"Skip Beat" Doesn't, Well, Skip a Beat
As I have grown disappointed of the anime industry in the past year, I decided to search for a couple series that have yet to be licensed in America that were released before the "anime crash." One show that I came across via Crunchyroll was called Skip Beat, and man is it shiny.
Skip Beat follows the story of Kyoko, a girl who thinks that she’s living with her dream prince of an actor Sho Fuwa, her childhood friend. However, she soon finds out that Sho was merely using her as a maid so he wouldn’t have to do anything for himself, revealing that he’s quite the bastard in a basket. “If you want to get revenge on me,” Sho states, “you’ll have to go into showbiz.” With those words from that heartless assclown Kyoko changes her image, and becomes a completely different person. After countless auditions and failed attempts, one agency decides to hire her, and creates a new branch specifically for Kyoko called “Love-Me.” Unfortunately, this sort of “Love-Me” is an insult to her personality, but nevertheless Kyoko does everything she can in order to become a bigger star than Sho.
For a girl’s anime, Skip Beat has a lot of stuff that us guys can enjoy. The humor and silly fight sequences will have anyone falling off their seats laughing. Even though the rise to stardom portrayed here isn’t that realistic the way everything just seems to fit into place is fun to watch. The characters, though exaggerated a bit, are very humanistic; and Kyoko can even be served as a role model for those who want to be famous, but worry that they don’t quite have what it takes. Granted some of the bits here have been done before in past series like Kodocha and a little bit in Honey & Clover, but we can forgive this sort of repeat because it’s somewhat standard in shojo series.
“Skip Beat” earns an A-, and you can watch all the episodes here in America online on Crunchyroll. It's funny, touching and definitely something that both men and women can relate to; especially if they are looking to get into the acting business.
