LOVE ME!

To be honest, lately I haven’t been feeling motivated enough to blog episodically, or blog at all, even though I have a lot of spare time due to summer holidays. Then again, I have a tendency to lose enthusiasm easily and therefore interest myself in other areas such as TV dramas and piano. However, the only shows I can be bothered keeping up with is ToraDora! and Skip Beat! Clearly, I too, like otou-san, have a “thing” for titles ending with an exclamation mark.

Anyway, Kyoko continues to surprise me: it’s difficult to guess when she’ll rage and when she’ll be able to endure the insults. Since I can barely remember what happened in episode six, I remember feeling happy towards the end of the short arc when Ruriko complimented Kyo and awarded her 100 points. During the Maria arc, I especially liked it how Kyo was so upfront about Maria’s father and his feelings towards her. What Maria said about adults often lying and saying the opposite behind your back definitely has some truth in it, but sometimes “it’s for the best”.

I’m starting to see this “new” side to Ren, and suddenly he doesn’t seem so bad anymore. It wasn’t surprising knowing that he was Kyo’s Corn from her childhood, but what I’m most looking forward to is what Kyo will do to Sho now that she has him trapped in the palm of her hands. I loved how he pulled off the name incident by the “it’s all in the past” cliche. I wish the previous three episodes were focused on Sho instead but I wouldn’t change anything in Skip Beat! if I could.

Since Kyo seems to hold such powerful grudges against Sho and Ren, I’m beginning to wonder how she’ll ever end up with either of them if that’s even the case. I’m somewhat certain that the tension between Sho and Kyo won’t be left unresolved and that he’ll become a changed man. As for Ren, well, I suppose the ending song hints that he’ll end up with Kyo — that, and the fact that he’s her Corn. I’m hoping I won’t see another Nobuta wo Produce ending where intimate feelings are left un-flourished.

On a side note, I’ve just started Peach Girl yesterday. That show’s living proof of extreme dramatization, but the characters are “okay”, though Okayasu is just beyond awesome. I feel like I’ve recently drifted apart from my old self who desired violence to this girl who likes to watch fluffy bunnies hopping around in a field of pink daisies.

Another lovely episode of Kyou’s naivety indeed!

Regardless of how predictable this episode turned out to be, I’d still like to know why Ren finds Kyou’s reason behind joining the entertainment industry to be so despicable. Like Ruri, I admit that someone without talent doesn’t necessarily deserve to win a debut by participating in a laborious, and rather ridiculous (in a sense), “game”. Right now, though, I respond to Ren’s presence with a mere shrug. So until he bursts the bubble, for me he’ll continue to be the forgettable dull character, although I don’t hate him so much any more. In any case, I demand more of Sho’s arrogance.

Words can’t describe how inspiring and hilarious it was to watch as Kyou made assumptions about how severe Ruri’s “condition” was. Hilarious—-because it was so obvious Ruri was overreacting to the sun’s UV rays—–but inspiring because through this fake act, Kyou’s kindness returned. The part I enjoyed most was when Kyou sat herself down and lamented over the ten points she received. For a while she was moping, but I was touched by her optimism to think of this as starting afresh instead. The miniature Kyou devils were nicely played out as well, especially when the angel arrived. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I told myself several things at once.

Although the laughing factor wasn’t as high as the previous episodes, I still enjoyed watching Kyouko’s imagination run wild. I absolutely adore the chibi-ness inserted every now and then because I’m a sucker for cute things. Once again, I praise the mangaka behind this series because Kyouko is absolutely hilarious. I mean, it’s not often your main protagonist is as dopey as she is. I love the president’s new idea of the Love Me program because it’ll definitely help Kyouko, so I’m really looking forward to the next episode. Especially knowing that she’ll be into it.

Honestly, I don’t like Ren’s character much, but for some reason, I really like Sho even though he’s the way he is—-a total dickhead. Maybe it’s because everytime he’s on-screen I’m instantly reminded of Tamaki Sou, one of my all-time favourite characters. It was upsetting knowing that he didn’t remember Kyouko even though she had tried so hard conceiling herself from him. Anyway, I hope that in the end Kyouko will be able to love others and others will be able to love her. But I guess it’s pretty obvious that she’ll become a superstar. Until then, I can’t wait to see how many obstacles she’ll have to go through first!

The title came from a song, which I’ve never heard.

Summary:

After another busy day when Kyouko has prepared a special meal for her beloved childhood friend, Shotaru, she overhears a conversation between him and his manager Shoko. As it turns out, Sho had only asked Kyou to come with him to Tokyo, where he wishes to fulfill his dream of becoming a major celebrity, in order to pay off the rent for his expensive apartment. Immediately, Kyou decides to take revenge on him by joining his agency’s enemy and becoming a superstar herself, but the idea of her even getting into the entertainment industry has Sho in fits of laughter.

In the LMI building, Kyou stumbles upon Sho’s enemy, Ren, and before she tells herself that she no longer needs to hate him for being better than Sho, she decides otherwise once he kicks her out. With a lot of persistence, Kyou manages to convince Ren’s agent to let her join in the industry, but he explains that she needs to audition first. Although remarkable and unforgettable, she fails during the audition for the LMI Agency because she lacks what is most important for an artiste: love. The idea of wanting to be loved and loving others has long since abandoned her, so Kyou gives up the idea of trying to be famous. Later she cries in her room at the inn she’s staying at. Elsewhere in the LMI building, the director wants Kyou to come back and audition again. Once the owner encourages her to not give up, Kyou decides to return.

First things first:

• Moé baa-chan usagijen was going to have a mental breakdown, so …
• I deliberately decided to torture myself for twenty minutes watching Skip Beat!
• But the shocking truth is the first episode didn’t turn out to be so bad after all.
• In fact, it was awesome.
• Motivated, I indulged myself in another two episodes and absolutely loved it.
• However, three episodes of shoujo in one day was too sudden for a crazed bunny murderer.
• And yes, this is still your loving blissmo.

According to the world’s top scientists, the best yet most uncommon formula is:

2 very fugly assholes + 1 exceedingly adorable and stupid girl + radish(?) = WIN.

So lately I’ve been watching anime I wouldn’t usually watch and I put all the blame on usagijen and issa-sa. They’ve been cleverly dragging me into the “lovey-dovey turf” which I had never dared set foot in before, but now that I’m lovin’ ToraDora! I told myself that Skip Beat! might not be so horrible as I imagine it is. Little did I know that I was in for more than I ever bargained for: I was actually enjoying every bit of Skip Beat!.

As usagijen nicely puts it: “Kyoko’s naivety and semi-stupidity might irk people off”, but I think she’s really cute. Usually the main thing I despise in the shoujo I’ve seen is that the female protagonist can’t stand up for herself and always follows the “evil” boy she has a crush on even if he tosses her out into the cold etc., but when Kyouko punched Shotaru in the face when she found out that he had been using her all this time, I was definitely impressed. I also like it how there’s a lot of chibi faces involved in this series because it rids the seriousness.

The OP is okay, but I absolutely adore the ED, especially because the song is by one of my favourite singers SEAMO. Like usagijen, I reccomend that all you guys check out the first episode for my sake so that you know that while you’re watching it, you’re not totally wasting your time /kidding! Anyway, I’m looking forward to episode three since it appears that Kyou runs into Sho which means more of Sho hate-time.