*Paradise Kiss — Recommended Series
- Posted by Johanna on December 23, 2005 at 2:10 pm
- Category: Manga Reviews
- CREDITS: by Ai Yazawa
- PUBLISHER: Tokyopop, $9.99 US
Paradise Kiss brings a heavy dose of fashion to a manga coming-of-age romance. Yukari is a student cramming for her upcoming college entrance exams. A group of fashion students pick her up on the street because of her moody look and rename her Caroline. They’ve created a studio in the hopes of merchandising their fashions, and they need a model for their creations.
Influenced by the glam movie Velvet Goldmine, each of them has their own look. Arashi is channeling the British punk era, complete with safety pin through the lip. Isabella is a glamorous transvestite, and Miwako resembles a living Kewpie doll. But it’s bisexual George, the elegant gentleman, who most captures Caroline’s attention, especially after he starts flirting with her.
The unique art is well able to capture all these varied styles accurately. The approach ranges from elegant and detailed to sparse manga shorthand concentrating on emotion. The gorgeous fashion images, inspired by classic magazine illustration styles and evoking an era of elegance, are woven throughout the story.
After her initial repulsion, Caroline agrees to work with the group in order to capture some of their excitement, since pressure to get into the right school is about to make her crack. She doesn’t know what she wants to do; she’s living her parents’ goals with none of her own. The group, in contrast, has chosen what they want to do and are pursuing it whole-heartedly.
Caroline finds seductive people who accept each other regardless of what they look like or what supposed social rank they have. She knows that this group isn’t going to be some kind of instant salvation, but at least they’re different, and as the proverb goes, sometimes a change is as good as a rest. What she’s getting into might be as scary, or even scarier, than what she’s been living, but she’s willing to take the risk that it will be better.
She volunteers to help sew beads onto her dress, taking great pride in contributing to the construction. The others worry about her sudden goal change, giving up her studies to work with them. They want to help her find her own sense of determination and drive, but only if she takes responsibility for her actions. She’s still not choosing for herself if she simply replaces her parents’ rules with those of the group.
A whole new world opens to her, beyond her work as a model, when she starts going out with George. Like her, he’s also an honor student, but his chosen field, design, doesn’t require a license or passing an exam, just passion and drive, qualities she wants to experience. The romance is complicated by a mismatch between what people say and their actions. George says he wants an independent woman, but his act of turning Caroline into his dream girl contradicts his expressed desires.
As the story continues, Caroline comes to wonder whether George really cares for her, or if she will always come second to his ego and his designs. Is he stringing her along just to get her to model for them? Is he too much of a distraction, causing her to fail her studies? Her parents make an appearance, worrying about her schedule changes and absent-mindedness. Eventually, the confrontation with her mother comes, as it must. Caroline is forced to choose between her new interests and her old plans. She’s beginning to make her own decisions, even though her only certain desire is to find out what she really wants.
The characters break the fourth wall every so often, talking about the number of pages they have or noting the rules for the role they play or even visiting the artist’s apartment and stealing her clothes. Most outrageously, they comment on what’s allowed in their genre after George and Caroline’s first night together, talking about how that kind of thing just isn’t done in manga for girls and making jokes about George having to finish at a certain time based on the page count available.
Caroline faces a lot of questions. What is the difference between love and obsession? How can you love someone you hate and hate someone you love? Is love a good thing if you become so consumed by it that you make yourself sick? Even when these young adults know what they should do for the ones they love, they can’t necessarily bring themselves to be unselfish or put other’s needs ahead of their own. They experience love as a disease, an immature compulsion or fascination, instead of a mature motivation.
In the bigger picture, how much of who we are is who we pretend to be? In other people’s eyes, we become whatever we’re acting. The characters use theatrical techniques to make their lives more interesting, building the reality they want to live. Fashion isn’t just clothing; it’s costumes for the life one wants.
There’s an air of melancholy throughout the series that sets it apart from the usual teen romance. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Even if someone thinks they know what they want, they may not be able to achieve it. Like all young adults, the characters finally have to start out on a path for themselves, deciding which career to pursue and learning more about what they really desire. Ultimately, what you think you want may not be good for you or those you’re involved with.
There’s more information on the creator available at the Tokyopop website. Yazawa’s new series is Nana.
December 23, 2005 at 11:17 pm
I remember feeling quite disappointed with the ending of Paradise Kiss. I had enjoyed it up to that point, but it just didn’t seem to me to tie things up in any sort of satisfying fashion.
December 25, 2005 at 4:55 pm
[SPOILERS] I couldn’t disagree more. I liked Yazawa’s decision to end the series in the real world, rather than with a traditional storybook ending, as Caroline demonstrates her maturity by ditching the romantic-but-ruinous guy in favor of the one she can actually live with, and the Parakiss team’s ornate clothes fail to spark with the general public. Seriously, did your teenage dreams come true without a hitch? These things happen. [/SPOILERS]
December 25, 2005 at 9:11 pm
Having just reread the series, I agree with Dirk. The ending shows that PK is far from typical shôjo, but we knew that much earlier in the series from the character’s own comments.
The end isn’t typically neatly tied with a bow, but that’s better for the characters and the series. Caroline spends the series running from one set of rules to another, seeking someone to make her happy by telling her how to live. Ultimately, she learns to make her own decisions, and the open ending reflects that.
December 27, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Johanna: I’m just not seeing it. She spends the next ten years having a modeling career that eventually peters out as she gets too old, and falling for a series of weirdos, so she ends up marrying a guy who for the rest of his life will be jealous of Arahi winning Minako back in High School, and on their honeymoon she’s planning to go cry about George. But at least she’ll have the memories of the interesting places she went and things she did in her long slow decline from age 28 onward. Oh, and George’s dresses to give her an incentive to keep her figure. I get no sense at all that she’s looking forward to her future with Hiro or that’s she’s actively making decisions about how to live her life.
December 27, 2005 at 2:39 pm
We’ll have to agree to disagree, then. It was clear to me halfway through the series that the future psychiatrist (!) was the better choice for her, and that she was beginning to see and appreciate his strength. He didn’t seem fixated on jealousy to me, unlike your description, and there’s nothing wrong or unusual about either of them thinking back fondly to their younger days. (That’s a large part of why I enjoy school-set shôjo myself; a wistful nostalgia for high school, when every romance was a passionate epic. At the same time, I realize that my much deeper, mature relationship now is better than that.)
What would you rather have happened to better satisfy you?
December 27, 2005 at 5:09 pm
I think it should have stopped at the bottom of page 181, with the ship sailing to the horizon and the line “Life is short.”
December 27, 2005 at 6:43 pm
Again, we disagree. I liked seeing her as more of an adult instead of perpetually a teen obsessed by her first love. It’s a reminder that life goes on.
March 5, 2006 at 7:25 pm
[…] Like Ai Yazawa’s previous manga series Paradise Kiss, an underlying theme here is that the family you build and choose is better than the one you happen to be born into. Naive Nana is a mostly ignored middle child, and Punk Nana was an orphan raised by a harsh grandmother. The two of them have made small groups of close friends with shared interests that support them instead. […]
July 21, 2006 at 11:30 am
I think ParaKiss is one of the best mangas there is. I have to agree with Johanna about the end. I was just looking the pictures of the covers of volumes 1-5 up there and mine have different pictures even if they claim to be 1st edition. Did they print many different covers? Anyone aware? Thanks!
July 21, 2006 at 3:38 pm
They did go back to print on the series with new covers (that I thought weren’t as attractive as the ones I’m showing). You can see examples of the new covers at the Tokyopop site.
July 22, 2006 at 2:51 am
Thanks for info! Those are the ones I have volumes 1 to 4, and 5th is the other style. I always wondered why they chose the 5th vol look so different. But this explains it all. I actually like both sets a lot.
September 7, 2006 at 3:51 pm
This was the first manga I read, and I still love it; I even tracked down the original editions on ebay (the covers of the new ones are different); It is still my most treasured manga.
March 22, 2007 at 1:32 am
luvvvv. the anime series…. it was sosadat the end… i wish i coulve gone with george to paris.. im so jealouse though.. men…. i wish it coulve last longer .. and a more beautifull ending.. i just wish there is a second part to it or second version.. i love para kiss so much i atch it everyday.. and thank you so much for the peoples who upload the para kiss anime…
February 12, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I love this manga. This is the best josei manga I’ve read yet, and is the most realistic manga I’ve read.
I like how Yukari’s faults are pointed out to the readers, but somehow she still remains a likeable character. that’s something that’s rarely done in manga, especially with shouju heroines.
I also love the clothes, they are sooo pretty. :)
I agree w/ most people, this manga should’ve lasted MUCH longer, but I actually like the ending. (Arashi & Miwako forever!)
March 3, 2008 at 2:13 am
once i read this manga, i’ve fall in love with it…….i love it’s journey but not really the ending…….anyway..i stil LOVE this manga
March 15, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I am not familiar with Paradise Kiss (yet) but it has come with a lot of praises. My dilemma is that, I need to come up with a list of manga to recommend (I work at the Library–somewhat not into manga because of the “skins” and graphic issue… let’s just say a very conservative lot) and I have come across this site for help. Does ParaKiss have a lot of nudity and graphic scenes I need to be concerned about for my recommendation? I’m limited to mangas that complete the series in less than 10 volumes, so I have limited titles to work on. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
March 15, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Tokyopop rates it “Appropriate for ages 16 and up. May contain profanity and strong language, moderate violence and gore, moderate sexual themes and sexual violence, nudity, moderate fanservice, and alcohol and illegal drug use.” I suspect that Paradise Kiss gets rated for older teens because of its transvestite character, which a conservative audience may not be happy with. I don’t recall much nudity or graphic sex, but there is teen sex shown.
March 16, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Johanna, thanks so much. I guess I can’t recommend the ParaKiss series then. They are already upset with Ranma 1/2 (1st volume only) containing some skin. Thanks a bunch for the reply!