Manga Review: Strobe Edge 2

Strobe Edge 2 by Io Sakisaka, January 1, 2013. 200 pages. Published by Viz Media LLC. Source: Edelweiss/publisher.

What is love, anyway? Ninako Kinoshita’s friends tell her it’s one thing, but Ninako wonders what this mysterious feeling really is. When she meets Ren Ichinose, the handsome, enigmatic guy that all the girls worship, her life takes an unexpected turn. With just a few words and a smile, he changes her world...
Once Ninako realizes that she’s fallen for Ren, she confesses her feelings to him even though she knows he has a girlfriend! Meanwhile, a new semester brings an outgoing guy called Ando into Ninako’s life—is Ando just an outrageous flirt or will he turn out to be Ninako’s savior?

Story

One of things that has made Strobe Edge such a great read for me is that while it is a shojo romance, it has depth as you watch the characters, mainly Ninako, deal with her feelings for the already taken Ren. I have just been really enjoying the way Io Sakisaka has portrayed Ninako because the character has dealt with everything so well and in a more plausible scenario then in other unrequited love stories. It's just interesting, for me a reader, to watch Ninako face her feelings for her crush head on even knowing that the odds of winning him are not in her favor.

Strobe Edge has just become one of my favorites because Io Sakisaka knows how to write a sweet, yet heartbreaking shoujo. You know this is high praise from me since I don't really go for romantic type books, but with this one you cannot go wrong by at least giving it a shot. The Characters, the writing, and just the way the author is able to pull you into the characters's lives is just phenomenal.

Characters

Ninako, I was beyond surprised when Ninako confessed her feelings for Ren, why, because it seems that in most manga it takes tens years and a day for the characters to confess their feelings. While it may not have gone too well, I am totally giving the author credit for not holding back on revealing this piece of information. What made Ninako even more interesting was that while she was rejected she did not collapse and fall apart just because her feelinhs were not returned. It definitely made for some interesting reading because you expected her to fall apart, not just treasure her feelings of first love and try to keep moving forward.

I enjoy reading about Ren for one reason, and that reason is that he is one incredibly nice guy. I would like to tell you more on why he just seems like a ncie guy but that would be giving things away entirely too much. All I'm going to say is that you will not be able to hate him, maybe be a little miffed that things are not going the 'right' way, but you'll still like him...and maybe even the new guy that's there for Ninako. =)

Artwork

While the artwork was really good in the second volume, I can think of nothing more to add to my assessment from my review of the first one. Other then to say that I am still really enjoying Io Sakisaka's ability to capture the feelings of the characters and how well she draws her characters. The artwork in Strobe Edge is definitely a highlight for me when it comes to this series.

Final Verdict: If Strobe Edge does not become an anime something is seriously wrong because this is one amazing, bittersweet story that needs to be a show!

Strobe Edge 2 earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.

Strobe Edge 1