Anime Review -- The Wallflower Vol. 1 - My Fair Bishonen
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Gretchen Lee
Gretchen is an anime junkie who spends far too much time reading manga and searching for that elusive new favorite series. She lives with her cat, and raises tomato trees. By Gretchen Lee
Published on 01/3/2008
An abundance of collagen and more hyperactivity than a kid on a sugar rush can't stop this stupidly funny series from being, at the very least, entertaining. With a nudge and a wink, The Wallflower presents a story that's very reminiscent of My Fair Lady. The premise is the same--an expert tries to turn an ugly duckling into a lady--but the execution couldn't be any more different. It's campy. It's flamboyant. It's so loud, and there's so much going on, it made me kind of tired. It's one of those series that's just so bad it's funny.
Two years ago, Sunako Nakahara's affections were spurned by a boy because he "doesn't date ugly girls." Of course Sunako was crushed, but she takes her heartbreak a step further and stops caring for her appearance. She refuses to look in a mirror, so that she can't compare herself to others, and grows her bangs long to hide her face. She becomes the Queen of Goth, indulging in horror flicks and gruesome stories. Her best friend is a life-size anatomy doll, like the ones from high school biology class, named Hiroshi. Hiroshi narrates. Lord help us. Sunako becomes a "Creature of Darkness," both literally and figuratively.
Concerned for her welfare, Sunako's aunt asks her tenants, four beautiful boys, to turn her niece into a lady. The four Professor Higgins', secure in their knowledge of beauty and how to talk to girls, gladly accept. Especially since their landlady, whom they call "Auntie," promises free rent if they succeed. As added insurance, if they fail, their rent will be tripled. Four beautiful boys require beautiful surroundings, and none of them wish to move out of Auntie's opulent mansion. Sunako moves in with the boys, and they soon realize helping her is going to be more of a challenge than they ever imagined.
A girl living with all those boys is bound to be awkward, but the situation is made even moreso by Sunako's attitude. She's blinded by their radiance and refers to them as "Creatures of the Light." Plagued by self-consciousness, she can hardly function around them, and is terribly frustrated by this fact. Caught between revulsion, pity, and curiosity, the boys are at a loss with what to do with her. Hi-jinx ensue, including the obligatory catching someone bathing scene, dressing pretty boys in drag, and several heroic rescues. Yes, it's terribly cliched. However, the series is light-hearted enough to poke fun at itself so the cliches feel ironic rather than tired. It's actually rather brilliant, in a twisted, backward sort of way.
In between the craziness, the boys slowly build what might be called a friendship with Sunako. By the end of the dvd, they're not one whit closer to turning her into a lady, but they start to respect that she might be something a little special. Sunako learns that the boys' radiance might not be as bright as she initially thought. Can they find a common ground? Dun-dun-dun!
I am a little creeped out by the character designs, though. The boys are drawn with pouty lips and big, doe eyes. The pouty lips in particular look odd and are off-putting. My one consolation with this is that the prettiness of one of the boys is turned into a running gag--no one seems to be able to resist dressing him in drag. Much of the time, though, the characters are chibi-fied and distorted in various amusing fashions, so their lips aren't too huge of an issue.
One other thing that I found to be a bit grating was the noise level in this series. It is one raucous, hyperactive anime. Regardless of whether it's in English or in Japanese, the voice actors shout, squeal, and scream just about every other line. It's a high energy series, and there isn't a great deal of down-time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I did breathe a sigh of relief when it was over.
I'm not so sure about buying this series, but I didn't feel cheated by renting it. It was entertaining and did the job whiling away what would have been a rather slow afternoon. The Wallflower is good for a smile, and there were parts that had me laughing out loud. It's silly and stupid and way, way over-the-top, but that's what makes this series fun.
Details: Runtime 2:05, contains episodes 1-5. Extras include a clean opening and closing, the on-air opening for episodes 1-13, and some previews.
An abundance of collagen and more hyperactivity than a kid on a sugar rush can't stop this stupidly funny series from being, at the very least, entertaining...
Are the girly-boys man enough to take on the goth queen?
An abundance of collagen and more hyperactivity than a kid on a sugar rush can't stop this stupidly funny series from being, at the very least, entertaining. With a nudge and a wink, The Wallflower presents a story that's very reminiscent of My Fair Lady. The premise is the same--an expert tries to turn an ugly duckling into a lady--but the execution couldn't be any more different. It's campy. It's flamboyant. It's so loud, and there's so much going on, it made me kind of tired. It's one of those series that's just so bad it's funny.
Two years ago, Sunako Nakahara's affections were spurned by a boy because he "doesn't date ugly girls." Of course Sunako was crushed, but she takes her heartbreak a step further and stops caring for her appearance. She refuses to look in a mirror, so that she can't compare herself to others, and grows her bangs long to hide her face. She becomes the Queen of Goth, indulging in horror flicks and gruesome stories. Her best friend is a life-size anatomy doll, like the ones from high school biology class, named Hiroshi. Hiroshi narrates. Lord help us. Sunako becomes a "Creature of Darkness," both literally and figuratively.
Concerned for her welfare, Sunako's aunt asks her tenants, four beautiful boys, to turn her niece into a lady. The four Professor Higgins', secure in their knowledge of beauty and how to talk to girls, gladly accept. Especially since their landlady, whom they call "Auntie," promises free rent if they succeed. As added insurance, if they fail, their rent will be tripled. Four beautiful boys require beautiful surroundings, and none of them wish to move out of Auntie's opulent mansion. Sunako moves in with the boys, and they soon realize helping her is going to be more of a challenge than they ever imagined.
A girl living with all those boys is bound to be awkward, but the situation is made even moreso by Sunako's attitude. She's blinded by their radiance and refers to them as "Creatures of the Light." Plagued by self-consciousness, she can hardly function around them, and is terribly frustrated by this fact. Caught between revulsion, pity, and curiosity, the boys are at a loss with what to do with her. Hi-jinx ensue, including the obligatory catching someone bathing scene, dressing pretty boys in drag, and several heroic rescues. Yes, it's terribly cliched. However, the series is light-hearted enough to poke fun at itself so the cliches feel ironic rather than tired. It's actually rather brilliant, in a twisted, backward sort of way.
In between the craziness, the boys slowly build what might be called a friendship with Sunako. By the end of the dvd, they're not one whit closer to turning her into a lady, but they start to respect that she might be something a little special. Sunako learns that the boys' radiance might not be as bright as she initially thought. Can they find a common ground? Dun-dun-dun!
I am a little creeped out by the character designs, though. The boys are drawn with pouty lips and big, doe eyes. The pouty lips in particular look odd and are off-putting. My one consolation with this is that the prettiness of one of the boys is turned into a running gag--no one seems to be able to resist dressing him in drag. Much of the time, though, the characters are chibi-fied and distorted in various amusing fashions, so their lips aren't too huge of an issue.
One other thing that I found to be a bit grating was the noise level in this series. It is one raucous, hyperactive anime. Regardless of whether it's in English or in Japanese, the voice actors shout, squeal, and scream just about every other line. It's a high energy series, and there isn't a great deal of down-time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I did breathe a sigh of relief when it was over.
I'm not so sure about buying this series, but I didn't feel cheated by renting it. It was entertaining and did the job whiling away what would have been a rather slow afternoon. The Wallflower is good for a smile, and there were parts that had me laughing out loud. It's silly and stupid and way, way over-the-top, but that's what makes this series fun.
Details: Runtime 2:05, contains episodes 1-5. Extras include a clean opening and closing, the on-air opening for episodes 1-13, and some previews.