Paradise Kiss

On her way home from school, Yukari Hayasaka is approached by a weird-looking guy who starts looking at her body intently. He's got blond spiky hair, a spiked choker, and multiple piercings on his ears and face. She wants nothing to do with him, and runs away, only to bump into a very tall and beautiful purple-haired woman with a flower pattern around her eye. Yukari faints from shock and wakes up later in a strange place called the Atelier. It turns out that these strangers are fashion designers who attend the most famous art school around, Yazawa Art Academy, and their group wants Yukari to model for their brand in Yazawa Academy's upcoming show.

Yukari turns down their offer and escapes the Atelier, but unknowingly leaves her school ID behind. George Koizumi, the head designer, later sees it and immediately knows she would be the perfect model for them and will not stop until he gets what he wants—and he wants her. Yukari had never considered something as frivolous as modeling before, but could life among these eccentric designers actually prove to be fun? Or will Yukari lose herself in this world of art and passion?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakurada, Miwako Main

Matsumoto, Marika Japanese

Koizumi, George Main

Hamada, Kenji Japanese

Hayasaka, Yukari Main

Yamada, Yu Japanese

Yamamoto, Isabella Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Nagase, Arashi Main

Mizutani, Shunsuke Japanese

Kouda, Mikako Supporting

Shishido, Rumi Japanese

Kanzaki, Risa Supporting

Takano, Urara Japanese

Yamaguchi, Tsutomu Supporting

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Tokumori, Hiroyuki Supporting

Uchino, Noriyuki Japanese

Kisaragi, Seiji Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Katsumata, Hideo Producer

Fujio, Tsutomu Producer

Reviews

Oct 20, 2024

TUTU_chomper

Recommended

Since this is my first review it will be short.

From the character designs to the music, I was hooked from the very first episode. While I enjoyed Paradise Kiss, there was one aspect that didn’t sit well with me: Arashi’s character. His behaviour was often annoying, and honestly, neither he nor his actions added much to the story. It follows Yukari Hayasaka, a high school girl who takes a break from school to become a model for a fashion brand, all while falling in love with the brand's designer. Overall, if you’re into a romance with a bittersweet ending, I highly recommend giving ParaKiss a ... watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 1, 2021

hyunryu

Mixed Feelings

Let me explain why I didn't rate the anime as much as I had hoped to when I started watching it.
I watched Nana by the same creator Ai Yazawa last year and it had a huge impact on my life, I loved it more than anything I had ever seen in the recent years.
That's the sort of expectation I had when I saw there was another anime created by this woman.
Maybe I was just expecting too much of it.
Also, I'll try to keep the explanations rather simple and short.
VERY MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD


Story (8)
The story itself was very realistic and very relatable. I enjoyed ... the pacing but at times I didn't feel like there was a clear goal to what the characters were doing. But maybe that's because there's no such thing in real life either.
The ending was great and dramatic, you'll most likely cry.
In fact, I didn't dislike the story at all. But one thing ruined it for me, which is:

Characters (3)
I saw many reviewers saying the characters are very relatable and real but I sadly couldn't see the same in them.
Yukari is a good main character and I enjoyed seeing her development. But besides her, I only really liked Miwako.
That's why I'm especially sad we almost got no backstory on Miwako besides some short scenes related to her old childhood friend. Maybe that's because this is a 12 episode anime. Maybe this is better explained in the manga.
But that's my biggest issue of the show: the lack of character background and depth. I just couldn't get into the characters at all.
My biggest bother was George. Yes, he's hot. But does that justify everyone loving him for his not-so-great actions and how he treats Yukari? I didn't think it was "realistic", it was just too random for me how he got away switching between uwu and you're-so-ugly-and-untalented in seconds.
Also I wish there was more explanation of the studio and how they became friends.
I'm not saying the characters are all bad, I just wish they had more time to gain depth throughout the show.

Art and Sound (both 9)
The opening is on repeat all the time and the ending was a fun way to end each episode. There wasn't that much of a soundtrack as far as I noticed. Or at least nothing really stood out to me. But the opening and ending alone set the mood so well already, I can't help but score it this high.
The art is from Ai Yazawa so I'm pretty biased since I love her style. The chibi drawings are also really cute and I just love how she draws eyes and lips.
The visual character design was also really well done, the clothing was stunning.
The mix of realism and cartoon in some scenes was weird at first but added to the overall mood of the anime.

Enjoyment (5)
I wish I had enjoyed it more. And maybe that's why I struggled to do so.
Maybe my expectations were too high after watching Nana.
Maybe it just wasn't an anime for me.
I enjoyed the story but I couldn't really care about most characters.
This is one of the first times I actually think characters were the main reason I disliked an anime.

Overall (6)
It is a very real anime and that's what I liked about it the most. If you enjoy anime that include serious and realistic themes, you'll most likely like it for this.
Many people here enjoyed the characters a lot so maybe you will too.
Just give it a chance and see if it's for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 5, 2023

svale

Not Recommended

Funny

This was a massive let-down, particularly after watching Nana, which is honestly one of the more entertaining anime series I've ever watched.
I was prepared for this not to be a masterpiece, but that is an understatement.
Our protagonist is possibly the least relatable character in the history of fiction - and yes, I've read Catcher in the Rye, I have seen the Twilight movies, but nothing compares to this bland piece of flour whose only personality trait is being pretty and hopelessly in love with George. And oh, did you know that she can eat absolutely anything without gaining weight? So relatable, right..?
And oh ... boy, where do I start with George, our own prince charming. He could honestly be interesting, I love myself a character who is absolutely horrible to everyone around them and acts like a spoiled brat, because usually it's entertaining and they get what's coming to them. Or at least SOMEONE is critical towards their awful behaviour at some point. But not George, oh no. Our boy is treated better than a king in the feudal era, nothing our dear George can do is wrong and apparently he is genius along the lines of DaVinci. Who cares if everything he says is no better than a 14-year-old boy whose biggest idol is Andrew Tate, who cares if he is verbally abusive and openly sexist even to his own mother, because he is just SO good at what he's doing. In this universe, dress-making is as essential as curing cancer or solving global warming, apparently, so surely we can put up with his negging and hostility?
The rest of the cast is slightly more promising, but they easily become stock characters and get zero room for development. I have seen more character development for minor characters in South Park, so this is honestly disappointing.
In the end, none of this leads anywhere and you are left just thinking how this was an awful waste of electricity, wasting these hours watching this show.
The only promising parts here is the early LGBT-representation (which was a miracle back in 2005), as well as an interesting outro, but I'd definitely recommend skipping this one. The characters are not awful enough for this to be a complete drama trainwreck, but not likable enough for you to actually care about them.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Plans for Live Action "Paradise Kiss"

Fox International is currently negotiating in making the hit manga "Paradise Kiss" into a Live Action movie. Although the production company haven't s...read more

May 20, 2009 3:45 AM by Zirgo | Discuss (47 comments)

	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) jacobpaige - May 17, 2008	76 replies	by Vikc »» Oct 3, 9:41 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 3 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	43 replies	by CloverXO »» Aug 20, 10:19 AM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 8 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	39 replies	by AoButa16 »» Jul 19, 6:03 AM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Firemonkey5 - Mar 26, 2008	144 replies	by yeobo »» Jun 23, 11:01 AM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 6 Discussion SunSir - Mar 17, 2008	41 replies	by yeobo »» Jun 22, 7:03 AM

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