That’s what Yukari Hayasaki (later being nicknamed “Caroline”) is being described as and it’s no contest about that, especially since it’s beginning to become repetitive and she needed to experience something new and that is when she is encountered with these eccentric fashion design students and they wanted to scout her to become a model for their clothing line Paradise Kiss.
The group consists of Jōji "George" Koizumi, the charismatic student who has a talented gift for fashion design with his extravagant ideas, even if he’s cold at some times, since some of his ideas may not be accepted by the public. Miwako Sakurada is the pink-haired student who works with George and is exceptionally cute and sweet and tends to act child-like manner, either by the dress of the Lolita style and engaging personality. Arashi Nagase is the student with a taste for punk style, piercings (especially around the oral area) and alternative music. He is Miwako’s boyfriend and despite that they seem really unmatched for each other, they have known each other since childhood. Although one of the subplot in the series is that Miwako had feelings for Hiroyuki Tokumori, an prodigy who goes to Yukari’s school and was the object of her affections, and Arashi is known of that, which is why he’s insecure of that. Isabelle Yamamoto is the mother figure of Paradise Kiss and is the epitome of high class and femininity and also inspired George’s first dress during their childhood and often encourages Yukari when she needs it the most, whether it’s George or her studies. I don’t know if this is spoiler territory or not, but she happens to be a transgender woman.
If you already know, this is based off the manga series by AI Yazawa and it’s a stand-alone sequel to her previous work, Gokinjo Monogatari, although that manga or the anime isn’t in English. There is also the point that a 5-volume manga is only squashed into 12 episodes. I’m not complaining about that but it seemed like some parts of the anime may have either been rushed or forgotten.
The plot of the show isn’t what most people call ‘original’ but it’s not the same rehash of any other story you ever heard. The themes of the story are very realistic, along with the characters, and you feel like you actually know some characteristics of people in real life pursuing their dreams of doing (insert whatever you can think of, I wasn’t really interested in just the fashion part of the series).
The animation of the show is done by Madhouse (9th times the charm, isn’t it?) and it does show a lot of quality brand of animation around the time of 2005 and even if it’s been over 7 years since the release, the animation still holds up today and the one thing that does weird me out is the deformed looks of the characters once it’s shown and it is me, or does Yukari in her deformed mode looks like if Olive Oyl was an anime character? I’m serious about that.
The music really holds up well during the show, especially the opening and ending music. The opening theme, “Lonely in Gorgeous” by Tommy february6 has this funky vibe of J-Pop mixed in with ‘80s Madonna vogue music. “Do You Want to” by well-known British pop-band Franz Ferdinand, originally from their album You Could Have It So Much Better, and I like it how it always played off during the end of an episode that isn’t a clean cut to the end credits, plus, it’s an fairly awesome song to listen to. The background music is not really that noticeable throughout the show but it doesn’t stick out awkwardly.
FINAL VERDICT: Despite that I really don’t know much in the fashion world, I did enjoy this series in it’s entirely. The story is very compelling and doesn’t stray away for only one character as it covers basically all of them. This is the type of anime that focuses on realistic characters in realistic situations and do you know how people always say ‘we need a break of the norm’? Well, Paradise Kiss is the break of the anime norm.
