The Wallflower is a manga and anime series[3] by Tomoko Hayakawa. Alternative titles include Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (translated as Perfect Girl Evolution), and Sunako of Many Forms. The series was serialized in Bessatsu Friend in Japan, and released in North America by Del Rey Manga, with English translation by David Ury. The series is published in Singapore in English by Chuang Yi as My Fair Lady.
| The Wallflower (manga) | |
 Kyohei! | |
| Genre | comedy, shoujo |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Tomoko Hayakawa |
| Published by |  Kodansha  Del Rey Chuang Yi (English) Tokyopop |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Shinichi Watanabe |
| Studio | Nippon Animation |
Characters and plot
The Wallflower is about Sunako Nakahara, a girl who is called "ugly" by her first love. This incident sparks a life change, and as a result Sunako shuns all forms of beauty, both in herself as well as in life. Her aunt, owner of a beautiful mansion where four very handsome students live, desperately wants to make her into a lady, and offers the guys free rent in her mansion if they can turn the beast into a beauty.
While the four of them manage to make Sunako physically beautiful enough to become a lady, the problem lies with her attitude and interests (which Sunako has no intention of changing). Up until the most recent release in the story, they've managed to convince Sunako's aunt that her niece is indeed a lady befitting the mansion in which they live in (and prevent the rent from skyrocketing at most triple the required amount). However, in reality, Sunako has not changed considerably.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
SUNAKO NAKAHARA: is obsessed with dark, evil and gory things, often hiding in her unlit room with her three most prized possessions: two anatomical models named Hiroshi and John and a skeleton named Josephine. Her fascination with these things are usually what drive people away from her. Strangely, she is talented at many ordinary things like cooking, building (kotatsu for the crew), and on top of that, is also considered a brilliant student (except for math, which she just doesn't like). An otherwise stunning character, Sunako is known throughout her town as "that scary onee-chan".
KYOUHEI TAKANO: one of the four others that live with Sunako. The hot one. He is considered the most beautiful and oftentimes, is followed around by a horde of girls. However, with his beauty, comes a curse; he endures sexual abuse from his employers, or manages to get fired for attracting many crazed and destructive customers (his fans). Though plagued with a dark past, Kyouhei manages to be cheery most of the time. Sometimes though, when he gets serious, he gets blunt. Kyouhei is usually the one that makes Sunako own up to her faults. As the story progresses, one sees the developing romantic relationship between Kyouhei and Sunako ;).
TAKENAGA ODA: The intellectual one. Not much is known about his past, except that he comes from a long and impressive line of rich flower arrangers. Love interest: Noi Kasanara
YUKINOJO TOYAMA: The girly man. He is oftentimes referred to as "Yuki" and is famous for his feminine looks. He dresses up in dresses sometimes(Sunako's horror house and at a photo shoot), but usually not without a fight. He is kind and compassionate and has a genuine interest in others' well-being.
RANMARU MORII: The playboy. Also the most popular because he flirts back with the girls that admire him (unlike the other three). The playboy side of him is the only one that is really played up on in the storyline.
NOI KASAHARA: Takenaga's love interest. Also considered the most beautiful girl at their school. She is cheery, but whiny when she doesn't get her way.
Secondary Characters:
LOLI-GOTH GIRLS: Four (ugly) girls that harbor a crazed obsession with Kyouhei.
THE BOSS: Forget which episode. A gangster dude who falls in love with Sunoka.
Manga
The manga is currently underway in Japan, and so far has accumulated 17 volumes. The storyline of the anime has so far followed the manga plotline closely, with only minor changes (most notably the sequence).
Themes
- Underneath the comedic demeanor The Wallflower has many reoccuring themes that appear throughout the series.
- Self-Acceptance
- One such theme is that of self-acceptance, and can be witnessed often through the main character, Sunako. She often portrays both sides of the spectrum, with one side being her refusing to compromise her character (giving up her morbid lifestyle). On her flip side of self-acceptance, it is often shown that she doubts herself almost constantly, and usually refuses to see herself as a suitable companion for "those creatures of the light". As the series progresses you can see her confidence build up as she discovers that she can bridge both worlds.
- Beauty
- Another theme that seems to dominate the manga is beauty, or the pursuit of it. The boys are offered free rent if they can change Sunako into society's (as well as the landlady's) concept of a beautiful lady. However, Sunako often rebuffs the boys' attempts at changing her, since she had long since abandoned her feminity, as well as that becoming a lady would mean that she would have to give up her (hello) morbid hobbies. One of the facets of this theme is the cast's realization that being beautiful doesn't mean following society's standards. Another facet would be the "ugly" side of beauty, in that many of the boys are often stalked by both men and women alike because of their good looks. While many of his roommates will like, or be tolerant of this attention, Kyohei often complains of this treatment (he complains in one episode of the anime that he can't even hold a job because of this). One other point to this theme is the idea of natural and artificial beauty. Sunako often complains that she wasn't born as a "creature of the light", while the boys were born beautiful.
- Food
- Although this seems irrelevant, food has traditionally been a symbol of belonging and the household. For instance, in Hayao Miyazaki's film Spirited Away, the protagonist begins to fade away until she eats a small piece of food from the spirit world, making her a part of it. As is found out fairly quickly, Sunako is a decent cook, symbolic of her position as keeper of the house. It also demonstrates the intent for this house to eventually become a home, when Sunako becomes a lady, and is married (presumably to Kyohei). In another instance, Kyohei's desire for hot pot becomes a metaphor for his desire to repair his broken childhood, in which he never got to spend such meals with his family.
Anime Adaptation
- As the anime has not yet been licensed in the US, the anime is released under it's Japanese title of Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge.
Anime episodes
List of Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge episodes
Anime Cast
- Sunako Nakahara - Sachiko Takaguchi
- Kyohei Takano - Shōtarō Morikubo
- Takenaga Oda - Tomokazu Sugita
- Yukinojo Tōyama - Yūya Yamauchi
- Ranmaru Morii - Hirofumi Nojima
- Noi Kasahara - Mai Nakahara
Music
- Due to the author's tastes in music, it was decided that the theme music for Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge would be done by Kiyoharu, a popular and handsome J-pop singer in Japan. His songs, "slow" and "Carnation" play over the opening and ending themes, respectively. The songs were a collaboration between Kiyoharu and Takeshi Miyo. The background orchestral music was written by Hiromi Mizutani and Yasuharu Takanashi, two respected musicians.
- The opening theme "slow" plays over recycled footage from the first episode, and is more of a love ballad. The closing theme, "Carnation", the more upbeat of the two, is set to a small computer animation of Hiroshi dancing in the corner as the credits scroll up the page.
Trivia
- Tomoko Hayakawa, creator of The Wallflower (manga), is an avid admirer of Kiyoharu, so it is an appropriate choice that he is performing the opening and ending themes for an anime based on her work.
- In the "About the Author" pages, Hayakawa states that she is a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and shows a picture of her mantleplace that is similar in appearance to Sunako's.
- In the manga Sunako is frequently portrayed in a super deformed aspect, but in the anime Sunako is life size, but retains many of the facial features of her super deformed manga counterpart.
Reception
- Reception of the series has been mixed, with many taking opposing viewpoints. Carlo Santos of Anime News Network, while giving the manga a good review, states that "all the detail goes into specific elements like the bishounen characters, Sunako's horror props, and elaborate period dresses. However, she gets lazy everywhere else—backgrounds are sparse or nonexistent, crowds get rendered as simplified cartoon figures, and Sunako is regularly seen as a faceless mass of black hair." (The article in question) However, the manga and anime's wide appeal has drawn in many fans in several different countries.
- Reviews of the anime have also been mixed, with many fans of the series expressing dissapointment over lackluster animation, as well as with the studio's choice to recycle footage from the show for the opening animation instead of creating new animation to play over the opening theme. Many positive reviews have expressed their admiration that the anime has so far followed the manga's plotline closely.
References
- ^ The Wallflower ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia. Accessed 2006-12-14.
- ^ Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia. Accessed 2006-11-30.
- ^ Official anime site
External links
- Template:Languageicon Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge Official Anime Website
- Anime News Network's Manga Entry on Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge
- Anime News Network's Anime Entry on Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge
- A Perfect Girl Evolution site and shrine to Sunako and Kyohei
- AniDB Anime Entry on Yamato Nadeshico Shichi Henge