Title: Paradise Above the Clouds
Subtitle: A Serendipitous Tale of Gender and Destiny
Series: Japanesque TS
Author: Yulia Yu. Sakurazawa
Welcome to the universe of Japanesque TS stories. I am Yulia Yu. Sakurazawa, and I write about characters who find their own paths, even when the world tries to define them, limit them, or crush them. In my newest book, Paradise Above the Clouds, I wanted to explore a different kind of journey, one where external expectations and deeply held beliefs are challenged at every turn.
Set in the isolated world of the Kuriyama Serendipity International School (KISS), Paradise Above the Clouds introduces you to Mao Minakami, a teenager boy whose life is thrown into chaos when the results of a simple test classify him as “female-brained,” an event that forces his to live as a girl. This is just the beginning of her transformation. The journey Mao takes transcends the labels and categories that define us. It is a journey of self discovery. A journey into a world where traditional notions of gender and identity, sexuality and relationships are upended. A journey toward understanding what it truly means to be human.
In this story, I explore the impact of this decision on her life and the lives of those around her. At the heart of this strange and alien landscape, I question what truly makes a man or woman. Is it a physical form? A way of thinking? Or is it something more fluid and undefined, a collection of values, desires and choices that are unique and constantly evolving? It’s a concept that makes us wonder what are the boundaries that define our place in the world and what would happen if we stepped outside the lines.
The students of KISS have been placed in a position where they’re forced to come to grips with this. As they learn to understand, accept, and even welcome new aspects of themselves, they must find new ways to interact with each other. As you dive deeper into the story, you’ll meet the strong but stoic Hayama, the determined but conflicted Shimizu, the mysterious and alluring Geneviève, and all the other girls in 2B and 2E, each on their own road to self-discovery. What does it mean to be a good person? What does it mean to be true to yourself?
I want you to find your own answers to these questions. For this, I have created an amazing backdrop. I have created this story not to give answers to the complicated question that surrounds gender, but to raise the most important questions that we need to be asking. It is a place where dreams and reality are woven together.
I’m very proud of this story. And I hope that you’ll join me, and my characters, as we look up at the sky, as we climb the mountains that lie ahead, and as we see what we discover when we get there. I want you to be changed by this story. I want it to linger in your mind. I want it to make you feel something you haven’t felt before. This is my gift to you.