Paradise Kiss is one of the only two mangas I’ve actually read and watched (anime). The other one was Peach Girl. The latter being my most loved because though it was such an emotional roller coaster ride with Momo, Kairi, Toji and Sae but Miwa Ueda gave me such a wonderful ending. Let me just be clear that I have so much respect for Ai Yazawa but her ending for Paradise Kiss was such a disappointment. The ending for the manga and anime left me feeling empty and thinking of: “whatever happened to Yukari (Caroline/Carrie) and Jōji (George)’s passion?” I have to admit sometimes I’m doubtful of George’s feelings for Yukari but I know it’s there I can feel it, maybe not as much as Yukari’s but it’s definitely there. She is his muse for crying out loud! The guy maybe a cold-hearted bastard sometimes but I know he’s capable of loving. So Yukari ending up with Hiroyuki Tokumori felt like death of romance to me. I also have to say that Kaori Asō reminds me of the character Misao Aki on Peach Girl. Though they were not made to be hateful characters but they seem to infuriate me. But in my opinion Misao is way better than Kaori. Misao may have caused Momo a lot of grief but they were not done intentionally, the feelings are totally one-sided on Kairi’s part. It’s just that with her around Kairi feels like he can never love Momo as much as he loves Misao. Thankfully, Kairi later realizes that he never truly loved her, that he was just in love with the thought of being with her. Kaori however is different she has romantic feelings for George but refuses to have him because she knows George isn’t “the type to make a woman happy” in other words there will be times that he won’t meet her expectations so it will leave her heartbroken. What Kaori does instead is she kept on barging in his life every now and then as George’s “caring” friend and when she’s around Yukari have to adjust and become 2nd best in George’s eyes. Aarrrgh! In my honest opinion, Kaori could have save Yukari from the aggravation by being with George in the first place before those two meet (Yukari and George). If she’s so in love with George why not keep him to herself that way Yukari doesn’t have to go through those painful heartaches. But I know that there won’t be a Paradise Kiss if those things were to happen. LOL. Sorry I got carried away, I just really hate seeing my fave characters heartbroken so I seriously want characters like Kaori and Misao gone and never to be heard of again.
Anyway, few days ago after waiting for such a long time I must add, I was able to D/L the live action film of Paradise Kiss starring Osamu Mukai ♥ Keiko Kitagawa. I just have to say that I love YUI’s songs for the film it goes perfectly with it. I love, love, love it! I love every itty, bitty, tiny detail of the film! Thank you so much Takehiko Shinjo (director) and , Kenji Bando (writer) for giving me the right ending for Paradise Kiss!!! You guys are my hero for saving me from that bitter end of the manga and anime! I’m glad that only 3 years has passed before they found each other again because 10 years is just way freaking long!
That was the goddamn ending I was hoping for Paradise Kiss ^ ^ (photos above). I couldn’t be happier—- my dreams are not shattered anymore!
Now I can go back to believing in sappy romance and happily-ever-afters (^o^)y
P.S., I adore Kento Kaku as Arashi, Shunji Igarashi as Isabella and Yusuke Yamamoto as Hiroyuki (though I’m not really fond of this character in the manga and anime)
