Strobe Edge Volume 7 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T” for “Teen”

The love life of 16-year-old Ninako Kinoshita is complicated.  Ninako loves Ren Ichinose, but Ren loves someone else.  Just before a summer vacation begins, Ninako tells Ren how she feels about him, but he turns her down...

Strobe Edge, Vol. 7 (Chapters 23-26) begins with a new school year, and Ninako and Ren are in the same class.  It is also time to plan the school trip, and Ninako ends up in the same planning group as Ren.

During the trip, Ninako gets to stick close to Ren, but she thinks this can only happen because they’re “just friends.”  If she told him (again) that she loved him, would semi-intimate moments like these between the two be over?  Meanwhile, there is something going on between Yu and Sayuri and between Sayuri and Daiki.

[This volume contains a bonus Strobe Edge story: “Wishing for Yesterday.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have admitted that I think that the Strobe Edge manga is not groundbreaking shojo high school romance, but is rather standard fare.  But I like it.

I think that the beautiful art it what makes Strobe Edge worth reading.  Sometimes, the graphical storytelling that is the comics (manga) medium can emphasize beauty.  Strobe Edge Volume 7 embodies how this series uses pretty art (especially the character’s expressive eyes and faces) convey emotions, moods, feelings, etc.

If readers cannot fathom the emotional turmoil and tumult in this series, then, they cannot get the full impact on this potent high school romantic drama.  Doubt and longing shape the narrative, and the eye-catching art is the means by which to understand the yearning.  So open your imagination to what is beyond the surface beauty and find a good series.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of Shojo Beat high school romance will want to try the Shojo Beat title, Strobe Edge.