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

Kisaragi, Seiji Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Tokumori, Hiroyuki Supporting

Uchino, Noriyuki Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Katsumata, Hideo Producer

Morosawa, Masao Producer

Reviews

May 27, 2025

ayumiin

Recommended

Paradise Kiss isn’t the kind of anime that hands you comfort. It doesn’t offer a fantasy escape or characters you’re supposed to idolize. It just kind of… throws you into a moment in someone’s life where everything’s starting to fall apart and come together at the same time. And it lets you sit with the mess. It’s rough in a way that feels intentional. Yukari, the protagonist, isn’t some heroine on a perfect journey of growth. She’s confused, impulsive, sometimes kind of irritating—but that’s what makes her feel real. She’s stuck between what’s expected of her and what she wants, even if she doesn’t really ... know what that is yet. That feeling of being completely unprepared for adulthood? Yeah, this anime gets that. The characters don’t exist to be liked. George is distant and manipulative in ways that are kind of fascinating and kind of exhausting. He’s not secretly soft underneath it all—he’s just someone who doesn’t know how to be close to anyone. The people around them are messy too, with histories and insecurities that don’t always get resolved. But they’re human. Even when they do selfish or questionable things, you can usually see why.

The art has its quirks. Sometimes it’s stiff or off-model, and yeah, the balloon-head comedy moments don’t always land. But the fashion and character designs still bring a sense of personality that sticks. Everyone looks like they exist in their own world. There’s a clear care in how people dress and present themselves, even if the animation doesn’t always fully back it up. The soundtrack is weirdly quiet at times. The opening and ending songs are great (if you’re into indie rock, you’re probably already sold), but the lack of background music leaves a lot of scenes kind of bare. Sometimes that works—it makes things feel more grounded—but other times it just feels awkward, like the silence wasn’t intentional. Still, the vibe overall matches the tone: moody, awkward, trying to be cool but also kind of insecure underneath.

What’s maybe most surprising about Paradise Kiss is how honest it is about relationships and how unromantic growing up actually is. The show doesn’t end with big declarations or everything tied up neatly. It ends with a decision. A quiet, imperfect one. And yeah, it might not be satisfying in a traditional way. But it lingers. It makes you think more than it makes you feel good. There are definitely parts that could’ve been handled better. Some scenes feel disconnected or rushed, the ending moves fast, and Yukari’s relationship with her mom feels undercooked. But honestly, the flaws kind of fit. It’s not a polished story. It’s a slice of messy, transitional life that doesn’t pretend to have answers. If you’ve ever had that moment where you realized the version of your life you were chasing might not be yours at all, this anime gets it. It doesn’t judge you for not knowing what you want. It just shows you someone else trying to figure it out, and leaves the rest up to you.

So no, it’s not perfect. But neither are you, probably. No judgment.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 8, 2025

freehydrogen

Mixed Feelings

This isn't a typical romance anime, but not being typical doesn't automatically makes it better. Although the anime comes under the genre of "romance", I initially found it to be the most boring plot of the show. By boring I don't mean it is exactly poorly-written; however, the whole thing seemed to be run by lust. Personally not my taste. For Yukira, the motivation is lust as well as a certain "obsession" with George, this puts a great power imbalance between the couple, rendering the relationship toxic. As for George, it isn't clear what drives him to date her, maybe it is that he could ... tame her to be "better" than his mother? But alas, it seems control is what attracts him towards her. So for as long the show focused on this so called "romance", it was an extremely boring event. Despite the complex nature of it, I don't think the show itself makes a lot of efforts to make it the primary focus, if it did the story could have gone smoother. His manipulative actions and her insecurity were a perfect amalgamation of a distasteful love story. This goes on for almost the first 7 episodes; they were so insufferable that it is the first show in which I didn't root for a single character.

However, my rating is contradicting my review. But it really isn't, as the last 5 episodes redeem the show -at least- partially for me. As it started developing the individual characters more and more, especially Isabella (she is such a wasted potential). All the characters have so many quirks, which if were to be explored, could've made this series one of a kind.

But, there is a certain change in perspective that the last 5 eps brings -even though she allowed him to "control" her, there is a positive change that his "whims" brought to her life, and that in itself is a beautiful contradiction. I am not saying that George's motive was to ruin her life, but I don't think he was working in her personal interests as well. What makes their relationship appear more meaningful by the end is that, even though his acts were selfish, she benefited from it. To me, this co-incidence has a charm. But the anime doesn't really set the narration as that, which makes some viewers to actually root for them to end up together. I don't expect the characters to find the same toxicity in their relationship as I do, but the idea of two individuals finding something dynamic at the end of all their interactions, toxic or not, is something that makes their "love" beautiful.

If I see it through this lens, the ending is a happy one for me. After those episodes the main relationship started feeling more meaningful to me, leading the finale to an impactful conclusion. The relationship dynamic became more interesting.

All in all, the characters, setting, sound and animation still makes it worth a try. I just hoped that the anime had focused more on individual character exploration, the show would have easily been a 10/10 for me. It is definitely one of those shows which I will remember from time to time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 5, 2023

svale

Not Recommended

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 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Firemonkey5 - Mar 26, 2008	149 replies	by _MushiRock11_ »» Jun 10, 1:27 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 6 Discussion SunSir - Mar 17, 2008	44 replies	by DebiPS »» Mar 11, 7:26 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	50 replies	by astroreload »» Feb 18, 1:19 AM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 10 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	38 replies	by LunaLov »» Feb 10, 2:44 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 11 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	22 replies	by LuxuriousHeart »» Jan 4, 9:25 AM

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