Skip Beat 19
October 29, 2009
Yoshiki Nakamura – Viz – 2009 – 23+ volumes
Oh, Skip Beat. It’s been far too long since the last volume. I’m still completely addicted, so it’s just sad that the bimonthly volumes had to stop as we approach the current Japanese volume.
As much as I am still completely in love with this series, I was a little disappointed in this volume. I was expecting a bit more to be revealed about Ren’s past and family. While we did learn quite a bit, mostly about how he got into acting… all the important stuff is still missng. More important, this was a better time than any for Ren to let his secret slip to Kyoko. I suppose that can still happen, but seeing as how they’ve already discussed Kuon and Koo, it feels like the opportunity has passed. The reasons for keeping his identity as secret as possible are given, but… it just feels wrong to keep it from poor Kyoko.
He makes up for it by trying to gently coerce Kyoko into saying his first name with no honorifics and failing miserably. He’s a scary guy when he’s wound up, so I can’t blame Kyoko for not delivering the super-cute moment that Yashiro imagines.
While there weren’t really any cute Ren moments, we do get to see his mask slip a little. One of my favorite moments was when the viewer only gets to see the back of his head, and while Koo rambles about Kyoko, Lory seems to be staring at Ren and then starts smirking and laughing creepily, prompting Ren to change the subject. I assume that means that Ren was smiling goofily or something. We do, in fact, get to see his goofy smile of gratitude towards the end of the volume when Koo does something incredibly good for Kyoko. Aww.
This storyline wasn’t nearly as good as the last, even considering how eccentric and awesome Koo turned out to be. I think that’s mostly because I was expecting more from it, and that could just be me, but I suppose with this out of the way, things will turn back to Ren and Kyoko. That’ll be just fantastic.
November 5, 2009 at 11:17 pm
I hope more is wrapped up with the Sho storyline. Personally, while Ren is OK, Kyoko/Sho is interesting because Sho’s haughty ways lead him to be crushed. Hehehe.
November 6, 2009 at 2:46 am
True. And Sho is more interesting than Ren only because of the whole “think about nobody but me” thing and their previous history. I like Ren more, but Sho’s more interesting and funny when he appears.
July 25, 2010 at 11:23 pm
I have to agree with you, Skip Beat is really too cute. If you like it, though, you should read Tokyo Crazy Paradise- if you haven’t already, that is!
Thanks for this website…it’s really helpful to see reviews. We have similar taste in manga; so far everything you’ve liked, I’ve liked too!
July 27, 2010 at 1:31 am
I’m glad you like the site! Skip Beat is one of my very favorites. I have tried Tokyo Crazy Paradise, but I have a lot of trouble getting into it. I know once I get past the first volume or so that I’ll probably fall completely in love with it, but I think it’s the weird layouts and all the text that are giving me problems. I’m going to try to seriously jump in before too long, though.