Ramblings of a Crowe

The Wallflower

The other day, I picked up a manga out of sheer boredom, not knowing what I would find behind the pages. I was attracted to the pretty cover art, and the short synopsis on the back sounded entertaining enough. I had no idea what a gem I'd stumbled upon.

The manga is "The Wallflower" by Tomoko Hayakawa. The story is about four young men living in a large mansion together while the attend school. Their land-lady has made them a proposition. If they can change her socially inadept neice into a lady, they can live at the house rent free. The young hero's jump at the chance, not realizing how big a challenge they've taken on.

Enter the niece, Sunako Nakahara, a young girl who fancies the darkness of her room and has a serious obession with slasher flicks (she often talks to Jason when upset...) Her long black hair hangs in her face, hiding her from view of other people and obstructing her vision as well. She slithers about like Lurch, and scares the bejeezus out of the boys. Her only friends are an anotimical model named Hiroshi and a human skeleton named Josephine.

Needless to say, Sunako is a piece of work. She despises other human interaction, and sits in her room in the dark watching horror films all day long. Just getting her to go to school is a chore and it often requires some kicking and screaming, and occasionally a bit of bloodshed...Not only that, her physical apperance is a mess. She hasn't cut her hair in ages. She hasn't even seen her own face in TWO YEARS...She dresses like a homeless person and is in dire need of some sunlight.

However, Sunako wasn't always so anti-social. She was shot down by a popular young boy at school. He told her he didn't like ugly chicks and to go away. Ever since then, Sunako has faded into a world of "Dark and Light". Her deslusions have consumed her so much, that she refers to beautiful people as "Creatures of the Light", and is terrified that if one of these "light creatures" touches her, she'll melt like the wicked witch.

So, here the boys are with a delusional, emotionally scarred girl and free rend being dangled in their face. They try to be friendly, but to tell the truth, they're all terrified of her. She's so incredibly creepy and unfriendly that the entire house is jumpy at her just being there...However...they do TRY to make nice with the Sadako (chick from The Ring) look alike.

(boys...please don't do this if your trying to make friends with a girl...)

For awhile, it appears their efforts are in vain. Sunako slithers about the house, when she actually leaves her room that is...but after a series of events, she seems to warm up to them...though they aren't sure if it's exactly what they're looking for...

(aww, she's cooking for them!)

At school, she's become quite popular...much to her dismay. There's a bounty placed on her head for anyone who can get a picture of her face. And after Kyohei intervines to stop the relentless chasing, the "cool" girls decided that Sunako has over stepped her bounds. They try to bully her, but we then see another side of the quiet, reclusive Sunako...She's not exactly a push over...in fact...she's quite violent when cornered...

(Kyohei is in love...)

All seems pretty much hopeless, and our heros are about to give up. Sunako isn't just a social outcast, she's also violent, has decided she needs to kill Kyohei (who she seems to like the most), and just plain refuses to cooporate. However, when Kyohei is kidnapped by a sleazy outfit that wants him to star in their indecent productions, Sunako surprises everyone and mounts an effort to save him...however, her motives aren't so noble. Kyohei is her prey...only she can kill him.

Anyway, the remaining boys clean her up, since the club will only admit the most chic of the chic, and Sunako doesn't complain. They're surprised to find she is actually quite pretty, though her dark and terrifying personality are still there. Kyohei seems to be the only person she'll semi-listen to, and once they rescue him from the club, it's up to him to stop the chainsaw wielding domanaxtrix clad Sunako...

Alas, when all is said and done...Sunako goes back to her cave dwelling, Slasher loving ways and the boys are no posed with not only a slithering recluse, but also a violent, psychotic personality...It should make for a fun story...

That's a really bad summary I just wrote. I left a bunch of stuff out, but I didn't want to put in a ton of spoilers. I'm not sure how many volumes this series is, but I hope it goes on for a bit. I really, really enjoyed this title. It reminds me a lot "Graviation", but minuse the shonen-ai. The art work is also neater, but messy art work is what adds the the appeal of Gravi. It exemplifies the insanity. Wallflower is insane and nutty, but no where near as chaotic as Gravitation. However, it's the insanity that draws me to this manga. It's freaking halarious! The boys crack me up as they live in terror of Sunako. None of them are sure what to make of her. Kyohei is the only one who isn't totally petrified of her and the two of them just duke it out from time to time. It's so funny. Sunako is an awesome heroine! She's not wimpy, she's weird, she doesn't act like a stupid bimbo...she's perfect! It just kills me when she goes psycho on someone. She unstoppable, like the terminator!

Honestly, if you want to read a non-conventional shojo series, I think this one is the way to go. It's different. It's quirky. It's halarious. Check it out!

Okay, I'm off to bed again. I'm feeling better, but no much...being at work today at 7am didn't help me much....

Posted by Zoso at October 23, 2004 08:36 PM