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Call for Participation: Skip Beat! Manga Moveable Feast

Good grief, is it June already?! It seems like I signed up for this not too long ago, and bam!- it’s already here. For those of you not familiar with the Manga Moveable Feast, each month the manga blogging community promotes a particular manga artist, series, or genre.  Writers share reviews, essays, editorials,  group discussions, podcasts, and any other contributions for one week out of the month.



This month we will focus on one shoujo series that has been running in North America since 2006: Skip Beat!  by Yoshiki Nakamura. The Skip Beat! MMF will run from June 17 to June 23.



Skip Beat! began running in Hakushensa’s Hana to Yume magazine in 2002. It has been an ongoing series in Japan for over ten years now! It’s up to 31 volumes here in North America, which I know….that seems like a lot of volumes. Don’t let that intimidate you, however. The series has been running for so long because the characters and story are so enjoyable.  And guys – I know it’s a shoujo series, but don’t let the genre steer you away from a funny and entertaining experience.



So what’s it about? Sixteen year old main protagonist Kyoko Mogami loves her childhood friend Shotaro Fuwa enough to skip high school and move to Tokyo to support him while he pursues his career in music. But when Kyoko finds out that Sho is just using her, watch out! Her dark determination to beat him at his own game  lands her at the doors of LME productions where her vengeful spirit will start her on her own journey towards fame. Along the way Kyoko encounters others that impact her motivation to succeed, and she even picks up a mentor, Ren Tsuruga – a young actor with star reputation, whose history with Kyoko remains a coveted secret close to Ren’s heart.



With so many volumes, I want first timers to get a glimpse of the story from one story arc or another. If this is your first introduction to the series, then I suggest choosing one of the story arcs below to get an idea of Nakamura’s characters.



1. Kyoko’s Introduction into LME and first assignment – Volumes 1-3.



2. Kyoko’s Commercial Tryouts (Curara Arc) – Volumes 5-6.



3. Kyoko Faces Sho (Sho’s Promo Video Arc) – Volumes 7-8.



4. Ren’s Acting Block (Tsukigomori Arc) – Volumes 11-13.



What Do I Write About?


For those of you who are familiar with the series, then some possible ideas for articles might include:



1. Your favorite scenes or story arcs



2. The Manga vs. The Anime



3. Ren vs. Sho – Which Star Shines Brighter?



4. Kyoko’s Psychology (Have fun with this one!)



But please don’t limit yourself there! Feel free to come up with your own articles or discussions and send them my way!



If you have any previous reviews, essays, or discussions that you have already written you can email links to me at laura.heartofmanga(at)gmail(dot)com. They will be listed in the Skip Beat! MMF Archive page.



During June 17 to June 23 participants can email me links to their articles as they are posted so I can do the daily round up. Or you can add the hashtag #SkipBeatMMF to your tweets as they are posted so I can find them.  If you would like to contribute, but do not have a blog, contact me and I will do my best to help you get your message up on my site. Anyone interested in doing a round table discussion let me know and I’ll set that up for the week of the feast.



I’ll open up the feast Monday morning June 17, so be on the lookout for the call for contributions. Not only do I hope for this feast to be an opportunity for devoted fans to revel in all that is Skip Beat!, but that it may also bring some non-shoujo readers into the flock of fans. Looking forward to it!

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