Paradise Kiss.

Now that the first DVD volume is out in the US, I think this might be a good time to mention my enduring love for this series. Adapted from Ai Yazawa's classic manga, ParaKiss is one of the best shoujo anime I saw last year. As with all Yazawa's works it's uber-stylish, looks gorgeous and has fantastically engaging characters. It doesn't break the 4th wall the same way the manga did (I still recall with fondness the bit where George and Isabella read Yukari's thoughts by reading her thought bubble in the previous month's issue) but has a unique and funky form of SD (Super Deformed) animation which I like, especially in the ending sequence, which is set to 'Do You Want To?' by FRANZ FERDINAND!

Even better, they actually managed to get the license for the song for the American release (unlike Speed Grapher, where Duran Duran's 'Girls On Film' had to be replaced with a new song for the Western release) which is just the most AWESOME thing. Yes, I love Franz Ferdinand. You may have noticed before.

The unique thing about Yazawa's work is how realistic it is. When I heard ParaKiss was a manga about "fashion", my first thoughts were that it would be a vapid piece of nonsense about a bunch of vain, angsty brats struggling to look the prettiest and get laid. It's actually a highly intelligent story about a group of organized young people working together to try and achieve their dreams in the fashion industry, and how they help an aimless girl find her direction in life when she becomes the missing piece of their group. It's also probably the most realistic romance I've seen since KareKano- George may be a weirdo, but he's a believable (and hilariously fascinating) character nonetheless and a happy ending doesn't necessarily boil down to "and they all lived happily ever after". The freedom from conventional anime cliches also makes it a very good show for non-anime fans to watch, a great example that anime isn't all tits, robots and Pokemon.

My dearest wish now is for Madman to license the series for release in Australia. In the meantime, if you're an American anime fan, you owe it to yourself to check it out, and show it to your mates while you're at it.