Unlikely Otaku

Adult Swim

2012-01-18T18:58:00.000-06:00

The down side to going on strike is that one is almost honor bound to cough up a new post after the strike is over or the strike doesn't mean anything. Which is probably for the best because I've been meaning to write about why the list of mostly-shoujo manga hasn't grown much. There are two reasons. One is, I'm lazy. The other is that I got completely sidetracked and started reading a completely different manga unexpectedly. A kind I haven't written about here.

For a couple of reasons.

The first reason I haven't written about it is because, well, I'm lazy, and I've been doing a lot of reading and there have been some pretty hairy and emotionally debilitating things going on in my life since November.

The second reason is because, while I've been writing about manga (generally) you could give your kid or at least teenager to read (except, maybe, the "ick" ones), that's not true about the manga I've been reading. And, while I'm a very tolerant person and have many tolerant folks among my readers, being comfortable with idea of homosexuality and having it in one's face rather graphically, as it were, isn't necessarily the same thing.

Yes, for you others of the otaku bent, you probably already know what I'm talking about: yaoi. Boys' love written for women by women, and, no, I can't explain why that works. Heck, I still can't put my finger on why I've found so much of it compelling. I've liked into pornography or sought out graphic sex of any sort (though it hasn't much bothered me either) as long as the story was good, as long as it wasn't effectively pornography with no romance, no story, no characters.In yaoi, there is a LOT of sex, often drawn graphically and copiously. Frequently in a first chapter. Sometimes on the first page. In color.

But yaoi, despite it's definite propensity for graphic depictions of sex, is also about romance. And I'm a sucker for romance. True, that sometimes includes the aspects of "romance" I hate most like rape and superficiality, but good authors write consistently good manga. Shoujo generally is generally about romance, too, but there are some key differences, homosexuality being but one of them. So why am I reading it?

As a writer, I'm finding myself fascinated with facets of male characters and aspects of romance I hadn't really appreciated (i.e. took for granted) or didn't know or think about. I also know that, when my writer persona is piqued by something, reading to learn, I can't stop it until it's gathered what it's looking for. Which is why I read the Twilight books like six times and then haven't been the slightest bit interested in reading them again.
In some ways, the romantic stakes are higher in yaoi than they are in shoujo and other mangas. It's not just teenage love (notoriously fickle) where the most you risk is a rejection, but you don't have to presume your friendship or other relationships are at an end. For yaoi, you have to REALLY love someone to (a) come to grips with being in love with someone of the same gender and (b) be willing to admit it to that person who might very well not share your interest. Who might never talk to you again. Who might beat the ever living crap out of you. Who might pass the word of your "perversion" around so that you're shunned by everyone. In some ways, it makes it more powerful. Gay couples are still, even under the best circumstances, facing an unfriendly world.
Yaois tend to be short (though there are exceptions) with relationships that move quickly and spend less time than many other mangas on aspects that are really not part of the relationship. For someone like me in the process of watching the love her life walk out the door without a backward glance, intense doses of quickly gratifying romance are just the ticket.
Even though they're short, they also tend to go beyond boy meets boy and falls in love. In other words, it's about the relationship after that, making it work, learning about the other, making compromises, without being sappy like similar type books about happy housewives tend to be. I need that at this point in my life.
It can be very pretty. I won't lie. Looking at beautifully drawn men at the peak of physical perfect in various states of undress - not a bad thing. I admit it. I like it.
I now appreciate ass jokes a thousandfold more than I used to.

So, while admitting it's not for everyone, I've been reading enough of it with enough intensity, I should take the time to share what I've learned for those interest. And I know not everyone will be interested.

I'll eventually add another widget for the mature manga I read. And I'll be going forward on the shoujo, too.

Bear with me.

On Strike

2012-01-18T09:07:00.002-06:00

Today, we are striking against censorship

Join the largest online protest in history: tell Congress to stop this bill now!

Join The Strike!

Vampire Knight: Gotta Have 'Em All

2012-01-14T14:39:00.001-06:00

Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino is the last of my Christmas manga experiments to become a "gotta have 'em all" manga, though it's straddling the line between "gotta have 'em all" and "Compelling but not a favorite." To date, though, I tend to own them all whether they fit in either category. If I have the urge to read a series more than once, I buy them all and that applies to Vampire Knight, though it is far different in tone, style and story than the majority I own.

Despite how "in" vampires are (and my fondness for the Twilight series), I am not a vampire type person. I've never understood the fascination with vampires in general and don't go out of my way to read vampiric stories. What I like are good characters and any scenario (fantasy/science fiction) that builds a world that makes sense within its own framework. If characters appeal to me, I'm pretty lax on that second part, too. If a vampire story happens to do this, create appealing character(s) or a world that intrigues, I'll read it. For those bothered by Twilight, at least these vampires don't sparkle.

When I read the first one, I was on the fence on whether I wanted to pursue it. Then my daughter had me watch the first few episodes of anime and, rereading it, I became more and more intrigued by Kaname's character and the world-building regarding vampires/vampire hunters (genetic, by the way), and humans.

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 14 (12 Eng) + fanbook + art book Status: Ongoing

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: It's listed for older teen and should be (16+), primarily (I think) for some pretty grisly violence and no shortage of blood and death. Although there is no nudity or direct allusions to sex, much of the bloodletting is distinctly sensual.

Taboos and "warnings": Lots of bloody and graphic violence and horrific deaths. A great deal of veiled and unveiled sensuality. The vampires have their own rules, which also encompass incest and enslavement. Some hints at homosexuality and masochism, but nothing too overt.

Premise: Cross Academy has a day class (human) and a night class (vampires, actively working on measures to reduce friction between humans and vampires). The vampires are led by one of the last remaining pureblood vampires, Kaname, who saved the heroine, Yuki, from a vampire when she was five years old and who maintains a sincere and protective attachment to her. Yuki and Zero are both adoptees of the Academy headmaster, are the only ones who know the true nature of the night class, and are tasked with keeping the day and night classes separate. This is further complicated with Zero's antipathy toward vampires (as his family of vampire hunters were killed by one) while he slowly turns into a vampire thanks to a pureblood's bite.

What works: First, at center stage, is the artwork. Very gothic, with gorgeous "uniforms" and very evocative imagery. I'd be lying if I told you that the artwork wasn't a big part of the appeal. Kaname is particularly beautiful, while Zero is drawn for beauty that seems somehow more down-to-earth, edgy. I found the artwork for the various girls and female characters far less compelling, but I tended to find their personalities the same way, so that might be related.
Secondly, I did appreciate the depth and complexity of this secondary world, with its long and bloody history, of vampires, vampire hunters and humans. It's not without flaw or contradiction and, in many ways, it seems amoral, but it has its poignancy and true emotion as well. A great many ins and outs and subtleties play through it and it's rather fascinating to follow them around to find out yet another secret. Actually, as more is revealed, more becomes tidy and holds together with the big linchpin to the whole thing being Kaname, not the youthful Kaname Kuran everyone thinks he is but the endlessly old Kaname who was as much a factor in the decline of vampires' ascendency as he was the creation of the vampire hunters.

I like how blood is a metaphor for so many things. It is used not only to transfer thoughts and emotions, and memories, but also love (a vampire's thirst can only be quenched by the blood of the one they love), longevity, medicine, nutrition, mutagent, control, power (including specific vampire powers) and even directly as a weapon, as used by Kaname, his "father," his "uncle" and also Senri Shiki. Blood is also used to seal spells, particularly the one that makes a vampire "human" and erases the memory of their former lives. I like that vampires frequently drink each other's blood as opposed to just preying on humans. There is also a modicum of humor, though it's more a sidelight rather than pervasive.

Kaname is another big draw. Beautifully and poignantly drawn, he is a man of mysteries, with his overt protective adoration of Yuki contrasting with some pretty dark doings involving considerable violence. Coupled with an otherworldly control (all but unheard of among vampires) is a rather amoral willingness to use people to serve his purposes. To all outward appearances, he is far more humane and well-intentioned than most of his ilk, and yet . . . Those loyal to him are fiercely so, including both Yuki and the Cross Academy headmaster. I find the characters of a number of the night class students appealing, even though we only get tantalizing glimpses.

Zero also is fascinating, the ultimate conflicted individual, hating vampires passionately, yet unable to preclude his own vampire nature from manifesting. Yuki's devotion keeps him from being torn apart by these conflicting drives (at the cost of her own blood), while both the vampires and the vampires hunters use him mercilessly to suit themselves. Yet, being used, he has considerable will and ends up using those that use him to serve his own purposes. His love for Yuki is touching and tragic. I suspect one reason why this manga continued past the "end" was a sizeable faction of fans who want to see Zero get the girl (as my daughter does).

Favorite character: Duh. Kaname. I like Zero, but Kaname's absolute devotion to Yuki, not just her person but her happiness, won me over and his complex history and ever-sad eyes are fascinating in the extreme.

Quotes:

Zero: Drinking blood on campus is strictly forbidden. Did you lose your mind, drunk on the scent of blood, vampire?

Zero: I couldn't stop myself from devouring you. I may kill the next human I target as my prey. Shoot me. You're afraid of me, aren't you? Hold the gun with both hands and aim straight. Aim for the center. It's not a crime to kill a vampire.
Yuki: I didn't understand anything but I've lived with you for four years. I'm not afraid. I can stop you. If that time comes. If you want me to stop you, I will stop you.

Yagari: The pureblood vampire holds her so gently in his arms... I don't give a damn why you treat that little girl so differently but of course you realize what she's done. You must be seething with rage, right? Yet you won't do anything, just like a proper honor student. Why is that? Why won't you tear Zero to shreds?
Yuki: It's so that I won't lose my girl.

Kaname: By the way, I've never told you why I'm pretending not to notice what has happened to you. I know how precarious the peace is here at Cross Academy so I thought about who could act as Yuki's shield in this place. You will not double-cross her because you owe her that much. That is why I'm allowing you to live.

Kaname: I cannot have you die now. I've allowed you to live so you could serve Yuki. I know you won't betray her--
Zero: You're assuming things as usual...
Kaname: Oh, but I know because our feelings for Yuki are probably the same.
Zero: I...I only want Yuki to smile from the bottom of her heart.
Kaname: Me too.
Zero: I don't want her to sacrifice herself!
Kaname: Exactly. (He offers his own blood to Zero) Don't ever forget for whom this blood was offered, Zero. No one hates vampires more than you yet you need blood more than any vampire. I think you're the most vampirelike of us all.

Kaname: Yuki, get out of the way. I cannot forgive the man who aimed that gun at you, a weapon that could destroy you, even if it was for a mere moment. I will not forgive him even if you hate me for five hundred or a thousand years.
Yuki: Please, I don't want to make you say something so sad.
Kaname: All right take some time to say goodbye to him. [Sucker]

What I didn't like: Yuki. She's not the worst romantic lead out there for me, but I couldn't get behind her thinking for most of the series. I respect her fierce loyalty, her absolute lack of fear when it comes to death, and even some decisions she made, but she's largely clueless on what's going on around her. She jumps into the fray even when its abysmally stupid to do so and seems to have no consideration for the many people consumed with keeping her safe. I can respect that the "men" who love her do so unstintingly and without reservation (as, admittedly, she does them), but I still do a lot of eye-rolling. I'd be happier if she were just a bit less clueless or inept.

Also, I'm disturbed by the pacing. The story went along quite bracingly for the first ten volumes and had what seemed like a nice tidy ending at the end of volume 10 (48 chapters), what's frequently referred to as the first arc. At the end of that story, the world order as it was is no more, with the Academy's night class a thing of the past, and most of the vampire world turned upside down. The distinction between arcs is so significant and the ending for the first arc so pat that I actually think she'd intended to end it there and was pushed into carrying it forward by rabid fans or publishing dictates.

I'll admit I don't entirely get what's going on in the second arc, but the pacing is considerably slower, with nothing coming to resolution (so far, with 30 more chapters) and some things I can't fathom, like the current relationship with Kaname and Yuki, which should look like estranged marriage but is apparently something else? The style of drawing has changed as well, with it now dominated by a sort of wispy pencil type minimalist drawing and every vampire having the same somewhat empty eyes. Still pretty artwork, but nowhere near as powerful and with minimal contrast between the extensive details and the minimalist.

Vampire Knights has twelve books out in English and chapters available out to at least Chapter 78 as volunteer scans on-line. The anime is dubbed in English, at least for the first arc and the second season is coming out as well. Zero's voice in that is the melodious Vic Mignogna (same as OHSHC's Tamaki). As always, if you love it, buy the books. And, yes, I did. I have to admit I also sprang for the artbook given that the visual elements of the manga are so compelling to me. Since I first wrote this review (nearly a year ago) I've read some of her earlier, lighter work. I do like it, even if some of it is very silly and some of it is very confusing.

I mean, is this not one of the sexiest pictures you've ever seen? Never mind the individuals involved hate each other...

I said I never understood what was so sexy about vampires...well, with this manga, I'm starting to get it.

Tsubasa: Those With Wings: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-12-01T19:47:00.001-06:00

Next is the first manga found "on my own," Tsubasa: Those With Wings by Natsuki Takaya (author of Fruits Basket). I found it by accident. With the success of Fruits Basket, apparently they decided to republish a few shorter mangas she'd written previously. I picked up the first of both of them when I couldn't find a new manga I liked at Barnes and Noble. One I'll discuss in my "meh" mangas (Phantom Dream), but the other was this one, Tsubasa: Those With Wings. Still early in my obsession, I ended buying all of both series. I liked but didn't love Phantom Dream. Tsubasa, however, I loved.

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 3 Status: Complete

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: I think this was rated for older teen, and I tend to agree, say 15+.

Taboos and "warnings": Some sexual innuendo, some non-graphic sex, some nudity. There is also significant amounts of violence, though most of it isn't graphic.

Premise: Post apocolypse, the world is dessicated and contaminated, with military interests in control. Poor people scrabble to live. Orphans and other unwanted are mostly left to fend for themselves and only the rich and the army live well. An orphan/thief teams up with an exceptionally talented ex-Army officer. She's looking for work and searching for a legendary "wish fulfillment" object/entity called the Tsubasa. The former officer just wants to be with her.

What works: Raimon. I'll be honest, I fell in love with the ex-Army officer from the beginning. He struck a chord with me from his first panel, and, since the volumes are large, I was completely entranced before I'd finished it. The thief has her moments and there's humor as we go through, but, really, I was sucked in by Raimon's character and that's really why I put up with some really stupid plot developments (more later).

There is a great deal of emotional depth in this (as was true with Fruits Basket). I think that is part of the appeal of both series, that the art and the characters can pull emotional responses despite the general absurdity around them. We did have a real villain in this one, someone dark and vicious and ruthless and as talented as Raimon, so conflict we had in abundance. That was good.

I liked the style of the artwork, despite the comparative crudity compared to some other work, and I'm surprised how effectively scenes were set with only bits and pieces of the view (like kissing just off view where other parts of the contact convey considerable emotion). The contrast of this style with the smoother faces and blanker looking eyes the mangaka moved to by the end of Fruits Basket is very clear with the little blurbs she added in a current style far and away different than the original. A loss, in my opinion, even if the original wasn't as polished..

Favorite character: Raimon. Sarcastic. Brilliant. Devoted. Callous. Capable. Secretive. Shameless. Sneaky. Charming. Raimon was the first time I was exposed to the "perfect" male lead in manga who can do "anything," but literally had nothing to live for until he stumbles across someone who is everything he's not. He's usually a cynical character who's dragged into adventure and peril because the only thing he really cares about is driven and honorable and involved and tumbles headlong into trouble. And, yes, I've seen this variation on this character since and I still find it endearing. It is, perhaps, my favorite type of character EVER.

Some quotes:

Raimon: I'll get you next time and if you lose, I'll make you mine.

Adelite: How do you know all this? About the army and stuff?
Raimon: I'm a genius
Adelite: What do you mean?
Raimon: (at Dr. Kamihara) Look I don't care whatever crap you pull, just leave Kotobuki out of it. For that reason I have to make you pay.
Kamihara: That's nonsense. You have any evidence? I'm just a scientist who's trying to make a difference in the world.
Raimon: We'll see about that when we launch your machine.
Kamihara: Afraid nobody but me can get it movin-- Wha? How did you break my secret password?
Raimon: I'm a genius.

Kamihara: If you make another move, you'll have to say goodbye to your crystal!!
Raimon: Do what you want, it's not mine.
Adelite: Hey! That's my crystal you're talking about.
Kamihara: Oh, one more thing! I set a bomb in the Wilson's house! With a push of the button, your house is all but gone.
Adelite: What?
Raimon: Push it. It's not my house.
Adelite: Don't you dare.

Raimon: Touch Kotobuki and you might just end up the next ingredient in my secret sauce...

What I didn't like: Phew! Plot stunk. Seriously. I went along because I love Raimon, but there was nothing happening in the whole series that made a lick of sense. Motivations of characters, chosen actions and adventures in general were creative but completely nonsensical, even for a manga. The whole Tsubasa thing was a case in point. Bad guys would go after them, be slightly thwarted but still have the upper hand and then inexplicably walk away, leaving their advantages behind them. This manga is proof positive that I can forgive anything if I love a character.

Kotobuki wasn't particularly endearing to me and I had a hard time identifying with her. Side characters were for amusement, but they seemed mostly silly. Some of the "logic" involved in resolution was, well, not even slightly logical. My main favorite, Raimon, is largely AWOL through the last volume, which was frustrating. Our clever and evil villain, ruthless and vicious to the last, truly a bastard clear through, is (somehow) entirely redeemed in the last few pages. Oy! A bit much to take.

Raimon and Raimon alone made this "Gotta have 'em all." That should tell you how much I love the guy.

I probably can't recommend this to everyone. I love it (really!), but, if you're interested, you might want to check out your library though you can find some of it on-line (look for "Tsubasa wo Motsu Mono"). If you like it, of course, I advocate buying all three - if you can find them now that Tokyopop's gone belly up.

Gotta Have 'Em All: Shinobi Life

2011-11-06T20:14:00.002-06:00

Shinobi Life by Shoko Conami was part of my Christmas experiment, where I put volume 1 of a number of prospective mangas (based on Amazon.com recommendations and what I read in the blurb) on my wishlist. I've always had an interest in ninjitsu (no, really, I swear) though the more accurate term is shinobi and I've read a great deal of history on them. Time travel usually does not appeal either, but, like Black Bird, I found the premise appealing.

I loved it. I loved the artwork. I loved the characterizations (which the artwork aided amazingly). I liked the story. Within twenty pages, I was sucked in and, though I've only had the series since December, I've probably read it ten times. I love it enough that, if anyone were interested in reading a manga for the first time, this is the one I'd suggest. At least, that's what I used to say before Tokyopop, that had the English-speaking license for this, went belly up, leaving this charming manga hanging with our lovely leads still separated by time if not space.

I love this story and I'm really irked that I can't get caught up on those volumes beyond seven (and I gave it to my sister, too, making her angry at ME that it isn't finished). Damn it!

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 10 (t Eng) Status: Ongoing (still in Japan)

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: Relatively tame, though with some violence. I wouldn't have had any trouble with my daughter reading it at 14+ (if she was still that age), noting that I'm pretty permissive.

Taboos and "warnings": Romance with limited sexual innuendo. Violence, some of it graphic, though certainly not as much as there could be with shinobi everywhere.

Premise: Ninja Kogetora charged with protecting Princess Beni falls (literally) into a hole connecting pre-Edo Japan and modern times, tumbling onto Beni Fujiwara, the princess' decendant and dead ringer. Rich and spoiled, Beni feels neglected by her father and blames him for her mother's suicide when she was a child. Kogetora confuses modern Beni with his princess and tries to protect her in a baffling and confusing world.

What works: Damn near everything. The premise I found interesting (and I think it was implemented surprisingly well, which is always a nice surprise with time travel numbers). The shinobi traits and actions were brilliant. Both the angst and the humor potential of time travel displacement (i.e. our Shinobi guard) into modern times (modern clothes, air conditioning, etc). There is both considerable humor and believable drama. Numero uno, are the characters, and I don't just mean the protagonists.

Not long into the manga, we get to see under the bitchy exterior of Beni to a very kind and sensitive heart left far too long neglected, desperately hurt by her mother's loss. She is actually quite sympathetic, sensitive to the pain of others, and surprisingly honorable. Smart, too, and self-sufficient despite weak joints (a failing I know quite well myself). At first I didn't find her pretty, but, again, I was drawn to her much like I was drawn to her character. We soon learn she is quite tough in many ways, taking the lead when it needed to be taken. She turned out to be a very strong woman.

The villains in this piece are excellent, too, each of them having a very sympathetic backstory which is easy to imagine, to feel for, even understand how they became as they are now (halfway through the series). Hitaki, the vicious Shinobi enemy of Koretoga, is particularly compelling to me and his supportive relationship with Rihito, who feels natural given the abuse from his childhood.

But Kagetora, damn what a character. Young and bright, talented and dedicated, he is the epitome of a character devoted to ideals and honor, but confounded by a new world and feelings for Beni that don't fit into his notion of the world. That he overcomes the rigid and unyielding conditioning of his background for her, for himself, is fascinating to watch and utterly compelling. And yet, he never wavers in his dedication to Beni, first her safety, then her happiness and eventually her part in his life. He's beautiful to look at. I love his shinobi skills. And I find his self-sacrifice for what he considers necessary deeply endearing. He is smart and intelligent without being snarky, arrogant or preachy. His character is almost perfectly balanced. I fall in love with many manga leads and I've yet to find a comparable character in the mangas I've read. In my opinion, Kogetora is brilliant and the type of character I've never fallen for before.
Which brings me to the artwork, among my favorite artwork of any manga, not because it's the most beautiful or detailed but because you can see everything Kogetora feels reflected in his eyes. The characters are gorgeous. I have never seen emotion conveyed so amazingly well with drawn eyes in my life, and it amazes me because Kogetora is largely a stoic character (and looks it). Additionally, the author does an incredible job of conveying the sense of movement and drama.
Favorite character: Beni Fujiwara is a great character, and even the villains have depth and complexity, but, yeah, I gotta love Kogetora, both in his gorgeous stalwart eighteen-year-old version and in his incredible fourteen-year-old incarnation.

Quotes:

Kogetora: Even at the cost of my life, I will protect her.

Beni: I like being alone. I've eaten by myself since my mom died. I'm used to it. I'm used to it, so I don't want to get used to having anyone around now. I don't ever want to have to learn to be alone all over again.

Beni: If he really came from the past, then Kagetora will be all alone in this world. All alone . . . I'm the one, the only one that Kagetora knows here, even if he thinks I'm his Beni Hime [Princess Beni]"

Beni: If I'm wrong then we die, but . . . Actually, I guess the chances of dying are pretty high. If we go together, at least we won't be lonely when we die, right?

Kogetora: The poison's effect is weakening. Good. I'll be able to feel it when I touch you.

What I didn't like: Not much. However, our romantic leads get separated in volume 5. Although the backstory we learn is wonderful and there's plenty of character development and action, the story is effectively halted there for our two people. The separation continues until Volume 10, which is a long time for a central romance. I know this because, despite the fact I still haven't master Japanese, I do have the next three volumes of Shinobi Life in Japanese. I sure hope someday I can get them in English.

Ouran High School Host Club: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-10-11T23:52:00.003-05:00

As with Fruits Basket, my daughter was behind my adoption of Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori. "Mom, I want you to watch this anime with me." Once again, before the first disc was over, I was hooked (first disc rented via Netflix). I didn't bother buying the discs for her, just for me. Then I read the first manga of the series, and didn't fall in love. Although some of the characters can be drawn quite well, I didn't get the same impact that I'd had with Fruits Basket. However, it was definitely funnier. On a whim, I looked on line at my daughter's suggestion and was just interested enough to borrow more books.

Part of the charm is that the manga doesn't take itself too seriously and spends a great deal of time making fun of otaku (obsessive behavior, such as my own manga mania) culture, particularly cross-dressing and moe (fascination with youthful video game or anime characters). The main romantic lead is also the main comic relief, which is both charming and occasionally frustrating (given that he frequently comes across as an idiot).

A particular point on the anime. I really liked this one and could listen to the person speaking for Tamaki all day long. And have.

Anime: Yes Volumes of manga: 18 (16 Eng) Status: Complete (Jap)

My rating: Gotta have 'em all (anime, too)

Age range: I wouldn't personally have an issue for 12+ kids, but I'm pretty progressive.

Taboos and "warnings": Cross-dressing, sexual innuendo (including "incestuous romance" between the male twins for the benefit of the crowd), but no overt sex or sexual come ons. Violence is minimal and mostly caricature.

Premise: Scholarship student at a very expensive/prestigious private high school stumbles across an after-school "host club" where boys entertain female students (get your mind out of the gutter) with flattery, fantasy and tea. Said student breaks and expensive vase she can't pay for and, mistaken at first as a guy, gets drafted into the club to pay her debt. When her gender is discovered, everyone decides to carry on the illusion that she's male so she can continue to pay back her debt.

What works: Did I mention it didn't take itself too seriously? Everything is paradied, poked fun at, lampooned, from the excesses of the fabulously wealthy (who have never heard of instant coffee), to professional transvestites, to overprotective parents, to otaku culture, to video games, to romantic fantasies, to shojo manga plotlines, to, well, pick it. Although it is not devoid of the occasional tender moment, the humor is never far from the surface - but it's a very humane humor, not a mean one (despite the constant picking on Tamaki).

Although Haruhi is the de facto center of the story, Tamaki is really the center of attention and, really, he wouldn't want it any other way. Tamaki is overtly insane and so desperately flamboyant one could never take him as a real character, except somehow the author manages to give him depth and inner brilliance, insight into others and a bone-deep compassion that leavens his dramatic excesses. No one can bring him a problem without his resolving to fix it. No one could be more protective or supportive. No one could be more sensitive (he will frequently break into copious tears at the slightest provocation).

His love for people is unmistakable and his narcissistic tendencies entertaining swooning crowds of girls are really the offshoot of making others happy. If you don't get this, you will never really appreciate the manga. If you do, you'll forgive the crazy guy anything, as Kyoya (the cold impersonal member of the troop) is ample proof of.

Tamaki is the spearhead of sheer humanity and generosity that wafts through the manga, giving and devoted to making others happy. The buffoonish humor keeps it from getting preachy or too heavy. His enjoyment in doing so is the openhearted delight of a child, from his obsession with "commoner" food and drink to his interest in learning magic tricks to the extravagant over-the-top entertainments (often involving cosplay) his club provides.

The devotion his fellow club members have toward him, his natural leadership, is evident at the most unexpected moments and provide many of the most endearing and touching bits, including when the generally selfish Kyoya wastes his entire "field trip" tracking down Tamaki's mother so he can tell Tamaki how she's doing. That same devotion is soon shared with Haruhi for the same reason - she really gets to know who the club members are and appreciates them.

I loved the ending. Loved it. And that goes for both anime and manga, though the ending isn't the same.

The artwork had to grow on me. The settings and scenes, particularly of the lush costuming, are beautiful. The main characters tend to be, too, but the drawing is line drawing and doesn't always have as much power as some other artists. Many of the girls all look alike to me.

Favorite character: Tamaki. Love 'em all, including Kyoya, but it has to be Tamaki. Call it a spoiler but I would NOT have been happy if the romance had turned another direction.

I didn't include quotes because they just aren't the same out of context. I frequently laughed my butt right off. More than once, I cried. But it's not the same as prose.

What I didn't like: Some of the "twincest" was cloying. There was an antagonism toward female homosexuality as opposed to male homosexuality, which I didn't understand. I'm pretty open-minded on that topic, but would have preferred, given it's preponderance, not to make judgement calls about one type vs. another.

Pacing was occasionally slow, particularly during Tamaki's hiatus from the club. Conflict also suffers because no one is "really" bad.

Note: Often manga are available on-line, particularly for on-going ones where English-speaking fans may be years away from keeping up with the series as it's published in Japan so fans put up their own translations. OHSHC is available on-line through to the end, whereas we still don't have a publishing date for the last volume. Translations (and scans) vary in quality, but it can be nice to see what's going to happen if you're really hooked. As always, I'm an advocate for purchasing the books if you love the series.

Otokomae! Beads Club: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-10-06T16:37:00.004-05:00

I won't lie. I like the work Kyousuke Motomi, who also writes/draws Beast Master and Dengeki Daisy, one of my all time favorite mangas. If it took a bit to get used to her drawing style - and it did, I found her characters and dialog appealing from the beginning. I've even grown to find some of the art beautiful (though I seem improvements from the old to newer stuff, most notably Dengeki Daisy). I like that she has strong female characters, strong male characters who are also not without sensitivity. I like that she challenges many a stereotype and isn't afraid to laugh at her own media (manga). Unfortunately, Dengeki Daisy and Beast Master are the only of her works published in English.

And that's a real pity because some of her earlier stuff, if more crudely drawn, was still terrific. An excellent case in point is Otokomae! Beads Club (which means "handsome man" beads club according to Denshi Jisho).

When I read the premise for OBC, it was just the sort of quirky back-handed contrived nonsense tailor made for someone like me. I loved the idea and, I have to admit, I loved the manga. So, even though I literally can't get the books, I still want to have 'em all. I've certainly read 'em all in scanlations.

Anime? No Volumes of manga: One (and a story in a different volume) Status: Complete?

My rating: Gotta Have 'Em All

Age range/taboos: It's all pretty clean here. Minimal violence, no sex, at best some innuendos. I can't see any teenager coming to harm from this. There is one attempted rape, but it's cut off early.

Premise: A girl who grew up doing martial arts and scaring off boys with her physical power transfers to a new school where she intends to keep her aggressive talents her little secret and become girly girl so she can find a boyfriend. And she wants a manly man, thank you. Unfortunately, on the first day, her rather heroic rescue of a dog is witnessed by one of her new school mates, who completely approves. And is a little scary given he has pet crows. Turns out, our crow man is president of a club of misfits (every manga stereotype critter imaginable) who not only make beaded pretties, but also defend the school for justice.

What worked: If our main character (Oikawa Ibuki) is a bit misguided, wanting to be something she's not to get noticed, she is not without some level of self-awareness and a sense of humor. And, when push comes to shove, she can't help being herself, either. If with initial reluctance, she accepts her role in the club for justice and even her unnerving attraction for the spooky club president. The president, Takumi, is smug and self-assured, making no bones about his attraction to her and his confidence she'll come around to his way of thinking. And yes, he really beads well as well. Filling out the club is a girl who looks like a tart, the delinquent technogeek (precursor to Kurosaki, apparently), the big rough-looking otoman, the tiny cutesy girl who's really a male cross-dresser. How could I not love this?

The stories tended to be pedestrian, starting from the secretive nature of the "secret student council" which is like the bead clubs' alter ego (OK, yeah, that's pretty stupid) where they break up a club trying to find out their identity for revenge. It's a short manga (five real chapters), none of which are really tied to the others or involving extreme cleverness. It's not a cohesive whole, rather a series of vignettes, but it has charm and humor, particularly in the interaction between Ibuki and Takumi. If the story setups are weak, I have to hand it to the mangaka to push forward undaunted and take them to their convoluted conclusion as humorously as possible.

And that's the key. It's at least partly a satire, making fun of all the extremes one sees in shoujo manga, tongue planted firmly in cheek. That it does so without sacrificing the humanity and charm of its main characters is an added bonus.

Favorite Character: Takumi, of course. Unflappable, smug, just edging on lecherous, letting people mostly do their own thing without interfering (not to mention top of the class and a talented beader), yeah, he's my favorite. I even like the crows.

Quotes:

Takumi: These guys are idiots who like to bully people but Ibuki and I are the same...we like bullying weak idiots!

Takumi: To be honest, I have a bad feeling about something, like we missed something. So, no matter what, you have to be aware til the last second.
Ibuki: Understood. Whatever happens, I'll protect them with my own body. I won't let any girl get disfigured.
Takumi: No...you're a girl too...(you're saying manly things again). If something goes wrong, your face might...
Ibuki: I'll be fine.

Ibuki: I can get you whatever you like for a present! What do you want?
Takumi: Hmm, then...All of Ibuki.
Ibuki drops the bins of beads she's holding.

Takumi: Take a good rest. I'm going to get some medicine.
Ibuki: (Flushed and wearing a yukata) W-wait! Don't leave me alone! I'm scared! Please stay by my side, Takumi...
(At that moment, the crow had to battle his own evil thoughts until there was only little sense of himself left-)

What I didn't like: The drawing's quite a bit cruder than it is in her later work and, especially the side characters suffer for it. It also, as noted, has silly plots and fanciful storylines very much out of keeping with anything I know about high school. I would have liked to see these characters developed much like they were in Dengeki Daisy with some more development of the side characters.

And, sniff, I can't get it in English in book form.

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Shoudown

2011-09-12T20:10:00.004-05:00

If you are interested in reading this, start here or, even if you're a fan, you'll get confused. Note that the disclaimer and introduction still apply. And I'm really almost done with this.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen" 'cause, unlike the manga, there's actual sex, though not in this chapter.

Ren felt surprisingly nervous. Normally, he had no worries meeting new people, winning them over, but these were the people who had looked out for Kyoko when she would have otherwise been alone, who employed and housed her, who supported her outrageous dreams. However they saw him, Ren knew he was very grateful to them, even if they hated him. Given her history with Fuwa, he could hardly blame them.

They'd parked a block or so away, because the restaurant was apparently popular. Kyoko walked beside him, her ring back on her finger. He wanted to hold her hand, put his arm around her, but he could see she was nervous, too. She didn't want to lose the approval of people who meant something to her, and who could blame her? He'd take it as slowly as she needed. Just before they went in, she turned on him suddenly.

"You haven't eaten anything since lunch so I want you to have a good meal."

He smiled at her and let himself touch her face. "Yes, Kyoko. Will you choose it for me? I'll eat anything you give me."

She caught his hand. "I love you, Ren. I'm going to ease into telling them, but it's not because I don't want to be with you. They're very down-to-earth people." She turned, straightened her shoulders, and pushed through the door, still holding his hand.

Apparently, it had not occurred to Kyoko that the proprietors of Daruyuma might listen to the news. Or that the patrons watch television or saw notices from the internet. The instant Ren and Kyoko came into the boisterous and bright environment, redolent with delectable scents, the sound turned off like a switch, leaving just some cooking sounds and a pronounced silence.

Ren fought the urge to laugh. "I think they already know," he whispered to Kyoko as the plump proprietress came 'round a counter and rushed forward to take Kyoko's free hand.

"Kyoko! You came!"

"I said I would. I'll go get changed so I can help. Okami-san, you—you met Tsuruga Ren, didn't you, at Maria's party?" Kyoko shook off both hands and flit into the back, leaving Ren to face a room of curious, if not hostile, strangers.

Ren bowed with respect and gave Okami-san his best smile. "I remember you quite well, Okami-san. It's a pleasure to meet you again."

She bowed in return, blushing quite charmingly. "We are honored to see you here. Would you care for a meal?"

Ren let her lead him to the counter (where he had wanted to sit anyway), exchanging pleasantries. His seat faced a stone-faced man he remembered as the mate for the personable proprietress. The man grunted and nodded at Ren, his face forbidding. The customers began to murmur amongst themselves. Ren knew it was only a matter of time before the customers started asking questions.

When they did, Ren was surprised to note that the customers seemed as fond and protective of Kyoko as the Daruyuma's owners. At first, they were pugnacious, "Are you really planning to marry Kyoko?" "You're not playing with her, are you?" "She's not like some of your heartless show-biz trash, you know. She's a fine young lady and needs to be handled with care."

Rather than be offended, Ren felt reassured to see how well Kyoko was treasured. Using his carefully honed patience and courtesy, he fielded questions and accusations alike, doing his best to showcase is sincere devotion to Kyoko. A tiny man, bent and wrinkled with age, confronted him with a bony finger, "Do you expect me to believe someone like you really loves Kyoko?"

Ren smiled over him, his eyes on Kyoko, now dressed in a white kimono, taking her place behind the counter. "Absolutely." His expression must have been persuasive because the old man backed off, nodding his approval. As Ren ate the food Kyoko gave him with obvious relish and responded with unshakable friendliness, the environment in the restaurant became boisterous again, and more and more approving. Everyone but the stone-faced Taicho.

Kyoko was flitting from table to table, her face friendly and charming. Ren couldn't keep his eyes off her. When the door opened, the tiny bell going off, she turned, words of welcome on her lips, before her face shattered into a look of shock.

Ren didn't have to look to know who was at the door. Fuwa. That prick. The Taicho had taken one look and snatched up a nasty looking cleaver, his face murderous. "Out!" he barked without preamble. "Get out of my restaurant!"

Fuwa smirked, not the least bit concerned about the deadly sharp knife and the hand that obviously knew how to wield it. "I didn't come to fight you, old man, or even you, Tsuraga-san," he sneered, making Ren's name an insult. "I just want a word with Kyoko."

"I don't have anything to say to you," Kyoko said, gathering her calm about her and wearing it like a jacket. "I guess you heard the news and, yes, it's true. We're getting married."

"Bull! You know and I know you're only saying that to force my hand."

"What? You idiot! Force your hand to what?"

Ren shook his head, but had to consciously calm himself, force himself not to leap from his stool and pound that smirking face into the dusty. Fuwa actually thought Kyoko still loved him, still wanted him. And if the fear that Fuwa might be even a tiny bit right still bounced around the back of Ren's brain, he restrained himself from acting on it. After all, this was Kyoko's decision.

But if Fuwa tried to get physical again against Kyoko's will, things would not go well for the little prick.

Fuwa's smirk became more pronounced. "You're boyfriend knows what I'm talking about. He knows you only got engaged to him to force me to marry you."

Ren did find the look of horror and shock on Kyoko's face reassuring. He doubted Fuwa felt the same.

"C'mon, Kyoko, come talk with me outside."

"I'm working, Shotaro. And I have nothing to say. There is no power on heaven or on earth that could convince me to pat you on the head, let alone marry you. The thought of you touching me that way completely creeps me out, like that kiss your forced on me before. Please leave. We really have nothing more we can say to each other."

"And I thought you were going to teach me a lesson." His voice was snide, insulting. Ren's hands clenched.

"I...I started out wanting to do that, wanting to do that more than anything I'd ever wanted in my life. Instead, I taught myself a lesson, that I was capable of more than I'd ever expected, that I could make for myself, all those wonderful boons I thought I'd get from marrying you. And I taught myself that, just because your first love turns out to be a false love, doesn't mean you can't find real love with someone else. I don't need to beat you any more, Shotaro, because I've already undone everything you've done to me. And I did it on my own. You have no more power over me."

Fuwa's smirk was long since gone and he'd taken two steps into the shop. With quickness, Ren had to admire, he snagged, Kyoko by the arm and dragged her through the front door. Ren was behind them in a flash and paused only when he all but ran into the Taicho at the door. "Please, sir," Ren offered. "It's my duty to protect her now. Believe me when I say I can. I will bring her back here so we can talk like civilized people."

The Taicho weighed him for what seemed a long time and Ren desperately wanted to catch up with Kyoko. "I'll concede that," the Taicho said, "if you get her back and take care of that little bastard."

Ren was out the door, walking silently so he could listen for the sound of arguing. For a second, he thought he'd lost them, when he heard Kyoko speaking in a low menacing tone in the alleyway beside the store."Look, Shotaro, I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm here with my fiancé."

Ren crept to the corner, where he could see them both, but he was shadowed. It was Kyoko's show, he knew that, but she had backup.

"Have you let him kiss you yet?"

"None of your business," she said, but her face entirely gave her away. Ren could not have been more pleased.

"Well, I never would have figured you for that kind of tramp," Fuwa sneered. "Guess I should have."

Kyoko visibly calmed herself. "I don't care what you think, Shotaro. I don't have to answer to you for my personal life." She raised her head and spoke with finality that was far more powerful than anger. "And I'm not going to be dragged away from my work, time after time, because you have some bug up your butt. Stop showing up at my shoots or here and disrupting my work."

"I need to talk to you." Fuwa sneered.

"Too bad," Kyoko retorted, stomping her foot. "I'm not at your disposal. I don't have to answer to you. Once I gave you that power over me, but you threw it away. I don't belong to you any more."

"That's what you think."

"Damn right, it's what I think. Look, Shotaro, if you have some professional issue you want to take up in the future, call LME and set up an appointment. Otherwise, leave me alone."

He made a lunge for her arm, but she avoided him, using a move Ren had used himself as Cain. Ren couldn't help smiling, even as he stood poised to deal with Fuwa physically if required.

"Don't you dare touch me," Kyoko hissed, eyes slitted into golden beams of light. "Don't ever touch me again. I only came out here with you this last time to say one thing."

"And what is that?"

"Goodbye, Shotaro." She turned and opened the side door on Duruyuma. Fuwa had apparently not expected it because it took him a second before he lunged again. Kyoko left the door open, but dodge him again, maneuvered away from the door. Fuwa pursued, trying to grab her hand, her arm, snatch her into his arms, but she was too quick, too slick to catch. Ren would have gone in already, but he was fascinated by how well she had absorbed Cain's moves just by watching him.

Fuwa was shouting as he chased her. "Don't you tell me goodbye! I've never given you permission! You're still mine!"

"Bullshit!" Kyoko snarled, slipping underneath his lunge. "I'm not your adoring slave any more."

"Is this about that kiss?"

"Are you stupid? This isn't about you at all! It's about me and what I want. I don't need to waste any more of my life worrying about you. My success will be satisfying enough no matter what, because I'll have done it for me."

"You mean for Tsuraga Ren!"

"Ren will be pleased, too. He's always worked for my future, but because it mattered to me, not for his own gratification. Stop trying to grab me! Leave me alone."

"I can't!" Fuwa shouted, stopping. "I can't! I need you to straighten me out when I need it, to spur me on. I didn't know it before, but I know it now. I can't let you be with someone else, not when I need you."

Kyoko looked up at him, tenderness in her eyes. Ren felt his breath catch in his throat. She lifted a hand and gently touched his face. "Too bad. I'm sorry, Shotaro. It's too late. You'll have to make it on your own because I just don't need you any more. And I won't be yours to control ever again."

Fuwa grabbed her by the hips and yanked her toward him. "I won't allow it!"

Ren was moving, but so was Kyoko, who boxed Fuwa's ears, then kicked him away. "Never again, Shotaro. Never." Behind Kyoko, Taicho came storming out, swinging his cleaver, but Ren had already grabbed Fuwa and pinned his arms behind his back before he could touch Kyoko again.

"That's it," Ren breathed in Fuwa's ear, letting menace flavor his tone. "You had your chance. You blew it. You won't get another, ever again."

Fuwa shook himself, trying to wrench his arms free. "Let go, you bastard, or I'll beat you like I beat that Beagle."

"Be grateful you're pinned, though if you keep moving that way, you'll wrench your own muscles. Because a scandal involving you at this time would upset Kyoko, I'm going to let you walk away unharmed."

"Ha! Let me go and fight me like a man."

"If I did, you'd be lucky if you came out of the hospital before your next single comes out. I'm not exaggerating. I could kill you five different ways if I wanted to."

"Like hell! You couldn't hurt anyone."

Ren pulled up just slightly on the arms, a move he knew to be excruciating, "Test me, you piece of shit. I'd love it. I'll shield Kyoko's reputation with mine. Yours, on the other hand, will take a beating. So much for being 'cool.'"

Fuwa tried to wrench himself away again and Ren let him go, prepared to defend himself or Kyoko if required, but not really expecting it. Sure enough, Fuwa pulled himself back, studying Ren's stance and face in the half-dark, then glancing at Kyoko's sneer and the pugnacious Taicho. Ren suspected others from the restaurant were out there, watching. Fuwa might guess as that as well. "Have it your way! Damn, here you are, beloved by millions, throwing yourself away on a nobody like Kyoko, even when you know she'll never love you like she loved me."

Ren took a step forward, he couldn't help it. "Kyoko was never a nobody, which is why she was always too good for you. Someday, you'll be stunned by what she's accomplished but I won't. I already know how incredible she is. As for loving, I hope she doesn't love me like she loved you, because that love is over and I want ours to last the rest of our lives." He took another step forward and smiled, BJ's smile, when Fuwa took a step back. "Last chance to make your escape unscathed."

"Fine!" Fuwa said, with a pathetic attempt at cool. "You'll both regret this. In five years, no one will remember either of you and I'll still be top of the charts, with a beautiful woman on either arm."

Kyoko came to stand next to Ren, "And we'll still be happy and you, who knows? Go home, Shotaro. There's nothing for you here any more."

Fuwa did a credible job of gathering up his shattered dignity, considering the number of unfriendly eyes on him, and walked away with surprising nonchalance. The little prick would probably bounce back just fine and take out his frustrations with another series of top hits. Too bad it would never fill the void he wouldn't even admit he had.

Ren wrapped an arm around Kyoko, then kissed her on the forehead. "You are incredible, you know that. You cut him down to size just by letting him go."

"Yeah. I can't even enjoy it because he's just so pitiful. I mean, he deserves it, but still, it means nothing. You were right about that."

Ren felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and turned to face the Taicho who was nearly, but not quite, smiling. "I like you," he said. "You handled that selfish jerk very well. I will trust you with Kyoko, but," and he brandished his cleaver menacingly. "If you ever treat her like that boy, I will come find you."

Ren bowed his head. "She'll be moving in with me tomorrow. Will that be a problem?"

He nodded. "I'll help you both pack after we close. She was a good employee, like a daughter to me. You take care of her."

Kyoko wrapped her arms around Ren's arms and answered for both of them. "We'll take care of each other."

All in all, Ren thought, it had been a very busy and very satisfying day.

And tomorrow was looking up as well.

Maid-Sama: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-09-09T23:44:00.005-05:00

Maid-Sama (aka Kaichō wa Maid-sama!) by Hiro Fujiwara is the kind of school-centric, gimmicky-seeming story that could have become hokey or stupid or perverted (or all three) and desperately unappealing. Instead,I found it hilarious and charming with the occasional soupcon of drama and action. Once again (as it so often is with me), the characters are the key factor to making me fall in love with it because the plot is stupid. However, in all fairness, almost everything about this manga is hilarious, including the little side-bars and the Q&A stuff and even those parts about the author.

Unfortunately, this is one of my two on-going mangas that took a hit when Tokyopop went toes up earlier this year. Which means, as in love with this manga as I am, I'm stymied by the fact that I can't purchase any of the remaining books in English unless someone picks up the licenses (that are now available) and publishes them. Ironically, they just got a license for the anime in the US (though it is subtitled, not dubbed) so that's selling here. And books up until that point in the manga (and beyond) are available in English. Just not the rest of them.

Yes, I'm irked. I'm irked enough I'm going to add a new box to the side that includes links to several of the scanlation sites available on-line, where this and nearly every other manga can be read on-line. Now the whole scanlation-no scanlation debate is worthy of its own post, which I may or may not write, but not today. Suffice it to say that I read all my ongoing "gotta have 'em all mangas" on scanlations because they usually come out months if not years before the books are available. I'm not apologizing. I own every single available English volume of my favorite mangas (in fact, every one in my "Has a Certain Appeal" - except those not available in English at all and Alice in the Country of Hearts - another Tokyopop casualty with only one volume left to go. And that's true for most of my "Okay" ones, too. For Maid-Sama and my other GHEA manga, Shinobi Life, I've bought the volumes I can't get in English in Japanese, since I'm learning it for Tokyo Crazy Paradise. But I hate that I can't buy copies here in the States. I'm hopeful that Maid-Sama will someday get someone picking up its license.

In the meantime, it sucks. And makes it hard for me to recommend it to my friends. It's a real pity because this is a great manga.

If you read happen to read this manga, don't skip the sidebar stuff or any side stories. The mangaku's irreverent humor is laugh out loud funny whether she's trying to make her self-portrait more palatable or hosting a Q&A session disrupted by Usui. They're not only charming, they build on the layers of characters. Maid-sama also a manga that has no problems laughing at itself or many common aspects of manga thinking (a trait I always find appealing). Even though it has its serious sides, it doesn't take itself too seriously. And it has sarcasm, one of my absolutely favorite kind of humor. There is an anime, though it's subbed, and, yes, I recommend that, too. Sometimes the beauty of the characters doesn't come through when they do an anime. In my opinion, the characters are even more beautiful than in the manga, with the same humor and charm they display on the page. Which is fantastico.

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 13 (8 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: Nothing here I'd be uncomfortable with a teenager reading. But then, I'm pretty progressive.

Taboos and "warnings": Some sexual allusion. Violence is frequent but not graphic and probably supposed to portray "friendly" ribbing. Cross-dressing here and there.

Premise: A poor girl with a chip on her shoulder about men becomes student council president of a school that recently became co-ed and where girls are in the minority. She determines to clean up the school and it's image, which she does aggressively with some level of violence and force of will. The only boy in school who can stand against her (though he really isn't the take-a-stand type) spots her in the extra job that embarrasses her mightily, working in a Maid Cafe, which is all about deference. Her initial fear becomes bafflement as he preserves her secret and tries to build a relationship with her.

What works: Takumi Usui, the one who finds out about her embarrassing part-time job (which is not a sleezy job, by the way). Usui is one of those "perfect" characters (whose perfection is part of the joke going through the whole book), smart, capable, rich, athletic, attracting all girls, all without any apparent effort. His effortless ability to do what she strives to do annoys our heroine no end. What's cool, though, is his interest, even fascination with the workaholic bristly class president, Ayuzawa Misaki. (Student councils apparently have a great deal more power and responsibility in Japan's high schools than they do here, by the way.) Misaki, who has everything she has through hard work and perseverance, makes things harder on herself by insisting on doing it all herself and taking on responsibility for everyone. Which means that it isn't necessarily because he's better, but because she's taking on too much.

As with many who have things too easy, he doesn't care about anything. He doesn't care what his classmates think (which makes him desperately popular). He isn't worried about being embarrassed or worshiped or hated or despised. In fact, you soon get the sense that one reason he's so successful is that he isn't trying too hard, which is the same reason people like him. It's only as he sees Misaki (the student council president) caring about everything too much that he finds anything that matters to him. The one person who doesn't like him without effort becomes the one person he wants to like him more than anything.

He has to work at it, work around her suspicion and her touchiness and her fear of her own reaction to him. He does so with patience and grace and gentleness and unflinching humor, while being dragged into any number of stupid escapades, often made more dangerous with the president barreling in without hesitation or any notion of self-preservation. He not only doesn't seem to mind, but has no hesitation sabotaging his own reputation or embarrassing himself and even seems to do so for his own amusement. He is hilarious and appears to have a complete grasp of everything except Misaki. He is protective and possessive, but also encouraging. He helps her learn to share her burdens, appreciate new viewpoints, even enjoy herself now and again. He is the perfect foil for her workaholic without being a lazy no-account.
It would be really easy to let such a character come across as overbearing or competitive or patronizing. That the author doesn't do so and, in fact, balances Usui's excessive brilliance with charm and an almost complete lack of self-importance (without imbuing him with false modesty) does a great deal to make him fun.

I like the lead, too. Although too bristly, too pushy and somewhat prone to tunnel vision, Misaki also cares deeply about people (even the boys), takes her responsibilities very much to heart and learns. That, alone, is a fine feature in a shoujo manga because that is not always so. She works hard and learns to appreciate people, friends and enemies alike, with an excellent instinct on who to trust, even if she doesn't consciously acknowledge it. She understand about responsibility in a way Usui doesn't so they balance each other nicely. Her earnestness is appealing without being preachy. I like a character who goes after everything 100%.

Villains are pretty darned villainous, which is nice. They're easy to hate without being cardboard. Side characters are absolutely a laugh riot, adding color and humor, particularly Yakimura who is the butt of a running gag through the entire series and manages this without losing his own humanity.

The humor is pervasive without sacrificing our characters. I laughed out loud repeatedly, either from Usui's sarcasm, the beat perfect sight gags, or the side bars or tongue-in cheek messages from the author. Nothing was sacred and I always find that amusing.

The artwork was nice without being awe-inspiring. The dialog for Usui was often more speaking than his face, which was largely drawn with the same (or nearly same) enigmatic expression. Often the in between sketching, without the fine detail, are the funniest panels. Still, it works as a whole, so I'm not complaining.

Quotes:

Usui: Hey, Ms. President, could you be a masochist? Since you seem to enjoy inflicting all this pain on yourself, maybe you're also a sadist.

Usui: In my opinion, giving a kiss is much better than receiving one.

Usui: I think you're fine just the way you are now. As in, if I had you as my little sister, just as you are now . . .
Misaki: If you had me as I am now?
Usui: I'd find it incredibly hot.

Misaki: How long are you going to follow me?
Usui: To the ends of the earth.
Misaki: Don't you ever think about things before you say them? You're totally grossing me out - even more than usual.

Misaki: Never mind that--why were you waiting for me?
Usui: You needn't let it disturb you. Since I am but a humble stalker.

What I didn't like: Like many school-centric mangas the scenarios, motivations and overall plot is frequently absurd. That's not entirely bad, since it's a huge aspect of the humor, but I had to roll my eyes once in a while. But I was usually laughing at the same time. And, let's not forget, you can no longer get the whole set in English, and even those that were previously published are getting scarce. Grr. On Amazon.com, only volume 7 is still available while the rest can all be had, but some are already at the $20-30 dollar range. Glad I grabbed them when I could.

Maid-Sama can be found on-line, but you'll have to look for "Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama." ("The Student President Is a Maid") The translation is often considerably different, losing the punchline with the on-line version, but sometimes picking up subtleties missed in the official version. There's a lot to translate with this one. And, of course, you can't get any new ones any more officially in English, not unless someone else picks up the license. If someone does, the title may also change.

High School Debut: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-09-04T13:36:00.009-05:00

High School Debut, aka Koukou Debut by Kawahara Kazune may be one of the hardest manga ever for me to explain why I like it enough to be a "Gotta Have 'Em All." It has characters that are nothing like characters I generally identify with. It's almost entirely set in school and dealing with school problems and relationships that as a 43-year-old woman, I generally couldn't care less about. I don't care for the artwork. And yet, it's a favorite and I had to have them all and I still love them. Another of Amazon's recommendations, I was, before reading, put off by the very high school setting and the clinched Pygmalion premise. When I opened it, I was put off, rather dramatically, by the artwork.

It's ugly. Oh, I know the critics have praised it for the clean style and layout, dynamic figures and emotional expression (I'll endorse that last one). Since I'm not an art expert, I can't say whether that's true or not. I didn't notice any clever dynamics and I thought it was ugly, even the pictures I liked most, but I will say it worked for this story, very effectively conveyed emotion and, long before I'd reached the end, I'd gotten used to it.

Still ugly though.

Something else it is, though, in spades, is funny. Yes, laugh out loud funny, without the use of slapstick or many of the meaner forms of humor. No gimmicks, just normal people being funny. It also has characters that are not your standard cardboard, have charm and souls, flaws and failings, yet manage to be wonderful people you don't mind spending 13 volumes with (and might be willing to spend more, but alas...).

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 13 Status: Complete

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range:This is one of the cleanest mangas ever. If someone wanted one for their kid just starting out reading manga, I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this one to anyone with a double digit age.

Taboos and "warnings": I honestly can't think of any and, if I had any, Viz media went overboard in cleaning it for US consumption. Only in a couple of places, but one, in particular struck me, when Yoh is sick and the directions for the cooling gel pads clearly say to put them forehead, underarms, etc., groin and Viz Media says "foot" instead of groin. Which diffuses the joke. Not to mention, they left the picture pointing somewhere other than the foot. But I digress. No, wait, one male to male kiss, but there was nothing romantic about it.

Premise: Haruna, having given her all to softball in middle school, has her heart set on having a boyfriend like all the girls in her beloved shoujo manga do in high school. Following the self-help advice she finds in the magazines, she determines to attract a boyfriend. With no luck whatsoever. Overhearing a talk to a stranger [Yoh] (who rescues her shoe) that "he knows what men like," she determines to enlist his aid as a makeover coach. He's reluctant but eventually gets sucked in under the promise that she won't fall in love with him.

What works: The premise. No really, it does. Because, instead of some sweet but uncouth person being polished into a diamond, you see a sweet but natural person trying to force herself into the mold of someone else in order to be appealing and a coach who helps her by undoing that and helping her accept herself as she is, see her own charms, rather than trying to staple someone else's idea of a charming bit to her.

Is it predictable? Duh. Of course she'll fall in love with him and vice versa, but she doesn't do so right away. And there are actually quite a few interesting side trips and development that I, at least, didn't see coming. Yoh, who could be the poster child for good advice for young women, is constantly straddling the line where he wants Haruna to be herself but still grow and not be so naive. He also works to remind her she doesn't have to sell herself short, that "any" boyfriend is not better than no boyfriend at all.

But the premise part of it only carried through the first two volumes. So, what works for the other eleven? Primarily the main characters. Haruna is the kind of character, nominally, I would find irksome. Earnest (uber-earnest in fact), she IS naive and takes the advice of nearly everyone at face value. She's trusting and and simple and has little to no egotism. So, not my type of heroine (generally), but, and Yoh picks up on this, she can't help being herself all the time, either, no matter what advice she gets. And Haruna is a nice person. Sweet, earnest, compassionate, forgiving, thoughtful, protective, hardworking. When she knows what she wants, she'll do everything in her power to make it so. She doesn't give up. She doesn't give in. And, although she thinks from the beginning, she's not good enough for Yoh, she's got enough self-worth to tell him straight out instead of pussy-footing around it eleventy-seven chapters (as has so often been done). There is no meanness, no manipulation, no subterfuge in Haruna. And that's pretty appealing.

Yoh, however, is a whole different ballgame. It's actually hard to get a bead on him at first except he's pretty obviously a nice guy. He's blunt and to the point, obviously intelligent, capable of sarcasm. Although he is ostensibly good looking (something one sometimes has to take on faith given the artwork, though, admittedly sometimes it comes through), he isn't particularly popular because he eschews girls since many have a hard time with his blunt way of speaking. He does share with his sister a dazzling power he uses only when necessary. Haruna takes his blunt criticisms at face value, treating it like pearls of wisdom and largely idolizing Yoh, which would make for an unhealthy relationship except that Yoh is well-aware of his shortcomings, painfully aware of them in fact, and suitably aware of Haruna's strengths, to a degree she even misses. She brings out the best in him, which he knows. And, once he has her in his life, he's well aware how much he needs her. He appreciates her without being blind to her flaws. And that's why it works.

Yoh is not just insightful when it comes to Haruna. He understands his sister (and manages to love her anyway without being even a little fooled as to her shortcomings) and his friends. There's a nice supporting cast here, too. Yoh's self-absorbed sister, Haruna's ex-catcher now friend, Yoh's two friends, one as sharp and sarcastic as Yoh himself (but less reserved and more socially adept), one who is as lovably stupid and earnest as Haruna only, get this, more so. We pick up one or two more along the way, but that's the core.

The manga manages not to drag or seem insipid despite an almost complete lack of any significant things happening (no natural disasters or murdered family members), no flashbacks to childhood horror a la Fruits Basket, in fact, very little focus on anyone outside the main group except for short excursions here or there. And no villains. Oh, a few people come and disrupt the happiness here and there, cause trouble, even do unkind things, but one can readily see their motivations (generally more pathetic than evil) and move on. No Haruna, Yoh and company manage to deal with very standard relationship stuff, grow together, learn together and enjoy each others company in a way that makes the shoujo manga standard "year separation" seem ok, that and the fact that they were both partners in deciding they could live with it.

With none of the smooth larger than life characters so frequently found in manga nor ridiculous events happening outside the scope of reality or in fact, any over-the-top scenarios at all, it manages to be consistently entertaining and charming. And I still don't entirely know why.

Favorite character: Yoh. Not because I don't love Haruna - I do and she's well done - but I know what it's like to be the only person who gets it. Yoh has the whole picture. He sees everyone's strengths and weaknesses, can appreciate the former without ignoring the latter. His genuine attachment to Haruna, while not stronger than hers, has the appeal of being without idolization. His very real concern for her happiness, his patience, his realization that, as the real Haruna continues to shine through, others will also appreciate her (gratifying but frightening, too, if you want her to stay with you), is wonderfully human and beautiful. Even his surprise when she does something wonderful for him he didn't expect is charming. He can't help himself.

Quotes:

Haruna: You know what, I think I've fallen in love and...
Yoh: It's Fumi, isn't it?
Haruna: How can you tell?
Yoh: You're such an open book.
Asumi: I kind of knew about it too.
Haruna: Aaagh! Really?!! Th-then do you think Fumi-san knows it too?
Yoh: Nah, no way. He's the most dense person I've ever met in my entire life. Though you're an infinitely close second.

Looking at old essays for insight into what he wants in college: "My dream is to be a triceratops."
Yoh: Well, no way that's going to happen.

Y0h: If you were to fight with Fumi...at that time, I'll...I'll think it's your fault.
Asumi: WHY? He could have cheated on me!
Yoh: He definitely wouldn't do that.
Fumi: I definitely wouldn't do that.
Yoh: It's also your fault if he cheats on you.

Haruna: Ah, a two-person ski-lift. It really feels like we're dating.
Yoh: That's because we are dating.
Haruna: In life, you don't get to fall down so many times in one day. This is pretty fun.
Yoh: Is it?

Haruna: I got hit on!
Strange male: Oh, so you're boyfriend's here. Please excuse me.
Haruna: He was trying to pick me up! Isn't that incredible?
Yoh: It's not incredible! Don't get picked up!
Haruna: This is the first time I've been hit on my entire life!
Yoh: Don't get hit on up here! What are you so happy about?
Haruna: I'm not happy. It's more like...surprised?

What I didn't like:I didn't particularly go for the artwork (in case you missed it). I still haven't figured out the charm so prevalent in manga for having a minimum one year separation that proves the relationship. It's set in Hokkaido, which is why everyone's body looks dumpy and frumpy. I would have liked to see the last couple in the six-some become a couple (why not?).

It's ironic because there are a great many similarities between Kimi No Todoke, which you may have noticed, I just didn't like. Similar pace, premise, even artistic style, but, as I find these characters charming, those I just found irksome.

Really, I have little to complain about. I liked it and I didn't really expect to. I can't even clearly say why. That probably says there's something ineffable here that makes it a charmer. It should be noted that many agree with me. It was amazingly popular in Japan while it was going.

Fanfiction Skip Beat!: Date with Natsu

2011-08-25T20:57:00.007-05:00

If you are interested in reading this, start here or, even if you're a fan, you'll get confused. Note that the disclaimer and introduction still apply. And I'm really almost done with this.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen" 'cause, unlike the manga, there's actual sex. Especially this chapter.

When Ren pulled into the parking lot at the studio so Kyoko could film her scenes for Box R, Kyoko had long since lost sight of what she was feeling. Too much, too fast, her heart was overloaded. Ironically, her mind was no longer reeling but crystal clear...unless she tried to sort anything out. Ren, with an apparent ease she couldn't help but admire had changed everything. Cradled in Ren's—no Kuon's—large but gentle hands, she'd been carried above the tide of frenetic activity as Ren, Yashiro and President Takarada changed the entire landscape of her future.

In some ways, it was too easy, with her only responsibility coming to grips with new truths: who Ren was, really, having a father she'd already coveted who would be her father for real (Koo and Kyoko had both wept on the phone along with Ren's mother, "Julienna," who Kyoko had never met), knowing and accepting Ren loved her, really loved her. The fairy tale, complete with her gorgeous, clever and accomplished prince in disguise, had landed in her lap without fanfare or warning, without requiring her to lift an additional finger to take it all.

And she had Ren, beautiful, gifted, admirable, caring and protective, as the man who loved her. How was that possible? His heart-stopping heavenly smile, his unnerving Emperor of the Night look, both belonged to her, both thrilled her in entirely different ways. As her mind wandered back to the feel of Ren's long-fingered hands on her skin, the feel of his mouth that explored her with a thoroughness that made her skin heat at the recollection, the fairy tale dreams of her youth seemed insipid and colorless by comparison.

"Kyoko," he said softly, opening her door to hand her out. "You're looking particularly radiant. What are you thinking about?"

Her cheeks flooded as she tried to figure out how to answer him. Not with the truth, or she'd never get her color under control for work. "So much has been happening, it feels unreal. I don't know how I'll get my focus back for Natsu."

He lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss with a look that made Kyoko suspect he knew exactly what she'd been thinking, before he tucked her hand in his arm. "You will. You're a professional. And I very much want to see your Natsu in action. Filming's almost over so this may be my only chance." He glanced around as they began the short walk to the studio, then stopped still. "That," he said with emphasis, "looks like one of the boss' cars."

As if his voice provided the magic words, the door of the shimmering lavender Rolls opened and disgorged a very pretty girl child with a less-than-pretty expression on her dainty features. Behind her, President Takarada, blinding in a glittery ensemble of Renaissance splendor, unfolded himself with a rueful expression on his face.

Maria was not so reticent and marched right up to Kyoko. "You liar! I thought you didn't love Rem. That you weren't going to love anybody."

Kyoko crouched automatically so that their eyes were even. Given Maria's long-standing crush on Ren, Kyoko had known Maria would be upset. The best she could offer was honesty. "So did I, but I was wrong. Turns out I do love him, very much."

"I loved him first!"

"I know. But Ren and I have learned to love each other. We want to be together."

Maria refused to unbend, her lips a tight line. "It's not fair."

"Probably not. Life frequently isn't. But it doesn't change how I feel about him or how I feel about you," Kyoko said.

"Well it changes how I feel about you!" Maria shouted, stamping a foot, eyes bright with angry tears. "I hate you!"

Kyoko'd prepared herself, but it still stung.

Ren had also crouched down and opened his arms to Maria, but Maria hung back. "Maria," he said softly. "Do you think I won't love you any more if I love Kyoko?"

"Why? Why do you love her? Why are you marrying her?"

"Because she touches me and amazes me," he said simply. "The same reasons you love her."

Maria stole a glance at Kyoko, but gave Ren most of her attention. "You'll never marry me," she accused, as a tear slid down.

"No, I won't. I can be your big brother, though." He said, "Are you really going to stop loving Kyoko?"

The second tear fell and her lip was trembling now, instead of tight. She looked at her toe before glancing up at Ren through her lashes. "I've always wanted a big brother."

He grinned as she leapt into his arms. "I'll forgive you, but I'm keeping your doll in case you ever change your mind."

Caught up high on Ren's chest, she sheepishly looked around at Kyoko. "I'm sorry, onee-san. I didn't mean it. It's just hard to give up a dream."

Kyoko crept closer and hugged them both from behind. "I know. It is hard and it won't be exactly the same, but then again, it might even be better. Will you be my flower girl at the wedding?"

"Will I? Absolutely! I'll be the most beautiful girl there!" Maria said without hesitation, then turned back to Ren and touched his nose. "And you'll be able to see what you'll be missing."

Ren stood with Maria still in his arms, Kyoko's hand in his other hand. "That will teach me. You know, Maria, Yashiro's still available."

"Huh! He's an old man!"

"I'll be sure to tell him."

That went fairly well, Kyoko thought to herself as she hurried to her dressing room while Ren, Maria, and President Takarada went to talk to the director. Even without everything that had happened the past 24 hours, Kyoko wondered how well she'd be acting with Ren and the President both watching. As she carefully applied makeup and put on her school uniform, Kyoko fretted. Would she be able to find Natsu as easily as she usually could?

The answer came sooner than she expected for, when she came back to the set, Ren was under siege by nearly every female cast member from Box R. Maria was now in front of Ren in a defensive position, but the President and the director were deep in conversation on the other side of the studio, ignoring the whole situation.

Natsu arrived unbidden, Kyoko found, changing her stride and her stance as she bore down on the crowd of imploring women that circled her fiancé. With Natsu's leggy stride, she could soon hear what was being said.

"You stay away from Ren," Maria warned, her posture as menacing and futile as that of an angry kitten. "He belongs to Kyoko!"

"It's a stunt, isn't it?" one girl cried. "'Cause you have the same agency."

Other girls took up the cry. "You can't be getting married!" "Ren! Ren! No!" "Why Kyoko?" "Kyoko's nothing special!""Say it isn't so, Ren!"

Ren looked distinctly flustered, even alarmed as the women clamored around him. Looked like her prince needed rescuing, and Natsu was just the girl to do it. Without checking her stride in the slightest, Natsu sliced through the crowd, even bumping an open-mouthed Maria aside with her hip. Without hesitation, Natsu she stood up on her tiptoes and slid her hands up Ren's shoulders before twining them around his neck and giving him a little tug.

When he bent down, uncertain, she planted a lingering kiss on his beautiful mouth, reveling in the spike in his heartbeat she could feel through his shirt, the way he automatically cupped the back of her head with his hands. She left him, trembling and gasping, and slithered back down his body before turning, her back still plastered against his full length. She let her hand slide back up, toying with the hair at his nape, at his ear as she drawled, "We may all be friends here, ladies, but there are some things a girl just doesn't share."

Maria stared up in amazement, then had to stifle a laugh behind her hand when Natsu winked at her. Natsu felt Ren smile with her drifting fingertips before he bent and kissed the top of her head. "Sorry, girls, I'm taken."

The girls began to back off, some muttering, most looking disappointed. Natsu let her most evil smile touch her lips as she pulled off her engagement ring. "Hold this for me, won't you, darling?"

Ren grinned down at her. "I'm really going to enjoy this afternoon."

Natsu gave him a wink. "I hope you do, handsome. Though I'm a very naughty girl." She rose to her tiptoes again, but didn't kiss him this time, just brushing her lips on his earlobe as she breathed, "But Ren's so staid, it's almost a pity. I think I prefer Cain. I do love danger." Maria could not have heard the whisper.

Ren's eyes blazed as the hand at her back clenched. "If he were here, Natsu, you'd never have gotten away with only one kiss."

Natsu smirked and pushed him away with a laugh before blowing him a kiss and sashaying on to the set. Her little interlude with Ren, staid though he might be, had energized Natsu and she was on fire that afternoon, burning through scene after scene in single takes and taking the rest of the cast with her, enrapt with her performance. If she hardly noticed Maria's or the President's eyes on her as she acted, Natsu was well aware that Ren watched her closely, carefully, his eyes dark and mysterious, completely focused on her.

"Cut! That's a wrap!" the director called out, unable to hide his smile. "That's it for the day, everyone. Great work!"

Kyoko shook herself, Natsu receding, and looked for Ren, but saw no sign of him or the President. "Director! Did you see where...?"

"Nice work today, Kyoko. Even better than the show you put on before we started filming. I think your boyfriend walked the President out earlier. I haven't seen him since."

Kyoko tried not to let it bother her and bowed politely as people congratulated her on the work she'd done. Ren would be back. It's not like he would leave her stranded, even if he were disappointed in her work or upset about her kissing him in public earlier. Kyoko could feel her ears heating at the memory. And after she'd lectured him about a kiss on the cheek in a dressing room! Surely something like that wouldn't change Ren's mind about her...

Even as the thought came up, she found herself unable to take the fear seriously. Her love and acknowledgment of Ren's were new, but her relationship with Ren was of long-standing and had grown over time. He didn't commit to things unless he were committed, dedicated to seeing them through. They were alike in that. She trusted Ren. He said he loved her. It had to be true.

She'd just closed the door to her dressing room, lost in thought, when she was lifted bodily off her feet with two hard hands on her thighs and crushed against the door, her mouth being devoured mercilessly. No way this was the gentleman, Ren. If Kyoko were overwhelmed by the aura of reckless danger, Natsu recognized it immediately and wrenched her mouth free to breath into his ear as her hands fisted in his dark hair. "Cain."

His hands were relentless and rough on her clothes then under them, his mouth voracious as it blazed a trail down her throat. She reveled in his physical power, pinning her against the door as his body strained, hard and hot, with a desire that was her power over him. She gloried in it.

"Don't tell Setsu," he muttered before they both lost their minds.

When Ren pulled into the parking lot some forty-five minutes later, he realized he was still at a loss for words. After they'd used each other in a brutally satisfying way, Natsu had rubbed herself against him like a cat, literally purring, then evaporated leaving a mortified Kyoko in her wake. Kyoko had changed quickly for Yappa Kimagure Rock and they'd left without so much as a word passing between them.

He needed to say something, apologize, make sure she was alright. She didn't appear angry, but he was unable to gauge what she really felt. Had he scared her? He'd nearly scared himself. So many aspects of her appealed to so many aspects of himself, he didn't know how he could keep up, and if he were struggling with it...

"Are you angry with me?" she asked softly. "You don't feel angry but I feel like you should be."

"Me?" he asked, legitimately shocked. "Why would I be angry? Did I hurt you? I was rough—,"

"No," she said with a sigh. "You didn't hurt me. I was, Natsu was, loving it. Natsu has no shame. It was only afterwards... And I loved it too, even though it scared me."

He closed his eyes as he walked around the car to her door. The memory was incredible, arousing. Life with Kyoko would never get boring. But he had to reconcile all her facets just like he had to reconcile his own. "Don't feel ashamed, Kyoko," he assured her, stroking her hair. "You're a very passionate person, more so than even I knew. I'm finding passions in myself I never suspected. Natsu gave you a way to indulge your passions, and mine. It doesn't make you any less Kyoko. At worst, it makes you more."

"And after I lectured you about a kiss on the cheek," she said as he handed her out.

Ren laughed. "Yes, well that should that teach us both. Fortunately, I think I can resist Bo."

"You don't think this will be boring for you?"

"Not a chance. I loved watching you earlier today. I don't want to miss a thing."

If Ren had thought he was being polite when he'd told Kyoko that, he soon discovered that it was true. Kyoko, her mobile fascinating face hidden behind a chicken mask, her versatile voice silent inside the bulky suit, was still mesmerizing. Her every move was perfectly balanced, her gestures evocative, her energy captivating, her lampooning hilarious. And Ren wasn't the only one seduced. The audience was caught up in Bo's antics just like Ren was, dancing to her tune.

She was brilliant.

After the show, as she changed out of her costume while Ren wandered off to fetch her a drink. When he turned from the vending machine, he found himself face to face with an unhappy man just barely taller than Kyoko herself. A quick flip through his mental files and her remembered a name. "Ishibashi Hikaru-san, right? Good show you had there. I think I met you at the thank you party."

"Tsuruga Ren," the young man replied, with a very brief nod and no enthusiasm. "I heard you were marrying Kyoko."

Ah. Now that he was looking for it, Ren could see the signs of distress behind the brown eyes, the hopelessness. "I am marrying her," Ren said gently. "You like her, do you? Can't blame you. Did you tell her?"

"I tried to," he said. "I asked her out lots of times, but I don't think she ever understood that I was asking her out out."

Ren snorted, then held up a hand before the kid bristled. "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. I know just how you feel. Subtlety, when it comes to romance, is completely wasted on Kyoko. I feel for you."

"You wouldn't want to postpone..."

"No. No I wouldn't," Ren said, trying not to laugh again."But I don't blame you for asking."

Hikaru shrugged. "Well, I didn't think you really would and I guess I can't blame you for that. I know everyone likes you, girls scream over you, but you're lucky to have her. Don't you forget it."

"I don't intend to."

"Treat her right," he said, with as much menace as that sweet-faced boy could muster. "She's special."

Kyoko burst through the her dressing room door, tidy, charming, her smile as bright as her eyes. Instantly, Hikaru was forgotten. "She surely is."

See part seven: Shoudown

Fruits Basket: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-08-16T07:57:00.003-05:00

If I'm going to talk about my favorite manga, I have to start with the one that first captured my interest: Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. I never read comic books as a kid. I was neither enamored or repelled by the anime I'd seen to date, though husband and daughter were both fans. Even the shows I'd seen and liked really didn't have a profound impact on me. Then, my daughter, who was a fan of both anime and manga, asked me to watch the anime Fruits Basket with her (first disc rented via Netflix). I was enamored before the disc was completed and had to rent them all. Then buy them for her, then for myself. Then I read the first manga of the series. Then the rest.

The series is over now at 23 volumes and, yes, I have them all, pre-ordering the English version as soon as I could. I've read the whole series now multiple times and I still can't tell you exactly why it so appealed to me. I think that's part of my manga obsession, the fact that there's an ineffable something that calls to me in some of these manga that I can't put my finger on. I know that Fruits Basket (anime and manga) have made me laugh, made me cry, made me think, made me feel. Really, what more could a story do?

I'm not alone in my admiration. Fruits Basket is the #2 Shojo manga in Japan and it's #1 in the US, at least according to Wikipedia (which is a terrific resource for anime and manga information). There's something about this complex, character-heavy (and this is a true ensemble cast), often desperately sad manga that touches people. It touched me.

Anime: Yes Volumes of manga: 23 Status: Complete

My rating: Gotta have 'em all (anime, too)

Age range: I wouldn't personally have an issue for 12+ kids, but I'm pretty progressive.

Taboos and "warnings": Some sexual innuendo, some violence, neither of it particularly graphic. Homosexual flirting and cross-dressing. There's indication of some underage sex between teens. Romance between adults and teenagers (over the Japanese age of consent).

Premise: (Perhaps one of the stupidest premises ever) Thirteen members of the wealthy and influential Sohma family will transform into their zodiac counterparts (+ cat) when stressed or "hugged" by someone of the other gender (who isn't a zodiac counterpart). Tohru Honda stumbles into this secret and becomes an integral part of the secret part of the family, striving to undo the "curse."

Common manga themes: (1) overwork=fever=collapse (2) no one is irredeemably bad (3) who one is is more important than what one is (4) acceptance of others goes hand in hand with accepting oneself (5) our view of ourselves and what others see can vary to alarming degrees (6) novelists are perverts (though, admittedly, this might not be a manga theme so much as my own observation). Like most of the mangas I've seen, brainy boys are popular (though they frequently excel at sports, too), in contrast to how they are frequently perceived here in the States. Food for thought there.

What works: I think it says a great deal that this story works despite the silly premise and the Pollyanna main character. Tohru, the focus in many ways, is almost painfully humble and always looks for the good in people. That could readily get sickening, but it turns out to balance nicely with the emotionally scarred Sohma clan (and doesn't entirely negate her own scars). Her refusal to be judgmental, her acceptance of everyone, even if they are overtly hostile, and give in return really indicate a strength instead of a passivity, which is appropriate in my opinion, and that's how it's portrayed. Her cloying humility does get frustrating at times, but her defenders are legion and she never hesitates to stand up for others even if she doesn't stand for herself so much. She's quite intrepid if she feels its required, though perhaps more polite than always strictly called for.

Pacing is frequently a challenge, particularly for a long manga, but I think this one works despite its length largely because the cast is so diverse and complex (rather than pat standard side characters). Although there is a potential for the shojo standard reverse harem (one girl with many male potential admirers), it's generally more family-like with really only Yuki and Kyo as serious potential love interests. The side stories and complicated emotional histories of the various characters have considerable depth and, frequently, charm. Sometimes, they are downright heart-wrenching and it's somewhat intriguing to me how the author used the silly premise to highlight some key family interactions. Momiji's past (and his Tohru-like acceptance) of a horrific situation was particularly touching for me.

Interspersed with the considerable drama are moments of hilarity and believable teenage interaction. Shigure is frequently hilarious and sarcastic (especially when tormenting his editor), but Yuki, despite a deep sweetness for Tohru, can be equally cutting. Hatsuharu's method for proving his white-on-black hair color is natural to the Student Council President is probably my favorite moment ever. Much of the "violence" is funnier than it is, well, violent. Some of it definitely is not.

The artwork can be quite effective, particularly in relating emotion and mood. Boys and girls both tend to look a bit on the effeminate side, but the emotion that can be conveyed with just pictures is truly amazing and frequently effective. The author's style changed over the course of the manga to smoother faces and blanker looking eyes. I'm not sure that I didn't like the earlier style better, but that's probably a personal preference.

Favorite character: Hatsuharu. Of the main trilogy (Kyo, Yuki and Tohru), Yuki is definitely my favorite, but, overall, I love Hatsuharu. He does everything 100%, he's loyal and protective. He's sharper than you think. He's deadpan when he delivers his most delicious lines. Although less charismatic than Yuki, he probably is more effective in getting things done in his quiet way. No fanfare. I even love his dark side. Although younger than our main three, he is far more progressive in many ways, not the least of which is sexually. And he's tough, defending others, older and younger, without question.

Some of many quotes I liked:

Shigure: We have just witnessed a classic example of what I like to call 'misdirected rage.' I believe the technical term is 'being an ass.'

Yuki: I wish you'd stop making your inferiority complex my problem.

Kagura: I will forgive him right after I kill him!

Shigure: Perfect, now why don't you heat that up for us, Yuki?
Yuki: You're kidding, right?
Shigure: Of course, you're not too handy in the kitchen, are you? Well, Kyo, I guess that leaves you.
Kyo: Why do I gotta do it?
Shigure: No, no, it's all right. If you don't mind letting the last of the wonderful beef stew that Tohru put her heart and soul into preparing for us get burnt to a crisp, than neither do I. After all, I suppose burnt beef stew would be just as satisfying as burn miso soup or burnt rice or burnt eggs or any of the fine burnt dises Yuki used to make for us before Torhur fell into our lives. Ah well, we all seemed to do quite well on our charcoal-rich dieat and I'm sure there's no reason why we won't grow accustomed to it again.

Hatsuharu: Do that again and they'll be tracing you with chalk.

What I didn't like: I could easily have done without the Yuki fan club and most of the whole student council nonsense. I frequently skip those sections when I read the manga. Although a common theme, the tendency to have everyone redeemed at the end can feel contrived and make conflict lackluster, something I think happened toward the end. Given the extent of the early malevolence, it all seemed too gentle.

The curse and the devotion toward Akito that came with it made the male characters (in particular) seem more passive than I usually like in male or female characters (perhaps why Hatsuharu stands out for me). Sohmas were largely reactive and passive, wanting things to change but waiting for someone else to do it. I don't often say this, but the story could probably have used a bit more testosterone.

Also, Tohru did not end up with who I wanted her to end up with. Given my love of romance, it says something about the story that this was a minor point.

The anime, which did not move anywhere near as far into the story as the manga, was charming, has a lovely set of dubbed voice in English and did everything for me the manga did, only in less time. If you're not sure who'd gonna get the girl, the end of the anime gives a pretty strong hint.

Fanfiction: Tokyo Crazy Paradise: Afterglow

2011-08-11T11:40:00.003-05:00

Fanfiction: Tokyo Crazy Paradise: Consummation

2011-08-10T10:45:00.007-05:00

Okay, this is a first for me. I've never had the urge to write fan fiction because, truthfully, coming up with characters and scenarios has never been a problem. When I've been prompted by something to write before, it was usually because a good idea was so badly mangled I had to rework it into something good. Admittedly, it was usually unrecognizable long before I was through with it (and that was largely epic poetry that will never see the light of day).

But Nakamura Yoshiki, author/artist for Tokyo Crazy Paradise and Skip Beat! has built such terrific sequences and characters that I couldn't stop myself. Whereas the bit I wrote for Tokyo Crazy Paradise is a bit of consummation after the end of the series (which is complete); it's just speculation using someone else's story. Note that I have also written fanfiction for Skip Beat that begins here.

If you haven't read the manga, you probably will be confused. If you want to read it but haven't yet (and I definitely recommend it), I'd avoid reading this because spoilers are built all through it. In fact, this is unlikely to be of any interest to anyone other than a fan of Tokyo Crazy Paradise if even that because this is how I see the characters.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. This fanfiction is "older Teen."

Ryuuji leaned over and whispered something to Bun-san. Tsukasa wasn't close enough to hear more than "android invasion" and "without disturbing us."

"Of course, Sandaime."

When Bun-san left, Ryuuji went with him and closed the door behind him. And locked it.
When she started and turned sideways on the couch, he met her eyes directly. The impact was staggering. She could feel blood steal into her cheeks, her heart hammering in her chest. "What are you doing? It's only 2:30. Don't you have some sort of work scheduled?"

He shrugged, loosening his tie. "I might have once, but I've just told Bun-san to cancel whatever I had on my schedule through tomorrow. No one's to disturb us for any reason up to and including android invasion."

He tossed his tie on the coffee table, still sauntering toward her. All at once, she became painfully aware that this suite wasn't just his center of operations, complete with computers, tables and couches. It was also his bedroom.

She knew that look in his eyes, had seen it nearly since the beginning, even if she hadn't originally understood its significance. That look had become more frequent of late, more obvious, less patient. No harrowing experience from the past year scared her as much as that look in his eyes. Or thrilled her as much.

He noticed her reaction, of course. Those sharp compelling eyes missed nothing. As she shrank back against the couch cushions, he sat down sideways beside her, refusing to let her look away. "I don't understand why you look scared, Tsukasa. I'm not some bakemono like the ones you've fought without flinching. You've promised to stay by me forever. Don't you want to be here? Don't you want to be with me?"

"Yes!" she said, more forcefully that she intended in her surprise. "Always."

The smile on his lips was her favorite, the crooked one she suspected no one saw but her. "And not just as a bodyguard or a friend," he pursued.

She couldn't pull her eyes away. She knew she was blushing like a schoolgirl, which she was in a roundabout sort of way. Still, embarrassing. "N-no," she stammered in a dry throat. "I mean yes. I mean..."

His lips quirked so she knew he knew what she meant. He was relentless as always. "And you've managed to convert or subvert anyone who had a problem with that, including my former fiancée."

"I didn't—," she protested automatically, but he silenced her with a gentle finger against her lips that began to stroke.

"I know she's not my former fiancée because of you. But she supports your position now and that is because of you. As far as the world's concerned, we're mated, married in all but name. Even your brother's accepted it though he won't acknowledge it officially. I'll make it by name, too, if you want." His fingers feathered across her lips, leaving them tingling as his face softened. "The instant you tell me you want it."

"I don't care about the name."

He smiled as he bent his head toward her, but she retreated automatically, cursing herself as she did so. His fingers slid away as his eyes hardened. "That's what I don't get. We've gone toe-to-toe and fought side by side, fought others to the death and each other nearly the same. I've seen you naked. You've seen me sleep, even seen me cry. And no one's seen me cry. I've touched you before, kissed you before..."

"And groped me every opportunity," she added with a touch of asperity.

"And will again, you can bet on it. There's something about exploring a body few others have ever touched. Hmm. Don't distract me. It was easier to get up close and personal with you when there were half a dozen obstacles standing in our way. Now that there are none, you're scrambling for distance. When I come close, you lash out or back off."

"I've lashed out since the beginning," she protested, feeling her face heat further. "It's a conditioned reflex, and I don't lash out like I used to." Damn, she sounded like a sulky kid. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

His fingers found their way to the tips of her hair and played with them. "I'm a fairly resilient or I would have given up on you in the beginning. But your scrambling back doesn't hurt less than a kick to the face. It's like you're afraid of me and I don't get that. Don't you trust me?"

She snorted. "On this subject, are you really trustworthy?"

His crooked smile returned briefly at that, but his eyes were still intent. "Do you love me?" His eyes closed before he leaned in next to her ear and breathed, "Because I love you unreasonably." He inhaled and then released it in a warm shaky breath that stirred the tendrils of hair at her ear. "I've wanted you for so long. I ache to touch you, really touch you," he whispered and her own eyes closed at the answering need clamoring inside her. "Do you love me?"

"Yes," she said, then choked over how to say it better. He was so smooth, so assured. She knew nothing about love, hadn't recognized it for the longest time. The first time he'd kissed her, she'd already known she loved him, but she'd been unaware how her heart and body would open with that single touch. When he'd kissed her, she'd been drowned in him, swamped by emotion and sensation she had no way of handling. Overloaded.

She could feel his lips smile against her cheek as he brushed them against her flaming skin, seeking her mouth. She could have wept with frustration when her hands pushed him away without her conscious command. His curses were soft but original, but he couldn't curse her more bitterly than she cursed herself.

For a moment, she thought he'd retreat, but he waited instead, her chin caught in his hand until she opened her eyes again. "Why?" he asked, when she did. "Explain it to me. You love me. You want me. I can feel it. Why don't you want me to touch you?"

"That's not it!" she choked out, fighting tears. "It's not that I don't want you to touch me. I do want you to touch me so much it scares me. I don't know how to handle it. It's like drowning and I can't come up for air. It's too much. I keep thinking I'll get used to it." She sighed out gustily. "I'm probably not explaining this right."

Her eyes downcast, she stole a glance at him and was stunned to see him smiling at her. Not angry as she'd expected, but grinning broadly. Smug, even.

That bastard.

Before her temper, never far from the surface, could bubble out, he defused it with the gentle brush against her cheekbone with the back of his fingers. "Silly brat," he said in a warm tone he reserved for her. "Is keeping me at a distance helping you get used to it? Or making it worse? You don't learn to swim standing poolside and wringing your hands. You gotta jump in."

Surprise made her look up at that and he used that opportunity to capture her lips in a gentle kiss. His lips were not demanding, but her head fell back naturally to give him more, spellbound by the single contact. Her hands didn't push him away but fisted in the folds of his shirt. When he pulled away, she was dizzy and breathless, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

The fingers that had once been at her chin fluttered over the side of her throat as he slid his face next to hers again, his lips brushing her ear. His ragged breathing not only inflamed, but gratified, even if there was laughter in his voice. "You don't have to hold your breath."

The laughter died and his voice dropped to a whisper, almost lost in his heavy breaths. "Let me touch you, Tsukasa. I need you." He lifted his chin to kiss her temple, then buried his lips in her hair. "I won't hurt you."

She couldn't help her snort of laughter. "Like that's worries me."

He nuzzled his way along her hairline on a languorous path back toward her lips, sending electric shocks along her skin. His touch was lazy and patient, but she could feel the muscles trembling in his chest, his heart galloping beneath her clenched fingers. His scent, spicy with the smoky edge due to too many cigarettes, filled her senses with his warm presence, erotic because it was unmistakably his. And he was hers.

She stopped thinking and let herself drown. Her body reacted on its own, turning her head and angling her jaw so that she found his mouth. One of her hands released its hold on his shirt and slid into his silky hair to provide the pressure her mouth demanded. Her body had always known what to do instinctively. How had she forgotten that?

He froze for an instant, his fingers spasming against her throat, his lips unresponsive for the briefest moment before he sank into her. His mouth matched her urgency and forced hers open to plunge deeper.

Feeling stormed through her, immersed her in a thousand unfamiliar sensations, each of them overwhelming. She didn't fight it. How often had she let passion rule her? Trying to fight her emotions had always been like holding back the tide with a broom. Instead, she dove.

She was tucked up now between his knees. The hand not tangled in his hair fought his shirt buttons one-handed, breaking them off by force when her fingers weren't skilled enough. Only as she fought the last button did she realize her own shirt was only attached at the wrists, her protector long gone. Both of his hands roamed over her torso beneath her tank top. She wrenched her mouth free to complain, "How do you do that?"

He responded by latching his devastating mouth on her throat and setting it afire, but she could feel the rumble of his chuckle beneath her fingers. His hands cupped either breast and rubbed thumbs over her nipples. He purred against her throat when she gasped. "Shake your arms to lose the shirt. Crazy girl, how long are you going to wear men's clothing?"

"At this rate, I won't be wearing any clothing." One of his hands slid behind her back at her hip to yank her up and against him. His body through his open shirt was hot and hard, his scent like a drug to her senses. Shirtless, she buried her hands in his hair as his mouth blazed a trail down her neck to her shoulder.

He removed her tank top with a simple movement of his hand up her back and into her hair. "I hope you're not wearing more idiotic boxers." His other hand had already released her belt and her pants, then slid below to grip her thighs. Without warning, she was lifted up easily in his arms as her loosened pants slid off and away. He smirked as he rose and carried her across the room toward the back room and his huge bed. "Yes, much better," he said as he eyed the ridiculous thong underwear she wore.

"Bastard. You keep having someone rifle through my underwear drawer and steal my underwear, leaving stuff like this," she said against his throat.

"Nonsense," he said, laying her gently on his wide bed and making no secret of his leisurely examination of her all-but-naked body. "I go through that drawer myself. It's strictly off limits for any of any kumin that want to retain their fingers."

She tried not to shiver as his fingers danced, butterfly soft, over her heating flesh. "You don't kill them for that?"

"Not for a first offense," he said, letting his lips wander over her face. "As long as its clothing and not your actual body. I know how tempting you are."

He was driving her crazy. Why was he keeping a distance? Moving so slowly, so patiently...what was he playing at? Well, she didn't feel like waiting. She levered to an elbow and wrapped her arm around his neck so she could blow in his ear. After all, she knew his weaknesses, too. "Stop talking and touch me like you mean it."

To her amazement, he shuddered. She could feel his hand fist at her hip, his jaw clench against her cheek. Oh, ho!

"Patience," he rasped out, though it took a moment to get where he could speak. "I...it's a little harder holding myself back than I thought it would be."

"What?" she yelped, perhaps louder than called for given her lips were only a breath from his ear. When he flinched, she rolled him to his back, straddling him. He'd managed to ditch his shirt but he was still wearing trousers. She, of course, was wearing only token clothing. When had he removed her shoes?

With menace she knew was effective, she bent to his face. "What kind of crap is that? Holding back? Since when have I ever asked you to hold back for me? What makes you think you're allowed?"

"I'm trying to be careful. I don't want to hurt you," he explained, not meeting her eyes. Pink tinged his ears and cheeks and endeared him to her—not that she'd ever admit it.

"I told you I wasn't worried about that."

"For a woman, the first time—" She cut him off with a kiss that was hard and demanding. She remembered him kissing her like that before: desperate, angry, needy. That's how she wanted him now so they'd be meeting on even ground.

She felt him struggle with himself as if their mouths were a battlefield, felt his incredible control tremble, pushed to its limits. She gloried in it. She knew in her heart, that, though he was no novice with sex—she knew that—, he'd never lost control with anyone else. Let that be hers and hers only.

With an oath, he managed to roll her back to her back, his own body crushing hers, hard as iron. She could see his pulse beating madly in his throat, hear his shattered breathing. "You don't know what you're doing! Will you let me do this my way?"

"Only if 'your way' is the real you, not the face you show your kumin."

He closed his eyes, chest heaving. "I don't know what would happen, how I might hurt you if I let go. Shit! You're driving me crazy."

Her fingers worked the clasp of his belt. "Driving you crazy is, like, my favorite thing to do," she breathed against the pulse in his throat. "Touch me like you mean it, or don't bother."

He was still as stone for a moment, eyes closed, fighting himself now. She took the opportunity to slide his slacks down his narrow hips, her fingers stroking caressingly along the naked skin in its wake as she bared her teeth on his windpipe.

The growl in his throat made her pull back. His eyes blazed down on her with such visceral animal need she thought she'd burst into answering flame. "You asked for it," he spit between gritted teeth before he swooped down on her and began battering her with teeth, lips, tongue, hands, body and his desperate need.

That's more like it, she thought before her mind ceased all ability to function. Nor was there more conversation on either part other than a number of moans, groans, and some guttural screams until, some considerable time later, they both lay sweaty and gasping, bruised and momentarily sated.

Continued here: Afterglow

New Header Thanks to My Husband and Great Mangakus

2011-08-09T22:32:00.002-05:00

Using picture manipulation magic (which I don't have the software for, sob sob), my husband has taken faces of five of my favorite mangas and made me a lovely header. Isn't it beautiful?

He didn't provide the artwork, but only manipulated the artwork of some of the greatest mangaku ever. Nakamura Yoshiki, author/artist for Tokyo Crazy Paradise and Skip Beat! is well represented as well as Shinobi Life by Shoko Conami, Maid-Sama (aka Kaichō wa Maid-sama!) by Hiro Fujiwara, and Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi.

I am so happy.

Tokyo Crazy Paradise [4]: Favorite Characters

2011-08-05T16:21:00.013-05:00

Normally I describe my favorite character in the original review (and I have one: Ryuuji just edges out Tsukasa, though it's a close-run thing). However, in Tokyo Crazy Paradise, the characters are too good to wedge into a single post review. That's how good they are.

Nakamura-Sensei tends toward large casts and there's quite a sizable one here, but unlike Skip Beat! with an endless parade of charming characters, the list of truly notable characters here is much shorter, the villains less charming (with one exception). BUT, the notable characters they have are fantastic.

We have to start with Kozeki Tsukasa, who would definitely have been my favorite character her if Ryuuji had been just a little less perfect. Ostensibly one of four brothers, she's gregarious, volatile, straight-forward and prone to whimsy. Raised as a boy by her cop parents, she fights like a pro (better, actually) and thinks of herself as a boy, which is a challenge as she's at the age where she's attracting men (which confuse them if they don't know her true gender). When she "cross-dresses," however, she's all girl. Still a butt-kicker, but quick to play feminine tricks to get whatever she wants. Since she's curvy and beautiful, both methods are effective.

She is naive and dense, depending on the topic, but she's got a sharp mind, an nose for trouble, and is quite observant and skilled with sniffing out bad guys and workable strategies. She's incredibly swift and exact and has this really cool chain with a weighted end she pulls out that is both offensive and defensive weapon. Really, it is so neat. She dodges bullets, beats small-time and big time hoodlums up with similar ease and is almost always able to leap between Ryuuji and his many assailants.

She's devoted to doing the right thing, helping the innocent (in a world where most walk by trying not to see. Despite her disdain for the yakuza, she has always been intrigued by Ryuuji (who is everything she's not) and quickly (and almost against her will) becomes devoted to protecting him. He frustrates her. She doesn't understand him. She doesn't trust him, but she's first trapped by her do-gooder nature and then by a genuine regard for Ryuuji.

As she starts out fighting her attraction to Ryuuji (and confounded by his overt interest in her) but quickly wants to be a friend. Over time, however, other concerns (including Ryuuji's unscrupulous and dangerous fiance) force her to try to deny her romantic feelings and his to protect herself and her family. Ah, if it were only so easy. What she does learn, however, is that she can't turn her back on Ryuuji, who she respects more and more, and devotes herself to his protection, whether she's ever more than his defender or not. And that's despite the growing contingent of other males sniffing around her. And the revelations about who she really is that challenge what she wants, what's important in the future.

Shirogami Ryuuji is the youthful leader of a powerful yakuza syndicate, a syndicate with unusual scruples and standards, including a prohibition in dealing with drugs or getting involved in human slavery or dealing in particularly nasty weapons (that they once manufactured for the military). Born prematurely to a mother that didn't survive his birth, Ryuuji is in the care of Kamojima (his bodyguard) from almost the first moment, groomed to be unemotional and completely devoted to the preservation of his yakuza group and their ideals. Brilliant, capable, skillful, Ryuuji masters everything and never lets his guard down around anyone, learning to hide his emotions and set aside his own needs in deference to those of his group. He's also close to Tsukasa's level in hand-to-hand as well as being a crack shot (which she is not).

He's a very powerful young man and well aware of his power and skills. He's serious and stoic and counts on those protecting him and supporting him to do their jobs without his intervention. When it comes to his honor, the standards of the Kuryugami (his syndicate), and his duty, he is uncompromising and demands the best, especially from himself. When his group choose a bride for him, he doesn't even consider questioning it (as far as can be seen).

And into this dispassionate perfection stumbles...Tsukasa, his heedless frivolous katagi (non-yakuza) classmate. Although ostensibly unfriendly when Tsukasa first comes asking for help (and ruthless about forcing her to become his bodyguard and help him find his father's killer), we eventually realize that he's always been intrigued by Tsukasa, that he was the one who saved her from drowning three years previously, and that, as a result, he knows Tsukasa's a girl. He is also well aware that Tsukasa is very capable combatant.

More than that, however, we soon learn that, around Tsukasa, he can be himself, that he can smile and lose his temper and be a teenager. His attraction for her sneaks up on him and he begins by manipulating the situation so she is stuck by his side (using any means necessary). Used to women throwing themselves to him, Ryuuji fins Tsukasa a reluctant (and unaware) object of his affection who both intrigues and frustrates. He pursues her aggressively, which accepting the poundings he takes as a result philosophically (note that Ryuuji does not nominally allow people to beat him up). She comes to his rescue; he does the same for her when her heedless meddling gets her into trouble (as it frequently does). As Kamojima is quick to realize, Tsukasa is the spot of light in a dark unforgiving life. He wants her, even though he doesn't really expect to have her the way he wants, though he is quickly jealous if she interacts with anyone else. (And it's Tsukasa, not just a girl that looks like her. She has a temporary personality snafu due to poisoning and what he wants is his own Tsukasa back). And, yeah, that appeals to me.

And I really can't tell you more about him without giving away great gobs of the story. Pity.

Instead of talking about the villains (though there is one notable one), I want to focus on the other pivotal character here, Kamojima Toshiyuki, Ryuuji's bodyguard and the man who effectively raised him. Kamo-san is cool for several reasons, not the least of which is that he seems so harmless in general, when he's really a pretty decent badass (though not a good shot). But, though he taught Ryuuji growing up, where Ryuuji's focus is the good of the syndicate, Kamo-san is focused on Ryuuji's happiness. Period.

That means, while Ryuuji's pulling back from Tsukasa and cozying up to his fiance for the good of his group (since the fiance has the blessing of all the factions and can prevent internal strife), Kamo-san is trying to make sure Tsukasa is not driven away in the mean time. He makes no bones about working against the fiance. Even as Tsukasa's strongest supporter, the one he's focused on is Ryuuji, willing to put Tsukasa in any role that will make Ryuuji happy. Will he Tsukasa become a second wife for Ryuuji? You bet. Will he spread secrets about Tsukasa to make her more appealing to the yakuza (given she's a civilian?)? Hell yes.

The story about about Kamojima adoption of this pivotal role of Ryuuji's caretaker then bodyguard is heart-wrenching. His unselfish and unflinching focus on Ryuuji's happiness - not just survival, actual happiness - in this world where happiness seems hard to find, well, I can't see how you can't love Kamojima, even if he's pretty ruthless when it comes to everything else. Especially when you realize that, though he does the kindly appearing things really for Ryuuji's sake alone, they're still good things. In the end, he's working in Tsukasa's interests too because, well, she belongs with Ryuuji.

I can't do any of them justice here, actually.The best way to find out how truly amazing and satisfying these characters are is to read the books. Now if someone would just publish them in English.

Tokyo Crazy Paradise: Getting It Published Here in English

2011-08-02T17:25:00.009-05:00

So, if this Tokyo Crazy Paradise is so good, why isn't it published here? The author is successful here (Skip Beat! by the same author is quite popular). Heck, Viz media, which publishes Skip Beat!, proclaims she's the author of Tokyo Crazy Paradise on the back of every volume. But they don't publish Tokyo Crazy Paradise.

I've heard several reasons: it's already on scanlations. Well, I'm not sure that's going to fly. I've read a number of mangas on-line that are still being published, even though they are complete (or have several additional volumes) already on-line. Although I'm sure there are people who are happy to read on-line and don't buy books, I know I'm not the only one who has bought more mangas because I read them on line than I would otherwise have done.

There's a lot of violence. True, but it's pretty benign compared to many shonen mangas that are desperately popular, so I'm not buying that. There is nudity, but, again, it's hardly pervasive and I've seen mangas, for older teens, with as much nudity or more, so I'm not sure I find that compelling. It has a good bit of sexual tension and some sexual harassment, but considerably less than a manga like Black Bird (which is rated "Older Teen"). Selling books that show yakuza in a favorable light is being cracked down on in Japan, but that should hardly be an issue here where we still embrace all kinds of criminal elements in our media.

So what is it?

I think it's simple, not only a simple answer but a simple fix. The protagonists are too young. For some reason, Nakamura-Sensei made them both fourteen and still in middle school. In Japan, the age of consent is thirteen. Admittedly, our young protagonists don't have sex during the course of the manga, but Tsukasa ends up losing her top several times and Ryuuji's overt sexual interest in her is hard to miss. I think, for people taking it at face value in this country, it's disturbing (and you can put whatever spin you want on that statement). I don't think of them as fourteen so I'm not even slightly bothered. More on that in a minute.

Sounds like a tough problem, doesn't it? Except, I don't think it is for the same reason their age doesn't bother me (despite the fact I'm not a proponent for underage sex): I just don't see them as fourteen years old. They don't look fourteen. They don't act fourteen (mostly, not so much I couldn't buy them being 2-3 years older). There's no overt reason I can identify that the school they're going to is a middle school rather than a high school. The fact they're "brats" is a big deal in the yakuza organization, but I have a hard time thinking a bunch of middle-aged ruffians are going to regard a 16/17 year old leader desperately differently than they'd see a 14 year old. Both are likely to look like "brats." I mean, look at them!
(Especially noting these from Skip Beat!: Kyoko at 16 and Ren at 20)

In fact, I'd ask the author to OK a text-only change, change the year to 2022 or 2023 and go from there. As far as I can tell, there's nothing to lose. There's not a single drawing that I think needs to be reworked. The school trip they go through is a staple of second year high schoolers, too. The uniforms could be high school as easily as middle school (and dropping out, as Ryuuji contemplates, makes more sense since only middle school is compulsory in Japan - not that that's really going to bother a gangster). Shiva and Shiki could be as readily in their late twenties as their mid twenties. It's not less of a sacrifice for Tsukasa's older brother to drop out of university than it is high school.

What's more, some of the plot points that were a bit hard to swallow at their current ages actually make more sense. For instance, Ryuuji discovered Tsukasa's gender saving her from drowning three years before by discovering breasts. Well, I have to say 13/14-year-old breasts are much more noticeable than 11-year-old so it makes the discovery more plausible, rather than less. Ditto the pervasive rush to get Ryuuji married. Admittedly, without an heir, there would be pressure on Ryuuji to produce one, but one would hardly need to push marriage (particularly when one can't legally marry at fourteen), yet the push to get formally engaged/effectively married is hits like a hammer as soon as Asago turns fourteen. If she's turning sixteen (where one can legally get married with a parent's permission) that makes a lot more sense.

I don't think of them as 14 year olds, actually. I think of them as youthful adults, with real responsibilities and real adult issues to contend with. A little text tweaking without losing any of the impact or charm of the original, and I truly believe this could be a very successful title here in the states. Are you listening, Viz Media?

But, either way, I love it.

Next, I'm going to go into the characters a bit and then I'll let the review go...but I have fanfiction for this manga, too.

Tokyo Crazy Paradise: Gotta Learn Japanese (Part 2)

2011-07-30T01:16:00.030-05:00

To continue from the original review of Tokyo Crazy Paradise by Nakamura Yoshiki here, let me tell you some of the reasons why I liked it.

First, I obviously like the characters because I've already started to gush over them and I'll probably have to write a post specifically on the key characters (to me). I have to say Nakamura-Sensei has a real gift for crafting characters that appeal to me.

Part of that is that they're smart, capable, and creative. Part of that is they are emotional critters reacting in ways that I, at least, can understand. Not necessarily what I might do myself, but in ways that, as I get to know them, make sense to me from a character standpoint. As a character writer myself, my hat's off to that kind of ability.

Our heroine is tough and strong without being stupid or unemotional. In fact, she's both laid back and friendly, while also being hot-headed and readily excited. Her cross-dressing rationale makes more sense than most cross-dressing rationales, raised as a boy with her three brothers by cop parents who didn't want her to be a target in a world where women walking alone are considered fair game for rapists and muggers. True, the story ends up being more complicated than that, and, in fact, that's another part of the charm. With a character so complex and strong, it would be easy for the hero to be overshadowed, but Ryuuji holds his own and then some. Just as tough, just as capable, he's a quiet foil for Tsukasa's excesses, a rigidly controlled individual living up to an impossible standard he set for himself. So impossible, in fact, that he allows himself only one passion, and that just happens to be Tsukasa. A fact that has not escaped his fiancee.

As each chapter unfolds, we uncover layers and facets of characters, which I, of course, love, but also layers and facets of the story. More and more side threads get woven in, with allusions to the past, even legends, that frequently don't manifest until volumes later. I don't know whether it's planned or serendipity, but it's a pleasure to read. Over time, threads and strands weave together into a cohesive whole that (despite the standard plot absurdities of shoujo manga) makes the eventual resolution of so many diverse stories fit tidily together and leave one feeling satisfied. And that, my friends, is not always the case with a story that carries on for more than a hundred chapters.

In fact, though I've never had the slightest interest in organized crime, I found the yakuza element very effective, coupled with the futuristic elements because it enabled us to make a mini-society that worked quite well in the lawless future and allowed us to play with different versions of morality, duty, honor, etc. Fascinating, actually (and not unlike my society within a society from my first novel). I found the dichotomy (cop's child/yakuza heir) quite interesting and thought it was all handled with superlative skill with minimal clumsiness.
But, wait, there's more. It's hilarious. I mean, Skip Beat! is funny as hell so I'm not surprised, but many of the jokes are just a little more off-color, a little more over the top, and over and over, laugh worthy, as funny the tenth time as the first. How often does that happen? Part of it is the interaction between Ryuuji and Tsukasa. The Ryuuji is the penultimate straight man just makes it funnier.

But it isn't just that's there are sight gags and double entrendres and bits of funny spread here and there. Nakamura-Sensei frequently seasons her most dramatic and powerful scenes with this same humor. She manages to do so without diluting the pathos or drama or action or power, even the complexity when she does so. Quite the contrary, with the humor adding humanity to the scene, increasing the power. Meanwhile, the humor is all the more delicious for its surprise, because you don't see it coming. That, my friends, is a talent that should not be discounted, an achievement that really makes this story compelling (and an ability I'd really like to be able to use with my own writing.

But wait, there's still more. There are action scenes as good or better than any I've seen on paper. Most of the time, action leaves me cold in a manga, lost in the stillness of the medium. Exceptions include Shinobi Life and some of the sports scenes in Hana Kimi. I like it here where the action is frequent and immediate, like below where Tsukasa uses her signature chain to ward against bullets (yes, I know it's impossible - folks, it's a cartoon). I love how Ryuuji makes no move to protect himself (though he and Tsukasa frequently dodge bullets easily), completely confident that she'll protect him. I just love that.

Action is actually a big part of this manga, unlike many of the shoujo types: gunfights, fist fights, explosions, rescues, even torture. Normally, I'm not a huge action junkie but not only do I find it really works here, I think it's one of several reasons why it's very accessible to potential readers of either gender.

Then, there's the very effective renditions of drama and pathos, the kind that pull the heartstrings or gets the blood pumping. I don't want to put any examples up this so I don't give anything important away. Suffice it to say, I found moment that touched me, scared me, and even made me cry all through this manga (though there were far more toward the end, so there's seriously a climactic arc over several volumes near the end).

One other little thing that appealed, made more confounding given the youth of the protagonists, despite any real sex and the emphasis on action and drama: this is a very sexy manga.
The relationships between the two main characters, not to mention the complex relationships between the many side characters (particularly Kamojima) really make this fascinating and appealing. Villains in this manga are not quite as complex or interesting as the ones Nakamura-Sensei coughed up in Skip Beat!, but that makes it easier to take them down here with extreme prejudice (with a couple glaring exceptions).

That's what makes the whole thing so interesting, so compelling. Additionally, again, Nakamura-Sensei knows how to dress her characters, including Tsukasa ("in drag") and, in particular, Ryuuji. She creates not only appealing clothes, but characters who wear them very very well. In fact, though the artwork is frequently a bit less polished than it was in Skip Beat!, I generally found the main protagonists as appealing largely because the proportion thing was less pronounced here (though still present). Some of the sets and scenes are truly gorgeous and the inhabitants even more so.

What I Didn't Like: Not much. I love this manga. Did you catch that? Some of the throwaway characters tend to all look the same and not be polished. Tsukasa's eldest brother didn't appeal much to me nor Ryuuji's fiancee, but I'm not sure they were supposed to. Some of the things that bothered me about the artwork in Skip Beat! are here, too, but to a lesser degree. Many of the plot twists are absurd, but it's futuristic and Shoujo so that's kind of par for the course. I'm not much for gansters, but I couldn't have cared less here because I loved the story and the people, in fact, I liked the society within a society thing as I mentioned above. Then there's the ridiculously youthful age of the protagonists which brings me to....

The one real issue I have with this is that it's not being published in this country in English. I have read the scanlations (repeatedly) that fans had translated from Japanese and I have most of them in Japanese (despite the high cost). But I'd love to see them published here and think they would be quite successful here if we made one teensy weensy little change...which I'll discuss next time.

Tokyo Crazy Paradise: Gotta Learn Japanese (Part 1)

2011-07-25T01:01:00.007-05:00

The more observant of my readers may have noticed that my manga list sidebar includes a "new" category called "Gotta Learn Japanese." I can't remember if I've explained what that means before but it's time to because I'm going to review my all time favorite (so far) manga. What it means is that (a) I loved the manga so much I want to read it in the original Japanese badly enough I'm going to teach myself the language. Nor am I exaggerating. I've just about licked the two phonetic written languages of Japan (Katakana and Hiragana), I have several thought provoking resource books, including a few grammars and dictionaries, some audio language courses I can run on my computer and will be starting on trying to teach this old brain Kanji this week. It's been more fun than I imagined.

And yes, this was prompted by a single compelling manga which is not available in English in book form, though kind fans provided a scanned translated versions on-line, bless them. I love this manga so much, I have bought 15 of the 19 volumes in Japanese and doing so costs me almost as much as all the rest of my mangas put together. And I don't begrudge a penny (though I haven't convinced myself to buy the last four yet at $50 each).

The manga is Tokyo Crazy Paradise by Nakamura Yoshiki (who also wrote Skip Beat!) and I can't think about it or talk about it without wanting to read it again. Nakamura-Sensei apparently specializes in writing compelling, character-driven mangas that I absolutely cannot resist despite the fact they're written on topics that hold absolutely no interest for me, at least until I read them.

I can give you half a dozen reasons (if not more) why it shouldn't have ever appealed to me in the slightest but I won't because none of those reasons make a damn bit of difference. I love this manga. You know that old cliché: "I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me." It applies in spades here and, though I've read it probably a dozen times (and will read it again), I still laugh all through it, still catch my breath, still weep copiously when reading volume 16 (and the last chapter of 15). This manga gives me everything I'm looking for in a story (how often does that happen?) and leaves me feeling satisfied with an ending that answers my most pressing questions in a way I can live with without twisting the characters into something they're not.

I can give you three very compelling reasons why this works for me: Kozuki Tsukasa (the cross-dressing heroine), Shirogami Ryuuji (the youthful but serious head of Kanto's biggest crime syndicate) and Kamojima Toshiyuki, Ryuuji's middle-aged bodyguard who effectively raised him. Tsukasa or Ryuuji alone could have carried this series for me, but, with both of them, I'm completely enrapt. I've written a post specifically about them here.

I can give you another very compelling reason why this manga completely works for me, something rather personal. My first novel, which will probably never see the light of day, has characters almost frightening like these characters, except the serious relatively humorless badass driven by honor and tradition is my female lead, Layla. And the easy-going, good-natured fighter who constantly finds new depths and layers to his abilities to fit the occasion is my male lead. In this manga, the roles are a bit more traditional, and yet... Actually, I think this manga may mean that I'll never really be happy with my first novel. There are many similarities, but my novel is all about the established couple (completely different premise and plot) while this is about the building of that relationship. In many ways, I find so many things I could have worked into my novel but didn't because of where they started it (not to mention the genius of this mangaku), that I will never now be satisfied with my novel.

In my opinion, this manga has a great deal to offer both male and female readers (something I don't often say), with action and humor and romance and pathos and drama. And yes, it's going to take me more than one post to tell you even those reasons I've identified why I like it. Truth is, I can't entirely explain why it completely charms me, but it does.

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 19 (in Japanese) Status: Complete

My rating: Gotta learn Japanese

Age range: Older teen, one who's had the sex talk, because sex and rape are alluded to frequently. There is some nudity and considerable violence. Some might argue for an adult rating, but I found it far less overt than Butterflies, Flowers (as well as less stupid) and actually recommended it to my sixteen year old.

Taboos and "warnings": Violence, a good bit of it, crime, drug use (not among our protagonists), underage smoking (including one protagonist), sexual innuendo (and a bit more here and there), nudity, several attempted rape scenes (NOT by the protagonist). There is some December-May going on and, since our protagonists are ostensibly fourteen, some discussion of underage sex. Note also, there's unabashed sexual harassment (from a protagonist), enough to set a feminist screaming into the night; it doesn't bother me for a number of reasons I'll go into later and is complicated by the personal relationship existing between the two individuals. If you were going for a sweetness and light manga, this is probably not your best bet.

Premise: In 2020 Tokyo, lawlessness and self-absorption rules the day, with citizens looking the other way when crimes are committed and cops often doing the same. The Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) holds considerable power. In this world, four brothers, sons of recently killed cops, are left penniless and homeless on these mean streets. Tsukasa, who's really a cross-dressing girl, hits on the idea of wheedling a free meal from her rich but reticent classmate (Ryuuji) who happens to be the recently orphaned head of a large and powerful syndicate. Tsukasa, the sister, pretends to know who killed Ryuuji's father (though she doesn't). Ryuuji hires her as another bodyguard to try to spot the assassins, threatening her brothers to make sure she tries hard. They manage to catch said assassins (who incidently killed Tsukasa's parents as well), but the imprisoned brothers have run up an impressive debt that Tsukasa is forced to try to pay off by continuing as a bodyguard. And it turns out Ryuuji knows all about her gender. That's just the first chapter; there are many adventures to come.

What works: This will likely a take a while. Better save it for next time.

Update 1/03/2012: Apparently, there's...

"A petition to get Tokyo Crazy Paradise by Yoshiki Nakamura licensed in English" http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/tcp_licensed/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Curtain Call

2011-07-21T18:10:00.008-05:00

If you are interested in reading this, start here or, even if you're a fan, you'll get confused. Note that the disclaimer and introduction still apply. And I'm really almost done with this.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen" 'cause, unlike the manga, there's actual sex.

"I really liked this robe," she said sadly. "I was barely wearing it. How could you tear it this badly? You only had to open it."

"Forget the robe. Give me a damn answer," Ren growled, dressed fashionably, as usual, as he did her makeup. "Tell me you'll marry me."

"I'm wearing the ring," she said, blushing furiously.

"Don't color up like that unless you want to be kissed. I'm trying to put on blush. Why won't you just say it?"

"What will the president say?"

"Give me your answer and then we'll worry about his."

"What if he doesn't like it...y'know, you with me?"

"Let him find his own girl. Kyoko, why won't you tell me? Don't you want to marry me?"

"Yes, it's just..."

"Yes?"

She peeped up at him from beneath her lashes, sending his heart racing. "I'm afraid if I say it, I'll jinx it."

"Ah." He laughed. "Silly girl. Don't you know I have my own magic? If you tell me you'll marry me, there is nothing in the world that can stop us."

"How do you know?" The eyes she turned on him brimmed with absolute trust.

Time for the last secrets. "Because, we were fated to be together, since the moment you first happened upon me."

She frowned. "At the agency? When you hated me?"

"No. On a river bank where the most beautiful girl in all the world stumbled across a lonely boy and mistook him for a fairy prince. Mistook me."

"Fairy prince?" she asked, her face shocked.

"I was so entranced by this girl, I let her believe, even showing off my agility, up into the sun, so she'd think I could fly."

"Corn? You...were Corn?"

Better get it all. "Kuon," he corrected gently. "Hizuri Kuon. And that was the first time I gave you a stone like that. Less polished but somewhat bigger."

"Kuon. Hizuri Kuon. Hiz—Hizuri!?"

"See, my father already loves you like his own child."

"Father! Hiz—Koo? You're that perfect boy? The one that's dead? His Kuon?"

"I'm not actually dead."

"No wonder Koo went on and on about you. And here I thought he was exaggerating. Wait a minute, he pretended not to know you."

"As did you when you were playing...me. I had to succeed on my own, here in Japan, without relying on his name. It was therapy so I could leave behind the violence and pain. So I could find myself. Just like you found yourself."

"But you love your father!"

"Exactly! That's why I did it. So I'd be a worthy son, so I wouldn't hate myself if he still loved me."

"You are so odd," she said, regarding him critically. "So you're my Corn? Koo's Kuon? Both of them? That means—! And if we get married—!" The many pieces of it seemed to be flying crazily around inside her mind.

He took her hands in his and looked her steadily in the eye. "Fate. You. Me. My father. Then. Now. You saved me then. You saved me now. And my father already loves you."

She calmed down immediately, much the way he thought the stone might work for her. "My Corn. My true Prince," she breathed. "You saved me, then. And now. I never let myself believe you could love me."

"I loved you then."

"So did I," she said, then pinked. "I mean, I loved you then."

He placed his hand along her jaw and held her eyes. "Kyoko. Tell me you'll marry me."

"I'll...marry you."

"Good," he said, dropping his hand so he wouldn't do something foolish and mess up her makeup. After all, she had to be at work in a few hours and he had to get the ball rolling so she couldn't rethink it. "Now to tell the President."

"Won't he be upset?"

Ren grinned down at her, one finger uplifted. "Ah, not if we handle it right. Watch and learn." He dialed a number on his speakerphone.

"Moshi moshi."

"President?"

"Ren! I didn't expect to hear from you! I thought you were shooting a commercial today?"

"It's been rescheduled. President, I have some news for you that you may not like." Ren winked at Kyoko.

"Oh? And why do you sound like you're in a tunnel?"

"Kyoko's here with me."

"Kyoko? You're calling her Kyoko now—"

With studied blandness, Ren said, "We need to get married."

Silence. "Ren, you idiot! She's pregnant, isn't she? She's a promising actress and requires a delicate touch. Have you no concern for her career? You should never have forced yourself on her. Didn't I tell you to control yourself as Cain? Didn't you promise—"

"No—No, President," Kyoko protested. "I'm not pregnant!" She cleared her throat. "And he didn't force anything on me as Cain or anyone else." With her head down, she mumbled, "More the other way around."

Silence. "You mean you want to marry Ren?"

"Thanks, Boss," Ren said, inwardly delighted. It was going exactly as planned. "Am I such a bad prospect?"

"No, no. I just thought you'd drag your feet indefinitely," the President said dampingly. "It's not a good idea. I mean, your fanbase is going to freak, with you off the market. And Kyoko's career is just getting started. And most people know her as a villain."

"Sooooo, even if we played it up, poor little unknown who, through exceptional skills and beauty, climbed the road to success in a year and won the heart of Japan's top acting talent at the same time, it still wouldn't add to the Tsuruga or Kyoko mystique? Still wouldn't charm fans into falling even more in love with either of us?"

"Well, it could certainly be spun that way. I mean, it does have a certain fairy tale aspect. Still, Kyoko might actually be in danger. Some of your fans are quite passionate."

"I was thinking she could use a manager to protect her. She has enough work and exposure, even without this publicity, that she should not be wandering about alone and unprotected, since I can't be with her all the time."

"That's a very good idea. I'll call Sawara this morning. If someone finds out you're involved with Kyoko, she'll be in mortal danger." The President paused. Ren knew what he was thinking: he liked to control everything. He'd want them to wait so he could be more involved. On the other hand, he was not the man to stand in the way of romance. "Maybe, after a reasonable time, we could consider..."

Kyoko looked bewildered. "If...if it's better that no one know I'm with Tsuruga-san, I could keep it quiet. I don't want to hurt his career..."

The President cut in. "No! You mustn't, Kyoko-chan. If there's one thing Ren needs, it's a bit of scandal attached to his name. A quiet hopeless romantic interest in you is a great explanation on why there aren't any other scandals attached to him. A relationship with you could be perfect, for both of you...as long as it's what you want."

"How could I not want it? President," she said, her voice falling to a whisper. "He says he really loves me."

"Yes, dear one. I've known he's loved you for a long long time. But what do you feel? You have to do what you want, what will make you happy? Do you love him?"

"I think I always have."

The President cleared his throat and Ren suspected he was choked up. "Well, that's wonderful. But you shouldn't get married right away."

Kyoko opened her mouth to ask something, perhaps agree, but Ren shook his head. "Pity," Ren said sweetly. "I was going to ask you to arrange a fairy tale wedding for us, as flamboyant and over-the-top as you like, complete with press and celebrities and every imaginable excess."

"Erk," the President choked. "Yes, well, that does sound like a great deal of fun, much like the debut I'd originally planned for Kyoko, but, hmm, well..."

"And I was going to invite my parents, too, and announce to the world who I really was, sharing my most important day with my parents who love me. But I'm sure my mother and father would be happy to wait a few more years. They're not anxious to see me or get to know the woman I love, right? Nor would having Hizuri Koo and the world's greatest model at one of your bashes be a publicity coup, right?"

Silence. "Ren..."

"And, since Kyoko doesn't have a father herself, I think she might have wanted you to give her away. But that's probably not your style."

"It will be the event of the decade, if not the century! Magnificent, my magnum opus! Perfect! We can have it at my home! I can arrange it in...when did you have in mind?"

"I'll have to work with Yashiro and Kyoko's new manager to arrange for several weeks off as soon as I can manage. I want a real honeymoon with Kyoko. Within the next couple of months."

"That doesn't give me much time. I love it! I couldn't be happier for you, too. Where do you want me to arrange the honeymoon?"

"I'll handle that. You just take care of the wedding. I'll give you a free hand. I know just the designer for Kyoko's dress. Oh, and Boss."

"Yes?"

"You can invite anyone you like, including the Love Me Members and my parents, as long as you include Fuwa Sho. And Kyoko's Daruyuma family. Actually, I'd like to invite my parents myself."

"Fuwa Sho? Wasn't he...ah." The President's deep laughter rolled in through the speaker, eventually dwindling down into gasps and coughs. "I think that can be arranged."

"So, can I have Yashiro-san make a press release?"

"I don't think I can get her a manager until tomorrow at the earliest."

"I'll be watching over her today."

Ren could almost hear his smile. "Then you have my blessing." Ren heard the happy sigh. "But you have to be the one to tell Maria."

Click.

And so it began.
* * *
"Yashiro-san?"

"Ren! You should be recovering, though I'm glad I have you on the phone. I was just hearing about an offer just as our most recent project winds down that will keep you busy for months. It's all about..."

"I'm off today and I won't take any job unless it starts several months in the future. In fact, I need you to arrange things so that I have at least three consecutive weeks, preferably four, free within the next three months."

"Three weeks? Consecutively? What? Are you crazy? Ren I don't think it's possible..."

"Oh, and I also need you to draft a press release and get it out as soon as you can manage today: 'Actor Tsuruga Ren and star talent, Kyoko, both of the LME Agency, have announced their plans to get married this winter. The date will be announced later, but the event will be hosted by the President of LME.'"

Ren gave Yashiro a few seconds to sputter.

"Well, if you have all that, Yashiro-san, thanks. K, bye!" Ren hung up on the incoherent squawking with a chuckle.

"That was just mean," Kyoko said. "I got Moko-san's voice mail."

"It wasn't just mean," Ren assured her. "It was fun, too. Yashiro's been teasing me about the way I feel for you since last spring."

She gave him her sternest look, looked away, then slid her eyes toward him under her lashes. "I guess it was a little fun. Oh, that's Moko-san!" She opened her phone. "Moko-san!"

"Mo! What did you mean by leaving that cryptic confusing message on my phone mail. Haven't I told you, if you're leaving a message, to tell me clearly what you want? You were hemming and hawing..."

Moko-san apparently had an impressive set of lungs. Ren could hear her easily. And he was at a loss to understand why Kyoko responded to the vitriol with a look of rapt pleasure. Kyoko tried to break in several times, but, between her embarrassment and Moko-san's impatience, the situation was only getting worse. Ren held out his hand. Kyoko wordlessly handed him her phone.

"Moko-san?"

"What? Who is this?"

"This is Tsuruga Ren. What Kyoko is trying to tell you is that we are getting married in a few months and she want you to be her bridesmaid."

"Mo! You like Kyoko?"

Ren bristled, but kept his voice calm. "At least."

"I knew it! Tell her she's an idiot and I'm really happy for her. Married!" She paused briefly. "She's really special, you know. You may be hot shit to everyone else, but you're lucky to have her. If you ever hurt her like, well you know, I'll kill you myself."

Ren couldn't help smiling. "I begin to see what Kyoko sees in you. Understood." Ren closed the phone and handed it back to Kyoko. "She's happy for you and threatened me. See, you do have good friends."

Kyoko blubbered and Ren did his best to overlook it. That would probably be happening quite a few times the next few months. He just needed to remember kissing her senseless was a good remedy. He'd need more handkerchiefs. "Now," he said, by way of distraction. "To call my parents."

"Koo?"

"Will you join me? You're part of his family just like me."

Damn it. He was going to have to redo her makeup.
* * * *
And, in entertainment news, a media bombshell. Women across the land will be weeping into their tea today: Tsuruga Ren, hottest man in Japan, is marrying Kyoko of the same LME Agency, a young, up and coming actress who's made her name playing villains with chilling intensity in some of the biggest dramatic hits this year. LME is already gearing up for a huge blowout this winter orchestrated by the flamboyant President of LME, Takarada Lori. Preliminary details of the fairy tale romance from LME indicate a love story to melt the hardest heart and we'll likely be hearing more as time progresses. In any case, it promises to be the event of the decade.

Ogata/Momose/Oohara/90% of Dark Moon Staff: "I knew he liked her! Wait, marrying!?"
*
90% of the female viewing public: "Nooooooo! Reeeen! Who the hell is this Kyoko?"
*
Sawara: "Hunh? Ren and Kyoko? When did that happen?"
*
Taicho of Daruyuma frowned at his wife. "I thought you said she wasn't romantically involved with any of her coworkers."

His wife shrugged helplessly. "That's what she told me last summer. But it is Tsuruga Ren. Who could resist him?"

"Hmm."
*
Reino grimaced. "Ah, hell. She would link up with the only guy I can't take down."

"You mean that false angel? She's shacking up with someone else? Too bad, Reino."

"Yeah, I know. It's going to make it much harder to get Valentine chocolates from her next year."
*
"Shou! Shou, they're just about set up for your next session. What's wrong? Are you watching TV? What is it?"

Shou gestured without talking.

"Is that Ren and Kyoko?"

"From some Dark Moon bash last spring."

Shoko schooled her features. She remembered. "She looks lovely."

"They're getting married," Shou shouted, his grimace fearful on his face. "The little nobody managed to catch the gorge-star somehow and now he's going to be her prince? Ha! I give it three months! Everyone will hate her. Her career will go into a spiral. She's never going to get her revenge that way!"

"I don't know," Shoko said quietly. "I can't see how it will hurt her career since no one will be able to talk about anything else for the next three months. You can't pay for publicity like this. And her skills as an actress mean she has a really solid reputation as an actress already. Asami-san told me. Everyone wants to work with her."

"So, what are you saying, I'm going to lose? I've been near the top of the charts for nearly a year!"

"No," Shoko said. "I'm saying, maybe it's no longer about making you lose, Shou. Maybe she's just leaving you behind."

Shoko had never seen Shou look so small. She wondered when he'd recover.

Or if.

See part six: Date with Natsu
See part seven: Shoudown

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Matinee

2011-07-17T20:11:00.009-05:00

If you are interested in reading this, start here or, even if you're a fan, you'll get confused. Note that the disclaimer and introduction still apply. And I'm really almost done with this.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen" 'cause, unlike the manga, there's actual sex.

"It's a good thing I'd brought extra eggs and rice," she told him sternly over breakfast. "Or we'd have nothing to eat."

He noticed there was far more than the omelet in front of him, but he also knew she'd brought everything for that, too. He tried not to smile as he replied meekly. "I know. I need to stock my kitchen."

"Yes," she said firmly. "Fortunately, I have time before my shoot this afternoon. I'd rather not go to that overpriced grocery store in this building, but I suppose you'd be swamped with rabid fans if we went anywhere reasonable."

"I'm sorry I'm so popular," he said, not really meaning it. "We could call Yashiro. He could keep them back and would bust a gut with joy to see us together."

Her face flushed. With clear trepidation, she shoved herself back from the table so she could turn her body to face him. She was wearing only one of his silk robes, too big despite wrapping it carefully around her. She looked fantastic in black. "I have to tell you something. I should have told you last night and never lied about Yashiro."

He felt his body go still, his heart sinking. Too much too good too quickly. How could have ever believed it would be so tidy, that there wasn't some darkness lurking? "What?" That sounded sharper than he intended. He tried to school his face so he wouldn't scowl.

"Don't smile like that!" she begged. "That's the gentlemanly smile that hides lies and vicious retorts."

Surprise must have changed his expression. She sighed and launched into an explanation, without looking him in the face. "Yashiro didn't send me last night. I overheard that you were rescheduling everything so I came on my own."

He snorted, thinking of all the times he'd shamelessly used Yashiro as an excuse, with or without factual basis. "Is that it? Don't worry about that. I'm actually happier knowing you chose to come without prompting. Where did you hear it?"

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I was in my costume for my regular TV show at the time," she said, her voice just a thread of sound.

"Oh?" he asked politely, before pieces began to fall into place. "Costume. I didn't know you wore a costume." He cleared his throat, letting his jaw harden. "Not, I trust, a chicken costume."

She didn't steal a glance. "Bo. And Bo is a chicken."

He thought back at all the times he'd talked with the stuffed chicken, from the first, the things he'd said and revealed. He remembered the dogeza the first time, the avowal that "Bo" hated him. How could he not have realized it was her? Of course it was. She'd been laughing at him from the beginning.

He could feel the anger, feel it heating him, the ugly words stealing up his throat. Before he could voice them, he took a good look at her and stopped himself. She was shaking, trembling in fear. His first thought, that this was an elaborate joke to mock him for his passion, was readily discounted. Kyoko was not a woman who took love lightly or would hurt another using it unprovoked. She would never have given herself the way she had this morning, without reserve, if she didn't love him. She would never have come last night if she wanted to hurt him, to teach him a lesson. Better, by far, to walk away and leave his heart shattered forever. Still, if she had been the chicken all this time, why had she pretended not to know he'd loved her for so long?

She was talking quickly and in a low voice. "I should have told you before, long before, so you wouldn't be mad. I wanted to thank you in the beginning because your stories of being fired really helped me when I was depressed and feeling hopeless, but you still hated me then. By the time I didn't think you hated me any more, you had told me so much I didn't want you to be angry with me for hearing you under false pretenses."

"So, it was you telling me to expand my relationship with a high school girl?"

"Yes."

He didn't understand. Had she been pretending not to know about his love all this time, recoiling for...what purpose? "Why did you act like you didn't know I loved you for so long? Were you playing with me? Or punishing me by telling me to pursue you when you didn't want me to?"

She looked up at that, her face appalled. "I didn't know you loved me! I never thought—never ever thought—I was the girl you meant when you said you loved a girl in high school!"

"How could you not know it was you?" he asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.

"I thought you hated me. I didn't even think about the girl you said you loved then. I just wiped that detail from mind like it had never been. When you started talking about her yesterday, my heart dropped. I'd forgotten all about her. I wracked my brain trying to figure out who you could have been loving all this time, why I didn't know her, how she could turn her back on you."

"Where was I going to fit time in my life for another troublesome girl?" he asked reasonably, trying to fight the inexplicable urge to laugh. She was so obviously sincere. "How could you not have known?"

She heard the laughter in his voice and characteristically bristled. "Well, how was I supposed to realize you could fall in love with someone like me? An amateur. Young and immature. Plain with little sex appeal. Motivated by ugly motives. And you seemed to disapprove of me. You were always picking on me."

"Because I was trying not to fall in love with you, too."

She flung out a hand. "Well, you see where that got us."

The absurdity of the discussion, her inability to see herself in his words, his opening up his heart to the woman he loved because he thought she was a chicken, was more than he could withstand and he dissolved into laughter. When she sputtered, insulted, he snagged her around the waist and rolled her underneath him so he could kiss her breathless.

Of course they both ended up breathless. He forgot how quickly the lust would surface at the slightest touch and she was kissing him more and more passionately until he could feel his control thin to one slender thread. He rolled back off her, taking her with him. "I should have known," he gasped when he could wrench his lips away. "That stupid chicken was so easy to talk to. I never talk to anyone like that. Except you."

"You kept trying to pull my head off," she accused.

"I never could understand why you kept stopping me." He set her back on her knees and sat cross-legged in front of her. Perhaps he should have worn a shirt after his shower that morning instead of just the loose pants. She felt so natural in his home, so natural, it was easy to fall into his normal routine. "Is that why you believed me, yesterday? I always thought, if I told you I loved you, you'd wouldn't believe me. But you did last night, believed me and opened up to me. Is that because you heard me tell, er, Bo?"

She blushed. "You didn't have any reason to lie to Bo and you got angry if you thought I was insulting, er, myself. I felt guilty, too, like I had eavesdropped on you when you wouldn't want me to." She looked up at that, though, her face intent and earnest. "I had all afternoon to figure out what I wanted, what I didn't want, and what to do. I know I cheated, but I'm glad I knew so I could believe you loved me. And you do, right?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "And you're not angry about Bo?"

"No."

She sighed again. "Good. Finish your breakfast."

He laughed but returned to his food. "I'm sorry you'll have to shop with me."

She wasn't fooled. "No you're not." She breathed in carefully, then let it out. "I suspect it's too much to have you shop for yourself, what with all the screaming fans and your inability to comparison shop. I'll just shop for you on my own in the future."

"No," he said, suddenly serious.

She looked up at that. "What's wrong?"

First topic he'd wanted to talk about. "You're a celebrity, too. You've been doing enough jobs, been successful enough, you should have a manager like I do. I can't take you everywhere with me. I don't like you going so many places alone. Since I can't always be there, you need someone. If I have to, I'll talk to Sawara and the President."

"No one ever recognizes me."

"They will." He reached over and stroked fingers along her cheek. "You're too important to be left unguarded."

"I can't afford a manager."

"I'd pay for it rather than let you roam unguarded."

"I can't let you do that," she said, blushing. Before he could retort, she said desperately, "I can't believe Yashiro cleared your whole day. What will you do with yourself?"

Fine. He'd work it with the president whether she wanted it or not. The president would be so thrilled, he'd give Kyoko anything Rem wanted. Rem was surprised the President wasn't already thinking about it. "I'm going to your shoot to watch you in action. I've wanted to do so many times but I've never had the opportunity. What's your schedule for today?"

Her color deepened. "I shoot Box R until 5, then to the TV station until 7. Then, I'd go back to Daruyuma to work. I hardly ever have the chance to any more and they've been so good to me."

"I'm looking forward to it."

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself. "You'd probably find it boring."

"Never," he said, gathering up dishes. "I particularly want to talk to the people at Daruyuma who have looked out for you so long, introduce myself formally. I remember them from Maria's party."

"They are good people."

"Yes. I don't want them to worry about you now that you're with me."

"They don't have to know," she offered, following him to the kitchen where he started washing dishes.

"I'm not keeping this a secret. That's something else I want to talk to you about. I'm favoring a press release. I want people to know you belong with me. It won't stop everyone, but will keep most away. I am not someone most people want as an enemy."

"Your fans are far more dangerous than any of my mythical admirers, Ren. Really." She remembered Ren as Black Jack and shuddered. "I really don't think anyone is really interested," she said, "Except for that stupid Beagle. And he's already afraid of you."

"You've never been aware of how many people find you attractive." Time to address the next topic he needed to tackle. "You don't even think Fuwa wants you."

"He just wants to hurt me."

"He wants to control you. He only tries to hurt you because he thinks that's how to do it. Even he has learned to appreciate you as he never did when you were his adoring dupe." He chose words that were deliberately offensive because he wanted her reaction so he could diffuse it directly.

As he expected, rage flickered over her features. "That asshole."

"He is. And it's past time you let him go."

"What?" she said, the dish breaking in her hand. He removed it gently before she could hurt herself in her conditioned response to Fuwa. "What are you talking about? I won't rest until I've destroyed him."

"At this point, what you gain with your revenge is tiny compared to what you lose. And what for? What did Fuwa cheat you out of?"

"I never had friends growing up. I missed out on school. I trusted him and loved him, only to be betrayed. I couldn't love any more. I lost my home. He made me feel ugly and worthless. I never did anything for myself, consumed with supporting him."

Dishes done, Ren dried his hands then lifted a hand to count off on his fingers. "You have friends now, friends you never would have had if he hadn't ditched you. And, crappy as he was, he was your friend growing up to the best of his limited ability. You're going to school now thanks to your own efforts. He betrayed your trust, but I don't think he ever pretended to be the prince you thought he was, did he? He was deluded as to your worth and attractiveness, but you know better now and have accomplished so much that you never would have done if he hadn't mistreated you or if you had stayed in Kyoto instead. You're not ugly and worthless and ought to be aware of that, now. Now you do what you want to do for yourself and no one else, not even me. You have a home at Daruyuma, at LME, and here."

"You make it sound like he did me a favor."

"He has done you a favor, and me as well, though he did it all to suit his own interests. He hurt you terribly, truthfully, and you deserve to despise him for that. But the reason you're really so enraged is because you're mad at yourself for wasting so much of your life on him. You loved who you wanted him to be, never what he was or even what he pretended to be."

She wanted to argue and he geared himself up for the blast of vicious ire. Instead, she deflated. "So I shouldn't hate him?"

"By all means, hate him. He's a selfish toad and deserves a good kicking. He never gave a damn how much harm he did you as long as he had power over you. Still doesn't. But he's not worth any more of your energy. He can't do you any more harm and, although he didn't intend it, he made it possible for you to find yourself. He doesn't deserve the credit because you've done all the work yourself, but you've already regained everything you lost because you can love again. Right?"

She was always so open to logic. He loved that about her, even for all her emotional highs and lows. "Yes."

"Would you be happier if he hadn't dumped you, if he'd kept you, and you were still slaving away on his behalf with no school or personal accomplishments, just the delusion that he was your prince?"

She shuddered. "No."

"And you love me, I hope, and not some twisted image you think I am. You know my flaws better than anyone. Isn't it different than when you loved Fuwa?"

She frowned. "Yes. I did know his flaws, just pretended not to."

He closed his eyes as pain washed him. "Do you know how jealous I was of him?"

"Of him?" He could have laughed out loud at the horror in her voice. "Why? I hated that jerk! I wasn't jealous of all the women he was sidling up to. I just felt sorry for them."

"And the kiss he gave you on Valentine's Day?" He opened his eyes to read her expression.

Her face was eloquent. "That creep! It was like kissing my brother. Only more wet. Yuck!" She looked up at him in that way that always made his gut clench with desire. "He didn't make my heart race like you did with a look, with a kiss on the cheek."

He chuckled so he didn't grab her. "I like that much better, that he's the spoiled brat of a brother you can't see without squabbling." The last weight on his heart lifted.

He continued. "All that passion for him, so much of it. Funneled into hate but I wondered if, with a little nudge, it couldn't be turned back into love." He let himself touch her face. "I wanted your passion for myself. Or for yourself. Certainly not wasted on that little prick."

He brought his other hand up to cup her jaw. He loved touching her. "Is it wrong to want your passion for myself? I don't want to share your soul with him. Or anyone else." He slid closer and wrapped her in his arms. "I want to have a bigger part of your heart than he has. Is that wrong?"

"You do," she said, as if she were surprised.

"That makes me very happy." He pulled back and smiled at her. "If it makes you feel better, there is no vengeance you could take on him more effective than being successful and happy without wasting a thought on him. Being dismissed as unimportant is far more painful than being hated. Especially, if he sees you being happy and successful with me."

The smile she gave him was evil. "He really does hate you. If he doesn't want me for himself, he'd still hate that I was with you."

"Agreed," he said, trying not to smile himself. "So, we'll invite him to the wedding as your childhood friend." He bent and kissed her, certain his words were understood only when she wrenched herself away.

"Wedding?" she said, shocked, as if he had suggested more grilled frogs.

"Yes." He dropped to one knee, retrieving the box from his pocket where he tucked it after his shower. He opened it. The ring inside was white gold with an oval iolite stone circled by tiny pink diamonds. "I love you, Kyoko. Will you marry me?"

She stood, a Kyoko statue, staring in apparent horror at the ring. Fear gripped him. Of all the things he thought he could do to drive her away, he never guessed this would be the one. "I—I meant to ask you before I—I laid a finger on you, but I, um, didn't pull it off. I always wanted to marry you, Kyoko. Don't—don't be scared. You can say no. It won't change anything."

"It changes everything," she said dully, falling to her knees in front of him and taking his hand in both of hers.

"Kyoko—"

She rubbed her cheek against his finger tips before touching them lightly with her lips. When she lifted her face to his, her eyes were alive but immersed in tears that poured unheeded down her cheeks. "And I couldn't possibly say no."

"Don't cry," he begged, knowing it was useless. He'd expected her to cry half a dozen times the past night, given her emotional intensity. He sat cross-legged in front of her and pulled the ring from the box, slipping it onto her slim finger. He kissed it when it settled into place, a perfect fit.

"How?" she asked, her face astonished beneath the storm of tears.

He shrugged. "I know how to make nice with the wardrobe people. All I needed was your ring size. I don't think they even caught on to the fact I was looking for it."

If her tears had ebbed with her surprise, they flooded now with renewed fervor, "You planned this. It wasn't just because... You really want to marry me?"

Her tears weren't unhappy, but he couldn't bear it much longer. His hands cupped her face, bring that face closer to his. "Why are you asking me after I've asked you, you silly girl?" He closed his eyes and whispered in her ear, "Answer me. Tell me you want to be with me forever."

He could feel the tears fall on to his hand, hear the soft sobbing breaths. "I want to be with you forever. Don't—don't offer it unless you're certain, Tsuru—Ren. I couldn't bear to be discarded again, not by you."

"Never happen. You are my treasure and I won't willingly give you up, not even if you wanted someone else. I would do everything in my power to change your mind. I love you, Kyoko. Marry me."

Instead of answering, she crawled right into his lap, straddling his hips as she plastered herself against his body and latched herself on his mouth greedily.

Lust swamped him, impossible to resist. She was only wearing his silk robe, soft and slippery against him. His hands fisted in her hair and pulled her head back so he could plunder mercilessly. Rather than retreat, she arched against him, her mouth every bit as hungry, every bit as passionate, every bit as demanding.

His hands slid down her back, taking the robe with him. He could feel her bare breasts against his chest, feel the heat between her thighs pressed against him intimately. His fists clenched along her back as he fought the urge to push and take her without restraint. His body burned to have her. Have her now.

"Kyoko," he choked, wrenching his mouth away, but she would not let him go. Her mouth wandered over his face, his neck.

"Don't tell me to stop," she panted between kisses. "Don't stop, either. I need to know what you really feel."

"What?" He felt confused, torn, desperate to hold on to what remained of his control and equally desperate to lose himself in her at last. "You don't know—"

"No, I don't know," she said firmly. "As long as you're in control, you could be acting. I know you're that good. I won't know what you really feel until you let yourself go."

"I can't," he said, as his body strained against his mind.

"Do you want me?" His body surged in response to her words, the feel of her breath against his skin. Unbidden, his hands found her breasts.

"You know I do," he groaned, holding on to his sanity with just his fingernails.

She pulled something from her pocket that she'd snagged from his nighttable. "Show me."

Lost to reason, shame or patience, he stripped off her robe and lost himself in her with her ardent cooperation.

See part five: Curtain Call
See part six: Date with Natsu
See part seven: Shoudown

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Dinner Theater

2011-07-15T14:11:00.010-05:00

If you are interested in reading this, start here or, even if you're a fan, you'll get confused. Note that the disclaimer and introduction still apply.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen" 'cause, unlike the manga, there's actual sex.

Her blush intensified, but she held her head high as she brought her supplies to the kitchen. "Should I cook later or...?"

Now that he had himself in hand, Ren found himself amused at her confusion. "Let's eat like civilized people and talk."

"Will you kick me out as soon as you've eaten?"

Ah. Her mind, so facile. He'd done that to her before. "I will drive you home when you're ready to go. You can stay as long as you like in the mean time. Or return any time. I can get a key made for you tomorrow if it would make you feel better."

She pulled out green onions and began to chop. "I don't understand you. I thought... You seemed... Now, you're so calm."

He nearly laughed aloud. "You are still desirable. I've just regained my equilibrium. And I'm not scared out of my mind. I'm happy. It's been a long time since I felt so happy."

She set rice cooking, then looked at him suspiciously. "I've never seen you like this. I can't believe you were afraid I'd turn away from you. Even if I didn't love you, I wouldn't have cut you from my life. I've depended on you from the beginning."

"I feel like it was the other way around, that you were supporting me." He slid around the counter and took up her knife. "Here, I can chop these. I just can't be trusted with the actual cooking."

She didn't argue and that made him laugh again. It struck him how comfortable he was cooking with her, working beside her, eating with her, talking with her. His fear of losing her had been undermining his enjoyment of her. Stupid. "Thank you for coming. That chicken was right. I should have told you how I felt a long time ago."

"I can't remember when you seemed so open," she said, with an expression that said she wasn't sure she liked it.

"I'm going to celebrate not scaring you away by getting rid of all my secrets. Ask me anything and I promise to answer truthfully."

The look she gave him was so sly, it reminded him forcefully of Mio. But the question seemed innocuous enough. "You say you've loved me a long time. When did you first start to love me?"

Ah. Was she ready for that, the truth behind her Fairy Prince, "Corn?" Was he? But he couldn't lie. Better address it slowly. "I think I"ve loved you from the first moment, the first time I saw you."

"Liar."

He laughed, having expected that response. "No, truth, but I didn't know I loved you for a long time. I sometimes think I was the last one to know."

"Not hardly. You didn't love me from the beginning. You hated me."

"You mean, when you first joined the agency? I didn't hate you," he said piously. "I disliked you intensely."

She snorted. "Same thing."

"Not the same thing, but that's why I think I loved you from the first. You pulled a response from me, a strong one, instantly. You've seen me work with many people, some of which were nowhere near as professional as they should have been, as you are. Have you ever seen me treat any of them like I treated you?"

"No. Never," she said at once, in a voice that didn't sound convinced.

He shrugged. "My point. I actively didn't want you in the agency, pushed you away with harsh words when you were nice or open with me, more so as my respect for you grew. Why was that?"

"You hated me."

"If I'd really hated you, I wouldn't have had to push you away. I would have stayed polite and distant. I didn't want to fall in love or become attached to someone. I instinctively knew you could undermine my resolve, so I tried to push you away, but I couldn't stop myself from seeking you out either. Even when you tried to avoid me."

Her spoon clattered to the countertop, her face blank as it frequently was as things fell into place for her. Or she was just shocked. "That's right," she whispered. "You were mean to me, but you were kind to me, too. Rude and considerate by turns." She picked her spoon back up and shook it at him. "You were very confusing."

"Yashiro caught on right away. What are you making?"

"Hamburger."

"With a fried egg on top. I remember." It was the first meal they ate together. "Yashiro became positively obsessed that you were important to me from the start and began scheming like a professional matchmaker. Just like he did tonight. Let's not tell him for a while. Drive him crazy."

Color had crept into her cheeks, but she laughed at that. "So, when did you know?"

"Well, I got some hints from a chicken about love, some hints that I might feel that way about you. That's right, chicken. You know that chicken from Yappa Kimagure Rock?"

"Bo," she said automatically.

He glanced at her in surprise. "She did say she knew you." Her cheeks flamed further. She must know the chicken girl pretty well. "She got me thinking and I was all torn up trying to figure out my Katsuki at the time. I didn't know how to express that kind of forbidden love because I hadn't felt it, except 'Bo' said maybe I had. I was still trying to deny it when I had you over that night to help me find Katsuki."

"And you found him."

Ren put the knife down. "Because I found you. Because I found out what it was like to hold someone and not be able to let go, to be so driven to touch them that all your logic and common sense were worthless. When I had you in my arms, I literally couldn't think about anything else but holding on to you forever."

"You did want to kiss me," she accused as meat sizzled.

"I did. Desperately," he agreed, beating back an urge to do so again. One should never distract someone at the stove. He picked up the knife again and began to slice some pickled daikon so he wouldn't be too tempted.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Not until she was frying eggs did she speak. "That's when I first decided never to play a romantic role with you, even though I admired your acting."

"What?" he asked, so shocked he managed to cut himself on the knife. The salt stung and he had to bite down on a curse.

"You should be more careful," she said calmly, rescuing the eggs before taking him by the hand to the sink and running the water to wash away salt and blood. "Let me explain. I saw you with Momose-san, your face, your expressions and I saw her reaction. She didn't want to, but she fell a little in love with you, even outside the role. But, outside the role, you felt nothing for her. Director Shingai said you did that to your co-stars all the time."

"I don't understand."

She turned off the water, but retained her hold on his hand. "I knew you could make me fall in love with you, even if you felt nothing yourself. I didn't want to love someone like that again, love someone who would never love me. Do you understand?"

He wanted to protest even the most indirect comparison to that guy but she brought his hand to her mouth and touched her lips to the tiny nick on his finger. Everything else evaporated from his mind. He gripped the counter on either side of her and bent his head, kissing her as he'd wanted to kiss her in the kitchen that night

The kiss was sweet, soft and undemanding, but he could feel the warmth building. When he would have retreated, she tipped her head up, her hands sliding against his shirt, but not to push him away. Instead, she gripped his collar. His heart began to pound as his breathing quickened. It was a miracle; she was here in his arms. He cradled the back of her head with his uninjured hand and let himself delve deeper, let her feel a little of his heat, his yearning.

But only a little. He pulled back and smiled at her. "I looked that way because I was thinking of you, imagining you. Do you believe me?"

"You look like that now."She shook her head and gave him a little push. "It seems impossible. We should eat before it gets cold." She gathered up plates and headed to the table.

He took a moment to plate the takuan before bringing it and the tea to the table in her wake.

"Why impossible?" he said after they were seated.

She shrugged. He remembered her doing that before when she didn't believe he could desire her. "You could have anyone." She studiously didn't look at him and began to eat.

"That isn't true," he said at once. "And I can explain why, but that's not the important part. Say it was true, so what? If I could have anyone, why wouldn't it be you?"

She reached to her neck to where Princess Rosa hung.

"It's not Princess Rosa. It's not the make-up. It's not the costumes. Though you wear them all well. Inside you, there is this light. Not just guts, not just brains, though you have more than your share of both. It's not just your imagination though yours continues to awe and inspire me. Not just a good soul that always gives even when you're determined to look out for yourself. Even the core of wisdom and nobility that takes my breath away. It's the combination of it all, I guess, or just your unique spirit that amazes me."

She'd stopped eating, staring at him, open-mouthed. He couldn't help laughing. He bent to his own meal so he wouldn't say more. After all, her self image was not going to be healed in one day.

She shut her mouth with a snap, blushing. "I feel like this is a dream. No one's ever talked like that about me."

"That's not true. Many people have noticed your talent. The president was so impressed, he made that section just for you. Director Shingai and Director Ogata have both told me how professional you were, how they were anxious to work with you again."

"They were just—"

"They were not just being polite or nice any more than Kijima-kun or Murasame-kun were flirting with you out of kindness." He couldn't overcome a lifetime of abuse in a night, but, as long as she saw herself as nothing special, she'd never really believe he loved her. She'd always think he'd wake up one day and leave her behind. How could he explain it in a way she'd accept?

He fixed his most innocent look on his face and began to eat. "You know those stories you love, with oppressed girls transformed into beautiful princesses to win the heart of the handsome prince?"

"What?" Her glance was sharper than he expected, but he knew how to play this particular part. He kept his face bland as she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Stories like that. Cinderella. They're all wrong."

"Wrong?" He could see it, now, the anger swelling, her aura beginning take on the edge of rage. She really was something special.

"Wrong. Obviously," he said in his most patronizing tone, lifting a finger for emphasis. "Completely backwards. In the story, the girl is misused but ordinary and must be transformed by some outside magic, right? Magic wand? Magic potion? And only after she's been transformed, the prince recognizes her beauty and falls in love, right?"

"You needn't sound so condescending!" she snapped, eating with determination. She was so cute. She didn't want to start a fight.

Ren said nothing but kept eating, enjoying his food as he did only when she ate with him. It wasn't just the food she cooked, though he'd yet to eat anything she didn't make delicious (well, maybe that horrific energy drink when he was sick). It was her company. He wondered how long he would have to wait...

"What's wrong with that story?"

Ah. "What would be the point? A girl with no actual merit fools a credulous 'prince' through use of a subterfuge, a facade, if you will, of beauty and wealth that she does not actually possess. The prince has no particular charm other his ability to be entranced by the veneer and, of course, his own wealth, though at least his is genuine."

She sputtered for a moment, clearly wanting to argue, but her mind was too capable not to see his logic. Her eyes widened, blank, as she tried to assimilate the implications of her most favored dream being rather unsavory. "So, it's dishonest?" she asked, her voice a thin thread of sound.

He couldn't afford to wait or she would cry. "Just inaccurate. The story is true, but it's been portrayed incorrectly."

"Incorrectly?" she asked, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"Naturally. Fortunately, the real story is so much more charming."

"The real story?" Her anger had evaporated, and her despair, leaving a face full of trustful hope.

Her naivete, though frequently frustrating, was also alluring. She needed only a story to appeal to that remarkable imagination of hers. "Of course. Because the magic was within the girl all along, the beauty, the charm, the worth. She was always a remarkable person, full of promise and intelligence and kindness, industry and wisdom. The magic potion or wand, at best, removed the layers that hid her nobility rather than created it, and allowed the girl and every other shallow observer to see the glory she'd always had."

"Always?" she breathed, eyes sparkling.

"Of course. There was no cheat. She'd was already worthy of admiration. That's what makes the story so good."

"So, it's because the prince can finally see her true nature that he falls in love with her!" she exulted, hands clasped as she was lost, again, in the fantasy he'd conjured.

"Certainly not," Ren said, finishing his hamburger and taking a bite of rice. "Such a shallow hero is no match for such a fantastic heroine."

A frown puckered between her brows. "He isn't?"

"Of course not. Who'd want to spend their lives tied to someone who only saw them as beautiful when her wonders were revealed for all to see. Such a fickle bastard would lose interest in favor of the next charming creature that happened across his path, whether genuine or otherwise because such a man is consumed with the appearance of merit, not the merit itself. That's not the man for our hidden treasure."

"It isn't?" He'd captured her imagination, if the misty look in her eyes was any indication.

"No man who needs a magic spell to see such treasure could possibly be worthy of her. Even one who can see may not deserve her, but if he can appreciate her, he can use her as inspiration to overcome his own shortcomings. That's a far more rewarding story than pairing such a paragon with a fatuous self-serving dolt."

He'd crept around the table without conscious volition so he was now within arm's reach of her. He placed his hands flat on the floor on either side of her and leaned in, careful not to touch her, but close enough he could feel her warmth as he whispered into her ear: "I don't deserve you, but I need you. Be with me."

He waited, unmoving. He began to berate himself. This is a girl who'd been recoiling from his smile the past year. What exactly was he expecting?

Just when he might have pulled back, her felt her hands on his face, framing it, The next instant she kissed him, her kiss as sweet as her first one, though not quite as innocent. As her mouth moved against his, he helplessly responded with similar passion. His arms wrapped around her, gently this time, but held her as firmly against his body as before.

He wanted her. Now. This minute. He burned for her. How easy it would be to lose himself with her so willingly in his arms. He didn't understand the change in her, why, when she'd been evading from him for months, she would return his kiss with growing passion, sink her hands in his hair instead of push him away. If he moved too quickly, would he drive her back to avoiding him? If he let her go, even for one night, would everything revert to normal?

He could give her patience. She was so innocent and she deserved to be cherished as she never had been. But he couldn't let her go, not tonight. Perhaps not ever.

He lifted his head, but didn't release her. "Stay with me tonight. I swear not to do anything you don't want, but I can't let you go. I need to hold you," he whispered into her hair. "When do you have to go in tomorrow?"

She lifted her face, her hands sliding out of his hair to cradle his face. "It's Saturday, so I don't have school. I don't have to be on set until one." She brushed her thumb next to his eyes. "Tsurug—R-Ren. You look so tired. You should go to bed right after your bath."

He looked tired. Charming. He loosened his hold on her, but didn't quite let go. "Will you stay?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation.

He didn't understand why she would, not after resisting so long. But then, he'd never understood the way her mind worked. No one did. That's what was so fascinating about her. "Thank you, Kyoko. Would you like to bathe first? I'll clean up here."

"No, I'll do it. I need to call Daruyuma. You go first and if you would..." she paused, blushing.

"What?"

"I didn't bring any clothes so if you could..."

He smiled. "I can find you something to change into."

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Quick as the look was, he could guess its meaning. She thought he had clothes from some previous lover hidden away. Well, he probably did, but he wasn't stupid enough to trot them out for her to wear. He'd have to make sure to get rid of them first chance he had.

He showered quickly, leaving one of his pajama tops in the bathroom for her. It would reach modestly down to her knees if not lower. Perhaps he should invest in some clothes for her here; he certainly knew enough fashion designers that owed him a favor. He would love to see her in something truly stunning beyond Setsu's particular tastes (not that she didn't look delicious in anything). Something he bought rather than being borrowed from LME or rented by some other guy. Something sexy that played up her versatile beauty.

Maybe he should have taken a colder shower.

He tidied the apartment, or meant to but she'd already left it spotless, as she took her bath. He tried not to think about her under the spray, soaking in hot water, her skin glistening with moisture. He tried not to think of the condoms his manager had optimistically snuck into his nighttable. What the hell was he going to do? He was never going to stay sane. He needed a drink or a distraction. Something. He had no idea what he was going to say to her and he knew what to say to everyone. Always. Never failed.

Except with her.

She bathed quickly. As he paced his bedroom, an untasted scotch in his hand, the door opened. "I put my clothes in the washer. Is that alright?"

He literally couldn't speak, nearly couldn't breathe. All the saliva in his mouth pooled. Her downed the scotch in two swallows to keep himself from grabbing her.

His pajama top was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen—on her. Blood red, it was huge on her, hanging down to her knees. That should have made it safe. The sleeves had been rolled up nearly to the shoulder, but they still hung halfway down her forearms, her shapely hands pale and slender in contrast. The top button hung down low between her small firm breasts and he could tell that, if she bent even a little, the collar would gape.

"Is it alright?"

"Yeah," he managed, carefully setting his square cut glass on the night table. He was across the room in two strides, cradling her head between his hands, his mouth hot and needy on hers, hungry. His hands slid down her slim back to her muscular butt. He should have given her cotton, not silk.

When her arms slid round his neck, her picked her up as he had once when she'd fractured her ankle. He managed to pull his mouth away, but told her, "I keep underestimating the temptation. Sleeping may be difficult."

"You're not the only one with desires," she said tartly.

His eyes closed as he lowered her carefully to the bed, then slid in beside her. "I can't tell you what that means to me. But I promised. And you are too precious to handle clumsily. I'm satisfied—no really—just to have you in my arms tonight." He folded her in his arms gently and breathed in her scent. His soap, of course, but he could taste the evocative scent of Kyoko underneath.

"And what about me?" she asked.

"You haven't promised anything," he said, chuckling. "You can do what you like to me." He wondered if she'd take him up on it, how she'd act. There was no guessing with Kyoko. He felt her hands feather along his face, his eyes. She'd said he looked tired.

Her heard her sigh before she curled up like a kitten against his chest. Torture, true, but the sweetest and most wonderful torture to feel her warmth against him. Just as he wondered how long it would take to fall asleep, he did so.

When he began to waken, he wondered if he were dreaming at last. His first sensation was that of a soft warm body tucked comfortably in his arm, saturating his senses with her alluring fragrance. Kyoko. As he drifted toward consciousness, he realized she was moving, her body pressing along his length, her hands in his hair, her lips along his neck and jaw. When her fingers tilted his head down so she could kiss his lips directly, he didn't hesitate to kiss her back.

He was fully roused now.

He had forgotten how very passionate she was when she pursued a path, any path, however reluctantly she might first have set forth. Within seconds she had pressed him back on the mattress, her body half-draped over his, as her mouth explored his with growing skill. Fully rested, his body responded before his mind could kick in and quickly short-circuited any rational thought processes.

He did manage to remember to be gentle and kept a tenuous hold on control, letting her take the lead and set the pace. At least for a few minutes. When her fingers began to unbutton his pajamas, he caught her hand and tried to catch his breath.

"Don't," she gasped before he could say anything, "Don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" Her eyes nearly glowed in her flushed face in the early morning light.

"No," she admitted. "But I don't want to be protected from you or myself any more. I want to be treated like a woman, not a child." Her eyes closed and she put her face next to his as he had the night before, her breath warm on his ear. "I love how you make me feel. I want to feel more."

He almost told her she didn't know what she was asking for, but then, she knew that. Shouldn't she decide for herself? He wanted to show her. But, once she'd gone down that path, she could never come back. "Are you sure? You can take all the time you want to decide. I won't push you." He would certainly try not to, anyway.

"If you want to touch me, I want to be touched. Show me, Ren."

He closed his eyes and took a moment to make sure he had himself in hand. Then, with infinite care and patience, he took the time he needed to initiate the girl he loved into womanhood.

See part four: Matinee
See part five: Curtain Call
See part six: Date with Natsu
See part seven: Shoudown

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Taking the Lead

2011-07-13T19:04:00.009-05:00

Fanfiction: Skip Beat!: Cosplay

2011-07-11T18:41:00.012-05:00

Okay, this is a first for me. I've never had the urge to write fan fiction because, truthfully, coming up with characters and scenarios has never been a problem. When I've been prompted by something to write before, it was usually because a good idea was so badly mangled I had to rework it into something good. Admittedly, it was usually unrecognizable long before I was through with it (and that was largely epic poetry that will never see the light of day).

But Nakamura Yoshiki, author/artist for Tokyo Crazy Paradise and Skip Beat! has built such terrific sequences and characters that I couldn't stop myself. Whereas the bit I wrote for Tokyo Crazy Paradise is a bit of consummation after the end of the series (which is complete), what I wrote for Skip Beat! is largely my speculation on how it could come to a close. It's not over yet so there are many many opportunities for her to resolve it any number of ways. I won't post the TCP bit until after I've reviewed it. Truthfully, I expect the mangaku to spin it out longer than I have it here (much longer) and probably in little bites than I've done here. And, as I've said, it's just speculation using someone else's story. Note that I have also written fanfiction for Tokyo Crazy Paradise that begins here.

If you haven't read the manga, you probably will be confused. If you want to read it but haven't yet (and I definitely recommend it), I'd avoid reading this because spoilers are built all through it. In fact, this is unlikely to be of any interest to anyone other than a fan of Skip Beat! if even that because this is how I see the characters.

Disclaimer: these characters and scenarios are based on the work of Nakamura Yoshiki and I'm just speculating on what might happen later in the story. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not an original work and I will never try to market or profit by it in any way. The manga is rated "Teen" but this is probably closer to "older Teen."

There was something about that hallway.

Kyoko didn't consciously seek Ren out, even if her mind had been wrestling with concerns for him. Something was eating away at him, she could tell: the yearning looks she caught now and again on his face, his near constant sighs, the reserve that she'd thought long gone between them that had come back. As her own interest in him, affection for him, became undeniable, she noticed more and more that he struggled with something silently, without confiding in anyone, even his manager. Certainly not her.

It hurt. He had no reason to confide in her, surely, but they were at least friends, even if her unfortunate love for him was one-sided. He'd never failed to be there when she needed it; it was painful to see him suffer with no way to help him.

She knew he'd struggled with his current role, the darkness, the violence, the callousness, but she'd thought he'd broken through on that, conquered it. This seemed different. Why couldn't he talk to her about this when he could about his violent past, his darker side?

As she'd mulled his unknown problem, she had waddled down the TV station's corridors, never really asking herself why she had taken a walk still bundled into her bulky costume until she'd turned the corner and seen him, sitting in a funk in his favorite remote corner. She wasn't surprised. A part of her wanted to find him in the only guise she knew that might get him to open up. Of course.

As she crept close, the look on his face broke her heart. She wanted to extend a wing and touch his face. How could anyone look so alone? She knew that feeling, though she hadn't felt that way in some time. She angled into his line of vision and waved her wing instead. "Yo."

The slightest hint of his genuine smile touched his lips before he shook his head. "I should have known. How do you know when to find me?"

"I'm the smartest chicken you know."

He chuckled briefly, but his smile quickly faded. "I'm losing my sanity, friend."

She perched gingerly next to him and folded her wings on her lap. "Tell me what's wrong."

She expected to have to cajole him like she'd done in the past. Instead, he asked, after only a brief pause, "Do you remember what we talked about when last we met?"

A year previously, she recalled, he struggled with Katsuki's role, though what they had really talked about was...love and his attraction to someone else. Her heart ached. Talking to him about his love life was hardly what she'd wanted. She'd conveniently forgotten his interest in some unknown high school girl. And yet... she saw his face, his pallor, the exhaustion, the despair. If she loved him, shouldn't she help him however she could? "There was a girl," she offered.

"Yes." He stared at his hands, clasped on his lap. "You were right, then. I did love her. I didn't want to. Didn't want to care so much about anyone. I was stupid. It was already too late. And it's changed my life, saved me."

It hurt more than she expected, so she took a moment before she asked. "Do you love her so much?" She'd forgotten to disguise her voice and was surprised how small her voice sounded.

He looked up sharply, studying her mask for a moment, before returning his gaze to his hands. "More than anything. So much, I can't bear to lose her."

Torture. She cleared her throat. "So, why the long face? You should be cozying up to the girl you like." She'd managed to disguise her voice, but had not injected the enthusiasm she'd been shooting for. Some actress she was.

"She doesn't like me." He shook his head. "No, that's not quite it. I think she likes me in a way. She respects me, listens to me, looks out for me. Perhaps she thinks of me as a friend. But lover? Not a chance. She doesn't want me."

"You're kidding, right?" she asked with a snort of laughter. When he just looked at her coldly, she stopped laughing. She indulged in a moment of reflection on any girl he might covet who wouldn't be thrilled. Even at her worst, when she'd feared loving him the most, that fear had been largely driven by her knowledge that any love she might have for him could never be returned. He might thoughtlessly shatter her heart with his teasing or his acting power, completely unaware of his hold over her, but it was just his normal charm. Nothing personal. Someone like Ren didn't end up with a nobody like herself. "That's hard to imagine," she finally managed. "I thought all women wanted you."

He snorted this time. "Hardly. But she's not like regular women. She's something special. So brilliant, so unbelievably beautiful in ways outside the common way, so kind, so talented. I've never met anyone like her in my life. She takes my breath away."

"Sounds wonderful," she said, her mouth tasting like dust.

"It's hell, too. I find every excuse I can to see her, talk to her, single her out. Fate's helped with that. She's friendly, but if I so much as touch her, even give her a genuine smile, she recoils. She respects me, but thinks of me in light of a teacher, a brutish one who lives to bully people." He sighed. "Guess I can't blame her for that."

So I'm not the only one he bullies, she thought. Why did that thought depress her? Somewhere, in the depths of her brain, a bell rang, but she ignored it as she tried to imagine who he might be talking about. How could she not have noticed some girl he'd gone out of his way to spend time with, look out for?

"Meanwhile, every man with a pulse has started to come sniffing around her. With them, she treats even the most pointed advance with careless nonchalance. She has no sense of self-preservation against anyone but me. Even her worthless ex comes on to her now, and she thinks nothing about being alone with him. Of course, she doesn't notice he's coming on to her, but it's only a matter of time. Someone's going to get through to her and she'll be lost to me."

Who was this paragon? She couldn't be a costar. Kyoko knew them all and there wasn't a one of them who wouldn't weep with joy to be adored by him. A fast-rising star? Beautiful enough to attract hordes of men? Kyoko suppressed her jealousy. She didn't begrudge the hordes, but she couldn't help but envy this unknown angel this one particular man, especially since she was breaking Ren's heart. Damn it, the woman obviously didn't deserve him. Who was she? Maybe Kyoko could get more information. "She's in show business?"

He narrowed his eyes, suspiciously. "Why?"

Kyoko blinked at him in confusion, unsure why she was detecting anger until it dawned on her that he saw her as a potential rival. He didn't know she was a girl after all. "Um, uh, I thought she might have been on the show?"

He snorted. "I doubt it. She doesn't seem to think much of variety shows and I'm sure she would have mentioned being on Yappa Kimagure Rock. My agency is closely tied to the hosts." He sighed. "Sorry, friend. I'm crazy over this. If this keeps up, I won't be able to stop myself. I'll kiss her for sure and she'll toss me out of her life. I can't sleep. I can't eat. It's going to affect my work."

"You haven't kissed her?" Kyoko squawked. "Not even when you confessed?"

"I can't tell her. She's scared to love because of the way her ex treated her. She's so romantic that she'd rather feel nothing than take a chance on love. She's kind of all or nothing. As for kissing her, you should see the look of fear she gets on her face if I even think about it."

More bells were ringing in the recesses of Kyoko's mind, but she was still focused on his problem. "Close your eyes before you kiss her," Kyoko suggested practically. "Her look can't stop you if you don't see it."

"You're pretty callous when it comes to this girl. She's not some bimbo I just want to get into bed, you know. I really love her."

Kyoko fought back the blossoming jealousy. "Sorry," she managed through gritted teeth. Then sighed. "But you do want her, right?"

He clenched his fists on his thighs before replying in a strangled voice. "Desperately."

What she wouldn't give to have him speak that way about her! She wanted to touch his face, comfort him, but she could just imagine his reaction to being fondled by an oversized stuffed chicken. She had to help him. Who knew more than she did the pain of loving in vain? He was suffering. "I'll help you however I can." Damn it, she forgot to disguise her voice again.

This time, he didn't seem to notice, but he didn't exactly look comforted. "I don't want you to be offended, friend, but I'm not sure how you can help me. If you hadn't noticed, you're a chicken."

"But I'm very popular with the ladies." Kyoko retorted. "The problem is you haven't told this girl anything and you're guessing at what she's thinking. She might not be so hard to win over as you think." I can't think how she could be. "Problem is, if you continue the way you are now, you're going to lose control and you really might scare her off."

"That's what I'm saying," he pointed out.

"So you have to tell her. Kiss her. Let her know. Even if she says, 'no,' you'll know where you stand."

"You make it sound so easy. Would you tell someone you loved, even if you didn't think they'd love you back?"

Good question. Right to the heart, like always. "I can see how it's hard. But you gotta do it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"She might cut me out of her life. I could handle being hated. I could win her over from that, but dismissed from her existence. I don't think I could bear it."

"That won't happen. Impossible. I'm sure of it. If she cares anything for you. When have I been wrong?"

Ren regarded Kyoko appraisingly. "Actually, you've been uncannily accurate. Alright, you win. What should I do?"

"Kiss her. Gently," Kyoko told him without hesitation. The pain and yearning left her feeling exhausted, but it was all for his sake. Didn't he deserve some happiness? He'd been there for her so many times. It was hardly his fault he didn't love her.

"I've almost kissed her a dozen times, nearly did so on Valentine's Day, but her bastard of an ex beat me to it." He snorted, his face softened with memory. "Even a kiss on the cheek scrambled her brain. It was so cute. And frustrating."

Kyoko went entirely still, her body suddenly cold despite the layers of padding. Valentine's Day. The faint ringing of bells became a claxon as pieces she'd been ignoring fell into place. Shotarou, that bastard, kissing her in front of Ren and then Ren, kissing her on the cheek after she'd given him the gelée au vin. She was in high school. She spent inordinate amounts of time with Ren. She'd accused him of bullying her (and she'd never seen him bully anyone else). Sure, he'd started out hating her, but he hadn't seemed like he hated her for a long time.

She'd seen him get angry when Sho or anyone else got close to her. Remember the cast party? If he loved her, and not just as a protogée, all of this started to make sense, including his anger whenever she was around Sho. That meant his own jealousy was making him think other men were interested in her.

It was too fantastic to be true, but she couldn't shake how right if felt. She just couldn't believe he'd kissed another girl like that on Valentine's day and had the same effect. And she had been scared of him with his heavenly smile and heart-opening touch. But what could someone with the talent and beauty of Tsuruga Ren possibly see in an immature little nobody with no sex appeal like herself? She didn't even realize she said it until it was already out: "You love Kyoko?"

Ren grabbed the chest of her costume, yanked her up off her feet and was glaring into her chicken face with his most dangerous look. "How did you know that? How do you know her?"

Shit. She had not thought this through. Time to lie. "Oh, I know Kyoko. She's got a regular gig at this TV station, you know."

Ren lowered her back down. "I'd forgotten that." He surprised her by releasing his hands with an apology, looking pointedly away from her. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were a girl. I shouldn't have been so rough."

Heat flooded Kyoko as she realized what he'd felt. Reflexively, she crossed her wings over her breasts.

Ren cleared his throat and offered his gentlemanly smile, the one that masked both ire and embarassment. "So, that's how you know Kyoko." The scintillant power of his smile increased. "And she told you I kissed her cheek on Valentine's Day?"

Danger! Danger! "No, but she told me what Fuwa Sho did. I could figure out the rest. I know all about that idiot. And I know you work with her." That seemed pretty safe. He seemed to be much calmer now that he realized she was a she. "She says you really are a bully."

Ren sighed. "She would."

"Kyoko doesn't just fear you. She respects you, depends on you, says you make her feel safe and brave."

"She gives me far too much credit."

Kyoko sat back down, reeling with the knowledge that she was the one he loved. She'd thought it impossible. "So, Kyoko? Really? She's so... I mean, hey, you can have anyone."

Ice edged Ren's voice, his eyes as cold as Hokkaido in February. "What do you mean by that?"

Kyoko took a moment to gather her thoughts. If he thought she was insulting herself, he'd get angry. The thought stunned her. "I like Kyoko," she said carefully. "She's a nice person. But she's kind of ordinary and immature."

"There's nothing ordinary about her," Ren said. "And she has many characteristics that are far more mature than her years. She's entitled to a bit of childishness here and there." His eyes softened. "It's part of her charm. It's a big part of her talent."

Kyoko swallowed. Had anyone ever spoken in her defense like this before? "I guess I just thought you'd love someone spectacularly beautiful," she said at last.

"She is beautiful, more beautiful than anyone, maybe even my mother. She's gorgeous all the way down to the core. She thinks its make-up or magic, but it's a magic she has inside her." His eyes were misty, his face angelic. She'd seen this face so many times. Only now did she realize why. He was thinking of her. That's how he saw her.

She didn't know what to say. Somehow, a selfless interest in helping Ren had become like eavesdropping into sentiments he'd never have shared with her if he'd know who she was. This isn't how she should be hearing this. On the other hand, she now knew how to solve his problem.

He wasn't really paying attention to her anymore. "I think I've always loved her, ever since she first confused me with a fairy prince."

"What?"

"Hmm? Oh. Sorry. I was just talking to myself. Precious memory. You know, you're amazingly easy to talk to."

"Friendliest chicken you know."

"She's easy to talk to, too, except about this. In some ways, you're very alike. Wait, you won't tell her about this, will you? You can't!"

"I would never betray your confidence. I've never told a soul about any conversation we've had," Kyoko assured him, feeling guilty though she spoke the truth.

Ren chuckled in a relieved sort of way. "I think I knew that. So, friend, what do you suggest I do, now that you know my problem? Still think I should kiss her since you know her?"

"Yes," she said, chest clenching, aching at the idea. Her own world had just upended, but she knew what she needed to do, for Ren, for herself. "But first, you're a mess. You need a break. Take a night off. Better yet, tomorrow, too. Call your manager and have him rearrange your schedule."

Automatically, Ren frowned. "I can't do that."

Kyoko hopped to her feet and lifted her wing admonishingly. "You can't eat. You can't sleep. You can't think. Better to postpone a job then fail spectacularly. You need a break. When was the last time you took one?"

"Well, I... That doesn't matter. I can't just..."

"What are you doing here? That TV drama? How long?"

"'Til about six. But then I have some studio modeling work."

"They can do it another time. Call your manager, Yashi-something-san, and have him rearrange your jobs. That's what managers are for. Tomorrow, too. When you're done with this, go home, have a good meal—get it delivered if you can't cook—and then get some rest. I'm positive, if you do what I tell you, the world will look differently tomorrow."

Ren looked at her, his stunning face drawn, his eyes exhausted, and she couldn't stop herself from stroking a wing along his cheek. At least he knew she was a girl. "Call him."

Ren looked as though he wanted to ask a question, but saw past her to someone behind her. "Here comes Yashiro-san now. I'll see what I can do."

Kyoko left as quickly as she could manage, but waited around the corner long enough to be sure Yashiro was doing what she wanted. Yashiro knew Ren well enough to see how frazzled Ren was. Yashiro even argued for the break, saying that it was about time Ren put his foot down against the unreasonable demands his employers were always making.

As Kyoko padded away to get changed, her mind raced. She only had four hours to think this through, to prepare herself. She hadn't been able to keep her box locked for some time. No matter how firmly she locked it up and how many layers of protection, the moment she saw him, the locks would fall away. But, today, as he opened his heart to what he thought was a stranger/friend, the box flew open and she knew she could never close it again. Only he could do so, if he chose to.

Like it or not, her heart was in his hands. It had been for a long time, apparently. Time to act on it.

See part two: Taking the Lead.
See part three: Dinner Theater
See part four: Matinee
See part five: Curtain Call
See part six: Date with Natsu
See part seven: Shoudown

Dengeki Daisy : Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-07-04T18:08:00.003-05:00

Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi is another of my Christmas sampling finds. Again, the blurb appealed to me, the premise, though the characters on the cover looked hideous (and still do). It was different than others I'd read and piqued my curiosity, particularly since Kurosaki wasn't another high school student but the janitor.

When I read it, I disovered that the manga was different than others I'd read, far more dramatic (without forgoing the humor) and generally smarter. As a tech savvy individual, I appreciated story lines and concepts I was familiar with. And the characters are wonderful.

Actually, I found the characters addicting and the humor wickedly appealing even rereading. The style of drawing may not be for everyone and didn't appeal to me much in the beginning, but she can make the characters quite beautiful if she wants to.

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 10 (5 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: I wouldn't have a problem letting any teenager read this, but we all know I'm progressive.

Taboos and "warnings": Some sexual innuendo, some minor violence. What will likely be most disturbing for many is the adult (24) and his romantic interest in the Teru (16) or vice versa despite the fact, to date, he has not acted on it.

Premise: Teru's left alone in the world and penniless with the death of her (apparently much older) brother. Her brother leaves her nothing but a cell phone which will provide contact to "Daisy" who will look out for her in her brother's stead. The contacts are all via text messaging and Daisy becomes the primary support for Teru, providing guidance and encouragement. When she is bullied and threatened at school, she is both oppressed and defended by the irascible and disreputable janitor. And, yes, he's Daisy.

What works: This could easily have degenerated into a maudlin whinefest or the kind of soulless "romance" I often see in America where the protector is really just a thinly veiled rapist looking for an excuse. That isn't happening here for several reasons. Primarily the characters are fantastic, but also, though there is a good deal of action, drama and even tragedy, there is a healthy dose of humor. The plot is strong with some of the least absurd plots I've seen. Some of them are even quite clever. Each chapter is balanced, lessons without being preachy, realism balanced against farce. Through them all are a collection of atypical (at least to my limited manga experience) characters who are vibrant and complex and frequently moving.

The lack of preachiness in a manga that has a great deal of focus on making pretty big mistakes needing forgiveness is, in and of itself, pretty impressive. Of course, since we haven't quite reached the denouement (at least in English), there may still be surprises.

First, I have to give kudos to the heroine, Kurebayashi Teru. Manga heroines frequently are a disappointment to me, but Teru is brilliant. Poor and obviously touched by tragedy, going toe to toe with bullies and industrial spies, with a few side bad guys, she is no one's doormat. She is highly honorable, demonstrably smart (rather than we are just told she is), and highly sympathetic to others. She is loyal, trusting (but not stupidly so), with a decent temper and a spine of steel. Although her judgement isn't perfect (and what sixteen year old has excellent judgement?), she is resourceful and clever in addressing adversity, working well under pressure. Her attitudes are very mature for someone so young, but the exigencies of her situation make it believable, yet she has enough of her youthful attitudes and mentality that she still feels like a teenager in many ways.

She has a huge love for Daisy, her brother, and her protector/oppressor, Kurosaki, without being at all blind to their failings and without judging. She demonstrates repeatedly a willingness to sacrifice herself (like her precious messages from Daisy) to protect those she loves. She isn't perfect, however, and is capable of manipulating the circumstances to her own benefit and bouts of insecurity.

Kurosake/Daisy, the janitor, is one of the most interesting and compelling characters I've seen in any form. Once a cracker/hacker, then programmer working on Teru's brother's team, his past (presumably illegal) activities and poor judgement while working on the team put the whole team at risk. Teru's brother shielded him, "losing everything" in the process. Although Teru's brother died of stomach cancer, Daisy believes he's responsible for Teru's brother's death. There are some, as yet unexplained circumstances, that make it seem others agree with him.

Ostensibly, Daisy's atonement is looking out for Teru in her brother's stead, consumed with the belief that his sins can never be forgiven and that he's the last one on earth entitled to Teru's love. Daisy centers his life on looking out for Teru, not only by being the ever supportive Daisy via text, but also working as a janitor at her high school. Whereas Daisy via text always says the right thing, Kurosake the janitor is short-tempered, thoughtless, disreputable, crude, rude and insulting. Part of that is to preserve Daisy's anonymity (as much for Teru's benefit as his own, since she'd lose Daisy if she rejected him). Still, his careless kindness and his overt support make her suspect him and, even if they're different, fall in love with him. As someone married to a man more than a decade younger, I'm also familiar with the notion of fighting a romantic love that seems somehow unsavory.

Their relationship is wonderfully balanced, normal young people insulting/conflict/power struggle with quite believable mature mutual kindness and support. I had no trouble envisioning a very healthy interaction where they genuinely liked each others company, aside from any romantic interest. But I also appreciated how important the contact was, how much they both needed to have it. The other side characters, people who once worked with Teru's brother, but now equally devoted to Teru's (and Daisy's) interests, are charming, appealing, though drawn with quick bold strokes.

I thought I wouldn't like the artwork based on the cover, but I quickly changed my mind. Kurosaki is frequently portrayed unflatteringly, but his face is amazingly expressive with some of the best representations of horror and wistful sadness ever. Teru is quite beautiful. The stylized panels with, again, the sight gags and the expression of attitude are frequently hilarious.

Favorite character: This was a hard one. When I first wrote this review, I gave the edge to Teru, a very strong and balanced character despite my fondness for Kurosaki. But, since then, I've read this manga probably a dozen times. And, when all is said and done, I love Kurosaki. He's not as balanced, admittedly, but I identify strongly his darker sides: wistful sadness and his sense of never being good enough. But his protectiveness, sarcasm and overt intelligence appeal strongly, too. He's compelling, complex and, in many ways, more vulnerable than Teru. How could I not love him?

Quotes (there are so many more than usual since the text is so compelling - I'm barely scratching the surface):

Teru: What do you think, Kurosaki? Is he a bad person? What if he became a hacker because of me . . .?
Kurosaki: What's the big deal? So he's a jerk. Quit worrying so much. It's not worth it. Besides he wanted to protect you even if he had to resort a crime. He's happy doing it. Don't beat yourself up over it. Just use him all you can.

Kurosaki: I mean just that. What if I'm Daisy? What if your precious precious Daisy turns out to be a total jerk like me?
Teru: That's goes without saying. I'll love everything about you. (When he's completely floored by that answer, she yanks out a handful of his hair for picking on "Daisy")

Takeda: I just expected you to beat me up.
Kurosaki: Haha, I wouldn't beat you up. If I did, I'd feel sorry for whoever had to clean up your brain splattered on the ground. One punch is all it would take.
Takeda: Oh, I see . . . So, you're really mad, huh?

The following are from volunteer translations, rather than the book.

Daisy: So many times when I wanted to run away, it was you who protected me. When I reveal my identity to you in person, the impression you have of the "kind Daisy" in the text will crumble. When that time comes, don't be sad. When I confess my crimes to you, please don't look away from me so that I wouldn't find ways to escape. Then I won't say, "Please forgive me."

Kurosaki: You haven't thought about all these at all, have you? Just simply waiting to ask for forgiveness, only thinking about how to comfort yourself a little. But, in the end, it only makes your sins heavier. Then you'll be in even greater agony than you're in right now. You're only betraying yourself, betraying those that believed in you. This is a very, very stupid sin.

Kurosaki: I'll give you a piece of advice. Just take it as a gift of congratulations. You're not an idiot like what everyone's been saying. You should know damn well why I was pissed, right? If you hurt my princess, this faithful servant will not know what he'll do next (putting out his cigarette in his fist).

Kurosaki: Dogs are nice though. It's like they're so genuine. You'll become happy just by touching them...
Teru: I know, right! Really, I know the feeling.
Kurosaki: (whispered) On the other hand, touching you is difficult. Holding back that is.
Teru: Huh? What do you mean?
Kurosaki: Nothing really. It means you should go home now.

What I didn't like: Again, not much. True, so far in what I've written four of our early villains are already completely redeemed (which usually irksome for me), but they were almost all manipulated, providing a parallel to Daisy's own situation that makes his forgiveness seem plausible. Since it's not over, I don't know if there are some that won't get redeemed.

There are some chapters that aren't moving forward very quickly. There are times, when you want them to just move somewhere. On the other hand, every manga spun out beyond the original intention is probably prone to that.

And, I admit, I had a problem with the ubiquitous smoking for every adult protagonist. I know being a smoker doesn't have anything to do with the merit of a person and know that smoking is a very pervasive habit among programmers. It fits the characters. But I don't know any responsible adult smokers who would wish this unhealthy and expensive habit on young impressionable minds, the target audience, so there's a part of me that wishes every adult protagonist wasn't constantly smoking, especially since they're so easy to identify with. Do I love the characters anyway? Hell yes.

Note: Dengeki Daisy has five books out in English (the fifth one on its way to me now) and chapters available out to at least Volume 7 as volunteer scans on-line. The translation is frequently different, but it just gets better and better as it moves on.

Skip Beat! (Part Five) - Anime

2011-06-25T21:58:00.007-05:00

Seriously, this is the last part of the review. Like as not, anyone who's read this is going, "whew!" but I've loved gushing. I also have to tell you, I just watched the whole anime again and I'm about to reread the manga. So, I'm hooked. Good and hooked.

Bottom line: good addictive anime, if not as pretty as some, and with an incomplete ending. 25 total episodes.

This is the first time I've had a post that just focused on the anime instead talking about the manga with the anime as an afterthought. It's ironic because the story's basically the same as the manga. No, it is the same as the manga, which isn't always the case with anime, although there's usually at least a common thread. In animes, which frequently come to an end while the manga's still going strong, an interim end (one that frequently foreshadows the ending some long distance away) is devised so, in particular, the last few episodes of the anime tend to vary the most from the original manga. Unfortunately, this did not happen here, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Most of the anime I've purchased have been released in the US with dubbed dialogue and I've been almost universally pleased with the caliber of the English speaking voices involved (Tamaki [Vic Mignogna] and Kyoya [J. Michael Tatum] are particular favorites from Ouran High School Host Club). Skip Beat! (the anime) is not licensed in the US and is not dubbed but subtitled. I watched it anyway, became hooked, and found it on-line for purchasing from Japan, theoretically. Since I'm learning Japanese anyway (also another story), I'm buying some subtitled anime in Japanese now.

One advantage to hearing it in the original language is that it has a different feel to it. The Japanese actors seem less inhibited and tend to be more, er, exuberant in how they express themselves. True, this is an exuberant anime (and manga), but even so. I've found myself duly impressed with the Japanese talents in this anime, not only with the expressiveness of the voices, but the versatility shown by the voice actors, particularly the one playing Kyoko (Marina Inoue) who must not only fake a deeper male sounding voice, but voice the grudge Kyokos and a huge range of extreme emotions effectively. That she does so well enough one can readily determine her emotions (even in another language) says a great deal about her talent. Almost as versatile is Mamuru Mayano who does the voice of Sho, who must be, at turns, seductive and snotty and nearly as volatile and childish as Kyoko at times.

I'm also quite fond of Ren's (Katsuyuki Konishi) relatively mellow and mature voice, which doesn't require as much versatility, but does provide a fine contrast. Lory (Kouji Ishii) has a beautiful deep voice that is just a pleasure to listen to.

Since we're talking sound, I've also got to mention the music. There are two different opening themes and two different closing themes. I have to admit that I like all of them very much except for the second opening theme. I like them enough, in fact, I usually listen rather than skip them, even when I'm watching episode after episode. There's also a song done by Sho in Episode 18 that, though only pieces of the complete song play, I really really liked. I wouldn't have minded having the whole damn thing, but they never played it as a whole. I wonder if it had been made available in Japan.

For the most part, the artwork follows along with that of the manga and is along the same lines, but with a simplification that is occasionally irksome. Sadly, the one who suffers by this the most is Ren. Sho, though the defacto "villain," comes across well and still looks good in most of his fashionable and/or outlandish clothing. Damn good even. Kyoko does equally well. But Ren. Poor Ren. The issues in the manga I've noted are far more pronounced in the anime, with his face looking even more distorted simplified in thick lines and a nose that looks much like a predatory bird's. His fashionable wardrobe from the manga is inexplicably exchanged with far less appealing garb that hangs gracelessly on his large frame, which is a pity because that was one of the strengths of the manga artwork. Ren was largely lost in the translation, artwise.

However, the anime has a wonderful color palatte and a great deal of charm, taking advantage of the many manga sight gags along the way and being amazing true to the original manga. Given the caliber of the original manga, that's saying something.

In particular, I love the episodes involving the shooting of Fuwa Sho's music video where Kyoko is hired as an angel to kill him. The costuming is as glorious as the manga's (the same, actually, but losing nothing with the addition of color and movement) and the arguments and interaction of the two most versatile voices a joy, well worth watching over and over. And, as I mentioned, there's the really cool song. If Kyoko's faking the attitudes of an air-headed Sho fan wasn't amusing enough, Sho's reaction to one of Kyoko's many transformations into gorgeousness is more than worth the time. Not to mention their arguments over whether he should feel responsible that Kyoko went through her childhood without friends because of Sho's vindictive admirers. What fun.

It's fun. It's frenetic. It's compelling (even Ren though that's more due to the script and the voice acting than the animation). In fact, I loved it, though I would have loved it a good deal more if it had ended differently or, better yet, hadn't ended. I'd mentioned most animes make a point of bringing some sort of resolution to the story before fading out. It seems pretty clear to me that this anime was intended to included, at least, another one or two episodes, perhaps even another season because it came to an abrupt end just before a climactic part of a story arc. True, I know how it ends (since it's the same in the manga) but how incredibly frustrating! And with the manga now a good eighteen volumes beyond the end point of the anime, a second season with more adventures of this entertaining group would be welcomed at least by me. There's certainly plenty of material to work with (and we'd get to include Reino!).

Since it aired 2008 and 2009, the odds of a second season are probably slim to none, but a gal could dream. If not for the ending and the way Ren was animated, this would be one of my all-time favorite animes, even without being able to understand the language. Yet.

Skip Beat (Part Four) - Artwork

2011-06-20T16:04:00.022-05:00

There is no way this post is going to do the artwork justice, for several reasons, not the least of which is that words just don't do art justice. If it did, I doubt I'd be such an otaku.

Despite my genetic lack of any artistic talent, I do appreciate artwork and, in my reviews, I'll criticize it. Not because any/all of these people can't draw circles around me - duh, they can - but because the artwork is intrinsic to the caliber of the manga. In some cases, like Vampire Knight and Bride of the Water God, the artwork is the draw with the story and what-all otherwise either nothing special or even a drawback. In other cases, relatively ineffective artwork detracts from a manga that might otherwise be more appealing. In some cases, it's a factor one why some manga or another just didn't work for me.

What I've discovered, as I've assayed many different mangakus' work and series, is that there are many styles and many of them are far more appealing that others from a prettiness standpoint. However, what really determines the best drawings isn't beauty but effectiveness. Which isn't to say there aren't beautiful drawings in most if not all of my "favorite" mangas - I can only think of one that might not have any "gorgeous" pictures - but that I find myself drawn to many of the "non-gorgeous" drawings as much or more for a number of reasons. Sometimes the artist excels at expressing emotion or motion (like Shinobi Life). Sometimes it's because they're hilarious. Sometimes something appeals to me without my being able to pin it down.

I like the artwork of Yoshiki Nakamura (author of Skip Beat! and Tokyo Crazy Paradise) for all these reasons and more. It's not perfect and sometimes the things that are wrong with it are irksome, but what she does, she does incredibly well.

First, the bad, or at least, what strikes me not so good. Nakamura main characters are somewhat out of proportion, with the exaggerated legs and necks I remember from sewing patterns as a child. This is pronounced even for regular-height individuals but becomes downright frightening with Tsuraga Ren.

At a whopping 6'5", he would already look freakishly tall next to most Japanese (actually, most people). Add in the wide shoulders and the undersized triangular face Nakamura gives her "handsome" male characters (that is occasionally less wide than the neck!) and the effect is more pronounced. Admittedly, some exaggeration can be excused with the biz and the fact that Ren's a model as well as an actor. Even so, the face thing, in particular, can become unappealing. And then there's this freakish thing with the eyes in profile (which is generally more pronounced with the female characters.

But, if the extremes are sometimes so over-the-top it's unattractive, it is the exception and not the rule. Her characters are, on the whole, gorgeous as befitting show biz personnel. And, as I mentioned in the main article, the clothing is beyond gorgeous from the outlandish visual kei outfits for Sho and Vie Ghoul to the fashionable ensembles worn by the redoubtable Ren. Financially strapped Kyoko and Moko also wear a number of delightful and flattering outfits, and their costumes are frequently fabulous. She also knows how to accessorize with charming details and rings and jewelry and keeps track of those details so that, for example, Sho has the same number of piercings in the first few chapters (3/1) but that changes later (Act 103) and is consistent then on (3/3).

My hat's off just to come up with so many beautiful clothes, usually perfectly suited to the people they're on - and that's not even including Lory's cosplay cavalcade. I've seen outrageous and fancy clothes in many other mangas, but never so many that were so universally attractive. And Nakamura knows how to draw her characters so they wear those pen and ink clothes with attitude and style. It feels like they're real people who really know who to dress and to show off their outfits. I'm not showing you lots of pictures because you can go to the character posts and see like a dozen. And that's not even scratching the surface.

And all of that pales in comparison to how well Nakamura expresses emotion. That is what makes her mangas absolutely engrossing, what sucks you in.
Now, don't get me wrong, Kyoko, in particular, has emotions that are over the top. I mean, how hilarious is a shock so extreme it turns a light on inside your mouth? But it works because Kyoko is so genuine and because everything she feels, from her extreme rage, sorrow and fear to the gentler emotions are perfectly reflected on her face. It's fascinating. Lory's the same. Ren only shows emotion around Kyoko, but that's appealing, too. Nakamura does the extremes as you see here, but subtle variations on the theme on everyone's face, in everyone's eyes like they really were windows into the soul.

And, aside from all that, over and above the emotional pulls, the charm, the beauty, the cleverness of her many characters, Nakamura is hilarious. And she uses the "super deformed" mode very much to her advantage (and finally gives her poor skinny-faced male characters some jaw).

Skip Beat (Part Three) - Characters II

2011-06-13T17:39:00.013-05:00

In many of the manga I've read, the focus is really on a small subset of characters, perhaps two or three (if there is a concerted antagonist) but with side characters having very limited life of their own outside their interaction with the primary characters. They are often incomplete and insubstantial even if they provide humor or charm or story movement. I do not think it a coincidence that exceptions to that trend, where there are a large cast of personable characters to work from, tend to be very successful (Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club come to mind). Skip Beat! is not an exception. As much as I find some things compelling and/or appealing in our three primary players, I absolutely believe that much of the charm for this manga lies in the faceted and riotous cast of secondary characters who manage to have complex and complete personalities despite having little visibility outside their interaction with the big three.

That, in an of itself, is a marvel.

No discussion of Skip Beat! characters could possibly be complete without talking about Takarada Lory (aka Rory and Loly given the Japanese sound is between an l and an r), the exuberant and extravagant president of the LME talent agency where both Tsuraga Ren and Mogami Kyoko work.

He combines a sharp business mind (as evidenced by LME's blatant success and his personal power in the showbiz world) with an otherworldly perception, a ruthless streak that manages not to conflict with his soft sentimental heart and general kindness. And then there's that dreamy face and body like a Greek god which shows to advantage in every outlandish thing he wears. But that's not all. His ridiculous wealth (yes, it's over the top for humor reasons) allows him to indulge his very very whimsical tastes. Everything's a production for Lory so, not only is he always dressed in extreme cosplay (costume play), but he might very well bring showgirls to make an entrance or take a dignified party of masqueraders if, today, he's Phantom of the Opera. Or ride a camel. Or "drive"a pirate ship with wheels in lieu of his absurd hummer limo. I'm only including his first three costumes here:

In addition, we have an Egyptian pharaoh, Phantom of the Opera, a Chinese Emperor, a glittery Liberace-esque tuxedo (and requisite white stallion), and . . . . He'll swim with his snake or get up early (3:30) to watch reruns of a sordid love drama (he already has on DVD) or stay up all night torn by what actions he should take in a love sim game (and threaten the software company if he thinks getting them together isn't possible). He'll weep unashamedly at a tearjerker and laugh harder than anyone at a comedy. He'll go to ridiculous lengths to turn a seven-year-old's party into a fairy tale extravaganza just because he loves extravaganzas (and the little girl). He's a hardcore romantic and as fanciful and carefree as a child. Life is an endless series of adventures to Lory.

He'll also save a fifteen year old delinquent who's lost his way or give a girl who has no idea who she is a place to dwell as she finds herself. He'll profit from it in the end, but that's not why he does it. And that's why I can't help but love Lory.

Yukihito Yashiro is Ren's manager and right-hand man who knows him better than anyone except Lory and, in some subjects, Kyoko, but doesn't know much about Ren's history. Keeping track of Ren's unreasonable schedule (as top actor and top model), his biggest challenge getting Ren to eat regularly. Ren's quite capable of organizing his own schedule.

As an observer, he is amazed (disgusted) at Ren's dazzling charm that sends the women swooning given Ren's flattery is largely artificial, so Yashiro's as surprised as anyone when Ren reacts to Kyoko with genuine emotions: longing, anger, jealousy. Yashiro's the first to pick up on Ren's feelings for Kyoko and becomes an active campaigner for the relationship. He seems genuinely fond of both of them and clearly admires their abilities, beauties (Kyoko perhaps before anyone, even Ren) and personalities. Admittedly, any life he leads outside this interaction is all but ignored, but his open-hearted outlook and quiet dedication have their own charm. And certainly plenty of humor as, through Kyoko, he learns Ren's most sparkling smile is really a cover for ire.

Yukihito has an odd quirk in that he kills electronics if he handles them too long and must don gloves before using his cellphone. He even uses his ability to threaten Ren once (though the attempt fails as do most of his matchmaking plans). He's inordinately curious, which means much of his life is frustrating as both Ren and Kyoko tend to play their cards (particularly the emotional ones Yashiro's most interested in) very close to the chest. Apparently, he has a gift for freezing out hordes of rabid fans that makes Kyoko speculate that he might actually be an alien. Poor Yashiro.

Kotonami Kanae ("Moko") is not as easy (at least for me) to like in that she's largely self-absorbed. A gifted actress with an ability to flip through and memorize a script in seconds, she lacks the true depth and originality that Kyoko has, though she's more accomplished at acting and (arguably) prettier. Her saving grace is that she acknowledges this lack and, though begrudgingly, learns to respect and eventually like Kyoko.

Admittedly, her down-to-the-core cynicism is somewhat understandable since she's buried under debt to support a large family of boisterous ne'er-do-wells. And, though she's brash and abrasive (and not particularly likeable to begin with), it's hard to argue that she's not a good friend for Kyoko, taking time to listen when Kyoko needs her without judging. If her acting advice is often at odds with our eccentric heroine's own abilities and style, her honest answers often spur Kyoko's unusual thought processes to a solution. Against her will, Moko can't keep herself from being a good friend to those she honestly respects and likes. And that makes the hot temper and self-absorption a good deal easier to swallow.

Seven-year-old Takarada Maria is as eccentric in her way (and intent on doing things her own way) as her flamboyant grandfather (Lory). Cynical and distrustful of adults early on, she is scarred by her mother's death on her birthday (flying home to celebrate Maria's birthday at Maria's request) and her father's neglect as he works almost entirely overseas. She responds immediately to something in Kyoko, perhaps Kyoko's honesty, perhaps Kyoko's own cynicism. Kyoko understands her and reaches her in a way no one else was able to. As a result, Maria is an unflinching supporter. And she shares an interest in the occult with Kyoko (voodoo).

Like much of Kyoko's nurturing, it happens without her conscious thought. Maria trusts her to an unprecedented level. Maria also has an obsessive crush on Ren (which he does nothing to discourage) which has little impact on anything except to make her lust after Kyoko's meticulously crafted curse dolls and to torpedo any applicant to the agency who is really only trying to get close to Ren.

Reino is the Sho look-alike lead singer of "Vie Ghoul" (or as Kyoko calls them, "Beagle"). The "other" badder bad guy intended (I think) to make even Sho Fuwa look a little more human, I think he steals the show. Why?

It's not because he's really a nice guy. He's clearly as selfish as Sho while being pretty much amoral. Unabashedly and unapologetically so, which is part of why I like him anyway. Is he a bad guy? Ain't no doubt. He's threatened Sho's position at the top of the charts for no better reason than his own pleasure and deliberately terrorizes Kyoko. Would he have raped her? I can't discount the possibility, but I think he'd intended more of a seduction via fascination. And you know how I hate rapists. However, it came to naught and for all his evil talk, he was never rough in his handling of her. And his interest in her as a person was genuine, if twisted.

He's psychic, you see, and becomes fascinated by Kyoko as soon as he "sees" her many spirit Kyoko's when she rages at Sho. He's awed by the power and strength of her aura and spirit and becomes intent on turning her rage and hatred his way if only to take over her mind. So, yeah, bad guy. But he appreciates Kyoko spirit and that gives him at least something over Sho. Plus, while being serious and pointedly gothic, he also provides a great deal of comedy (particularly on Valentine's Day), if only in everyone else' reaction to him. And I like that, as soon as Kyoko decides not to fear him, he has no real power over her (except for a little mischief he uses on Valentine's Day) . And, yeah, I like that Ren can send him scrambling away with just the power of his own dark side.

He's not a nice guy, but he makes a great villain. Plus he has purple eyes. Who wouldn't love that?

Are there half a dozen other great characters in here? Yep, but I'm all out of post so, if you want to meet Sawara or Soko or Ogata or any of the other charmers, you'll just have to read the manga or watch the anime.

Skip Beat! (Part Two)- Characters I

2011-06-07T16:25:00.008-05:00

Review is here. I just hope I can fit all this into one post (I can't). As it is, when I'm through with my current crop of manga reviews, I'm going to start a character expose because characters are my favorite part of a manga.

First and foremost is the undisputed star of the show: the many faces of Mogami Kyoko.

Diverse little something, isn't she?

It's easy, in many ways, for me to identify with Kyoko. Dismissed and belittled by an exacting and cold mother, this bright, imaginative, whimsical child grew up desperate for approval and love. When her mother refused her love, she worked hard, even at a young age, to be useful to Sho's parents (Sho was her childhood friend and his parents took her in when her mother discarded her), who ran a prestigious inn. In doing so, she learned many useful and unusual skills as Sho's parents groomed her to marry the rather lackadaisical Sho and take over the inn one day. I think it's really cool, actually, that she finds homes for those skills in her acting work.

Kyoko loved Sho selflessly and absolutely, but, in all fairness to Sho, it really had little to do with him. Consumed with romance and fantasy, Kyoko saw him as a fairy tale prince and it was the image of him (which I doubt he did much to pursue) that she really loved. His big crime lay in (a) carelessly taking advantage of her adoration to serve his own ends and (b) never quite seeing past his ego to what a remarkable person Kyoko was. The whole thing is classic and entirely believable psychology.

But under that hard-working, self-sacrificing inexacting persona was an indomitable soul that, somehow, believed she deserved more than she'd had, that believed, someday, her years of sacrifice and neglect would be repaid with good fortune, love and adulation. When her beautiful and talented "prince" makes it clear that he thinks little to nothing of her and certainly has no intention of shackling himself with someone so dull and ordinary, she snaps. Goaded by his dismissive attitude, she becomes determined to meet him on a level playing field: the entertainment field (instead of crawling off to lick her wounds as would a more mundane individual).

Undaunted by her lack of skills, knowledge or interest in entertainment (not to mention her youth [16] and lack of high school education), Kyoko leaps in, certain that all one needs for superstardom is a willingness to work hard and perseverance. Damn if she doesn't nearly pull it off on guts alone. Fortunately, though, she happens to have imagination, a deep-seated ability, a willingness to learn, considerable intelligence, an ability to take criticism, and talent. What she lacks is any interest in making people love her or to love others, which doesn't quite mesh with becoming big as a superstar.

The president of a big agency is struck by her (partially due to her talent exposition of making a rose from a daikon radish - I am not making that up) and he inducts her into the "new" group: Love Me Section - to help talent people get where they need to be emotionally. It is an uphill battle. Along with her rather overblown hatred for Sho, her hair-trigger temper and a deep-seated determination never to love again, she is also prone to fits of abject despair and fear and is still fighting a self-image that she's neither talented, smart or beautiful. She also tends toward extreme delusions, considering everything she hasn't had as wonderful in the extreme, like close female friends, being a rich young lady (aka princess) and make-up as the wonderdrug to transform the plain (such as herself) into the beautiful (which, given her adaptable features and expressive face, turns out to be the truth in her case).

And, while her emotions are at the utmost extremes, this applies to the positive ones as well. She manages to be mostly open, friendly, optimistic, patient, caring and thoughtful. She works with abandon and is a perfectionist. If she is too readily sent into depression for a perceived fault in herself or perhaps too willing to be scolded, she is not above criticizing and even lecturing others (as Ren and Sho discover). She can be quite blunt with people she trusts and doesn't lie well, an interesting characteristic in an actress. She also has some supernatural abilities thanks to her spirit Kyoko-grudges, an impressive hand-made voodoo dolls collection, and an unshakable and solemn belief in fairies and magic.

Her resentment of Sho kind of leaks over to Tsuraga Ren, the star (model/actor) of the agency she joins (and Sho's perceived rival for top male hottie in Japan). Discovering early on that she is motivated, not by interest in the artistic crafts, but in revenge, Ren criticizes that kind of motivation in no uncertain terms. If that frustrates her (at least in part because it's true), she's quickly impressed by his own skills and devotion to his craft. She starts out resenting and then admiring his abilities, before learning to respect and like him as a person as they both reluctantly open up more and more. Eventually, they're the only ones that don't know they're friends (and more). Then, it's just her.

From the beginning, she's come so far, grown so much, healed so drastically, and yet there's still room for more growth, particularly in her need to release her anger and resentment toward Sho (partially because much of it is anger at herself for her self-deception and partially because he's really not worth it). Truthfully, she couldn't get a better vengeance than just dismissing him from her heart and finding happiness in life. Damn, I hope that happens. Sho will be so pissed.

Playing opposite our charming emotionally extreme chameleon, is the redoubtable Tsuraga Ren.
I love Ren. Just twenty, he's Kyoko's senior in years but far more senior in experience. He is patient, calm and unflappable (mostly). Ridiculously tall, graceful, and dapper, he is considerate and soft spoken. He is known for his courtesy and gentleness and uses his dazzling (gentlemanly) smile to make corny lines seem natural or confuse a victim before a sharp rebuke. Too bad that smile's all fake. Beyond that overt but distant charm, there is an enduring core of decency, a quiet patience for anyone who's trying their best, an innate consideration. Don't be fooled. He's not all sunshine.

If Ren is most exacting with himself, he is not much less so with the lack of professionalism of others (and Kyoko, who shares this attitude, is not the only one to discover this the hard way). Ren scolds and lectures Kyoko frequently on show business do's and don'ts, professionalism, and acting in general. He can only be forgiven because she has no hesitation doing the same (on his eating habits, taking care of of himself, and how he handles people). He is quite frequently manipulative, both to serve the other's interests or to serve his own. Kyoko's not the only one to find themselves manipulated by Ren via acting in a scene. He has considerable pride, sometimes more than he should, but he is also hardworking, methodical and devoted to what he does. He has taken the trouble to hone his craft and it shows.

Beyond the professional and his rationalism, however, there is more, however: fear of failure, fear of losing control, hints of some severely dark and violent chapters in his past. The wall he places around himself is to keep from getting close to anyone, becoming emotional (for real), having anyone too precious.

Enter Kyoko, brash and vengeful, ignorant and bull-headed. He's affronted with her sneering disinterest in show business (while wanting to enter), then at her unhealthy motive of revenge for success. His unusual antipathy toward her is a hint that she affects him in ways he refuses to acknowledge from the very beginning. When he discovers she's the trusting sorrowful girl from a precious memory ten years before, his reaction is to put more distance between them which he does with a few cutting remarks. Not that it helps. Fate is against him. As circumstances throw them together, he shows some kindness (of the simple human kind) only to have it thrust away distrustfully. In the course of events he is impressed with her guts and, when it's his turn to need care, he is equally won over with her dedication, practicality, and budding talents, as well as the fact she is starting to pursue acting for herself now, instead of as a weapon. Soon, in the most natural way, he becomes her inspiration in acting, her mentor and her most ardent defender and facilitator.

Kyoko isn't the only one who's locked her heart away nor the only one trying to deny attraction, affection and eventually passion. By the time Ren appreciates the depths of his feelings, the opportunity to prevent falling (if he ever had it) is long gone. Ren might discover the truth about his feelings before Kyoko does, but he's even more hampered by the understanding that her fears could drive her away if he's not very very careful (despite the overexuberant encouragement/teasing from his manager). And Kyoko's really really dense and frequently puts the least flattering interpretation on everything he says.

On top of these handicaps, Ren's got the spectre of Kyoko's ex-prince as a rival at least for attention, if not affection. But really, how far is hatred from love (far, Ren, really, calm down)? The jealousy is a new thing for Ren (especially as Kyoko's fame increases and more and more people become intrigued by the charm Ren would kind of like to be his little secret). His jealousy and his uncertainty regarding his own place in her heart become two of the few triggers that can make him lose his cool.

Do I love Ren? Yeah, I do. With a lesser man, one who put himself first, his patience would never have withstood so much. Kyoko is completely blind to her growing effect on men unless she's affected too (as she readily is by Ren's genuine "heavenly" smile so brilliant it destroys her grudge Kyoko's) - which means, oddly enough, only by Ren. And that includes Sho. So she treats Ren with reserve and formality but is thoughtlessly friendly with everyone else. Well, she is affected in a weird way by Reino, but that's a different subject. In the end, Ren is the one she always turns to and will ruthlessly defend. Good thing, because he needs her if he's ever going to conquer his own demons.

Which brings us to our Fuwa Sho, the self-absorbed pretty boy who managed to open Pandora's, er Kyoko's, box. Unintentionally.

Fuwa Sho is the sort of self-absorbed, self-important bastard that people love to hate, well, on the surface. OK, he is a thoughtless inconsiderate narcissist clear through and, if that was all he was, he probably wouldn't be worth a second thought. But, since we're talking about Nakamura, we're fortunate that's not the extent of what he is. Because what else he is (and isn't) makes him far more interesting.

It's important to note that, though he was her friend and grew up all but living with Kyoko, his childhood was vastly different than her own. The only child of well-to-do inn proprietors (their family owns several inns whereas he grew up at the most prestigious), he had all the privileges of the heir while Kyoko carried most of the responsibilities. (In Japanese inns, the "frontman" is the proprietess while her husband works in the background; with Kyoko's desperate need to get acceptance from Sho's parents, she learned key skills of both which meant Sho learned neither.) My guess would be his parents were a bit soft on Sho, what with Kyoko willingly taking up the slack, leaving him to pursue his own interests of being a fairly-well-to-do and charismatic kid who loved music. Music, as in the kind that gets rabid fans, er, girls.

With adulation from every side but no responsibilities, it's hardly surprising he grew up to be selfish and egotistical. He would find it natural, in fact, to feel like the adulation was deserved, that he, in fact, deserved to be taken care of, adored, admired, supported. Did he know Kyoko always expected him to be her prince, to love her and marry her some day? I don't see how he could have missed it and probably didn't even start out adverse to the idea. But, as his fanbase grew and his belief in himself leap-frogged higher and higher (not to mention realizing his parents had their own plan for him to marry Kyoko and tie him to their business), he undoubtedly decided he deserved something better and more glamorous than the quiet "plain" Kyoko. He, in fact, deserved the best.

That didn't mean he caviled at taking anything she offered on his behalf. So, when he took off at 14/15 to seek his fortune in the visual kei music industry, he naturally asked her to go with him so he'd have someone to take care of him as he got started. I doubted he thought about the impact on her (missing out on high school and working herself to near death on his behalf) or had any malicious intent. Just as he was blind the bullying and being ostracized she'd experienced in school because of her relationship with Sho. She could always, in his mind, go back to his parents (even if she'd think such an idea was unthinkable). When he didn't need her any more, he tried to nudge her out on her own (likely considering he was doing her a favor).

It was bad luck she overheard his opinion of her so baldly or saw him sidle up to his manager. But, yeah, Sho still counts as a selfish bastard. He is, in the manga, a talented singer/songwriter (and snappy dresser) who takes the work he does seriously if nothing else. It's one reason he has no hesitation in thinking so much of himself.

But, I think it's worth bearing in mind a few things. First, though Kyoko and Sho ostensibly lived together, he never laid a finger on her, never even, as she said, "put his arm around her." Now, imagine you're a young personable man living alone with a girl who knows you well, who always says the things you want to hear and who adores you. Even if you think she's plain, surely you'd be a bit tempted to take advantage. But he didn't so he's nowhere near the asshole he could have been.

Secondly, it's also pretty clear from her flashbacks, that he never pretended to be what she wanted. With her imagination, his encouragement just wasn't required. He probably thought (with some justification) that her expectations were her problems and, since she was doing everything voluntarily, he could hardly be blamed for her sacrifices. Sho just took the path of least resistance. When faced with an unpleasant revelation or potential consequence, he chose to worry about it later or hope it would resolve itself without his effort. Hardly laudable, he was passive, thoughtless and self-centered rather than nefarious. He probably thought she'd go crawling back to his parents (who disowned him previously), take over the inn, marry a dull reliable man and run the inn. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Because Sho, if he'd missed her suffering, her sacrifices, her loneliness, also missed her strengths. She was blind (until her revelation) to his failings and he was clueless as to how remarkable she was. When he taunts her with entering show business, he truly believes she couldn't even make it past the front door, let alone challenge him.

When she does, first in a chicken suit (which only serves to make him look better) and then as a hiree for his own promotional video, he doesn't recognize her at first. Then, when he does, he taunts her: do your worst. She nearly does. She certainly upstages him (and his costume is really cool) and disarms him with acting (tears) that leave him feeling helpless. He certainly had no idea she would be so beautiful or so talented. Or that she would be chatting on her cellphone to what he considers his archrival, Tsuraga Ren, when she was done. And Sho still thinks she's "his."

When fate steps in and throws an upstart band (with a psychic lead singer) in Sho's path and in Kyoko's, he finds himself feeling insecure (briefly) and even playing the hero to protect Kyoko from the rather pointed and nefarious interest of the psychic lead singer (for which Kyoko pointedly doesn't thank him). It's an interesting role and gives us some insight into the fact that he does care about her in some way, even if he's not entirely clear on how that is.

To date, we haven't seen that he wants her so much as he wants to control her, to be the most important person in her life. Perhaps he wants her romantically (though it's not entirely clear) and he hopes that if he can keep the hate alive he can take her back at a time of his choosing. I don't think Sho has a chance of that, personally. Sho and Kyoko squabble like siblings when they're together and, less and less, Sho has an influence on her life, even if Sho doesn't know that. Plus, though he's sidled up to a multitude of girls in Kyoko's presence, she hasn't felt so much as an iota of jealousy (something he can't say himself). And his little Valentine's day stunt probably didn't get him the reaction he really wanted.

Sho, though not a total villain, is overdue for losing out on something he covets. And I can't wait to see his face when (not if) Kyoko and Ren get together and find happiness.

Yes, yes, I know I'm going to need another post at least to gush about characters. Hell, I haven't even touched on LORY yet.

Skip Beat! - Gotta Have 'Em All (Part One)

2011-06-05T17:44:00.016-05:00

Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura is easily the best manga I never thought I'd like. The premise held no interest for me even though amazon.com was adamant I'd want to read it. Actually, they seemed pretty damned confident that I'd want to own every volume. Bastards. They were right.

Having read it several times now, I can tell you several aspects about it that usually irritate me no end in a manga. But I love Skip Beat! I have every volume and can't wait for the ones still to come. I've even watched the anime in Japanese (subbed in English) several times despite the premature ending. And I'll do it again.

Actually, it takes a while to read Skip Beat!, not just because it's one of the longer series or because it has lots to read on most pages (though those are both true). I savor it. The characters are so vivid and real for me that I stop and imagine scenes, listen and feel along with the characters. And, yes, even go back and reread scenes I particularly love.

Ironically, even when I first read it, (scanlation on line), I didn't think I really liked it and kind of skipped ahead because one character (Ren Tsuraga) kind of intrigued me, but he didn't really get involved until a couple of dozen chapters in. When I got hooked, however, it pushed me through the rest. I liked the characters so much I went back and read it from the beginning. Then realized those "dull" learning-the-craft-of-acting chapters are as much why I love the manga as anything else. So I read it end to end. This has so much going for it, that I likely won't fit it all into one post. I'll try to make sure it's less than 24 however.

Anime? Yes Volumes of manga: 28 (24 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: I wouldn't have a problem letting any teenager read this, but we all know I'm progressive. .

Taboos and "warnings": I can't think of anything that would cause me the slightest palpitation here.

Premise: Kyoko's childhood friend/long time imagined prince/true love (Sho Fuwa) decides to throw away the shackles of his parents' resort and move to Tokyo to become a singing superstar right after middle school. He asks Kyoko to go with him and she doesn't even hesitate as she has basically centered her life around Sho since her mother discarded her. Working three jobs, she supports Sho so he can focus on his career which comes through for him with amazing speed, say a year or so after they get there. His most ardent fan (and prone to flights of fancy - more on this later), Kyoko ignores the signs as he spends less and less time at their apartment and treats her with more and more contempt when he does. When she shows up to deliver food for him, she finds him complaining to (and flirting with) his manager about the little no-name whiner and how she's outlived her usefulness now that he can support himself and hire a maid to take care of him. There's more to it. Believe me, it wasn't Sho's best moment. Her faithful undemanding heart breaks open to reveal a mass of resentment and anger (characterized by interesting "grudge Kyokos"/spirits) that she'd been treated so. She vows revenge which Sho dismisses easily with a scoffing recommendation to try to beat him in show business and a sneer about how unlikely that is for a plain untalented nobody like herself. So, she vows to do just that.

What works: I hate revenge stories. They're usually misguided and self-indulgent and petty. We see a little of that in this story, but not like I expected. At first glance, it would seem that that's what the story's all about. However, very early on, it's pretty clear that that's not the case. What it's about is an emotionally neglected girl being drastically disillusioned by the person she thought she knew and loved best. She's spent her whole life trying to live for other people (her mother, Sho and Sho's parents) rather than herself and has no idea who she is, what she wants, or what she's capable of. Although, ostensibly, her goal is to bring Sho Fuwa to shame, her revenge ends up being the means of finding what she really wants and needs rather than the end she thinks it is. The real story is her discovery of herself, her building of herself from the ground up and that's pretty interesting.
Her character is key to the story, so I'm going to discuss it a bit here though I intend to do a post just talking about some of the fantastic characterizations in this manga. It's important to understand that Kyoko is not the doormat she appears in the first chapter or so here. Nor is she the blatantly militant anti-male monster she sometimes looks like for very brief moments, mostly when Sho's involved. Her temper (particularly if Sho's involved) is hair-trigger since her internal revolution, but she is quite capable of accepting advice and criticism objectively. She understands parts of herself extremely well. If her self-image is not stellar, she is determination incarnate, has a great deal of pride in her work, and will not allow anyone (ever again) to treat her as worthless which is damn healthy if you ask me. However, the author does not make the mistake of making her all healthy all at once. She's still loaded up with baggage and challenges and scars, while still being incredibly capable, imaginative and intelligent. She apparently always was capable, imaginative and intelligent - she just needed an opportunity to use it.

The means: show business. Right up there with revenge on subjects I have no interest in. I don't watch celebrities, don't find the majority of them even vaguely interesting and have never been the kind to be interested in backstage this or that. I can't even tell you this is anything like real show business in Japan or anywhere else. But I found it riveting. Part of that is undoubtedly the characters. But part of that is because being actors (good actors) in this manga means finding out the character and becoming it, studying and learning and extrapolating what someone like that in this situation would do. And, boys and girls, that the same thing I do when making characters for novels. What started out as sections I'd intended to just flip past became mesmerizing, fascinating in ways I never expected.

Why? Because it was so clever. The key to Kyoko's acting is that she doesn't think like anyone else. Oh, she's logical alright, but her mind moves so quickly and in such unusual ways that no one ever knows what she'll do. Time after time, even those that expect the most from her are shocked at the direction she takes, yet she makes it work because it's clever. It's right. I can count on one hand the number of mangas who have impressed me with the cleverness of their plot devices. Possibly one finger.

But wait, there's more. On top of the cleverness and the character development of our main character, there's a whole cavalcade of fascinating, appealing, nuanced, charming and even unsavory characters, all with depths and layers and surprising aspects. No one's perfect, not even the ridiculously tall and imposing Ren. No one is without appealing aspects, including the self-absorbed Sho. And these characters grow and learn and change and adapt and develop and nurture as we go along. It's a character smorgasbord with one mouth-watering course after another.

Normally, slow-moving romances, like the one between Ren and Kyoko (177 chapters without so much as one liplock or acknowledgement between them what they feel) drive me insane. I'm a serious romantic and I hate being dragged along interminably. But the reason behind the foot-dragging is sound: Kyoko is scared to death to love anyone again, and Ren is moving very gingerly and very carefully because losing what he has is unthinkable, no matter how much more he wants. Frustrating now and then, but the pace allows for real growth between the two characters, both in how they deal with each other, how they rely on each other, how they respect and care for each other in ways that have little to do with romance and yet everything to do with it. (Frequently, mangas with an interminable romance have pretty stagnant relationships in general, with all that affection developed up front with the original feelings and nothing changing in the interim).

Oh, and I forgot to mention an important aspect of this sometimes heart-wrenching, soul-stirring, thought-provoking manga. It's freakin' hilarious. I'm laughing every fifteen minutes (except in heavy scenes) and sometimes more. And I've read this now half a dozen times.
The artwork is a subject all by itself and merits it's own post, which I will link here when I've written it. There were aspects I loved and aspects I really didn't love, but it was fascinating and definitely contributed on the plus side. I have now decided that, if Ms. Nakamura ever gives up the manga business (Heaven forbid!) she could be a damn fine fashion designer. More on that in the artwork post.

Favorite character: Ain't no way to pick just one. I loved 'em all, even most of the bad guys. Ren or Kyoko might edge out the rest, but there are several just as likeable. More when I write the character post.

Quotes: I wrote down several but they were all part of conversations that would have filled five or six posts in order to make sense. It isn't a manga of one-liners or clever lines that were as effective out of context. But I love the dialog any way.

What I didn't like: There are a few places where it drags. The culmination scene where Ren nails Katsuki in his "acting test" dragged a bit as did some of the interactions on the Box R set (whose characters didn't really speak to me). Still, for something 28+ volumes long to read as painlessly as this? Really, it's remarkable it doesn't drag more.

A couple aspects of the artwork, particularly Ren's too-small face, irked me a bit, but there are also times where he looks stunning so it just goes to show you. He faired less well in the anime, I think.

There are a handful of characters I didn't ever really warm up to like Moko-san and the former Akita Tendou, but given the cavalcade of players, that's pretty impressive as well. Really, what's not to like?

Actually, my biggest complaint is that there are odd volumes (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 13, 14 and 18) which appear to be out of print. You can buy them for >$20/each (or less if you really scout around like I did - I do have them all) but it ain't easy. Since more in the series are still coming out, Viz Media--and you want people to get the whole series, right?--how 'bout making it so they can?

Update: Apparently, Viz Media is going to 3-in-1 volumes for Skip Beat! with them starting to come out next spring, which might be why some single volumes are falling in and out of print. On the one hand, that's a bummer between now and then, so some of the hard to find volumes can really be a pain to acquire if you don't want to wait (try Anime Wild - I've had good luck finding hard-to-find Skip Beat! volumes there). On the other, that's a pretty economical way to build a library of 30 volumes. Amazon is selling the 3 -in-1's for $10.14, only $0.15-1.15 less than the current single volumes. That means you can build your Skip Beat! library for ~$100 instead of ~$300 like I did. As long as you're willing to wait for them to come out over time. If you get caught up in the story, that might be challenging.

Note: There are 24 volumes "available" in English, 29 available on-line as scanalations. There's also a 25 episode anime that's worth it's own post as well. Which I'll link here when it's done.

Black Bird: Gotta Have 'Em All

2011-06-01T22:15:00.006-05:00

I tell you what. I'm happy so many of my "Gotta Have 'Em All" mangas are Viz media or finished. I'm completely bummed about Maid-Sama and Shinobi Life. Fortunately, this little beauty is going strong as a Shojo Beat manga. I'm proud to say, it's one I found "independently."

Having exhausted my available "loved" manga (and unimpressed with manga I picked up at random in the book store), I took advantage of Amazon.com's "recommendations," read the blurbs and chose to try the first volume of Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji. Completely different story than others I'd seen, considerably more adult in many ways, but not in others. Different style of drawing.

I didn't warm up right away. Neither of the leads (and it's really focused on the leads) appealed immediately. Here was real "sexual harassment" as opposed to the joked about but never happened come-ons in my other mangas, however, I found the story's concept intriguing. Eventually, I recalibrated my thinking as more information came through that first volume to remind myself that the hero (Kyo) wasn't human. Rules, as I've mentioned before, are not the same, as demonstrated as more of his demon kind showed up. Suddenly, Kyo began to look less like sex-crazed stalker and more like a patient love-sick swain with superhuman restraint. Nothing like a little perspective.

By the end of the book, Kyo'd won me over and even the main character was starting to appeal as I realized she wasn't as passive or as helpless as I'd originally thought.

Anime? No Volumes of manga: 12 (8 Eng) Status: Ongoing

My rating: Gotta have 'em all

Age range: Older teen, one who's had the sex talk, because there's quite a bit more of that kind of talk here, extensive "petting" and eventual sex. And quite a bit of violence.

Taboos and "warnings": Quite a bit of sex talk and considerable contact, largely because our heroine is healed of wounds by being licked by a demon. Violence is common and bloody. Rape and death are frequently threatened. Adult/teenager romance (~4 years difference).

Premise: Misao is the "Senka Maid" born once every century who can see demons that most people can't see. She is also inherently powerful in that a demon (a) eating her flesh will have eternal youth, (b) drinking her blood will bring long life and (c) mating/marrying her will bring a demon clan prosperity (which can only be done by the "head" of a demon clan). She doesn't know this, but her ability to see demons has kept other humans at bay. When she turns sixteen, however, it becomes open season and a demon she befriended as a boy, Kyo, shows up to make her his bride and protect her from all the other demons coveting her in one way or the other.

What works: Admittedly, I found the concept intriguing. I tend to like premises that skew reality as we know it and stories that work within that framework. In this case, and it isn't immediately obvious, the world of demons is like a plane between true gods and humans, with humans being about as important to most demons as domesticated animals. Most humans are completely oblivious to this whole other world, with those demons who bother to walk among them all but indistinguishable from other humans. Misao has always been able to see the spirits and such from the beginning. That interaction (where spirits and ghosts can bother and touch her) has isolated her from other humans (who either instinctively avoid her or think she's a liar pointing out ghosts), leaving her really between these diverse worlds.

Demons are as ruthless with people as people are with animals, seeing them as lower beings that could be used (possessed) or destroyed out of hand. It's important to understand this to understand what makes Kyo special. The demons see Misao as property to be consumed or used without the slightest qualm and, in the beginning, the only thing that holds any back ("good" or "bad" demons) is fear of Kyo. Demons are also quite ruthless amongst themselves with fear of clan retaliation the only thing that keeps them civil among themselves (though they still have some familial loyalties and the like).

The overt sexual advances in this manga (as I've seen in other manga where this sort of thing happen) are balanced by violence by the recipient that the lech accepts stoically and philosophically without retaliation. There's a certain weird charm in that for me.

The other big draw is Kyo. At first, he comes across much like a "simple" lech, saving Misao for his own interests. What we learn is that healing, with the enticement of the Senka Maid's blood, is enough to put nearly any demon in a frenzy to consume her one way or the other. Kyo manages this near impossible feat matter-of-factly and never takes advantage of these provocative healing methods to make a move on her (until she's willing later in the series). He does protect her with or without her permission. He will heal her with or without her permission. He makes no bones about wanting her as a sexual partner/bride (and, based on childhood promises, actually considers them engaged), but she decides what they do and when. In that, he is different from all of his demon competitors.

The reason is simple. He loves her. He decided she was precious as a child and, in the ten years between then and now, he fought his way to be head of the clan not only so he could wed her, but also to protect her from his sadistic older brother who would otherwise have been the clan leader. It's important to understand that he did so for her and not himself and suffered accordingly (given his brother's unwillingness to roll over and his rather poisonous power). However, in doing so, Kyo found himself and gained followers, giving him everything he holds precious in his life. He credits the child Misao with giving him (via a goal) the future he fought for and won.

His followers cherish her because his own devotion to her is unmistakable. When there are hints that indulging his ardor with Misao puts her at risk ("If you want to spend the rest of your life with her, you can never have sex with her," say those that have read the Senka Maiden mating manual), he puts the skids on himself, in defiance of his clan's wants, his own wants, and eventually hers. Self-restraint, in my opinion, is very romantic. It's a common theme, too. And his patience with Misao, given his decade-long devotion, is impressive aside from that.

Better, though, in my opinion, is that he is far from perfect. Although honest with Misao, he is also manipulative and sly, sarcastic and sneaky, prone to temper and possessive. He has moments where he's definitely an asshole, even mean. These flaws don't make him a better person, but it makes him a better character, more interesting, leaving him some room to grow.

Misao is slower on the uptake than I like, but she is honest, she learns, and she strives to use her power (she can heal demons by letting demons drink her blood or by kissing them) as best she can, given that she can't (generally) go head to head with a demon and expect to win. She wants to be a partner, to protect Kyo in whatever way she can, even if she needs a different method. Some of what she worries about seems trivial and insignificant, so that I have to remind myself she's still a teenager.

If you read mangas for the romance element (yes, I do), this is one of the best in that aspect, even if it doesn't look like that at first. It's also frequently humorous, though rarely laugh out loud. I love humor.

Villains are good and villainous, too, even complex in some cases, and many have the redeeming quality, in my opinion, that they aren't suddenly and painlessly redeemed, which happens far too often in manga. These baddies, quite often, stay nasty and suffer the ultimate price as a result.

The artwork is less refined in many ways than some of the mangas I've read before. Perspectives are skewed here and there and the wings are not quite right (Kyo is a tengu, which have wings that come and go), but I found it began to work for me, largely because it was effective in conveying many subtleties that weren't otherwise expressed. However, reading faces was not as easy as it was on some other mangas.

Favorite character: Kyo. By now, you might have realized I tend to favor the heroes. Part of it is likely because I'm heterosexual, but part of it is also the female characters in shojo manga tend to be a bit more passive than I am (or have other failings that bother me). I'm not a particularly girly girl.

Quotes:

Kyo: Any human that approached you would either have to be possessed or really stupid. Can you tell the difference?

Kyo: Come on. Taro's fixed some not-very-appetizing breakfast. Have some.
Misao: Don't want any!
Taro: wimper
Misao: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Taro. Oh my... that looks good...
Taro: My lady!

Misao: He seemed gentle. I guess that's the word. He had your face but acted like a gentleman. There was nothing erotic about him.
Kyo: What's wrong with being erotic?

Taro: Lord Kyo. I'm sorry to bother you, Lord Kyo.
Kyo: What is it?
Taro: I can't clean the floor.
Kyo: Just wipe around me.
Taro: I have. If I don't wipe under you, we will be left with a figure like you see at the scene of a murder.
Kyo: (rolls away) Taro, hasn't your hair grown a little long?
Taro: Has it?
Kyo: Shall I cut it for you?
Taro: Oh? Thank you very much! It would be an honor to have it cut by you!
Kyo: Which style would you like? (1) Sean Connery, (2) Yul Brynner or (3) Chishu Ryu?

What I didn't like: Plotwise, I'd call the story stronger than average, so I won't complain about it. Some of the logic on conflicts (antagonists backing off for no good reason or crises resolving themselves) is weak and makes the danger and excitement we just went through seem silly. Some of the sexual come-ons are overdone.

Side characters are largely undeveloped. The record of the previous bride-taking (Renka Seku) is used as a plot point through first few volumes and, as a plot device, seems weak. A tremendous amount of significance is given to the (unseen but hinted at) conclusions of the document, ridiculous amounts, really given that Kyo seems almost willing to toss his life away rather than take a chance that taking Misao as his bride will have ill consequences.