![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
slr2moons.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crack_van2012-09-01 08:14 pm
Skip Beat! fandom overview
Hello, everyone! I am ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
slr2moons, and I am your driver for this month's anime/manga featured fandom, the crack-tastic comedy manga Skip Beat! by Nakamura Yoshiki.
I'll be reccing all sorts of fics and genres! Most of them are het romance, as that's what is prolific in this fandom, but I have some great comedies and other gems, too! Skip Beat! has been my favorite manga for years, and I hope I can help spread the joy that can be found in Skip canon and fic!
But first, I am happy to bring you my Skip Beat! fandom overview. *clears throat*
Imagine the purest, most self-sacrificing manga heroine you can. Can you see her, in all her sweet, devoted innocence? Now, imagine what might happen if she SNAPPED.
Introduction
That is how Skip Beat! begins. Mogami Kyoko ran away from home to live in Tokyo with her beloved childhood friend, Fuwa Sho, to support him while he pursued his idol singing dream. Now she works two jobs, cooks, cleans, and tends Sho's self-centered and childish ego. All with a smile on her face, for she adores her "prince", and she lives to make him happy. Then she overhears his true opinion of her: Sho in no way has ever considered her his princess. Not even his Cinderella. No, Sho sees her as nothing more than his unpaid maid. And that now his career is powering forth, he's going to ship her back home.
Her innocence is shattered. But Kyoko doesn't run away crying, or withdraw into a blue screen of death. Sho's harsh words unlock her dark and evil side, and the nasty demons lurking within her heart literally burst forth. (See the above pic for reference.) Kyoko declares she will defeat Sho at his dream and become a bigger and more famous star than he can hope to be. Sho just laughs her off. As Kyoko storms down the path to sweet revenge, she meets all sorts of people who help, hinder, or just watch her progress (or lack thereof) with very wide eyes.
Skip Beat! is a comedy shoujo manga by Nakamura Yoshiki. It begin serialization in the shoujo manga magazine "Hana to Yume" in February 2002. The series has been going since, and as of this overview has reached 31 Japanese volumes. The first NA English volume was released in July 2006 by Viz Media LLC, and the release is still going, running about 10 months behind Japan. The series is currently being reprinted in English as three-in-one omnibus editions. An anime adaption that lasted for 25 episodes was done in late 2008 by Hal Film Maker, and spans most of the first 13 volumes of the manga. It was licensed for streaming by Crunchyroll as one of their early offerings. A drama CD (MMCC-2059) was released in 2002 and is a vocal performance of volume 1. An anime soundtrack (PCCG-00946) with background music and Fuwa Sho's canon song "Prisoner" was released in 2009. Taiwan has made a live-action drama that lasted for 15 episodes and aired from December 2011 to April 2012. Only one peripheral book has been released that I am aware of: the Skip Beat Fan Book ~Love Me!~ (ISBN 978-4-592-18697-7) It is in Japanese, and I doubt it will be licensed for NA English release. The book contains character profiles, info on all of Kyoko's acting roles, popularity poll results, three pages of stills from the anime, and 13 color pages of illustrations. It also contains a short omake manga, set towards the end of the Happy Grateful party in volume 20.
Skip Beat! has two selling features that have turned it into a respectable hit in Japan and around the world. First, it is unpredictable in plot and characterization, particularly in the early volumes when the crack-tastic humor is at full-strength. Second, the beautiful shoujo art with special attention to clothing, hair, and backgrounds make each page a visual feast. Also lots of bishounen, can't overlook those! *wink* To be fair, it seems fans consider Skip Beat's biggest drawback to be the sheer length. As of volume 30, a little over one year of canon timeline has passed. The character development in Kyoko is glacially slow. Indeed, the other characters have all shown more growth than she, particularly Sho. Slow or not, the series' overall content has been maturing along with Kyoko's characterization, and since volume 20 or so, the tone has ben shifting away from crazy humor into drama.
The mangaka, Nakamura Yoshiki, has been slowing down the rate of new chapters. For years, Skip Beat! had two chapters a month, but last year she began to take half of every-other month off, and now the series is once a month. This could be a sign that she is ready for the end game, which would fit with the change in tone. Only time will tell!
Characters
Mogami Kyoko (16) - Bound to exact revenge, Kyoko throws herself into the entertainment business. Thanks to growing up in Sho's traditional family-run inn, she uses her odd skills set (food art, formal tea ceremony training, and curse dolls, among others) and with a lot of determination, she manages to worm her way into the industry. She still has vestiges of her former pure self, including an obsession with fairy tales and the perpetual dream of being cast as a princess. With her newfound goals, she slowly begins to discover who she really is as a person and what she wants in life. Canon Kyoko is incapable of love thanks to Sho breaking her heart, and she has no interest in dating or romance. She is also oblivious when others are romantically interested in her. She's slowly healing and figuring things out, and it's clear one day she will forgive Sho and truly love again. Fandom ships her to an extreme with Ren. Sho wins her on occasion, and every so often Reino comes out on top. But for the vast majority of Skip fic, it's Kyoko/Ren.
Fuwa Sho (16) - A quickly rising Visual Kei star who writes his own music, Sho is the ultimate aloof snob who only cares about himself. He simply cannot consider Kyoko as anything important in his life--until she reappears along her path of revenge and shifts his perception of the world. Sho can't believe plain old Kyoko is having moderate success, and he particularly doesn't like how much time she keeps spending around his ultimate showbiz rival: Tsuruga Ren. Sho doesn't know why Kyoko's closeness with Ren bothers him, but he's determined to return to his former status of being front-and-center in Kyoko's thoughts. Kyoko is his, and she is only allowed to think about him. Most ficcers write Sho as part of a love triangle with Kyoko and Ren, with Sho almost always losing. He does get Kyoko, sometimes! A handful of writers ship him with Reino. Overall, Sho receives a LOT of fandom hate.
Tsuruga Ren (20) - The biggest celebrity in Japan, Ren is a gorgeous and talented actor, and well-known for being a kind and good person. Yet Kyoko manages to get on his secret bad side at their first meeting, and her redemption in his eyes is a long time coming. In the classic shoujo manga trope, Ren and Kyoko actually knew each other briefly in their childhood, though Kyoko has yet to realize her beloved fairy prince, "Corn", was actually a younger Ren. Ren becomes Kyoko's showbiz sempai, and as he realizes her true identity and sees her determination to become successful for her own sake, his feelings for her begin to soften. Ren also has a dark past and angry true nature yet to be fully explained, one he (usually) hides from everyone. He can become extremely angry and intimidating, but he hides it behind his Gentlemanly Smile. The brighter is it, the more he's angry. On occasion, Ren's darker side comes out against his will and manifests as the King/Emperor of the Night, who is usually bent on seducing Kyoko. So far, all that has been revealed of Ren's past is that he lived in America for a large portion of his formative years, enjoyed street fighting, and considers himself responsible for a dear friend's death. He's also a natural blond with blue eyes, but he dyes his hair and wears contacts to conceal his true identity. Of course, fics pair Ren with Kyoko almost every time. A tiny scattering of BL fics are out there, and an even smaller amount pair him with a woman other than Kyoko. When it comes to Skip romance fic, count on Kyoko/Ren.
Yashiro Yukihito (25) - Ren's full-time manager, Yashiro keeps Ren's hectic acting and modeling career organized. He's also quite skilled at controlling Ren's screaming fangirls with just an icy look. Yashiro is the first character to realize Ren is falling in love with Kyoko, and he becomes their biggest all-out shipper and matchmaker. Yashiro's body has a curious magnetism that interferes with electronics, and if he holds a cell phone in his bare hand, it will be completely nuked. This freakish ability is occasionally a plot point. Fandom likes to ship Yashiro with Kanae in a case of pair-the-spares. The odd Yashiro/Ren BL fic has been written, but the best one is still a WIP as of this fandom writeup, and thus not eligible for reccing here.
Kotoname "Moko" Kanae (17) - She is Kyoko's first true friend, much to Kanae's irritation. Kanae is a fabulous actress, but she also fails the opening audition and ends up in the Love Me section. Kanae is self-sufficient and mature, thanks to growing up in a huge family filled with irresponsible parents and older siblings, and a pack of nieces and nephews. Kanae is a devoted professional, takes great care of herself physically, and ends up rather protective of Kyoko. Kanae's defining trait is constantly using "Mo!" as an expression of frustration, thus making Kyoko give her the nickname "Moko". She has stated in canon she has no interest in dating, family, or men in general. She's all about her career. Despite her asexual stance, fandom ships her with Yashiro in a case of pair-the-spares. Skip fandom also shows its yuri tendencies by shipping Kanae with Kyoko. The closest canon love interest for Kanae is a younger actor she works with, Uesugi Hio.
Takarada Lory (~55) - The flamboyant cosplaying president of Kyoko's talent agency, LME. Lory is best described as being in love with love. He's a flamboyant, shrewd businessman who knows the entertainment industry and has built a powerful company. "LME" is short for "Lory's Majestic Entertainment", which gives you an idea of his questionable taste. Lory really does cosplay in various ethnic and historical outfits, almost never wearing normal clothes, and we've yet to see him repeat an ensemble. He cares about the well-being of his employees and wants them all to succeed, for more reasons than just profit. He has a silent, dark-skinned assistant/bodyguard who is usually in matching cosplay. This man has no official name, though in one chapter Kyoko dubbed him "Sebastian", as he was dressed as a butler. Fandom has latched on to this being the man's actual name. Lory is normally left out of romance in fic, and he tends to be used as comic relief, a plot device, or another father figure for Kyoko.
Takarada Maria (8) - Lory's dark-but-still-cute granddaughter. Her supermodel mother died while flying home for Maria's birthday, and the girl blames herself for it, and is convinced her father hates her. Kyoko helps Maria see she is mistaken. Maria admires Kyoko's dark ways and ends up declaring Kyoko her onee-sama (older sister). Maria has a huge crush on Ren, and has been known to torment women who try to catch his attention. She doesn't begrudge Kyoko and Ren's eventual closeness at all, probably due to her loving both of them. Maria does not star in fic very often, but she can be found as a side character, particularly in fluff or pure comedy pieces.
Reino (18) - Reino is a rising Visual Kei star and the singer of the band Vie Ghoul. He is the only spiritually gifted character who has been able to see Kyoko's grudge demons and not run away, completely terrified. Rather, he finds them intriguing. Reino's interest in Kyoko began because he knew she was important to his own despised rival, Sho. Reino wants to defeat Sho completely. But when Reino sees Kyoko's dark side in full force, his desire for her changes, and now he wants her for himself, as his "dark queen". Kyoko hates and fears him, which is just fine with Reino, as he quite enjoys stalking her and making her grudge demons erupt. Reino does not appear in many fics, and when he does, it's usually in the villain's role. A couple writers slash him with Sho. He also receives a large amount of fandom hate.
Hizuri Koo/Kuu (~45) - Koo is the gorgeous and talented heart-throb that all the women wanted and all the men wanted to be back in the 80s. At the height of his career, he staged his own death and moved to America. He married the supermodel Julie, and they have one child: Hizuri Kuon, better known to the world as Tsuruga Ren. No one outside the family knows that Ren is Koo's son, except the President. Ren's father adores and dearly loves his son, and is saddened that Ren is determined to keep Koo out of his professional life. Koo has a crazy metabolism and eats tons of food. He ends up becoming Kyoko's "father" in acting, and she relies on him for his valuable advice just like she (unknowingly) relies on his son. Fandom likes to keep Koo and his wife together, with the odd disastrous affair thrown in to create angst by making Ren and Kyoko half-siblings.
Uesugi Hio (12) - Hio is the child star from a great acting and martial art family. He's been acting for years, so even though he's younger than Kyoko and Kanae, technically he's their sempai. Hio and Kanae work together on Kanae's regular drama, and Kanae accidentally offended him. He was out to ruin her and Kyoko's career (guilt by association) until he and Kyoko meet Kanae's crazy, immature, humongous family, and she has a chance to explain her faux pas. He forgives Kanae, and it becomes obvious he's had a crush on her the entire time. In the Valentine's Day arc, Kanae gives him handmade chocolate. Hio is the closest thing to a canon love interest Kanae has. The Shota-esque nature of their good working relationship (and Hio's tendency to blush around Kanae) does come up, usually as comic relief. Romance fics for Kanae and Hio are rare, but they can be found with some digging.
Amamiya Chiori (~17) - Chiori was a huge child star, but she ended up being typecast, and an accident and the resulting scar made her career fizzle. Now she's back in the industry as a teen with a new stage name, but she's brought along a whole bucket of issues that she vents via pen in her notebooks. Chiori is cast in a supporting role alongside Kyoko in Kyoko's fourth job, the drama Box "R". Chiori has a resounding hatred of Kyoko, as she believes Kyoko has been handed a promising career without having to work for it or suffer. Kyoko eventually wins her over (or scares her straight, depending on how you look at it), and Chiori ends up becoming the third member of the Love Me Section. Fics tend to keep Chiori in supporting roles, with the odd side-character romance thrown in. I keep expecting to find Love Me Section OT3 yuri fic, but have yet to stumble across it!
I've left out quite a few side characters--of which there are many in 30+ volumes! But these are the ones most prominent in fic. If you think someone I left out should be added, LMK.
Plot arc summaries:
It Begins (v1-2): Kyoko learns Sho's true opinion of her and declares revenge. She perseveres her way into the auditions at LME, where she meets several important characters for the first time, including Ren, Moko, and President Takarada Lory. Kyoko is off to a good audition start with decorative vegetable peeling, but flubs the second task when the skit she's asked to perform reminds her of Sho, and the grudge demons come forth. The company President is disappointed at her failure. Kyoko doesn't pass the cut due to her outburst, and it makes her realize how much she's emotionally lacking as a person. Kyoko finds a temp job as a gas station attendant, and Sho suddenly appears, but he doesn't recognize her. He unknowingly reminds her of her revenge goal, and she returns to LME to try again. She and Ren have their second encounter, which goes as badly as the first. Kyoko then discovers the President has hatched a plan to allow Kyoko into his company despite her failure: she must learn to love and to want to be loved in the brand-new Love Me Section. This arc introduces the main players, and sets the stage for Kyoko and Ren's rocky start.
The Love Me Section (v2-3): Kyoko is now part of the new Love Me Section (whose most striking feature is the bright pink work coveralls), meant to teach her to learn those necessary feelings by doing jobs to help people and earning points to prove it. Idol Matsunai Ruriko hires Kyoko to be her assistant. Kyoko becomes obsessed with protecting the singer, ultimately injuring her ankle after carrying Ruriko on her back. Kyoko is stuck until the dreaded Ren appears and carries her the rest of the way to the set. Ruriko sees them arrive, and in a fit of jealousy (for like most women in Skip, she's attracted to Ren) challenges Kyoko to act better than she can. Kyoko accepts. The scene is a formal tea ceremony in full kimono, which thanks to her traditional inn training, Kyoko is quite skilled at. Her dedication to the job, even while injured, impresses her co-star, who happens to be Ren. She passes out from the pain. The director keeps Ruriko in the film, but he's determined to use Kyoko as an actress at some point, for he can see her potential. Upon awakening from her faint, Kyoko realizes how easily Ren manipulated her acting during their scene, and decides she wants to learn how to act that well, too. In this segment, Kyoko discovers a reason to learn acting for herself, and it is the birth of Kyoko's determination to become Ren's equal in talent. We are also given the chance to see Ren in a better light. He can be nice, when he wants!
Acting School (v3-4): Kyoko wants in LME's acting school, but she can't afford it and is worried about passing the admittance test. She meets Kanae for the second time, and is delighted to learn Kanae is also in the Love Me Section. Their first joint task is finding and "curing" the President's wayward granddaughter, Maria, who has been causing problems at the school. The President offers both girls free entrance into the school if they can fix Maria's bad behavior. Kyoko and Maria inadvertently bond over Kyoko's hand-made curse dolls, and Maria reveals she hates the play being practiced because it parallels her own problems with her father, and the reactions of the characters are completely wrong. Kyoko agrees with her about the unrealistic characters, and the other students challenge Kyoko to change the character reactions while preserving the play's ending. After much thought and with advice from Kanae, who is a good actress, Kyoko does the job. Her acting lets Maria realize she was wrong about her father, and she will accept that he loves her after all. Kanae is intimidated by Kyoko's performance and labels the other girl her rival. Kyoko and Kanae's friendship (and rivalry, on Kanae's part) is started here, and Kanae earns her "Moko" nickname. This is also when Maria adopts Kyoko as her onee-sama. And look--Kyoko really can act! With lots of practice.
Bo the Chicken (v4): Kyoko drops her "magic" stone, Corn, and finds it's been picked up by the dreaded Ren. Ren realizes in amazement that she is the Kyoko from his childhood. He mocks her, and Kyoko hates him even more. She and Kanae are given another Love Me job for LME's new variety show, Kimagure Rock. Kyoko ends up inside "Bo", the show's chicken-suit mascot. The show's special guest is Fuwa Sho. Kyoko's grudge demons erupt, and she continuously sets up Sho to look foolish, only to have her plans backfire and increase his popularity with the fangirl audience. In a badminton match, she uses a signature move that Sho recognizes. He tries to take off the chicken suit's head to confirm his suspicions, but Kyoko fights back. The audience finds their "playing" delightful. Kyoko-as-Bo ends up fired by the director. She sees Sho performing one of his songs and realizes how far she must still go to catch up to his celebrity level. Upset, she runs from the set, still in the suit, and comes face-to-suited-face with a pensive (you guessed it) Ren. Not realizing it's Kyoko, he asks the bird if he can borrow its cell. Kyoko guesses he needs to look up a word and triggers Ren's Gentlemanly Smile, a fake smile that is the opposite of his true feelings, that has fooled everyone until now. Ren glares instead, terrifying Kyoko and making her apologize. The sight of the frantic chicken suit bowing and crying tears of fear makes Ren laugh, and he says he's no longer mad, because Bo apologized. Kyoko is impressed by his maturity, and wonders if she could be the same way. She helps him with the troublesome word, and he shares his own experiences with being fired. Ren thanks her, giving her a true smile. Kyoko takes heart at his advice about being fired, and is determined to try again and do better with her next job. After a few weeks, Kyoko ends up with Bo as a regular job, due to her Bo's popularity with the audience. This arc is the first step in Kyoko and Ren's mutual respect, though neither knows it. We get a much better idea of Ren's character, meet the important Gentlemanly Smile, and see hints that he isn't originally from Japan, and is Kyoko's precious childhood Prince Corn. Kyoko also earned her first regular showbiz job.
The Curara Audition (v5-6): Kyoko spots Ren while walking through the filming studio, and he chases her down with his Gentlemanly Smile in full force. He admonishes her (with the Smile still going) about how to properly greet her showbiz upperclassmen, and she apologizes for her rudeness. He gives her advice about standing out and working hard to get ahead. Kyoko tries to reconcile his light and darker sides. Kyoko goes to her first commercial audition for Curara, a carbonated drink. She finds Kanae already there, facing off with a girl from Kanae's past, Erika. Later, Kyoko and Kanae are talking in the break area, and Kanae reveals her troubles with Erika, and that she's giving up on the commercial. Kyoko slaps her straight and tells Kanae to believe in herself, and to work hard despite Erika. The commercial's director, Kurosaki, overhears their entire conversation and is inspired to shake things up. The next day, Kurosaki reveals the girls will work together as randomly drawn pairs. To audition, the girls must fight for 60 seconds in two segments, while still being best friends at the end. Erika causes problems, first by objecting to Kyoko and Kanae's pairing, since they already knew each other (resolved by separating them during the 20 minute prep time), and then by Erika eavesdropping and stealing Kyoko's idea to use Curara in their reconciliation. Kyoko and Kanae give inspired performances, all the more impressive for not being able to talk it out first and having to change the ending at the last minute when Kyoko sees Erika has stolen it. They win. Kyoko convinces Moko to have a girl's day out with her, in celebration of their friendship. Kyoko's acting classes are paying off, and this job is the first real step towards her career in show business. Her and Kanae's friendship takes a big leap forward.
Substitute Manager (v6-7): Yashiro is unable to work due to a severe cold. Against Ren's protests, his boss arranges for him to have a substitute manager, Kyoko. Things go wrong as she tries to help, and she causes trouble for Ren. She senses Ren has been angry the entire time and apologizes, but it doesn't work. The President calls her during dinner and tells her he can get her into high school, something she dearly wants. The next day, Kyoko notices Ren has early cold symptoms. Ren refuses to believe it, but is forced to when the cold is at full-power. He films a long scene in artificial rain, making his cold much worse. In his dressing room during a break, he passes out on top of Kyoko. In frustration, Kyoko recites the line of dialogue that prolonged the rain scene, and it wakes Ren up enough to respond. He refuses to stop working due to his work ethic, and Kyoko decides it is her job as his manager to help him. The next day, Ren is better, but he can't focus enough to learn his lines, until Kyoko helps. Kyoko reveals she enjoys acting, and wants to learn it for herself, not for revenge. Ren is pleased and his anger over her motivation dissolves. The final day, the pair are stuck in bad traffic. Rather than be late, Kyoko "borrows" a bike from a passing stranger and pedals pillion!Ren to work, burning with passion to protect his perfect on-time record. Ren first awards her 100 points for her job, but then deducts 10 for her selfish reasons to try so hard to help him. (She did it for her professional pride, not his. Tut tut!) This arc truly establishes the eventual mutual respect between Kyoko and Ren. Ren in particular sees that Kyoko hasn't changed from her innocent self, except for the whole hatred-of-Sho thing. Kyoko has also been studying like mad for her high school entrance exams, which plays a part in her and Ren's interactions.
Sho's Promo Video (v7-8): The Curara commercial has generated interest in Kyoko and Kanae. They are offered a job by Queen Records to star in a promo video for Sho's new song, "Prisoner". Kanae declines because of a new acting job, but Kyoko ultimately decides she'll use Sho as her stepping stone, and takes the job. Kanae and their section leader, Sawada, misunderstand her passion and believe Kyoko is an ardent Sho fan. Sho can't decide if the girl in the commercial is really Kyoko. At Queen Records, Sho and Kyoko meet again, and she pretends to be someone else: a Sho-crazed kogal. Sho remains uncertain until Kyoko passes him the salt during their lunch break. Mimori, Kyoko's co-star, really is a Sho-crazed kogal, and claims the role of the angel that falls in love with Sho's character, a devil. Kyoko is pleased to play the angel that kills him. Kyoko stuns everyone with her beauty in full makeup and costume, and she does well in the sweet video moments with Mimori, intimidating Sho with her acting skills. But she relishes her killing role too much and ruins her scenes with Sho. The producer, Asami, sends everyone on break. Kyoko calls Ren for advice, gets his voice mail, but ends up leaving a blank message because she doesn't know how to ask without mentioning Sho. She then calls Kanae, who helps. Kyoko's acting-made-tears shock Sho, and the rest of her performance is as impressive. The video wraps with Kyoko getting the upper hand over Sho with her better acting skills, to his displeasure. After the shoot, Kyoko and Sho are picking at each other, when Ren returns her call. Before she has the chance to tell Ren about her job herself, Sho snatches the phone from her and does so, then hangs up. Kyoko is incensed that Sho might have destroyed what trust she and Ren have built, and we see that Ren recognized Sho's voice after all, also to his displeasure. In this arc, Sho witnesses the new Kyoko and can't believe how far she has maanged to come. He also remembers their childhood together, and Sho reveals to his manager that he still considers Kyoko to be his possession, and he can do whatever he wants to her. His manager, named Shoko, and Asami believe Sho and Kyoko are dating. Ren is forced to realize he thinks of Kyoko differently now, when Yashiro brings up their closeness after her subtitute manager time. The phone call is a big step back in their fragile trust. This music video is the next move forward in Kyoko's career.
More plot arc summaries to come! Be sure to check the comments for them.
State of Fandom and Its Resources:
Skip Beat! fandom is overwhelmingly het, and also almost always Kyoko/Ren. The series has a younger fan base, and it is reflected in the general quality of the works. Most fics are excuses to get Kyoko and Ren in bed together, with Sho being run over by a train, or suffering a similar fate. The most common fic trope is to have Kyoko, Ren, and Sho all cast together in the same film or TV drama. As with any trope, though, some authors can make it work! AUs are not too common. There's also the usual amount of super-talented young new stars arriving from overseas, and mysterious sudden siblings. ^^ As a whole, Skip fandom is on the quiet side. Popularity grew during the anime, but in the years since, it has dwindled back down. But things are heating up again with the current manga story arc. It's just too tempting for the Kyoko/Ren shippers to resist!
The biggest source of fic is at Fanfiction.net. As of this overview, the Skip Beat! section has around 1,800 fics. AO3 is the next-largest resource, with 45 total works. Mostly fic, one fan comic, and a couple fanart submissions. Skip has been in Yuletide for the past several years, and should still be small enough for inclusion in 2012. I know of one dedicated all-purpose archive, Beatskippers, but can't say much about it as I've yet to really explore. (Be careful of spoilers if you read the newest fics, particularly at FF.net. I've noticed most ficcers read scanlations, which places their stories about 10 months ahead of the licensed NA release. Spoilers everywhere!)
There is an lj com, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
skip_beat, but the comm posts have dwindled to about one post a month for the past couple years. It's also friends-locked, though early entries are still available to the public.
The anime is still up for streaming at Crunchyroll. As with almost everything, the manga is better. ^^ Skip Beat! manga in NA is stocked by pretty much every store that has a manga section, though you might only find the most recent volumes--including the reprint. It's frequently found in libraries, too! Back volumes are available to purchase online, and thanks to the new three-in-one reprints, should be available in NA for some time. And in the spirit of completeness, Skip has been a favorite of scanlators since its beginning, and can be found in the usual places.
If you've made it down this far, I hope you enjoyed the overview! Thanks for reading, and I hope you're looking forward to all the Skip fic! ^^
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject