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A Preview: Skip Beat! TV
While the rest of our fellow anime enthusiasts peruse selections from upcoming fall shows, this sporadic-anime-watcher-cum-blogger focuses her energy on a single title. Yes, one. It’s sad, but true.
source: Sweet Revenge
Skip Beat!, a Yoshiki Nakamura creation, centers on Kyoko Mogami, an average girl with average looks, timid personality, and low ambition. That is, until Shou Fuwa, a rising J-Pop artist and her bosom buddy, betrayed her. The horrendous circumstance unlocked her Pandora’s box, unleashing all the negative vibe repressed from childhood. Kyoko sought immediate transformation. A bleached-out and made-up wanna-be actress replace the frumpy looks. She peels off timidity and showcases her true self. Revenge becomes her middle name.
Set amidst a surreal and unlikely showbiz backdrop, Ms. Nakamura surrounds Kyoko with indelible characters. A Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde love interest, an egotistical third party, a uber-flamboyant studio president, a tsundere potential-best friend (it makes sense when you’ve read the manga), a romance-angling lackey, a demon kid, and I can go on and on and on. But, you know, spoiler-y stuff.
Of course. all this is done in awesomely typical Nakamura-styling, outrageous humor, loads of dialogue, and lots of satisfyingly gooey romance.
More SB pimping after the jump:
My favorite Skip Beat! cover art evah!
Skip Beat! has been a staple to my manga diet for years now. I love, love, love this manga. I mean, really. And to the chagrin of my readers from my previous incarnation as a blogger, I pimped the series every chance I got. Fast forward 2008, an announcement was posted online: An animated Skip Beat will be aired on October.
Gasp! Could it be a hoax? Further reading proved it to be true. Awesome, I said. But at the back of my mind is the question, “Will they get it right??“.
Let’s see. Here are a few specs out:
Studio: Hal Film Maker.
Ten’s Response: One word: Aria.
Director: Kiyoko Sayama. Street cred: Vampire Knight.
T: She often works under Junichi Sato. Very promising.
Voice Actors: Marina Inoue (as Kyoko), Mamoru Miyano (as Shou), and Katsuyuki Konishi (as Ren).
T: That’s a Yay!, double Yay!, and Frakin’ awesome!, respectively.
Character Design: TBA
T: Being a manga fan first before an anime fan, it is difficult for me to disregard original artwork. So please, please, please, anime-gods, give us some who shall remain true to Ms. Nakamura’s character designs. I mean, take a look at the fate of the designs of my favorite manga-turned-anime titles; It’s hit-or-miss kind of deal. Ouran and LoveCom were purty, but Perfect Girl Evolution and ItaKiss turned to shit. Again, please. As long as Ms. Nakamura’s artwork is recognizable, I’ll play nice.
OP theme: the generous
T: Um, who?
ED theme: 2BACKKA
T: A pun for Chewbacca?
Musical Director: TBA
T: As far music goes, I’m crossing my fingers for a wonderful musical director. Music adds an intangible layer and sets the tone of the entire show. Will we be given the standard BGM and jpop romp? Or will we be treated to optimal entertainment? Are we in for a treat? Or should I run for cover?
~
As always, I turn anxious whenever a manga close to my heart jumps into another medium. I rejoice at the potential increase of popularity of the title, but angst at a potential horrendous adapatation. What if my beloved manga transforms into shit?
Ah, well. My usual wait-and-see policy is on standby.
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Thursday, August 21st 2008 at 6:46 am
Yay skip beat, heard a lot of good things about it. I was going to read the manga but I’m holding it off until I see how the anime turns out (Anime first manga second! we’re opposites!). The director seems diligent, the studio is ok nothing too great, just ok, never got into the whole aria craze. The voice talent is a hit though, wow and Mamoru Miyano yay?
Thursday, August 21st 2008 at 7:08 am
My expectations for shoujo series after 2004 have never been fulfilled. By chance, nearly every single one of their original manga are my favourites (Perfect Girl Evolution, Aishiteruze Baby, Lovecom, Nana, Glass Mask, Bokura ga Ita etc. etc.) The only show that did not disappoint me was Ouran - where the anime is among my all-time favourites and the manga so-so. Oh well.
Still, I’m crossing my fingers for Skip Beat. I love this manga to death *_* (And btw, I totally agree with you that music is extremely important especially for romantic series, we’ll see.)
Thursday, August 21st 2008 at 6:12 pm
You got my at shoujo but if you seem to like this so much, I’mma trust your tastes and check this out. Hopefully it’s not just another (Not So) Special A
Thursday, August 21st 2008 at 11:11 pm
@ivy: SB is definitely worth checking out.It’s addicting, really. But I’m holding my breath for the anime.
@Sasa: I know. It has been disappointing on the shoujo front, anime-wise. I wish it were BONES handling the project. But I’m giving Hal a chance.
@Os: Special A is kinda meh. Even the manga. I mean, it’s an okay read but not exactly something I eagerly await. As for SB, I’m hoping for the best with the anime but the manga is awesome. I’ve been a big Nakamura fan since Tokyo Crazy Paradise, and SB is a even better.
Friday, August 22nd 2008 at 3:12 pm
HAL was also the creators of Princess Tutu. PRINCESS TUTU.
It’s not studio BONES, but really we’ve got the next best studio for this particular title of awesome.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen the promo anime pics of Kyouko, Shou, and Ren and it appears they’re retaining the original art style, if less delicate looking (which makes sense, it’s anime not manga).
*crosses fingers for Koyasu Takehito to play President Lory*
Monday, August 25th 2008 at 10:20 pm
I’m really apprehensive about the upcoming SB anime, especially after wondering just how the heck they’ll be able to show the ‘top notch / incredible acting skills’ of the characters… =__=” I’m keeping myself from being too excited about the adaptation to avoid disappointments. But if the anime’s popularity will give way to many SB merchandise (I want a Ren doll!), I’ll love the anime for that shallow reason lol.
Tuesday, August 26th 2008 at 11:26 am
Aaah…I know, right? D:
I hope it’s not going to turn awful when the show starts..
or I might just die before I could finish watching the opening scenes…>_>
Tuesday, August 26th 2008 at 5:17 pm
@L-chan: Ah, love Princess Tutu. And since Sayama has been working with Sato for a while now, I’m hoping for SB to be one of the better manga-to-anime adaptation.
@usagijen: REN DOLL!! REN DOLL!! REN DOLL!! From your lips to the anime gods’ ears.
@Wija-chan: If it fails, I’m going to disavow the anime. I’ll pretend it doesn’t exist. =p
Tuesday, August 26th 2008 at 7:25 pm
Skip-Beat! rocks…no doubt. (LOVE REN!!) i cant wait for da anime, and by the way: I am VERY impressed by ur blog. U chose an interesting set of words and made it clever, kudos
Tuesday, September 2nd 2008 at 3:50 pm
i love enime and love collecting them, now day i am collecting virtual models which are a little bit expensive. thanks for such nice blog.
Tuesday, September 2nd 2008 at 7:51 pm
@Ten
Ahahaha~ xD
I might do the same thing. -laughs- x’D
Saturday, September 6th 2008 at 2:03 pm
skip beat definitely rocks, the art work of the anime is a little disappointing in my opinion. or its just that the manga is drawn to beautiful … but i definitely don’t think that the anime won’t be less funny.
look at sa (special a) i think the manga is funnier drawn than the Anime. but i still like the anime, same with vampire knight. i can’t wait till skip beat begins and vampire knight guilt (second season)…
btw I LOVE YOU SHOTAROU-KUN!!! AND YOU TOO REN, but i like sho better :p XD
Friday, September 12th 2008 at 7:15 pm
I love ren VERY MUCH. I’m waiting SB anime In indonesia. i hope anime skip beat can be famous cause ì’d like the manga so much. Specially ren tsuruga.;-)
Monday, September 22nd 2008 at 11:58 am
I love the manga to death (this is the only shoujo series that I’m paying real money for), but I haven’t seen many satisfactory manga-to-anime conversion. For some reason, seinen and josei types seem to have better chances (Mushishi and Honey and Clover come to mind), while shoujo and shounen tend to get the short end of the stick.
Right now I’m apprehensive, but oh boy, if it turns out good I’ll be soooooooooooooo happy.
Kyoko-sama! \o/
Tuesday, September 23rd 2008 at 1:47 pm
I understand what u meen. I am totally sold on this manga and I love it to death!
I am a little worried how it would turn out as well as an anime. But I am SO happy about the voices that they have chosen, exellent choice!
And a good thing is that the director will propably do it very close to the manga bacause Vampire Knight Animen is almost the same as the oridignal manga. It is a few, but very few things that they hsve cut out, but I thought it didn’t matter.
Anyway I look forward to see the anime, and I hope from the depth of my heart that it will turn out wonderful!
Tuesday, September 30th 2008 at 2:14 am
i juz wish it was Miyano-san who provided the voice of ren-sama!!!! oh well, lets wait if konishi-san fit my image of ren-sama’s voice.. lololol….
Monday, October 20th 2008 at 4:14 am
*stalks you, Ten* xD
So what’d you think of the first 2 eps? I thought it was pretty good and faithful to the manga so far
I’m loving the fact that I no longer have to imagine the whole thing since the anime does a good job portraying my favourite scenes, lol. I can’t wait for the 3rd episode already!
I wish the sound effects were better though xD I’d love to see Marina Inoue really let lose at the chasing-Sawara part and the sound effect would’ve been great if it was all creepy-suspenseful-like haha.
Okay I should stop typing nonsense. I so didn’t know you moved here. I haven’t been checking many anime blogs lately *sighs* RL gets in the way.
Tuesday, October 21st 2008 at 2:51 am
I just found your site through a random search.
I’m glad I did because for some time now, I’ve been looking for a mangga to read (I’m so outdated from the mangga circuit) and thanks to your post, I now know what mangga to read and follow this time around.
Thanks for the post!!!
Tuesday, October 21st 2008 at 2:53 pm
The manga on this is truly awesome! Nakamura is the greatest!
Saturday, November 15th 2008 at 5:24 am
great manga! but I do agree with Naddie that the sound effects could have better.
Tuesday, October 27th 2009 at 5:45 am
this is really an awesome anime…especially kyoko’s character is wonderful..it made me laugh like hell…i love ren too…he’s sooo cooooool……he is my favorite anime character ever, after natsume huuga….