paradise kiss – Manga Report

Paradise Kiss, Vols 2 and 3

I was very happy to have the chance to experience this great series again in the new editions from Vertical. Paradise Kiss is one of the most emotionally nuanced josei manga that I’ve read, and these gorgeous oversized editions make it possible to appreciate Ai Yazawa’s art. One of the reasons why I like this series so much is that for a manga about a group of fashion kids putting on a show, it manages to explore the subject of love in an extremely unromanticized way. Beginning model Yukari is beginning to go through a process of self-examination, deciding for herself what her priorities in life are. She’s pushed to this in part by George, who is one of my favorite romance manga leading men, just because he’s so atypical. Bisexual, ruthless and driven to produce his vision of haute couture fashion, George is showing Yukari a new world but he doesn’t have the emotional sensitivity to be a 17 year old girl’s first love. Add in a wonderful supporting cast in the form of cross-dresser Isabella, the punked-out Arashi and painfully cute Miwako, and the reader of Paradise Kiss gets a manga masterwork.

The second volume shows Yukari deciding to drop out of school. Seeing the ParaKiss team work together to create something meaningful has made the deficiencies in her own life far to clear. Yukari has been dedicating her life to studying due to her mother’s ambitions, and she wants to put school aside and work until she figures out what she wants to do. She ends up running away from home when her mother is less than thrilled with her new life plan. The ParaKiss team is dismayed, but somewhat supportive. George intones “Even if you end up in hell, I refuse to take any responsibility.” Yukari ends up staying at Arashi’s place while he visits his home, and this entire volume shows how sincere and well-meaning he is. Yukari and George end up becoming closer and she moves in with him, but she’s too restless to enjoy lounging around his apartment all day. She looks around for work and helps out with the dress for the big fashion show. The only person from Yukari’s old life who seems to be concerned about her absence from school is Miwako and Arashi’s old friend Tokumori.

There’s more dramatic tension in Yukari and George’s romance, because it is clear from the start that things aren’t going to work out. Yukari is too anxious, trying to meld her personality to reflect her idea of George’s ideal woman, and while George cares for her, he has the self-involvement of a true artist. His work will always come first. Even while Yukari tries to cling on to George, she knows that they are going to end up being incompatible.

Everything turns bittersweet in the concluding volume of the series, as Yukari begins to launch herself into a modeling career, and the ParaKiss group prepares their showstopping dress. Preparing for the show isn’t going all that smoothly as Yukari starts having health issues and difficulty dealing with jealousy when one of George’s old classmates comes back for a visit. There’s a general sense that everything is going to end one way or another after the show. George is making unsuccessful attempts to launch Paradise Kiss as a label, and having difficulty. If the label can’t sustain them, everybody is going to have to split up and get jobs separately. In a more conventional manga, the show would happen, George would get a grand prize for his dress, and everybody would live happily ever after. Paradise Kiss explores the fashion world in a much more realistic manner. While Yukari is tall, she lacks the towering height of a supermodel. George’s own elaborate sense of aesthetics is holding him back from the type of commercial creations that a successful fashion label would require, but he’s not going to compromise his vision. Yukari and George’s relationship goes from a whirlwind of love to a relationship where they’re both burdened by each other’s expectations.

What makes Paradise Kiss so interesting as a romance manga is that so much time is spent exploring the reasons Yukari and George are going to split up. The book basically takes place entirely in Yukari’s head, so it is easy for the reader to be just as uneasy as she is about George’s true feelings. When his grand romantic gesture comes at the end of the series, it is easy to see just how much he cared for her. Paradise Kiss had a very satisfying and realistic ending, which elevates it among most romance manga. It is rare for me to feel like all the aspects of an emotional story arc were fully explored, but Yazawa is just that good. Reading Paradise Kiss again made me pine for more Nana or the possibility of a Gokinjo Monogatari translation. The oversized volumes make it possible to appreciate all the intricate details of the fashion-centric world the characters inhabit. These great editions from Vertical deserve a place on any manga fan’s shelf.

Limit by Keiko Suenobu volume 1

After reading Limit, I could totally see why Vertical chose to publish this series about high school girls reenacting Lord of the Flies, because the combination of social commentary and horror totally fits into Vertical’s tendency to go for artistic and edgy manga to add to their catalog. Mizuki Konno is a popular girl. Not the most popular girl in her class, but just popular enough to enjoy a social life in high school as one of the anointed ones. Mizuki is part of the inner circle headed up by Sakura, the most popular girl in school. Mizuki’s calculated goal is to just float along on the surface, never doing anything that might stand out and attract undesirable attention. Mizuki’s foil is one of the unpopular girls named Kamiya who seems to possess more than average intelligence and self-awareness for a high school girl. More importantly, Kamiya is actually willing to speak up against the injustices perpetuated by high school cliques. Mizuki’s orderly world abruptly changes when a bus crash during a class trip kills most of her classmates and strands her in the wilderness. Suddenly the scapegoat of the class, Morishige has the upper hand because she scavenged a scythe. She’s also become seriously unhinged, drawing pentagrams and consulting tarot cards to determine the likelihood of rescue. Kamiya goes along with Morishige but Mizuki seems unwilling or unable to adjust to her suddenly changed circumstances. Food is running out, and Morishige’s memory of past wrongs makes her all too willing to get back at her past tormentors.

Limit is like a refreshing sorbet of violence and societal critique for people who might be weary of too much romance in their shojo. Limit would also be an excellent crossover title for people who don’t tend to read much manga targeted at girls. Suenobu does a great job showing Mizuki’s inner life and contrasting her thoughts with the growing horror and tension of the hopeless situation she’s found herself in. The dynamics of high school friendships when they become stressed beyond endurance are explored, and so much drama was packed into this first volume that I’m very intrigued about what might happen next. This manga is published at the same size as Japanese manga and I must say it is awfully cute even though my inner cheapskate quails a bit at a $10.95 sticker price on a 4.5 by 7 inch volume. Character designs are a strength in this title, as it is very easy to distinguish between the cast members. Suenobu’s art is very clear and doesn’t suffer from being printed at a smaller size from what I’m used to seeing in North American manga editions.

Paradise Kiss Part 1 by Ai Yazawa

Paradise Kiss is a manga that is so good, I don’t mind buying it twice. While I’ve read the entire series and collected all but one volume of the Tokyopop edition, I was very excited to see that Vertical is releasing the series in an omnibus, large-size format. Paradise Kiss is the story of an ordinary girl named Yukari whose life revolves around school, cram school, and the occasional chance to muse upon her crush Tokumori. She doesn’t have much purpose in life, but her psyche is shaken up when she has a random encounter with a group of art-school students headed by the enigmatic George. He’s looking for a muse and model for his capstone collection from art school and while Yukari at first thinks that the punk Arashi, cross-dressing Isabella, perpetually cute Miwako, and maddeningly attractive George are all crazy, she begins to be drawn into their world due to their commitment and shared sense of purpose. Yukari has just been working to get into a good college because that’s what’s expected of her, but when she sees the group of teens her same age working with a true passion for fashion, she decides she will join them as a model.

Yukari quickly starts leading a double life, ditching cram school to learn how to sew beads on a dress. She develops a growing attraction to George, and it is fascinating to see her personality start to shift. She’s no longer able to maintain her cool exterior at school and Tokumori starts to notice her more as she displays occasional moments of goofiness. The art in Paradise Kiss is fabulous. The series originally ran in a fashion magazine and the characters all look like walking, talking fashion illustrations. Even better than the style displayed in the art is the way the fashion in the manga is so perfectly set up to showcase the differences in personality between the characters. I could easily look at outfits designed for Arashi, Isabella, and Miwako and know who was going to end up wearing them. George’s more malleable style signals his changing nature as he shifts from suits to glam cowboy to mod with almost too much ease. I enjoyed revisiting this series in this updated, more deluxe edition. Manga Bookshelf covered some of the differences in translation between the old and new editions. I’m going to buy this new edition from Vertical because I love this series, but I’m probably going to keep the old Tokyopop edition as well. I hope that this does well enough for Vertical that we could see some other work by Ai Yazawa translated, like Gokinjo Monogatari. In any case, Paradise Kiss is a series that I think deserves to be in print, and I am happy that Vertical is reissuing it.