Skip Beat! Volume One is a manga by Yoshiki Nakamura, and it was published in North America by Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint in 2006. The series is rated “T” for Teen. After reading the first volume of this series, I would agree with this rating.
The main character of Skip Beat! is a teenage girl named Kyoko Mogami. She is living in an expensive apartment in Tokyo with her childhood friend, Sho Fuwa, and she is supporting him as he becomes an idol. Kyoko has been working two jobs in order for the two of them to afford the apartment, and she isn’t going to school.
Kyoko is really in love with Sho. At one his appearances, Kyoko comes dressed as a delivery girl from one of her jobs and is able to get backstage. Unfortunately, Kyoko overhears Sho telling his manager that he doesn’t have any romantic feelings toward Kyoko, and that he basically only brought her along so she could take care of him while he focused on becoming an idol.
Kyoko bursts into the room and vows to have her revenge by becoming an idol herself. She moves out of the apartment, and moves in with a couple who are her bosses for one of her jobs. She also uses some of the money she has to get a haircut, dye her hair, and get a new look.
Kyoko tries to get a break with a talent agency, and she also has run-ins with Ren Tsuruga, Sho’s rival in the idol business. Can Kyoko get the break that she needs in order to exact her revenge against Sho?
When it comes to the storytelling, I’m really having to use my “willing suspension of disbelief” in order to accept some of the plot developments in this manga. While this series is a little more grounded in the reality of an idol than Fairy Idol Kanon is, I still find myself thinking some of the story is a little farfetched.
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