Skip Beat! Ch. 137 - Are we there yet?

Spoilers lie within: Kyoko continues her conversation from the last chapter. Chiori says that it's weird for Kyoko to thank her for such a performance, and Kyoko says it's not the performance - it's what she did off stage. Chiori's actions like tearing up her Kyoko's nameplate or pushing her down the stairs helped to create Kyoko's "Natsu" character. Without Chiori's bullying, Kyoko wouldn't have been able to find her character. She also says that she still feels bound by her previous "Mio" character, just like Chiori is bound by her "Akari" character. She's glad that Chiori was finally able to put everything she has into acting her new character. Chiori admits that she wasn't acting her best because she was afraid of being consumed by her character again. Later on, Kyoko and Hikaru are chatting and Kyoko says that everything turned out really well - Chiori put in an excellent performance. As they're chatting, she notices someone in the crowd wearing a Love Me uniform. She runs after her, thinking it's Moko only to find that it's Chiori! Dun dun duuuun.

Well, that was an interesting turn of events. Unfortunately, it's a very slow turn that is coming a little too late for me to care. This arc, while not as painfully slow as the one with Vie Ghoul, still feels like it's dragging a bit. Most of this chapter was all talking heads with a few words in each panel. Full thoughts were dragged out over a couple pages, which really makes reading a little tedious. I think the exposition and flashbacks could have taken much less time, but I assume the manga-ka was dragging it out so that she could save the surprise for the end. The fact that Chiori is in Love Me now, is definitely an interesting turn of events. She's obviously a character who needs the "Love Me spirit," but such a late introduction (and how exactly did she get in, anyway?) seems a little off. I'm sure the next chapter will explain what happened (if we're lucky, maybe we'll get to see Lory again), but at this point I was really hoping to close Chiori's chapter and move on. While she's definitely interesting enough to warrant more of her down the line, I'm really not interested in her right now. Like Kyoko, I'm in tears over the fact that I haven't seen Moko for awhile. And I've been saying this for months now, but I seriously need more Ren.

--Ou-bento