It's Just Another Manga Monday - Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura

So, I was consulting my lists, (I live in Excel), and I realized I might be missing a couple volumes of manga. So, I printed out my spreadsheet and set to the attic. Yes, that's right. There is absolutely no room on the main part of the house except for the few volumes I am trying to read,, so all the manga is upstairs in the attic. It's a walk-in attic, so it's not really too much of a hardship. Anyway, I sorted out my list, found which books I was missing and resolved to order them straight away. I did realize one thing, though. I am woefully behind on my manga reading, so I am trying to do a little catch up. One thing I really like about manga is that it takes about an hour to read one volume. So, I can start a book and end a book in the same day. It gives me quite a sense of accomplishment, but I digress. So, today, I am going to write about one of my favorite series, Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura. It's funny, not ha ha, more like funny strange?, anyway, it's funny because I started ordering the book, but never got into the series right away. The publisher is Viz and I have to say, they publish some of the best Shojo comics (for girls) and I usually give pretty much every title a try. Anyway, I didn't start reading until about 10 volumes were out. I had decided it was do or die time and I wasn't going to order anymore volumes until I caught up or decided I didn't like. Well, once I started reading, I couldn't put the series down.

Series Description:
Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence - She's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz.

My Review:
What is not to like? Girl falls for guy, guy takes advantage of her feelings, he leaves for the big city, she tags along, but as soon as he starts to become famous, he throws her out. She vows revenge on him by beating him at his own game. It's like American Idol, only Japanese and not a game show, but I do have to wonder what it is about J-Pop? There are quick a few series about girls wanting to break into show biz by becoming an idol. I think I'm getting off track, though. Anyway, Kyoko has a lot to learn out the show biz industry. She manages to land a job at a talent agency, but she is not hired as talent. She is hired as the newest (and only) member of the Love Me section of the talent agency. She has to work for the talent in whatever capacity they need, whether running errands, getting them to a shoot, getting them food, whatever it takes. She then receives points based on how good a job she does. Eventually she does start to get acting work, but she lands a roll in a miniseries that is kind of pigeon-holing her and she is trying to break out of that mold. She meets a fellow actor that works for her agency, but he is a star and he gives her a hard time in the beginning with her Love Me assignments and consistently gives her low scores. Eventually, they become friends and he seems to take her under his wing, but he is harboring a dark secret and hiding something else from his past, something relating to Kyoko. Sho, the object of her revenge plot, comes back into the picture and he decides he wants her back, but only because Ren is his rival in the ratings game and he wants to beat him. As the series progresses, Kyoko seems to be giving up on her revenge plot little by little as she realizes she wants to becoome a great actress, one who Ren would be proud of. She respects him and looks up to him, but she would never presume to get too close. He is, after all, a star.

In Vol 27, the two of them are immersing in characters for Ren's next movie. He is playing a mafioso type thug and Kyoko was brought in to act the part of his sister. The trick is that no one is supposed to find out who he is. He will star in the film, but he won't be named in the credits, so they need to keep a tight lid on it. They are staying together and Ren is finding that it is very difficult to be so close to Kyoko all the time when he has feelings for her he is trying to keep bottled up. She's oblivious, of course, but can he really handle her treating him like a brother when he would wish for so much more?