Paradise Kiss review

Mangaka: Ai Yazawa
Length: 5 Volumes

 
Plot/Story
 
Yukari/Caroline is a senior high school student trying to get into a good university to make her parents happy. Her typical and predictable every day routine was suddenly changed when she was chosen by a group of fashion designers (high school students in some artsy-fancy high school for the arts) to be their model for an upcoming clothing competition in their school. The story revolves around Yukari/Caroline's journey into finding something she's passionate about, her ups and downs in her love life, and her new-found friends--the four geniuses who call themselves "Paradise Kiss"--George Koizumi, the snob-fashion-designer-slash-leader, Miwako, the little girl in a Lolita dress who adores her elder sister (owner of her own clothing line), Arashi, Miwako's boyfriend and appears too punk to be a designer, and Isabella, a very tall and feminine character but is actually a guy.

 
Main Characters
 
Yukari - Her character was the one that was fully developed, or I should say, the one mostly focused on (since she is the main character, obviously). Her original point of view in the story did not really have any "dreams" or anything that she wanted to do--more like, she studies hard just to get in a good university, finish a degree, so her parents can be proud of her. This was what her character was lacking--something to be passionate about, and it is what she found in the four people who asked her to be their model--the group behind "Paradise Kiss."
 
George - He is a son of mistress (who happens to be a model). He is really a genius when it comes to designing clothes, however, his works are mainly couture--not ordinary shirts or dresses that one could wear every day. His life's ups and downs and the different decisions that he make were somehow influenced by Yukari. The series also deals with the love relationship between him and Yukari.

 
Drawing Style
 
It was the usual Ai Yazawa-kind of art: the long arms/legs, the defined eyes and beautiful dresses and clothing. Well, since the manga has the fashion world as its background, Ai Yazawa really did a good job of drawing those beautiful dresses and clothes.

 
Overall
 
The manga was short, ending in the fifth volume, but the story was beautiful and complete--with a 10-year jump to the future in last chapter of the fifth volume. Many readers may not have likened the ending but I think this is so because the manga's theme was one's search and follow through of his/her dream. Specifically, it showed how Yukari and George weighed and decided carefully about how to go on with their lives--with the big decisions that they were faced with near the end of the manga that has something to do with their future careers.

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