While the men are not perfect and have their baggage, the only one that we actually explore to a more full extent is George. Many of those that make them suffer are, tragically, men. In the end, our main women characters suffer at the hands of others around them with no true autonomy on their part (it made me so MAD when Hiro says Miwako “chose” Arashi despite him raping her). My problems lie with the treatment of Yukari, her relationship with George (him as a whole), and the treatment of women (cis and trans) in a narrative meant to empower them. I told my friend, “I’d be so mad if I was actually keeping up with the serialization of this when this was initially coming out.”Īll in all, the story had the usual drama for a shoujo and Yukari as a character is infuriating for the right reasons: she’s a direction-less teenager trying to find her place in the world, and she stumbles and bumbles through life and her relationships with others. We go on this 800-some page story with her and we got That as an ending. It is infuriating because the heroine herself can’t even reconcile her own bullshit. George doesn’t suffer a single fucking consequence this entire story, and Yukari suffers them all. The same applies to Arashi to Miwako (that situation is truly a fucking MESS), but there is no apology or forgiveness given, not even on Yukari’s part. A genuine apology on George’s part to Yukari would have been stellar and a final meeting where they reconcile things would have been great. That isn’t the say we can’t have redemption arcs for people who hurt/abused those around them. “They have a bright future ahead of them because they’re so talented! So what if they abused the people around them?” What. That because someone is talented, it doesn’t matter if they’re a shitty person. Yet this ending tells you he is thriving. That dude deserves ZERO redemption or the opportunities he has been GIVEN. I want to believe she is happy and healthy and thriving, but goddamn, that last fucking page infuriated me. I want to believe that this ending Yukari has is good. That’s all I’m gonna say in regards to this shitshow. I also just really hate the way Yukari’s mom got off the hook because suddenly, Yukari was successful! She could flaunt Yukari off to others! Yay! The abuse is over! (It’s not.) It was a clusterfuck of Bad. Shocking, I know.ĭon’t even get me started on the treatment of Isabella as a trans character, George as a bisexual character (who is portrayed as greedy/sleeps around, has multiple partners without being polyamorous), and the treatment of Miwako with Arashi and Hiro. He receives no consequences for the way he has hurt other characters because guess what? He’s a spoiled rich kid. They try to make George a complex and sympathetic character, but that character can fall into a ditch for all I care. By the end, she still cares A LOT about this dude who hurt her consistently and gave her just enough signs of affection to keep her there.
It makes the reader sort of know this relationship for Yukari isn’t good, but by the same token, she wouldn’t have had any of the opportunities presented to her without this relationship.
There is a lot of… hm… rough shit to get through to get to the shining bits of this manga. This too is acknowledged by Yukari again, she doesn’t care. While he wants to control her, he also tells her he prefers independent women, not clingy ones, but his behavior suggests otherwise. He fully expects Yukari to bend to his will and shape her how he wants her to be, and Yukari acknowledges this she just doesn’t care. He too is controlling, emotionally abusive, and while he has spots of warmth, is cold, rude, and narcissistic. She has no direction in life, she wants to please her strict and emotionally/physically abusive mother, and she falls in love with the worst sort of guy she could possibly date. SpoilerYukari goes through what is essentially a midlife crisis at 17-18 years old. Paradise Kiss is one of those older, beloved shoujo that is definitely a product of its time, but it also feels rather modern. I actually finished this book the night before, but I wanted to stew in my thoughts before writing this review. I want to say that’s it, but it’s 9:35 am and I finished it at 1 in the morning. SpoilerSome here that I can remember, TW: abuse (physical/emotional) sex rape/sexual assault (mostly mentioned, but there are flashback snippets) biphobia (in the way it is both treated/portrayed) emotional manipulation nudity transphobia (in regards to Isabella) “dead naming” (in regards to Isabella). PLEASE CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK.
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