When the director of Excel Saga takes on the pretty boy meets ugly girl genre of storytelling the result is something funny, scary and delightful all mixed into one twisted package. The Wallflower is that package and any fan of Ouran High School Host Club will 100% love The Wallflower.
Four pretty boys living the pretty life. Kyouhei Takano, Takenaga Oda, Yukinojo "Yuki" Toyama and Ranmaru Morii all reside in a vast mansion with nothing to do but go to school and fend off the ladies … and then there’s dealing with their Auntie. Seems the boys are doing a bit of freeloading and now it’s time to pay the rent or take on a challenge. That challenge, Sunako, Aunties niece. The boys must change her into a lady, a proper young dame and if they succeed they live rent free, if not it’s time to pay up. How hard can this be? As Sunako reveals herself it’s as if deaths daughter has emerged from the underworld. She loves slasher flicks, worships Halloween and has a few skeletons outside her closet that are her best friends. What’s her issue, a boy once told her she was ugly so she retreated into herself and became dark, very, very dark. The boys, she looks at them as creatures of light, pretty, popular, everything she is not but a challenge is a challenge and no matter how much Sunako objects Kyo, Take, Yuki and Ranmaru has to overcome their fear and change Sunako, for better or worse … but how can she get worse?
So going in reverse order, let’s touch on the art first. This series has an art style that totally screams Shojo, is way more girly looking (on the cover) than even Ouran and may turn off buyers just looking on shelves, but DON’T LET THAT FOOL YOU!!! This series uses this look to further the excellent humor with plenty of overreactions and an SD version of Sunako is just too funny. This series go to polar opposites with its humorous reactions to serious character designs. The voice work is excellent, spot on perfect. I for one loved the fact the voices from Ouran made the transition in many characters, it makes the series feel so familiar and Sunako is over the top many times, yeah, it just fits perfect.
Now we come to story and its here in which the art, humor and vociework all bring it home. Like Ouran, yes you will hear this often, each of the four boys has a back-story on how they came to the mansion but it’s Kyo with his good looks and tough time because of them, who takes center stage with Sunako. They may be good looking but all four have issues which are revealed as the story progresses and unlike Ouran they don’t have money, so good times there as they have to get jobs. Sunako is dark, gloomy and creepy and her darkness mixing with the creatures of light is the classic opposites attract story. Converting Sunako is the premise but the little encounters, a Halloween party a few days late, visit by the parents, hot spring trip, school fair, boys learning to cook, clean and do manual labors mix in with some odd kidnappings, one each for Sunako and Kyo. Crazy (funny) story after crazy story is what The Wallflower is all about. You’ve got dark Sunako, with pretty normal parents, pretty boy Kyo who’s one hell of a fighter, Noi, the prettiest girl in school who befriends Sunako and a crazy extravagant Auntie. I’m not even touching on the other boys or their stories. Lots of fun stories and at the center Sunako and Kyo, it’s a great anime.
So where do my ramblings and praise leave us? While not my favorite character designs the SD version of Sunako and scared version of the boys is spot on excellent, voice work is superb and the stories, the encounters and adventures will have you coming back for more. It’s a great series, an excellent package that any fan of Ouran will love. I really enjoyed The Wallflower, was sad to see the anime end, but when a series leaves you wanting more, that’s a good thing.
Four pretty boys living the pretty life. Kyouhei Takano, Takenaga Oda, Yukinojo "Yuki" Toyama and Ranmaru Morii all reside in a vast mansion with nothing to do but go to school and fend off the ladies … and then there’s dealing with their Auntie. Seems the boys are doing a bit of freeloading and now it’s time to pay the rent or take on a challenge. That challenge, Sunako, Aunties niece. The boys must change her into a lady, a proper young dame and if they succeed they live rent free, if not it’s time to pay up. How hard can this be? As Sunako reveals herself it’s as if deaths daughter has emerged from the underworld. She loves slasher flicks, worships Halloween and has a few skeletons outside her closet that are her best friends. What’s her issue, a boy once told her she was ugly so she retreated into herself and became dark, very, very dark. The boys, she looks at them as creatures of light, pretty, popular, everything she is not but a challenge is a challenge and no matter how much Sunako objects Kyo, Take, Yuki and Ranmaru has to overcome their fear and change Sunako, for better or worse … but how can she get worse?
So going in reverse order, let’s touch on the art first. This series has an art style that totally screams Shojo, is way more girly looking (on the cover) than even Ouran and may turn off buyers just looking on shelves, but DON’T LET THAT FOOL YOU!!! This series uses this look to further the excellent humor with plenty of overreactions and an SD version of Sunako is just too funny. This series go to polar opposites with its humorous reactions to serious character designs. The voice work is excellent, spot on perfect. I for one loved the fact the voices from Ouran made the transition in many characters, it makes the series feel so familiar and Sunako is over the top many times, yeah, it just fits perfect.
Now we come to story and its here in which the art, humor and vociework all bring it home. Like Ouran, yes you will hear this often, each of the four boys has a back-story on how they came to the mansion but it’s Kyo with his good looks and tough time because of them, who takes center stage with Sunako. They may be good looking but all four have issues which are revealed as the story progresses and unlike Ouran they don’t have money, so good times there as they have to get jobs. Sunako is dark, gloomy and creepy and her darkness mixing with the creatures of light is the classic opposites attract story. Converting Sunako is the premise but the little encounters, a Halloween party a few days late, visit by the parents, hot spring trip, school fair, boys learning to cook, clean and do manual labors mix in with some odd kidnappings, one each for Sunako and Kyo. Crazy (funny) story after crazy story is what The Wallflower is all about. You’ve got dark Sunako, with pretty normal parents, pretty boy Kyo who’s one hell of a fighter, Noi, the prettiest girl in school who befriends Sunako and a crazy extravagant Auntie. I’m not even touching on the other boys or their stories. Lots of fun stories and at the center Sunako and Kyo, it’s a great anime.
So where do my ramblings and praise leave us? While not my favorite character designs the SD version of Sunako and scared version of the boys is spot on excellent, voice work is superb and the stories, the encounters and adventures will have you coming back for more. It’s a great series, an excellent package that any fan of Ouran will love. I really enjoyed The Wallflower, was sad to see the anime end, but when a series leaves you wanting more, that’s a good thing.
