
The stories of the other characters are way more entertaining than the main characters.
Such a shame, because the mangaka has better works out there, but this one is definitely not one of the best. No wonder is no popular.