Recap / Skip Beat Volume 4

Can Kyoko tie the score and get revenge on Sho?

This volume contains the chapters:

• Act 18. "The Miraculous Language of Angels, part 3" ^note Kyoko is off to a good start on her acting challenge, but suddenly Maria starts responding to her lines. What could be causing this?
• Act 19. "The Blue on Her Palm" ^note Maria brings up Kyoko's parents, hoping for some insight into talking to her own father, but she soon learns that it's a subject Kyoko would rather not talk about. A down-in-the-dumps Kyoko consoles herself with her Corn stone, but drops it when Sawara surprises her. Ren retrieves her stone, but he might know more about it than he lets on.
• Act 20. "The Cursed Night" ^note Ren upsets Kyoko by poking at her vulnerabilities. A little while later Kyoko fills in as a mascot on a variety show, only to have their star guest turn out to be the person she hates the most- Sho Fuwa.
• Act 21. "A One-in-a-Million Change for Revenge" ^note This is Kyoko's opportunity for revenge on Sho! Will she be successful at her plan? Or will Sho find out that Kyoko is the one inside the chicken suit?
• Act 22. "That's the Rule" ^note After losing a badminton game to Sho, Kyoko's attempts at getting revenge escalate to the point that the manager fires her. While sulking around in the chicken costume backstage, she encounters another jerk she'd rather not meet - Ren Tsuruga.
• Act 23. "The True Face of the Storm" ^note Ren is the last person Kyoko wants to deal with right now, but he's in a bit of a pinch and she can't just walk away. If she can keep him from figuring out it's her in the chicken suit, maybe she can get away without loosing face.

---

Chapters in this volume provide examples of:

• Barehanded Blade Block: In an interesting variant, Kyoko-in-a-chicken-suit catches Sho's hand as he attempts to pull off the head of her costume - the panel is even labelled "Catching a Naked Sword." She retaliates with the beak of the chicken suit, but he catches the beak barehanded.
• Embarrassing Animal Suit: Overlaps with Goofy Suit: the "Bo the Chicken" suit that Kyoko has to wear is bulky and hilarious.
• Flower Motifs: It's a shoujo managa after all - most chapters have a few instances of panel backgrounds filling with unexplained flowers.
• Goofy Suit: Overlaps with Embarrassing Animal Suit - when Moko volunteers the Love Me Section to fill in for a sick crew member on Yappa Kimagure Rock, she does so without knowing that the volunteer has to wear a full-body mascot suit. Once she finds this out, she foists the job off on Kyoko.
• Security Blanket: Kyoko's "Corn" stone, given to her by a mysterious childhood friend. Just holding it can make her feel better when she's down, and she believes the stone can absorb her sadness.
• Show Within a Show: Yappa Kimagure Rock is a type 1 example, with "characters involved in the production of the show."
• Studio Audience: Kyoko and Moko were originally sent to fill part of the audience in Yappa Kimagure Rock, but Kyoko gets roped into something a little more exciting.

---