Manga Mondays - Anime VS Manga

Welcome all! Today's MM is going to be a comparison with the anime/manga, Skip Beat! by Nakimura Yoshiki.

Left to Right: Sho Fuwa, Ren Tsuruga, and Kyoko Megumi

What's it about!?

Skip Beat! is the story of Kyoko Megumi, who was the childhood friend of rockstar idol, Sho(taro) Fuwa. Kyoko stumbles in on a conversation between Sho and his manager, saying that she was just a maid. Obviously, Kyoko is pissed off at Sho, who she loved deeply, and swears revenge by jumping into the showbiz world herself! Along the way, she meets Ren Tsuruga, the sexiest idol in Japan, ranking higher in the showbiz world than Sho could even possibly dream. But, Kyoko only seems to tick Tsuruga-san off. With her heart broken and lacking in any ability to experience the vain emotion of "love" again, this ironic love story is a hilarious ride that keeps you wanting more.

This story is just amazing all on its own. It is a creative story line and amazing details within each drawings, both Manga and Anime. However, which one is better? Well, let's compare!

Moko-san (Kanae Kotonami) & Kyoko

The Manga: Okay, so the manga = Top Notch. Character design as well as details and expressions all create a fun story for anyone to read. The artwork is great, and the reader really gets to experience the story at their own pace. It's fun, exciting, and action packed. So far, the manga comes up to 28 volumes with many more on the way. The details within the manga are so great. I personally enjoy extra emotions from characters with/without names because it just adds to the comedy with the minor details. The screentones are excellently used, and the panel usage is well used so the reader isn't overwhelmed with the information of the story. Introductions of characters, information, or shocking details are varied within each chapter, so you aren't feeling the over-use and being quickly bored.

The Anime: Okay, so the anime is pretty freaking awesome as well. Both arts with the manga and anime are nearly identical, which doesn't take out the originality of Nakamura-san's work. The characters are pulled right out from the mangas, which will let the audience who watched the anime first then read the manga won't be confused. The story lines are nearly identical, and every action and relationship between characters is also identical. However, the anime only consists of 26 total episodes, and some you can't even watch fully unless you own the actual dvds.

That's the face a mother could only love. (irony)
Kyoko and her amusing dark side 

Okay, so you're probably wondering... So what's the difference?

HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE!

The anime isn't as good as the manga.

1 - The anime's lack of details ~

Details are extremely vital within stories, whether they are drawn or written. When the story lacks any details within the original, you just feel sad, kind of like in fugging Twilight the crap movie. Bella TOTALLY meets Alice and them ALL in different ways. And it pissed me off that they changed it.

However, even though Skip Beat!'s anime did not vary so much from the manga, there are still small details that I wanted to keep in there (sorry, it'd take me forever to go and list every single one...)

Kyoko and Ren ~ Manga colored

2 - The manga's superb story telling is shortened ~

Yashiro-san! <3

Okay, obviously the anime can't have too much because it is ~22-24 minute show, not including commercials. Just like with movie adaptions of books, they can't include every single detail, just like with numero 1. But what I mean is: It practically STAYS in Kyoko's POV the entire time. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE Kyoko-chan. I adore her character. However, in the manga, they included a lot more of other people's POV, such as Yashiro-san (Tsuruga-san's manager) and also Tsuruga-san's POV. Both of these characters look at the situations starkly different from Kyoko-chan and themselves. This also lacks Shoutaro's POV, but because the anime is only 26 episodes so far, his opinion hasn't really come yet. This lack of different POVs actually messes with the story line. It's a love story, and there is always the two partner's (Tsuruga-san & Kyoko), the rival (Shotaro-san), and the third party (Yashiro-san). Maybe I am being to cliche, but I think that when you have multiple perspectives in a book (Ever read Cassandra Clare's books? Yeah. That's what I'm saying!), it makes the book more interesting because you see the different view points of each character. The lack of this aspect waters down the story and makes it seem like its from heartbroken girl's POV, even if Kyoko-chan isn't really like that.

Kyoko ~ Manga chapter cover

Shotaro, Kyoko, & Ren

Finally, 3 - The art ~

The thing about Nakamura-san's art work is because it is nothing like any other mainstream artists! Nakamura-san's drawings are so amazing, detailed, and much more realistic than anything mainstream could pull, that the anime made me miss the smaller details on Nakamura-san's work. I know that the anime can't have too much details because it'd be overwhelming for the digital painters, however I still believe that they could have added a bit more. After all, this is a showbiz shoujo story!

COMPARE BELOW!

Manga ~ Kyoko & Shotaro

Anime ~ Kyoko & Shotaro

MY OPINION?!

Okay, obviously, you can see that I prefer the manga over the anime. The anime's excellent voice acting as well as art and story that is parallelly similar to the manga. The manga superiority within the story telling and art exceeds the anime any day. While the anime keeps the refreshing emotions of each character, especially Kyoko, the manga surpasses the anime in essential aspects that create a perfect story.

Anime ~ Sho gets FACESLAMMED by
Kyoko's "angel" personas.

Manga ~
Ren & Sho chibi-dolls &
Kyoko

Closing thoughts: So, I suggest to go read and watch Skip Beat! as soon as possible. I'll place links below for everyone to enjoy this marvelous piece of art and story!


By the way... Another incentive for all females reading this...

SKIP BEAT! = TWO PROTAGONIST BISHIES! LOOK AT THEMMMMMMMMMM!!

Well, Sayonara everyone! Till next time,

Inked with Brilliance and Love,

Sara

Sorry that Keiji is not featured in this debut of Manga Mondays! He will be featured next time, being placed into the conversation as well! So, tune in next Monday, January 9th 2012! By the way, happy New Years!! 

Manga can be read here!

Anime watched here!