This anime, based on this manga by Ai Yazawa, tells the story of a high school girl (there’s a shocker) Yukari, who usually has her nose to the grindstone trying to get through her high school exams. Unlike her perfect little brother, Yukari has to study nearly to death just to get by. Yet one day, a guy in punk rock gear chases her into a giant drag queen and everything changes.

Much like reality, life is meaningless and colorless without a drag queen in it, and Yukari discovers an entirely new world of possibility when it’s revealed these strange people she meets are part of Paradise Kiss; a group of fashion school students working together to start their own line of clothing and win the school’s competition. They all feel to win, they need Yukari as a model.

Enter George. Ok, George is kind of a dick and that’s being kind. As the resident bishonen, he’s charming, superhawt and omg, you just wanna bite him (says the anime, I seem to be immune), but he also has a short temper when it comes to little high school girls who think they know everything and expect men to do things for them without a lick of effort on their part. To which I agree. But he’s in COLLEGE! If you want that sort of maturity in your girlfriends, try not wooing high school girls!

I won’t spoil the outcome of the series but I will say, just like in the manga, Yukari gets better as she goes along. She learns there is more than one road to success outside ceaseless studying. The world has color and life and should be looked at every so often.

If you like the books, you should check out the anime just to see the fashions in glorious color and movement. They make so much more sense than back when I read the books. However, if you already read them, borrow the anime. I just don’t see much point in watching this one more than once. *shrugs*