| Paradise Kiss | |
Cover of Volume 1 of Paradise kiss |
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| パラダイス・キス (Paradaisu Kisu) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Ai Yazawa |
| Published by | Shodensha |
| English publisher | Madman Entertainment Tokyopop |
| Demographic | Josei |
| Magazine | Zipper |
| English magazine | Smile |
| Original run | 1999 – 2003 |
| Volumes | 5 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Osamu Kobayashi |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Licensed by | Madman Entertainment Geneon Entertainment |
| Network | Fuji TV |
| English network | Imaginasian Animax |
| Original run | October 13, 2005 – December 29, 2005 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Live-action film | |
| Released | June 6, 2011 |
Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス Paradaisu Kisu), abbreviated to "ParaKiss",[1] is a manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It appeared as a serial in the Japanese manga magazine Zipper. Shodensha collected the chapters into five volumes. The series has also been adapted into a 12 episode anime series, produced by Aniplex and Studio Madhouse, and which was aired in Japan on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block and on the anime television network, Animax, who have broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including Japan, Southeast Asia and East Asia.
This comic and anime are widely popular not only in Japan, but in many countries around the world. The Paradise Kiss manga and anime has been translated and dubbed or subtitled from Japanese to at least ten different languages, Vietnamese, Chinese (Taiwan), Korean, French, Italian, Polish, Thai, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese (Hong Kong) and English. The English version is published by Tokyopop.
Paradise Kiss is the sequel to her previous work, Gokinjo Monogatari, which has not yet been published in English. However, Paradise Kiss is a stand-alone sequel because only three of the supporting characters are featured, and only as small children. Some of the main characters from Gokinjo Monogatari also make appearances throughout Paradise Kiss.
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In an interview in the January, 2007 issue of Newtype USA, director Osamu Kobayashi revealed many of the personal decisions which went into restructuring the manga into a television series. Wanting to avoid straying too far from the source material without approval, Kobayashi worked closely with Ai Yazawa on the new interpretations of the characters. In many instances, Yazawa was concerned that taking the original material straight would distract casual viewers or worse drive them away. Chief among these concerns was the handling of George's bisexual nature and interest in sadomasochism. Yazawa agreed that the dialogue should reflect this, but that actual onscreen depictions (as can be found in the original manga) were to be avoided. However, Kobayashi felt this was not being entirely true to the character, so he included a few hints of this side of George in the final episode. In another instance of modification, this time brought by Kobayashi, the character design of Arashi was modified to suit a scruffier, less slick appearance. "I wanted to make him look like Lupin the 3rd... sort of slouching and walking around with his hands in his pockets," Kobayashi explained. In agreement with the director, Yazawa went for the change.
One area Yazawa and Kobayashi did not agree on was the casting of Shunsuke Mizutani as Arashi. The fact that he was not a professional voice actor, but rather a musician, was the cause of this debate. Kobayashi had wanted a more natural performance that did not sound like the typical voice acting found in anime. "Yazawa and I even had a few rows because of that," Kobayashi explains. "But after she'd seen about three episodes, she finally admitted that Mizutani's voice is a great match, and I was able to relax."
In relation to the clothing design, despite the involvement of noted fashion creator Atsuro Tayama with all of George's outfits, most of the clothing was left largely as originally depicted in the manga. Director Kobayashi had specifically requested a real designer to work on the project, and Tayama's role on the production had originally been conceived as reworking the designs to fit better with the real world, but much to everyone's surprise, the original manga designs by Ai Yazawa were already quite good. So, Tayama mostly was involved in updating the clothes to suit the very latest hot trends, and touching up the designs to make them look and behave realistically when animated. He also provided cloth samples and photographs with all of his illustrations to aid the animators with getting the textures right. Besides George's outfits, the majority of clothing for the other characters was designed by art director Asami Kiyokawa. After the rough designs were completed, fellow artist Yuichi Suehiro drew all of the textures and lace by hand, and then scanned them into the computer and digitally applied them as textures during the animation coloring process.
Written by Ai Yazawa, the chapters of Paradise Kiss appeared as a serial in the Japanese fashion magazine Zipper from 1999 to 2003.[2]
Tokyopop licensed Paradise Kiss for an English-language release in North America and serialized it in its manga magazine Smile.[1] Tokyopop published the series from May 21, 2002 to March 9, 2004.[3] Madman Entertainment distributes the series in Australia and New Zealand.[4] The series is also licensed in France by Kana[5], in Poland by Waneko[6] and in Russia by Comics Factory.[7]
| No. | Japanese | North American | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | ISBN | Release date | ISBN | |
| 01 | — | — | May 21, 2002[3] | ISBN 978-1-931514-60-6 |
| 02 | — | — | August 13, 2002[3] | ISBN 978-1-931514-61-3 |
| 03 | — | — | October 15, 2002[3] | ISBN 978-1-59182-053-6 |
| 04 | — | — | January 14, 2003[3] | ISBN 978-1-59182-108-3 |
| 05 | — | — | March 9, 2004[3] | ISBN 978-1-59182-242-4 |
Produced by Madhouse Studios, the Paradise Kiss anime series began airing on October 10, 2005. Some well-known personages are staffed on the production of the Paradise Kiss series including director Osamu Kobayashi and Nobuteru Yūki, character designer and animation director for the opening sequence. It has been aired by the anime television network, Animax across its respective networks worldwide, including Japan, as well as Southeast Asia and East Asia, where the series received its first ever international broadcasts. The anime was licensed for release in North America by Geneon Entertainment. On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment will still retain the license, Funimation Entertainment will assume exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. Paradise Kiss was one of several titles involved in the deal.[8]
The opening is "Lonely in Gorgeous" by Tomoko Kawase (as alter ego Tommy February6). The ending theme features Franz Ferdinand's hit song "Do You Want To" over animation by the experimental animator Hiroyuki Imaishi. Both songs have been licensed for the American release.
Together with the Japanese production company IMJ, Fox International produced a live-action, Japanese-language film based on Paradise Kiss; The film has an estimated budget of US$3–4 million.[2]
The Paradise Kiss live-action features Keiko Kitagawa as Yukari Hayasaka and Osamu Mukai as George. Other cast members are Natsuki Katō as Kaori Aso, Aya Ōmasa as Miwako Sakurada, Kento Kaku as Arashi Nagase, Shunji Igarashi as Isabella Yamamoto, and Yūsuke Yamamoto as Tokumori Hiroyuki.[9]
The film is due for release in Japan in June 2011.[10]
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