Skip Beat! (Volume 32) by Yoshiki Nakamura

Title: Skip Beat! (Sukippu Bito!)
Author: Yoshiki Nakamura
Volumes: 34 (ongoing)
Volumes (English): 32 (ongoing)

Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence--she's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!

Ren’s trademark cool is beginning to crumble under the strain of maintaining his various personas. And the sudden manly attention being directed at Kyoko from fellow actor Kijima and a newly determined Sho aren’t helping matters. Will Kyoko’s good luck charm keep him in check, or will the beast chained inside him destroy them all?!

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Skip to the bottom for my final thoughts.

Anyone who has read my previous post on Skip Beat! knows how much I love this manga series, which is why writing this post is difficult for me. While I love the artwork of the Cain siblings arc, I haven't been a fan of the actual story line. This volume had all the elements of the current arc that I hate.

Too much Sho. Seriously, I don't understand why there is any sort of relationship between Kyoko and Sho at this point. He's always hanging around like the stalker that he is. (I thought he's supposed to be a superstar, why is he never actually working?) Also, I have no idea why she's even discussing Ren with Sho. [View Spoiler]

[Why would she make such a stupid promise, that she's not interested in Ren and would never hook up with him, to her arch nemesis? What hold does he still have over her? It makes no sense that she would care what Sho wants and thinks.]

He's too self-centered to offer anything meaningful in a relationship and yet Kyoko is still hung up on him. While her feelings primarily revolve around revenge, he's too much in her head. She's found her calling and come to the realization that she actually loves her profession, so why is she still hung up on getting even with Sho?

Oh, to continue the series you say. Well, fuck that...Nakamura can use a new story arc to move along the series. Like I don't know, maybe her burgeoning relationship with Ren or even her acting career. Sho should be a side note at this point, not a main character.

Ren's character change. Ever since the Cain siblings arc, Ren has completely changed. He's actually becoming more like Sho which is starting to make me dislike him. He doesn't have any claim on Kyoko and has admitted nothing to her about his feelings, so why should he continue to act possessive over her? If you like her, ask her out like a normal human being. Don't act like a petulant child every time you see her with Sho and certainly don't corner her in your bedroom. It's not sexy and it's not cool. Actually, it's kind of creepy...

Look, I know the Cain siblings arc is supposed to be focusing on Ren while he maybe possibly starts to confront his past, but it's taking too long and is just annoying at this point. He's becoming so anti-Ren that it's hard to like him during this arc. At this point I honestly don't like either of Kyoko's love interests. I only hope he gets his shit together in the next volume so I can continue to root for Kyoko and Ren as a couple. Otherwise, I'm shipping Kyoko with herself.

Moko is MIA. Seriously, where is Moko during all of this? She's one of the best characters and she is strangely absent in most of this story arc. Kyoko is going through a lot, so you'd think her best friend would be around somewhere.

Final Thoughts

So while I still LOVE this series, I'm slowly becoming disenchanted with the Cain siblings arc. I love the artwork in this arc, but I need more from the plot. At some point this manga series needs to get back on track and real headway needs to be made with the story. Ren needs to deal with his demons already, Kyoko needs to get over her issues with Sho, and Moko needs to make her way back into the series.