Manga Review: Strobe Edge, Volume 4, by Io Sakisaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo Beat)

Volumes: 10

Spoilers?: Vague.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

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... Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Something Specific:

Quotes:

• "One of you in the world isn’t enough.”  That is just the sweetest line ever, and I would probably enjoy it more if I like the person it was talking about.

Review:

So, Ninako knows how Ando feels now. She doesn’t feel the same, and he knows this, but he still hopes. And he does his best to act as normal and ‘cool’ as he always does. Also, Ninako and Ren are being incessantly pushed together. And I’m not very happy about this.

Ren’s friends are pushing the two together, somewhat without realizing that he has a girlfriend, and then because they know that Ren has feelings for Ninako, but Ren is trying his best to push these feelings away, because he wants to be there for his girlfriend and not hurt her. Ninako is trying to be his friend, but Ando has made her realize that she’s going to keep wanting more from him, but that she can’t have more. Ren is trying to distance himself from her, even quitting the job that they share, but is having a very hard time of doing it.

While all of this is going on, there’s also drama between Daiki and Sayuri. Daiki’s father is having to move for his job, and Daiki decides to go with him instead of moving in with his mother, but this means leaving Sayuri behind, which he really doesn’t want to do. He and Sayuri break up, but then they finally talk it out, and Daiki decides to tell his dad the truth, and move in with his mother instead, and he and Sayuri get back together.

I really like Daiki and Sayuri, and really like seeing them work through this together. Also, I understood very well what Daiki was going through, and also really liked seeing that part of him, getting to know him better. And him and Sayuri are just so cute together.

So, overall, I’m not sure how I feel. I like Ninako. I like Ando. I don’t know who I want Ninako to be with, though. I’m at the moment unsure of if I want it to be Ando, and I’m very unsure of if I want it to be Ren. I’m pretty much unhappy with how Ren is handling the situation. I know he wants to be there for his girlfriend, but I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re not going to last much longer, and I think they should just get that over with already. And when that happens…I don’t know. I just don’t know anymore. 

Still, looking forward to getting the next volume, and I hope that’ll be soon.