Oh, Kyoko-sama how I had yearned for thee...
I honestly thought that someone out there was horribly pissed at me and wanted to make me miserable. It took a good long while for me to find my beloved first episode of the Skip Beat anime adaptation of which I'd been looking forwad to since I first heard about there being an adaptation. When everyone else was blogging about the first and second episodes, I was still clinging to the edge of my seat in wait.
But, all of my waiting has come to a good result. I finally got my hands on the first episode and thoroughly enjoyed the heck out of watching Kyoko lose her sanity and unleash her silently brewing Kyoko-demons when Sho finally unveils his scheming, moronic, asshole of a personality of which could have only held Kyoko at his beck and call. Any other girl would have already dumped the jerk a long time ago rather than waiting for him to openly admit that he only really asked Kyoko to be with him so that she could do the cooking, cleaning, and worshipping and working her butt off to make sure he had a place to stay while he rose to stardom.
As any other person known to follow the Skip Beat manga religiously, I hate Shotaro's spoiled brat ass.
But anyway, it seems that the first episode of Skip Beat does well to cover the first act of the manga. We get to see how Kyoko slaves away to make her Sho-chan happy and be able to live royally. We get to see how anything and everything she does is for Shotaro (that bastard) and as much as I hate to admit it, the manga shows this aspect a little better than the anime does. We get to see everything that had to do with the old Kyoko and how she was such a kind, sweet, and caring person.
And then Pandora's box -- as the first episode title implies -- is opened and all hell is unleashed in the fury that is Kyoko's grudge demons. When Kyoko finds Sho telling his manager how he isn't the least bit happy with Kyoko's praises, how he only asked her to come with him to Tokyo to support as a live-in maid and not as a girlfriend, and how he was more interested in women such as his manager Shoko-san, Kyoko snaps.
For those who have digest the manga again and again, we all know that Kyoko doesn't cry and plead with Sho like a weak little girl. Instead, she rages with anger and declares that she wants revenge for everything that Sho has said and done to her. She's through with being a little underappreciated slave girl and she vows to make Shotaro grovel at her feet for forgiveness by beating him down at his own game. And when Sho invites her to join the industry so that she can do such a thing, as far as the manga goes, Kyoko takes up his offer with open arms.
But up to now we are only shown Kyoko's spirit and determination. After all, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and Kyoko has had a horribly hard life even as a child -- all of this revealed in the manga and hopefully soon to be revealed in coming episodes. For those of you who haven't even glanced at the Skip Beat manga, Kyoko-sama has a long road ahead of her to travel if she wants to reach a height much further than that ass of a man Shotaro.
As far as the anime goes, it is very fast paced and very accurate compared to the manga. I have a feeling that the anime will continue to follow exactly as the manga, but hopefully it won't loiter around privy details so that we can make it up to the filming of Dark Moon (or maybe that will be part of a sequel to Skip Beat's anime which would be fine by me as well).
I can't seem to grasp the voice that is Tsuruga Ren. Konishi Katsuyuki is a good strong male voice. But somehow, it doesn't seem to give off that same vibe that Ren has always given me. But due to the very few scenes that Ren appears in for this first episode, I may be jumping the gun by commenting on him.
As for Miyano Mamoru, he is doing exemplary excellent as Sho. I like it. He can pull off the moody, coolness that is Sho as well as the moronic secretive character that only Kyoko has ever seen. He sounds good as an asshole and I praise him well. Knowing that he can sing is a good thing too as Sho is supposedly a rising star in the singing industry and extremely popular and talented as well.
Inoue Marina is doing fine as Kyoko. Although I think I'll appreciate her more when she retains her "evil Kyoko" tone which she will have to have for a good few episodes to appease Kyoko's anger until her innocent and naive side comes back out.
All in all, the anime adaptation was not what I had been expecting. The animation isn't all that great and the character designs are carbon copies of the manga. The music is passably good, and as the anime is sticking with the original storyline, there is little to question about it.
I look forward to seeing the rest of the cast soon. As far as spoilers go, the next episode will be the infamous casting auditions and Kyoko meets Kotonami Kanae for the first time. I can't wait to see the interaction between Kyoko and her good friend Moko-san, and I definitely can't wait until Kyoko meets with Maria.
As a fan of shoujo manga, romances, and fun anime such as Skip Beat, even if the results are not what I expected, I know I will sure continue to watch it. After all, I followed Special A all the way to the end, there is no reason to pass up Skip Beat at all -- ugh... bad comparison, but you get the point.
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