Skip Beat Thoughts
Jul. 18th, 2010 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaOver the last couple days I have been completely absorbed in reading Skip Beat. I love this manga. Kyoko is so awesome. ♥ I love her so much!
Some notes:
• I love so much that when new female characters show up they may start as antagonists for Kyoko but they don’t stay that for long. Female characters that you’d think would be rivals or would have cold relationships with her, as it would be in other canons, just don’t. Kyoko has friendly relationships with pretty much every female character that crosses her path. Background extra’s may be jealous of her but the reoccurring female characters aren’t and she’s not jealous of them. It’s awesome. I just... *hands* I’m not used to it!
- The friendship between Kyoko and Momose was unexpected but I love it too.
• One thing I don’t like is how each arc usually centres on Kyoko dealing with one of three people – Moko, Sho, Ren – and has her only interacting with them. There’s occasionally crossover, mostly with Ren and Sho especially as time goes by, but mostly not and I find it very weird. During the beginning movie arc we didn’t see Moko once even though as Kyoko’s best friend and co-worker Kyoko clearly had to have seen her during those days/weeks. But we don’t get to see it. And when Kyoko’s anxious or agonising over things it only makes sense that she would talk to Moko so why didn’t she? It’s just a weird choice on the part of TPTB.
• One thing I like is that Kyoko’s look changes and not just when she’s in costume. I’m only on volume 12 and she’s already had three different hair styles. She starts with the long black hair, goes short blonde when she decides to start her life over and then to fully play her movie role she gets an even shorter hair cut and goes back to black. I love it because characters never change their looks like this.
• Sho was a complete douche in the beginning and still is and yet at the same time I now find myself kind of liking him. It started around volume 15. A part of it is that he is starting to get more depth as well as his appreciating Kyoko now but mainly it’s because I love the Sho/Kyoko relationship. Sho was so useless and such an ass in the beginning and for the first half dozen volumes he stayed that way. But when Kyoko did his PV with him and the truth about her came out and they started to interact again, but this time on a more even footing, their relationship suddenly became so much more interesting. Their bickering is delightful to read. During the Angel/Devil arc it was wonderfully bitter on both sides.
Now with this location shoot arc they’ve seemingly reverted to childhood friends – the bitterness is still there for Kyoko but it’s very much enmeshed with exasperation and knowing him better than anyone. I love their interactions now and how Kyoko deals with him. She no longer takes his crap but the familiarity is still there between them. She drags him back to the studio after they run into each other (and by the back of his shirt too!), she’s constantly scolding him now... in v.15 ch. 86 pg. 27 there’s a three panel where Shouko scolds Sho while he plugs his ears ignoring her, Kyoko is annoyed, and then in the third panel you have her standing there pointing at Shouko and clearly telling his to listen to her, while Sho is clearly paying attention to her. It sums up their current relationship perfectly and I love it.
• I loved that when Reino came on to Kyoko and Sho intervened by smacking her on the head and she understandably went ‘WTF’ his explanation was “Because you were in a trance from this bastard’s fake praise and your thoughts had short circuited. I had to re-activate you brain!!” Hahaha.
• I love that when Reino has her at his mercy at first she’s helpless and hoping for Sho to rescue her – but in the end she rescues herself. Because she’s fucking Kyoko and she can kick anyone’s ass.
• I like how the whole Reino storyline progressed. At first he was using her to get to Sho and to make Sho suffer, as usual the woman only being used as a means to get to a guy, only when Kyoko shows her hate for Sho, and defends him, Reino is so taken by it that his interest switches from Sho to her. So now instead of Reino going after her to get to Sho, he’s now going after her because of her (to get her to hate him as much.) That is much better!
• I really liked that when Kyoko was trying to help Ren find his character there wasn’t a hint of her being jealous of him liking someone else (and her ordering him to seduce the girl no matter what and thus inadvertently ordering him to seduce her made me laugh. It’s too bad he didn’t go for it during that scene in his kitchen – which was pretty hot already with him just stroking her lips.) I also like that for her things are moving very slow because it makes so much sense. Ren falling in love with Kyoko was also very well done and given a suitably long build up.
• I’m enjoying the ramping up of the whole Ren/Kyoko/Sho triangle. The scene where Ren interrupts Sho confessing that he loves Kyoko and then being all possessive of her (which Kyoko completely misses) was nice. I like possessive Ren.
• I love Kyoko’s demons. I wasn’t sure about them at first or the fact that they’re real even if people can’t really see them but they’re just so funny and cute. Considering that they seem to be truly real I’m thinking that means that the fairies that Kyoko believes in are probably real as well.
Some notes:
• I love so much that when new female characters show up they may start as antagonists for Kyoko but they don’t stay that for long. Female characters that you’d think would be rivals or would have cold relationships with her, as it would be in other canons, just don’t. Kyoko has friendly relationships with pretty much every female character that crosses her path. Background extra’s may be jealous of her but the reoccurring female characters aren’t and she’s not jealous of them. It’s awesome. I just... *hands* I’m not used to it!
- The friendship between Kyoko and Momose was unexpected but I love it too.
• One thing I don’t like is how each arc usually centres on Kyoko dealing with one of three people – Moko, Sho, Ren – and has her only interacting with them. There’s occasionally crossover, mostly with Ren and Sho especially as time goes by, but mostly not and I find it very weird. During the beginning movie arc we didn’t see Moko once even though as Kyoko’s best friend and co-worker Kyoko clearly had to have seen her during those days/weeks. But we don’t get to see it. And when Kyoko’s anxious or agonising over things it only makes sense that she would talk to Moko so why didn’t she? It’s just a weird choice on the part of TPTB.
• One thing I like is that Kyoko’s look changes and not just when she’s in costume. I’m only on volume 12 and she’s already had three different hair styles. She starts with the long black hair, goes short blonde when she decides to start her life over and then to fully play her movie role she gets an even shorter hair cut and goes back to black. I love it because characters never change their looks like this.
• Sho was a complete douche in the beginning and still is and yet at the same time I now find myself kind of liking him. It started around volume 15. A part of it is that he is starting to get more depth as well as his appreciating Kyoko now but mainly it’s because I love the Sho/Kyoko relationship. Sho was so useless and such an ass in the beginning and for the first half dozen volumes he stayed that way. But when Kyoko did his PV with him and the truth about her came out and they started to interact again, but this time on a more even footing, their relationship suddenly became so much more interesting. Their bickering is delightful to read. During the Angel/Devil arc it was wonderfully bitter on both sides.
Now with this location shoot arc they’ve seemingly reverted to childhood friends – the bitterness is still there for Kyoko but it’s very much enmeshed with exasperation and knowing him better than anyone. I love their interactions now and how Kyoko deals with him. She no longer takes his crap but the familiarity is still there between them. She drags him back to the studio after they run into each other (and by the back of his shirt too!), she’s constantly scolding him now... in v.15 ch. 86 pg. 27 there’s a three panel where Shouko scolds Sho while he plugs his ears ignoring her, Kyoko is annoyed, and then in the third panel you have her standing there pointing at Shouko and clearly telling his to listen to her, while Sho is clearly paying attention to her. It sums up their current relationship perfectly and I love it.
• I loved that when Reino came on to Kyoko and Sho intervened by smacking her on the head and she understandably went ‘WTF’ his explanation was “Because you were in a trance from this bastard’s fake praise and your thoughts had short circuited. I had to re-activate you brain!!” Hahaha.
• I love that when Reino has her at his mercy at first she’s helpless and hoping for Sho to rescue her – but in the end she rescues herself. Because she’s fucking Kyoko and she can kick anyone’s ass.
• I like how the whole Reino storyline progressed. At first he was using her to get to Sho and to make Sho suffer, as usual the woman only being used as a means to get to a guy, only when Kyoko shows her hate for Sho, and defends him, Reino is so taken by it that his interest switches from Sho to her. So now instead of Reino going after her to get to Sho, he’s now going after her because of her (to get her to hate him as much.) That is much better!
• I really liked that when Kyoko was trying to help Ren find his character there wasn’t a hint of her being jealous of him liking someone else (and her ordering him to seduce the girl no matter what and thus inadvertently ordering him to seduce her made me laugh. It’s too bad he didn’t go for it during that scene in his kitchen – which was pretty hot already with him just stroking her lips.) I also like that for her things are moving very slow because it makes so much sense. Ren falling in love with Kyoko was also very well done and given a suitably long build up.
• I’m enjoying the ramping up of the whole Ren/Kyoko/Sho triangle. The scene where Ren interrupts Sho confessing that he loves Kyoko and then being all possessive of her (which Kyoko completely misses) was nice. I like possessive Ren.
• I love Kyoko’s demons. I wasn’t sure about them at first or the fact that they’re real even if people can’t really see them but they’re just so funny and cute. Considering that they seem to be truly real I’m thinking that means that the fairies that Kyoko believes in are probably real as well.
