Hmm...interesting that you thought the manga and the anime were very different...I found them to be almost identical in
overall plot (obviously not every detail could be squeezed in)
I thought the anime did a great job translating the style and mood of the manga as well
Not a bad review, but you might want to give a few more details about the plot and other characters
Paradise Kiss tv,manga Review
Story & Playability
Paradise Kiss is a small, renovated studio run by 4 students from Yazawa School for the Arts. Style and fashion sense are what make the grade at Yaza Arts, but all of that is far removed from the no-nonsense, study-all-the-time world of Yukari Hayasaka. Unfortunately, she happens to pass by Arashi, the punkish designer of ParaKiss, in the street. He thinks Yukari's bitchy looks is just perfect to model ParaKiss clothes.
Shocked by his bizarre appearance and intentions, Yukari tries to escape, but bumps into Isabella, is "captured" by "her", faints, and is brought to the Paradise Kiss atelier. She regains consciousness in the studio and meets the kind and childlike Miwako. The trio explains that they are students at the unique art school Yazawa Gakuen(School), and they ask her to be their model for the school's annual fashion show. At first she angrily declines and leaves in a huff, dropping her student ID. Soon after, she meets their eccentric leader/designer, George, who under the guise of returning the ID book, introduces Yukari to the world of fashion, to the world of Paradise Kiss. Drawn by the allure of Paradise Kiss members' determination and George's charisma, Yukari is quickly swept off her feet and into the cut-throat world of fashion and romance.
Characters
Yukari "Caroline" Hayasaka - A grouchy high school student who is tired of her meaningless and repetitive life. She ends up modelling for George's designs to get away from her boring life. Yukari is pretty much someone you can relate to. We go through stress from studies like she does, and we have the same thing going on everyday. Wake up, go to school, go home, do hmwrk, wake up, go to school....Furthermore, we have to live up to ppl's expectations. Its easy to relate to her bcos she's very realistic. She projects the very image of what students go through in life.
Jouji "George" Koizumi - A typical jerk. Someone who hides his thoughts from others making others not able to think what's he's thinking. He loves Yukari but likes to make her insecure. He's pretty adorable though and that is one of his points that made Yuakri in love him. He is the son of a father who is extremely rich (not to mention a womaniser) and an irresponsible mother, an ex-model, who feels that she should have never given birth to him, which explains his twisted personality.
Miwako Sakurada - A very sweet and cute individual who tends to act in a rather childlike manner. She is the younger sister of the creator of the "Happy Berry" brand. It is obvious she loves both Arashi and Hiroyuki but she chose Arashi thus will do anything to keep him happy.
Arashi Nagase - A boyfriend of Miwako who loves him despite his piercings [pins piercing!! ouch!] He is the son of a musician and a guitarist in a punk band. He tends to act rough, but can be very caring. Insecure when it comes to his relationship with Miwako.
Daisuke "Isabella" Yamamoto - Childhood pals with George. Originally a straight guy but that twisted George encouraged him to wear girls clothes. Thus, now he prefers to be thought of as a women and is MORTIFIED when referred to by his REAL name.
I give the story a rating of 8 bcos it is soo addictive. I am interested in fashion and well, this series is all about high-fashion! When i read the short synopsis of the story, i was like, "Oh my god!! What a great story!! I have to get this!!" So i went to my sis and begged her to buy it for me and so i collected the whole 5 volumes. It was enough for one volume to make me go ballistic. "I love this new manga! Its so different and cute!! I love George!! Arashi!!"
Simply put, i fell in love with this series when i saw the art and i know it is definitely a PROMISING series and well, the characters are so unbelivably charming, making the series a MUST-READ!
Rating:
Graphics
I basically love Ai Yazawa's art. Her ability to express emotion through facial expressions is some of the best I've seen. (Next to Fushigi Yuugi) My personal favorite from this volume is Arashi's "Don't point things to my BUTT!!" moment when George tried to threaten him.
Yazawa- sensei's interpretations of super-deformed characters are likewise hilarious. She drew it such that they have typical big-head, small-body and hilarious stick thin mini-characters with big eyes and mouths, and best of all, mood-hair. I love every line of Yazawa-sensei's drawings. One reason - they are very detailed! The characters are impossibly thin and long, and they all have their own unique and special individual style. The characeters make the story fascinating. Not to mention Yazawa- sensei's great taste for high fashion! The effort that goes into the outfits and the choice of screen tones is clear to see, and it's obvious that Yazawa-sensei spends most of her time chained to her desk. The comedic timing is flawless, and the characters have great speech patterns that fit their personalities.
PS: Just so you know, i fell in love with the art that i once made a blogskin out of Yukari and her dress !! I am so obsessed! Lol!
Rating:
Sound
This one is in referance to the anime. The opening theme song, "Lonely in Gorgeous," is performed by Tommy february6 aka Tomoko Kawase, vocals for band The Brilliant Green. The weird thing is that i didnt even know that Paradise Kiss was turned into an anime! It was only when i saw the opening video for the anime. So when i heard the song, i went ballistic...... I was like, "Kyaa!! What an upbeat song!!! I got to find this song!!" Lonely in Gorgeous has elements of goth and retro, as expected of Tommy February6, thus very pleasing to hear. Her voice sounds lazy in it, almost like she dragged her vocals which all the more makes the song appealing. Thus, matches the genre of the series.
I wasn't as psyched about the ending as i was with the opening. The ending features Franz Ferdinand's hit song "Do You Want To". Since Paradise Kiss is like a modern story, the song does fit but i am not so sure about the idea of having an english song for a japanese anime, you know what i mean?
I managed to watch only the first episode of the anime and i dislike it. First of all, the seiyuus sounded as if they are too old for the young characters. George's voice is too deep. I understand that his mature and all but his voice didnt match! FUrthermore, the story differs, waaaay different from the manga so i decided not to watch the anime.
Rating:
Fun
All in all, Paradise Kiss is a wonderful story packed with beautiful art, beautiful characters and not forgetting, beatiful designs! Personally i LOVE this manga and if i were given the chance to make everyone go out and buy the copies, i would! Its one of the best manga that i have ever read and i strongly recommend this to you.
Give Paradise Kiss a try, afterall, we have seen too many mangas that have big boobs, fighting scenes, love triangle, dramas and bla bla bla. Paradise Kiss is faar from that. It is a mature reading (meaning that relationships are handled maturely, no backstabbing or love triangles that cannot be solved) I really enjoyed reading Paradise Kiss. It doesnt lack in humour and is a fun read. Like i mention earlier, the comedic timing is flawless.
Although, the anime seemed to lack in humour and it doesnt follow exactly the manga storyline. Two chapters from the manga is packed into one episode of the anime. Making the jokes from the 2 episodes from the manga run dry in episode 1 of the anime. However, the animation production do try to slit in some comedy but its very difficult to laugh at them. The atmosphere projected in the anime is very tense and dark which differs from the atmosphere projected in the manga. (relaxed and soothing)
Paradise Kiss is definitely a MUST-READ! A Must-Watch? Nah! Give me the manga anytime. Trust me, you won't get Bored
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.3333 (above average)
Reviewed by cagalli88, Mar 19, 2006
Comments
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cyd84 Mar 19, 2006
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TheAskingTruth87 Mar 22, 2006
Well you might wanna take note that the reason that Yazawa-san makes her characters so thin with over-exaggeration on the body and not the head is because of Yazawa's training in the fashion industry. Going to school for design she draws in the traditional dress-form shape, showing the clothes more than anything else.
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Shadu Mar 22, 2006
Ai yah! I'm kind of sad that the end rating ended up being so. . . well. . . average. T_T But I do certainly agree with the comments you made about the greatness Yazawa brought to the series. ^_^ And you're absolutely right, it's never boring. :)
I've heard about there being an anime. . . wow. . . Is it much different from the manga? Interesting, interesting. . . ^_~
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Angeling Mar 22, 2006
i fell in love with the OP first den the anime and finally e book... haha... i'm still reading the manga so i'm not too sure if there is much differece... but frm the first 1 and a half volume it's pretty similiar... i loved the anime cos it's nice to be actually be able to see all the clothes in full color rather den juz black n white... the plot is totaly relatable which i guess is wat really attracted me cos i din really like the drawing at first (it's rather like fashion drawing rather den manga if you get wat i mean)... i would gif a final score of 8 - 8.5 and definitely a much much higher rating for the anime...
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Rassvetnaya Mar 24, 2006
also can't seebig difference between manga and anime...
but I like this series soooo much! characters are so stylisf and they never appear in the same clothes :-P I even started translation of subs into my native language :-D (I have never did it before). just wonder why the final score is just 7.33 :-( -
cagalli88 Mar 24, 2006
You are right, there's no big difference between the manga and anime but as i mentioned earlier, the jokes that's been passed in the manga runs dry in the anime. I enjoyed the manga, but i balanced out the presentation with the anime and manga. I love the manga but not so much the anime thus, the rating of 7.
The sound is with referance with the anime. I didnt like the ending song. In fact, i hate it. Lonely in Gorgeous ROX my socks but not the ending, hence the rating of 6.
Furthermore, the drawing in the anime is somehow diff from the manga. Arashi looked so old in the anime which really turns me off! Therefore my rating is 7.33 cos i balanced it all out. If this review doesnt have the category "Sound" which the manga obviously doesnt have, i would have rated it 9.33! No joke!
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Shufei Jun 07, 2006
Re: your puerile transphobia viz a viz Isabella Yamamoto, thanks for offending transgender people everywhere, bozo. You might want to check the user rules which you agreed to, which stipulate you oughtn't post items which are: "...harmful, insulting, threatening, abusive, invasive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, hateful, racially or otherwise objectionable..." So think twice next time, please.
Have some respect for Isabella, *she* and her name are beautiful.
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cagalli88 Jun 08, 2006
Err, Shufei...who are you talking to and i dun get wat "viz a viz" means...if ur talking to me, i personally love Isabella, i have nothing against whatever u called, "transgender"
If you read carefully, which i think u didnt, i didnt even insult Isabella for goodness sake!
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SanzosSaru Sep 11, 2006
I almost agree with everthing you said.
I love the story, and would have rated higher than you, only because of that WONDERFUL end (one of the best "ends" that's I've read...and had me obssesed with a long time). I pretty much identified with Yukari, and thus, hated her LOL. Characters are amazing, this author has an incredible ability to protray real life.
The OP drives me crazy, cause it's me and my friend's song: whenever I listen to it I go crazy and want to dance. It fits perfectly.About the anime...I don't agree with you. I don't know how much you've seen, but it's actually pretty faithful to the manga storyline...without humour, of course, but that's a given in anime(they tend to low down the humour and chibis, probably to make it flow smoothly). I found the anime incredibly good, both in design, animation and story. The voices are very strange at first, but you get used to them, and they sound less forced after a couple of episodes.
merged: 09-11-2006 ~ 08:22am
Also, I always found it funny that the author kept doing those wonderful designs and, when the final climax of the story apporached, the wonderful dress, it's...ummm...not that wonderful. Quite ugly, in fact ^^UFav character is Isabella^^
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Rhyme097 Sep 14, 2006
In fact i feel disappointed about this anime... I prefer the comic ... it's more interesting and it can tell us more details about relations in the story... I don't like the end of anime that not tell who's yukari's going to marry with !
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rukasu04 Mute Member Feb 08, 2010
Nice review
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