Review of Skip Beat! Episode 18 - Sin Like An Angel

(Note : If you're looking for the links to watch Skip Beat! Episode 18, just scroll down to the bottom of the article.)

Skip Beat! episode 18 brings us to the day of the music video shoot for Kyoko and Sho. Sho's new "girlfriend", Mimori, plays opposite Kyoko as the angel that has fallen in love with the devil (played by Sho). In the video, Kyoko's angel must ultimately kill Sho in order to save her beloved friend from becoming a devil.

In the opening scenes of the episode, Sho realizes that the girl sent by LME to portray the angel is none other than his ex-girlfriend, and attempts to bring her to light so she'll quit. He sees a small bottle of perfume that reminds him of better times with Kyoko, and uses that to reveal her true identity.

This episode shows a serious development in the relationships of the characters. Ren, Kyoko's LME mentor, struggles against his feelings for her that run deeper than he is willing to admit. Sho similarly wrestles with feelings he believed he did not have when he cast her aside early in the show's first season. Kyoko exists blithely between the two rivals, continuing to seek nothing but revenge against Sho for slighting her.

The most time Kyoko spends with Sho, the more she realizes that her overpowering hatred for him has changed her into a bitter, spiteful person. She is able to find some comfort in acting side-by-side with Mimori, to the point that Sho's manager warns him to not be "drawn in" as the girl was.

Poor Mimori is used only as a literary device in this episode, as her questions and responses lead way to both an unveiling of Sho's feelings and memories of Kyoko, and Kyoko's realization of her own bitterness. Ren's appearance was a short continuation of episode 17's frustration over Kyoko's proximity to Sho.

Sin Like an Angel has several parrallels to recent anime as well as J-Pop. Sho's devil character is strikingly similar to Gackt Camui's appearances in the 90s with Malice Mizer. The appearances and roles of both Mimori and Kyoko are reminiscent of Diva and Saya's young and contrasting characters in Blood+. It also contains the stereotypical two-men-in-love-with-one-oblivious-yet-beautiful-girl triangle, that no romantic comedy anime can do without.

If you'd like to watch Skip Beat! Episode 18 Sin Like an Angel you can view it on AnimeCrazy or CrunchyRoll.

Read the review for and find out where to watch Skip Beat! Episode 19 The Last Ritual here.