Gokinjo Monogatari/yazawa Ai

[Guest alexander]

Paradise Kiss Prequel

I can't believe there wasn't a topic on this yet! Is anyone else a fan of this manga? It was also made into an anime.

Thanks to http://www.ciclamino.net/goki/ for the scan!

Anyway, Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story) is the prequel-of-sorts to Paradise Kiss, for those of you who don't know, and it takes place in the same world as YAZAWA's tenshi nanka janai, Paradise Kiss (duh), and NANA mangas.

The Story is about Mikako, an aspiring fashion designer who attends the arts school YazaGaku, and her relationship with her friends, esp Tsutomu (who is her childhood friend and next door neighbor) as she tries to make that dream a reality. She is the designer of the line "Happy Berry", which you may or may not know, depending on what of Yazawa's works you've read. I really love this manga, and it marks the beginning of stories such as ParaKiss and Nana.

Relationship to Paradise Kiss: Mikako is the older sister of Miwako of Paradise Kiss, Arashi is the son of Mikako's good friend Risa, and Hiroyuki is son to Mikako's older-brother-like character, Toku chan. Also, it takes place in the same school. XD

Relationship to Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai: NakaKen! Ken is a friend of Midori, the main character in Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai. Ken is in an uber-famous band called Manbou and Tsutomu (Mikako's boyfriend) is often confused for him. The song Ken wrote for Midori (Smile of an Angel) makes a few appearances in Gokinjo. Also, a handful of characters from TNJN made a cameo appearance. Midori is also the creator of Sudosaurus who appears in all of these manga.

Relationship to Nana: The Happy Berry Brand and sudosaurus!

If you're a fan of Yazawa-sensei and have yet to read this, please do! It's highly recommended, especially if you're into fashion and art!

Volumes: 7 (Complete) http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=358

Anime Episodes: 50 + 1 film

[Guest aymei]

ooh i loved paradise kiss, thanks for this info.

[Guest komaki]

wow..I didn't know...thanks for sharing...and yes I'm a fan of Paradise Kiss!

[Guest intoxicate.]

i watched Paradise Kiss the ending is so sad =( *sniffles

but lol why is a prequel of PK about mikako? @_@

i would've more understood if it was about Miwako, Hiro, Arashi, Isabella, and James o_Oa

[Guest alexander]

i watched Paradise Kiss the ending is so sad =( *sniffles

but lol why is a prequel of PK about mikako? @_@

i would've more understood if it was about Miwako, Hiro, Arashi, Isabella, and James o_Oa

Haha, Gokinjo was published a long while before ParaKiss came along that's why. XD I don't think there was an intention of a sequel, I think there were only rumors and perhaps it was in the back of Yazawa's mind. In the end of Gokinjo, there is a special chapter dedicated to Miwako, Arashi, and Hiroyuki, but before they were in YazaGaku (elementary - junior high), so perhaps this was Yazawa's plan all along. LOL. She's sneaky.

Anyway, the anime is pretty old, so the animation quality, etc is not that great, but if you like anime, I'm sure you'll think it's cute. The manga is really amazing, and I encourage ParaKiss fans to read it to get more info on YazaGaku, etc. The scanlation is available courtesty ShoujoMagic, because unfortunately or fortunately, it hasn't been licensed, despite it being published before (and a prequel to) ParaKiss. Ha ha

[Guest simpleandpink]

Can it even really be considered a "prequel" ? Anyhow I liked Gokinjo Monogatari more than ParaKiss <3

Is the anime better than the manga? I've downloaded like 1-5 but I can't get into the anime's bad quality and some of the voice acting throws me off....and the music 0_0

[Guest Izam.]

I found this manga to be quite a bore to read. I don't even really like Paradise Kiss all that much

[lee-chan]

oh there is a prequel? didnt know that..this could be interesting

[Guest daisyink]

Ahh I love this manga. <3 I think it's better than Parakiss actually, but maybe that's because I hate sad endings. This one, at least, ends happily for everyone. :']

[Guest myluckyself]

I love all of Yazawa's works... Paradise Kiss was an awesome manga. I can't believe I havent heard of this prequel! thanx for the info <3

[Guest miyuki013]

i love this manga so much XD .. i just wish i could see the anime and the movie x.x .. i'd even be willing to buy them raw but the series is so old, i can't even find the raws ;.; ..

[Guest strawberry.llamas]

lol i watched few of the episodes...then it stopped

i couldn't find anymore eng subbed :[