Yazawa Ai - Paradise Kiss, vol. 04-05 (Eng. trans.)
Fri, May. 25th, 2007 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceter(Now trying to post this for the 18th time.... LJ, never leave me again!)
This is one of Yazawa's weaker series, and probably her weakest since before Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, which is when I think she both found her art style and her voice. I am a little happier with it now that I've read the ending; while I can see why some people might dislike it, the end actually made me like the series more.
Spoilers for series
I think my problem with the series was that it was, in the end, about people trying to make unworkable relationships work. And I respect that as a narrative choice, particularly in the realm of shoujo, where you have True Love and marriage after high school in the spades. But I think I would have enjoyed it much more if the balance between "making the relationship work" and "realizing it won't" were more balanced. Instead, I got four and a half volumes of Yukari's attempts to make her relationship with George work, and I was screaming, "Nooooo! He is Not the One! He is not even close to being the One! He is on an entirely separate planet labelled Wrong and Bad!"
Ahem.
I don't hate George. I just think he is selfish and spoiled and bratty. Same with Arashi. And while I want to shake Miwako and Yukari a bit for staying with them, I generally feel that being selfish, spoiled and bratty is worse than enabling it (if both people are adults, mature or not).
As such, I wasn't very grumpy at all when Yukari realized that they just wouldn't work together, that they never really did. Because that was exactly what I had been thinking during the earlier volumes. I do wish that Miwako hadn't married Arashi, but... ah well.
The thing is, even when I was grumpy and upset, I could see that the characterization was pretty good; I have seen so many relationships like that with my friends that it was completely believable. But that's also why it was so frustrating! I'm usually the friend going around yelling, "Just break up with him/her! It is not working!" And then when it goes on even longer, I start tearing at my hair. On the other hand, the pacing did feel off, and hopefully I am not just saying this because I was frustrated by four volumes of on-again-off-again.
I think for the ending to have more effect, it should have happened a little earlier so that we could see why Miwako decided to stay with Arashi and how Yukari got over George, because a fast ten-year-skip to "Lalala I am great and happily married!" really doesn't cut it for me. It's somewhat annoying even when there is a happy ending, and it's downright criminal when there's a not-so-happy ending.
So. I'm still not quite sure what to think of the series as a whole; I don't think I'd actually rec it to anyone except a Yazawa completist, but if you've started it, it is worth continuing on to the end.
This is one of Yazawa's weaker series, and probably her weakest since before Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, which is when I think she both found her art style and her voice. I am a little happier with it now that I've read the ending; while I can see why some people might dislike it, the end actually made me like the series more.
Spoilers for series
I think my problem with the series was that it was, in the end, about people trying to make unworkable relationships work. And I respect that as a narrative choice, particularly in the realm of shoujo, where you have True Love and marriage after high school in the spades. But I think I would have enjoyed it much more if the balance between "making the relationship work" and "realizing it won't" were more balanced. Instead, I got four and a half volumes of Yukari's attempts to make her relationship with George work, and I was screaming, "Nooooo! He is Not the One! He is not even close to being the One! He is on an entirely separate planet labelled Wrong and Bad!"
Ahem.
I don't hate George. I just think he is selfish and spoiled and bratty. Same with Arashi. And while I want to shake Miwako and Yukari a bit for staying with them, I generally feel that being selfish, spoiled and bratty is worse than enabling it (if both people are adults, mature or not).
As such, I wasn't very grumpy at all when Yukari realized that they just wouldn't work together, that they never really did. Because that was exactly what I had been thinking during the earlier volumes. I do wish that Miwako hadn't married Arashi, but... ah well.
The thing is, even when I was grumpy and upset, I could see that the characterization was pretty good; I have seen so many relationships like that with my friends that it was completely believable. But that's also why it was so frustrating! I'm usually the friend going around yelling, "Just break up with him/her! It is not working!" And then when it goes on even longer, I start tearing at my hair. On the other hand, the pacing did feel off, and hopefully I am not just saying this because I was frustrated by four volumes of on-again-off-again.
I think for the ending to have more effect, it should have happened a little earlier so that we could see why Miwako decided to stay with Arashi and how Yukari got over George, because a fast ten-year-skip to "Lalala I am great and happily married!" really doesn't cut it for me. It's somewhat annoying even when there is a happy ending, and it's downright criminal when there's a not-so-happy ending.
So. I'm still not quite sure what to think of the series as a whole; I don't think I'd actually rec it to anyone except a Yazawa completist, but if you've started it, it is worth continuing on to the end.