Best Romance Manga of 1999

After two eccentrically dressed individuals ambush her, high school student Yukari Hayasaka promptly passes out due to shock. She soon awakens to find herself surrounded by even more strangely dressed people in the basement studio of Paradise Kiss—a fashion design club composed of four students from Yazawa School for the Arts. Although it seems like Yukari has been kidnapped, the older students explain that they only approached her to see if she would model their collection for an upcoming fashion show. Being a senior with a busy schedule, Yukari furiously rejects the group's offer. But when she drops her student passbook in her haste to leave, the ringleader of the group, George Koizumi, picks it up and uses it as a means to coerce Yukari into considering their request. After hearing about the other members' unbridled ambition, Yukari is inspired to reevaluate her own circumstances and eventually agrees to help them out. Now as Paradise Kiss' model, Yukari must learn to balance her new responsibilities with her hectic personal life. However, the more time she spends with George and the rest of the team, the harder it becomes for her to avoid getting swept up in the glitz and glamor of the fashion world.

Fresh out of college, Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi becomes a math teacher at an all-boys high school. Unfortunately for her, she's assigned by the school board as the homeroom teacher for class 3-D, which happens to be the class of delinquent students. When the class attempts to make a living hell out of Yankumi's career, they fail as her persistence and aggression gain her respect. However, little does anyone in the school know that Yankumi is actually heir to the Kuroda Ikka—one of Tokyo's most powerful yakuza clans.

Shuji and Chise are two Hokkaido high school students barely starting a relationship with each other. Then, with no warning, a squadron of bombers from an unknown country destroy the city of Sapporo. All hope is lost when suddenly, the bombers are destroyed by a small red light floating across the sky. At this point, Shuji finds out that the one responsible for eliminating the enemy forces is Chise, who reveals herself as a cyborg engineered for mass-destruction.

In a surreal world of abundant wonders, Gil is a workshop town specialized in mechanical craftsmanship, boasting the largest population in the land of Piril. People lead simple lives with little to no advancement in technology, worshipping Marie, a mechanical Goddess who keeps vigil of Piril from the sky. Daughter of the top mechanical artisan of Gil, Pipi is a cheerful and popular young girl. She likes her childhood friend, Kai, who has an extraordinary ability to hear sounds inaudible to the human ear. He is the only one in town who can listen to Marie's "music." The soothing sounds that come from her are said to retain the peace and harmony of the land. Kai's affection for Marie deepens as he continues to experience these sounds and see visions of himself through her eyes. Exploring the fantasy world of Kai and Pipi, Marie no Kanaderu Ongaku tackles concepts of religion, technology, and what it truly means to be happy.

Sixteen-year-old Kyou Aizawa's relationship with her father has always revolved around basketball. He wanted to join the NBA, but suffered a knee injury that ended his dream; since then, he has tried to live vicariously through Kyou. When her father suddenly gets transferred to another part of the country, Kyou gets the opportunity to attend Seisyu Academy. She is excited because Seisyu is famous for its cute girls' uniforms. When she opens the box sent by the school, however, Kyou discovers an unflattering boys' uniform instead! As it turns out, her father has faked paperwork and enrolled her as a male student so she can join the school basketball team, which is ranked fourth in Japan. As a sacrifice to carry on her father's legacy, Kyou begrudgingly cuts her hair and moves into the boys' dormitory. She meets her roommate and teammate Chiharu Eniwa but somehow manages to irritate him on the very first day. He is quick to taunt Kyou about her short stature and questions her dedication to the sport. Will Kyou be able to live in close quarters with someone so annoying and thrive on the basketball team, all while hiding her true gender from everyone?

A young girl named Rahzel is booted out of her house one day by her father with the instructions to 'see the world.' And so her journey begins, However, she won't be doing it alone...for she befriends a stoic young man named Alzeid seeking revenge for his father's murder. Alzeid and Rahzel are like oil and water...but even still, they feel strangely drawn to one another. This could be either the result of an underlying attraction—or their shared powers with magic. And so, the two reluctant allies travel from town to town, using their powers to help the helpless, while discovering their own respective places in the world.

Hina's new high school is strange to say the least. She moves back to her old home town only to find that the high school is run by two opposing factors, and students identify themselves based on the color of their school uniforms: Black for the followers of the loud, violent Nishizaki, and white for the followers of quiet, clean-freak Isshiki. And then there are the "grays," who wear street clothes. Hina finds herself stuck between the leaders of the two factions, and it seems to be turning violent. As one might guess from the girly art and the Ribon publisher, the plot develops a romance element pretty early on in the series. There's a love triangle involved among two of the group leaders. Who will Hina choose?