Strobe Edge Live-Action Series: Every Confirmed Cast Member So Far

Halloween plans just changed from candy to crushing on fictional teens. Io Sakisaka's Strobe Edge is getting a fresh live-action TV take in Japan, and this time it is not a one-and-done movie. WOWOW is rolling out a full drama adaptation across two seasons, aiming to cover the entire manga from start to finish.

Release plan

Season 1 runs six episodes and premieres Friday, October 31, 2025, at 11:00 p.m. JST on WOWOW. Yes, that is Halloween. Prepare for trick-or-treating with first-love angst. Season 2 will complete the story after that, timing TBA.

Where this is coming from

Strobe Edge is Sakisaka's classic shojo romance about first love, mixed signals, and feelings that refuse to behave. It ran in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret from 2007 to 2010 and spans 10 volumes. There was a live-action film back in 2015, but this is a deeper dive with room to breathe and actually live in those messy high school emotions.

The cast (and who they are in the story)

• Riko Fukumoto as Ninako Kinoshita
  Fukumoto, 24, is having a moment. You have probably seen her in Love Me, Love Me Not, Even if This Love Disappears From the World Tonight, or A Girl & Her Guard Dog. She is from Osaka, repped by Toho Entertainment, and took the Grand Prix Shueisha Award (Seventeen Award) at the 8th 'Toho Cinderella' Audition in 2016.
  Ninako is the show's heart: kind, modest, tougher than she looks, and absolutely allergic to math. She is a second-year high schooler who falls for Ren Ichinose, only to learn he already has a girlfriend. Instead of detonating, she tries to be his friend while her feelings... refuse to leave. Emotional algebra follows.
• Kyohei Takahashi as Ren Ichinose
  Idol Kyohei Takahashi (Naniwa Danshi, under SMILE-UP) plays the soft-spoken guy everyone quietly adores. Ren is talented at basically everything (including the math Ninako hates), keeps his cool, and stays hard to read. He has a girlfriend, Mayuka, who is older than him. Once Ninako enters the picture, the feelings he is determined to bury start pushing back. Ren is the kind of person who says 'I'm fine' while clearly not fine.
• Sakura Kiryu as Mao Sugimoto
  Sakura Kiryu (Weathering With You, Lonely Castle in the Mirror) joins as Mao, and the show's official account has already confirmed her for the next season, which instantly set fan theories ablaze. She is also a voice artist and singer; she released her digital single 'Pandora' in 2024 under Virgin Music (Universal Music Japan).
  Mao is an underclassman who once dated Ando in middle school while secretly crushing on Ren. What starts as manipulation morphs into real feelings, and suddenly everyone is dealing with ripple effects she did not mean to cause.
• Koki Yamashita as Takumi Ando
  Born in Osaka in 2001, Yamashita has ranged from the brawny Wind Breaker (2025) to tearjerker Saikou no Seito: Yomei Ichinen no Last Dance (2023). Ando is Ren's confident rival — charming, cocky, magnetic — who has spent years trying to outrun Ren's shadow. Ninako is the first person who refuses to play his game, and that is exactly what knocks him sideways. Beneath the grin: a kid figuring himself out.
• Nao Kosaka as Sayuri Uehara
  Nao Kosaka brings singer/model/actress energy to Sayuri — she is a member of Hinatazaka46 and an exclusive model for Non-no. Sayuri (or 'Sayu') is the steady friend who actually listens. She falls for Daiki and keeps things low-drama and honest... until old scars from a middle school breakup start aching again.
• Motoki Nakazawa as Daiki Korenaga
  From Ibaraki Prefecture, Nakazawa plays the quietly complicated Daiki, Ninako's childhood friend. After his parents divorced, he chose to live with his father instead of his mother and older sister — that decision blew up his relationship with his sister, Mayuka. Daiki leans on Ninako as the one person who always felt safe. He is dependable and gentle, the kind of guy who would carry your books home without a word. Expect a lot of 'he deserved better' reactions.
• Tsubasa Nakagawa as Manabu 'Ga-chan' Miyoshi
  Nakagawa (born Dec 6, 2005, Kanagawa) has been busy since Erased (2016), Never Let Me Go (2016), and Follow the Light (2021). Manabu is Ren's friend and sunshine dispenser who actually understands him. He works at his cousin's cafe to save up for a trip to visit his admired senior, Ritsuko. He is also the first to clock Ren's feelings for Ninako and immediately appoints himself matchmaker. Results vary.
• Sora Inoue as Yuutaro Terada
  Represented by Watanabe Entertainment and born in Oita Prefecture, Sora Inoue steps in as Yuutaro, aka 'Yu' or 'Tera'. He is the grounded friend who tries to keep the group from meddling in each other's love lives — and then inevitably gets dragged into the chaos anyway. He once dated Sayuri in middle school; it ended when she thought he cheated. He still carries that regret, along with a soft spot he tries not to show.
• Neo Inoue as Tamaki Tsutsui
  At 21, Neo Inoue has already popped up in The Lies She Loved, Minato's Laundromat, and The Bucket List. Tamaki is one of Ninako's closest friends: bright, funny, and loyal, always ready with snacks and sharp observations. Not part of the central triangle, but she is great at spotting it from a mile away.
• Yui Oguri as Ritsuko Kashiwagi
  Oguri (born Dec 26, 2001, in Nishitokyo) is a member of AKB48 and has appeared in Master's Daughter (2022), Mijobutsumonogatari AKB48 Ikai e no tomoshibidera (2021), and 36,000 Seconds in a Day (2022). Ritsuko is the elegant upperclassman Manabu admires so much he is saving up to visit her. She is poised and a bit out of reach — the kind of person who makes you wonder if what you feel is admiration, a crush, or something messier.
• Ririka Tanabe as Mayuka Korenaga
  Tanabe plays Mayuka, Daiki's older sister and — twist — Ren's girlfriend. She is a working model juggling that with university entrance exams and a relationship with someone as emotionally locked-up as Ren. She senses the gravity shift when Ninako enters the picture, but she never turns mean. Mayuka is graceful, kind, and a little melancholy — the grown-up version of love that hurts quietly.

Why this matters

Strobe Edge has already proven it can work in live action with the 2015 film, but a two-season run lets the story actually stretch out. That means more time with Ninako and Ren's slow-burn disaster, room for Ando to be more than the rival, and space for supporting characters like Daiki, Sayuri, and Mayuka to breathe. The casting is very 'where have I seen them?' in a good way — a lot of rising talent with the right vibes for Shojo Feelings 101.

Long story short: two seasons, full manga, Halloween launch. I am in.