Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Kyouko is starting to realize her true feelings.

When Ren held Kyouko's hands, and looked at her, smiling, it was then when she came to that realization. Ren's action towards her brought forth an emotion that she sealed away, never wanting to bring it out. That emotion is love - a feeling accompanied by so much joy, but also accompanied by so much grief.

When Ren held her hands and she came to that realization, she heard a sound echoing within. The sound of that sealed emotion unlocking. She called it a dreadful sound, proving how much she had wanted to keep it from coming out. In page 26, 27, 28, her reaction was that of pure shock, mixed with the fear of falling in love again. She was afraid of what it meant. This reaction is very unlike her previous reactions to Ren, such as Ren saying that he believes her reason for acting, Ren kissing the corn stone, and Ren giving her Queen Rosa rose. Those times she was surprised, she was probably even blushing a little, but she was definitely happy. Which is a far cry from this current reaction.

Seeing how Kyouko reacts to Ren, I can say this does not bode well for him. Already, the pure thought of seeing him again in an official party is causing her so much unrest. It is very likely that she will intentionally try to avoid him. At least for the time being, until she can get everything sorted out.

Ren had always been cautious not to advance towards Kyouko too much. He is aware how she would react. She doesn't respond well to his Emperor of the Night mode, and Ren is afraid that if she becomes aware of what he is trying to do, she would just erase his existence from within her. However, in order for that which he desires to reach fruition, Kyouko realizing her own true feelings is an eventuality, a requisite. How she reacts upon that realization is the variable. Ren is most likely aware that that is no guarantee that she will react positively to it, but it was a chance he had to take. Sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith, and hope you fly.

For the boxes inside of her, there are 2. Page 30's ending message indicated clearly that this is another within her. It is a different box from the one we see all the way from the beginning.

http://manga.bleachexile.com/skip-beat-chapter-1-page-3.html
(Note that the one on Mangareader is wrong. The person who owns the box is not the one who can open it.)

This is all my conjecture, but here is what I can say. The first box, is one of hate. It can not be unlocked by the person who owns it. When Kyouko came to hate Shou, the first box was entirely unlocked. Shou was the one who unlocked it. All her hatred was released that instance.

The second box, which had never before been mentioned, Kyouko sealed it away, all her forbidden memories and emotions inside. I think it's pretty easy to deduce what emotion this second box signifies. The emotion called love, and all the joy, and all the sorrow that it brought to her, she sealed it all away in this box, never wanting it to be touched a second time, never wanting what lay within to be released ever again, with so many locks on it.

Like the first box, the locks of this box cannot be unlocked by the person who owns it. And it is only expected and natural that Ren would be the one to unlock it. As many people have suggested, Ren has been unlocking the locks of this box one, by one. He did not unlock all of them in one go, he has been slowly unlocking them all, and Kyouko only realized it when the last one is gone. Now this box is completely unlocked. What happens after this is a mystery.

On page 30, the person in her flashback is likely to be Shou, from a time long ago. It is sad for me to see that such memories she had, was with Shou. She described that the she remembers this feeling, and what she feels with Ren now, is what she felt with Shou long ago. I am personally not too optimistic about this. Her memories of Shou is wrapped with hatred. There is a chance that she will associate what she went through with Shou, to be an inevitable result of what she is feeling now. She will probably assume that falling in love will mean going through the same pains that Shou brought her, and shun it away.

She also described this feeling, the same way she described in chapter 157. It is a deep concern, that when she realizes she may be in love, all she could recall was what she had with Shou. It's going to take a lot for her to get through this. Her realization leaves her feeling terrified. Her relation with Shou brought her so much pain, that she never wants to have to experience all of that ever again. Her reluctance to go to the party just shows how much she wants to avoid him now. We can only hope for the best now.

What do you guys think? Please post your opinions in the chapter 170 section.

I predict that Kyouko will go through a series of phases and stages, before she finally comes terms with this. This is quite similar to the Kubler-Ross model and the stages of grief. But unlike the model, I believe certain phases takes place concurrently. Sometimes, there is no distinct time difference within the stages.

These are the phases which I anticipate Kyouko going through.

Phase 1: Shock and Horror
Kyouko already went through this stage, upon realizing the possibility of what she may be going through.

Phase 2: Denial and Avoidance
Normally, these are separate phases, but apparently, Kyouko is going to do both. She will be avoiding the whole issue, and be avoiding Ren as well. She will also try to deny what she feels as love.

Phase 3: Retaliation and Escapism
Kyouko will attempt to fight against her feelings. She will believe that she will be better off without these feelings that she have, and attempt to snuff them out. If you put it out of sight, you put it out of mind. She tells herself all sorts of things to forget it. You will only be hurt in the end. You don't need love.

Phase 4: Confusion, Sadness, and Frustration
Upon realizing that she cannot hope to fight these feelings, mixed feelings come in. Confusion is the most likely one, making her uncertain what to do. Memories long forgotten will also start to come back. She will remember the sadness and happiness that she once had. She will also feel frustration and fear, from her doubts. "I don't know what to do...." "What if....."

Phase 5: Confrontation and Self-reflection
Kyouko will face her fears. She will attempt to understand the way she is feeling. She will ask herself these questions: "What do I really want? Is this really love? Do I really love Tsuruga-san? What does he feel about me?" Kyouko will also look at her memories, and understand what they mean.

Phase 6: Acceptance and Advancing
Kyouko accepts the truth. She moves on, towards what she really wants.

This is what I predict happening next chapter.

Kyouko dresses in ordinary clothes to the party. She blends in perfectly in the crowd, and doesn't stand out. No one notices her. No one, except Ren, of course. She tries to get away, but he catches up with her. He asks her if something was wrong, but she denies it of course. She acts very uneasy.

Later on, there is a dance in the party. Ren invites her of course. Kyouko tries to decline, saying that she doesn't know how to dance etc. Ren insists of course, saying that he will lead her and show her. She complies.

As she is dancing with him, all sorts of questions fill her head. Is this what it feels like to be so close to Tsuruga-san? Has he danced like this with many other girls?

After the dance, it fills her, both with a sense of release, at the same time a sense of longing. Ren tells her honestly, that he was afraid of his own past. He was confused, and hesitant, but not any more. He has the courage to move forward now, and he owes it all to her.

Confusion kicks in. All forms of feelings flow into Kyouko. Being unable to deal with it, she decides to run out from the party.

(Post your replies in the Chapter 170 section.)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A lot of things now make sense.

In the previous chapter, I regarded Ren's actions as ridiculous, and unsound. Every thing he did was the contrary from what a normal person would do in the same situation. But as of this chapter, it starts to make sense to me.

Cooking this Omu rice this is like a memento. This is one of those important memories he have of Rick. Although Ren doesn't believe in magic, he at least wanted to try, and remember. Asking Kyouko to do the ketchup was the "magic" that Rick taught him. But the infinity symbol was his own creation. A symbol of endless possibilities. Eating a badly created Omu Rice was form of challenge for him. It signifies overcoming a difficulty. He probably also counted on Kyouko being willing enough to go through this with him.

Ren is also, seemingly trying to imagine this as way of Kyouko encouraging him. As Rick suggested, this "magic" was like a girl boosting your morale with "You can do this", "You'll definitely win". He was hoping for some encouragement from her, but couldn't ask for it directly. Towards the end, Kyouko says to him that he must know his limits, and not overdo things. A shot-down of what he was trying to imagine her say to him. She probably was talking about the car stunt, and was trying to tell him not to force himself to do it. She did eventually used her own way to give him confidence. She believes he is worried about the car stunt, and she doesn't know about Ren's internal struggle. Even so, she gave her Princess Rosa, hoping that it will grant Ren the fortune that it had bestowed her. Princess Rosa is precious to her, yet she was willing to part with it, if it meant helping him out in some way.

Other things are also starting to make sense now. Ren mentioned to Lory before, that he had been involved in too many relationships. And this chapter proved that as Kuon, he shifted through many girlfriends. One girl dumps him, another one picks him up. Kyouko probably meant too much to him, compared to his past girlfriends. It would make perfect sense for him to not try to pick Kyouko up as one of his girlfriends, only to have her leave him in the end, just like all his previous girlfriends. Furthermore, he is fully aware that Kyouko is not like the other girls, who believe in relationships. It's not that she's not important enough to him, it's that he doesn't want history to repeat. That's why he plays this yo-yo with her, pulls her back and forth. He keeps her close, yet not too close. In addition, he is afraid that if he doesn't hold himself back, and went for her, the result would be that she would erase his existence from within her. Considering her reactions towards his Emperor of the Night mode, it's not surprising why he chooses not to act.

There are still some things that didn't add up though. Such as Reino seeing Ren as having a violent past. But this chapter itself hinted that Kuon was much of a pacifist, and avoided conflict. It would also not make sense for Ren to be so desperate to seal away his past, if he was merely a coward. What I can deduce is that Kuon changed after Rick died. After Rick's death, he became very violent, and hurt many people.

I'm not sure what "Reluck" actually means. It probably meant luck coming once, and again. When I first saw the word, I saw it as something else. I didn't see the "R" and the "L", and that "E" seems to have the lower stroke disjointed, so I saw it as another letter. So needless to say, I saw it initially as another word. You can guess what that word is. :)

I am no Mentalist. But here is what I can deduce of Rick. Rick is a man who believes in symbolism. Probably superstitious too. He believes that one simple thing symbolizes a bigger thing. He's probably a lot alike Kuon's father. Talks loud, speaks harsh, but means well at heart. He's cool, relaxed most of the time. Confident about himself. Not very rich, but happy with the way he is living. Does his job well. Takes his friends and family seriously. Possibly will go full out just to help his friends at his own expense.

This is my prediction for the next chapter. Ren finally gets the confidence he needs, to face his inner demons. He decided that the best way to deal with the darkness within him, wasn't to fight it, run away from it, or seal it away. He decides to understand, and face it. So for the first time in years, he confronts, and embraces Kuon, a side of him that he had sealed away for so long. He faces both of Kuon's gentle and violent side, and eventually, he sees. The best way is not to run away from this side of himself, but to face it and understand it. At the end of it all, he will come out of it, enlightened.

Anyway, so, these are my current views. What do you guys think? What are your predictions? (Post comments in 169 section.)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone.

I want to thank you all for supporting me all this while. And thank you for putting up with the drama I always put you guys through. :P

I know I'm not the best scanlator around, nor the best webmaster. But I want to thank you guys for sticking around so long.

This year, I don't really know what present I can give, so I'm just going to give Tony Taka's Genga Lifeshuu art scans.


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M2HF2DEI

Adult content inside.

Monday, December 20, 2010

I am disappointed by this chapter.

A lot of people found this chapter nice and all. But unfortunately, I didn't. To me, it was like watching someone jump up and down on thin ice on a frozen lake.

Ren disappointed me yet another time. I don't know what his master-plan with this fiasco is, but I am certain that it can't be anything smart. Ren wasn't even trying to impress Kyouko with cooking. He knew right from the start that he wasn't good at cooking at all. He just didn't count on it being THAT bad. He knew his cooking was bad, and he knew he was causing Kyouko some inconvenience, but he went ahead and did it anyway. He calls her down, late at night, when she probably still has work the following day, so that she could taste his "Monster"?

He asks Kyouko over, but instead getting the chance of both of them sharing a good meal together, he decides to give her and himself some potential food poisoning? Exactly what is he planning to accomplish? Is he trying to give her a heart attack by showing her the process of creating this culinary disaster, or is he trying to give both Kyouko and himself a trip to the hospital? What is the whole point of cooking a dish, if you know right from the start that it is going to be bad?

Even though Kyouko is definitely not like the other girls, wouldn't common sense and logic dictate that if you want to impress a girl, you show her something that you are good at? A boy showing a girl something which he is utterly horrible at, is one gigantic taboo. A disaster in the making, is what I would call it.

Every time Kyouko is with Ren, she provides to him so much comfort, so much emotional support, and so much to hope for. Every time Ren is with Kyouko, he subjects her to all forms of mental torture and emotional stress, and not to mention he teaches her new kinds of fear. This chapter is no exception.

If you want my honest opinion, I'd say Kyouko deserves so much better. She deserves to be with someone who doesn't make her feel that she is always beneath him. Someone who doesn't make her feel that she will never be able to match up to him. Someone whom she doesn't have to break her back, trying so hard to please. AND a very important thing, someone who can be truly honest with her, and someone who she can truly be honest with. And by far, most important of all, someone who isn't afraid to love her, and isn't afraid to fight for her. I'm already have very serious doubts whether that someone can be Ren.

I am disappointed with the author. (On a different level.) People always say that the cliffhangers are cruel. I say this chapter is far torturous than any other cliffhanger I've seen thus far. This isn't progression. It's regression! Every time, it's always the same thing! I watch Ren make some headway, getting a chance to be closer with her. I get that long-waited faint glimmer of hope. Then I watch him take that hope, rip it apart, and tear it up into tiny little shreds! Is the author trying to torture us?!

There are some people who think this is a ritual, a breakthrough for Ren. It's suggested that he is being Kuon, or he is facing his own inner demons now. Well, I say, I can think of a dozen better ways to "face your own demons", that don't involve scaring the living daylights out of the girl beside you. And being Kuon shouldn't be tantamount to being insane. In short, the way I see it, this is wrong in a few thousand ways.

What do you guys think?
(Post in chapter 168 section)

Coloring of page01.

Many people love Kyouko's tropical outfit. Some have even suggested coloring the page. I personally think it would be great to see what Kyouko would look like in color.

For those good with art, would you like to try to color the page? I will display your works here.

For those who want the large sized raw for page01, here it is:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2z4xwly.jpg

Works:

Colored by Sacred_Acre
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/sacredacre/2z4xwly.jpg

Colored by Ian
http://oi52.tinypic.com/oiakr5.jpg

Colored by SkipBeat.Forever!
http://i53.tinypic.com/2zh2ulw.jpg

Colored by Drakena
http://i52.tinypic.com/dr46ew.jpg

Colored by Kirite
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz237/kirit3/skipbeatcover168_colourkirite.png

Colored by Tasha
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/Lurockia/20101221.png

Colored by fakeivy
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=d0qnonko8j8xd7x
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=pgggrz68am6c9vh

(Post in chapter 168 section)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Skip Beat Volume 26 Specials scanlation.

Credits to Katherine for finding it, and translating most of it. I don't know who scanned this picture unfortunately.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

BE WARY OF SCAM SITES!

There are various sites like these all around, they promise to provide a download that you are looking for, and when you try to enter, they want you to pay. And even if you did, you will still not be getting what you want.

These scam sites simply capture what people type in to search engines the most, then offer that as a download, and demand that you pay money for it.

DO NOT PAY ANY FORM OF MONEY TO THESE SITES. They are nothing but scammers.

Sometimes, when you search for torrents or files, you see something like :
"[Sponsored Links] Skip beat 167 download".
If you see these sponsored links, it's most definitely a scam!

They always use the same process. Provide a link which looks like what you want. You click it. They show all forms of high speed download. You click it to see the download. Then they pop up an error message saying only members can download. They say registration is free and prompt you to provide your email address etc. Then you register. And then they come up with some payment listing, saying all you have to do is to make this small payment, and you can get everything. FUCK THIS SHIT!! This is nothing more than an attempt to cheat your money!

I will not tolerate anyone posting scam links on my blog!

And everyone, make sure you are fully aware of these scams. DO NOT BE TAKEN IN! These sites will not have what you want, and you must never pay them!

Be wary of SMS scams as well.

Advertising sites, and sometimes even the newspaper and tv, tells you, that you send an SMS to a certain number, you enter a contest to get a chance to win something, like an iPhone or PS3.

IT'S BULLSHIT! They put in very fine print that each sms costs around US$3. And they claim it's a legal service. The hell it is! DO NOT BE TAKEN IN!

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Skip Beat Chapter 166 Scanlations

Credits to Chinglan1987@baidu for providing the scans.
























Monday, September 06, 2010

Skip Beat Chapter 163 Scanlation

Original scans by Billwang
































Translation script version 1 here. The scanlation is using version 2.


You can get the raws from Franky House Forums using Megaupload.
http://www.franky-house.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11964

Lo-res
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=879579472

Chinese
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?z=881935704&ct=335544320&lm=0&sc=0&rn=30&tn=baiduPostBrowser&word=skip&pn=30