Paradise Kiss – 06

Short Summary:
At the photo shoot, Yukari meets several of Mikako’s friends and employees, including her husband/ photographer Tsutomu. During the shoot, Yukari remembers her middle days, when he mother was the driving force for her academics. But then her little brother was born, and her mother’s hopes shifted onto him. In high school, Yukari felt that wearing her prestigious school’s uniform was the only thing she could be proud of. But then she met the Paradise Kiss group and they changed how she looked at life. The photo shoot goes smoothly, and afterwards Mikako invites Yukari to be in the next Happy Berry fashion show. Seiji also makes it clear that he’d like to work with her again. Those two statements, along with a successful first time modeling, make Yukari extremely happy. At the studio, Yukari shows everyone the pictures and recounts how much fun it was. George drives her back to Arashi’s, and she invites him in for coffee. Yukari really just doesn’t want to part with George, and ends up crying once he gets up to leave. To her surprise, George reacts to her tears by hugging her, kissing her, and taking her to bed. And so, Yukari experiences her first time with George. Meanwhile, Arashi arrives at his parent’s home to find Hiroyuki waiting for him. Hiroyuki is looking for Yukari, and mentions that he’s spoken with Miwako recently. Arashi admits that Yukari is at his apartment only after Hiroyuki threatens to ask Miwako instead. Back at that apartment, Miwako comes to check up on Yukari, but hears the two inside. She turns around to leave, but sees Hiroyuki there, also looking for Yukari. Miwako explains Yukari’s situation to him, even after she accidentally mentions that Yukari is in the middle of a hentai-play. And after a night of passion, Yukari decides to leave Arashi’s place and move in with George.

This episode is a lot better than past episodes, both in story and animation. There is no abundance of distance shots, but instead a good balance of all shots and angles. They cover all the important points between the rest of chapter 20 through the end of chapter 23. I guess I’m finding that this series does a lot better when it doesn’t try to do five chapters a week. We’re roughly through half the manga now, and roughly through half the animated version. Unfortunately, I bet that means that a few more episodes in the future will once again feel rushed, so I don’t have my hopes too high up.
As for the sex scene… Yukari’s first time is rendered very tastefully, and even manages to be a little humorous. Not quite as pretty a scene and not quite as witty as its manga counterpart, but it’s a lot better than I had expected. Like I said earlier, this episode in general is much much better than previous ones. But I hate raising my expectations because I have the sinking feeling that I’ll just be disappointed again later. Yukari is now on the path to becoming a profession model and on the path of love with George. Next episode should be focused on developing both those aspects.