Ai Yazawa Makes Me Want to Be Friends With Art Students

First Nana, now ParaKiss. Ok—so actually, the other way….first ParaKiss THEN Nana, but that’s not how I read them…..

So, I’ve come to the end of the first volume of a series oft mentioned by Mayama—Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa. I had scoffed at it for a long while, because the cover designs looked weird. And because it was about fashion design. FASHION DESIGN!!!! Come on here! Although, after spending a weekend lovingly (and poorly) hand-sewing together the shirt portion of my Haruhara Haruko costume for Geek.Kon this weekend, I’m realizing (once again) that I’m more artistic than I think I am. That is to say, I can copy a pre-existing design. But I digress…

After reading Nan monthly (or….whenever I got to it) in the ShojoBeat, I began to really get into it. I identified with the characters (both of them in some ways, but more Nana K. than Nana O.), it was a good story, it got inside my emotions….manga that can do that is manga I can get behind. And so, since I felt like I needed to prepare as much as possible for the shoujo manga panel I’m sitting on at Geek.Kon….I read ParaKiss volume 1. And oh boy has it gotten into my emotions. So, here I am, living in this big city….working downtown…in the heart of the urban jungle….and I’m reading about this regular girl who by chance runs into a group of fashion design students at the art college--a recurring locale in Yazawa-sensei’s manga--and how her world is changed. Now honestly, being here and working downtown Minneapolis was already making me want to dress/look/be more urban……more cool, more stylish, more sophisticated….more fashion channel, really. And now this. Now I want to be friends with exciting, weird, quirky, fashionable art students. Or something. I want to go out on the town. Meet people for tea in a café. Find the cool yet offbeat outfit at the thrift stores and dress myself totally….different. I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe it just means it’s time for a new haircut or something to start with. But from there….moving on to thinking about different ways I can combine the things I already have to somehow look less regular and more….hipster. In a way. I know that word has ALL SORTS of bad connotations to it….but I think it’s the one I need to use. Hopefully you understand. Making a new Yukino while still keeping the OLD Yukino. You know?

I’ll write a proper website review of this series too….I’m glad I picked it up. I’m sorry I hated on it for so long. Ai Yazawa, congratulations—you’ve once again stirred up things in me that are often left untouched. And I thank you for it.