Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Paradise Kiss – episode 9

December 28, 2005 on 1:43 pm | In Paradise Kiss | Comments Off

“Designer”

I was going to say “Somehow we managed to get through an entire episode without George acting like a total bitch”, but then I realised he was pretty harsh to his mother at the beginning. So this episode can only win a few points for sensible George.

Otherwise, fairly good stuff.

Yukari realises that studying isn’t all that hard and applies herself to passing her exams. This is coupled with the startling revelation that she had only been away from home for six days, and only three of them were spent living at George’s house. Tokumori continues to be very nice to Yukari, and she realises that maybe George isn’t the nicest guy ever – but she just can’t help herself.
Meanwhile, the dress isn’t finished and the fashion show is mere days away. George isn’t worrying about it, and so the heat falls onto the other members of Paradise Kiss. It’s all a bit tricky for poor Miwako, Arashi and Isabella.

There are many wise things said in this episode, and they all come from Tokumori. “There’s a difference between being forced to do something and choosing to do it yourself” is the first thing that comes to mind, with Yukari finding a happier medium between school work and modelling.
Quitting cram school was a wise decision, but that’s the hardest part about watching anime that even vaguely attempts a realistic look at the education system: as an Australian, I have a different value set about this sort of thing. For all I know, Japanese audiences might be thinking “You fool! Go back to Cram School!”.
It’s one of those things that isn’t universal, but I suppose that’s ultimately the point of these things: we take things in different ways. My own way is to think that cram school places an unnecessary amount of pressure on students, but not existing in that context I can never be completely sure.

Tokumori’s other warning is thus: “being willful is not the same thing as being obstinate”. That guy is so damned wise, which makes Yukari realise that he is pretty mature and supportive, completely unlike George. George’s general attitude, along the lines of “which girlfriend?”, really get you down. I can’t complain about Yukari going back to him, though, as relationships are irrational. In addition to that, he may have become a better person with all of these developments. At the end of this episode I was instilled with a sense of hope: this is the main idea that anime has to offer me, and the reason I can be dashed upon the rocks. Will George dash me down again?

It’s good to see that Arashi and Miwako are back on track again and, for those paying attention, Mikako’s hair is blonde again and Alice has gone from pink to brunette. That family!

A strange thing that I’ve been noticing is a lopsidedness to the eyes of the characters; if you look hard enough, it is easy to realise that the eyes are not the same size or, indeed, even looking in the same direction, in some shots. This is highly distracting, and as I peruse my screen shots, it’s a lot more prevalent than I would have expected. Cross-eyed anime is not something I want to stick around for! (apologised to all those in the real life audience who are cross eyed: I have nothing against you).

Paradise Kiss is an odd duck: do I hope, or do I despair? Regardless, I liked this episode and once again have no idea whether the romance is doomed or if it will soar.