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☆ Skip Beat!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 12:45 PM.


Skip-Beat! (スキップ・ビート!, Sukippu Bīto!) is a Japanese shōjo manga by Yoshiki Nakamura. It is the story of Kyoko Mogami a 17-year-old girl who discovers her childhood friend, Sho Fuwa, who is an aspiring pop idol as well as the boy she loves, only keeps her around to act as a maid and earn money. Furious and heart broken, she vows to get revenge by beating him in show business. In Japan, the manga was first published in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Hana To Yume in February 2002, while in the United States, it began publishing under Viz Media's Shojo Beat label in 2006. As of June 2008, nineteen volumes have been released in Japan, and as of December 2008, fifteen volumes have been released in the United States. In 2002, a drama CD adaptation was made and released by Marine Entertainment, and covers the first volume (chapters one to five) of the manga. An anime adaptation is produced by Hal Film Maker, and began airing October 5, 2008.It is also aired in Singapore on Okto with English subtitles every friday at 11pm.


Plot
The story of Skip-Beat! is about Kyoko Mogami, a wistful yet cheery seventeen year-old girl who loves her childhood friend, Shotaro, but is cruelly betrayed and thus seeks revenge against him. She used to spend a lot of time at Shotaro's parents' inn and learned a lot about housekeeping, hostelry, and other feminine jobs (sewing, cooking, serving tea traditionally, etc.). Shotaro, not wishing to take over his parents' inn, becomes bored of living in Kyoto and decides to move to Tokyo to pursue a career in music. Sho, as he is called by his fans, asks Kyoko to leave high school in Kyoto Prefecture and her life behind to help him. Upon arrival in Tokyo, Kyoko lives an unreasonably frugal life, spending nothing on herself and doing whatever she can for Sho, who is ranked seventh in the top twenty most popular entertainers of Japan. It appears that Shotaro never helps with the cost of food, apartment, or necessary products. However, one day as she brings him his lunch at a company building, she overhears Sho complaining about her to his manager, saying that she is a boring and plain girl that he'd like to be rid of, proceeding to sweet-talk and flirt with his manager, whereas he hadn't even put his arm around Kyoko in her life. Unlike other heroines in the same situation, Kyoko doesn't shed many tears when she learns that Sho thinks she's only good for housekeeping. Instead, her "Pandora's box" opens and she vows vengeance on Shotaro. Enraged, Kyoko attempts to attack Sho, but is instantly carried off by security. Sho mockingly tells her that if she wants revenge, she had better become a bigger star than him. And so Kyoko, vowing revenge, changed her appearance and started to enter the entertainment business. Little did she know that her journey will not go as smooth as she thought. Skip Beat follows Kyoko's journey to climb the showbiz ladder as she meets interesting people along the way, all in the hopes of revenge and finding herself in the end.


Characters
(T/N: i removed most of the introduction 'cause they'll be spoilers :D)


Kyoko Mogami
Voiced by: Marina Inoue (anime)
Instead of staying home and attending High School in Kyoto, Kyoko travels with her childhood friend Shō Fuwa to Tokyo to help him while he makes it big as an idol. When she finds out he only invited her so she could be his maid, her heart and innocence are shattered. More vengeful than depressed, she swears to avenge herself. Shō comments the only way to do this would be to beat him in show business, so that's what she decides to do. She changes her hair style and begins the task of applying to Shō's rival company, L.M.E.


Ren Tsuruga
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (anime)
Ren is, in outward appearances, an extremely nice and polite star. However, he shows his true self whenever he deals with Kyoko.He was originally unhappy with Kyoko, because she joined show business for revenge. However, he gradually warms up towards her. Realizing that she isn't just trying to become an actress for revenge, and supports her growth as a budding idol.

also voiced in(main roles in bold): D.Gray-man (Komui Lee, shop manager, Miranda's next-door neighbor, search unit, civilian, bill collector),Dear Boys (Kenji Dobashi), GetBackers (Shunsuke Akutsu, Uryuu Toshiki), Hikaru no Go (Hiroyuki Ashiwara), Karin (Usui Kenta),MÄR (Ash, Jupiter, Boss)

others/list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuyuki_Konishi


Shō Fuwa
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (anime)
His real name is Shōtarō (松太郎, Shōtarō?). He keeps it a secret because he finds it a very old-fashioned and traditional name. He is a typical stuck-up star, and is also very ruthless. Shō had no qualms about tricking Kyoko into going with him to Tokyo so she could be a free servant for him. He also had even less qualms about being extremely cruel to her when she discovered this. Shō eventually figured out that Kyoko was in L.M.E., and was surprised to see her transformation.

also voiced in(amin roles in bold): D.Gray-man (TV) as Chao Ji (ep 51) Death Note (TV) as Light Yagami, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (TV) as Setsuna F. Seiei,Ouran High School Host Club (TV) as Tamaki Suou, Soukyuu no Fafner: Right of Left (special) as Ryou Masaoka,Vampire Knight (TV) as Zero Kiryu, Ichiru Kiryu

others/list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Miyano
(haha oOo! he voiced zero! no wonder it sounded so familiar xD)

Kanae Kotonami
Voiced by: Risa Hayamizu (anime)
Kotonami's character, at first glance, looks like she was being set up to be the villain to Kyoko's angel, but as with all of the female characters in this series, Kanae is much nicer than she appears. While there was fur flying about at the beginning, both girls have a need for a true friend, and ultimately find that in each other (albeit reluctantly on Kanae's part and too willingly on Kyoko's part.

Yukihito Yashiro
Voiced by: Masahito Kawanago (anime)
He is Ren's persistent manager.

Lory Takarada
Voiced by: Kouji Ishii (anime)
He is the president of L.M.E, and is very showy. He is one of the first people to recognize Kyoko's promise of being a great star, and created the "Love Me" section because of this. He seems genuinely concerned for Kyoko and wonders what happened in her past to cause her to lose the ability to love.

Takenori Sawara
Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (anime)
He's a part of L.M.E. and was tormented by Kyoko into getting her into an audition. He is actually very supportive, despite Kyoko's penchant for tripping her own idol career up.

Maria Takarada
Voiced by: Hiromi Konno (anime)
Maria is the granddaughter of the president of L.M.E. and used to use her cute appearance to get people's sympathy.

Kyoko Apparitions
Also know as Kyoko's demons.

Shoko Aki
Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (anime)
Shoko Aki is Sho Fuwa's manager.

Songs
The opening theme is "Dream Star" by The Generous, and the closing theme is "Namida" by 2BACKKA

i love the ending song :D! here it is:



No matter how many thousands of times, I've cried I'll always get over it
I can't act stupid to escape it
That kind of situation, you understand, right?
Now it's the last time, the last chance
Even if it fails, don't be scared
Being sad or depressed, Or having loved, there'll be a day
When you're cured

In those days when things don't go according to plan
The feeling of being deceived
It's like something being broken
The tears begin overflowing
It's impossible to be unaffected
It's impossible to show a frank face
If I'm always avoiding it
Thinking about it even now I won't stop

It's not finished It can't be finished
Nothing has even started
The answer hasn't been received, I can't give up
I haven't even felt the significance, meaning and happiness of my existence
Something anyone needs. I'm waiting for my tomorrow

Stepping over those crying over and over days, I'll become strong
I shouldn't pretend to be stupid to escape it
That kind of situation, you understand, right?
Being put down many thousands times, I'll always get over it
Your voice will arrive, right? No matter where
It will be heard immediately.
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(me: i'm not sure if this is the full lyrics, but i get MESSED UP when i tried to follow... zzz. it appears that the whole lyrics are the ones that appear in the cut ending song, so i doubt it's full.)


Links
Skip Beat! at Viz Media
Skip Beat! (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Skip Beat! (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia

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skip beat is a super nice+freaking funny anime :D. worth-watching and waiting for next episode.

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