Manga Mondays #126: Skip Beat vol. 27 by Yoshiki Nakamura

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. 27 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!

Kyoko’s having trouble getting into the role of Cain’s sister. But is it because she can’t relate to a spoiled punk princess, or because she can’t let go of the fact that Ren is playing Cain? And Ren faces his own challenge with the situation. Can he stand to have the woman he loves treat him like a brother?(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.

Ren and Kyoko are busy becoming Cain and Setsu (on an unrelated note, I wonder if "Setsu" is pronounced Set-soo or Sets, since the "u" is often silent in anglicized Japanese words). Kyoko gets hit on by a bunch of scruffy looking hoodlooms who want to take her home and have a good time. Kyoko as Setsu says she doesn't have a problem with that, but they'd have to get past her big brother first.


That doesn't go well. Ren goes off the rails at these guys, only refraining from beating one guy to a pulp by hearing Kyoko's warning. The question is, was this Cain or Ren acting? It is pretty clear to the reader that it was actually Ren who went on a violent rampage; he forgot that Setsu was being propositioned, not Kyoko. he nearly got himself into real trouble. I think Ren's anger management problem will be dealt with further in later volumes.

Kyoko and Ren are challenged in their roles even further when they discover that they're sharing a hotel room - with a single bed. They are trying to stay in their roles even when they're alone. Being modest, Kyoko wants to be in a different room than Ren and definitely in a different bed, but she knows that Setsu wouldn't think that way. Not only that, but Setsu as a character wears sexy lingerie to bed, even with her brother (ewww!). How will Ren be able to stand having Kyoko so close to him without kissing (and more) her? Will Kyoko finally figure out that Ren's interest in her isn't just as a mentor and realize that she likes him too? (My guess is not for another 10 volumes or more. Kyoko can be a little slow sometimes :-)  )

Sign up for the Manga Mondays Meme!