With the last two episodes drawing near, I can see that we are probably going in the way of the Anime and cutting off at a the beginning of the "Dark Moon" portion of the Manga. With that being said, I believe it is perfectly fair to rate this 8 all around. It's not ground breaking, it's not idol fluff, so what we get is actually a pretty close live-action to the Manga "Skip Beat!". Because this is based from a Manga, directing took a more direct approach to the interpretation, meaning Kyoko's evil aura and good and evil spirits come out just like in the Manga/Anime. Was this a good thing? Yes. Unlike other Manga adaptations where their attempts at showing the Manga-style comedy on screen tended to fall short (Playful Kiss), was badly timed and/or usually made some of us wonder "was that really necessary?", in "Skip Beat!" it felt like you were reading the Manga the whole time. Though I do admit there were some scenes that could have been done better. Ivy, Siwon, and Dong-hae actually do their respective lead roles justice. Siwon's interpretation of Ren gave me goosebumps. Mostly because he can get that "shining angry Ren" smile out accurately. As a person who has read, and is still reading the Manga, it was really surprising how dead on he was to it. Even while looking at it, it doesn't look any different than a smile, but the feeling behind that smile was not happy at all. Ivy's "Kyoko" was actually what sold it for me. She was just as dead on as Siwon's Ren. Wardrobe needed to pay more attention to detail, though, as in a few episodes her hair was longer in some scenes and shorter in others. Her facial expressions were dead on. Dong-hae's "Shou" was good too, could have been a bit stronger, but really he did a very accurate and sometimes hilariously wacky job. Yes the show did come off a bit too wacky in some parts but really, that's the best part, when Kyoko goes into crazed fits cus she doesn't want the make-up to come off or the ridiculous bike riding scene in episode one... these are all from the Manga with liberties taken by the director. I don't think it'd have the same appeal if you took them out. Actually, I don't think it would be the same Manga/Anime/Drama if you did. Now those points is what dropped it down from 10 to 9 for me. But what dropped it down from 9 to 8 was the dubbing. In the off chance in hell that someone from their production department sees this... Don't. Dub. You went and hired Korean actors/idols for your show, the least you can do is not dub them. Pissed me off when you can catch a few of the dubbed areas in episode one. To summarize: If you haven't read the Manga, a lot of the evil/angelic Gong Xi moments will be lost to you, as you'll be wondering why it's like that, while still laughing at those spirits creeping people out or exacting revenge. If you have read the Manga, you'll be pissed it's only 13 episodes because it's so damn good.