You'd think on an informative manga reviewing website there'd be more mature reviewers, be the comments positive or even negative. Unfortunately, some parents unintentionally let their children onto the website. That's the Internet for you.

Anyway, this manga is cute. It teaches about unrequited feelings and hope. It makes me think about people's romantic relationships these days. People seem to pick up the apples they see on the ground more often instead of actually reaching into the tree when it comes to dating.

But despite what I've said, I would recommended this manga to people who can read it without taking the characters too seriously.

Honestly, this manga is really refreshing! >< I mean, it may seem cliche, about a girl's first love, etc. HOWEVER, the progress is amazing! It's different from most of the other "first love" manga I've read. Ninako is really cute! I love her!! Anyway, highly recommended!

Honestly I fear that young impressionable minds will think this is a healthy way to fall in love with someone. Rejection is part of the game, so get over it! It's unhealthy to obsess over someone who is taken and not interested. Know what that's called? A STALKER!

At first I thought it was kinda cute and fluffy, but then it quickly got on my nerves. First it was the lead girl and then it was the story in general.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I had to vent about how much I hate this manga.

OMG. Never came across a manga so brilliant like this!

IT'S PERFECT TO ME because I found a manga with an AMAZING plot which connects, entertainingly funny, and the art was pretty AND BEST OF ALL ITS GOT 10 VOLUMES THAT DIDN'T BORE FOR A SEC AND ITS COMPLETED. <3 PLUS IT'S NOT CLICHE AND ITS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR~~

From this manga, you might also learn something about love.
Plot 10/10 is the reason I was hooked on this manga <3
Skipped almost dinner to keep on reading what gonna happen next.. ><
I'll never be this lucky again. I believe its a one life time event
Rated 9.5 cuz I pitied Andou badly And the usage of pretty black-haired emotionless face whom always gets the girl as the main guy is kinda overrated. THE TRUTH.

Other than that I would have given it 10/10. RECOMMENDED!!

PS I CANT BELIEVED IT ENDED. worth skipping my dinner till the last page.

... Last updated on March 10th, 2013, 7:27am

How in the world does this manga generated any Fanbase ? let alone such a hardcore one?

The Main Girl is straight up Naive, soo Naive that you might think she suffers from "Happy Go Lucky Syndrome" she doesn't get phased by anyone or anything, much like an Elementary School kid who has just stepped out of her house to explore the environment well a bit of an exaggeration there but you get my point right ?

Secondly she is trying to Stubbornly approach a Guy who already has a Girlfriend and yet she still wants him badly i really don't get it ? is she Blind to not have that much Common Sense ?

Thirdly when you see the main Couple you get a feeling that their more like a Guardian or Big Bro-little sister feeling than a Couple to me .... yea it's that bad....they look so Not cute more due to the fact that she has small kid like stature which automatically renders her not Compatible with basically anyone in this manga well because she is like a naive small kid rather than a High school kid which the author wanted to portray i guess ?

Overall i prefer this Author's other Works, Namely AO HARU RIDE >>>>>> STROBE EDGE. seriously go read AOH it's much more refreshing and not at all Awkward or Highly Overrated like this Generic Piece of Cr*p called Strobe Edge

Don't fall for the Hype people coz there is nothing new in here just your same old same old mixed around in an more awkward fashion to make your Eyes Cringe whenever that Toddler makes an appearance

... Last updated on March 9th, 2013, 4:44am

I read some bad reviews about this manga, so I was a bit hesitant to read it -- I shouldn't have been! This is so cute!! Most shoujo mangas have awesome female main characters who call themselves normal, but Ninako-chan really IS normal. She's a pretty realistic girl, down to her reactions and mannerisms. Unlike in other typical shoujos where the guy just falls for her for no reason, Ninako actually has to chase Ren, but she doesn't do it in such an open and slutty way that Ren's girlfriend Mayuka goes bonkers. Near the end, she has to seriously consider her feelings for Ren and how her liking him affects those around her, and she does it in such a way that you can't help but understand. Others may find it annoying, but I thought it was impressive. Moving on...

Art: 10/10
GORGEOUS!! I love Sakisaka-sensei's work. Andou and Ren are freaking HOT!! Even the girls are beautiful. Sayuri was amazing and feminine. I wish I looked like her.

Story: 9.5/10
The missing .5 is because I was cheering for Andou, but whatevs lol. I liked the ending anyways.

Characters: 9.5/10
Like I said before, I was cheering for Andou. I can relate to him so much it's not even funny. I would choose him over Ren any day. Speaking of Ren, he's the reason for the missing 0.5. He reminds me of someone I know, so I am a little prejudiced, but he was still awesome. Other than that, great!!

All in all, a brilliant manga. I loved it!!

I wouldn't say this was amazing, but it was really good. I really enjoyed Ninako's journey into love.

Ren was my absolute fave. He was just so pure and innocent you can't help but like him haha One thing I loved about Ninako was her "never give up" attitude. I really admire that. All the other supporting characters were great too. and I loved that there wasn't to many unnecessary drama as well =]

The story was pretty good in my opinion. It was really refreshing. It wasn't just about love, but the journey to self awareness and making your own decisions when it comes to love. It's about friendships and self growth.

I loved the art. OMG wasn't Ren so handsome =D hahaha though there was a lot of ups and downs for the main character, but the ending was pretty sweet. And it made me happy.

I think I really like this kind of portrayal about 'first love'. This obviously isn't first time the concept of 'first love' has been done and it surely won't be the last but I'm pretty sure that Strobe Edge will be more memorable than all the 'first love' anythings you will encounter. This is due to the fact that Sakisaka-sensei spins the whole concept into something that is remotely her own. Strobe Edge is solely a 'first love' story in its purest, rawest form. The focus is 'first love' so Sakisaka-sensei does not throw in trivial things like rivalry or jealousy. Mayuka was not created as a character to be hated. She isn't a clingy/possessive, horrible person. She doesn't do anything hateful. You can't even hate her. In fact, there isn't anyone to hate in this because it isn't the point of the story. All ten of the volumes are completely on Ninako and her journey to finding love, what it really means to love and being strong enough to love someone in the deep depths of your heart even when they don't love you back. However, it isn't only Ninako's 'first love' story―it is also, Ren's, Mayuka's, Andou's and even the side characters have their 'first love' story.

From Dictionary.com,
strobe
noun. also called strobe light.
a lamp capable of producing an extremely short, brilliant burst of light, for synchronization with a camera having a high shutter speed, in order to photograph a rapidly moving object, as a bullet, for such a short duration that it will appear to be standing still.

Strobe Edge deals with many cases of 'first love'. It goes into the start of a growing first love between two individuals, into the falling of a once-great first love, the birth of a one-sided first love, into stunted first loves―this is practically the book of first love. It's painfully human in its execution. You watch the characters grow with their experiences with first love―whether they have experienced it or have just learned about it. These are characters that are completely endearing. They strive for their love, they fight for it, they learn to accept, to grow, to change―to become. This is the first love journey.

After reading this I felt like all I wanted to read was another series like Strobe Edge where the entire subject is the journey itself. I will be honest though, I hesitated on reading it for years. It always kept coming back in my searches but I never gave it a chance. It was not until I read her Ao Haru Ride and it became slow in updating that I finally gave it the chance it deserved and really, I have probably reread the whole thing two more times and possibly will for many more times (and that is saying something since I have a hard time rereading anything―even my most adored favorites in manga or YA novels). I can't really get enough of the wistfulness I feel as I am reading it(or remembering the feeling or reading it for that matter)―being enveloped in purely emotions and feelings. That, in itself is the most amazing, refreshing, gorgeous experience ever in reading shoujo. It is the reason I read shoujo.

The three things I enjoyed the most about Strobe Edge:
The bittersweet/ironic part about Ren's ex being so scared that he was going to 'fly away' from her while in reality, she was the one doing the flying. How utterly ironic

Also, how sometimes, love does die―how it doesn't last forever―no matter how great a relationship or how great a love. Things change―feelings change and not everything stays the same. It's not that the feelings don't exist anymore―just that they aren't as strong as before.

And last but not least, how it is to keep on loving someone even when they don't feel the same way. This takes great effort on anyone's part. It's painful but because it requires so much effort, it makes it all the more endearing and meaningful.

Strobe Edge begins as a seemingly ordinary shoujo with a matching ordinary heroine but get a few more pages in and maybe you'll see its charm because it is so much more than you ever imagined it to be capable of. Ninako is no ordinary heroine, Ren is no ordinary hero, Mayuka is no ordinary rival girlfriend, Andou is no ordinary playboy―it isn't what it all seems to be. It is anything but ordinary. In this, it will further prove that Sakisaka-sensei excels at bringing out the emotion and feelings in her manga.
This is the power of Sakisaka-sensei. This is her forte.

- As for the awkwardness someone mentioned, the awkwardness in Strobe Edge really isn't so much as awkward as it is realistic. Think about it. How can some instances in real life not be awkward? Painfully awkward even. So, in that sense, even though shoujomangaland is all sparkles and hearts, how is it possible to not have awkward moments?

... Last updated on August 28th, 2014, 10:52pm

Right off the bat, the girl's naivete was an issue. Being that naive stops being cute and starts getting annoying after a while. Maybe it's the generation I live in or where I live, but a high school girl being so oblivious to "love" like she was was so unrealistic (if she was middle school and felt like that, I'd be more accepting). She does end up realizing it but by then I wasn't on her side anymore. She doesn't really learn from her mistakes as much as she should have and that was pretty disappointing to be honest.

The art is nothing amazing, but the guys are drawn to be really handsome, so that's a plus. The story is okay, it's normal shoujo, just a bit slower. This manga doesn't follow the exact shoujo manga archetype but it's close of enough to where you'd need to have really liked this series to defend that it's unique of other shoujos. The leads are really plain and the supporting cast sorta outshines them a lot of the time. I was never rooting for the main guy because he seemed too perfect (Daiki and Andou were better in my opinion because they seemed a bit more real) and the female lead left a lot to be desired in the relatability category (I liked Ren's ex-girlfriend a lot better, and wished she was the lead instead).

I really liked Ren & his ex's story though. If that was a one-shot, I'd have given it a better score than this manga as a whole.

After reading some other reviews, I'm getting the feeling everyone sees what they want in this manga. I could personally go over people's reading list and check what manga they gave high reviews to vs the ones they say are boring and see why they didn't or did like this title very clearly.

... Last updated on December 18th, 2012, 3:48am

I recommend this manga mostly because of that reason. Other than that the manga wasn't bad. To be honest not the best, I didn't really like the main character. But I did enjoy it and it was worth the time.

... Last updated on November 8th, 2012, 3:46pm