Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 12 by Yoshiki Nakamura

 

Skip Beat! Vol 12      

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: September 4, 2007

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Shojo Manga//216 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Mr. Yashiro feels his plan to have Kyoko make dinner for Ren the night before must have been a failure. Ren is silent today, and even more odd, he’s listening to a cd on his earphones. What kind of music does Ren even like? Kyoko hurries to intercept them, as she knows where they will be, and grabs her chicken suit, but ends up with the slimmer version, just so she can talk to Ren. Meanwhile, the director is concerned that he will have to fire Ren, although he doesn’t want to and he surely doesn’t want to hurt him. But something is seriously lacking in his performance, and he can’t have that, not if he is going to make a better version of the film than his father. Besides that, the President of LME has told him if Ren can’t do it, then fire him. He’s coming back in two days and he will decide about Ren for himself when he watches his performance.

Kyoko takes a box lunch to Ren at his apartment and she offers to help him rehearse, taking the role of Mizuki. He agrees and they begin.  During the course of the day, they find themselves accidentally in an intimate position.

Ren is finally confident in his portrayal of Katsuki. But will he be good enough for Lory? Ren has a request for the director, though. He wants to improvise some of the lines in the scene, in order to play the part the way he feels it. He is confident that he can make it work. Will the director give him the chance? And will Lory accept what he does?

I love, love, loved watching Kyoko and Ren rehearsing together, especially knowing how Ren feels about her. He has hinted as much, albeit obscurely, in his talks with the chicken, talking about the person he likes who is still in high school. Kyoko hasn’t caught on that it’s her he’s talking about and would not believe it if someone told her that. She is very clueless when it comes to Ren, and is just starting to realize that she likes him as him, not as Ren Tsuruga the movie star/actor. But how will she feel when she finds out he is Corn? I can’t believe that will end well. I can’t wait to see how the scene goes and what Lory’s reaction will be.

Rooting for Ren to succeed and looking forward to the next volume!