The fashion students of Paradise Kiss are about to graduate, and each confronts his or her future–George and Yukari in particular. While Yukari struggles over her decision to give up on college for modeling, George must come to grips with his inability to treat fashion as a business. George’s fantastical, impractical clothes won’t sell and, with his father’s support in doubt, George’s mother has nothing to fall back on. Can he live without his passion? The Paradise Kiss gang are linked by a deep and unshakeable friendship, but emotional storms continue to threaten the couples. Yukari alternates between jealousy and guilt, while childhood secrets cause trouble between Arashi and Miwako. The final volume of Paradise Kiss will unravel some of its characters’ emotional tangles, but Ai Yazawa is too smart to make her characters suddenly change their ways. It’s not a Hollywood ending, but the conclusion is moving and satisfying. It also carries a valuable message about relationships noticeably lacking from most shojo manga: that people are not always right for each other, and that you should value your own dreams.
Paradise Kiss Volume 5
ISBN: 1591822424
by Ai Yazawa
Tokyopop, 2004
