Paradise Kiss Ep 06: NEW WORLD

I was 5 when I took an entrance exam for the first time. As compared to failing to enter a famous university's affiliated primary school, I was more upset at seeing my mother's disappointed expression.

Yukari meets Mikako at the restaurant where the photoshoot is taking place and remarks that the latter and Miwako look identical. Mikako says that she's always been mistaken by others and wonders if she looks that childish despite being 36 and having a daughter.

Mikako brings Yukari to meet the staff including her husband Tsutomu, the photographer and gives them a shock at how good Yukari looks. One of them, Higasa mentions that Mikako rejected all her suggestions for the replacement model which made them worry whom Mikako was going to get for the photoshoot. However, upon seeing Yukari, they are glad that Mikako made the right choice. When Yukari sees that Seiji is the make-up artist, she starts to blush which makes Seiji ask if she's feeling unwell. Yukari replies that she's fine so as to conceal her nervousness as she doesn't want to disappoint the staff especially Mikako who picked her for the job.

Seiji suddenly asks Yukari why she decided to take up this job but she's unable to answer. This makes Seiji tease her for being "threatened" by Mikako to come and his words are overheard by Mikako. Hearing the bantering around her, Yukari starts to relax and feel less anxious about what is going to happen during the photoshoot.

When I entered a public primary school, I made up my mind to aim for a famous private junior high school in my vicinity. My success in achieving this goal brought me great pride as it was to compensate for my failure to get into a private primary school. At that time, my father had to be transferred to another place for work so my mother used my studies as a reason to stay behind in Tokyo. However, as I wasn't cut out for that junior high school, it was a torture trying to keep up with the pace and my results were always below average. As a result, my mother showed her disappointment with me openly and things got worse when my younger brother made it easily into the private primary school which I failed to enter. Although I have been largely ignored due to my academic weakness, the only thing I could do was to try to do well so as to get into my parents' good books. Wearing the uniform of a famous senior high school was the sole source where I could feel proud about myself. However, after meeting the members of Parakiss, I feel that there are other things I can do to prove my worth in life.

The photoshoot progresses smoothly and everyone is full of praises for Yukari's performance. At the same time, Yukari is happy to know that she can fit into the fashion arena which is so serious about each minute detail. When the work is completed, Mikako invites Yukari to stay for dinner but she has to go since Miwako and gang are waiting for her in the atelier. Mikako teases Yukari for going on a date with George which the latter is quick to deny but she sings praises of George and says that Yukari is lucky to grab such a guy. This makes Yukari quite embarrassed though. Yukari then bumps into Seiji at the corridor who tells her that George asked him to look out for Yukari since this is her first photoshoot. However, Seiji says that there wasn't such a need since Yukari did very well.

During dinner at the atelier, everyone is marvelling at how beautiful Yukari looks which makes her blush in embarrassment. Later, George sends Yukari back to Arashi's apartment where she is staying at the moment. When Yukari finds out that there is little time till the fashion show, she asks George if they can finish the dress by then but he's not too bothered by the lack of time and has confidence that everything will go smoothly. Yukari disses George for being too arrogant when he suddenly bends over and asks to kiss her.

Meanwhile, Arashi sends Miwako home and they find out that Mikako and Tsutomu have already returned home. As such, Arashi decides to go back to his family home since he can't spend the night at their place and his apartment is taken up by Yukari.

When George says that he is going home, Yukari invites him to enter her apartment for tea but he mocks her for using such an indirect method to make him stay. This makes Yukari angry and she tells him to scram. However, she soon regrets this and tells George that she only has instant coffee to offer. Even though Yukari assumes that George will stay over for the night, he tells her that he will leave after having his coffee.

Arashi returns home to find Tokumori waiting for him and asks why the latter has come. Tokumori asks Arashi about the whereabouts of Yukari. Although Arashi is not willing to say anything at first, he blurts out the truth by mistake after hearing that Tokumori plans to look for Miwako to ask about this if he doesn't tell him the answer.

At the same time, George is preparing to leave when Yukari starts to cry because she's unable to communicate her thoughts to him. As such, she feels as if she's in this relationship alone while George maintain a cool front. Upon seeing her tears, George hugs Yukari which reassures her that he also loves her. George then carries Yukari into the apartment and they start to get intimate. Unknown to the lovers, Miwako has come to look for Yukari and she's shocked to hear their sounds from the apartment. When Tokumori comes to look for Yukari, Miwako drags him away hurriedly so that they would not disturb Yukari and George.

In the 18-years before I met George, I had no experience in kissing, not to mention sex. I knew little about this and didn't even know why it was necessary. However, my body reacted naturally to George's advances. Is this instinct? Are guys all so good at kissing? What should I do? I really feel like crying. If only this would help to reduce the distance between us...

Miwako tells Tokumori about why Yukari has left home and says that there's nothing to worry about since George will take care of Yukari. When Tokumori says that he has a headache, Miwako is very concerned about him and it seems as if they have finally returned to how they were in the past.

The next day, Yukari moves out of Arashi's department so as to live with George...

Firstly, with regards to Yukari's feelings about being largely ignored due to her not being as academically inclined as her younger brother, I can emphathise with her because I'm in a similar situation. As such, it really made me feel worthless at times because it was evident that I wasn't being looked upon favourably so I had to look for other ways to prove myself. I don't feel that I've succeeded in this area though so it is very tough for me to manage such feelings of unfairness and resentment. That is why Yukari's monologue struck a chord with me and made me see myself in what she experienced. At least she found something which she can work hard in but I'm still searching.

About Yukari's taking the first move to invite George to stay over, I simply get the feeling that she was desperate to bridge the distance between them as shown in the monologue towards the end of the episode. Frankly speaking, sex doesn't seem to be the best method to bridge the so-called distance between the two parties in a relationship. Sometimes, if intimacy comes at a stage when both are not prepared to accept a change in the current status, it may hasten the destruction of the relationship. That is why I don't agree with her thinking that by sleeping with George, this would have improved their relationship. In their case, they fell in love within days of knowing each other. The intensity of their relationship is so strong that they may have to slow down and look at things in perspective instead of rushing to progress further. By not taking a reality check at the current situation, it does not help to improve their relationship since they are as different as chalk and cheese right from the start.

With regards to the sex scene, I felt that it was more explicit than showing nudity. Despite it being a midnight slot anime where there should not be any issues with the nudity, using dialogue is a clever way of getting over the issue while not exploiting visual effects to woo the audience. It made me laugh at times but I don't think this was crude in any way.

As for Tokumori, I really think he's such a nice guy. No doubt he may have been dumped by Miwako, he still shows concern for her and treats her like a friend. On the other hand, he's truly worried about Yukari and cares for her because he does like her. Although I know that Yukari currently has eyes for George only, I am starting to feel that Tokumori might be the best lifelong partner for her instead.

Last but not least, the title seems to have two meanings i.e. Yukari's entry into the world of fashion and her being a real woman because she slept with George.