betsu ni (nothing in particular)

Now that I’ve laid the Anime Blog to rest, I have nowhere to geek out. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to do it here.

I didn’t have much luck keeping up with this year’s Summer shows while in Japan. I found time to catch Honey & Clover every Thursday night, but that’s about it. Since returning home, I’ve had the opportunity to catch up with some of the shows I missed, but now that the Autumn season is upon us, it’s time to dive into the newer offerings.

Unfortunately, said newer offerings leave much to be desired, with only a few shows having caught my attention thus far. Of those, only one stands out: Paradise Kiss. Conveniently enough, Paradise Kiss replaced Honey & Clover in Fuji TV’s late night “NOITAMINA” time slot. So, if I were still in Japan, I wouldn’t even have had to adjust my schedule in order to catch the show every week.

Paradise Kiss eagerly embraces the culture of Harajuku, a Tokyo neighborhood popular among brand and fashioned-obsessed teenagers and young adults. While I didn’t spend much time exploring Harajuku, the neighborhood left a lasting impression on me nonetheless. It’s crowded, noisy, lively, and inexplicably weird - yet, strangely authentic. Shibuya was suffocating. Harajuku was… absorbing.

Alas, it’s not my scene personally, but it’s fun to observe from the sidelines - which is probably why I dig Paradise Kiss as much as I do. The show’s opening animation is Harajukufied from start to finish, and not only because the street scenes correspond to real life locations. Rather, it just feels like Harajuku. Glamour without pretension. Electric. Youthful.

Of course, it helps that the opening theme is a killer track. A friend describes it as “Shibuya shopping march music” - an absolutely brilliant description, really. They should pump it out the crosswalk loudspeakers at the intersection of Meiji-dori and Dogen-zaka. Gotta get those yankees moving.

October 22, 2005 | 5:20 PM | Posted in Anime, Photography, Places

Comments

Mohammad | October 23, 2005 | 12:29 AM

I would have watched Paradise Kiss if I was interested in the fashion industry but it isn’t my cup of tea. I loved the ending song though. It was hilarious. I can relate more to Honey & Clover since it is about more mainstream types of characters rather than specialised types of characters (fashion industry people).

You’re right about the offerings of the new season. The only show I’m really interested in is ARIA since it’s a slice of life story but even that one has average character designs. I usually like anime shows with a story taking place in a European setting but Cluster Edge turned out to be disappointing. Shoune Ai and supernatural powers are not my cup of tea. I’m still waiting for a subbed version of “Angel Heart” since it seems to have superb animation, excellent character designs and a mysterious story. It kind of reminds me of my favourite show “Monster” though I know that no anime show will ever be able to top Monster for a long time.