Skip Beat! Ep. 02 - Poor Sawara-san ;_;

Kyoko takes her first steps into showbiz in a most unconventional way. With no clue how to go about breaking in, she marches directly to the most well-known talent agency, LME and demands to be accepted as a star. The head agent of the talent division, Sawara, agrees to meet with her. Upon discovering that she has no passion for acting, singing, or modelling, he quickly boots her out, assuming she's there to get close to LME's top actor, Tsuruga Ren. Ren himself, the man who melts women's hearts appears, and Kyoko instinctively thinks of him as the enemy before she remembers that she is no longer cheering for Shou. Ren kicks Kyoko out, but she waits persistently, stalking Sawara even to his home until he finally gives in and lets her into the group audition. She bumps into Ren, who tells her that there's no way she'll pass the audition on guts alone. At the audition, Kyoko is overwhelmed by the amount of beautiful girls there and wonders if she'll be okay. A black-haired woman screams at a little girl for wandering around the audition area, and when the girl begins to cry, Kyoko pulls her cheeks and tells her that a woman's tears won't always be effective in getting what she wants. At the audition, the company president, Lory, presents himself with a showstopping number complete with cabaret and a really nice sombrero. During the talent portion, the girls discuss how none of the talents stand out after his wild introduction. Most girls came prepared to sing, play an instrument or dance, but it all seems rather bland. The black-haired woman amazes everyone by memorizing and entire book on the spot and reciting back any line she is asked for. Finally, it's Kyoko's turn and she steps onto the stage with a knife and a daikon.

I love this show. O: A lot of important secondary characters were introduced this time around including Sawara, Moko, Maria, and Lory. I always felt pretty bad for Sawara, having to take all the abuse from Kyoko. She's such a demon girl. Plus more Ren = more FUN. Okay, so he's kinda jerkish right now, but I don't care. Ren is amazing, and Katsu is putting in a wonderful performance. Actually, on that note, the entire cast is performing beautifully. I know almost nothing about Moko's seiyuu, and it was wonderful hearing her for the first time. Sawara and Lory were both suitably hilarious, and there weren't many Maria lines, but she sounds pretty cute. The voice acting actually stands out above the rest of the production values. While the animation is clean and I have no complaints, it's a little outdated compared with what else is showing this season. It can't compare to the fluidity and beauty of Kannagi, Kuroshitsuji, To Aru no Majutsu Index, Toradora...etc. The music is still well done, but some of it shows up in the most random places, and the lack of random silly sound effects is disappointing.

The adaptation from the manga is very faithful, with a few subtle changes that help enhance the story. I'm honestly very pleased at how close it is staying to the manga, because I loved the manga quite a bit. Now that Kyoko isn't the wilting flower of episode one, she's a lot more fun to watch. Next week, the audition finishes. I'm looking forward to the cell phone scene. Oh yeah, and not like most readers care, but I'll be having my group dub some RenxKyoko scenes from this series. >.>

--Ou-bento