Skip Beat Ep 6 – KYOKO-SAMA vs Ruriko! CAT FIGHT = Awesome!

I have been waiting for this very moment for the awesomeness of Kyoko-sama to fully manifest.

Ruriko is definitely going to pay for all the hideous things she did to the delicate, sweet and wonderfully awesome Kyoko-sama. This episode chronicles the rise of our Cinderella, an ordinary looking girl who will be transformed by the beauty and elegance of acting. Bring it on, KYOKO-SAMA’s first true assignment and experience at acting!

By the way, this will be my last post for this week, as I will be off to meet Kurogane and Owen S while taking some examinations in Malaysia. I am also tasked by my girlfriend to take tons of group pictures because she likes their reading a lot. Yes, it’s an ego bruising that my girlfriend does not even like my writing, and no, I won’t post it here because I am online-exposure shy.

Summary

Kyoko was struggling to rid herself of Ren while being carried by Ren to the work site. From the edge of the room, Ruriko was seething over Kyoko’s fortune to be held by her beloved Ren (her idol). Yashiro (Ren’s manager) took care of Kyoko’s wounds, and wanted to bring her to a hospital. However, due to the long distance and her persistence to complete her job, she rejected Yashiro’s kind offer. Ruriko was wondering why Ren was caring for Kyoko so much when he was the one who invited her to this job. When Ruriko finally met Ren, Ren spoke sarcastically that he was already impatient from waiting so long.

Ruriko angrily walked off from the acting area and met Kyoko in the corridor. Kyoko wondered if she did anything to antagonize. Ruriko finally revealed that she asked Kyoko to help in order to completely defeat a person like her. She admitted that she hated the “Love me section” and would make sure that Kyoko would get no points for it since she did all of that just to get points (implied: get famous). Kyoko was pissed off because she was really trying to help Ruriko. Ruriko boasted that the cast would beg her back since she was s star. A provoked Kyoko got Yashiro’s help to drag Ruriko back. Back at the set, Ruriko was surprised that no one bothered to call her back as they all looked very relaxed. Ruriko started throwing tantrums, dumping Kyoko on the ground while stating that Kyoko feigned injury to get attention from Ren. She insinuated that Kyoko’s fall on the slope was scripted too.

Kyoko’s internal devils and angels were fighting to crush Ruriko. The director told Ruriko to apologize, and Ruriko was surprised everyone took Kyoko’s side. Filming has started and Kyoko was sad Ruriko was not a dream princess. Ren came over and invited Kyoko to sit down. Kyoko was suspicious of Ren, but Ren simply said that anyone would try to take care of someone who was hurt. In the first scene, Ruriko was NG-ed a few times due to her posture and said that she did not want the job anymore. She said that since anyone could do this crap, Kyoko can be her replacement. Kyoko gleefully accepted the invitation, and said that she could definitely do something so simple. Ruriko tried to seek help from her manager, and it was clear that it was part of Lory’s plans. Ren wondered if the director’s current plan of competition would work and whether if their original plan of fixing Ruriko’s arrogant behavior would be ruined.

In the make up room, Kyoko was extremely hyped up when she realized she was going to put on make up. Kyoko appeared on the set completely dazzling, surprising everyone. Ruriko said that even a commoner could look like a beauty with make up. Kyoko happily agreed and thanked Ruriko for the chance to be a Cinderella. She considered this day to be the best day of her life, making others wonder how her life was before this. Kyoko told Ruriko that she wanted to be happier than this by beating her. Ruriko’s competitiveness appeared and said that she would not lose to Kyoko. In the same scene that Ruriko suffered a lot of NGs, Kyoko managed to be flawless in her posture. Everyone was filled with praise of her acting. Kyoko knew that she was only able to do it because of her training under Dicktaro’s mother.

As she walked, it was clear that her foot was still hurting. Ren helped to secure her ankle wound with bandages, and Ruriko realized that Kyoko was not feigning injury. Kyoko’s pinch came because the next scene was a tea ceremony and required fifteen minutes of kneeling. Ren told her that it would create a lot of stress on her foot and asked if she was confident of doing it. Kyoko exclaimed in her mind that she would break through the pain barrier by sheer perseverance. While Ruriko was learning about the tea ceremony, Kyoko avoided the training to relieve the stress on her leg. Kyoko asked if Ruriko was sensitive toward ultraviolet light, and Kyoko realized it was a total lie. Ruriko said that she never said anything to affirm that. Kyoko felt like a total idiot to protect her when Ruriko was a bag of lies. Ruriko told Kyoko that she only had herself to blame for her fall.

Ren and the director came in time to break off the fight. However, after the adrenalin, Kyoko remembered the pain on her ankle. Ren said that she was really an idiot to fight back when she was barely able to stand, and told her to give up. Obviously, our Kyoko will never give up as she burned with dark desires. Ruriko asked if Ren liked Kyoko more, but Ren simply said that he wanted to act with someone who was serious at her work.

Yashiro asked Kyoko to go to the hospital, lest her bone might break. Kyoko said she would continue acting because broken bones would heal anyway! Distracted by her thoughts, Ruriko forgot her lines and the director asked Kyoko to replace Ruriko. Ruriko started complaining, but the director said that someone who could lose concentration in a scene was clearly not serious. Ruriko tried to make excuses, but the director said that he was not interested in hearing her excuses. Kyoko smiled and told Ruriko that she would fulfill her job of not allowing Ruriko to be exposed in the sun. Kyoko promised that Ruriko would never see the light in her acting career because she would beat her now.

Thoughts

Yes, this is what I am waiting for. The first arc of the story is what Skip Beat is all about: Kyoko’s innocence, Kyoko’s devilish behavior and Kyoko’s sheer perseverance in adversity. This is actually the chapter in the manga that made me interested in reading the rest of the 100 over chapters because it manages to flesh out Kyoko much more than the rather one-dimensional character that she was. It is at this point of the story that Kyoko finally starts to acknowledge that acting is in fact a job that not many can endure.

I personally enjoy so many of those devil scenes that I probably need a dissertation to discuss them in detail. Nonetheless, let me point out my two favorite scenes of Kyoko’s evil behavior. My first one is where she starts to go totally sparkling after getting her make up done. The sparkles were something that I miss quite a bit and they went into overdrive mode for Kyoko here. However, the clincher for the scene is actually the part where she turns into malicious mode as she told Ruriko about her plans to usurp her role away from her. Now, that is pure Kyoko-sama for you. No one can stop the Kyoko-sama from a rampage if she chooses to do so.

My second favorite scene epitomizes the Kyoko that we all know. It is near the end where Kyoko-sama has a conversation with Yashiro (one of my favorite characters because he will eventually become an unofficial matchmaker) about her injury. Instead of succumbing and going to a hospital, she spoke about how she will continue to work since a broken bone can be healed. I bet Kyoko will try her best to go to work if she was sick, dizzy and hurting at the same time. She is a total workaholic like Ren, and that is just the way her mind was constructed. However, it also shows the vindictive side of Kyoko when her trust is betrayed.

In addition, I must say that the director feels a bit different compared to the manga. He seems to be much more cocky than his counterpart in the manga, and I actually enjoy it because it pisses Ruriko off so badly. Talking about pissing Ruriko off, Ren takes the cake for hitting her where it hurts on two separate occasions. If words can kill, Ren will be the Hitokiri Battōsai of the world.

It’s a pity we are still not getting into the arcs of Ren x Kyoko. We need more Ren x Kyoko! However, I guess the few scenes of interaction is a good appeasement for the shipping in Impz. I just like how Kyoko thinks of Ren as a demon when he is nice to almost everyone. The dedication of Ren to his work is amazing, and I think that next episode will touch on his professionalism, and how he will impress and disgust Kyoko at the same time.

So, until next week, see you and have fun worshiping Kyoko-sama. As an ending question, which of the screencaps (if you have not watched it) or Kyoko scenes (if you watched it) do you like the most in this episode?