The last thing Yukari wants to do is stand out. So when she met the punk with the piercings and the stately drag queen while walking home from school one day, she wanted nothing to do with them. But curiosity and fate are working against the young preppy as she finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into their high-fashion wonderland of Paradise Kiss. Yukari has just the look that the eccentric fashion troupe wants in their new model, and their mysterious leader, George, always gets what he wants.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
The leading "indy" shojo manga artist in Japan.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reluctant to review ParaKiss:,
By
This review is from: Paradise Kiss Vol 1 (Paperback)
Paradise Kiss is one of those mangas, or books, that will immediately catch your eye. When I had got a Tokyopop manga sampler book (before I was into manga) for my brother, as a prize from a summer reading club in 2002, and I read through it to see if anything in there was worth reading. There were two mangas that caught my attention: 1. Mars by Fuyumi Soryo and 2. Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa.
Now, Paradise Kiss immedfiately caught my eye was because of the unique drawing style. Since I initially read "Paradise Kiss" I have read hundreds of other series, and never have I seen a drawing style come close to Yazawa-san's. So, finally a year had passed since I read that sample of ParaKiss and after reading so much praise for the series; I got the first Volume for Christmas last year. Since I obtained it, I have read volume one about five different times (as well as started reading Gokinjo and more recently Nana 10/13/10). What made ParaKiss so unique to me that I read and reread the first volume so many times? Let me first give you a synopsis of the story: The story goes: Yukari is a high school student who recieves a lot of pressure from her parents and fellow students and teachers in school to excel and get into a good college. To Yukari if she is not placed in a good school; she is worthless. It is because of this pressure, she has never even considered an alternative to college; so even though she hates where she is headed, she continues in the same direction. Until one day she is taking a walk and thinking, and a weird guy named Arashi with piercings all over his face, sees her and asked her to be a model, Yukari attempts to run away, but she is snatched up by a drag queen named Isabella. She passes out from the shock of Isabella and is taken to their hang out where she also meets Miwako, a tiny and cute girl who she mistakes for an angel at first (Miwako is wearing a backpack with wings on it). They ask Yukari to model, she refuses, but cannot get these strange people out of her mind. Ai Yazawa has a way with quick snappy dialogue and such a unique art style, that even though the story is somewhat run of the mill, it makes the story feel fresh and new. This is what drew me into ParaKiss. We can understand Yukari's struggle to find her own path in life and not just take the path others have laid out for her. We can also understand her later attraction to George; the forbidden fruit. However, there is one other element that makes ParaKiss such a delight to read: the unique fashions! Ai Yazawa shows off the many different styles of Tokyo including Lolita and punk, and Aristocratic as well. If you enjoy Tokyo fashion you will enjoy ParaKiss for the fashion alone. In some later volumes there is some sexual content, so I it is not very appropriate for those under 16. If you have not read ParaKiss yet, I highly reccomend it. It is worth reading just for the breathtaking art. God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mind blowing shoujo manga,
By A Customer
This review is from: Paradise Kiss Vol 1 (Paperback)
God, this manga is mind blowing! I bought all four series at once and all i do is stay up till morning reading and rereading it. i would've given it 5 stars if not for the obvious Flaw: Yukari Hayasaka, the heroine.The story starts off with Yukari grumbling about how she hates the city, walking across the street, her nose stuck in a book. yep, she's your typical japanese-university-entrance-exams student. But she was picked out by a real punky dude who noticed her unusually tall height (for a Japanese) and she was immediately sort of harassed to go somewhere with him. She was caught by the punky guy, Arashi and his 'accomplice' Isabella, brought down to their comfy studio, the hq of their fashion brand 'Paradise Kiss', and was proposed to be their model for their school's annual fashion show/contest. Here she immediately blows them off, showing her all-Yukari bitchy self (on which showson her looks, & on which Arashi had initially singled her out for), telling them fashion design-istas are NOTHING compared to the uni-entrance-students lot. Arashi then loses her temper on her, dissing her right back for being so stuck up while they had been nice to her all the while and scolds for being all-godly about herself, and in shock/shame, Yukari speeds off the studio, in her haste she had dropped her students pass. Enter George(Gorgeous, more like) - Johji Koizumi - and he agrees after seeing Yukari's pic on the passbook, for her to be their model. He is, after all, their fashion designer extaordinaire, the 'lackeys' - Arashi, Isabella and Miwako - were Yazawa Arts school designer class rejects, after all. George is their king and master. They fear him. They are bewildered by him. They (Arashi, usually) constantly want to kill him. George, a self proclaimed bisexual, is weird, cocky and confused. Product of a loveless childhood - his father a multimillionaire who pours him with money, not love, and his mother the mistress, giving him neither. He pulls all his stunts to get Yukari to be their model,and eventually, she did. The story simply developes itself at its own pace, delving into each character's lives and family, pushing the importance of family and friends, love and some other stranger, deeper emotions. Yukari and George try to figure out their feelings for each other, Yukari trying to figure out herself, George's cold attitude towards love and emotions (on which he has close to none except perhaps sadness). Isabella with her gender crisis (or not anymore, thanks to Georgy) and Miwako and Arashi's completely bewildering romance. And Hiroyuki, who doesn't know where to begin or start. He just is. God what a manga. It balances almost perfectly between outrageous comedy, serious romance, drama and that damn-sweet clothes that they all don. But it rips your heart out in a way like you never known before. Prepare thyself.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally Absorbing,
By "stardust711" (usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Paradise Kiss Vol 1 (Paperback)
Well, I first got indroduced to manga by a foreign exchange student at our school. The first series she lend me were Peach Girl and I didn't really get too interested in it other than for the art.THEN she gave me Paradise Kiss....and that hooked me. Ai Yazawa's art is beautiful, I love all the characters and think George and Arashi are both handsome :-) (why don't guys look like manga characters in real life?) The clothes are equally beautiful and I have paged through all the books after I am done just to look at the beautiful pictures again. I found Caroline kind of snobbish at first but then i realized why by later books (her mother is very very strict)and felt more sorry for her. Miwako is so cute and innocent, Isabelle is graceful and mother-like, George is sly and handsome, and Arashi is emotional and dependant.(lol).The characters all relate so well. And about the "sex" scenes. They arn't that bad (then again its all drawn so wonderfully.....) i am waiting for the 5th book eagerly but i wish there would be more than just 5!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
So You'd Like to...
|
|
