Creative Staff
Story/Art: Ai Yazawa
What They Say
A lot seems to be happening the life of Yukari Hayasaka. For starters, both her modeling career and her relationship with the enigmatic pretty boy George begin to take off. One day she’s a normal high school girl, the next she stops attending classes and gets scouted by a modeling agency. Yukari thinks she has it all now that she has George and the rest of her new friends at the atelier. However, what will happen when she realizes that maybe her love with George isn’t all that she fantasized it would be, and that she can’t run from her real life forever?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After a strong first volume that brought out a good deal of material, Paradise Kiss rolls into the second and continues to put Yukari on a big rollercoaster ride. Her discovery of George and the others in the group, the whole arts academy and what the students do there opened up her eyes in a big way to the world that’s out there. The reinforcement of the importance of it is made in this volume easily as we see more of her life overall where she’s been studying since such a young age in an effort to not disappoint her mother, even as her younger brother comes onto the scene and surpasses her in so many ways. Coming to that understanding of her isn’t exactly a surprise, but it makes her awakening to how others her age and a bit older have lived and that it can be done.
It also makes it clear that now that she’s decided to seriously start pursuing modeling after all that’s happened why the encounter with her mother goes as it does. Struggles between mothers and daughters are long, long documented and with the struggles these two have had, even now where her mother is pushing her so hard when it comes to school, it’s little surprise that Yukari just opts to run away entirely – when her mother is out for a few minutes. What’s really nicely done though is seeing how the gang at the atellier deal with it as they’re supportive in various ways while still trying to get her to do the right things. Especially since she wants to just skip school entirely and hit the modeling side. Of course, Geoge is as blasé about things as always since he wants her to make her own choices, but her problem comes in that she tries to make the choices she feels are right in her mind that she thinks George would want her to make. As much as she knows he wants someone who is strong and independent, she can’t help but to be influenced by him.
Yukari ends up bouncing around a bit when it comes to where she’s going to stay, with some amusing aspects to it, but the story does eventually move to getting her to live with George for a bit. The relationship between the two is the ultimate definition of “It’s Complicated” but it has that kind of difficult to discern nature that many kids this age go through, especially with the upbringing both of them have. Yukari in particularly is really difficult to grasp her, at least for me being a guy, but getting the inner monologue from her as she grapples with her feelings and desires and need to make him happy is engaging to watch unfold. But what really makes this a worthwhile read is that we do see them go through the progression of getting truly physical, especially with her being a virgin. There’s enough humor mixed into it with George worried they might get an X-rating, but in the end it’s a tender, difficult and scary first time for her that throws a huge curve into her relationship with him as she wants more, but doesn’t want the relationship to be defined by that.
Thankfully, this part of it doesn’t dominate the book as strong as a focus as it is. I really like the amount of time that’s spent on the way Yukari is pursuing her modeling career. While she does note at one point that it feels like things are coming too easily to her, something that the reader should easily pick up on, she at least gets some good advice on why she feels that way and how she can channel it well. With the friends she’s made and their connections, it does make sense that things come easily, especially when you add in her looks and general appeal for those that do hire. A lot of it is just pure luck, but such is the way for most things in life. And with what we know of Yukari and her past and the struggles that she’s gone through, seeing her find something she really likes and is good at and wanted for is definitely a big dose of excitement.
In Summary
With a beautifully done second volume, complete with a gorgeous cover, Paradise Kiss hits all the right notes here as it takes us through the middle arc of the series release. Yukari’s past is explored more here and it helps to really make it clear why she’s struggling with so many things but also why she really takes to everything that changes in her life. Her relationship with George isn’t danced around here, even Isabella notes that they’re straying significantly from standard shojo fare, but that is once more one of the main reasons this series garnered so much attention. The series continues to avoid being a static work with silly encounters that change nothing. I’ll easily admit that I understand Yukari only a bit more than I did almost a decade ago when I first read it, but such is the heart and mind of a young woman trying to figure out her feelings and life. It’s an engaging read that stands the test of time as a must-read series.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vertical
Release Date: December 4th, 2012
MSRP: $19.95
