Strobe Edge

Strobe Edge (ストロボ・エッジ) is an ongoing Japanese romantic shōjo manga written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka which is about a gentle high-school girl called Ninako Kinoshita. It is serialized by Bessatsu Margaret and currently consists of 8 volumes. Volume 6 ranked 24th as of July 01 2009. in 2009

Plot
Ninako has never been in love and continuously questions what love even feels like. She then asks her childhood friend Daiki Korenaga, who has emotions towards her, about what being in love feels like. However Ninako is still unsure whether she actually has feelings towards Daiki. Then one day on the train home from school, she bumps into Ren Ichinose, the guy school idol for the female population and the figure whom Ninako and her friend's spend their breaks catching just a glipse of- Ren. After a short incident, a short conversation and his smile, she experiences a new feeling, the feeling she has been longing for...love.

Main characters
Ninako Kinoshita (木下 仁菜子, Kinoshita Ninako): Ninako is the main female protagonist around whom the story revolves. She is a very kind and gentle girl who falls in love with Ren Ichinose. When she finds out that Ren already has a girlfriend, she resigns herself to being just a friend and to quietly hold onto to her feelings. She is good at most of her subjects with the exclusion of mathematics, which she mentions a number of times is her weakest subject. Ninako is very caring and modest, willing to return any favor even if it is something small. Later on, when Ando tries to convince her to go out with him, she rejects him, saying that being in a relationship with someone she does not love is not right. She wants to remain in her feelings of liking Ren, even if they are not reciprocated, because that is whom she is in love with. In chapter 36, Ninako tells Ren that she loves him.

Ren Ichinose (一ノ瀬 蓮, Ichinose Ren): The male school idol who is basically good at everything and plays the role of main male protagonist. He likes to keep himself isolated from most students and is admired by all of the female populous as a result. He has a close group of friends which are male however the story gives the impression most other male students are jealous of his position. He also has a strong passion for mathematics. Although he has a current girlfriend, Mayuka, who is older than him, Ren tend to lose his guard around Ninako. He only later on realizes his feelings for Ninako, but tries to forget about her by distancing himself for Mayuka's sake. He is the one who gets dumped by Mayuka because she wants him to be free. Later, he soon begins to realize his feelings for Ninako and in chapter 33 he confesses to her. In chapter 36, he returns Ninako's "I love you".

Daiki Korenaga (是永 大樹, Korenaga Daiki): Daiki is introduced as a childhood friend of Ninako's and has strong feelings towards her at the beginning of the story. He grew attached to Ninako after his parents divorced two or three years prior to the start of the manga to which he had to make the choice of living with his mother and older sister or his father. Since choosing to live with his father his relationship with his older sister lost its flavour. It is clear that Ninako was a love interest of his since he chose the school based her choice and in Strobe Edge: Another Light it is suggested that he picked it last minute. He eventually falls in love with and starts dating Sayuri, Ninako's friend.

Takumi Ando (安堂 拓海, Andō Takumi): Ando is Ren's middle school friend and also has an idol-like status. He often finds himself competing with Ren like a rival at times. Ando takes advantage of his position and is a big time player among the female students; however, he forms no relationships with them and believes himself not fit for a relationship. His opinion changes after meeting Ninako, who has a strong effect upon him. He eventually falls madly in love with her, saying that he loves her honesty, and often tries to win her favor. He is also very much aware of her feelings for Ren and often tries to help her through Ren's relationship with Mayuka or discourage her from pursuing Ren.

Mayuka Korenaga (是永 麻由香, Korenaga Mayuka): Mayuka is Daiki's older sister. Her existence is also kept low profile until a certain point where it is found that she is actually the girlfriend of the unobtainable Ren Ichinose. She has a job which is in the modelling business which she pursued for what she thought was Ren's sake and she is currently studying for extrance exams to university. After chapter 7, she has her own story arc entitled Strobe Edge: Another Light which is set when her parents are separated and where she meets Ren for the first time. As the series progresses, she becomes wary of Ninako's relationship with Ren but remains friendly toward her. She eventually realizes how much her relationship with Ren is strained: she is almost always busy and has to cancel their dates. In chapter 19, she breaks up with Ren because she now knows that Ren is in love with someone else and she doesn't want Ren to continually repress his feelings just for her. She acknowledges that nothing will ever stay the same, as she herself has changed, and that before she didn't want Ren to change and leave her.

Drama CD

 * Ninako Kinoshita: Ayako Kawasumi
 * Ren Ichinose: Mamoru Miyano
 * Ando Takumi: Tsubasa Yonaga
 * Daiki Korenaga: Tomoaki Maeno
 * Sayuri Uehara: Ayumi Fujimura
 * Mayuka Korenaga: Yui Shoji
 * Noriko: Saki Fujita
 * Tamaki: Ayaka Shimizu