By Yoshiki Nakamura. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.

In my review of Volume 21, I noted that most of it was setup for the payoff of Kyoko’s full-fledged Natsu we’d see here. And what a fantastic transformation it is, as Kyoko manages to do what she knew she had to, and make Natsu a role all her own, completely separate from Mio. Of course, this is not without a little help from Ren, who gives her some instructions on how to walk like a model, so Kyoko can strut more confidently.

One thing I enjoyed is showing that every part of Kyoko’s life has helped shape her into the actress that she is. Yes, she has an amazing acting talent, as Ren notes, but it’s not just a savant sort of thing. The reason that Ren can teach her these things in one evening is that Kyoko already has most of the model posture down from her years working at the inn – this was brought up in a much earlier arc, where she had the proper posture of an ‘ojou-sama’, but now we see how it can also create Natsu, a confident and bored princess of an entirely different type.

The remainder of the volume is filled with Kyoko, now immersed in her Natsu role, being thoroughly awesome. From the moment we see her grabbing Rumi-chan’s wayward hat, Kyoko is simply in the zone. She also understands what being in a clique is like, as we see her not sell out the other actresses to the director even though she knows they stole part of her costume. Kyoko notes bluntly that she won’t let other people solve her friend’s problems that are within the group. It’s between Natsu and Kaori, the characters.

And then there’s Chiaki, who’s the real villain behind this arc. Not content with simple pranks like the other actresses (whom Kyoko pretty much wraps around her little finger post-change, even getting them to go out to a roadside ramen stand as it’s the sort of thing a bored rich girl would find interesting), Chiaki wants to ruin Kyoko. Unfortunately, her plans backfire spectacularly here, as not only does the director decide he likes this new Natsu, but now it’s Chiaki’s portrayal of Yumika that doesn’t fit – and Chiaki who’s on the hotseat. What’s more, part of her backstory is finally revealed, and it’s not a pretty one. Manga in general is quite fond of ‘dark mirrors’, evil counterparts to our hero or heroine with similar traits and pasts. So now we see Kyoko dealing with an actress who *has* been trapped by typecasting, and is becoming more and more desperate. Cue the cliffhanger.

It’s not all drama, though. There’s lots of great humor here, ranging from Ren’s attempts to get Kyoko to relax (and tease her at the same time), to the hysterical exchange between Rumi-chan and Chiaki about the ‘new’ Natsu, to Kyoko’s ‘Ganbatte!’ note to Chiaki that’s cute but also taunting. In addition, Nakamura’s art and layout is simply stellar here, with many pages I wanted to go back and look at just for the sheer joy of the panel itself. Particularly the revelation of Natsu to her fellow actresses (balanced out with a flashback to Kyoko’s ‘plain udon’ looks of 2 days before), and the final shot of Kyoko on the stairs for the cliffhanger.

To sum up, this volume is all about Ren’s quote “Once she’s interested in the role, she takes off real fast.” I eagerly await the next volume (and particularly how others will react to it), which is all about the other half of Ren’s quote: “She’s scary once she wakes up.”

By Yoshiki Nakamura. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.

In a long-running series such as this, you’re going to run into those volumes that are predominately setup for a payoff coming later on. And that’s exactly what this is, as we mostly get to see a somewhat beaten down Kyoko struggling with her new job and how to create her new character, but have to wait for the next volume to get the payoff.

It is nice to see Kyoko, who is a bit of an acting savant, having to once again deal with the fact that she has to connect with a role in order to make it hers. We saw this a bit with Mio in earlier Dark Moon volumes, but here it’s even more pronounced, as Kyoko realizes, despite what everyone hired her for, that Natsu is NOT a Mio – she’s an entirely different breed of villain.

Likewise, Kyoko’s depression in this volume seems more realistic and less comedic than her usual (with the exception of the first chapter, which stands as a nice little example of how the artist usually handles her dark moods). This isn’t really something that Ren can fix with just a few well-chosen words, though given the end of the volume it would appear I might be wrong. She has to get her head into the mind of someone who is, at heart, nothing like her. This can be difficult. I admit I found a lot of the book hard to read, not as it wasn’t good but as I was squirming watching her flail about.

Ren’s big failing in this series continues to be how he’s a little too perfect, and that doesn’t change here, as his big scenes show him knowing exactly the right way to handle Kyoko. I’ll admit that his fairy tale about the rose was my favorite part of the entire book. From his overdone narration, to Kyoko’s emotional highs and lows, to Yashiro boggling at how easy Ren can deal out a pile of crap this high, the scene is a marvelous microcosm of the relationship the three of them have.

And we also meet Chiaki, who seems to have a Death Note. She would appear to be the next minor ‘villain’ in the series, but we don’t really get a chance to see much of her at work here. That’ll have to wait for the next volume, where we will also no doubt see Kyoko triumph over her demons and create a Natsu of her own that will be truly frightening! (glances ahead to Volume 23) Really, REALLY frightening.

By Yoshiki Nakamura. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, it *still* says ‘From the creator of Tokyo Crazy Paradise!’ on the back.

It feels like it’s been forever and a day since the last volume of Skip Beat! This is the danger of catching up with Japan. After a long period where Viz released a volume every 2 months like clockwork, they’re now only 4 volumes behind, which is about where Viz likes to hover (about 1 year back). Still, it makes the waiting for the next volume almost torturous!

There’s not much of the overarching plot here – Sho and Reino don’t even put in an appearance. We do see a bit of Kyoko stressing out about her next role, something that will become very important in Vols. 21 and 22. But the major thing happening in this volume is Maria’s birthday – December 24th. Unfortunately, that’s also the day her mother died, so she has no desire to celebrate anything. Silly Maria! You cannot resist the power of Kyoko’s hyperoptimistic shininess!

Indeed, this is very much an ‘up’ volume in Kyoko’s collection of mood swings. She spends most of the book happy and delighted, with some of the best overreactive squeeing we’ve seen yet. Still utterly clueless about love, of course – but then, that is the plot of the book, and it’s still running in Japan, so we can’t have her wising up just yet. (I love the cover, which shows her making two kinds of chocolates – thanks and obligation. No love here!)

As a hilarious contrast, we have Moko, who gets to do all the dark, evil moods herself this time since Kyoko is so happy. Moko wants to see Kyoko be happy, and knows what to do to achieve it, but is simply at war with her basic grumpy standoffish personality. Really, she’s a typical tsundere, not as common in shojo as they are in guy’s harem mangas, but still prevalent. She struggles with herself to buy Kyoko a present she knows she’ll adore, and then manages to one-up even Ren in the ‘getting Kyoko’s love’ sweepstakes.

Ren, as always, is cool and awesome. That’s what he does. He may even be a little dull this volume because of it. And of course Lory as ever proves that if anything’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Luckily, his machinations prove to be beneficial. There are simply buttloads of heartwarming moments in this volume, topped off with an epic final chapters that’s one long happy grin.

Next volume will get back to the acting, and Kyoko’s struggles with typecasting in particular. But for now, it’s good to sit back and relax with a series that makes you smile and is filled with fun and sweet moments.