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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane Right from the beginning, Skip Beat!’s creator is upfront about her uncertainties about the story. In her notes in the first volume she discusses the difficulties of shaping her story and heroine, Kyoko, into the shoujo mold, and comes right out and says she knows nothing about show business or celebrity culture. But she seems to be having fun with it, and Kyoko, while not precisely endearing, is overflowing with energy and unpredictability. Volume one introduced Kyoko, who had come to Tokyo with her childhood friend, Sho, and worked herself to the bone supporting him while he pursued stardom. When she discovered that he was blatantly using her, she snapped; overwhelmed with (entirely understandable) rage and disillusionment, she set out to get her revenge by beating him at his own game and becoming a celebrity in her own right. Sheer determination won her an audition with a talent agency, but wasn’t enough to carry her through. The second and third volume follow Kyoko as she picks herself up and tries again, throwing herself back against the wall between her and her fame/revenge, determined that sooner or later something will stick. And she’s in luck: the president of the talent company takes an interest in her, but is fully aware of her lack of training and, more importantly, her lack of love for her prospective fans and lack of interest in being loved back. Kyoko is resistant to the idea that she needs to make people love her in order to be a star, but reluctantly joins the new agency division he creates just for her: the Love Me Section. Her new role is to take on assignments of all kinds from other people within the agency and to earn points by winning their affection. These two volumes cover a small but diverse selection of tasks, with both setbacks and advances. Kyoko herself doesn’t change dramatically during these volumes, but she wants to change--she’s beginning to realize how thoroughly she’s locked her feelings away, having devoted herself completely to Sho until he discarded her. But those more tender feelings are largely overwhelmed by her desire for revenge and determination not to let anyone stop her or hurt her any further, which complicates her relationships with other characters. Even the people in a position to help her are largely put off by the fact that her guts and tenacity are motivated entirely by vengeance. So far the story isn’t very deep, but it’s enjoyable enough, and the artwork is quite attractive. I’ll probably keep an eye out for later volumes. Each volume of Skip Beat! includes a page or two of cultural and translation notes. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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