Kyoko’s so moe that the word moe is not good enough to describe her!
A combination of extreme work done for my graduate application (just took the GRE and got a 1400!) and a serious bout of laziness meant that I did not blog for two whole weeks. Now, I have a huge backlog waiting for me. Nonetheless, being the lazy Impz I am, I am a bit disturbed to blog the sixth episode of Kuroshitsuji and Index. Hence, I will just do the episode entries for this week. Stay tuned for that. In addition, no one takes my Kyoko-sama even though I have been dead busy for the whole of this week.
That is enough rambling from me. This is Kyoko’s show, and man did she show that!
Summary
Kyoko is clearly enduring a lot of pain from her sprained ankle, but she gamely continued. Everyone was thinking that Ruriko would win this round due to her strained condition. Ren was also concerned about whether she could continue. However, when the take started, Kyoko appeared elegant, the complete epitome of serenity. The director was impressed by Kyoko’s professionalism, and Ren was impressed too. Kyoko clearly showed her skill in tea-making, surprising everyone on the set.
As the act started, Ren was able to influence Kyoko by manipulating her to act the way he wanted her to. It was clear Ren was serious about acting with Kyoko because of her determination. Ruriko could sense that his aura was almost suffocatingly powerful, and wondered if Ren chose Kyoko. Kyoko wondered if Ren was picking a fight with her, but nonetheless continued to resist. She continued her lines about the “bells in the distance that she was not allowed to go near.” Ren looked away and asked whether Kyoko would be lured by the bells. Kyoko turned to what Ren was saying, and dropped the tea cup in surprise. She was once again forced to act according to the forceful manipulation of Ren.
The director was happy at Kyoko’s appearance. Ruriko said she can act that well, but the director said that Kyoko was able to act because Ren decided to act seriously. The director added that Ren was probably impressed by Kyoko’s professionalism. As Ren continued to talk, it was clear that Kyoko was struggling. They immediately stopped the take, but Kyoko refused to stop. It turned out that Ren (the customer) was still on the set, and she refused to stop. Ruriko was reminded of how she was so determined during her debut, and lost her way. The director realized that Ren was the customer, and told Ren to leave the mat. Ren stepped off immediately, and Kyoko fainted immediately.
Impressed by Kyoko’s determination, Ruriko decided to work hard. Ruriko asked the director for another chance, and she would do anything. Kyoko also regained consciousness after wards, and Ruriko’s manager apologized for Ruriko’s antics. Kyoko said it was all right, even though it was obvious she was very pissed. Yashiro talked to Ren too, and it was clear Kyoko never had a chance to snatch the role away. Lory already appointed Ruriko as the actress, and he did not have the right to change. Hence, Kyoko was simply a tool to challenge Ruriko. However, Kyoko managed to do more than that in the process. Ruriko walked over to Kyoko, and gave Kyoko 100 points for her work. Kyoko was surprised since she tried to steal Ruriko’s job away. Kyoko wondered if Ruriko had a queer “switch” in her head.
Ruriko said that she was despicable to steal the job away from Kyoko when she was injured. However, Kyoko said she fainted during the act, which reeks of unprofessional behavior and hence did not deserve to survive. Ruriko agreed with her too, before stomping away in anger over Kyoko’s expression. At night, the director tried to appease Kyoko by taking a photo shoot, and she succeeded with the delight of Kyoko over looking pretty. The director said that it was a pity since he did not feel that Kyoko was inferior. Kyoko said that she was glad she lost because she only acted through Ren’s provocation. The director said that it was common for Ren to manipulate his co-actors to act perfectly.
Ren walked past them, and they escorted Kyoko to her room. Amusingly, Kyoko ignored Ren completely. Kyoko was depressed that all her skills revolved around Dicktaro and Dicktaro’s mother was preparing Kyoko to be Dicktaro’s bride in the future through the training. Kyoko realized that she only an empty shell that did nothing for herself. However, she hoped to be a good actress like Ren one day. Back in her room, she was forced to remove her makeup despite her insistence to keep it on. Ren’s remainder of Dicktaro persuaded her to remove it. In the end, Ren managed to piss her off by giving her -10 points. He did it because Kyoko answered bashfully that her determination was motivated by her revenge.
Thoughts
It is now time to usher in the coming of the Kyoko-sama that we manga fans have been waiting for. Yes, her awesomeness level is hardly in the league of extraordinary women for now, but it is just a few steps away from heaven. Kyoko’s determination is close to god status if you ask me, and most prima donnas in showbiz would not be able to do anything like that. In a way, Kyoko’s drive to her tasks is a clear indication of a person who might be able to find love if she is given the chance.
That said, Ren finally arrived to Skip Beat. I must admit that the first few episodes of Skip Beat just did not give Ren any justice at all. I remember him as a kick-ass character but the character design in the anime is hardly flattering for a man who is “supposed to be the hottest actor alive in LME.” He just lacks that charming factor that is omnipresent in the manga, which made a poor Impz very disappointed. However, Ren is not all about physical looks. Another of his charms is his ability to manipulate others with his sheer charisma. This is done perfectly in this episode with how he “forced” Kyoko to his bidding during the acting scene.
I do not know why but I felt that the number of chibi faces in the anime is actually a good thing. I am someone who strangely gets turned off when there are way too many chibi faces that are pretty redundant. However, none of the faces annoyed me because it is genuinely funny at the right time where they place it. I mean, the random teary eyed chibi face just softens my heart. It is not easily done to be honest because many series have abused this so badly that it’s no longer right. Yes, I am talking about this series.
I personally find that this arc is really more about acting than any of the characters. I mean we did have some glimpses of each other’s personality, but it feels more like a foundation of what acting meant to all the characters. Kyoko does not know how acting should be like and is finding her way. Ren is like the professional actor that is forceful and serious when he deems it worthy. Ruriko lost her way due to fame but finally found her way back to how she was during her debut.
My favorite scene must be when Kyoko totally ignored Ren when Yukihito and Ren escorted her to the room. I mean, it was so blatant that it is just so funny. The second scene must be how Ren decided to be an “asshole” again by reducing 10 points off Kyoko because she said that her motivation came from revenge. I kind of wonder if anyone is annoyed at Ren right now?
So, what is your favorite scene for this episode?
15 Comments
I love Skip Beat!
Too good
Kyoko is so cute & powerful.
Ren is getting serious with her from now. Wooot.
@Kreb: Definitely! The thing is that Ren has little to nothing to do with Kyoko until after this. We probably have very little of Ren since the next arc is the training session with Maria. Nonetheless, it is just so exciting to wait for that to happen!
Kyoko is really funny at many scenes in this episode. It’s just so exciting!
The training arc is great.
That show how much a genius is Kyoko when she is purpose driven.
This was a great episode that’s for sure. Think my favourite part was the acting scene overall. You could see Kyoko putting everything she had in there even to the point of the extreme. Keeping herself conscious even though she should have fainted long ago just because the ‘guest’ was still there. That’s the sign of an incredible character that’s for sure.
Feel bad for Kyoko since she never had a shot to win. Was almost a good thing for the Director that she ended up fainting. If she had kept going still giving the job to Ruriko would have made him look bad.
Kyoko is an interesting character. She has great skills she can’t accept because of where they came from. Ironic how the way for her to get to the top will have to be overcoming her revenge toward Shotaro and stop hating her old self. Those skills are still good no matter how they came about. Like the director though I’m looking forward to her reaching a level where she can act without being affected by Ren.
Ren…Ren…WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO OUR POOR KYOUKO? Poor Kyouko, I would have the exact same feelings she is having if I were her. Tho I would probably go and jump on Ren and make him fall and bow on his knees apologizing. Anyways I agree with the chibi thing. Actually I was watching this episode and after a while I was like where are the chibis and just then my wish is granted and they start popping up =D
Watched Skip Beat last night, and managed to get my sister to watch as well. The skip beat fellowship is growing.
@Kreb: I can’t give spoilers but the acting arc is actually more important for something else. I wait until the arc is presented before mentioning more.
@Flareknight: Well, I think that Kyoko’s determination is really foolhardy at times. In this case, Kyoko’s pride due to her history (and her need to be perfect) made her endure it onto the very end. I will say on the good side that it means that she is very determined at what she does. On the bad side, she is so driven that she forsakes her own body in order to complete her task. She is clearly not loving herself enough. Remember, she went into LOVE me section in order to learn how to love, and loving others. She is only doing the “loving others” for now.
I think that it is to be expected at the end that Kyoko would never win this battle. In a way, it makes the show grounded because if Kyoko won, it would probably derail the whole show into shallow drama. That’s just me though.
I do not think that it is really possible to fight against Ren when he is serious about his acting. The thing is that someone often leads in the acting, and Ren’s forceful acting makes it hard for someone not to be attracted by his mere aura. That’s how awesome he is.
@Maura: LOL, I bet Kyoko’s spirits are thinking of ways to swallow Ren up into a wave of evilness. I mean Ren is really detesting now in Kyoko’s sights even though he meant well because he is simply prideful of his work as an actor. No one will like Kyoko if they knew her motivation to be an actress.
Yes, the chibis!
@Elva: \O/
@Impz: Well I’d say its pretty foolhardy, but she wouldn’t be there without that either. Sadly there are definitely cons to the approach she is taking. Though at the end it wasn’t even a conscious thing, but the issue is much deeper down. She’ll need to watch her limits and avoid doing something this crazy since the long term effects could be worse next time
But if Kyoko never won against this issue the show wouldn’t have a point. Sure its something that has to be done closer to the end of the source material. But as you said above the point of the section is to learn how to love. I don’t think she can do that unless she overcomes her issues with Shotaro and the person she used to be. If she can’t do that the section has no meaning. The show would lose meaning in my view if she wasn’t able to grow. And that direction is where her growth is most necessary. Its not going to happen in one episode, but step by step she has to learn to accept her old self.
While it would be incredibly hard I don’t think its impossible to fight against Ren. Kyoko has shown plenty of strength to this point. Its another thing that won’t be easy to accomplish. But all she needs to do is work herself up to having a strong enough aura that can go right against Ren’s. Someone with determination on her level probably will accomplish it.
Yeah, I know how we were all complaining how the animation didn’t look that great (and Ren didn’t look that great…) but I really like what they’ve been doing with the funky backgrounds and colours. It still looks very pretty to me which I like. Of course, Ren still doesn’t look quite as charming as he does in the manga (ahh…) but he still looks pretty good. An interesting (or just random?) thing that they changed was that the reporter didn’t come after Kyoko so Ren didn’t give him a death stare… I was kinda looking forward to that lol. But I really felt for Kyoko in that moment of realization when she saw that everything she did and learned was in order to become Dicktaro’s bride and that she herself was an empty shell… but I think this also allows her grow into anything she wants and become an amazing actress. Go Kyoko!
@Impz
I read the manga so that is no spoiler for :p
Such a good ep! I had a blast marathoning this arc of the story, seeing it animated is like icing on the cake. As for my favorite scene, definitely when Kyoko is receiving her points from Ruriko, and the reactions and comments of both XD.
Also, at about ch. 51 of the manga, and trying to figure out exactly how far the anime is going to go with the series. I might read a little more later tonight ^_^
@Flare: Nope, the thing about fighting Ren is not with determination. When someone is able to start guiding the other actor/actress through his own acting, it will be a total struggle because any attempt to resist would merely make the acting more artificial. Yes, Kyoko will be able to do it, but the end result would mean that her acting would be poorer because it’s less natural. As people will probably agree to this old cliche, the best form of acting is not acting. That is why Ren is able to get the best out of his co-actors: he made them stop acting and be themselves.
I find that if there is really a character flaw that I must proclaim against the goddess, it is the exact thing you mention at the first paragraph of your comment. It seems that the anime/manga seems to focus a lot about her hatred of Dicktaro and how she is shaped by her, but her most hideous issues came from her mother. This sheer foolhardy behavior is due to her need to
I don’t think that Kyoko would have been allowed to win (not because of the director) by the mangaka. It will be too easy a ride, and the best way to build up a character like Kyoko would be to let her fail at least once or twice at the start in order for her to fly eventually. It’s a standard plot style that always works.
@Twilight: I don’t know. I just feel that he needs to look better, since I am a terrible whiner! Heh. OH YA, I FORGOT completely about that little part because it actually shows that scary part of Ren that can be so awesome.
I think that this arc actually displays how much of her life has been twisted by Dicktaro and her mother. It’s kinda scary and sad at the same time.
@Kreb: Glad to hear that.
@Chro: WAHHH. you are just like me when I read the manga for the first time. Yes, you hear it right, I read the manga more than once. More than twice. More than thrice. Actually, never mind, I should stop scaring people.
Yes, her mouth gaping wide is just so hilarious and the blank look is just so great in the anime compared to the manga. There are some quips I have with the animation at times (cough Ren cough), but there are extremely brilliant touches too.
May be it’s just me, but the animation quality seems a hell lot better than the past episode. It is definitely the first episode that I finally feel the charming god-like aura from Ren too. Better late than never!
Animation seemed to jump a lot this episode, I agree. Maybe this was the animators’ favorite part of the story they were adapting?
I loved every scene (Kyoko never looked more beautiful), but my favorite was when Kyoko refused to leave, saying, “I won’t stand up until the guest does.” I have never heard anyone shake their voice as well as Marina Inoue did that moment.
that’s my favourite anime, but I love manga Skip Beat much more.