Skip Beat!
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Yoshiki Nakamura
is a Japanese manga artist. Nakamura made her manga debut with "Yume de Auyori Suteki" in the manga magazine Hana to Yume in 1993.-Manga works:*Blue Wars*Can't Give Up MVP *Skip Beat! 『スキップ・ビート!』*Tokyo Crazy Paradise 『東京クレイジーパラダイス』...

. It is the story of a 16-year-old girl who discovers that her childhood friend and romantic goal, Sho Fuwa, only keeps her around to act as a maid and earn his living expenses, as he works his way to become the top pop idol in Japan. Furious and heart broken, she vows to get revenge by beating him in show business. In Japan, the manga was first published in Hakusensha
Hakusensha
is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

's shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume
Hana to Yume
is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...

in February 2002, while in the United States, it began publishing under Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

's Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Released in June 2005 as a sister magazine to Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty...

 label in 2006. As of June 2011, twenty-eight volumes and one fanbook have been released in Japan, and as of July 2011, twenty-four volumes have been released in the United States. In 2002, a drama CD
Radio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...

 adaptation was made and released by Marine Entertainment, and covers the first volume (chapters one to five) of the manga. An anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation is produced by Hal Film Maker
Hal Film Maker
is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced: is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced: is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced:(Please note that this list only includes original productions or co-productions...

, and began airing October 5, 2008. It ended airing with episode twenty-five on July 12, 2009.

Plot

Skip Beat! follows the story of Kyoko Mogami, a sixteen year-old girl who loves her childhood friend, Shotaro Fuwa, but is betrayed by him. Having spent a large part of her childhood at Shotaro's parents' inn, she learned a great deal about hostelry and other such jobs. Shotaro, not wishing to take over his parents' business, moves to Tokyo to pursue a career in music. Sho, as he is called by his fans, asks Kyoko to leave high school and her life in Kyoto Prefecture
Kyoto Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Kyoto.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto prefecture was known as Yamashiro....

 behind to help him. Upon arrival in Tokyo, Kyoko lives an unreasonably frugal life and works multiple jobs to support Sho, spending nothing on herself and doing whatever she can for Sho, who eventually becomes ranked seventh of the top twenty most popular male celebrities of Japan. One day, she overhears Shotaro complaining about her to his manager, saying that she is a boring and plain girl. He proceeds to sweet-talk and flirt with his manager, in stark contrast to the cold and demanding attitude he usually exhibits towards Kyoko. Kyoko doesn't shed many tears when she learns that Sho wanted her along only to handle housekeeping duties. Instead, her "Pandora's box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...

" opens and she vows vengeance on Sho. As she is carried away by security, Sho mockingly tells her that if she wants revenge, she had better become a bigger star than he is. And so, Kyoko changes her appearance and enters the entertainment industry, facing many challenges along the way. Skip Beat! follows Kyoko's journey to climb the showbiz ladder as she meets interesting people, troublemakers and friends alike, with hopes of getting revenge on Shotaro, as well as regaining the sense of compassion that she had lost when her heart was broken by him. As Kyoko cultivates her acting and friendships, she soon discovers a sense of self separate from her initial plans for revenge.

Characters

(drama CD), Marina Inoue
Marina Inoue
is a voice actress and singer. She is signed onto Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex division. As for voice acting career, she's employed by Sigma Seven...

 (anime)
Kyoko is a 16-year-old, bright, intelligent girl bent on revenge against the boy that used her feelings of love and devotion for his own selfish gain. More vengeful than depressed, she swears to get even. Shōtaro, the one who used her, tells her that the only way to do this would be to beat him in show business. She changes her hair style (cutting her hair short and dyeing it chestnut), and her attitude and begins the task of applying to L.M.E., the biggest rival of Shō's talent agency. While her audition stood out, the president of the company realized that she lacked the key component needed to become an idol: love, as without genuine love for this profession and for the audience, she could not succeed. However, despite her failure, she had such an interesting audition (she did katsuramuki as her talent portion) that Kyoko was given a second chance. Thus, L.M.E.'s "Love Me" section was founded. Lory made a deal with Kyoko that if she completed all the jobs given to her as a Love-Me employee to the client's satisfaction (determined by points stamped into her record book), by the end of a certain period of time, having accumulated enough points, she would be given a grand debut. Having entered show business, Kyoko found a genuine love for acting and a rare talent for performing a great range of emotions and characters. Her professionalism, raw talent, and willingness to give her all for her role eventually earn her the respect of those around her, including Tsuruga Ren and Kotonami Kanae. As a result of her box being opened, her personality is slightly twisted (vaguely reminiscent of Yukino from Kare Kano
Kare Kano
, is a manga series by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in LaLa from 1996 to 2005 and collected in 21 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa and her academic rival Soichiro Arima, and the relationships of several of their friends.The series...

), and it is a recurring joke during the series that she uses voodoo dolls of Ren and Sho, though less for actual harm and more for purposes of impersonating what they would say in a situation. Kyoko comes to care and eventually falls for Ren, although she doesn't realize it. She helps him in desperate times as a rooster mascot named "BO" with whom Ren expresses freely his worries without knowing it is Kyoko in disguise. Kyoko's father is gone and her mother left her in the care of Sho's parents when she was a child. When told she would need her mother's permission to make a debut, Kyoko tells LME's president her mother does not care where she is or what she is doing. Because she has no father and her relationship with her mother is bad, Kyoko has always wanted to have loving parents, like the ones Sho has. Her mother always expected her to get 100% on all of her tests, but Kyoko did not live up to her mother's expectations, even though she tried really hard. She would cry when she didn't get a perfect score but since she did not want to cry in front of Sho, she went to look for a place to cry. This is where she first meets "Corn" (Also known as "Kuon" or "Ren") Later, she realizes that she was brainwashed into believing that a perfect score is the only way to go. She realizes that a normal person would be very happy to have the grades that she got at school. She loves fairy tales, being fascinated by the idea of an ordinary girl suddenly becoming a beautiful princess loved by everyone.


(drama CD), Katsuyuki Konishi
Katsuyuki Konishi
is a Japanese voice actor from Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture. He is currently affiliated with Ken Production. His debut role was Volfogg/Big Volfogg in GaoGaiGar....

 (anime)
Ren has an extremely kind and gentle persona. He takes his acting very seriously and expects professionalism from those around him. While he maintains a perfect public image, he has frequently shown his true face to Kyoko, failing to maintain his polite facade in front of her. He was originally unhappy with Kyoko because of her impure reasons for joining show business, and frequently found ways to annoy and tease her. However, once he realized that her acting was more than a tool for revenge, he began to support her growth as a budding idol. Although at first in denial, he eventually came to terms with his love for Kyoko and grew as an actor as a result of the realization. He makes many attempts to express his love, but Kyoko is continuously blind to all romantic overtures. Ren was voted top male celebrity in Japan on the same poll that ranked Sho seventh, causing the latter to have strong feelings of jealousy and rivalry towards him. Ren tends to become insecure whenever anything happens between Shō Fuwa and Kyoko due to their former relationship and now their frequent coincidental, and un-coincidental meetings, giving Sho multiple openings to cause him emotional distress. Despite the obvious obstruction of Shō's closeness to her, Ren has no intention of giving Kyoko over to him. Ren's mysterious past is another obstruction to his romantic feelings towards Kyoko yet to be fully explored in the manga. However, it is known that the actor of 'Katsuki' in the first Tsukigomori is his father. Tsuruga Ren is a stage name Ren adopted to escape the shadow of his father's fame. It is also known that he had a violent and painful past.


(drama CD), Mamoru Miyano
Mamoru Miyano
is a Japanese voice actor, actor, and singer from Saitama. He is best known for his roles on Ouran High School Host Club, Death Note, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Kōtetsu Sangokushi. At the 2007 Seiyu Awards he was nominated for two awards for his role as Light Yagami in Death Note, and in 2008, he...

 (anime)
His real name is . He keeps it a secret because he finds it very old-fashioned. He is an extremely egotistical, extremely talented music star. Shō had no qualms about asking Kyoko to give up her life in Kyoto to support him in Tokyo, fully cognizant of her misconceptions of the nature of their relationship. After Kyoko's transformation, he is shocked and soon discovers he had more feelings for her than he originally thought. He has disliked seeing Kyoko's tears since childhood, knows her preferences in food, and of her love for fairy tales and things romantic in nature, but stole her first kiss so that she would hate him and obsess over him. Shō holds a great animosity towards Ren because he is hailed as the coolest, number one guy in show biz. Shō declared that he'd steal all of Ren's fans and the title of "The Coolest Male Celebrity" from him. He does not like Ren's closeness to Kyoko and he challenges Ren as he makes it known that he would not willingly give up his place in Kyoko's heart as the one she thinks of the most.


(drama CD), Risa Hayamizu
Risa Hayamizu
, also known as Lisa Hayamizu, is a Japanese voice actress. She works for Arts Vision.-Voice roles:*Akane Maniax as Female student *Basilisk as Kagerou*Burst Angel as Takane*Chocotto Sister as Older brother...

 (anime)
When introduced, Kotonami's character looks to be the villain to Kyoko's heroine, but Kanae is much more sympathetic than she first appears. Kanae wants desperately to be a top-rate actress and was at the same audition as Kyoko. Although she made it further than Kyoko, she also failed for lack of love. Thus, she became the second member of Love Me. Kyoko nicknamed her Moko because of her habit of saying "mō" as an interjection. After their tag-team effort in winning an audition for a commercial, despite obvious differences in their personalities, both girls recognize that they are in fact very similar, leading them to become best friends. Although her attitude towards Kyoko may seem aloof at times, it is clear that she values their friendship, as she reluctantly shares her secret with Kyoko when she fears her unwillingness to share her troubles might drive Kyoko away. She is convinced that Ren Tsuruga is in love with Kyoko because of the way he acts toward Kyoko.


(anime)
He is Ren's manager. When first seen he is a serious character, later on he is used largely for comic relief. We get a better understanding of Ren’s subtle emotional shifts from Yashiro’s not-so-subtle reactions to Ren’s interactions with Kyoko. He fully supports a romantic relationship between the two and often needles Ren about his lack of progress in that area. He also tends to associate anything Ren says to Kyoko and Ren’s feelings for her, even before Ren himself came to terms with them. He doesn't know how to drive, which is why Ren is always seen doing the driving. One of his roles as manager is to pay attention to Ren's health which includes checking that he had his share of sleep and food.
He must use latex gloves when handling electronics because any electronic device that he touches directly will soon be rendered useless. In particular, he has mentioned that a cell phone will die after about 10 seconds of direct exposure to his skin.


(drama CD), Kouji Ishii (anime)
Lory is the extravagantly flamboyant president of L.M.E. (Lory’s Majestic Entertainment) and Maria's grandfather. He is one of the first people to recognize Kyoko’s potential of being a great star, and created the "Love Me" section because of this. He seems genuinely concerned for Kyoko and wonders what could have happened in her past to cause her to lose the ability to love. He learns in Vol. 4 that Kyoko does not have a father and has a bad relationship with her mother but does not know the details. Later, when he learned that she dropped out of school he arranges for her to attend a high school that accommodates students working in show business and their hectic schedules.


(drama CD), Kenji Hamada
Kenji Hamada
is a male Japanese voice actor from Fukuoka, Japan who is an affiliate of Mausu Promotion.-Voice roles:*07-Ghost as Hyuuga*Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple as Inspector Craddock...

 (anime)
He is the head of L.M.E.'s talent section. Sawara was tormented by Kyoko into allowing her to take part in L.M.E.'s newcomer audition (Kyoko originally auditioned under "Talent" rather than "Acting"). Despite the initial meeting, he is actually very supportive of Kyoko, even through her penchant for tripping her own career up.


(anime)
Maria is the granddaughter of the president of L.M.E. and used to use her cute appearance to get people's sympathy. She did so before Kyoko's audition; however Kyoko recognized this, and called her out on it. While some people would be angry at Kyoko, Maria began to idolize her, and views her as an ultimate big sister. Maria also suffered from a huge guilt complex from her believing that she is the cause of her mother's death. As a result, Maria thought that her father hates her. Kyoko managed to make Maria understand that her father didn't hate her, or think that Maria caused her mother's death. Maria shares an interest in black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...

 with Kyoko and has a large crush on Ren Tsuruga.


(anime)
Shoko Aki is Shō Fuwa's manager at Akatoki Agency. Since he and Kyoko split he's been living at her place. Actually he was already living at her place most of the time even when he was still living with Kyoko, though the two of them, Kyoko and Shoko, get along rather well. Shoko Aki herself wanted to become an actress (Act.85), but decided she didn't have the talent for it. But she still wanted work that was connected with show business, and got a job as a manager. She also believes Shō has feelings for Kyoko, and tries to hint at him that he should confess his feelings to her.

Manga

Skip Beat! began as a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and illustrated by Yoshiki Nakamura
Yoshiki Nakamura
is a Japanese manga artist. Nakamura made her manga debut with "Yume de Auyori Suteki" in the manga magazine Hana to Yume in 1993.-Manga works:*Blue Wars*Can't Give Up MVP *Skip Beat! 『スキップ・ビート!』*Tokyo Crazy Paradise 『東京クレイジーパラダイス』...

 which started serialized in Hakusensha
Hakusensha
is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

's shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga magazine Hana to Yume
Hana to Yume
is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...

on February 15, 2002. The first bound volume
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

 was released in Japan on July 19, 2002, and as of June 20, 2011, 28 volumes and one fanbook have been released in Japan. The manga was licensed by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 for release in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 on Viz Media's Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Released in June 2005 as a sister magazine to Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty...

 imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

. The first volume was released in English on July 5, 2006, and , 29 volumes have been released.

Drama CD

A single drama CD
Radio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...

 entitled Skip Beat! Drama CD was released by Marine Entertainment bearing the catalog number "MMCC-7029" on September 26, 2002. The drama CD covers the first volume (chapters one to five) of the manga.

Anime

The anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation was directed by Kiyoko Sayama
Kiyoko Sayama
' is a Japanese director of anime. She was born in Saitama Prefecture. Her name is sometimes misromanized as Seiko Sayama.-TV Anime:*Nintama Rantarou - Storyboard, Episode Director*Tama & Friends - Storyboard, Episode Director...

 and animated by Hal Film Maker
Hal Film Maker
is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced: is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced: is a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993.-Anime produced:(Please note that this list only includes original productions or co-productions...

, it began airing in Japan on October 5, 2008 and ended on March 29, 2009. The first opening theme is "Dream Star" by the generous
The generous
The Generous is a Japanese musical duo consisting of yoko on vocals and Katsumi Ohnishi on guitar. The song "Dream Star" from their mini-album released October 29, 2008 is featured as the first opening theme for the anime Skip Beat!.-Albums:...

. The first ending theme is "Namida" by 2BACKKA
2BACKKA
2BACKKA is a Japanese hip-hop group formed in 1999. Their single "Namida," released on November 5, 2008, is the first ending theme to the anime Skip Beat! Their single Sky もう一度あの時のように was used for the soundtrack to the 2005 Xbox 360 video game Project Gotham Racing 3....

.The second opening theme is "Renaissance" by the generous
The generous
The Generous is a Japanese musical duo consisting of yoko on vocals and Katsumi Ohnishi on guitar. The song "Dream Star" from their mini-album released October 29, 2008 is featured as the first opening theme for the anime Skip Beat!.-Albums:...

, and the second ending theme is "Eien" by Yūsaku Kiyama. Anime streaming website Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

 also officially streams the anime online with English subtitles due to an agreement with TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

.

Live-action adaptation

In November 2008, a Taiwanese drama
Taiwanese drama
Taiwanese Drama refers to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and have gained increasing popularity in the Mandarin-speaking community...

 of Skip Beat! was announced in a press conference in Japan, titled or "Extravagant Challenge" in English, starring Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...

 as Kyōko and Jerry Yan
Jerry Yan
Jerry Yan was born 1 January 1977. He is a Taiwanese actor and member of Taiwanese boy band F4. His birth name is Liao Yangzhen .-Career:...

 as Tsuruga Ren. It was to be directed by Niu Cheng Ze (鈕承澤) and produced by Gala Television (GTV)
Gala Television
Gala Television Corporation is a nationwide cable TV network in Taiwan that is operated by the Gala Television Corporation, established on June 13, 1997.-GTV Channels:GTV currently operates three commercial cable television channels:*GTV One / CH 27...

. A few days before shooting was due to begin, in January 2009, Lai Cong Bi (賴聰筆), Deputy General Manager of GTV stated that the production has been postponed indefinitely due to factors such as restructure of the joint venture company in Japan and script re-write.

In March 2011, it was announced that the project will resume filming in April 2011 with the leading role of Kyōko by Ivy Chen and Choi Siwon and Lee Donghae of Korean boy band
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...

 Super Junior
Super Junior
Super Junior is a South Korean boy band. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak, and was once claimed to be the world's largest boy band...

 as Tsuruga Ren and Shō Fuwa respectively.

Game

A game was released on May 28, 2009 for the PlayStation 2.

The opening song of this game is "Blow Wind" by SMILY☆SPIKY. The game takes place after the animation of Skip Beat! where the main character, Kyoko Mogami, needs to choose her next job and develop her relationships with others.

External links

  • Skip Beat! at Viz Media
    VIZ Media
    VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

  • Official Skip Beat! website at Hana to Yume
    Hana to Yume
    is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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