Paradise Kiss – 09

Summary:
With everyone believing that her absence was due to a cold, Yukari returns to school to take her exams and make up the ones that she missed. She admits to Hiroyuki that she’s even started thinking about going to college. On the modeling front, Shimamoto of the agency convinces her mother to allow her to model. Of course, she still has to pass her exams, so Yukari is studying at every moment she can. Meanwhile, the Paradise Kiss group is feeling a time crunch as the fashion show is only two days away. The dress is finished, but they experience a major setback when their teacher catches them working on the accessories during class time and confiscates them. Back at school, Yukari is sleeping in the nurse’s office during class so that she can study at night. On this particular day, she also has rehearsal for the show, and Hiroyuki expresses his concern about her health. At the school gates, Yukari spots a familiar car and runs excitedly towards it, discovering that it is indeed George’s. After Yukari faints with a fever while leaning on the car, George takes her to the hospital, where she wakes up in the evening after rehearsal is already over. Their conversation shifts to why George never called her since she left his apartment, but George counters that she didn’t call him either even after he left his phone on for the entire week. The two head to the studio after Yukari is discharged from the hospital, where the group worries about what to do about the accessories for the dress especially since George doesn’t have any ideas. When she leaves, Yukari gets offered a ride from George, but she turns it down, saying that he needs to work on the dress. George then stops her to ask for a kiss, but Yukari decides to play with him a little, promising it to him if he wins the grand prize at the fashion show.

The focus this week is mainly on Yukari pushing herself (a bit too hard). We see that her feelings for George haven’t changed, but her approach has. Since she has several clear goals, including modeling jobs from the agency, getting her high school diploma, and modeling for the Paradise Kiss group, Yukari is focusing on those, instead of fawning over George. She’s working towards making herself an independent woman, though when George shows up at school to pick her up, she still gets quite excited. But the teasing attitude she takes towards the puppy-like George at the end shows that knows her priorities. So this episode does a good job of getting that message across, similarly to how the manga does it. Surprisingly, the animation for most of the episode has once again improved compared to the past weeks. The series is at the point where it’s pretty watchable. Now if they can just keep this up for the next three episodes…