A review by reddyrat
Skip Beat!, Vol. 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura

4.0

The cover and the synopsis of this volume features Ren, but much of the plot is about Kyoko and Moko. Moko begins this volume clearly troubled. She thinks her acting career has been ruined. By a little boy. A superstar little boy from a prominent family who has decided that he hates her. Kyoko to the rescue! She's able to tease out the heart of the misunderstanding between Moko and the little boy and save her friend's career.

In so doing, we learn a lot more about Moko's past. She comes from a very large, poor family. Kyoko ends up spending the night with some of Moko's siblings and niece/nephews. The family is boisterous and chaotic, but there's a lot of love there. Moko is quite ashamed of her family's messiness and poverty. Hence, she's been hard at work since she was twelve years old, doing various acting jobs to give her family the lifestyle she thinks they ought to have.

We also learn a little more about Ren in this volume. For being such a star, he is very young - only 20 years old. And he is far from the stereotypical sex-crazed teen sensation. Ren has never gone for any of the girls who throw themselves at him. He's never been in love. As a result, his agency worries that he can't adequately act in a romantic film. When an opportunity comes to star in a film with Kyoko arises, he almost loses it.

The volume ends with Ren and Kyoko being assigned to star in a romance together. Both have issues to work through on why they think their respective roles might be bad for them, but it opens up a lot of plot opportunities. I'm excited to see what happens next.