The Wallflower (manga)

The Wallflower
Cover of volume 1, featuring Kyohei
ヤマトナデシコ七変化 (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge)
Genre	Drama, Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by	Tomoko Hayakawa
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Kodansha Comics USA Chuang Yi
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Bessatsu Friend
Original run	2000 – ongoing
Volumes	29 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Directed by	Shinichi Watanabe[1]
Studio	Nippon Animation[1]
Licensed by	Funimation Entertainment Madman Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo, TV Aichi
Original run	October 3, 2006 – March 27, 2007
Episodes	25 (List of episodes)
TV drama
Network	TBS
Original run	January 15, 2010 – March 19, 2010
Episodes	10
Anime and Manga Portal

The Wallflower (ヤマトナデシコ七変化, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge^?), a.k.a Perfect Girl Evolution, is a manga series written by Tomoko Hayakawa. The individual chapters have been serialized in Bessatsu Friend since its premiere in 2000, and in 27 tankōbon volumes in Japan by Kodansha. The series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga and in Singapore by Chuang Yi — under the name My Fair Lady.

Nippon Animation adapted part of the manga series into a twenty-five episode anime series which aired on TV Tokyo and TV Aichi from October 3, 2006 through March 27, 2007.^[1][2] The anime adaptation has been licensed for Region 1 release by A.D. Vision.^[3] In 2008, The WallFlower became one of over 30 ADV titles whose North American rights were transferred to Funimation Entertainment.^[4]

Plot

The Wallflower is about 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. Sunako has the tendency to spurt out in a nose bleed when seen by bright creatures, especially around Kyohei.

Characters

Main article: List of The Wallflower characters

Sunako Nakahara (中原 スナコ, Nakahara Sunako^?)

Voiced by: Yukiko Takaguchi (Japanese), Hannah Alcorn (English), Live-Action: Aya Ōmasa

Sunako always had an obsession with darkness and a morbid fascination with blood, horror movies, and similarly dark things but it wasn't until she was rejected by her first love that she openly expressed it and became even more isolated from the rest of the world. She hates excessive light exposure and also does poorly in hot weather, though the latter is because she grew up in northern Japan. She has three "friends"; a skeleton called Josephine (with husband, sergeant George) and two anatomical figures named Hiroshi-kun and Akira-kun. While she suffers from severely low self-esteem, she is actually quite beautiful (most of her physical imperfections are a result of her self-imposed isolation from the world) and a frighteningly tough fighter, being able to lift someone twice her size with one hand. She is portrayed (mostly) throughout the manga in Super deformed form or chibi as a sort of visual metaphor for how she and others see herself; becoming beautiful when her mood becomes bold or confident . Somewhat surprisingly, she is a very good cook, very athletic, intelligent, and a good pianist. She refers to beautiful people as "creatures of light" and "ugly" people, such as herself, as "creatures of darkness", in the translation in America. Whenever she sees a "creature of light", she gets nosebleeds, and they're usually severe when she sees Kyohei. Despite her negative attitude, once she is driven to do something, Sunako is quite capable of doing things that no one expects her to complete. There is also a possibility that she may have supernatural abilities i.e. plants wilting near her and windows shattering by an unseen force. She's also been possessed many times.

Her relationship with Kyohei is somewhat unclear, saying that she always wants to kill him, and even going to the extent of turning into a lady temporarily to get him back. Her reason is that "she's the only person who can kill him". She has not, however, thought of or mentioned killing him for many chapters, not even after he kissed her. Recent chapters have seen her forget her first crush, and she is now more open to other people, including her peers and teachers at school. She's also having less and less nosebleeds and though protests at first, doesn't greatly mind spending time with Kyohei. During chapter Sunakos Curse Sunako is seen kissing Kyohei (the first time she has initiated a kiss) after she put a curse on him, of living spirits. In the chapter a present for you she is seen giving Takano a hand-made present to remind him of the good memories with his mother.

Kyouhei Takano (高野 恭平, Takano Kyohei^?)

Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English), Live-Action: Kazuya Kamenashi

While he says that all he cares about is getting free (or the lowest amount required to be paid) rent, he has a soft spot for Sunako and empathizes with her more so than the others. He is the most popular of the boys, and always has trouble keeping down a part-time job because his fans will chase after him, or his boss (male or female) will sexually harass him. Kyohei is cocky, short-tempered, and the only one tough enough to fight on the same level as Sunako. His hair is modeled after Tackey of Tackey & Tsubasa. He also tends to succumb to food and money. Since Sunako is the only girl who is able to understand his true personality regardless of his good looks, he gradually develops an obvious attraction towards her, even going as far as kissing her for no apparent reason. In latest chapters he seems to be aware of his feelings to at least a small degree, looking at a loss when it seems Sunako loves a guy (she doesn't) and when witnessing said guy hug a girl rushes to find Sunako after buying chocolates 'for himself' (to console her- he doesn't eat a single one). He seems to have softened towards her more in chapter 91, telling her she's fine just the way she is when she's upset, scolding her for lying on a dangerous place and telling the 'old man' who talked to her not to fill Sunako's head with too many strange ideas, that he and the others would be worried if she went to the underworld.

Takenaga Oda (織田 武長, Oda Takenaga^?)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English), Live-Action: Hiroki Uchi

The most intellectual of the four, Takenaga is called the "Boss" (a pun on his personal name in Japanese, which can be read as buchou, meaning "boss") by his friends and is the least fazed by Sunako's morbid habits. When the quartet dress Sunako up, Takenaga is usually responsible for doing Sunako's hair. Takenaga was originally from a wealthy family descended from flower masters (ikebana), but when the pressure of being the family heir was too much, he became completely withdrawn and ignored everyone. He was sent to live at the Landlady's mansion in hopes of becoming more "normal". He is described as a caring feminist and is rather shy. He is currently going out with Noi, whom he affectionately calls "Noi-chi". His name is derived from Oda Nobunaga (in fact it was once suggested in the anime that Takenaga was a direct descendant of Nobunaga) and his reference to Noi as "Noi-chi" is probably a reference to Oichi, a sister of Nobunaga.

Yukinojo "Yuki" Toyama (遠山 雪之丞, Toyama Yukinojo^?)

Voiced by: Yuuya Yamaguchi (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English), Live-Action: Yuya Tegoshi

The most androgynous of the four, "Yuki" is gentle and is initially the most frightened of Sunako. He's the most "normal" of the four boys; before coming to live at the mansion he had a normal school life with a middle-class family. His mother and the Landlady are old friends and the Landlady, and Sunako at times, has a soft spot for Yuki. He's also the shortest and shyest, with a "cute" face, and has been called on (very reluctantly) to dress up as a girl on more than one occasion. He is usually responsible for choosing what sort of clothes Sunako wears when she is forced to dress up and has a good sense of fashion.

Ranmaru Morii (森井 蘭丸, Morii Ranmaru^?)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese), Chris Patton (English), Live-Action: Shuntaro Miyao

A ladies' man, Ranmaru is often going out with various beautiful older (and often married) women. The very sight of Sunako initially has him breaking out in hives, but when her true beauty is revealed, he decides that she has "potential" to become a real lady. Like Takenaga, he comes from a wealthy family (who own a series of hotel chains), but was sent to live with the Landlady because he exploited his wealth and his parents wanted him to become "normal". Surprisingly, Ranmaru is actually better at kendo than Takenaga, who comes from a traditional family. He apparently is the strongest advocate of making Sunako into a lady and is usually responsible for doing her make-up whenever she has to dress up; however, his attempts are rarely successful in the long run and he is convinced the it is Kyohei's attitude towards Sunako that is the primary problem. In hopes of changing his womanizing habits, his parents engage him to reserved and conservative girl of their liking, named Tamao Kikunoi. Even though he rejects Kikunoi's love for him, he begins to develop feelings for her. He is named after the real life Mori Ranmaru, the partner of Oda Nobunaga.

Noi Kasahara (笠原 乃依, Kasahara Noi^?)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English), Live-Action: Ranko Kobe

A very pretty and exceedingly popular girl. She loves being called beautiful by the others, especially Sunako. Noi is Sunako's closest friend at school, where Sunako is scorned for her terrifying demeanor and association with the boys. She admires Sunako's tough attitude and also believes that Sunako and Kyohei are compatible as a couple. Noi is in love with Takenaga, though she tends to be insecure about their relationship because Takenaga is too shy to openly admit that he likes her. She is called "Noi" in both the North American and Singaporean English-language translation. As stated in recent chapters, she's a fan of shoujo manga..

Media

Manga

Main article: List of The Wallflower chapters

Anime

Main article: List of The Wallflower episodes

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

∞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.

Live action drama

In the 18th issue of Bessatsu Friend, it was announced that a live action drama adaption of the manga has been green-lit for airing in January 2009.^[5] On November 30, the cast was announced for the live action drama.^[6] Actor and member of the J-pop group KAT-TUN, Kazuya Kamenashi stars as Kyohei, while actress Aya Ōmasa plays the lead role as Sunako. This is broadcast on TBS with the opening theme, KAT-TUN's "Love Yourself (Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki)." They added one more main character, Nakahara Takeru, the landlady's son.

Influence

The Wallflower has inspired a fashion line by Julie Haus that appeared in the 2008 New York Fashion Week.^[7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge", Newtype USA 5 (11): 19, November 2006, ISSN 1541-4817 
2. ^ "テレビ東京·あにてれ ヤマトナデシコ七変化 (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge)". TV Tokyo. http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/yamanade/. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
3. ^ "ADV Acquires The Wallflower". Anime News Network. 2007-05-15. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-05-15/adv-acquires-the-wallflower. Retrieved 2007-07-14. 
4. ^ Funimation Picks Up Over 30 Former AD Vision Titles - Anime News Network
5. ^ "The Wallflower Manga Gets January Tv Drama Green-Lit". Anime News Network. 2009-11-12. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-12/the-wallflower-manga-gets-january-tv-drama-green-lit. Retrieved 2009-12-19. 
6. ^ "Cast For The Wallflower Tv Drama Announced". Anime News Network. 2009-12-02. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-02/cast-for-the-wallflower-tv-drama-announced. Retrieved 2009-12-19. 
7. ^ Young designer works a haute pace before Fashion Week

Further reading

• Cooper, Liann (20 Nov 2004). "Sugar Rush - RTO". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/right-turn-only/2004-11-20.  Query Wayback Bibalex Wayback WebCite Wikiwix.

External links

• Official Betsufure The Wallflower manga website (Japanese)
• Official Del Rey The Wallflower manga website
• Official TV Tokyo The Wallflower anime website (Japanese)
• Official AT-X The Wallflower anime website (Japanese)
• Official Funimation The Wallflower anime website
• Official TBS The Wallflower TV drama website (Japanese)
• The Wallflower (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia