Things have been quiet here onNishikata Film the past couple of weeks because I have been ill. When I am under the weather and sofa-bound, Iturn to what for me is the movie equivalent of chicken noodle soup: romanticmelodramas. 2011 has been so jam-packedfor me with work that I have not had the free time to indulge in the guiltypleasures of a cheesy romantic drama.
First on my list was the live actionadaptation of Ai Yazawa’s popular manga series Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス, 1999-2003). I am a huge fan of Yazawa and have beensuffering from withdrawal since she abruptly stopped writing her Nana (2000 – hopefully ongoing)manga series in 2009 due to illness. Paradise Kiss is a standalone sequel / spin off of Yazawa’s NeighbourhoodStory (1995-8). The manga tells thestory of a high school student called Yukari who gets discovered by somefashion students who want her to model the designs of their studio "Paradise Kiss" at their school's end of yearfashion show. Yukari is torn betweenher desire to give modelling a go and pleasing her mother, who puts a lot ofpressure on her to succeed academically and go on to a good university.
Like Nana, the fashion in the mangais influenced by British punk, Vivienne Westwood, and the Harajuku alternativefashion scene. The character of GeorgeKoizumi, for example, is based on the character of Brian Slade as played byJonathan Rhys Meyers in the film Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998). In addition to the avant-guard look of themanga, the central character has a strong coming-of-age storyline. Yukari (called Caroline by theParadise Kiss fashionistas) does not yet know who she is as a person or whatshe really wants to do with her life and she is struggling not only with theintense pressure her mother puts on her, but is also having to deal with confusingfeelings of sexual desire for the charismatic fashion designer George Koizumi. The manga also has a very strong supportingcast of characters with their own subplots – Isabella, a transgender woman andchildhood friend of George, and the love triangle between childhood friendsMiwako (whose sister was the central character in Neighbourhood Story), Arashi,and Hiroyuki.
The live action feature filmParadise Kiss (パラダイス・キス, 2011) is adapted from the manga by KenjiBando and directed by Takehiko Shinjo. Shinjo is known for directing romantic TV dramas and sentimental featurefilms like Heavenly Forest (ただ、君を愛してる, 2006) and I Give My First Love toYou (僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ, 2009). To put it plainly: Shinjo has basically given the story a TV-dorama makeover that guts theoriginal story of its edginess.
To begin with, the feature film iswoefully miscast. In the manga,Yukari/Caroline is taller and more sophisticated than most girls her age andreally stands out in a crowd. While sheis undoubtedly a beautiful young woman, actress Keiko Kitagawa is of average height. Ordinarily, height would not be much of anissue except that Yukari’s height and body type are the reasons why Arashipicks her out of the crowd in the opening scene of the manga. Kitagawa’s average height might not havestood out so much if it weren’t for the fact that Miwako, played by Aya Omasa,towers over her. Miwako is meant to be apetite “kawaii” girly girl – so tiny in the manga and anime as to be doll-like. Also miscast is Osamu Mukai who is much toosweet to play the charming but predatory George Koizumi.
I knew I was going to be deeplydisappointed right from the opening credits, which seemed more like an advertisementfor nail polish than the engaging, up-tempo montage opening of the anime. The music throughout is simpering J-popballads, which pale in contrast to the funky up-tempo music of the anime adaptation(IE Tomoko Kawase’s “Lonely in Gorgeous” and Franz Ferdinand’s “Do You Want To”). I am no fashion expert, butthe clothes looked more mainstream than avant-garde – instead of hiringVivienne Westwood to design the costumes (which would have been a lovelytribute to Ai Yazawa), the clothes seemed calculatedly selected with an eye tofashion magazine and store tie-ins.
Now I know that practically speaking thelimitations of time for a feature film meant that much of the subplots had tobe excised. Even the TV anime adaptationwith its 12 episodes found itself scrambling to fit everything in towards theend. However, the substantial cuts tothe subplots in the feature film meant that all the supporting cast were renderedone-dimensional. Isabella’s genderidentity only gets passing references – there is no depth to her relationship with George. Speaking of which, George’s sexuality is much less ambiguous than inthe manga/anime. Even worse, Arashi comes off as acreeper and Miwako as promiscuous.
What made Yukari special in theoriginal manga was the fact that her story was messy and complicated. Her friends also led messy and complicatedlives. There were no simple answers toproblems and her romantic feelings towards George and Hiro-kun were confused –just as it is in real life. By oversimplifying Yukari’s story, the filmmakers have just turned it into over-polishedDisneyesque schlock for teenaged girls. I don’t mind a fluffy sentimental romance now and then, but Paradise Kissshould have been more Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink (John Hughes, 1986) andless Sandra Dee circa late 1950s. This "happy ending" version of Paradise Kiss may have been enough to please thetarget audience of the film (IE adolescent girls), but to fans of theoriginal manga it is simply lacking.
Cast
Keiko Kitagawa as Yukari 'Caroline'Hayasaka
Osamu Mukai as Jōji 'George' Koizumi
Yusuke Yamamoto as Hiroyuki Tokumori
Shunji Igarashi as Isabella
Kento Kaku as Arashi Nagase
Aya Omasa as Miwako Sakurada
Natsuki Kato as Kaori Asō
Hitomi Takahashi as Yukino Koizumi
Shigemitsu Ogi as Joichi Nikaido
Michiko Hada as Yasuko Hayasaka
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