Skip Beat!

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Skip Beat!


caption = "Skip Beat!" HCD Cover By Yoshiki Nakamura
ja_name = スキップ・ビート!
ja_name_trans = Sukippu Bīto!
genre = Romantic comedyInfobox animanga/Manga
author = Yoshiki Nakamura
demographic = Shōjo
publisher = flagicon|Japan Hakusensha
publisher_en = flagicon|Canada flagicon|United States VIZ Media
publisher_other = flagicon|Germany Carlsen Comics
flagicon|Thailand Siam Inter Comics
flagicon|Sweden Manga Media
magazine = flagicon|Japan Hana to Yume
flagicon|Germany Daisuki
flagicon|Sweden Shōjo Stars
first = February 15, 2002
last = ongoing
volumes = 22
chapter_list = List of Skip Beat chaptersInfobox animanga/Anime
director = Kiyoko Sayama
writer = Mayori Sekijima
studio = Hal Film Maker
network = flagicon|Japan TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
first = October 5, 2008
last =
episodes =
episode_list = nihongo|"Skip Beat!"|スキップ・ビート!|Sukippu Bīto! is a Japanese shōjo manga by Yoshiki Nakamura. It is the story of nihongo|Kyoko Mogami|最上 キョーコ|Mogami Kyōko a 16-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 September 2008, fourteen 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.

Plot

The story of "Skip Beat!" is about Kyoko Mogami, a wistful yet cheery sixteen 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 stereotypically correct 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, 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. She then begins planning how to accomplish this, and get her revenge in doing so.

Kyoko immediately cuts and bleaches her hair, while selling her possessions to throw away her past. She then moves out of her apartment into "Darumaya," a place where she works in the evenings. As Sho had scornfully said, the only way she could beat him would be to become more famous than he. She goes to the largest production company that isn't Queen Agency, which sponsors Shō: L.M.E. L.M.E. happens to be the same company that manages Ren Tsuruga, one of Japan's most popular actors and Shō’s main rival (in Sho's mind, at least). Through persistence and partially stalking Mr. Sawara, head of the talento division at L.M.E., she manages to get an audition.

At the audition, Kyoko, whose life had been spent in one form of one service or another, performs as her talent the art of katsura-muki, a special type of vegetable peeling. She impresses the judges with her originality (she peels a daikon into an enormous flower) and uniqueness of her skill. She also meets Kanae Kotonami at the audition, who proceeds with Kyoko to the next round.

However, the next round is where Kyoko meets her failure: it is a reaction test where she must listen to a cellphone and spontaneously act a response. The cellphone conversation is a man telling her that he's sorry, that he didn't love the other girls, and wants to get back together with her—resulting in Kyoko smashing the phone on the ground and screaming in rage, after feigning happiness at first.

At home, Kyoko cries, not because she'd failed the audition, but because she was told that the reaction lacked the desire to be loved. She is told that in order to be an entertainer and win over fans, she has to love them, love herself, and also have to desire to be loved. This is something she doesn't think possible; essentially, Kyoko has lost the feeling of self-worth that one needs in order to be a human being. Nevertheless, Kyoko impressed the President, Lory Takarada. In fact, he was so piqued with interest that he privately notes to Sawara that if she returns of her own initiative, he'll have a special program waiting for her. He decides that since she lacked the key ingredient to making a star, he will make a new branch especially for people like her so they can gain back feelings of love. It is here that the "Love Me" branch is established, but unfortunately for Kyoko the branch is a jack of all trades type, so she finds herself doing everything from starring in a commercial to cleaning gum off the floor. With some initial blunders, Kyoko actually starts to excel and acquire some feelings of love, as well as some memories of a rock from a boy named "Corn" whom she had a special bond with when she was a child. As a love-me member, she was required to help people and in return she would receive points. One of her jobs was to get a celebrity, Ruriko, to a filming site. Ruriko was an arrogant and selfish person. Kyoko had to carry her uphill until she was exhausted and twisted her ankle. But Ruriko left her behind after she was unable to move and went on by herself to the filming site. It was such a coincidence that Ren Tsuruga was apart of the film. Ren Tsuruga disliked her at first because of her motive, and the fact that she came to L.M.E. for revenge. Kyoko was abandoned and left alone, but Ren Tsuruga came and carried her back to the filming site. Since Tsuruga was a very handsome and famous actor, everyone admired him. Ruriko was jealous and she was also arrogant throughout the filming. Then it was decided that Kyoko have a turn at acting the role Ruriko was acting. Kyoko managed to surprise them all with her persistant effort. She looked very beautiful in her costume; even Ren was surprised. But in the end, because of her ankle, she didn't get to play the role. But it had taught Ruriko a lesson and Kyoko had received a hundred points for her work in the end.

Then, she met a girl, Kanae, who was at the audition before. It turned out that Kanae would be joining the "Love Me" branch too. Together, they gradually became friends and worked toward their future.

One day, Kyoko was asked to participate in Sho's PV, she was very angry at first but then decided that it would be an excellent opportunity to use Sho as a stepping stone and get herself more famous. She pretended to be someone else at Sho's company so Sho wouldn't recognise her but in the end she fell into Sho's trap and was found out. After Sho had uncovered her identity, they started to film the PV. When Kyoko came out of the changing rooms in her angel costume (in the PV, there are two angels and a devil. One angel fell in love with the devil who was also in love, but it made them weak and they were dying. The other angel, who loved her friend, decided to interfere and killed the devil in order to save her friend. The director of the video discovered Kyoko's latent talent in acting; he was very convincing when she cried and even captured Sho's interest. It was then when Sho started to look at her in the proper light...

Characters

;nihongo|Kyoko Mogami|最上 キョーコ|Mogami Kyōko:anime voices|Miki Nagasawa (drama CD), Marina Inoue (anime):Rather than stay home and attend High School is Kyoto, Kyoko travels with her childhood friend Shō Fuwa to Tokyo to help him become a pop star. When she finds he only invited her so she could keep house her heart and innocence is shattered. Seemingly 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 clothes and hair style and begins the task of applying to Shō's rival company, L.M.E, but while her audition stood out, the president of the company realized that she lacked the key point needed to become an idol: love, as without genuine love for this profession and for the audience, she cannot make it far in this world. However, despite her failure, she had such an interesting and impressionable audition (she did katsura-muki as her talent portion) that Kyoko is given a second chance. The L.M.E. "Love Me" section is thus founded. Lory makes a deal with Kyoko that if she whole-heartedly completes all the jobs given to her as a love-me employee to the client's satisfaction (which is determined by how many points they stamp onto her record book), by the end of certain period of time, when she has accumulated enough points, she will be given a grand debut. Thus begins her journey into the show business world.

:As an actress, Kyoko is unrefined but creative and spontaneous, able to impress talent scouts with her unique talents and improvisations. In her earlier jobs, she utilizes the skills she learned from working in an inn in Kyoto Prefecture (like cooking, walking "properly," and performing a traditional tea ceremony) to act the part of a wealthy, cultured lady. Though passionate and hot-tempered, Kyoko is able to show an impressive professionalism and discipline when it comes to acting, even to the point of putting the job before injury. When forced to perform a tea ceremony in a movie scene with Ren, she is able to keep a serene face and act her part while kneeling on a badly sprained ankle. Yet despite the pain, she refuses to get up or stop until she has completed her job. Because of this, the director and everyone else was incredibly awed by her determination and strength. Later on, Shuuhei (Kuu), Ren's father, said she was a "scary kind of actress," kinda like Ren. Her debut was for a soft drink commercial and her first major role was as Mio, the antagonist in the television drama Dark Moon.

:When she is in her room in "Darumaya" she is often seen explaining how she would exact revenge on the two men that make her life miserable to a large poster of Shōtaro and a small photo of Ren, the latter of which increasingly becomes larger as the story progresses (the size of the picture reflects her level of hatred towards the person on it). She also carries with her various voodoo dolls of Ren and Sho, which she uses to vent her anger and perform curses. The dolls, incredible in the attention to detail, are handmade by Kyoko. They feature Sho and Ren in various state of fear, distress and submission.

:She becomes a regular in a show wearing a chicken suit for the character "Bo". She assumes this character on serveral occasions to bond with Ren, because he is too scary to approach in person, or to find out why he is distressed. She likes to cling to Kanae and calls her "Moko" (it is seen in volume four of the manga that "every girl" hated Kyoko for her familiarity with Shou). Kyoko never liked to drink soda (even as a child) but she made herself drink it for an important commercial audition. Kyoko seems to have a bad relationship with her parents. Her mother, Saena, was a strict and emotionally distant parent who eventually left her with the Fuwa family when Kyoko was still very young. The effects of Kyoko's difficult childhood can be seen throughout the series, particularly in her acting. For example, when Kyoko was acting with Maria, she stated that parents that despise their children really do exist. Kyoko's father is presumed dead.

:Kyoko might have a slight crush on Ren, but she mistakes it for admiration sometimes and even denies it since she "couldn't possibly let herself fall in love again". After seeing the certain scene where "Katsuki" (played by Ren) is looking at the girl he loves in the play, Kyoko remembers the smile (he has shown it for her a couple of times before) and comes to the conclusion that Ren might not hate her or dislike her, as she thought before. She shows deep respect for Ren and admires him a lot, and even denies that she is not at the same level as him, when two girls is discussing it. It is shown that Kyoko does not know that Ren might be "corn" her "fairy-prince" like guy. Recently, she was the caretaker for Kuu (aka Shuhei), an actor who played in the previous version of the drama "Dark Moon". He is also Ren's father, although Kyoko does not know this.

Kyoko has a particular fondness for cosmetics, fairy tales and anything magical. However being betrayed by Shō has left her cynical, especially about love. It seems that Kyoko's birthday is on December 25, as Ren gave Kyoko a rose saying "Happy Birthday" as the clock struck 12:00 a.m. at Maria's birthday party (whose birthday is the 24th).

After finishing her role as Mio in Dark Moon Kyoko, was cast in a highschool drama as Natsu, which in essence is a "Bully Role", however Kyoko starts having problems since the director hired her to only act as "Mio" and not as a different sort of cruelty which would convey Natsu's feeling and attitude properly because the character of Natsu and Mio are quiet different character since Mio is a rich young lady who is a partly insane character and Natsu is for the most part, a normal girl, from a normal family who takes delight in bulling her classmates.

:;nihongo|Ren Tsuruga|敦賀 蓮|Tsuruga Ren:anime voices|Ken Narita (drama CD), 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. Although at times teasing, he harbors a love for Kyoko. For example, he does not allow himself to be near her alone sometimes, because the urge to hold her is increasing. (in volume twelve, when Kyoko falls, after trying to get a pot from the cabinet, and instead of getting her head and butt hurt, Ren puts his hands in front of both parts, and hugs her despite himself). He has also hugged her after that (act 98-99 Reino, Kyoko's stalker, tells her that "Corn" might be dead and she starts crying; not wanting to see Kyoko cry and as a result of another one of his urges he holds her tight and tells her that Corn is fine.He tells her this because he is in fact "Corn", but Kyoko does not know this.) He also hates Sho Fuwa, because of his jealousy. (Note: If you refer to vol. 14 act. 82 he also doesn't like to hear Sho Fuwa's name.) As the story progresses, flashbacks reveal a past with Kyoko, however, she is still unaware of this. She cannot reconcile the sweet "fairy-prince Corn" with Ren's current personality. Ren is deeply in love with Kyoko, and more people know about it now.Like Yashiro and President Takarada.

:(Note* Kuon, or "Corn's," name seems to be similar to the "fairy-prince Cornelius" from "Thumbelina". This speculation has yet to be confirmed to be on purpose or to be completely coincidental.)

:Interestingly, at the age of twenty, Ren has lived a large portion of his life in America. In fact, he began his acting career in the United States albeit disastrously. Although he gained experience, he was fired so often that he has lost count in contrast to the staunch and disciplined actor he is today. Fortunately, his past in America is unknown to the public as Ren Tsuruga is only a stage name. He is the son of a famous actor named Kuu and his mother's name is Julie. Although there are hints of a dark past, his earlier years are shrouded in mystery. However, recent chapters show that his name is really Kuon Hizuri.

:;nihongo|Shō Fuwa|不破 尚|Fuwa Shō:anime voices|Nobutoshi Kanna (drama CD), Mamoru Miyano (anime):His real name is nihongo|Shōtarō|松太郎. He keeps it hidden because he finds it as a very old 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. It is also revealed that he has more feelings for her than he originally thought, though most of these lean toward a general possessiveness for Kyoko, who had been his constant companion and servant since childhood. Further on in the series though, we see Shō beginning to show a kinder side to her and hints at him having real feelings as opposed to just possessive feelings. Shō thinks of Ren as his rival and is extremely petty at times when they meet, even going as far as to pick a fight with him. Sho is a big flirt and at the same time he can also be very shallow. Sho likes women with big breasts and oozing pheromones, but he prefers older women. Once Sho has fallen for Kyoko he gets very angry in act. 91 after realizing something. Sho Fuwa has hated Ren Tsuruga for a long time since he is the coolest guy in Show Biz, and wants to steal all his fans and "The Coolest Male Celebrity" title from him. If you refer to act.62 you see that Sho Fuwa thought that there was no way Ren Tsuruga would take Kyoko seriously, even though that's not true. So once he finds out that Ren Tsuruga is actually in love with Kyoko(act.91 and confirmed in act.94.) he gets really mad.

:;nihongo|Kanae Kotonami|琴南 奏江|Kotonami Kanae:anime voices|Yukiko Tagami (drama CD), 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. After their tag-team effort in winning an audition for a commercial, the two becomes best friends. Kyoko likes to call her "Moko"). Despite some differences in their personality, both girls recognize that they are in fact very similar, most notably their desperate determination to reach the top of the show-biz pyramid. Both coming from a poor family, they both strive endlessly to achieve their dreams. This, they recognize in each other, thus leading them to become friends. They are both incredible actresses with a great deal of respect for each other's talents. Kanae desperately wanted to be a star and was at the same audition as Kyoko, but although she did better than Kyoko, she also failed. She became the second member of Love Me, and has used that to her advantage. Kanae puts up a strong front, but is very self-conscious and is prone to self doubt. It is later revealed that Kotonami has problem dealing with kids, stemming from the fact that she comes from a large family with an obscenely large amount of younger nieces, nephews, and siblings. Although her attitude towards Kyoko may seem aloof at times, it is clear that she values their friendship, as she reluctantly shares her secret with Kyoko when she fears her unwillingness to share her troubles might drive Kyoko away.

:;nihongo|Yukihito Yashiro|社 倖一|Yashiro Yukihito:anime voices|Masahito Kawanago (anime): He is Ren's persistent manager. When first seen he is serious and all about work, later on we see that he is actually not that serious and is used for comic relef. At first when he met Kyōko, he noticed Ren didn't seem to like her much. However as he begins to see Ren's love for her, Yashiro shows his support. He even goes to the extent as to try to get Ren and Kyōko alone together so Ren can make a move. And telling Kyoko the truth(Act.57, during the acting test when Kyoko got stuck,Yashiro tells Kyoko how Ren is in love with her. But Kyoko was lost in thought when he said it and didn't hear him.) He must use latex gloves when handling any electronics, including his own cell phone, because any electronic device that he touches directly will soon be rendered broken and useless. In particular, he has mentioned that a cell phone will die after about 10 seconds of direct exposure to his skin. (On at least one occasion, Yashiro attempted to coerce Ren into telling him a secret of sorts by holding Ren's own cell phone, which contains many online dictionaries that Ren uses to understand some less familiar words in scripts, in his bare hand.) Kyoko has theorized that Yashiro naturally transmits strong electric waves. He seems to be an extremely dedicated manager, as he has much, if not all, of Ren's schedule planned out about one year in advance. (Kyoko learns this when she briefly took over for him as Ren's manager when he was too ill to work.) In an extra strip in volume 11, it is revealed that the main reason Ren has never been late to a job, despite the crowds of fans that appear nearly everywhere he goes and clearly wish to mob him, is that Yashiro can be pretty dang scary when it comes to his charge, and can stop even the most fervid fans in their tracks with a mere cold glance. He also doesn't know how to drive, which is why Ren is always seen doing the driving.

;nihongo|Lory Takarada|ローリィ宝田|Rōri Takarada:anime voices|Banjo Ginga (drama CD), 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. Lory has a very deep voice, and often has a huge entourage with him to create the world's greatest and sometimes strangest entrances. He also has a granddaughter, Maria, who idolizes Kyoko. He also knows that Ren is really Kuon Hizuri, a secret everyone else doesn't know about except for himself,Ren, and Ren's family. If you refer to Act:77 Access to the Blue, you see that President Takarada now knows that Ren is in love with Kyoko.

;nihongo|Takenori Sawara|椹 武憲|Sawara Takenori:anime voices|Tomoyuki Kōno (drama CD), Kenji Hamada (anime):He's a part of L.M.E. and was tormented by Kyoko into getting her into an audition. He's actually very supportive, despite Kyoko's penchant for tripping her own idol career up.

;nihongo|Maria Takarada|宝田 マリア|Takarada Maria:anime voices|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. She did so before Kyoko's audition, however Kyoko recognized this, and called her out on it. While some people would be angry at Kyoko, Maria began to idolize her, and views her as an ultimate big sister. Maria also suffered from a huge guilt complex from her believing that she is the cause of her mother's death. As a result, Maria was unable to talk or even be around her father, since she thought that he hated her. Kyoko managed to make Maria understand that her father didn't hate her, or think that Maria caused her mother's death. Maria also loves to dabble with black magic (along with Kyoko's side) and also has a large crush on Ren Tsuruga.

;nihongo|Kyoko Apparitions|怨霊キョーコ|Onryō Kyōko:Also know as Kyoko's demons. These revengeful ghosts were always with her, however they were kept at bay by her extreme love and devotion to Shō. When Shō's true impression of her comes to light, so do this apparitions. The demons often scare everyone around her, which Kyoko uses to her benefit. They also help keep Kyoko's drive going, as she sometimes questions her motives for stardom. Most of the time, the demons are held back by Kyoko's remaining pure feelings whenever the "pure Kyoko" feels that the anger is getting out of line. The demons give Kyoko a dark aura that is frightening to passersby. She has also used them as kanashibari to trap Kanae Kotonami.

;nihongo|Shoko Aki|安芸 祥子|Aki Shōko:anime voices|Rio Natsuki (anime): Shoko Aki is Sho Fuwa's manager. Since he and Kyoko spilt he's been living at her place. Actually he was already living at her place most of the time even when he was still living with Kyoko. Though Shoko and Kyoko actually get along okay. He also constantly flirts with her. Shoko Aki herself wanted to become an actress (Act.85), but decided she didn't have the talent for it. But she still wanted work that was connected with Show Biz, and got a good job as a manager. She also notices that Sho has fallen for Kyoko.

Media

Manga

"Skip Beat!" began as a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiki Nakamura which started serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine "Hana to Yume" on February 15, 2002. The first bound volume was released in Japan on July 19, 2002, and as of February 25, 2008, eighteen volumes have been released in Japan. The manga was licensed by Viz Media for release in English in North America on Viz Media's Shojo Beat imprint.citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=1863|title="Skip Beat!" (manga)|publisher=Anime News Network| accessdate=2008-06-19] The first volume was released in English on July 5, 2006, and as of September 2, 2008, fourteen volumes have been released. The fifteenth will follow on November 4, 2008, the sixteenth will be sold on January 6, 2009, and the seventeenth will be available on March 3, 2009.

Drama CD

A single drama CD entitled "Skip Beat! Drama CD" was released by Marine Entertainment bearing the catalog number "MMCC-7029" on September 26, 2002. The drama CD covers the first volume (chapters one to five) of the manga.

Anime

The anime adaptation was directed by Kiyoko Sayama and animated by Hal Film Maker, it began airing in Japan on October 5, 2008.citeweb|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-19/skip-beat-shojo-manga-confirmed-for-tv-anime-in-fall|title= "Skip Beat!" Shōjo Manga Confirmed for TV Anime in Fall|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-06-19|accessdate=2008-06-19 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?series_id=441 "Skip Beat!"] at Viz Media
*ann manga|id=1863|title=Skip Beat!
*ann anime|id=10091|title=Skip Beat!