Kyoko Mogami has spent much of her life slaving away for her childhood friend, Shou Fuwa, who is now on the verge of becoming a popular rock star. One night while delivering food to Shou, Kyoko overhears a conversation between Shou and his manager, where Shou refers to Kyoko as nothing more than a housekeeper. Something snaps within Kyoko, and enraged, she confronts Shou and declares that she will take revenge against Shou for the way he has treated her by becoming a bigger name in show business than he could dream of -- and her path to vengeance is completely changing her look (shown above) and joining LME, the rival talent agency to the one employing Shou. But at LME, Kyoko gets and learns much more than she initially bargained for.
The appeal of Skip Beat! begins of course with Kyoko. In some ways, she is a typical shoujo heroine -- cooks, cleans, is generally a kind person and looks out for others quite often. But she has a fire within her that the series is completely unafraid to indulge. After Shou stomps all over her heart, Kyoko makes certain that nobody takes advantage of her to that extent ever again. She's sharp-tongued, strong-willed and willing to take on every challenge thrown her way. Kyoko's a tough girl (and starts maturing into a tough woman as the series goes on) of a type not seen nearly often enough in anime.
Kyoko's revenge fantasy is fun, too, because even though it is a childish notion, it at least shows that Kyoko does not need to take any crap from a selfish ingrate like Shou Fuwa. I go into a bit more detail about Fuwa in this UNMEI KAIHEN post, but basically I like that Fuwa is treated exactly as he deserves to be -- Kyoko sticks it to him with her transformation, and shows him that just because he's a powerful, good-looking guy doesn't mean he can treat her like shit, unless he wants shit thrown his way in return. Again, something anime could always use more of: Women who don't have to take crap from arrogant doucheheads.
The romance in Skip Beat! is of interest because it often feels like a secondary element -- and I've found that this is an approach that works well. (Nodame Cantabile, for instance, also works best when the romance is a secondary element rather than the focus.) There are a few teases of romance between Shou and Kyoko, but anyone with a brain knows that will not work at all; instead, the main romantic interest is Ren Tsuruga, LME's star and the top young actor in the business. Like Shou, Ren has an initially antagonistic relationship with Kyoko, but that is where the similarities between those two end.
What's refreshing about Ren is that his antagonism actually makes sense, even though it is based upon a misunderstanding of Kyoko's character -- Ren dislikes Kyoko because he believes she does not take acting seriously (Kyoko's entry into LME leads her to become an actress). He sees that her main focus is on vengeance against Shou, and he believes that such a motivation will not carry Kyoko very far. There's a part of Ren that views Kyoko's as nothing more than a punk kid when he meets her; however, there's another part of him that genuinely wants to see her become great and dedicate herself to excellence. Ren hates seeing people half-ass things, because he never half-asses any of his acting. This view allows Ren and Kyoko's relationship to grow through mutual respect rather than simple attraction. It works.
While Ren can come off like the typical perfect shoujo male lead, the chinks in his armor humanize him well and are often used to amusing effect. I especially like the way he gets jealous after he grows more fond of Kyoko. His jealousy does not manifest itself in control like it seems to do in other male love interests (which is honestly kinda disturbing at times); instead, he's prone to mood shifts (but not of the violent sort lol) that leave Kyoko confused and mess things up for him, even though he's so stubborn that he won't admit it. Little things like that never feel forced in Ren's relationship with Kyoko.
Aside from all the Serious Business portions of the series, the comedy is also good. Skip Beat! has some solid physical comedy, and the acting from Marina Inoue is top notch -- this is definitely one of her best roles, and certainly her funniest alongside Kana Minami. What I appreciate about the comedy is that it rarely (if ever) intrudes at the wrong moments. It just gets in, gives a few laughs and then gets the hell out of the way.
If there's one flaw with Skip Beat! it's that, visually, it's just OK. Pretty sure that most of the standout visual elements come from the manga, and while the animation isn't bad, let's just say it's not difficult to tell Skip Beat! didn't have the budget of, say, Gundam 00. Actually, the ending is another flaw, too: It's an OK ending, but it comes at an awkward point and isn't pulled off especially well. All it does, really, is leave the viewer clamoring for a second season, haha.
But whatever. Skip Beat! is a damn good shoujo, and I'd say it was the fourth-best series I've seen from the insanely stacked fall 2008 season, behind Toradora!, Clannad ~After Story~ and Mouryou no Hako ... and, honestly, depending on one's taste for melodrama and one's ability to sit through lots and lots of talking, I wouldn't argue that hard against throwing Skip Beat! ahead of the latter two series.
If you like this, then watch ... : They differ in many ways, but in pairing romantic development with talent development, Nodame Cantabile and Skip Beat! are similar. Toradora! has some good, fiery romantic development akin to Skip Beat! (along with strong ladies who can stand up for themselves). And it might seem like a weird comparison, but if you like the aspect of Skip Beat! where Kyoko busts her ass to move up in the acting world, then Kaleido Star -- where main character Sora busts her ass to move up in the circus -- would be a good watch.
