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. 18 by Yoshiki Nakamura
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!
Kyoko hasn't had a Love Me Section job in a while, and this newest assignment is pushing her limits. She's now the personal assistant to Koo Hizuri, a Japanese actor turned Hollywood star, and everyone knows how assistants are treated in Hollywood. (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.
At the end of the last volume, we were introduced to Koo Hizuri, a famous actor who has returned to Japan from Hollywood. Kyoko is his assistant and slave. He rants and raves and treats Kyoko like dirt. Now we find out why. It's an assignment from the president of Kyoko's talent agency. Hizuri tells the president that he feels sorry for Kyoko, but he has to keep acting horribly towards her. The whole point is to get Kyoko to complain about Hizuri to Ren. We discover why later.
But as is always the case where Kyoko's involved, Hizuri and the president's plan to thwart her fails. After a big blow out between Kyoko and Hizuri (that was predicated upon Kyoko's attempt to stick up for Ren), instead of complaining to Ren, she apologizes to Hizuri. He can't keep up the act any longer and turns into a tough love mentor.
Kyoko keeps being offered roles as bullies. She doesn't want to be typecast and is going to turn the roles down. When Hizuri hears this, he won't let her do it. She doesn't have the experience or reputation yet to turn down roles. She has to accept everything and then make each role unique, even when it's yet another bully. Hizuri admires Kyoko's talent as an actor but thinks she doesn't have adequate depth. He issues her a personal challenge: to play the role of Kuon, Hizuri's lost son.
And Kyoko does...with gusto. She becomes Kuon in looks and deeds. She worships her dear dad and acts like the perfect son. She even stays in character when she runs into Ren. She introduces herself as Kuon to a thoroughly confused Ren. It is this ironically that gets Ren involved with Kyoko and Hizuri's relationship. We shall see how this develops...
Sign up for the Manga Mondays Meme!
-No linky this week since I'm out of town. Sorry. :-( You can leave your links in the comments.
OK, I had seen this manga on the top lists every where I go...and I've read nearly every other manga. I think I seriously need to start this, haha :D
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure about trying Skip Beat again. It was so silly, but I might get it a lot more now that I've read a few manga series.
ReplyDeleteHere's my Manga Mondays post
I LOVED her as Kuon! She's just so enthusiastic and gutsy about everything and throws herself into every single assignment >_< Don't remember much about this arc...it wasn't one of the most memorable for me, but still enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. Alison! <3
Oh Skip Beat... well, any reason to draw Kyoko closer to Ren is a good one. I was out of (country) last week as well, so here is my week late link:
ReplyDeleteMy Manga Monday @ Book Brats
I haven't read Skip Beat so I can't comment on your review but I really like your manga Monday meme. Here's the link to my manga monday post. http://missliacsreviewslistsandthings.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteokay. I have been trying to read more manga's & this one seems interesting and i have been eyeing it for a while now, so i might give it a try. =D
ReplyDeleteManga Monday @ Read-A-holicZ
I really like that she's switching roles and catching Ren's eye. Curious to see if Ren figures things out!
ReplyDeleteI was really into this manga a while back. I started off preferring Ren over Shou, but I think I'm having second thoughts.
ReplyDelete