4/14/2023 0 Comments Paradise kiss![]() Chibi versions of the main protagonists dance to the song ‘Do You Want To’ by indie Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. The song’s theme and the persona of the singer fit well with the anime.Įxperimental animation artist Hiroyuki Imaishi (今石浩之) created the closing animation. The accompanying song is ‘Lonely in Gorgeous’ by Tomoko Kawase as her alter ego Tommy February6. The opening sequence features a montage of images from Tokyo’s fashion district along with motifs and characters from Paradise Kiss. The opening and closing sequences deserve special mention. I also love the unusual wipes such as rolling flowers that transition between scenes. ![]() The idea of mixing of monochrome images of real Tokyo cityscapes with bright colourfully rendered characters and clothes derives from Yazawa’s manga, but the animators have added unusual little creatures who wriggle through still images of locations. The quirky, more avant-garde animation style of this anime makes it stand apart from other shoujo anime. For example, the idea that Isabella could live in such a castle and commute to Harajuku is highly unlikely and a bit over-the-top in my humble opinion. Sometimes the fantasy element of the tale strays away from credibility. George fascinates Yukari with his suave good-looks and expensive lifestyle, which is given a dash of realism with his alcoholic mother and distant father. Yukari also struggles with her romantic feelings for George, difficulties communicating with her mother and a mostly absent father who works away from home.Īt the same time, Paradise Kiss seduces with its glamorous depiction of the world of fashion and the sophisticated and exotic people who inhabit it. In terms of realism, Yukari’s ambivalence about whether to become a model or follow her mother’s wishes and attend university will strike a chord with young women of the same age. The series engages the audience with a clever mix of realism and fantasy. Enter the blue-haired George Koizumi, chief designer of the group and new focus for Yukari’s unfocused teenage desires. The fashion students feel that Yukari, with her tall, slender form and long, straight black hair (a novelty in this world of fantastic hair colours) would be the perfect model for their final design project. There she meets Arashi’s girlfriend, the pink-haired Miwako Sakurada, who welcomes Yukari as a friend by giving her the nickname Caroline. In the first episode, Yukari is discovered on the streets of what looks like Omotesando by Arashi Nagase who along with Isabella (née Daisuke Yamamoto) a tall, blue-haired transvestite, whisk Yukari away to their fashion design studio Paradise Kiss. She nurses a secret crush on her classmate Hiroyuki Tokumori. Yukari Hayasaka is in her final year at a private high school and is preparing for university exams. The central narrative of Paradise Kiss is a shōjo coming of age story. Yazawa began her career studying fashion design and the flamboyant style of Vivienne Westwood serves as a key influence in her work. Most of her manga incorporate themes of fashion and punk rock music. The manga-ka Ai Yazawa (矢沢あい) is currently one of the top selling manga artists for young women in Japan with Nana (ナナ) spawning a hit live action movie as well as a TV anime series. Some features of his style include irising, unusual camera angles, off-center framing, and a collage style that often features the mixing of monotone backgrounds and hyper-colourful moving figures. Kobayashi started out doing animated shorts and has made a number of music videos for Studio 4✬. Unlike the adaptations of series like Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto and Yazawa’s current hit Nana, Paradise Kiss was only funded for 12 episodes, meaning that the five-volume manga had to be stream-lined during the adaptation process.ĭirector Osamu Kobayashi (小林治) (along with the original manga itself) can largely be held responsible for the avant-garde look that Paradise Kiss has in contrast with other popular anime series. As to the latter complaint, I’m afraid that cuts are inevitable when adapting a work of art from book to the big screen. I personally like that the animation staff took risks by experimenting with technique in this series. The main complaints have been about the unusual animation style, in contrast to other mainstream anime-series, and the excising of a great deal of the original manga storyline. There has been much grumbling on blogs about the adaptation of Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss manga into an anime. The manga was first published in serialized form in Zipper fashion magazine. This 12 episode anime is adapted from Ai Yazawa’s 5 volume shōjo manga Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス), known to fans as ParaKiss (パラキス).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |