Spoiler ahead. If you prefer the suspense, click here.
Of course, that doesn't mean I wasn't about to watch it. Paradise Kiss is the kind of anime I have always been on the lookout for, having tired of the more popular shoujo and shounen offerings,which are both in sore need of higher MQs---maturity quotients. Paradise Kiss fits the bill.
Yukari thought that she would be doomed seeking her mother's approval forever. That is until George comes along. A professed bisexual, George reeks of sex appeal, it is no surprise that that impressionable Yukari throws all caution to the wind, runs away from home, sleeps with George on Arashi's bed (I could only hope Arashi does not have the he-man stink), and moves in with him. The son of a wealthy man and his mistress, George has talent designing haute couture as well as all the qualities that would make a woman swoon over. Almost. Arashi cautions Yukari about George's insensitivity, his vanity, and his inability to "make a woman happy" to which Yukari turns a deaf ear.
As for Hiroyuki, he is a stunner himself in his simplicity in contrast to George with his flamboyantly eccentric fashion sense (which actually works). Although in love with the oh-so-cute Miwako, that apparently is a past best forgotten (Arashi thinks otherwise, however), Hiroyuki nevertheless sets his sights on Yukari. His patience is rewarded; George and Yukari, after a tumultuous relationship, decide to call it quits following their second place win in the fashion show. Personally, it was a crushing blow, as I crusaded for their happy ever after starting episode one. Of course, as I was looking for a slice of life anime---and I definitely got it in this anime---I should have seen it coming. Real life rarely has happy ever afters, no?
Artwork is excellent. The colors are just so alive and the characters actually look different from each other (all right, it's either due to the hair or the clothes, but they still look different). The OST is spectacular. I particularly like both the opening (Tommy February6's "Lonely in Gorgeous") and the ending (Franz Ferdinand's "Do You Want To") themes, as well as Narasaki's Langsam Blut (notably played during the fashion show when Yukari appears onstage) and Wiedervereinigung (when George tells Yukari of his plans to go to Europe).
Regardless of its sad ending (hey, even though Yukari ended up with Hiroyuki, he's not George), Paradise Kiss gives no illusions about its content from the start---the fact that George is openly flirtatious with Seiji the hairdresser earlier in the anime should give an inkling that this is no Fushigi Yuugi (Tamahome! Miaka!). And that's what I like about this anime. I think the title Paradise Kiss is apt, too. After all, kisses, though with their illusions of paradise, can only be fleeting.
My rating: 10/10. This anime met my undisclosed criteria: It's short (only 12 episodes), it's realistic, yet it still made me fuzzy with all the romance.
Memorable scenes:
> George and Yukari first meet and he holds her student book hostage.
> Yukari puts on one of George's creations for the first time.
> George and Yukari first kiss outside the atelier.
> Yukari models for Miwako's sister, Mikako, in a photoshoot.
> George and Yukari finally hit the sheets in Arashi's apartment, although George isn't being romantic with Yukari's virginity.
> Yukari moves in with George.
> Yukari sees George in his Jaguar outside her school before she collapses in a febrile state.
> George asks Yukari if he can kiss her, to which Yukari refuses (he can after they win the fashion contest though).
> Yukari models the laboriously made blue gown for the fashion show/contest.
> George tells Yukari of his move to France; George and Yukari's eventual breakup.
> George sends Yukari the key to his storage of haute couture creations.