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

Itou, Yukihiro Producer

Reviews

Jun 28, 2008

Ranivus

Recommended

Please read my review before pressing that nothelpful button
Cool is what rules in this anime. Everything in the artwork, characters, attitude, and even the story just emanates cool and they even do it with an attitude. As you already know it's about a girl named Yukari thats not to sure about her future. Just by a chance encounter on the street gets discovered by the most unsuitable of characters.


Story - (Outstanding)
The story is a typical love drama, but the setting, characters, and personalities are what make this completely different from the rest of group. It takes a more realistic approach toward drama. Something you'd see ... out of a prime time drama show on TV would be more comparable than any other anime. They take life and their hardships and don't really "anime coat" it. Things like arguing, love, and brainstorming are done with a minimum of two people, its never one sided. When i mean 'anime-coating,' i mean like areguments are hardly ever one sided, both persons actually prove a good point. Love is also a good point, it actually gets some resolve and doesn't stay in "should i confess to him" anime-limbo. But already, I'm saying a bit much but since the anime is a short and fast 12 episodes, it makes sense for it not to drag such emotions like love and friendship. It defintely has the feel of a western drama instead of an anime drama.

Art - (Outstanding)
The art work is also something that surprised me. Like any average viewer, they'd get wierded out if they start seeing their anime characters with proportionate body parts (i.e. normal sized eyes, mouth, and even a nose). Once the shock of adjusting to the art style, this is easily one of the best looking show's i have ever layed eyes on. It's also centered around pop-culture and style, so everything they wear is completely trendy and detailed. From safety pins as piercings, hair stylings, makeup, and even clothing are displayed with insane detail. At any one time, you can count all the earrings on one characters ear, or how many necklaces one is wearing, and even the type of fabric is on their scarf. Every character actually dresses different every episode and thats quite a refreshing take as opposed to the same-school-clothes-everyday-look of other dramas. My favorite part of the show (and what you should notice) is how they manage to make Yukari even more beautiful than before every episode. You'll notice the subtle changes in not her clothing but her attitude and demeanor as well.
On occasion, some anime are only able to survive with great artwork and have a horrible storyline but this manages to have both an outstanding artwork and story. On top of that having to put real world product placement (Jaguar, Benz, Sony, Zipper, etc) just increases the detail tenfold.

Sound - (Outstanding)
The sound effects are nothing spectacular but you will notice one thing. There is a rather large lack of it. And that is how it should be in a drama. Nothing should interfere with the drama unfolding on the screen. So all that you're left with is the top notch, tear jerking, believable voice acting and environmental sound effects. The music is placed very skillfully as well. For the most part, they'll be played on jukeboxes, radios, and the like. And they're actual j-pop songs playing instead of just instrumentals. And speaking of j-pop, the OP was just perfect for for the show, as it had the feel of a Madonna-ish song which gave it a 'glamorous' feeling to set you in the mood of watching it. And the ED song by Franz Ferdinad is just pure fun. Especially how they manage to blend it with the end of the episode to the credits and don't just do a quick cut to the credits like normal.

Character - (Outstanding)
The characters are something to believe as well. Once all the characters are through with the introductions you will notice one thing right away. They are all so carefree and believable. I even had a nostalgic feeling seeing how the characters would talk amongst each other and just enjoyed the moment. Of course it doesn't the story doesn't stray too far away from Yukari since she is the star of this show. They all play their role so believably I can't help but have this feeling of amazement that there ARE anime that can pull off such intriguing drama.

Enjoyment - (Outstanding)
This show is unlike any other drama anime I have seen to date (top right). Rather, its more comparable to things like the likes of Greys Anatomy, the O.C., or even Party of Five. If you like or enjoy shows such as that I highly recommend giving this eye candy of an anime a try. I even found this A LOT better than Lovely Complex. Don't be fooled by the artwork if you find it a turnoff, its one of the best anime drama's I've ever seen.

Xinil said it best: "it's for a mature audience. It doesn't cater to narutards"
...thats the truth

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 7, 2016

gottoadmititnow

Mixed Feelings

I finished paradise kiss in one day, which is quick for me even though there are only 12 episodes, but I can't say I liked watching it. It was inspiring, sure, and the art was great, but from the beginning to the end I felt an underlying bitterness that I couldn't get out of.

NO SPOILERS AHEAD

THE CHARACTERS
So, even though some of the interaction in paradise kiss was more realistic than in other shoujo anime, I never got to liking the characters. The main girl didn't really have anything going for her and her love interest was extremely selfish. The fact that they fell ... in love felt unrealistic to me, the love itself felt more like lust and infatuation, too insecure and I personally just didn't see the point. Even though the other characters were reasonably interesting, I found that the little backstory they got was rushed, and I never got to liking them either. No-one made me smile and I wasn't particularly rooting for anyone. I think the makers were going for a realistic vibe, but part of life is the fun and I didn't have it, and I never really saw the characters have it. So why did I keep watching?

FASCINATION
Most stories I love are the ones that have great characters, reasonably realistic and lovable. And though I think these were meant to be lovable or at least have some appeal they all seemed desperate to me. It missed one of the essential parts that I look for: Comfort. I need a bit of hope and comfort, a great friendship or deep trust or a love story that isn't just driven by passion. When none of that is there it just sort of drags on for me. I did keep watching, not really because I wanted to know about the characters but because I got fascinated by the feeling that it gave me. Somehow I just got an incredible feeling of growing bitterness and despair from every episode. I didn't really care about the story but it did teach me things about what I absolutely don't want from life. I'm a songwriter and I paused several times to write songs because it gave me that feeling of at least knowing my own priorities and goals. They were all pretty dark songs. I certainly found it interesting to watch but I'm never going to watch it again. It's just something I wanted finished, but the fact that I didn't stop proved that I was fascinated, which is why the score isn't dramatic.

BE WARNED
Don't go in expecting a happy go lucky anime, I know, I probably already made that pretty clear. I don't think everyone finds it depressing, but I do, and it kept eating away at me. I get that some people love this anime, and some who crave realism might find what they are looking for. But personally I didn't find the story all that realistic and it just mostly made me feel kind of empty. To me the world doesn't look anything like it was portrayed (figuratively, not literally of course) I hadn't meant to give it a five but I writing this I just couldn't feel good about these aspects of the anime.

SO ENOUGH DEPRESSING STUFF
The art was, well, ART, it was beautiful, a bit more realistic than most anime and really artistically done. The colors were great, I never once skipped the theme-song-video and it was overall pretty awesome. Some of the same shots were used a few times randomly, which bothered me a bit but I liked it a lot overall. It really fit the story and the vibe too. The music didn't stand out for me but never really bothered me either.

YOU MIGHT LOVE IT
I do think that some people will love it, it might really just be personal perspective or priorities, it was interesting, beautiful and flamboyant, and I do think the dialogue was well done and more like the actual confused human beings we all are than a lot of other shoujo anime. I just couldn't see the point in the choices the characters made and I didn't believe them to be real, so the dialogue sort of drowned in that frustration. The anime left me feeling a little hollow which could be either a good sign or a bad sign, I'm not sure yet.

I hope this helped in making your choice, I can't really recommend it but I can't say you won't love it either so good luck!

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jun 6, 2017

Hachiko75

Not Recommended

I tried watching this a few years back and only got up to episode two before calling it quits. The only reason I went back and tried again was that I wanted to watch something similar to Nana. And I actually believed I could find an anime with a balance of story with actual intimacy without it being boring.

Sadly to say I didn't find what I was looking for.

I watched this dubbed but I'm sure watching it subbed wouldn't have mattered too much anyway. But for the dubbed version, the voice acting was so terrible that it took out any emotion they were trying to ... convey.

Yukari was such a bitch I didn't see any growth in her. She was a teen with no identity and acted as a robot for her mom. But even when she rebelled she acted stupidly. The stupidest line in this entire anime from her was "There's no point in fishing high school if you're not going to go to college."

George didn't seem like a teen. He seemed much older. Not to say he was mature though. He was a jerk who tried to come off as cool but was just as boring to watching. I didn't see or feel any kind of chemistry between him and Yukari.

Miwako, like some characters, reminded me of characters from Nana, not surprise there, She reminded me of Misato. But Misato did not have an annoying, fake voice in the dubbed version and she came off as much more mature for a kid. Her relationship with Arashi was a little interesting but they didn't show as many scenes with them for me to care enough.

Arashi reminds me of Nobu, but of course, Nobu, like most of the Nana characters, are much more mature. This guy who ironically had safety pins for piercings was a typical, cliche jerk who happened to be the "voice of reason".

That Hiro guy was the most annoying busybody.

I feel like the anime had potential if it had gone a different route and had more episodes. But in the end, it just didn't work for me.

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 2 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	37 replies	by hales_comet »» Jan 25, 6:34 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Firemonkey5 - Mar 26, 2008	150 replies	by nanakillu »» Jan 15, 4:46 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 10 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	39 replies	by KingYoshi »» Dec 11, 2025 5:27 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) jacobpaige - May 17, 2008	77 replies	by Amairin »» Oct 6, 2025 4:37 PM
	Poll: Paradise Kiss Episode 3 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 28, 2008	44 replies	by cupid02_ »» Sep 15, 2025 8:40 PM

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