Strobe Edge Volume 10 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T” for “Teen”

Ninako Kinoshita, a 16-year-old, has a complicated romantic life.  Ninako loves Ren Ichinose; she loved him even when he loved someone else.  Just before summer vacation begins, Ninako first tells Ren how she feels about him, and that begins a complicated romance.  Things gets more complicated, but Ren changes her world.

As Strobe Edge, Vol. 10 (Chapters 35-36 – the Final Chapter) begins, Ren wants answers from Ninako.  She’s not ready to give them.  Now, she fears that Ren is out of her life.  Is that what she wants?  That can’t be what she wants.  Takumi Ando, a boy who also loves Ninako, decides that now is the time to make his move.

[This volume includes a side story, “Strobe Edge ˜Manabu Miyoshi˜;” a “Strobe Edge Bonus Chapter;” and a bonus story.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The North American version of the Strobe Edge manga comes to an end.  It is a typical high school shojo romantic manga, and Strobe Edge Volume 10 offers a typical happy shojo ending. 

Creator Io Sakisaka ties up loose ends, but she offers a lot of extras for readers as she ends the story.  I am guessing that I am as satisfied with the resolution as anyone who has followed this series since Vol. 1.  Strobe Edge takes the easy way out to satisfy readers, but the lead characters go through enough, even in the end, to make readers earn that sweet happy ending.

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