Manga Mondays (109): Skip Beat! vol. 10 by Yoshiki Nakamura

New Manga Mondays Meme!

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 2 years ago. It's always been a personal feature, but now I'm going to try turning it into a meme. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme would be a good way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Skip Beat! vol. 10 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Summary

Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence--she's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!

Kyokos been scouted for a role in this years most anticipated drama, a remake of the classic "Tsukimori." But shades of the past threaten to stifle the production as Kyoko struggles to get into the character of Mio, a young woman with a severely scarred face. (courtesy of the back cover and Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Volume 10 starts a very long story arc of Tsukimori, the movie. It's Kyoko's first major role in a TV drama (more of a mini-series than a show). This volume focuses almost entirely on Kyoko, Ren, and the director of the film. Sho is absent until the last few pages. As a result, we don't see as much of Kyoko's grudge demons. How I miss them! Dark Kyoko is the best part of this series. They do show up a little bit when Kyoko is challenged, so at least we get little grudge-lets.

Mr. Ogata, the director of Tsukimori, is an important character for the next several volumes. He is a young man (only 27) and starts out looking weak and effeminate. Mr. Ogata is the son of a legendary director who did the original Tsukimori. Mr. Ogata is terrified that he won't be able to live up to his father's reputation - because naturally he cannot merely equal his father; he will be seen as a failure unless he surpasses him. He literally goes chokes over the pressure.

Kyoko to the rescue, in an unexpected way. Like Mr. Ogata, Kyoko is under pressure to live up to the original actress for Mio. She surprises everyone by creating a daring, new interpretation of Mio. Kyoko's inherent darkness serves her well as she channels the character in a way that the original actress never did.

When Kyoko's demons aren't present, she sometimes seems like a stereotypical subservient girl. She's overly nice and nearly falls over herself to apologize for whatever she perceives to be wrong. Yet the book consistently shows Kyoko's inherent strength. Kyoko's dark interpretation of Mio gives Mr. Ogata the courage that he too can do something different than his father. It is Kyoko who inspires the more experienced and older men in the series.

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