Friday, April 17, 2009

Skip Beat!

Skip Beat

Skip Beat is a fun anime with some bright and shiny characters, and a very motivated and simple main gal driving the story. Thanks to this "heroine" of sorts, we get an upbeat story that involves merit stamps.

Kyoko was a simple gal leading a simple life, in which she knew exactly what her role was and was happy to keep it as such. Then she gets the wake up call of a lifetime and is reborn, switching up to a new path that although, grudge-driven, is laced with hilarity as we watch this newfound "heroine of her own life" realize that she's more than a plain girl who can whip up a daikon rose and serve tea...although the daikon rose thing is sort of not-plain.

She encounters new experiences and new "luxuries" (friendship?) and seeing her treasure these everyday situations can make watchers endear her. Then in another episode she seems like an underdog until we can see her true gifts emerge, then the rooting starts.

Although the picture here looks flashy and girly, the anime focuses on the Kyoko's change and self-empowerment that is so natural that she doesn't quite notice it. Only the watchers of this anime and the other characters really make a fuss about seeing a rising star, so don't expect a strutting peacock at the end of the series.

Yes, thanks to these other characters we get even more funny reactions from Kyoko. One character can bring out her gut-wrenching hatred, another can bring wide-eyed pouts of childish complaints--and don't forget we get the razzle dazzle of this being set within the entertainment industry. We get to see snippets of things like auditions and television shows and the drama that happens behind the camera.

This season seemed short because I enjoyed so much of it. I hope that another season is made so I can see how her story turns out.

Recommendations:

  • Glass Mask >>...you want acting, you can get it here, the struggles and challenges of a rising star performer, her secret fan, and her rival
  • Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijou >>...the thin line between love and hate appears before two high school overachievers
  • White Album >>...quiet anime shows the complications of what seems like a dream come true, having an idol as a girlfriend
Video Sample:



Do you plan to watch Skip Beat?



See the description for Skip Beat on AnimeDB.net >>

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i really hope that another season is coming too...and i think that it's actually likely...most ppl would agree that the anime pretty much stuck with the original story...there weren't many changes and nothing new was really added in...if the producers only wanted skip beat to have one season, they could have simply just changed the story in the end with some bogus ending that resolved EVERYTHING...but instead, they stuck with the story and ended the season with a cliff hanger...a cliff hanger, i believe, will be answered...they even introduced a new character in the last scene...so that to me spells SEASON 2! yes!

cyclone said...

Same here, Anon. I want to see a second season and there are a few rumors around the AnimeDB discussion that there might be one in Oct/Nov, but I haven't seen any updates on the official Skip Beat website since Jan 09. It's already August, but let's cross our fingers and keep the hope alive. I want more vengeful Kyoko!

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