Paradise Kiss

Paradise Kiss, also abbreviated to ParaKiss, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It appeared as a serial in Shodensha's fashion magazine , with its chapters collected in five volumes. The series has also been adapted into a 12-episode anime series, produced by Aniplex and Studio Madhouse, and aired in Japan on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. The comic and the anime have become popular both domestically and internationally. The English version was published by Vertical, Inc. Paradise Kiss occurs in the same universe as Yazawa's previous work, Neighborhood Story. However, Paradise Kiss is a stand-alone story, as only three supporting characters from Neighborhood Story have major roles. Characters Portrayed by: Keiko Kitagawa, Sea Kumada (childhood) Yukari is a beautiful but arrogant high school senior that studies dutifully for her university entrance exams. She cannot find meaning in her straight-laced life of exams and feels that she has not actually lived at all. As a student at a prestigious high school, she begins with a snobbish attitude towards the fashion design students, looking down on them for being so radically different from her own path. After she witnesses the hard work that the ParaKiss members pour into their clothing line, her attitude towards them begins to change to one of admiration for their passion and courage to pursue their dreams. Her intense relationship with George also pushes her to pursue her own identity, encouraging her to assert herself despite the fact that she feels he is a cold and manipulative man. Yukari tries her best to be the kind of woman that she thinks George wants. The members of ParaKiss support her as she discovers new depths to her own ambitions by embarking on a professional modelling career, including the experience of being represented by an agency. She is often inexplicably referred to as "Caroline" or "Carrie" by the members of Paradise Kiss. In the manga, she eventually marries Hiroyuki after George leaves to pursue fashion design in Paris. In the anime, she marries an unnamed boyfriend assumed to be Hiroyuki. In the live-action film, she rejects Hiroyuki and finds George again while on a modelling job in New York. Portrayed by: Osamu Mukai George is a senior at Yazagaku fashion school with a gift for fashion design, particularly in haute couture.