Happy Valentine's - Paradise Kiss Again!

So I broke down and bought the limited edition Paradise Kiss Collectors edition, sigh what can I say. Well I already discussed this title several times last year, and even though the ending left me somewhat disatisfied I still couldn't help but pick it up. The limited edition includes the dvd as well as two rose scented post cards which I scanned and posted above, slim pickings if you ask me especially for the price point. I was a little disappointed by the dub, The female leads do a fine job and Johnny Yong Bosch turn as Tokumori is excellent. My disappointment lies with the male leads of George and Arashi. George is played by Patrick Seitez who unfortunetly didn't have that cold conciet that is George, maybe I was spoiled by Kenji Hamada's turn as George, but I felt his voice brought George to life. I know, I know how can I say this about my beloved Patric Seitez, but I feel his acting was passable nothing more and nothing less. As for Derek Stephen Prince who played Arashi, my god his voice was atrocious for the part. Why he was cast as Arashi is beyond me. I wanted to shut the dvd off just because his voice was so intolereable to me, but that's just my opinion, some of you may like what hi voice brings to Arashi. If I am bashing the dub, I guess it's because I had high expectations of it. I honestly do prefer dubs when they equal or excel the predecessor. My only hope is that the Honey and Clover dub will be as excellent as the Japanese dub is (as some of you may recall Kenji Hamada played Nomiya in H&C). Other than that the anime is a solid piece of work which although quite faithful to the manga, did leave out some key points in the story. Bottom line I guess is give it a rent, watch it in Japanese first then English and decide which you like the best.




Images are property of Ai Yazawa and Geneon Entertainment.