Manga Review: Paradise Kiss

Paradise Kiss

by Ai Yazawa
Release date: 1st February 2010
Publisher Japan: Shodensha (1999-2003)
Publisher US: Tokyopop
Tomes: 5 tomes

Introduction from Goodreads:

Yukari wants nothing more than to make her parents happy by studying hard and getting into a good college. One afternoon, however, she is kidnapped by a group of self-proclaimed fashion mavens calling themselves Paradise Kiss. Yukari suddenly finds herself in the roller coaster life of the fashion world, guided by George, art-snob extraordinaire. In a glamorous makeover of body, mind and soul, she is turned from a hapless bookworm into her friends' own exclusive model.

Review By Alaiel Kreuz:

This is most certainly not a new manga for me, in fact, I read this like 4 or 5 years ago and it inspired me like no other book or manga have done. Since it's compose for five tomes I'm just going to do a review about the hole series in general, but without spoilers,so don't worry.

It all starts with the view of a young lady in the middle of a few persons waiting to cross the street, but somehow she seems really unhappy and well, bother with the whole world. Her name is Yukari (aka Caroline) and she is what we can call a top class student whith great grades and a confident personality.
But it's all a fake. She studies a lot at night to keep her grades good and she lacks of confidence. Her house is a sad place, her dad, tired of the way her mom is, left home using his work as a excuse and her mom only wants Yukari to be the number one in everything she does. On top of that, her little brother is a truly genious and doesn't need to study at all to keep up his grades... and her mom is always comparing her with him...
But that day, when she was annoyed with the whole world something wonderful happened: a guy spot her and went to talk to her because she, among all the people, was the person his group needed. A fashion group... and they wanted her to be their model.

This is the story of how Yukari turns into Caroline, a completely new person that seeks, above all, her happiness and destiny.

Ai Yazawa's desing is marvelous, she takes care of every detail not only of the characters but also the clothes of everybody.
Each character has their own personality:

- Yukari (aka Caroline): scared of the future tries to do what is "right" (acording to her mom and teachers) but deep inside wants something else... she just doesn't know what.
- Jouji (aka George): the King of ParaKiss (the name of their fashion group). He is talented, excentric, handsome, charismatic and a marvelous designer; his personality is a little twisted and one moment he can be completely sweet and then turn into a cold manipulating person. But he has his own story and you get to know why is he like that. He also falls in love with Yukari.
- Miwako: the most sweet and cute person in this whole world. She is the one that starts calling Yukari Caroline and doesn't hesitates in helping her. Sometimes acts like a child and dress herself in a "lolita" style. During the story you get to know her a little and in the end you just want to hug her and even eat her xD
- Arashi: his style is punk and, let me tell you, before I saw him I was always afraid of this kind of people but not anymore, hahaha. Besides being in ParaKiss he also plays in a band. He is Miwako's boyfriend. He seems like a cynical and abrasive person but in fact her cares deeply about those around him.
- Isabella: well, she is like the "mother" figure to the member's of ParaKiss but the only thing is... well, she is actually a "he". Nevertheless, is one of the most charismatic characters and I totally support her. In fact, she is the one who inspires George's first dress.

There's more characters who complete the story in a incredible way. Give it a try if you want to feel inspired and believe in dreams that are worthy of fighting.

Alaiel's Rating:

If you really like it, you can find it here:

Breve note: Looking for information and pictures of Paradise Kiss I found out that in 2007 an anime of 12 episodes was created and that in June of 2011 (this year) a "live-action" movie will be released in Japan. Here you can see a few pictures of the manga and the movie -click on them to enlarge-: