Skip Beat!/Characters
A list of characters from the Skip Beat manga and anime series.
Warning Spoilers.
Skip Beat! (Main Characters)
Kyouko Mogami
The main character of the series, a 16-year-old girl who vows to get revenge on her ex-true-love by becoming more famous than him.
Voiced by: Miki Nagasawa (drama CD), Marina Inoue (anime)
- Abusive Parents: Her mother is emotionally distant and neglectful, uncaring even when her daughter runs away from home.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Kyoko suffered this throughout her childhood because the other girls were jealous of her relationship with Sho.
- Berserk Button: Anything having to do with Shou.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Kyouko can be very scary when angered or just irritated, as the poor unfortunates who have seen her in that state can testify. The phrase "She is a very scary kind of actress" has become a Leitmotif for everyone who refers to her.
- Bi the Way: Debatable. Kyouko may or may not like Moko in THAT way. She is certainly a Large Ham for whom a baseless Anguished Declaration of Love is not out of place, but the frequency and severity of some of her Moko-induced spasms still leads some fans to wonder about her.
- Brainy Brunette: Before she dyed her hair.
- Broken Bird
- Butt Monkey
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Disappeared Dad: Her dad seems to be deceased.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Moko certainly does and so do the girls that are doing the "Natsu" drama.
- Expressive Mask: Kyouko is naturally very expressive. Kyouko in a giant chicken suit somehow manages to be even more expressive.
- Extreme Doormat: At the beginning, when she used to live with Shou.
- Fiery Redhead: Kyouko is indeed strong, passionate (though not in a romantic sense), outgoing, usually outspoken. She is particularly determined with regards to her career.
- Important Haircut: The transformation from Yamato Nadeshiko to Plucky Girl.
- Haunted Heroine: In a very funny way. Kyouko is haunted by a number of little demons that embody her desire for vengeance. An important point of her new life is to get rid of these little monsters so she can fall in love again.
- Heroes Want Redheads: With her hair bleached, Kyouko gains a lot of points with the male cast.
- Hot-Blooded: Kyouko does NOTHING by halves.
- Laughing Mad: How she first reacts to hearing what Sho really thinks about her and when she's having an Imagine Spot thinking about finally getting her revenge on him (or anyone else that has slighted her) she generally ends up this way.
- Large Ham
- Love Martyr: Before her breakup with Shou, she sacrificed absolutely everything for him and got almost nothing in return.
- Magnetic Hero: She has a habit of turning would-be female rivals into good friends.
- Naive Everygirl: In the beginning.
- ...and the first part still fits, though she's not an "everygirl" anymore.
- Ocular Gushers
- Plucky Girl
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Whenever she gets into costume for a film shoot.
- Stepford Smiler: During her relationship with Shou, Kyouko made a concerted effort to never cry in front of him because she knew it upset him.
- Also, when she worked in his family's ryokan she hid her feelings to not let the customers know she was upset. Which is one of the reasons why they wanted her to inherit the the ryokan.
- Strange Girl
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Kyouko was this towards her mother, and then later towards Shou’s parents.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Kyouko lives and breathes this trope. Peeling radishes, putting a thumbtack in the wall, tossing a packet of salt – the more trivial the action, the more epic she'll make it.
- Woman Scorned: What kicks off the whole plot for her.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Before her breakup with Shou, she was a very deconstructed version of this. The emphasis wasn't on the kindness or the will of iron, but on the psychological downsides.
- Yandere: A rare heroic version of this.
Shoutarou "Shou" Fuwa
Childhood friend and past love interest of the main character, and the object of her quest for revenge.
Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna (drama CD), Mamoru Miyano (anime)
- Bastard Boyfriend: Shou starts out as a straight example, but is quickly deconstructed when Kyouko realizes what a negative effect he’s had on her life, prompting her revenge quest.
- Bishonen
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Shou appears cool and loving to his fans (and to Kyouko for a time), but he in fact is an egotistical, selfish, and emotionally immature brat.
- Blond Guys Are Evil
- Chick Magnet: Even as far back as kindergarten, Shou was very popular with the girls, to the point where they bullied Kyouko out of jealousy.
- Embarrassing First Name: Shou's real name is Shoutaro, which he considers old-fashioned and unsuitable for his pop star career. Probably also influenced by the widespread awareness of the origins.
- Foe Yay: In the Dark moon arc with Reino.
- Forceful Kiss: Chapter 145.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: He only becomes attracted to Kyouko after she dumps him and swears to get revenge on him.
- Idol Singer
- It's All About Me: To an extreme.
- Jerkass <-> Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He jumps between the two but remains more of a Jerkass. His kindness is shown in the Dark Moon arc toward Kyoko but because she constantly attacks him when he really is trying to be nice to her, he ends up lashing back and goes back to being a jerk.
- The Vamp: Sexy, villainous, and very good at manipulating women, even his vengeful ex.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy: Shou dresses up as one in the Angels and Demons arc. Needless to say, it fits his personality well.
Ren Tsuruga
The most popular man in show business, a talented actor, and a senior member of the talent agency that Kyouko joins.
Voiced by: Ken Narita (drama CD), Katsuyuki Konishi (anime)
- Almost Kiss: The incident in Ren's kitchen in the Dark Moon arc made a lot of fangirls squee.
- Berserk Button: Don't toss Kyouko to the ground. Just... don't. [dead link]
- Bishie Sparkle: Subverted/inverted, since Ren only sparkles when he's angry. Conversely, during scenes where you'd expect the sparkles to appear, he favors the Love Bubbles.
- Bishonen
- Blond Guys Are Evil: When he used to be blond he was an problematic teenager, and somewhere in those years happened a bloody accident.
- Broken Ace: Ren is a bit of an psychological wreck under the perfect public persona.
- Chick Magnet: The number 1 Chick Magnet in all of Japan, much to Shou's displeasure.
- Defrosting Ice King
- Dogged Nice Guy: Towards Kyouko, who is sadly Oblivious to Love.
- Doting Parent: To the point he just has to escape from his home, and even his birth country, to free himself from the excess of attention.
- Forgets to Eat: To the point that Yashiro and Kyoko regularly have to force him to have dinner.
- He's Got Legs: The ridiculous length of his legs does not go uncommented upon.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Something that inevitably leaves Kyoko confused.
- Mr. Fanservice
- Forgotten Childhood Friend: For Kyoko. He remembers, she doesn’t.
- Ladykiller in Love: In the past, he'd change girlfriends like socks, although he always got dumped because did not understand love, but now he's genuinely in love for the first time, with Kyouko.
- Secret Identity Identity: It's hard to say, after years of acting a gentleman, how much of Ren's real personality remained in him, and how much is just a persona he created.
- Shirtless Scene
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Technically a Smile: Ren’s "lying gentlemanly smile," which can reduce Kyouko to a puddle of Ocular Gushers.
- What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Becomes a major plot point in the Dark Moon act, where he has difficulty with a role for the first time in years because he doesn't really understand the concept of love.
Kanae "Moko" Kotonami
Kyouko's rival-turned-friend and the second person to join the Love Me team.
Voiced by: Risa Hayamizu (anime)
- Broken Bird
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- Promotion to Parent: Her de-facto role in her family because her parents are prone to Casa Lane Parenting and her older siblings have their own families to care for (and are also Casa Lane parents anyway).
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Tsundere: Towards Kyouko.
- Verbal Tic: "Mo," hence her nickname.
Lory Takarada
The eccentric director of LME, the agency that Kyoko joins.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: he may seem like an eccentric rich idiot to the unaware, but there’s a good reason why LME is THE more successful talent agency there is and why he’s so well respected by pretty much anyone that knows him beyond his image. He can also read people like open books, being well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of all his talents (this being the main reason he created Love Me to begin with); and in particular, he was well aware of Ren’s lacking skills for love acting and also realized he had fallen for Kyoko after just one look at his expression towards her.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Love Freak
- The Matchmaker: sometimes.
- Serious Business: Lory takes otome games very seriously.
- Uncle Pennybags
- Unlimited Wardrobe/Costume Porn: Every day is a costume party for Lory.
Maria Takarada
Lory's granddaughter.
- Broken Bird
- Creepy Child: Played for laughs.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Anyone who makes a pass at Ren had better be prepared to endure Maria’s wrath.
- Expy: She shares the same name of a certain girl who is obsessed with magic and loves Beatrice.
- Lonely Rich Kid
- Nightmare Fetishist
Yashiro
Ren's manager.
- Keet: Not small or colorful, but indeed hyperactive and regularly loud when in fangirl mode.
- Meganekko: Well, for a given value of "-ko", anyway.
- Shipper on Deck: Ships Ren/Kyoko very enthusiastically.
- Walking Techbane: If he holds a cell phone in his bare hands for more than ten seconds, it will break. He's even used this to his advantage, to try and get information out of Ren.
Shoko
Sho's manager.
- Beleaguered Assistant
- Buxom Is Better: Sho certainly seems to think so.
- Liz Lemon Job: Most of her page-time is spent trying to keep Sho and Kyoko from bumping into each other. She is rarely successful.
- Shipper on Deck: Yashiro ships Kyoko/Ren, Shoko ships Sho/Kyoko
Reino
Frontman of the band Vie Ghoul, Sho look-alike, and creepy stalker/ would-be rapist.
- Beauty Mark
- Corrupt the Cutie: What he wants to do to Kyoko.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even Reino is creeped out by all the bad vibes stored in Kyoko's Corn stone.
- Femme Fatalons: Has the male equivalent.
- Hellish Pupils
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Does it to Kyoko.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Sort of; he only gets interested in Kyoko when he sees her grudge-demons and witnesses her using them to beat up Sho.
- Psychic Powers: He seems to have some form of ESP.
- Stalker with a Crush: Towards Kyoko.
- The Vamp: Even Vamp-ier than Sho.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy: Of the villainous variety.
- Woman in Black: Again, he's the male version of this.
Kuu Hizuri
Famous Japanese actor who starred in the original Tsukigomori. Ren's father.
- Adorkable: His Doting Parent aspects can be very endearing.
- Big Eater: A meal for 50 people gone in an hour.
- Doting Parent: At one point, his gushing over his son's many virtues takes the form of a speech bubble full of sparkles. No words, just sparkles.
- Hot Shojo Dad: Kuu has aged very well.
- Jerkass Facade: When Kyoko first meets him.
- Like a Son to Me: Even after Kyoko's assignment to impersonate Kuu's son is finished, he invites her to continue calling him "Father."
- Parental Substitute: To Kyoko.
Hiroaki Ogata
A young director who's trying desperately to get out of his father's shadow. Director of the Tsukigomori remake, Dark Moon.
- Bishonen
- Fragile Flower: Prone to panicking over even small setbacks. He once even fainted during an interview because he couldn't handle an Armor-Piercing Question.
- Generation Xerox: To the point that he's somewhat disturbed by it.
"I respected my father, and always thought I wanted to become like him, so I was happy in the beginning, but... "Your likes are the same." "Your hobbies are the same." "Your artistic style is the same." When it seemed like I was always being told that I was imitating my father, I became disturbed.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He's regularly mistaken for his father, director Hirotaka Date. He's not very happy about this
- Turn Out Like His Father: Hiroaki is struggling to find an identity that doesn't just appear to be a shallow clone of his father's.