...the ultimate confrontation between four Beauties and a Beast.
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From Nabeshin, the director that brought us the insanity that is "Excel Saga," comes "The Wallflower," yet another dose of crazy comedy! Based on the original comic by Tomoko Hayakawa, "The Wallflower" presents the ultimate confrontation between four Beauties and a Beast. It is a slapstick comedy with a gothic twist, taking two very popular trends in japan- pretty boys and dark horror movies, and combining them in an unlikely, but thoroughly enjoyable, way.
"The Wallflower" is the heartwarming story of four dazzling young men who live a peaceful, idyllic life of leisure and attend a prestigious high school. Each boy is beautiful in his own way. Kyohei is blond, athletic, and shines with health and beauty. Ranmaru is the flirtatious redhead, and is an incredible playboy. Takenaga is calm, thoughtful, and intelligent. Yukinojo is playful and cute. When all four boys are together, there isn't a girl around who can resist their powerful charm.
Unfortunately for them, their halcyon days are about to come to an end when the eccentric owner of the mansion they live in imposes upon them a strange and difficult challenge. The owner's niece, Sunako, will be coming to live with them soon, and the boys must somehow help transform the awkward girl from an ugly duckling into a swan. If they can, they can live in the mansion rent-free. If they can't, their rent will triple! What's this? Free rent for just a make-over? Surely this will not be a problem for four such beautiful guys. But they haven't met Sunako yet, and they are in for a horrifying surprise!
Sunako is everything that these beautiful boys are not— shy, introverted, and… ugly. In fact, there is a palpable black aura that clings to her. Sunako is like the nightmarishly creepy child in a horror movie. She is gothier than goth. Suffering from a traumatic event in her past, Sunako has withdrawn into herself, and has embraced all things dark and horrific as her only friends. She loves horror movies. She owns some skeletons and a life-sized human body science mannequin (one that shows you all the muscles and tissues and organs). Her bedroom looks like a torture dungeon.
When these two extreme opposites collide, there is a mutually horrified reaction. The boys can only recoil at her dark and foreboding personality. In turn, she is equally horrified by these "Creatures of the Light." How can they all possibly live together? How can these guys, no matter how beautiful they might be, ever possibly make anything out of the anti-social rain cloud that is Sunako?
Each episode revolves around this clash of personalities as the guys try various things to make Sunako more "normal" and Sunako somehow avoids them or resists with all her might. Sunako and Kyohei still end up forming somewhat of a friendship, even though they are equally disturbed by the other's presence. Kyohei may be gorgeous, but he is also a stubborn fighter. The lure of free rent makes him especially motivated to help Sunako. Meanwhile, Sunako does her best to hide from Kyohei's determined attempts, but finds herself reluctantly warming up to him. Well, as warm as a gothic horror junkie like her can get.
"The Wallflower: Lesson 1" contains the episodes 1 through 5 of this 25-episode television series. This is a very enjoyable series, but the humor and art style in it may not appeal to everyone. It is very silly and often slapstick. The guys are drawn in an insanely feminine and pretty fashion. They have pouty lips, long eyelashes, and emit dazzling auras. At other times they run around with very exaggerated or super-deformed expressions. The shift between the two styles can be sudden. The episodes also get somewhat repetitive- the boys try to help Sunako, she is blinded by their beauty, reacts with horror and does something extremely dark or gothic. They respond by reacting in horror to her dark personality. Rinse, repeat. However, in spite of this, there are some very funny moments, and there is a cute sense of style to the show. I enjoyed contrast between the detailed "beauty" scenes of the guys and the overly-simplistic art in the comedy scenes. Even though Sunako is surrounded by beautiful guys, this is different from a typical harem show because the guys are not competing for her love. At this point, only one of them seems like a remotely possible love interest, but the romance is not really a theme of the series in this disc. This show is all about comedy. I do wonder if there will really be any serious plot developing other than the day-to-day battle between dark and light. By the end of the series, will Sunako have changed at all? Or will the guys be the ones who change?
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