Ranked #294

Paradise Kiss

Paradise Kiss is an anime aimed at the shoujo audience, but what sets this anime apart from all other shoujo anime is it's unique characterisation and atypical storyline.

Story - 9
Paradise Kiss is a short anime about how a young 18 year old girl's life is changed completely when a group of fashion design students kidnap her off the street to model their dress for a school fashion show. The main female protagonist falls in love with the main male protagonist and a love story is revealed. What sets this anime aside from the rest of the 'typical shoujo/romance' anime is that the relationship between the two are not as simple as it seems. The story itself has a realistic element to it making it more suitable for a mature audience rather than what the word shoujo literally implies.

Art - 10
Personally, i love Ai Yazawa's artwork, the setting was drawn realistically to compliment the whole aspect of a realistic life and story. I was surprised to see how everything was drawn perfectly, the anime itself felt like one from 2007/08 rather than 2005. The characters were perfect, nothing was really out of place, the males did not look over glamourous nor did the females look over pitiful. The whole urbanised setting gave the anime and overal fashionable and trendy feel to it. The only flaw i could notice was the characters looked odd when they were far away but when they were close up, every detail could be shown.

Sound - 9
The OP and ED were catchy songs and suited the anime well, it created a funky feel to the anime and the way the opening was brought in for each episode really made the song a part of the anime rather than your general opening you have for every anime. The anime lacked BGM at times, but for this anime, having less of it was much more suitable.

Character - 10
The characters were definately one of this anime's strong points, almost the whole story revolves around the basis of clashing characters working together and becoming friends (or more than friends even). It also shows how one person can change another's outlook on life and their personality. Ai Yazawa is successful in showing how Yukari's whole life changes in a very short amount of time purely by making friends with the "bad crowd" and realising her ambitions.

Enjoyment - 9
If you've watched NANA, then Paradise Kiss doesn't stray too far from the basic concepts in NANA. The whole mature, real life drama is what makes Paradise Kiss enjoyable. If you're looking for a short, sweet, drama-filled, not-your-typical-shoujo anime then i'd highly recommend you give Paradise Kiss a try. read more

Looking for a quick 12 episode show to watch? Paradise Kiss is just for you. Sure, it's a little more for the "Shojo" audience, but it has plenty of stuff to keep any guy entertained. So, what'd I think about it?

Story
Meet Caroline, the girl who doesn't really know what she's doing with her life. She happens upon a group of college students that need her to be their fashion model. Interesting premise, and doesn't sound too farfetched from what might happen in real life. Good ending that actually makes some sense too.

Art
A little funny looking at times, but the art is definitely nice. Sexy looking females. Thumbs up from me.

Sound
Awesome opening (freakin' awesome) and great ending theme (U.S. band). Can't see how you wouldn't like the music throughout the anime.

Character
Caroline x George are definitely my favorite characters. Great personalities from each of them and the story really makes you understand why they are the way they are.

Enjoyment
Enjoyable, quick, and happy. 12 episodes of some laughter and some teary scenes.

Basically, you can't go wrong with this anime. If you're into romance (not some angst crap though), and you like non-stupid anime, check this out. read more