Product Description

Kyoko always thought that Sho, whose family took her in when she was small, was her prince charming. However, when Sho heads for Tokyo to make it big as a musician, Kyoko goes with him and has to quit high school to support his dream. But soon, being in the big city makes Kyoko realize that she has show business ambitions of her own!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62309 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781421505855
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Yoshiko Nakamura is originally from Tokushima prefecture. Her birthday is June 17 and she has type B blood. She started drawing manga in elementary school, which eventually led to her 1993 debut of Yume de Au yori Seteki - Better than Seeing in a Dream - in Hana to Yume magazine. Her other works include the basketball series Saint Love, MVP wa Yuzurenai - Can't Give Up MVP and Blue Wars, Tokyo Crazy Paradise, a series about a female bodyguard in 2020 Tokyo.

Customer Reviews

"If 'sorry' was enough, there'd be no need for HELL!!"
I bought "Skip Beat" after reading a preview chapter in Shojo Beat magazine. I liked the plot and the humor, so I bought it when it came out.

I was expecting plenty of humor, but I got a lot more than that. Kyoko's quest for vengence is hilarious indeed, but the best thing about it is how easy it is to relate. In fact, this is probably why the humor is so good in the first place. It's great to watch Kyoko obsess over getting even because we've all been there. Who hasn't ever wanted to prove her worth to some stupid jerk? And Kyoko's moments of glory are extrememly satisfying. It's like when you argue with someone and can't think of anything brilliant to say until much later. Well, Kyoko gets some really killer lines in at just the right moment. I often find myself laughing maniacally right along with her while I'm reading (which earns me some curious glances from my roommate).

The characters make this manga, especially Kyoko. You can admire her devotion to Sho in the beginning, misguided though it is, and you really sympathize with her anger after she finds out she's been duped. She's strong-willed. She's not perfect and forgiving, and she doesn't go around feeling sorry for herself either. And I also like Ren Tsugara, the biggest celebrity around who has a secret mean streak.

The art is nothing special, but it's appropriate somehow. Kyoko's not especially glamorous, and the guys, though not pretty like in most shojo manga, are tall and dark. I thought the characters' designs all fit their personalities very well.

"Skip Beat" has become one of my favorite manga. A must-read for anyone who has ever been put down, made a fool of, or just wanted to get even.

Fantastic.
Skip Beat! is a wonderful, hilarious manga about fifteen-year old Mogami Kyoko, who is initially a sweet, devoted young girl who, upon his request, comes to Tokyo with her childhood friend, Fuwa Shou, to support him as he pursues his musical career. Kyoko has dreamed since she was a little girl that Shou was her prince, and that one day, he would marry her and she would be like a princess...

Until the day that Kyoko overhears him complaining about her - how boring, naive, and ugly she is, and a complete drag on his time. Rather than breaking into tears, Kyoko is disgusted and enraged, and declares that she'll have her revenge - and since by now, Shou really is a very popular star, she'll enact this vengeance by becoming a bigger star than *him*.

Kyoko is the reason this manga is so great: she's determined (she gives new meaning to the word), a hard worker, ambitious, and constantly trying to find out who she really is and who she wants to be. Plus, she makes and utilizes voodoo dolls - how can you not love her?

This volume covers Kyoko's very beginnings into the world of showbiz, and introduces Kyoko's likely love interest, the very popular (and wonderfully evil and yet so perfect) actor, Tsuruga Ren.

Nakamura Yoshiki (NOT Yoshiko, Amazon) is a great manga artist who won my heart with Tokyo Crazy Paradise, the series with which she really refined her drawing style. In any case, Skip Beat! is fully of great drawings, fantastic paneling, and the most hilarious dialogue. It's fresh, unique, and given to few of the typical shoujo cliches; I'd agree with another reviewer and state that Nakamura really raises the bar for shoujo.

As to how Viz did: they included some cultural notes that clarify what might be confusing for non-Japanese readers, which I was pleased with... but there's a WHOPPING BIG GRAMMATICAL ERROR in this book that I pitched a fit over. That said, it was only one (albeit a big one - it was even in bold), so the rest of the translation is done very well, and the packaging, in line with the rest of their Shoujo Beat line, is tidy with a regular gloss, if not as great as, say, Del Rey's XXXHolic packaging.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves great characters, humor, potential love triangles, and a flat-out wonderful series.

one of the best !!
Kyoko Mogami is a modest and diligent girl. After graduating from middle school, she followed her childhood friend Sho Fuwa to Tokyo to help him with his pop star career in the hope that they have a joint future. She is working hard to support Sho's super star dream. But by accident she learns that Sho only brought her along because he didn't want to do any strenuous work and therefore needed a "servant". Kyoko decided to start her revenge project by joining the Show Biz. Hoping one day she will beat him in his own field.
I have read manga for so many years (over 10 years...), this is my favorite now. I have read the Chinese edition to Vol 12, and it's getting better and better. I wasn't that interested in the "super star love story" at the beginning. But, I was very curious why Skip Beat is so popular in Asia. So, I give it a try. It turned out to be a warm, loving story. Oh, and it's very funny. This manga has great story, and each character is well designed. Skip Beat trully raised my expectation for Shojo manga.