Paradise Kiss ep.9

December 9, 2005 | 6 Comments

I think I finally understand the purpose of the random live-action sequence at the start of each episode. I get the impression that the scenes supposed to represent Yukari's black and white world that is slowly but surely becomes colourful due to George and the rest Parakiss members' influence. This becomes rather clear in this episode when the black and white photograph morphs into a color version of the scene. I am also pleased to see the improvement in the quality of the animation in this episode. Some of the objects depicted in this episode, especially those in Mikako's house, is simply too amusing to see. This is the first time I've seen a toaster that creates a bear-shaped toast mark on the sides. I hope next week's animation will be equally as good because I think that's the episode that will feature the fashion show.

This episode begins with George finding his mother, Yukino, sleeping in the couch while Yukari is back sleeping in her own house. Yukari seems unable to forget of the 3 days she spent with George. She feels a bit happy that during those time, George always slept facing her but the memory of those days also makes her cry a lot. The next day, George is seen trying to awaken his mother by telling her that she'll catch a cold if she continues to sleep outside. Upon hearing George's voice, Yukino points out that his voice and face reminds her of his father. George asks her if his father was as good as him back then. Yukino quickly deflates his ego by telling him that his arrogance reminds her of the old man as well. George then reveals his true personality and tells his mother not to talk to him if she doesn't feel like it. Because she doesn't feel like arguing some more, Yukino decides to tell George that Yukari left the apartment last night.

Yukino seems to be impressed with Yukari's personality or she could be lying through her teeth. George, however, thinks that Yukari is an annoying woman. Upon hearing this Yukino tries to tell George that it's much better to care for those that are important to him. George replies by telling her not to worry because unlike his father, he won't abandon his own mother. Yukino immediately tells the bastard that she's not talking about her but George replies that he's sorry for assuming, but he believes that women tend to think only about themselves. Meanwhile, Yukari is seen back at her school and promptly receives stares from her fellow students. Yukari's friend is disappointed to know that Yukari simply got sick instead of running away with a guy. Hiro then arrives so Yukari asks him to help her catch up with a subject. Hiro agress and was quite surprised when during the lesson Yukari writes "I'm sorry about yesterday".

Later on, Yukari tells Hiro that she'll have to do some make 3 subjects' substitute exam starting from next week. She also mentions that strangely after her parents tell her that they leave the decision to enter uni to her, she decides that maybe going to University is not a bad idea after all. Hiro laughs upon hearing this but kindly tells her that he can understasnd that making one's own decision is different from being told what to do. Hiro also tells Yukari that going to a college is a good back-up plan should the modelling gig doesn't take off. A few days later, Shimamoto comes over to Yukari's house to obtain her approval. In her pitch, Shimamoto assures Yukari's mother that she will only have big names working with Yukari. Thanks to Shimamoto's persuasive words, Yukari's mother agrees to discuss it with her husband. Nevertheless, she reminds Yukari that if she wants to make up for this kindness, she should study.

The next day, Miwako is awakened by her alarm clock and proceeds to make her way to the breakfast table. Miwako complains about the fact that she gets to wake up early even though she came home late just like Tsutomu, Mikako's husband. Mikako doesn't sympathise with her sister since she thinks Miwako just spends her night with Arashi. Miwako denies this and claims that she's been working hard at Atelier to prepare for the show. Miwako is stressed out when Alice reminds her that the show will happen on Friday, aka tomorrow. Mikako is surprised that they still haven't finished the dress even though they have four people in the group. Miwako explains that they've actually finished the dress but not the tiara, necklace and the shoes and George, being the perfectionist that he is, refuses to compromise. Mikako understands this but she thinks one can't be a perfectionist when designing clothes because then one will never make it.

Cut to a shot of George admiring each and every aspect of the shoes he's trying to design before the conversation shifts to Isabella and Miwako talking about being perfectionist. Isabella agrees with Mikako that once you're working, you have to design a lot of clothes so you needs lots of employer and lots of people to wear/buy it. Therefore it's impossible to ensure that everything goes to one's ideal plan. Miwako, however, thinks that her sister is also a perfectionist and yet she's successful so she thinks maybe George has a chance. Arashi quickly tells Miwako that unlike Mikako, George is a perfectionist and an idealist. He thinks George needs to be more realistic if he wants to be in the business because this is not a show business. All of a sudden, however, they hear the voice of their teacher, Hamada-sensei expressing her unhappiness because they've been skipping class.

Miwako and Isabella immediately go into panic overdrive and try to hide their work but unfortunately Hamada-sensei spots the tiara they are trying to make and confiscate it on the grounds that they make it during class time. She also tries to confiscate the neckclace as well but Arashi manages to run away with it, forcing Hamada-sensei to chase after him. Nevertheless, Miwako is devastated because they have invested a lot of time making those accessories. Isabella tries to calm her down and tells her that they will talk to George about it since they have a rehearsal soon. Meanwhile, Yukari narrates how it's been 6 days since she last saw George. She keeps checking her email but there wasn't any coming from George. Strangely she finds her study going quite well although she ends up having to stay in the sick room at one time because her body doesn't get enough sleep and food. On her way out of the sick room, she encounters a worried Hiro.

Yukari assures the guy that she's okay and intends on going to Atelier for the rehearsal. Hiro wonders if it's okay if Yukari pushes herself because there's a likelihood that she could colapse on the actual fashion show. Yukari, however, insist on going so Hiro tells her that he won't stop her. Besides, Hiro thinks that she will go anyway even if he tries to stop her. Nevertheless, he asks Yukari not to push herself too hard. Yukari seems to be surprised to hear Hiro's answer and realises how kind Hiro is in comparison to George, who often acts like a child who toys with people's feelings and hurt them. She feels that she's a mess everytime she's with George. Unfortunately Yukari's good sense immediately goes out of the window the minute she spots George's car and claims that without George, her life feels lonely. As Yukari's comes closer to the car, however, she falls unconscious. When Yukari regains her consciousness, she's in the hospital due to lack of nutrient.

George seems to be worried about her, surprising Yukari herself since he hasn't been in contact with her in the last 6 days. George claims that he keeps his cell phone on throughout the week and that was the first time he did it for anyone. Later on at the Atelier, Arashi informs Yukari that about the incident with Hamada-sensei and how even he failed to secure the necklace at the end of the day. As if this is not bad enough, George apparently does not have a backup plan to overcome this problem. Later on when Yukari is about to go home, George offers to take her back but Yukari refuses and tells him that she can go back on her own. Besides, she feels that George is needed by the others to finish the dress. In the end George relents and asks Yukari if he can kiss her. Yukari blushes at first but then keeps her cool and tells George that she will kiss him if he wins the grand prize. Strangely, George actually smiles upon hearing her answer.

Impression:

I really like the part where Arashi, Isabella, and Miwako talks about the reality of working in the design industry. I agree that unfortunately, the industry has little to no place for perfectionist because everything happens so quickly that one must be efficient in order to work in the industry. Characterisation-wise, I'm not happy that Yukari seems to be keen to go back with George but I'll chalk it up as one of those 'one step forward, two steps back'. I do, however, like the contrast between George and Hiro, each of whom represents immaturity and maturity. The comparison, however, makes it harder to like George because with each appearance, George appears to have some kind of MPD where he will be nice in a minute and cold and harsh the next one. Anyway, this episode doesn't actually cover much of volume 4 of the manga. That means, next week's episode will be either packed with stories or they will indeed cut down Isabella's background story.

© memento 2003