Beauty Pop
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| Beauty Pop | |
|---|---|
 Cover of volume 1 with covergirl Kiri |
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| ビューティー ポップ (Byūtī Poppu) |
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| Genre | Comedy, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Author | Kiyoko Arai |
| Publisher |  Shogakukan  VIZ Media TVM Comics Soleil Manga |
| Demographic | Shōjo |
| Magazine | Ciao |
| Original run | 2003 – 2008 |
| Volumes | 10 |
Beauty Pop (ビューティーポップ Byūtī Poppu?) is a manga series by mangaka Kiyoko Arai that is currently serialized in Ciao magazine. Beauty Pop is published in English by VIZ Media under the Shojo Beat label and in French by Soleil Manga. The manga is about the life of a naturally talented hairstylist named Kiri Koshiba and her problems with the "Scissors Project", a group of boys determined to become the best makeover team in Japan. Beauty Pop went on a short hiatus from Ciao, but came back under the title Beauty Pop Stage 2. The series has also been adapted to a Drama CD which was released on 25 November 2004.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
While the three members of the popular "Scissors Project" are known for giving elaborate makeovers to already-beautiful hand-picked girls at school, they soon find a rival, Kiri Koshiba, who is willing to give makeovers to anyone, in order to brighten their lives and make them happier with their appearance.
Kiri Koshiba had no intention of revealing her talents as a hairstylist, but the Scissors Project is determined to expose her and bring her into the world of hairstyling because of her incredible talent.
[edit] Characters
- Kiri Koshiba (小柴 綺里 Koshiba Kiri?)
- Voiced by: Junko Minagawa[1] (drama CD)
- A naturally gifted hair stylist with a strong sense of justice, leading her to give makeovers to girls with certain problems and giving them, as she puts it, "a little magic". Her family owns a beauty salon. She cut her own hair in a layered bob as a result of accidentally cutting her mother's ear while styling her hair when she was younger, causing it to bleed. The accident left Kiri with a mental scar which continues to haunt her, at the time going as far as to quit hairdressing, although she appears to have mostly recovered. She is nicknamed "Mussy Head" by Narumi due to her hairstyle. Kiri tends to be extremely laid back, a trait which is a constant irritation to Narumi whose personality is a complete opposite. Their relationship is rocky at first but Kiri seems to have warmed to him after he saved Shampoo from getting run over by a bicycle in volume 3, consequently damaging his wrist. Kiri is the young girl that Narumi lost to in 4th grade. The reason she didn't compete the next year was a rule that required participants to draw a sketch of their hairstyle, and Kiri is abysmal at drawing. Though she was initially confused about what she wanted to do with her future, she seems to have decided to become a beautician, but has no interest in pursuing fame with her talent. In Beauty Pop Stage 2, she joins the "Scissors Project" as Narumi's assistant hairdresser.
- Shogo Narumi (鳴海 彰伍 Narumi Shogō ?)
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki[1] (drama CD)
- The vain, handsome, and temperamental main hair stylist of "Scissors Project". Although he is fiercely competitive in comparison to the majority of the other characters, he is the most amenable member of his own family. He is extremely hot-tempered, especially towards Kiri, but does have a sweet side which he rarely shows. He aims to be the top hair-stylist in Japan and has won every national hairstyling competition of seven years. The only time he has ever lost a competition is ten years ago, when he was defeated by a mysterious little girl 'Number 17'. It later transpires that the girl was in fact Kiri. Though this initially damages their already rocky relationship, Narumi later seems to develop feelings for her, having romantic dreams about her and even accidentally kissing her at the end of volume 8, much to Ochiai and Chisami's annoyance. He is extremely popular with girls and they constantly clamor for his attention but he doesn't appear to be interested.
- Kei Minami (南 啓 Minami Kei?)
- Voiced by: Hiro Shimono[1] (drama CD)
- The member of the Scissors Project that does nail art. Kei is playful and is often seen eating junk food and candy. Kei likes to come up with nicknames for his friends like 'Naru-Naru' and 'Narurin' for Narumi while he calls Ochiai 'Occhi'. He also serves as emcee for any Scissors Project event, announcing the model and occasionally commenting while Narumi cuts. He hardly ever wears his school uniform and often wears a visor sideways on his head. It is later shown that Kei is not good at spelling, he got a "5%" on his spelling test. This is why, one time, a Scissor Project's project on one girl failed, because he spelled Komasu incorrectly. Kei is actually very mysterious and he doesn't reveal much about himself.
- Kazuhiko Ochiai (落合 計彦 Ochiai Kazuhiko?)
- Voiced by: Aoki Makoto[1] (drama CD)
- The overall beauty consultant of the group. He is the brains behind the operation and acts like a human computer, with "data" on every girl in the school. He's at the top of his class. He also used to have a rather "old-man" hairstyle until he meets Narumi who then gives Ochiai his current Hairstyle. Ochiai loves to mess with Narumi and is often scheming. Later on in the story it seems that he develops a crush on Kiri. He chases after her and even has Kiri's picture as his cell phone's wallpaper. When he was in middle school, his parents owned a company called Alix Cosmetic Corporation that was, in his opinion, "doing well, even though it was not a well-known enterprise". He has an older sister and younger brother, and all his family members wear glasses, even his bird.
- Kanako Aoyama (青山 加奈子 Aoyama Kanako?)
- Voiced by: Masayo Kurata[1] (drama CD)
- A friend of Kiri's who admires her talents. Kanako tends to be shy and bookish. When she was rejected by Kazuhiko Ochiai, Kiri gave her a makeover to teach the Scissors Project a lesson. Kanako still likes Ochiai but is uncertain with how to act when she discovers that Ochiai likes Kiri after seeing that he has a picture of Kiri on his cell phone. She ends up with Kenichiro.
- Taro Komatsu (小松 太郎 Komatsu Tarō?)
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Shimozaki[1] (drama CD)
- Kiri's childhood friend and neighbor. Kiri calls him "Komattaro" or "Taro-Tard", which annoys him very much. Taro is a big fan of the Scissors Project and wants to be a beautician because of them even though he lacks the skill. He works part-time at his family's store, "The Komatsu 88 yen store". He is very nosy, and knows everything that goes on around the school. Most other people find him to be annoying.
- "Shampoo" (シャンプー Shanpū?)
- Kiri's fat pet cat. Shampoo was first a stray who would not trust anyone, having a bad past. When she met Kiri, Shampoo scratched her hand. However, she realizes that Kiri was not like the other people that she had seen, who had been mean and heartless. Shampoo shed tears and was taken home by Kiri.
- Iori Minamoto (源 伊織 Minamoto Iori?)
- Kiri's childhood friend who recently moved back to Japan from New York. His father specializes in making aromatherapy oils and perfumes. He is apparently in love with Kiri's mom. Iori first appears in volume 2. He seems to sometimes speak broken Japanese, talking sometimes in English.
- Seiji Koshiba (小柴 政司 Koshiba Seiji?)
- Voiced by: Mitsuaki Hoshino[1] (drama CD)
- Kiri's father owns "Koshiba Beauty Salon" and was the one to train Kiri in the art of hairstyling. Seiji used to be an idol among hairstylists in his generation and he always defeated Shogo Narumi's father in competitions, but had left the spotlight once he had gotten married. Kiri looked up to her father when she was younger and she wanted to cut hair like him, so Kiri gained the speed cutting skills from her dad. He also wishes for Kiri to become a beautician like him.
Emi Koshiba (小柴 恵実 Koshiba Emi?)
- Kiri's mother is a famous special effects make-up artist in Hollywood. Even after years of being so far apart, Emi and Seiji's marriage has never been strained and the two keep in touch through email. In volume 4, Kiri finds herself haunted by a memory where she accidentally cut her mother's ear with scissors. Iori usually calls her by the name "Emily".
- Kenichiro Seki (関 謙一郎 Seki Ken'ichirō?)
- Kiri's childhood friend. He is highly regarded as part of the "Seki Clinic" which specialises in invigorating massage. He helps Kiri regain her composure in a tight spot (vol.4) and is like an older brother to her. He tends to apologize often.
- Chisami Narumi (鳴海 千佐美 Narumi Chisami?)
- Shogo's cute little sister, who Kiri indifferently "saves" one day when her hair was tangled in a bush. Because of this, Chisami seems to think that Kiri is her "Prince Charming" (as she had mistaken her for a boy), only she doesn't really know that the "boy" is Kiri until later in the series. Even though she knows Kiri is a girl, she still admires her.
- Billy Iketani (ビリー 池谷 Birī Iketani?)
- A famous hairstylist from LA who is always shown with headphones around his neck. He framed Kiri for ruining the Scissors Project club room, but eventually gets found out. Billy takes a liking to her as she didn't blame him for the things he did. He works for Narumi's dad and is extremely clingy towards Kiri which makes Narumi even more hot tempered than usual. Billy also wants to take the legendary scissors away from her.
