Gokinjo Monogatari (ParaKiss Prequel)
 

This was mentioned in the Paradise Kiss thread but since that show is over and the thread for itis pretty slow...

IYF Fansubs have answered my prayers and begun fansubbing the first AI Yazawa TV anime, Gokinjo Monogatari. I believe it's from 1995--it was Ribon's replacement for the hit Marmalade Boy anime series and ran some 50 eps and a 30 minute theatrical movie. I know it'll be a long time, eif ever, till we see the end but it's great to see.

The visuals are VERY different than paradise Kiss though in their own way true to Ai Yazawa's manga. Much much more basic (partly on purpose and partly because computers have made things like shading so much easier now). The tone is much lighter too being as it's aimed at a younger audience.

The work, ifit's like its manga, does become more serious as itgoes on but the tone of the early episodes is VERY "wacky" though still with a realistic underbase. It also is following the manga (which for some reason hasn't been translated profesionally but is being scanlated) very closely so far, since there are LOTS of tv eps to fill ia ssume we'll start getting some filler (the opposite prob of ParaKiss being squeezed down)

E

if this was produced by ribbon i definately want to see it. please ignore all my comments previously about how much i hate paradise kiss in the paradise kiss thread. i think most of those were lost in the great forum crash of '96 anyway. ;)

i love marmalade boy and all of arina tanemura.

50 episodes is alot though. thats like a lot of background i would think. wonder what the story is about to fill the time. kind of overbearing if u compare it to the 12 later.

Ya it's interesting because the manga was only 7 tankoubons yet they gave iot so many episodes (mind you that was even more true of Marmalade Boy which had 76 eps and a 7 volume manga) whereas ParaKiss was only 5 tankoubons but was squeezed into 12 eps...

I believe though from interviews with Ai in the Gokinjo manga (which is being scanlated) that she sat with the story people for the anime and worked out what would be stretched etc.

the visual style make take some getting used to tthough ;)

Oh and www.youtube.com has streaming versions of episodes 2 and 3 too

OH EM GEEEEE!!!!!

sorry for the shout. I have been praying for so long that someone would sub Gokinjo Monogatari. This was the first fansub I ever saw online and I have been so desperate to actually see it in something other than the horrible little 120x90 pixel or whatever size realmedia subs from years ago.

YAY YAY YAY

WWAAAAARRRPPPP!

I love Gokinjo~ Quite a simple lovely story. Also, I'm quite fond of anime old style so thank you for fansubbing oldies! ^o^

Ai Yazawa = <3

omg, i love this show. no wonder the main char looks just like that girl in parakiss. lol i was like huh? i love the humor and the quick pace of this show. 50 episode? thats awesome, hope they sub slowly like tenshi na konamaiki so i can have an awesome show that lasts....

Does this take place in the same continuity as Paradise Kiss? I'm wondering because we're up to episode 2 without any sign of Arashi yet. He doesn't appear in the promo for episode 3 either. Does Paradise Kiss simply reuse the characters without reusing the story? (The star system, as exemplified by Tenshi Muyou and Mai-Otome.)

Uh, not at all. Gokinjo is the prequel. Mikako, the protagonist of Gokinjo, is the big sister of Miwako who appears in Paradise Kiss. They have an age difference of 17 years or so. And Mikako's best friend Risa becomes Arashi's mother, if I'm not mistaken. So the story of Paradise Kiss takes place at least 15 years after Gokinjo.

In the Gokinjo manga, Miwako and Arashi only appear in a side story at the end, and 'only' as kids.

Not to nitpick, but since I've seen so many people call Gokinjo a prequel in this, the Paradise Kiss and NANA threads... something's only a prequel if it was done after something already existed. Paradise Kiss is the sequel to Gokinjo, but Gokinjo is not a prequel to Paradise Kiss.

Same here. I think its a shame newbies can't access all to those exellent animes anymore. Only a few that were licensed, or the most popular ones. IMO animes/mangas used to be much better. These days its all the same reciepies that keeps comming over and over. You need to look for specialized intrest to get unusual material. Paradise Kiss was one of thoses.

That quote is confusing. :o

I'm I the only one who consider sequels to be the exact same thing for a prequel then a prequel is to a sequel? ^^

Thank you. I (embarassingly) confused some of the names in Paradise Kiss. I can sometimes make mistakes with names and that led to my confusion.

Thanks for explaning the relation so perfectly.

Sequels occur chronologically after an existing work, and were created after that existing work.

Prequels occur chronologically before an existing work, and were created after that existing work.

Get it? They both were written/created AFTER something that exists. Thus Gokinjo isn't a prequel because it is the preexisting work.

true but since this one is gonna be seen AFTER para kiss, i guess its kinda a prequel. how many of u have ever seen gokinjo? not i.
im just glad someone is subbing it. i love the old animes. they are a part of the history of anime that most of us havent seen.

I originally saw subs of it in 99. I've been waiting a long time :\

To be fair ParaKiss is not even a direct sequel IMHO as the main character of it isn't a part connected to gokinjo--it's sorta more a spin off (now we're getting pedantic I suppose ^^;;)

So nice to see episode 2. I have the movie on a DVD-R sub along with the OAV of I'm no Angel Yazawa's first hit... Speaking of Gokinjo takes place in the same "world" as Angel too (the rockstar that Tsutom is always mistaken for is from Angel as are the characters who buy Mikako's first project). So that makes Angel, ParaKiss and Gokinjo interconnected. I'm not sure if Nana or that supernatural manga (the moon one--blanking here) that Ai did are in the same universe as well, or not... Nana feels a bit more "realistic" with none of Gokinjo/ParaKiss' asides to the readers (in the manga anyway) so migth not be although Angel's manga was missing those too...

And a side note the seiyuus of Mikako and Tsutomu repeated their roles for ParaKiss

E

I wondered, too. In the omake's there were several refrences to George from ParaKiss and it seemed like he's from a different world.

So my guess is the same as yours: Nana's world is different from Gokinjo and ParaKiss. XD

Nice info about the seiyuu~ I love it when they do that, made it seem like it's really a "sequel". :D

Argh the smilies are still ghost-like XDD

Ya i like that too. I know many Ai fans hated the ParaKiss anime but I'm not one of them. The I'm No Angel OAV btw is great but so short--makes youw ant a series

E

I have a little question: Where I can find the I'm no Angel oav? I think I never heared of it O_o

It was released as an Ai Yazawa double feature by a fansub group a few years back along with the Gokinjo movie. I have no clue how to digitize it and seed it though :(

Am I the only one who's jonesing for more of this? I read ParaKiss but never watched the anime. I wonder if the Nana and Parakiss fans watch this, or if it turns most of them off with being old school and more kid directed. I'm a fan of all the Ai Yazawa stuff I've run across so far.

I'm glad someone picked it up, and I hope they can do the whole series. Ideally Viz would bring out the manga at least, but realistically there's only a so-so chance.

So far I think it looks like it's going to be good. I'm looking forward to more.