Julie? Really?
I know I haven't posted in about an eternity and a half. That is because my degree program is getting to the actual dissertation part of getting a doctorate. But I have to ask, cause I don't see it. Why, for the love of God, does everyone seem to think Sara (Sarah?) is Julie? The SB Facebook group I am in is positive 100%, without a shadow of a doubt that Sara = Julie. But what actual evidence is there? Not a whole hell of a lot.
We have never seen Julie's face, so you can't say that they look the same. The only shot of Julie we've ever seen is the back of her head. And her hair is drawn pretty differently there. Her hair is drawn shiny, like Kuon's, when we see Julie and Kuu watching Kuon's video. Sara's hair is not drawn shiny. I would argue it is drawn more similar to how Maria's hair is drawn, suggesting it might be more light brown.
I think it was Nakamura's focus on Sara's eyes that has led everyone to conclude she is Julie. However, the manga is drawn in black and white, and we cannot confirm that she has green eyes. So this emphasis cannot be considered hard evidence.
Sara's appetite was an interesting clue to her identity. In my opinion, it seems to suggest more of a genetic relative to Kuu than it does Julie. We have never heard anything from Ren or anyone about Julie having a famous appetite. On the reverse side, we don't know how Julie and Kuu met. Maybe it was their insane appetite that bonded them? The only piece of HARD, FROM THE MANGA, evidence that might even HINT at Sara being Julie based on the appetite is Ren's comment, from a long time ago, that his intake was harshly monitored. Also, it was suggested that he was force-fed (don't ask me what chapter, I don't remember). This comment indicates that mom was trying to feed him more than necessary, I had assumed it was because Kuon was expected to have an appetite similar to Kuu's. However, it makes much more sense if both parents have crazy big stomachs.
Age. Let's talk about Sara vs. Julie's age. Julie, in my opinion, and basic math, has to be AT LEAST 40. The original Dark Moon was filmed 20 years ago... they film the remake as Ren TURNS 20. I would HOPE Julie was AT Least 20 before she had her first kid. Still, at the youngest, I would say 36, which puts her at 16 when she had Kuon (which doesn't seem likely to me). Sara's looking damned good, almost teenish if she is actually 40ish-year-old woman... Just saying... it makes no sense. She is drawn more along the lines of someone around Ren's age. Even Kuu had some marks around his eyes, showing he is older.
Speaking of makes no sense... this WHOLE SCENARIO MAKES NO SENSE! IF this is Julie, there are two ways we can look at what's going on with her. Either her meeting Kyoko was intentional, or it was an accident.
Let's think about it being an unintentional meeting. My first question is, not why would a 40ish-year-old woman be assuming a secret identity to visit a theme park (that makes sense since she is famous and married to Japan's darling), it is why she would need to be accompanied by Director Date? She can speak fluent Japanese, and while, yes, visiting a theme park is more fun with someone else, Date doesn't seem like the funnest of company. Now it makes sense that Julie would know Date from when Kuu was in Tsukigomori since Kuon would have had to be a new born right around then (I bet it was fun to film with Kuu while his wife was heavily pregnant...) However, this relationship doesn't explain why she would have asked him to go with her to the park. Also, the coincidence thing is just too big. Now the story has always said that luck is part of show business. This would be a lot of luck. To magically run into Julie.
If we are thinking about Julie meeting Kyoko intentionally at the park, this gets even more screwed up. The biggest question is, how would she know Kyoko is going to be there? Why would she choose to approach Kyoko in this way? She doesn't know Kuon's exact feelings toward her, and she doesn't know Kyoko's actual feelings towards Kuon. If she just wanted to meet her "son," there are a 1000 ways LESS convoluted she could have chosen to go about meeting her. But instead, she picks a method that has a decent chance of failure. If Kyoko didn't notice Date (if she had been in La La Land), if she didn't approach him, then this whole scenario fails. Could a backup plan have been in place? Probably? But why would Date agree to it? How would either know what was going on with Kanae and her new role and to use learning English cheep would allow them to accept Sara into their outing? Now, if Julie could predict outcomes like Ren can, then there is something to be said for it. However, the difference here is that Ren was acting and could rationally predict responses within the confines of the scene, and he knew his fellow actor. Julie doesn't know Kyoko, and she doesn't know Kanae. Rationally she can't accurately predict their behavior. Kuu could give some insight into Kyoko, but I don't think it would be enough to make this all go off without a hitch. He certainly doesn't know Kanae.
If someone set this up and just put Julie into position, I bet everyone would think Lory. I can't see us not knowing about that and not seeing Lory scheming something. Buuutttt..... what about someone related to him? What did little Maria look like the last time we saw her? What was going on in the story? It is plausible Maria was able to infer what was going on with Kyoko's mother, and it would make sense if she reached out to Ren's mother to maybe do something to help her friend. It's a long shot, but if this IS Julie and it was intentional, it doesn't have Lory's dramatic flair, you know?
Anyway, my point is there is no way we could say conclusively, based on the data at hand, that Sara and Julie are the same people. There is too much we don't know. It could be Tina, who is younger, and it would explain the melancholy when she was talking about love earlier, but that assumption has holes too. There are way too many unknowns about the American side of the Skip Beat story to say anything with 100% certainty until the author gives us definite proof.
And before you point to Ren's expression at the end of chapter 290 as of this definite proof, the last word was "Huh?" not "Mom?" All that proves is that Ren recognizes her and knows her. I am sure we will get more info in the next chapter. Especially if he takes the photo to Lory raging about it. THEN I might concede that Sara and Julie are the same people. Until then, I am with Ren. Huh?
