Monday, July 2, 2012

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.

Sign up for the Manga Mondays Meme!


12 comments:

  1. I have been looking at reading Skip Beat for a while. Just haven't had the time.

    PS. Your linky is not working

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    1. Thanks for letting me know. I think I fixed it now.

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  2. My daughter have started to read Manga. Would this be appropriate for an eleven year-old?

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    1. I think it's appropriate for an 11 year old. I can't recall any bad language or sex or anything like that. The characters haven't even kissed. I bet your daughter would like it. Great that she's reading manga! I wish I'd started at 11.

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    2. Thanks, Alison! I just asked her and she said she read Volume 1. I'll make sure to add to her collection until she gets to Volume 10! Whew. Lol.

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  3. I think the first volume for this will have to be among my next manga order from my bookstore :) my post this week isn't a review but a couple of the volumes on my wishlist :)

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  4. I like how Kyoko saves the day and inspires others to see the best in them. I often find that inner strength is often overlooked or deemed a lower value than physical strength and I think Kyoko proves that.

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  5. Pretty cool volume, eh? I love this arc and seeing how Kyoko came up with a cool and different way to act out the part of Mio in Tsukigomori. She doesn't even try to inspire others, but ends up doing it, anyway. That's the best way.

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