Paradise Kiss Ep 02: Illumination

The members of Paradise Kiss are discussing the issue of choosing fabrics for their creation which has to be decided when their model is decided. Arashi suggests searching the streets for another model since he's sure that Yukari won't agree to their request. Miwako is worried that George may go to a model agency to find a candidate but Isabella says that he's not someone to wait quietly for 3 days even though he was the one who gave Yukari time to think it over.

Yukari is studying in the library but she doesn't seem to be concentrating since her thoughts are focused on George and what he said to her. Suddenly, she sees George sitting opposite her at the same table and stares intently at him. When George finally looks up, he tells Yukari to ignore him and concentrate on studying. However, Yukari can't do anything with George in front of her so he decides to move to another table before she could stop him.

Yukari can't help stealing glances at George from time to time before she could settle down. She fails to notice that George has left and grumbles to herself that he could have told her about it. On her way out for lunch, she sees George sitting under a tree and concentrating on reading his book.

Yukari goes to buy lunch and offers to share it with George. She says that she's usually at the library on Sundays since she can't concentrate at home while George has never been here before until today and remarks that there are lots of interesting foreign language books related to fashion here. Yukari asks George if there's any qualification needed to be a fashion designer but he says that what matters most are talent, passion and hard work. She remarks that she envies George because he has a goal and dream. Although she hates going with the flow, she doesn't know how to change the situation since she's afraid of being asked about her dream which is non-existent. Yukari apologises for complaining to George about such a boring issue but he says that he's listening to her seriously since this concerns her life. Upon hearing this, Yukari feels so touched that she feels like crying. She thanks George for his attention and runs off quickly before she cries in front of him. Yukari starts to feel that she hopes to live like the members of Paradise Kiss who are passionate about their goals.

At night, Yukari's younger brother tells her that George called up to ask where she was. This means that their meeting was not coincidental but a deliberate arrangement by George. Yukari gets angry at the thought of George lying to her and flares up at her brother who tries to blackmail her or he would tell their parents about a guy calling up to look for her. Yukari is confused about the authenticity of George's words and realises that he could have looked through her student handbook to find her telephone number.

In school, Tokumori praises Yukari for looking like a model with her new haircut which makes her very happy. Yukari decides to go to the atorie and find out what exactly she has to do as a model before making her decision.

However, when she reaches there, nobody comes to answer the door despite rock music blasting inside. Yukari goes in quietly and is shocked to see Miwako and Arashi getting intimate on the billards table. She tries to leave hurriedly and bumps into Isabella who buttons up Miwako's clothes so as to make Yukari feel more comfortable about staying on.

Isabella reprimands Arashi and Miwako for what they did but Miwako says that Arashi suggested doing it on the billards table for a change. Upon hearing such words, Yukari feels uneasy and offers to help Isabella buy tea leaves since it has run out. Miwako offers to accompany Yukari along the way.

Miwako tells Yukari that Arashi is a very nice guy despite his appearance and values him like a family member since they are childhood friends. Yukari admires Miwako for having a boyfriend but the latter retorts that Tokumori should be her boyfriend since she saw his photo in Yukari's student handbook. Yukari denies this and says that she's just admiring him secretly. She makes Miwako promise not to tell anyone about how she feels for Tokumori. Actually, Tokumori is also a childhood friend of Miwako and Arashi but they have not seen each other for a long time since Miwako moved in with her sister's family and Arashi started to live alone. Yukari feels that people will drift apart when their circumstances start to change and wonders about the number of people she will meet in this lifetime. She knows that if she gives up the chance of being a model, she will never meet the members of Paradise Kiss again. At the thought of this, Yukari finally decides to take up the task of being a model for Paradise Kiss which makes Miwako extremely happy.

The next day, Yukari is quite unhappy to see how George is reacting to her decision even though she thought that he would be happy. Instead, he keeps laying down rules and reminds her to think it over carefully before agreeing. Yukari insists that she is responsible for her own decision so as to stop him from speaking further. Suddenly, George laughs heartily which makes Yukari realise that he's just pulling her leg with his nasty attitude even though he's happy to know her decision.

Miwako helps Yukari change into a Parakiss creation before they hold the celebration party for Yukari joining them as a model. Yukari is touched to see that they have prepared so much food for the party and gets carried away with gorging herself with the goodies. George reminds Yukari that she's like a Cinderella who will return to normal at 6pm (that's when she goes for tuition class) and she should prepare to leave since it's already 5.30pm. However, Yukari drinks too much of the champagne which she had thought was fake and ends up drunk.

When Yukari finally wakes up at 9pm, she is surprised to see George staring at her while she was unconscious. George offers to drive Yukari home and she agrees.

George stops at the main road for Yukari to walk home. Suddenly, George lifts Yukari's chin and comes closer to her. This gives Yukari the impression that he is going to kiss her and she closes her eyes to wait for the moment. However, George's intention is just to wipe off the lipstick from Yukari with his handkerchief. As he drives away, Yukari remains in a daze and smells the strong cologne on her lips which belongs to George...

George is such a fascinating character but he is going to give Yukari more headaches in future. She can't distinguish when he's lying or telling the truth which might impede the development of their relationship. It is obvious that there are lots of sparks and chemistry between them. If not, why would George seem so interested in staring at Yukari or go to that extent to get closer to Yukari? Well, if he was just doing that to make Yukari become their model, it doesn't justify his behaviour. My worry is that if he cannot be frank to Yukari about how he feels and uses lies to conceal his emotions, things between them will never be smooth-sailing.

Meanwhile for Yukari, she is definitely attracted by George. Initially, she admires him for having a dream while she's aimless but that feeling seems to be changing into the form of romantic interest in George. Otherwise, she wouldn't seem to be disappointed when George did not kiss her. She was waiting for it to happen which can be seen when she closed her eyes as George came closer to her face but alas, this did not materialise. However, this will happen next episode so I'll be dying to see how electrifying that scene is. Whenever they are alone together, the atmosphere seems so sizzling that the voltage is probably going to get more intense as the anime progresses.

As for Miwako and Arashi, it's evident that there's something wrong between them and Tokumori. There must be a reason for the couple to drift away from him besides going to different schools and moving away. And Miwako seems lonely or should I say guilty about something when Tokumori is mentioned. Otherwise, she wouldn't keep Yukari in the dark about the fact that she knew Tokumori when she misunderstood that Yukari was dating him. That scene when Miwako and Arashi were making out on the billards table was a genuine shock for me. I didn't know that they are lovers but what made me more surprised was how they didn't seem to bother about knowing the extent of their relationship. I thought they are all of the same age as Yukari? That's why Yukari was really taken aback at seeing them since she doesn't have experience in such matters. Will there be a day when Yukari and George does the same in the anime? That will be really interesting to watch...

I've ordered the Parakiss special edition 1 DVD box due to be released in Dec. Wow, that is simply expensive as it has an additional disc of bonus footage and freebies so it could be why the price is almost double of the normal edition. I'm still undecided about getting the OP's single by tommy february 6 which is released next month. There's a special sticker of Parakiss in the first press and I like the song too. Maybe I should think of what additional items to include so that I can make full use of the shipping cost which is calculated in tiers.