Paradise Kiss Manga
Well, I was awfully wide awake at 8 a.m. this morning. That’s always a good thing, although I woke up due to noise (to protect the innocent, I won’t say what noise.) You know you’ve spent too much time reading Paradise Kiss recently when you find yourself actually buying some new clothes, and some of them without a specific purpose (work, casual, etc.) Then again, I could use a fairly major clothing overhaul, so this was probably for the best. Thank you ParaKiss!
Paradise Kiss is the story of a typical high school girl named Yukari whose world gets turned upside down. While she plans to spend all of her time studying (she’s not a good student, but she tries to be for her mother’s approval), she ends up becoming the model for a group of design student’s senior fashion show at their high school, Yazawa Arts. Her life goes from simple, boring, and almost unlivable to something entirely different as she befriends the “weird” Yaza students and falls in love with their leader, George. Pretty soon modeling and her love life have pushed school out of the picture.
It’s very hard for me to read the manga of Paradise Kiss without immediately comparing it to the anime series. The biggest reason being that where the anime failed, the manga sparkled. The Paradise Kiss manga is an emotional trip down the road of adolescence. How many of us have had moments when we realize we really don’t know what we want to do with our lives, we just know we want to make certain people proud? And who hasn’t looked around and seen that one person who knows her goals and is fighting for them, and can’t help but feel the strongest twinge of envy, jealousy, and also guilt that your own convictions aren’t as strong? Really, it’s that feeling that is the heart of Paradise Kiss. Yukari’s mission to overcome a life she was just sort of existing in and to truly live her own life and actually have dreams is the road we as the readers get to explore. Yazawa Ai does a fantastic job in showing us the transition from wayward student to glamorous model without many moments of utter disbelief.
The biggest strength of the manga is its emotional punch. Even if you can’t really identify with a specific character, Yazawa does a great job of making sure you do feel what they are feeling. You can truly understand what Yukari is going through, even if you haven’t faced the same situations (or you were good at keeping your head when in love.) You may hate George, but there are glimpses of his feelings that make you almost regret your disdain and make you wish you could make him the better person he could be. Miwako isn’t an easy character to identify with (at least to me), but you can still feel her pain and frustration when she’s accused of things she didn’t do, and who can’t identify with jealousy, even if it’s Arashi’s over-the-top variety.
After emotion, the story and characters are tied for their excellence. In my mind, Yukari and Arashi receive the most growth and depth. Their changes are significant, emotional, and in the case of Arashi, beautiful to behold. Yukari has her downfall moments, almost always related to George, but you can still at least somewhat understand why she can’t get past him. First love is hard not to give into completely, particularly when you’re still trying to find your path and you love someone who has already decided on his future. Miwako and Isabella exist as fun, cute, and knowledgeable (mainly Isabella there) characters that in some ways serve as a sort of Greek chorus to both the reader and Yukari. George, for me, is the least likeable character, but still, you get moments when you feel you can almost understand him–although they’re few and far between, and that seems to be very intentionally done.
There weren’t many rough points in the manga, but a few did exist. Volume 4 seemed to introduce quite a few characters for no apparent purpose except to push the manga a bit longer. Isabella gets a bit of the shaft in the manga (particularly in comparision to the anime), and her (he wants to be a she, so he’s a she when I refer to her) final scene loses a lot of the emotional impact that the anime had. Also, Miwako seems to have just a bit less wisdom in the manga as well, but only slightly. For the most part, it felt the anime did an injustice to the beautiful story, characters, and emotions that Yazawa Ai brought to life on paper.
If you’ve seen the anime and didn’t like it due to the frigid characters and rushed plot, you might want to go ahead and try out the manga. If you’re like me, you very well might fall in love with it as I did. If you haven’t seen the anime, read the manga first. It’s simply better.
hakojo said,
March 25, 2007 at 11:35 am
Huh. I might have to pick this up sometime. I steered clear of the anime because you said it wasn’t particularly good, but I’ll certainly check out the manga.
ceriselumiere said,
March 25, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I’m going to try rewatching the anime sometime soon to see if reading the manga helps its cause. I do think that if you like NANA, you’ll have a decent chance of liking the ParaKiss manga.
Paul said,
March 25, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I’m always in the need for a clothing overhaul, but it is largely uneffective because overhaulling jeans and tshirts with jeans and tshirts is a tad pointless, no?
ceriselumiere said,
March 25, 2007 at 5:48 pm
It would seem so–unless the current t-shirts are getting holes in them. ^_^
Paul said,
March 26, 2007 at 3:48 am
Only one of my shirts and one pair of jeans have holes in them, and I’ve already adopted a new pair of jeans to replace them [old jeans: :( ]
R said,
April 28, 2007 at 2:44 am
I read volumes 1 and 5, and the ending socked me. What does George do that makes his character unlikable? He seemed relatively sympathetic in 1 & 5.
R said,
April 28, 2007 at 2:46 am
Also, thank you! (as random stranger asking you a question)
ceriselumiere said,
April 28, 2007 at 10:13 am
Unfortunately, in volumes 2, 3, and 4, he’s a bit of a jerk. He is so cold and also very passive aggressive in his treatment of Caroline. He tries to change her into what he wants, but shows disgust with her for being willing to become what he wants. There are still a few shining moments where you can tell that he is a more complicated being (such as when Caroline complains of him not calling her, he also suggests she could have called him as well…he’s lonely too) that what you are led to believe. He’s really quite a paradox, and he has a lot of growing up to do. He treats people a bit too much like his toys, and its a little difficult for me to appreciate a characters like that. I think what’s most frustrating is that at the end, you do get to see a side of him that’s pretty caring, but unfortunately his own immaturity and selfishness really hurts that feeling. Although I can definitely see your confusion with me describing him as unlikeable. He is a totally different character in the first and last volumes than he is in 2-4.
Also keep in mind that I have some carry-over opinion on the character from the anime, in which I felt he was one of the most unlikeable leading men in an anime series. The anime doesn’t hold a candle to the manga, in my opinion, particularly when it comes to characterizations.
That person said,
May 14, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Hmmm….I liked the anime but that could be because I haven’t read the manga yet. I guess its better if people see the anime first and be blown away by the manga huh?
The Vixenne said,
June 11, 2008 at 7:33 pm
George gets a lot of negative press, but I actually liked him. For me, I don’t always need for the “hero” to be spotless and perfect. A little edge and some flaws made George a fascinating character. Considering he’s the child of two very selfish grown-ups with their own issues, it’s rather surprising that he gravitated towards someone like Isabella or Miwako. Neither of his parents taught him anything about love or how to be considerate of another’s feelings. I think he does love Yukari in his own fashion, but doesn’t want her to become anything like his mother.
One more thing: More Isabella!!!