From the back cover:
Ôtani acquires tickets to the Umibouzu concert and asks Risa to go with him. Could this be the answer to her dreams—their first date?! But as fate would have it, Ôtani gets sick the day before the concert. Concerned (about her friend and the date) Risa visits his sick bed and gets her first kiss! Or does she! Was it an accident? Does Ôtani even remember it?

Review:
This volume started and ended well, but the middle was annoying as heck. In the first chapter, Ôtani was sick and ended up smooching Risa in a fever daze. There was more to it than that, of course, like further discussion of his reaction to her confession. And at the very end, Ôtani was stirred into jealousy over Risa and led her away from another dude.

Said other dude, however, was incredibly annoying. New faculty member Maitake, who looked just like a dreamy guy from one of Risa’s dating sim video games, was creepy and cheesy. I honestly couldn’t tell whether he was nice and was purposefully attempting to help Risa and Ôtani out or whether he’s truly creepy and interested in one of his students. I reckon it’s the former, but I still didn’t like him much. Worse was how Risa became an utter moron in singing his praises.

While it’s true that Ôtani can be dense at times, I felt sorry for him again in this volume. Everyone portrayed him as the villain when he’s just this kind of clueless guy who keeps getting broadsided by the unexpected twists in Risa’s female brain. An example: Risa’s sad and Ôtani, told by everyone that it’s his fault, went to apologize because he wanted her to cheer up. Risa throws him for a loop by asking, “What’re you saying sorry for? For not remembering that you kissed me? Or did you mean you’re sorry, but you’re never ever going to be attracted to me in a million years, no matter what I do?” Poor guy! Of course he had no ready answer for that one.

Anyway, I ultimately liked how the volume ended and I hope that stupid Maitake either goes away soon or ceases to be someone that Risa focuses on to distract herself from Ôtani.

From the back cover:
Heartbroken by Ôtani’s rejection, Risa decides to give up on ever getting together with him. But a chance encounter with her musical hero Umibouzu helps Risa get back in the fighting spirit. With a new surge of self-confidence, Risa is ready to go after Ôtani. He’ll never know what hit him.

Review:
I was pretty wary of the “chance encounter with her musical hero” because it conjured up awful images of some country singer or something playing himself on The Young and the Restless and dispensing life and love advice to, like, Nikki Newman in a bar. I bet that has happened at least once.

Anyway, it turned out to be better than I’d expected, which was a relief. This volume dealt with the aftermath of Risa’s love confession and all of her varied reactions to it: despondency, hope, discouragement, determination. It was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions, and I had to sympathize with Ôtani some, because she did spring some completely random things on him.

I did like that he realized that he had more fun with Risa than he did with his ex, a girl whom he’d formerly considered to personify his type. And, of course, the parts where he was being nice to Risa were my favorites; I understand the yelling bits are supposed to be part of their “comedy duo” routine, but I still am not fond of them.

Lastly, I appreciated the support provided by the friends of the parties involved, and that we got to see Ôtani and Risa talking things over separately with their respective best friends. 99% of the happenings occur in Risa’s head, so I enjoyed any chance to see what Ôtani was thinking in a given situation.

Love*Com may have its over the top moments, but more than any shoujo manga I’ve read where love confessions figure into the story, this is the one that really brings back feelings of what those days where like.

From the back cover:
Kyoko’s determination to help Ren continues as she lends a friendly ear—in her chicken suit. Ren opens up and confides in Chicken Bo, but is Kyoko really ready to deal with his lovelorn confession? To make matters worse, Ren’s been given an ultimatum by the LME president, and if he can’t act right by the end of the week, he’s out on his ear!

Review:
I think my brain was kind of fizzing out from Skip Beat! overload by the time I got to this volume, because while some of it was definitely great, I had to keep rereading other bits to make sure I understood what was happening.

This volume centers squarely on Ren and Kyoko, which I definitely appreciate. See, Ren is supposed to play someone who’s trying to suppress his feelings for a girl. And he is someone who’s trying to do the same. So, he invites Kyoko over to “rehearse,” with her playing the part of the girl, so that he can see what his own reactions would be in the situation and thus gain insight on his role. Except it all goes wonky and Ren kind of loses control at one point—which is awesome—and it probably is a very confusing experience for Kyoko overall. In fact, the next day, she’s basking in the sunlight, talking about starting fresh.

While all that is pretty fascinating, what I’m actually most curious about now is exactly why Ren is preventing himself from loving anyone. He’s made a few cryptic hints to why he can’t afford to have anyone precious “here” or “no matter where [he is].” So, like, is he dying or something? That would kind of be melodramatic, and I’d hope to see Nakamura think of something different, but it’s about my only guess at this point. Of course, see above re: fizzing.

From the back cover:
There’s trouble on the Tsukigomori set, and surprisingly it’s not Kyoko’s fault. Ren is having difficulty acting the part of a love-struck suitor since he’s never really been in love before. Stressed by his sudden acting impotence, Ren goes MIA. Kyoko is determined to help her friend, and joins forces with Ren’s manager. But as Ren sees the two of them getting close, he realizes he might know more about serious emotion than he thought!

Review:
Ah, Skip Beat! Where else could one find the heroine administering love advice to the hero while garbed in a chicken suit? On top of that, she doesn’t realize that he’s talking about her (and I swear this is not the oblivious cluelessness of some shoujo heroines) and he doesn’t realize who’s in the suit. And it’s not some stupid gag scene, either, because I’d hate it if it were.

This is yet another volume where I prefer one half over the other. The first half, dealing with Ren’s difficulties portraying a man losing control in love when he’s never experienced that, is certainly good. It’s kind of nice to see someone other than Kyoko messing up for a change. There’s also some great stuff where Sho freaks out over Kyoko working with Ren. How come I suddenly enjoy Sho’s appearances so much?

But the best begins in the middle of the volume when Kyoko, wanting to help Ren but feeling unqualified to give him advice as herself, runs into him at the studio where she works on the variety show (as a chicken) and remembers having previously talked to him in costume. Another conversation ensues, and from there on out there’s many great moments between them to enjoy. I continue to be happy that Ren is restraining his feelings because Kyoko’s still in high school, which is something some other manga characters ought to consider but don’t.

Y’know, I think I am going to erupt in a geyser of squee once these two really do get together. Their building relationship has been very well-handled, and I have to commend Nakamura for her skill in pacing a story. This is a series that every shoujo fan should be reading!

From the back cover:
Kyoko’s been scouted for a role in this year’s most anticipated drama, a remake of the classic Tsukigomori. But shades of the past threaten to stifle the production as Kyoko struggles to get into the character of Mio, a young woman with a severely scarred face. Ms. Iizuka, the actress who played the original Mio, is now playing Kyoko’s mother, and has grave doubts about Kyoko’s ability to do justice to the role. She demands that Kyoko pass an acting test, and quit the production if she fails!

Review:
This volume primarily deals with Kyoko’s attempts to prepare for her role and then later to convince others that her interpretation (radically different from the original) is the right one. Tying in with this are the director’s struggles to find a vision of his own that will surpass the original. He, of course, finds the answer in Kyoko’s spin on the role.

While this isn’t bad, it gets a little tiring when most of the action is characters whispering doubtfully or experiencing extremes of emotion when watching Kyoko go through her in-character improv. Even Ren gets kind of swept up in it. It does represent genuine progress for Kyoko, however, who’s able to create a character herself and imagine their feelings as opposed to simply projecting how she’d feel in a given situation, which is what she did on a previous job.

Getting glimpses of the plot of this drama as we are, I feel like I want to see the finished product, but in reality I’d probably find that frustrating filler when we could be getting Ren and Kyoko goodness. Maybe Nakamura should put out a volume with the drama’s story, like Miho Obana did for the movie Sana did in Kodocha.

From the back cover:
Kyoko’s big chance is finally here! Her performance in Sho’s promo clip impressed some important people, and now she’s been asked to act in the year’s most anticipated drama! But Ren is the leading man and the character Kyoko is supposed to play is dangerous and scary! Can Kyoko overcome her fear of Ren and her shame about her demons, or will this chance of a lifetime slip through her fingers?

Review:
Structurally this volume is like the last, finishing up one story arc in the first half and starting up another in the second. The first half, while revealing more about Moko and her family life, is decently entertaining, but I can’t summon much interest for a petulant child star who’s upset at having been treated like a kid.

Happily, however, things pick up toward the end of the volume when Ren and Kyoko are separately approached to appear in the same drama. They are also separately prodded to consider that there may be some liking going on in their relationship. Kyoko, of course, is convinced that Ren hates her, so declares it impossible. I was happy to see Ren balk at the idea of a relationship with a high school girl, too. I also note that it’s taken until volume 9 for this possibility to be broached, and it hasn’t felt arbitrarily drawn out in the slightest.

Slowly, we’re getting to know more about the supporting characters, and I’m enjoying that. Ren and Moko both get some fleshing out here, and even Yashiro (Ren’s manager) starts to become more important. I also like the little subtle moments where Kyoko uses Ren’s tricks—in the last volume it was an acting technique and this time it was the use of a “gentlemanly smile” when about to administer a smackdown.

It does seem that the next volume will be more interesting, so while this one wasn’t really a fave, I am quite confident of great times ahead.

From the back cover:
Kyoko’s perfect chance to wreak her revenge on Sho isn’t going as well as she’d hoped. In fact, her rage is so consuming that she forgets she’s supposed to be acting and tries to throttle Sho for real. That’s not her only problem. Sho still thinks he owns Kyoko body and soul, but his manager is worried that Kyoko might be stealing his heart!

Review:
One of the things I like best about Skip Beat! is its originality in dealing with obstacles and twists in relationships. Ren can grow angry about a work-related action of Kyoko’s and it makes perfect sense in the context of the story without seeming like some artifically-induced plot point like the appearance of some random girl who used to fancy him in middle school or something like that.

Likewise, Kyoko’s friendship with Moko has interesting conflicts—this time Kyoko feels hurt that Moko won’t share her successes and woes, when Kyoko is very open in that regard. I haven’t seen the process of developing and maintaining a good friendship ever really explored in a manga before.

As much as I like those elements, my favorite part of the volume actually is the culmination of Kyoko’s job working with Sho. After her actor spirit finally wins against her hate and she completes the job, they have another run-in where she brings up more points regarding his treatment of her. Sho gains a little more depth as a character, and I find I actually kind of want to see more of him now. His reactions to her progress and criticisms are strangely gratifying.

From the back cover:
All Kyoko’s dreams are coming true! She’s got a best friend (okay, so Moko still needs to come to terms with their bosom-buddyhood, but she’s learning). She’s finally going to high school (so what if a mean girl is picking on her—Kyoko knows how to deal with bullies). And she’s landed a spot in Sho’s new video (Yes! Revenge! Bwa ha ha ha!). Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Review:
Man, this series is so good. There are some very important things that happen in this volume, and two are centered around Kyoko saying things that need saying. In the first chapter, finishing up her day working as Ren’s substitute manager, she finally explains her motivations for studying acting and he realizes he’s misunderstood her. This prompts some tenderness in his manner towards her that his manager picks up on but to which Ren is oblivious. For the first time (due to character development) I really see their potential as a romantic couple. The best thing about their slowly-evolving relationship is that it’s based on respect.

The other instance of Kyoko saying what needs to be said occurs when her cover is finally blown and she chastises Sho for all the wrongs he committed against her. I honestly thought this confrontation would occur later on in the series, but it’s good to see something like this here, so perhaps she can rise above concern for Sho and not have besting him be her ultimate goal. His flummoxed reaction to her poise and skill is great, and it’s good to see her triumph over him in some degree.

I can’t wait for the next volume to see how she totally manipulates Sho with her acting (a trick she learned from Ren) and succeeds in using him as a stepping stone on her own path to success.