Skip Beat! Chapter 188: My Skip Beat Rant

GGGAAAAHHHH!! Just GGAAHHHH!

As you all know, I love Skip Beat with all my heart, but I swear to god I just want to hurt Nakamura-sensei when she writes chapters like chapter 188. I mean, no, nothing really happened in this chapter that's-well- blog worthy. But it most definitely is rant worhy. Just- gggaaahh!

Okay, Alice, breathe. Regaining...use...of...coherent...sentences. If I plan on ranting, it should be one with at least a few words of english, rather than random letters angrily typed into a word processing system...right?

Fusion post: Top 5 Anime/Manga Couples

Hey there audience! 

In the spirit of ol' Saint Valentine (you know, the guy who was beheaded in Rome for marrying lovers in secret in opposition to the tyrannical rule of Emperor Claudius the Cruel?) Alice and I have gotten together to present our own personal Top 5 Anime/Manga Couples!

Now, Alice brought up a pretty good point when we were talking about the idea, we are guys and girls. In fact, I even think that it is safe to say that about 92% of all anime watchers on this planet are boys and girls.

So, not only will our lists and opinions differ semi-radically but the way that our readers will be looking at this lists might also play into this here... We will just have to see!

If we haven't included any of your favorites, we likely have not seen the anime that the couple is featured in. So we apologize in advance for that! 

We had hoped to post this on Valentines Day, but because science beckoned and we got into our writing/perfectionist modes, we came a bit late.

So without further adeu, we dive into the world of the animangaverse to ask the question "What is love?" and to ultimately decide from our viewing/reading experiences who plays that game the best.

Here are your countdowns offered by your very own dynamic duo: Alice and AvatarHippo!

We both hope you enjoy!

Skip Beat!: Opening the Locks to Kyoko's Heart

It's all coming back to it- that one moment; that first scene of both the Skip Beat manga and anime: The box that God gave everyone in the world. One that brings both joy and sorrow. 

A box that Kyoko vowed to lock up and never look back...

Till now. 

It all began with this box, and though many of us forgot about it completely (including me), the whole story is practically about this mysterious box. Kyoko keeps pushing her way into show-biz, but this locked piece of her heart is what's holding her back. The deep wounds that Sho left on her heart haven't been erased, but as the story progressed we noticed that it became less and less about her vengeance on Sho, and more about Kyoko. But that healing has brought on events in Kyoko's heart that makes her greatest promise come closer and closer to breaking. Since this is such a HUGE turning point in the story, I'm putting my best effort into making this post good. 

Enjoy ~

Skip Beat: Bits and Pieces of Tsuruga's Past

I've finally reached a high point in Skip Beat! We've seen some character growth from Kyoko and all the other characters, but one character in particular, Tsuruga Ren, has been given an incredibly obscure profile.
We don't know the full story behind the reason he became "Ren" and dropped his birth name (and personality) as "Koun". But after the "Heel siblings" arc, we start to learn more and more about Tsuruga's past as Koun, and why he tries so hard to protect the dark memories beneath it.

What did Ren do?

Skip Beat Chapter 149: The Wake After the Kiss

So incase you guys haven't hear, Kyoko lost her first kiss to Shoutaro...Shou of all people!! That poor child.
But after the big kiss scene, Ren reassured her that your first kiss isn't a kiss until you're feelings are put into it. He also shared a hilarious story about his first "kiss" after an accidental collision with a middle aged man.

aahaha...aahhhh. Poor Ren-kun :(

However, Kyoko being Kyoko keeps loosing her head over every little thing that reminds her of Sho. And trust me, that's a lot of things. But what Ren does to take her mind off him was....nnneeehhmmeehh  (that was fan girl speak for ya)

My face when I read this chapter

Skip Beat: Chapter 145: Shoutaro and Kyoko Kiss!!!

Oh my god ohmygod ohmygod!!!! Whhaatt? Shoutaro and Kyoko...KISS?!?!

So here's what happened: Valentines day is coming up and Kyoko decides to make chocolates for everyone. Well, except Ren, but that's only because she thinks he won't like him (and she's giving him his late birthday present that day). Anyway, turns out that the lead singer from the band Kyoko calls "Beagle" captured one of her hatred spirits and has been holding it hostage. In order to get her spirit back, she was forced to make him chocolates.
Knowing Kyoko, she made a "go to hell beagle, I hate you" chocolate. Now, when Ren saw the dropped "Hatred" chocolate, he assumed that she made them for Shou, and obviously got pissed off.

Bbbuutt (this is when it gets confusing) Kyoko continues to drop the chocolates until the design begins to look like a "I Beagle Heart". Which is just the perfect moment for Shou to come in and find those, right? Well it's also a brilliant time for the Beagles to walk in too!

Skip Beat Chapter 123: The Birth of Natsu

After a spike in confidence, Kyoko becomes worried with her new part: Natsu- the mean girl with a normal life, normal family, yet mean girl personality. She beats herself up for thinking that she'll redo her evil role or Mio from her "Dark Moon" days. So, as usual, she goes to Ren for help.

What she figures out is surprising.

Playing Catch Up!: Skip Beat

 Fun fact for ya: the author of Skip Beat, Yoshiki Nakamura, doesn't even have a real reason for naming it as it is. In fact, she really just wanted to use the word "beat" in the name...I guess skip won! 

Anyway, as I said before, Skip Beat is about a girl whose "evil spirits" are awakened when she learns that she was betrayed by her childhood friend/ crush/ superstar boyfriend. She then swears revenge on him, and the only way of doing that is by making it in show business. In the episode 2 we see her extreme, and I mean exxtttrreemmee, determination to get into show business. She actually flunks the audition after losing her cool during an acting test. However, she is given the chance to be a part of LME's "Love-Me Section." In episodes 3-11 we pretty much watch as she faces her demons, tries to regain the compassion and practically any loving emotion she lost, and make it in showbiz. On the way she meets Ren Tsuruga, a successful, calm, serious actor. Even though she seems to "hate" him, I see a major romance budding ;).

Actually, I quite like Kyoko. She's the most determined anime character I have EVER seen. And trust me, there are a lot out there. I also like the relationships she has with the men. Sho (the evil SOB who betrayed her) seems to bring out her worst, and Ren always seems to be there to bring her back down to earth. It's a short anime, but the manga is still on going (haven't read it in a while though O__-) so I'm assuming that the anime and manga will have different endings. Which one will be better? I'm gonna take a guess and say that it's going to be the manga...that's usually what happens.

Skip Beat!

Skip Beat is about a 16-year-old girl, Kyouko, who gets betrayed by her superstar and insolent childhood friend, Shou. After learning that he brought her to Tokyo as simply a maid, and someone who can watch the house, her "box with many locks" is opened. From it, is a woman's vengeance. And all of you men know NOT to mess with a pissed off woman! Well, she swears to get back Shou by out doing him in the showbiz world. She then attempts to get signed with the same agency that Shou's rival and top superstar, Ren Tsuruga, is signed with.

Don't get me wrong, Skip Beat is a pretty good manga, but for some reason I'm having the hardest time getting into it. Art wise, the faces are a little weird. The men's faces look strangly...oblonged. Like a deformed squash. But, other than that, the story-line seems to be starting off a bit slow. However, I do suspect a budding romance between Ren and Kyouko. Shou better get his balls crushed too :) Maybe once I get further into it I'll enjoy it more.