lördag 23 juli 2011

Strobe Edge

Status: Finished

Already in the first pages of the manga, we’re given a sneak-peek of our heroine Ninako: naïve, kind-hearted and, all in all, a complete moron. The guy? Try to hide your shock when you find out he’s the most popular boy of the school, few-worded and stoic. (And with an awesome name to match: Ren.)

We’re introduced to the happy-go-lucky childhood best friend who harbors a crush on the heroine within minutes, and the plot was as predictable it could get; girl has zero experience, meets beatific boy waaaay out of her league, falls in love, oh-no-what-to-do-now-fretting ensues.

With my experience in shoujo manga, I thought I had it all figured out, that I knew every nook and turn the plot would take. (Unless it spun way off-track and became some hybrid of B.O.D.Y., where obviously everything is possible.)

... Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Art – 6.1 / 10.0
It’s bordering on almost-ugly. Not really my kind of style, and a bit too sparkly for my liking. It’s only excusable because Ren is so freaking adorable. Every time I see him in a panel, I wish I could reach into it to pinch his cheeks. Yeah, that’s how cute he is.

Plot/Concept – 8.4 / 10.0
Now here’s where the bombshell drops. A few chapters in on the manga, everything I predicted steered off-course. Sure, the drama factor was still a bit too high, but it was acceptable for a shoujo. Most of the events kept a natural course, rather than odd plot twists thrown in just to keep readers engaged. But what really stood out about this manga was its…

Characters – 9.0 / 10.0
Ninako annoyed me in the beginning, yes. With her cutesy, brainless personality and my-world-centers-around-my-crush ideal, I was pretty sure I’d keep feeling that way about her. But surprisingly, despite the flaws in her character, I found that she grew on me. Or maybe it was an effect of it all—that she was so perfectly human but still likeable. The same could be applied to Ren; he wasn’t shut off or cold, just simply rational and a bit less keen on expressing what he feels. Both characters are genuine, honest people, and maybe that’s what attracts me to them; in either case, I found myself growing increasingly more fond of them during the span of the series.

The other characters, albeit not winning any major bonus points like the protagonists, were also pretty well-rounded. I was torn between wanting to throttle the second guy or giving him a hug. Most of them seemed to severely lack in communication with each other, but I guess it’s all pretty acceptable considering how this is, after all, set in high school.

Romance – 8.7 / 10.0
Obviously, the romance also got a high rating as a result of this. The development was realistic and plausible; albeit Ninako’s feelings were terribly rushed in the beginning, it is shown that she gains increasing understanding of Ren’s character, and she therefore falls deeper for him, and vice versa.

I felt really bad for (SPOILER!)Ren’s girlfriend, but I’m not here to judge morale; things like these happen in real life, too, especially when you’re a teenager. It’s not like he didn’t try fighting against it. Actually, I find his struggling quite admirable. He really looked out for his girlfriend, even in the end when he knew he didn’t feel that way about her anymore. He still cared and respected her enough not to do anything with Ninako, which is more than you can say about most shoujo characters.(END SPOILER)

Ren and Ninako had an amazing chemistry and as a couple, they worked beautifully together. Rather than some pairings that I’ve seriously questioned if they lasted after their happy ending, I can definitely tell the two of them would proceed perfectly fine with each other even beyond our final impressions of them after the end.

Overall Rating – 9.0 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Houkago Scanlations and Bikkuri

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