(no subject)

[skygiants]

So the reason I decided to catch up was because I'd heard that we'd finally gotten through the arc about Ren's manpain and landed on an arc about Kyoko's mom.

Kyoko's relationship with her mom, and the impact that her mother's emotional neglect has had on her development, has always been one of Skip Beat!'s most surprisingly realistic and emotionally nuanced themes -- but of course part of that is because it's been handled so sparingly. I spent the entire hundred chapters leading up to the arc where we actually meet her imagining ALL THE DIFFERENT WAYS that the big reveal of Mogami Saena could be awful and disappointing, like: Kyoko's mom secretly isn't REALLY her mom, she's an aunt or something, and that's why she never loved her, because a parent couldn't really feel that way towards their own child! Or: Kyoko's mom really did love her the whole time, and just failed to show it; now it's Kyoko's responsibility to forgive years of abuse and neglect and bring about a happy reunion for all! Or: Kyoko's mom is definitely a horrible, irredeemable, evil monster, women who don't want or love children are terrible! (with bonus factor: really Kyoko should focus all her attention and energy on finding her DAD, who's probably wonderful!)

But instead:

- Mogami Saena really is exactly what she's always seemed: a competent career-oriented woman who genuinely never wanted a kid, and who probably would never have had one by choice, which is not a terrible thing
- her backstory, while DRAMATIC in true shojo manga style (corporate espionate via seduction!!!) presents her as sympathetic and understandable
- (OK her total social incompetence is REALLY ADORABLE, I can't believe Nakamura Yoshiki got me to find Kyoko's awful mother adorable)
- the fact that she wanted to have an abortion, and would have had one if medical reasons had not prevented it, is discussed frankly and without judgment
- (also, as soon as Kyoko hears about her dad's douchebaggy behavior, she's immediately like OMG HE'S THE WORST, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND -- no paternal fantasies for Kyoko!)
- THAT SAID, while Saena is not a monster and her resentment towards Kyoko is both human and understandable, it's understood throughout the arc that her treatment of her child once she's got her is also ABSOLUTELY NOT OK
- Kyoko is in no way expected to forgive Saena, and everyone who's there during this arc agrees that it would be one hundred percent understandable if she never did
- and though in the end she does decide to pursue a relationship with Saena, it's remains an incredibly complicated dynamic and there's no guarantee they'll be able to overcome the years of resentment
(- though of course in the end they will, because shojo manga)

I just -- I'm so glad, everything is complicated and no one is evil and the narrative respects Saena without letting her off the hook for the impact that her terrible, terrible parenting had on Kyoko, and it's so much better and more nuanced than I was afraid of!

AND A MOKO STORYLINE IS NEXT.

Comments

[lacewood]

KYOKO'S MOM. This arc has been a rollercoaster, hot damn. First her mom is awful and then SHE'S THE MOST ADORABLE AWKWARD TURTLE BABY. How did this happen??? Also at one point I thought the flashback arc was going to go to a VERY BAD PLACE (well it did still go to a pretty bad place for Saeno, but I worried it was going to go... even worse...)

I kind of want Kyoko to find her dad JUST SO she can punch him in the face, but on the other hand, watching Kyoko run her mom over with the Kyoko Love Express will probably be even more satisfying, so forget her dad. This train stops for no man or woman, LET'S ROLL.

(I did in fact have SOME faith that at some point Ren's manpain would FINALLY be over, but I will say my biggest peeve was how EXTREMELY VAGUE it is. If you're going to give us an arc full of manpain at least explain what he's manpaining about so we can get it over with. Do we need ANOTHER arc of this to explain things later, WHY :/)

[skygiants]

I CAN'T BELIEVE MY SUDDEN DEEP AFFECTION FOR AWKWARD TURTLE SAENA. The angry glower means that she's socially confounded and needs help reacting to something! And, good lord, yes, I am ... so glad it didn't go to that place ..... though I'm still really ?!?!?!?! about the SLEEP DRUGS!

I have this wild supposition that Kyoko's dad is going to turn out to be the same person as Chiori's mystery famous acting teacher (he had to be a skilled actor to pull off the corporate espionage, right?) but I hope that I am wrong and that if he ever appears it is only once, briefly, to be punched in the face before we move on. Either way, I'm so happy that Kyoko does not care about him at ALL. She's ready to conquer the Saena challenge! ONE HUNDRED DAUGHTER POINTS. LET'S DO IT.

(Yesss ughhhhh I do not need pages upon pages of "Rick, forgive me for this thing I'm not going to explain!" NO ONE NEEDS THAT.

Although I think my biggest peeve about Ren's manpain is still that one scene way back when where REINO is like 'oh Kyoko, you can never understand Corn's TERRIBLE SUFFERING, it dwarfs your childhood of total emotional starvation by, like, A LOT,' because a.) wtf!!!!, b.) shut up Ren and shut up Reino, YOU'RE WRONG AND I DON'T CARE.)

[lacewood]

It's like suddenly you see her :| faces in a whole new light! She's so earnest and CONFUSED BY HUMANS. And yes, those sleep drugs and that ominous fuzzy frame were the worst cliffhanger, why did you put me through those 2 weeks of terror, Skip Beat. WHY.

Yeah, I do suspect Kyoko's dad will appear again in something to do with acting because he's basically CHEKOV'S ACTING GUN now but... not sure if want... I suppose I could live with this if it involved everyone yelling at him for being terrible and Kyoko got to punch him and/or DEFEAT HIM WITH METHOD ACTING. But a hundred chapters of Kyoko defeating her mother ~with love~ would be even better. Don't let me down, guys!

(I KNOW. There needs to be a narrative law that you can only mention a Mysterious Name 3 times before you have to explain it goddammit. Please don't take lessons from the Michelle West school of flashbacks, Skip Beat. JUST DON'T.

Oh man, I'd totally forgotten Reino said anything about that because... I usually forget Reino exists when he's not there... WHATEVER REINO, YOUR ENTIRE FACE IS IRRELEVANT AND WRONG, STOP TALKING)

[skygiants]

YES i.e. my very favorite kind of failboat, Nakamura how did you KNOW.

I was so glad that I decided to catch up right AFTER that arc was finished and could race through baby Saena's backstory with only minimal amounts of suspense!

....OK I am actually kind of won over by the mental image of Kyoko TAKING DOWN HER DAD IN AN ULTIMATE ACTING BATTLE! FOR REVENGE!!!! after she and her mom have dealt with their stuff, but the story of Kyoko and her mom dealing with their stuff had better get TWICE as many chapters as Ren dealing with his bs backstory angst or I am calling management.

(I had edited it out of my memory so on my reread two weeks ago it hit me like a ton of bricks of renewed rage. YOU KNOW NOTHING, REINO.)

[jinian]

mokomokoMokoMokoMokoMOKOMOKOMOKOMOKOOOOOOOOOOOO

[skygiants]

RIGHT??? I never identify with Kyoko more than during the moments when Moko appears onscreen.

[phoenicity]

After this I'm finally going to check out Skip Beat again( loved it for AGES but then peaced out after 100 years of vague manpain).

I'm so glad that Kyoko's mom was treated with nuance and care, because meeting Ren's parents had me worried. I feel like maybe she just had a clearer idea of where she was going with Kyoko's mom, whereas you would be forgiven for thinking that there was a new author who had gotten no notes from the previous one other than "issues with parents" every time we heard about Ren's childhood. So his backstory ended up a convoluted tiresome mess, one that we will hopefully never revisit, and Saena is apparently incredible human and understandable while still being held accountable for her AWFUL parenting.

[skygiants]

ME TOO. I was feeling the exact same way -- and also surprised and worried that she brought Kyoko's mom in when it's so clearly not the manga's endgame yet, because I always kind of figured Saena was going to be the equivalent of the Big Bad, the last hurdle that Kyoko has to overcome for her emotional growth. But the way she did it was so good! I'M SO HAPPY. I can't believe I kind of love Mogami Saena now.

(Oh, lord, the accumulated nonsense of Ren's backstory. I mean, I laughed during the Kuu arc when the big reveal of his Dark and Tragic past was 'my parents ... just LOVED ME TOO MUCH!!!!!!' but then so much MORE vague nonsense piled on top of that, WHY.)