Batwoman is amazing
Why does bad shit all come at once like jesus christ. I’m strong enough to take it and I’ll support everyone but my god life hasn’t been this stressful in a long time.
He remembers those vanished years. As though looking through a dusty window pane, the past is something he could see, but not touch. And everything he sees is blurred and indistinct.
“
| — | Yeah so I watched In the mood for love ;) |
So I finally saw the paradise kiss movie
This is going to be long so I hope you are sitting comfortably.
Paradise kiss was a manga I held dear to my heart it was one of my first Ai Yazawa reads and although I to this day think it is one of her weaker works and that it was way too condensed it still remains dear to me as it is the beginning of Ai Yazawa’s cross over into genius. Now I won’t go too into the plot so I’ll just paste from wiki and then mention details so that this review to none Parakiss readers makes more sense.
“Yukari is a pretty-faced high school senior that studies dutifully for her university entrance exams, but cannot find meaning in her repetitive life and feels that she has not lived at all. Although she starts with a snobbish attitude towards the fashion design students, she eventually becomes the model for Paradise Kiss after being scouted by Arashi, “kidnapped” by Isabella, and whisked away to Paradise Kiss’ lounge-like “atelier”. Her intense relationship with George pushes her to mature further, despite the fact that she feels he is manipulative and cold. She is often referred to, inexplicably, as “Caroline” by Miwako. After she meets the ParaKiss crew, she discovers all new depths to her ambitions and personality.”
Now what makes Paradise kiss so different from all the usual model/shoujo stories out there was that it was more realistic. The relationship between George and Yukari was deeply flawed and based on Georges need to create his ideal vision of a woman and muse within Yukari. The scales of love and need constantly turned as in the begining of the manga Yukari is very much inlove with George and needs him more than George needs her. Towards the end of the manga you can see George and his presentation of himself begin to unravel and he begins to cling to Yukari a little more although he continues to treat her pretty terribly causing her to doubt him and their relationship. Yukari herself is not without flaws she has been brought up in a strict suffocating environment that had led her to become selfish and snobbish traits that don’t entirely disappear however in the relationship the clearest trait that develops is Yukari’s clingy and jealous nature but ultimately she become more realistic whereas George becomes more of a dreamer and this clear divide is what is the nail in the coffin for them.
In the film all these elements are forgotten or diluted the romance between George and Yukari plays out like one of the many shoujo manga’s that the original parakiss strived in not being. The interesting back story and ultimately the sex is all cut out giving a disappointing and unrealistic feel. The actors I feel were all capable of more even the lackluster George who just seems a little boring in comparison to the charming and intense manga/anime portrayal. Yukari is fine enough although I would have liked her to be more of a traditional Japanese beauty as she does look very modern in this interpretation and always done up even in the pre-made over scenes. I would have like her hair to the jet black hair of the manga. I did enjoy Miwako some times she really did nail the Miwako voice but she is given few lines and her close girly relationship with Yukari isn’t really played upon. Arashi needs more piercings and more bleach in his hair to be even considered the Arashi from the Manga, his and Miwako’s back story is touched upon but the interesting and deep elements are all left out making Arashi come across as a one dimensional overly jealous boyfriend. Isabella is fine at least we got to see some of her storyline although the interactions with George are cut to a minimal and her own love for him is disregarded. Tokimori was just a bit of a mess and I wondered why they even bothered keeping him in if not to cause a kind of obstacle between George and Yukari. The parts omitted are depressingly important and left the character’s significantly reduced.
The clothing was the worst part of the film, all the gorgeous designs were left largely on paper and even the final show dress looks horrible and ill fitting of the actress, George speaks often of his genius but the film fails to show this and it looks like the budget was blown on location rather than wardrobe. George has lost his close cropped green hair and instead has rather long locks that hide under various hideous hats that do not suit the actor at all but I gladly put up with them because his actual hair looked terrible! I don’t know if the original manga designs were scrapped in favour of more “modern” designs but Ai Yazawa knows fashion better than any Manga artist out there and one of the reasons fans would go near this film would have been for the clothes but they like the characters are diluted and look cheap.
Ultimately us Ai Yazawa fans looking to rekindle some of that magic that has been missing since her long absence of now two years will find little of that spark, all this film does is make me miss her more and miss reading her intense and complicated mangas. I would stay away from this film if you want to relive those memorable paradise kiss moments and only watch if you can see it as a completely different film of no relation to its source material.
