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The Wallflower (manga)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wallflower | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| ヤマト ナデシコ 七変化 (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge) |
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| Demographic | Shōjo | ||
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Romance | ||
| Manga: The Wallflower, Perfect Girl Evolution | |||
| Author | Tomoko Hayakawa | ||
| Publisher |  Kodansha |
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| Serialized in | Bessatsu Friend | ||
| Original run | 2000 – | ||
| Volumes | 19 (ongoing)[1] | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Director | Shinichi Watanabe | ||
| Studio | Nippon Animation |
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| Licensor |  ADV Films |
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| Network | TV Tokyo, TV Aichi |
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| Original run | October 3, 2006 – March 27, 2007 | ||
| Episodes | 25 | ||
The Wallflower: Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge (ヤマト ナデシコ 七変化 Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge?) is a manga and anime series by Tomoko Hayakawa (はやかわ ともこ HAYAKAWA Tomoko?). [2] Alternative titles include Perfect Girl Evolution, and Sunako of Many Forms.[3] The anime series ended in March 2007 while the manga is still ongoing.
The series is serialized in Bessatsu Friend in Japan, and released in North America by Del Rey Manga, with English translation by David Ury. It is published in Singapore in English by Chuang Yi as My Fair Lady (given the story's similarity to the play of the same name). The series is also published in Indonesia by Level Comics. On May 15, 2007, ADV licensed the anime for distribution.[4]
Contents |
The Wallflower is about Sunako Nakahara, a girl who was called "ugly" by a boy, the first and only person to whom she confessed her 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. Concerned by her change for the worst, Sunako's aunt, the owner of a beautiful mansion where four very handsome students live, offers the guys free rent in her mansion if they can turn Sunako into a "perfect lady" (referred to in Japan as the titular Yamato Nadeshiko).
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 (and prevent the rent from skyrocketing to triple the required amount). However, in reality, Sunako has not changed considerably.
The plot revolves around four gorgeous guys: Takenaga Oda, Yukinojo Toyama (usually referred to as "Yuki" in the series), Ranmaru Morii, and Kyohei Takano, who must transform the homely and reclusive Sunako into a beautiful lady in order to receive free rent. There are minor characters that appear, most notably Noi Kasahara (Takenaga's girlfriend) and the Landlady, Sunako's as-yet-formally-named aunt.
- Underneath the comedic demeanor The Wallflower has many reoccurring themes that appear throughout the series.
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- 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.
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- 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 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, Kyouhei 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.
The storyline of the anime has so far followed the manga plotline closely, with only minor changes (most notably the order of events).
Because the manga's creator, Tomoko Hayakawa, is an avid admirer of J-Rock singer Kiyoharu, it was decided that Kiyoharu would perform the theme music for The Wallflower anime. 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 two respectable Japanese composers, Hiromi Mizutani and Yasuharu Takanashi.
The opening theme "slow" plays over recycled footage from the first episode, and is more of a love ballad. Episode 14 onwards shows the second version of the opening sequence which portrays more original footages. Whether this change was made due to growing popularity or the initial reception is unknown.
The first 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.
∞Changing∞, the second ending theme by Bon-Bon Blanco, presents the viewers with an even faster rhythm while preserving the use of computer animation (Hiroshi, Josephine and Akira dancing to the song) in the sequence.
- A romance between Kyouhei and Sunako is hinted at a lot sooner in the anime than in the manga.
- Sequence of events in the anime is different from the original manga. Some of the events have also been combined into one episode during the anime while the original manga spans for a few chapters (at different timings sometimes).
- Noi appears in several instances in the anime where she was not even there at all in the manga. In the manga the scenes with Noi seem to have more to do with her relationship with Takenaga than with her friendship with Sunako.
- ^ The Wallflower (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2006-12-14.
- ^ Official anime site (Japanese)
- ^ Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2006-11-30.
- ^ ADV Announces Liscensing of Wallflower, retrieved on 2007-07-14