Sunday, November 20, 2011

Skip Beat

Alternative Names: -
Also: manga
Genres: Romantic Comedy, Showbiz, drama, psychological, Romance, Supernatural, Comedy
Number of episodes: 25
Theme Songs: 
Opening Theme:

#1: "Dream Star" by the generous (eps 1-19)
#2: "Renaissance" by the generous (eps 20-25)
Ending Theme: 
#1: "Namida" by 2BACKKA (eps 1-19)
#2: "Eien (永遠)" by Yūsaku Kiyama (eps 20-24)
#3: "Dream Star" by the generous (ep 25
Characters: everything inside "…" is copied from wikipedia
Kyoko Mogami: "Kyoko is a 16-year-old, bright, intelligent girl bent on revenge against the boy that used her feelings of love and devotion for his own selfish gain." So she goes after the boy, named Shotaro, to defeat him in the show business. He sings, and is the number two star at the moment (after Ren Tsuruga). She is a complete newbie, and wants to join the company L.M.E., the agency who is the greatest rival of sho's talent agency. She sort of harasses one of the men there, but after some time she goes to audition there, which she failes. But at the L.M.E. works Ren Tsuruga, who she used to hate, because sho hated him. He teases her at first, because he thinks she uses acting as a weapon.  Kyoko may enter L.M.E., at the LoveMe section, for people with scars in their hearts. Kyoko is unable to love, for many reasons... Kyoko has a supernatural gift, she has her own ghosts, and they come in handy often :D.  
Ren Tsuruga: "Ren has an extremely kind and gentle persona. He takes his acting very seriously and expects professionalism from those around him. While he maintains a perfect public image, he has frequently shown his true face to Kyoko, failing to maintain his polite facade in front of her. He was originally unhappy with Kyoko because of her impure reasons for joining show business, and frequently found ways to annoy and tease her. However, once he realized that her acting was more than a tool for revenge, he began to support her growth as a budding idol."
Sho Fuwa: His real name is Shōtarō (松太郎?). He keeps it a secret because he finds it very old-fashioned. He is an extremely egotistical, extremely talented music star. Shō had no qualms about asking Kyoko to give up her life in Kyoto to support him in Tokyo, fully cognizant of her misconceptions of the nature of their relationship. After Kyoko's transformation, he is shocked and soon discovers he had more feelings for her than he originally thought. He has disliked seeing Kyoko's tears since childhood, knows her preferences in food, and of her love for fairy tales and things romantic in nature, but stole her first kiss so that she would hate him and obsess over him. Shō holds a great animosity towards Ren because he is hailed as the coolest, number one guy in show biz. 
Summary: from: wikipedia:
Skip Beat! follows the story of Kyoko Mogami, a sixteen year-old girl who loves her childhood friend, Shotaro Fuwa, but is betrayed by him. Having spent a large part of her childhood at Shotaro's parents' inn, she learned a great deal about hostelry and other such jobs. Shotaro, not wishing to take over his parents' business, moves to Tokyo to pursue a career in music. Sho, as he is called by his fans, asks Kyoko to leave high school and her life in Kyoto Prefecture behind to help him. Upon arrival in Tokyo, Kyoko lives an unreasonably frugal life and works multiple jobs to support Sho, spending nothing on herself and doing whatever she can for Sho, who eventually becomes ranked seventh of the top twenty most popular male celebrities of Japan. One day, she overhears Shotaro complaining about her to his manager, saying that she is a boring and plain girl. He proceeds to sweet-talk and flirt with his manager, in stark contrast to the cold and demanding attitude he usually exhibits towards Kyoko. Kyoko doesn't shed many tears when she learns that Sho wanted her along only to handle housekeeping duties. Instead, her "Pandora's box" opens and she vows vengeance on Sho. As she is carried away by security, Sho mockingly tells her that if she wants revenge, she had better become a bigger star than he is. And so, Kyoko changes her appearance and enters the entertainment industry, facing many challenges along the way. Skip Beat! follows Kyoko's journey to climb the showbiz ladder as she meets interesting people, troublemakers and friends alike, with hopes of getting revenge on Shotaro, as well as regaining the sense of compassion that she had lost when her heart was broken by him. As Kyoko cultivates her acting and friendships, she soon discovers a sense of self separate from her initial plans for revenge.
My view:
One of the best stories ever made!! It's so sad that there are only 25 episodes :(
The plot is well-written, with the feelings transporting right into you! It makes you wish Kyoko and Ren really exist. There's nothing that could be wrong in the serie, it all makes sense what they say and how they act, all doesn't it seem so in the beginning sometimes. The writer of the series is a genius!!! The characters are really handsome, especially their eyes; they're captivating... I hope there comes a second serie of Skip Beat, and I hope it will follow the manga till the end!
Rating: 10,0
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