Beauty Pop

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Beauty Pop
Cover of first manga volume featuring Kiri
ビューティー ポップ
(Byūtī Poppu)
GenreRomantic comedy[1]
Manga
Written byKiyoko Arai
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
MagazineCiao
Original run2003 – 2008
Volumes10
Manga
Beauty Pop Returns
Written byKiyoko Arai
Published byShogakukan
MagazineCiao Plus
Original runApril 27, 2025 – present

Beauty Pop (Japanese: ビューティーポップ, Hepburn: Byūtī Poppu) is a Japanese shōjo manga written and illustrated by Kiyoko Arai. It originally ran in the manga magazine Ciao. Beauty Pop is published in English by VIZ Media under the Shojo Beat label. The manga focuses on 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 short hiatus from Ciao, but returned under the title Beauty Pop Stage 2. The manga has also been adapted into a Drama CD, which was released on 25 November 2004.[2][1]

Plot

High school student Kiri Koshiba uses her hairstyling talents to help brighten up the lives of girls often deemed as "ugly", but she does so anonymously. Due to her skill, Kiri becomes a rival to the Scissors Project, an infamous club consisting of self-proclaimed genius hairstylist Shougo Narumi, cosmetic expert Kazuhiko Ochiai, and nail artist Kei Minami. The Scissors Project is known for their showy performances where they give public makeovers to members of the student body, specifically already "beautiful" girls, and as a result attract an often-times overwhelming amount of attention.

After the rejection of Kiri's friend Kanako Aoyama when she professes her love to Ochiai, Kiri gives her a makeover in order to help boost her self-esteem. Interpreting this as a challenge to the supremacy of the SP, Narumi issues a formal challenge to the offender, whom he refers to as "X" due to their anonymity to ensure that his club remains on top. After "X" defeats Narumi and is revealed to be Kiri Koshiba, Kiri eventually becomes a reluctant member of the SP, whether or not Narumi approves.

Throughout the series, the SP continues to grow and meet the challenges of becoming the top team of beauticians in Japan, unless their interpersonal issues get in the way.

Characters

  • Kiri Koshiba (小柴 綺里, Koshiba Kiri) is a cute and technically gifted hair stylist who uses her talents to improve the lives of those she encounters, typically after witnessing her clients getting ridiculed or abused for their appearance. Her goal becomes to spread "a little magic" by giving her clients a neat hairstyle.
  • Shogo Narumi (鳴海 彰伍, Narumi Shōgo) is the vain, handsome, and temperamental main hair stylist of the Scissors Project. Although he is very competitive in comparison to the majority of the other characters, he is the most amenable member of his own family.
  • Kazuhiko Ochiai (落合 計彦, Ochiai Kazuhiko) is 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. Kazuhiko is also responsible for make-up on the team and is aided by the products from his parents' company.
  • Kei Minami (南 啓, Minami Kei) is a member of the Scissors Project that does nail art. He is energetic and often seen eating junk food, such as candy. Kei likes to come up with nicknames for his friends, including "Naru-Naru" and "Narurin" for Narumi as well as "Occhi" for Ochiai. He also serves as emcee for any Scissors Project event, announcing the model and occasionally commenting while Narumi cuts.
  • Kanako Aoyama (青山 加奈子, Aoyama Kanako) is Kiri's shy and bookworm friend who admires her talents. When she was rejected by Kazuhiko Ochiai, Kiri gave her a makeover to teach the Scissors Project a lesson. After SP's initial model in the final competition backs out, Kanko ends up filling in.
  • Taro Komatsu (小松 太郎, Komatsu Tarō) is Kiri's childhood friend and neighbor. She calls him "Shimatarou" or "Taro-Tard", which annoys him very much. Taro is a big fan of the Scissor Project, and he wants to be a beautician as a result even though he lacks the skill.
  • Shampoo (シャンプー, Shanpū) is Kiri's pet cat. She was first a stray who would not trust anyone because she had a bad past. When she met Kiri, Shampoo scratched her hand. However, Shmapoo realizes that Kiri was not like the other people that she had seen, who had been mean and heartbroken.
  • Iori Minamoto (源 伊織, Minamoto Iori) is Kiri's childhood friend who returned Japan from New York. His father specializes in making aromatherapy oils and perfumes. He is apparently in love with Kiri's mom and affectionate of Kiri.
  • Seiji Koshiba (小柴 政司, Koshiba Seiji) is Kiri's father who owns the Koshiba Beauty Salon and was the one to train Kiri in the art of hairstyling.
  • Emi Koshiba (小柴 恵実, Koshiba Emi) is Kiri's mother who is a famous special effects make-up artist in Hollywood.
  • Kenichiro Seki (関 謙一郎, Seki Ken'ichirō) is Kiri's childhood friend. He is regarded as part of the Seki Clinic, which specializes in invigorating massage due to his "Hands of God". His calm personality tends to make even the angriest people around him calm as well.
  • Chisami Narumi (鳴海 千佐美, Narumi Chisami) is Narumi's younger sister who Kiri indifferently "saves" someday when her hair was tangled in a bush. As a result, Chisami seems to think that Kiri is her Prince Charming (as she thought Kiri was a boy).
  • Billy Iketani (ビリー 池谷, Iketani Birī) is a famous hairstylist from Los Angeles who is always shown with headphones around his neck. His parents were close friends of Kiri's parents and famous stylists in there who died in an accident when he was a child. Billy works for Narumi's father.

Media

Manga

Beauty Pop was serialized in Ciao magazine for a total of 51 chapters and bound into 10 volumes by publisher Shogakukan. Viz Media licensed the manga for an English release under its Shojo Beat line. The series underwent a short hiatus from Ciao, but returned October 2006 under the new title Beauty Pop Stage 2 and the volumes themselves stayed under the name Beauty Pop.[3] The manga was also published in Vietnam by TVM Comics[4] and France by Soleil Productions.[5]

A sequel titled Beauty Pop Returns began serialization on Shogakukan's Ciao Plus website on April 27, 2025.[6]

Volume listing

No. Original release date Original ISBN North America release date North America ISBN
1February 26, 2004[7]4091383823 [7]September 5, 2006[8]1-4215-0575-4 [8]
2July 7, 2004[9]4091383831 [9]December 5, 2006[10]1-4215-0576-2 [10]
3November 30, 2004[11]4091383882 [11]March 6, 2007[12]1-4215-1009-X [12]
4June 1, 2005[13]4091383904 [13]June 5, 2007[14]1-4215-1010-3 [14]
5December 26, 2005[15]4091302955 [15]Sep. 4, 2007[16]1-4215-1011-1 [16]
6June 1, 2006[17]4091304087 [17]December 4, 2007[18]1-4215-1323-4 [18]
7November 29, 2006[19]4091306667 [19]March 4, 2008[20]1-4215-1784-1 [20]
8April 27, 2007[21]9784091310965 [21]June 3, 2008[22]1-4215-1927-5 [22]
9October 1, 2007[23]9784091312587 [23]October 7, 2008[24]1-4215-2310-8 [24]
10February 29, 2008[25]9784091315007 [25]April 7, 2009[26]1421525941 [26]

Drama CD

A drama CD adaptation of the manga was released on November 25, 2004. It stars Junko Minagawa as Kiri Koshiba, Tomokazu Seki as Shogo Narumi, Aoki Makoto as Kazuhiko Ochiai, Hiro Shimono as Kei Minami, Masayo Kurata as Kanako Aoyama, Hiroshi Shimozaki as Taro Komatsu, and Mitsuaki Hoshino as Seiji Koshiba.[2]

References

  1. "Beauty Pop". Viz Media. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  2. ビューティーポップDrama CD. Marine Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  3. Macdonald, Christopher (September 13, 2006). "New Manga in Japan". Anime News Network. Kadokawa Group. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  4. "Best Manga Collection". TVM Comics. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
  5. Arai, Kiyoko (June 6, 2007). Beauty Pop, Tome 1. Soleil Productions. ISBN 978-2849468258.
  6. Tai, Anita (April 27, 2025). "Beauty Pop Manga Returns With New Sequel Series". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  7. ビューティーポップ1 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  8. "Beauty Pop Volume 1". Viz Media. Retrieved February 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ビューティーポップ2 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  10. "Beauty Pop Volume 2". Viz Media. Retrieved January 17, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ビューティーポップ3 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  12. "Beauty Pop Volume 3". Viz Media. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
  13. ビューティーポップ4 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  14. "Beauty Pop Volume 4". Viz Media. Retrieved January 17, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ビューティーポップ5 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  16. "Beauty Pop Volume 5". Viz Media. Retrieved February 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ビューティーポップ6 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  18. "Beauty Pop Volume 6". Viz Media. Retrieved February 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  19. ビューティーポップ7 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  20. "Beauty Pop Volume 2". Viz Media. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
  21. ビューティーポップ8 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  22. "Beauty Pop Volume 8". Viz Media. Archived from the original on April 27, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
  23. ビューティーポップ9 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  24. "Beauty Pop Volume 9". Viz Media. Retrieved February 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  25. ビューティーポップ10 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  26. Arai, Kiyoko (April 7, 2009). Beauty Pop Volume 10. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1421525945.