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Sucked Into Skip Beat: Chicken Soup For My Sullen Sinister Soul

By usagijen ⋅ August 19, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

I can no longer recall what made me stop following the Skip Beat manga yearssss ago. Oh right, I don’t think I even immersed myself into it before, which is most likely why I can’t remember the slightest of details with regards to the acting feats Kyoko undertook, or her antics with Ren. I can actually recall some bits and pieces, but not so vividly as a true fan would. But now, after yearsss I finally got back to the Skip Beat bandwagon, dragging my brother with me to the heights of Skip Beat nirvana, ohohoho (I checked and I had the raws of volumes 1-11 way back 2005, never been touched. imagine that T__T) Just for the record, my brother is not like Impz who can tolerate and stomach quite a lot of shoujo works. He hates Marmalade Boy to the core, same with ItaKiss which he deems to lack development. Then we also ended up having an argument about Saiunkoku where I had to defend Shuurei with all my might but failed to convince him nonetheless. So yeah, I think you can see a bit of his standards of a good manga / anime.

So anyways, I’m gonna make this short and sweet since I have to sleep and wake up early for work, my grandmother already scolded me earlier for dragging my brother into this addiction so I have to get my arse to sleep early and not cause any more headaches. If you followed my tweets, you’ll know that I spent this whole Sunday-Monday free time I have catching up with Skip Beat, starting from ground zero, and having dragged my brother into this makes it even more fun~ It’s fun being able to share the joy of reading this SUPER AWESOME^N shoujo manga with my oniichan, laughing together at the wackiness of the manga, discussing realizations and insights about acting, and giggling over Kyoko x Ren’s rabu rabu antics (or is it just me giggling?).

After years, I was finally able to grasp what L-chan and other fans have been proclaiming, about how Skip Beat tops Tokyo Crazy Paradise. 100% agreed! I loved Tokyo Crazy Paradise to bits, most of the people in IRC should know that well. I’d go all TCP <3333 when it becomes the topic (imagine Kyoko’s sparkly eye fairytale princess mode). I just find it amazing how Yoshiki Nakamura will be able to produce this awesome(r) manga after its awesome predecessor.

Right now, I want to pimp the life out of this manga, but I’m running out of words. So let me put it this way. If there’s one shoujo manga out there you definitely shouldn’t miss out on, it’s definitely this (and yes I’m looking at you, regardless of age, gender, or whatsoever stratification). In Seleria’s words (way back when she read it last month), “it’s really crazy but it hits close to home”. It has quite a load of quirkiness and craziness, but it doesn’t go overboard. It has a kind of silliness that still makes sense, if you know what I mean. It’s a shoujo manga which breaks all sorts of shoujo stereotypes which a number of fans have already grown tired of. No melodrama, no nonsensical irresponsible characters which doesn’t serve a purpose in the overall story and plot.

I’ve already seen Nakamura-sensei’s magic with TCP, I feel it soo much alive again in Skip Beat -- how she had things planned right from the start, she had it all written at the palms of her hand. The characters, with their complex past, their present, and the future, how the story will progress from start to end (even if we can't see the end yet, I'm positive that it will be great, because the journey towards that end is already amazing). I know I’m not saying anything concrete here to make skeptical fans believe what I say, but you know the feeling of confidence in a certain author, who really knows what she’s doing, the kind of mangaka whose work is something you’d anticipate with each chapter that comes out, knowing well that it’s always in accordance to this BIG and BRIGHT picture she had in mind right when she started working on this project. The fact that this manga is about showbiz, and how the actors and actresses themselves understand how they should be able to portray their roles well, I can confidently say that Nakamura-sensei won’t allow the great characters she created to just act irresponsibly and out-of-character.

Lastly, before I end this, I just want to say that I see myself so much in Kyoko. Or rather, I actually want to be like her too, or at least, be her friend Many of you might have already seen the different faces of this bunny, based on what I’ve been writing in this blog for the past months. Love experiences aside, depending on how much you’ve been reading, you’d know that I can be pretty naïve at times, idealistic at some point, super emo (a LOT of times), total rabid fangurl, and sinister. I really think I turned into the evil-Kyoko with the profanity-filled Wanted review I made last July, and shocked and scared some people in the process, including my real life acquaintances who never knew I had that side. If you guys actually pictured me as an innocent little angel, well I’m shattering that image now, because I really can be as evil as Kyoko

But more than that, I see myself in Kyoko’s struggle to seek her mother’s acceptance. In my case, it was my father’s acceptance, one of the reasons why I struggled(?) to stay on top of the class, at ALL times, all throughout elementary till high school. It’s also the reason why I had such a low self-confidence way back then. Despite how I became the class valedictorian, it meant nothing. It was something required of me, nothing special. It’s not only now that I managed to set free from the shackles of my past, now that I’m working, just like Kyoko who found herself back despite everything. Forgive the emoness haha ^^;

And that ladies and gentlemen is my super lengthy tl;dr confession of my love for Skip Beat. I demand you to read it!!! Or you’ll be cursed and feel my wrath >E *unleashes inner demons~~*

Now, to sleep. Zzzz

Discussion

13 comments for “Sucked Into Skip Beat: Chicken Soup For My Sullen Sinister Soul”

Welcome, true believer! *cackle*

While I do like TCP I think Skip Beat is a lot better put together than TCP was. There were times in TCP when it felt really disjointed, or under-developed. A lot of the stuff involving Shiva and co. was really “huh? where the hell did that come from?” Not so in Skip Beat! TCP is where the author cut her fangs, as it were. Skip Beat is her masterpiece (so far).

I haven’t been this excited over a new anime in years. I have such high hopes that I’m afraid of being let down, but it doesn’t stop my enthusiasm!

Posted by L-chan | August 19, 2008, 2:44 am
Wow. Better than TCP? I better jump on that bandwagon. FAST.

Posted by shirokiryuu | August 19, 2008, 4:31 am
YESSSS. Another one joins the ranks!

Posted by Ou-bento | August 19, 2008, 6:34 am
*sigh* Skip Beat read all at once. I remember when I did that (I think 100 chapters were out and I’d read about twenty in english releases when I just sat down and powered through the rest of it). It’s kind of better when you read it that way because then you’re not all, “Agh! Solve this problem already!” when a chapter ends (it usually only takes five chapters, but five chapters over five months…eh). So I’m still always re-reading it in bulk for maximum enjoyment.

But ah…I think everyone can see themselves in Kyoko at least a little. All of us fangirls anyway (we’re all known for crazy love switching off with crazy anger/hate pretty quickly in Kyoko style). Personally, I identify with Kyoko’s grudge side quite a bit (I’m an evil little thing when I play video games) and I have a similar love for fairytales too (though perhaps not as much).

And TCP…I really need to finish reading that before summer comes to an end and I lose all my free time. I’ve been trying to read it all summer, but something keeps coming up. But more people reminding me how awesome it is…I’ll begin again with new determination!

Posted by FuyuMaiden | August 19, 2008, 6:54 am
Ah, Skip Beat! I definitely agree; it’s *such* a good manga I hope the anime can channel some of that energy. (Also, you’ve reminded me I need to catch up on the recent chapters, hehe.)

Posted by Senna | August 19, 2008, 12:19 pm
Ohoh~
I know how you feel!
I really like TCP, but…Skip Beat! was far better! x’D

Btw, I can’t believe your brother can actually tolerate reading Shoujo manga.
It’d be so awesome if I had a brother like that.

Everything you mentioned in this entry is just OH SO TRUE!
I couldn’t agree more.

Posted by Wija-chan | August 19, 2008, 6:30 pm
@L-chan: I kinda brushed off the WTF-ness of the story arcs involving Shiva, like whatever, still enjoyed it till the end afterwards. But I’d have to agree that Skip Beat is Nakamura-sensei’s masterpiece yet. Reading the manga right now is making me soooo excited about the anime, but I’m trying my best to keep my expectations low so I won’t be disappointed. The manga is already as alive as it is, all it’s lacking are voice! It’ll be hard to live up to such a great manga, and I’m crossing my fingers that everything will go well.

@shikoryuu: yes, gogogogo!

@Ou-bento: haha yeah, finally!

@FuyuMaiden: I’m really glad I’m marathoning this now, with the Dark Moon arc finished and all. That would’ve been a total cliffhanger had I followed that through its bi-weekly serialization.

And the reason why Kyoko’s character really hits close to home is because of what you’ve said. I found it even more touching when I found myself relating to her struggles of wanting to be accepted I can relate with the love of fairytales as well, together with being a hopeless romantic

and goo finish TCP! It’s too short, but still great IMO.

@Senna: I hope so too! Quite a lot of effort is necessary to make the anime have the overall “feel” of the manga, and I’m just hoping for the best!

Posted by usagijen | August 19, 2008, 6:59 pm
@usagijen: I’ve jumped on the bandwagon @___@ I can’t…. stop… reading….

Posted by shirokiryuu | August 20, 2008, 4:04 am
still trying to find the time to read this. i wanna before the anime airs.

Posted by biankita | August 24, 2008, 7:10 pm
@shikoryuu: yeshh, same here~~ Amazing, isn’t it?

@biankita: I honestly never thought I’d have the time to catch up with this, not this soon, at least. But I did. I just sat down one weekend, forgot everything else I had in mind (planned blog posts, shows to catch up on), and voila. I’m sucked in and there’s no escape

Posted by usagijen | August 25, 2008, 8:52 pm
TV Tokyo already put up a webpage of SkiBi on their site..~_~
But it’s soo boring looking. D:
http://ani.tv/s-beat/
Well, hopefully they’re actually going to be making a better looking site for the anime…there’s still no news on MOON PHASE though. D:

Posted by Wija-chan | September 4, 2008, 7:18 pm
@Wija-chan: I’m just counting the days and waiting for the PV to come out!!

Posted by usagijen | September 7, 2008, 4:01 pm
@Usagijen
Right right! Me too!
I guess I’ll let that lame-looking site go..>_>
I’ll just concentrate on waiting for the PV. x’] Hm hm~

Posted by Wija-chan | September 7, 2008, 11:46 pm