Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Paradise Kiss – episode 7

December 12, 2005 on 4:38 pm | In Paradise Kiss | Comments Off

“Butterfly”

It’s scary just how much nicer than George Hiro is. New sides of some characters are shown, and some previously introduced aspects are emphasised.

Yukari moves into George’s apartment and languishes, then decides to get a job. Meanwhile Arashi is angry at Miwako but doesn’t tell her why, although we know that it is because she spoke to Hiro. The episode concludes with Yukari going to a modelling agency and being surprised by just how rude the boss is.

There are certainly ideas present in Paradise Kiss, but I am drifting further and further away from them. I suppose that when you can’t agree with what a character has chosen to do, it becomes harder to relate to them. I feel like I’m watching Yukari cruise through a patch in her life, trying to find meaning in modelling and remaining with the completely inconsistent George.

To call George “inconsistent” is not an insult to the writing of this series: I firmly believe that there are people in this world who can be nice and turn into total bastards in the space of a breath; I know a few myself. It’s tiring watching George fail to respond to Yukari when she wants attention and following up these little acts of bastardry with kindness when it’s too late. George is playing a game: the same game that he plays with everyone.

I liked the little bit of Isabella time that we got in this episode, but she always has exactly the same sorts of poses behind the Atelier bar. Therefore a transvestite, supposed to be a visually interesting being, is reduced to staticness. I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed. There was also a long shot that was obscenely poorly composed. If I’m going to have to watch Yukari and George from a middle distance, I don’t want them to amount to little more than shapes with dots for eyes.

Given that I haven’t read the manga and don’t know where it’s going, I’m kind of glad it’s scheduled to end at 13. The balance simply isn’t there, and I’m feeling a funk. I’m not sure if Paradise Kiss has soured, or if it’s just me.
Don’t heed my words as a condemnation, as I am still slightly compelled and I would watch it all the way even if it had 26 episodes. I just wish Yukari’s path of discovery was executed a little bit better …

Update: I realised in retrospect that I was super ultra harsh about this episode, and that’s not entirely representative of my true feelings; I liked the sequence that showed Yukari’s feelings towards her mother.