Recap / Skip Beat Volume 16

Things are heating up in the battle for Kyoko's heart!

Sho barges in on Kyoko's reunion with Ren, and she doesn't get the chance to tell him her side of the story before Sho blurts it out. Ren is unflinchingly polite, but Kyoko and Yashiro recognize that his smile is just barely covering up his rage as he dismisses them for the night. Kyoko and Ren reconcile after a walk in the woods that reminds them (separately) of a similar encounter in the past.

This volume contains the chapters:

• Act 91. "Suddenly, a Love Story- **Repeat" ^note Sho is more than happy to rub it in Ren's face that a.) not only has he caused people to worry by hiding Kyoko in his room while everyone's trying to look out for her, but b.) he was also left out of the loop on the truth that Sho was the one to rescue Kyoko from Reino.
• Act 92. "Suddenly, a Love Story- ***Repeat" ^note Kyoko and Ren each worry that they've forever damaged their relationship. As fate would have it they encounter each other by a river near the hotel, just like when they first met as children.
• Act 93. "Suddenly, a Love Story- ***Repeat" ^note Ren and Kyoko clear the air. Sho and Kyoko don't.
• Act 94. "Suddenly, a Love Story- Ending, Part 1" ^note Ren and Sho, combatants in a love triangle over Kyoko's heart, declare war. Kyoko remains oblivious.
• Act 95. "Suddenly, a Love Story- Ending, Part 2" ^note Sho starts phase one of his plot to dupe Vie Ghoul and reclaiming his stardom. Ren is dealing with feeling insignificant after Sho's well-delivered challenge. Kyoko just wants to make him feel better.
• Act 96. "Suddenly, a Love Story- Ending, Part 3" ^note Sho reclaims his recording session, showing off his true star power. Kyoko and Ren aren't anywhere near ready to acknowledge their chemistry, but they find a way to take comfort in each other that soothes Ren's troubled heart and opens Kyoko's a little more.

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Chapters in this volume provide examples of:

• All Just a Dream: Kyoko has a nightmare in which Ren politely and succinctly puts her down for treating him like an outsider after all he'd done for her and tells her never to speak to him again. She wakes up, realizes that it was a dream, and immediately starts to worry that this is how Ren will treat her the next time they meet.
• Cock Fight: A few examples:
  • Sho tracked down Reino and beat him senseless for daring to pursue Kyoko. In the aftermath of Sho's ass-kicking, Reino is found unconscious by the other members of Vie Ghoul and left unable to talk for several days afterwards.
  • Ren and Sho have declared war over Kyoko's heart, and both start to make blatant gestures of affection towards her while in each other's presence.
• Flower Motifs: It's a shoujo managa after all:
  • The cover shows Kyoko holding a loose bouquet of white and pink calla lilies as Ren hovers over her possessively. White calla lilies are associated with holiness, faith and purity. Pink ones connote admiration and appreciation. Additionally, as the flowers appear in spring, they have become symbols of youth and rebirth. One could interpret the flower language to mean "pure-hearted youths with a renewed admiration and appreciation for each other," or something to that effect.
  • Most chapters have a few instances of panel backgrounds filling with unexplained flowers.
• Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: There's a little comic excerpt based on the title page for chapter 93 (also the volume cover), which features Ren embracing Kyoko with his "emperor of the night" face on - the comic reveals that they're doing a photoshoot, with Ren stating that the pose was a request from a reader. This doesn't leave Kyoko any less flustered.
• Lap Pillow: Kyoko provides one for Ren when he needs to 'nap' during a break from filming Dark Moon. (It's his last-minute replacement request, after he realized he was about to hit on her and this would scare her away forever.) Ren stays awake to enjoy it as long as he can, and Kyoko ends up falling asleep first.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Kyoko begrudgingly thanks Sho for the Embarrassing Rescue, but he's not satisfied with her lack of gratitude. They start to argue in earnest when he tells her he found Reino and beat him senseless after their encounter. Ren, who just happens to be eavesdropping on their conversation, internally monologues about how when Kyoko and Sho argue they're so familiar and intimate that they create a private atmosphere around themselves.
• Love Triangle: Sho continues to believe that Kyoko's heart belongs to him, while Ren is just starting to act on his feelings towards Kyoko. They're also finding out that they've got romantic rivals in each other. Kyoko herself is Oblivious to Love.
• Noodle People: Most characters in the series are drawn with excessively long arms and legs, but especially the prettyboys like Ren, Sho, and Reino who are supposed to be models/ actors/ pop idols. And just look at the spidery arms on that cover!
• Not What It Looks Like: Played for laughs - Director Ogata pops into the trailer to get some supplies and catches a brief glimpse of Kyoko and Ren comforting each other, complete with censoring pixels. He runs off, deeply embarrassed and confused because he thought she had a special relationship with Sho Fuwa. In reality, Kyoko's just providing Ren with a Lap Pillow.
• Oblivious to Love: Kyoko, who has sealed away her ability to feel romantic love, is completely blind to the boys' advances, while Ren and Sho are getting into an arms race over displaying their affection in front of each other.
• Show Within a Show: Dark Moon is a type 1 example, where "characters are involved in the production of the show."
• Talking with Signs: Reino, who has been rendered unable to speak for a few days following the beating he received from Sho, is shown to be communicating with the other members of Vie Ghoul by typing out his dialogue on his mobile phone.
• Visual Kei: Kyoko lets slip that her stalker is a visual kei musician, which she hadn't previously admitted to Ren. He expresses surprise and she admits that the stalker is Reino from Vie Ghoul.

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