You have just read the whole plot of the story. It's funny and it's definitely shoujo (hmm, just google "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club" so you have an idea), but guys, don't be discourage, there is still something for you here. Maybe a lesson about not calling girls ugly? Come, come, don't be shy!
The Wallflower Volume 1: (by Tomoyo Hayakawa) Four guys who were blessed with handsomeness, who are always the being chased by a ton of girls, are all living in a big mansion who is owned by the aunt of our female main character. Her aunt made a deal with the boys, "If you can turn my niece into a proper lady, then you'll have free rent" and all is well and good except for the subject of the deal. Sunako Nakahara is a girl with a strange taste in movies (horror, slasher, gory and bloody films) and has a love for things occult. She's gonna live with these four gorgeous boys and what's more, she can't stare at them for too long or she'll squirt blood from her nose! What to do? What to do?! It's up to Kyohei, Takenaga, Yuki and Ranmaru to figure out how to transform this hikikomori otaku girl into a elegant lady!
At least they were trying...
Art: Shoujo with radically stylized eyes. The character design are drawn in CLAMP style where the limbs are a bit elongated but they maintain a natural poise. What turns me off the most (before I ever really watched the anime) are the character's eyes. Big, wide and natural, except for the long lashes which may please some girls who look for those things in guys. The characters are really designed to please females in particular because it illustrates the perfect guy that girls like.
She's happy that I like her chibi form!
I like how most of the times, the art is just carefree and just relaxed. Using chibi's (chibi = small version of a character or any thing) to ease the pain of drawing so much detail is also nice for the reader. What I hate the most is something drawn elaborately without thinking about putting something easy on the eyes to cleanse the palette. This has done a good job to make me feel comfortable with the art because as I said earlier, this kind of art turns me off but because Tomoko Hayakawa only draws elaborate stuff some times, it just slowly puts that picky side of mine to rest.
Chibi Sunako vs. Creatures of Light
Panels: A lot of free-flowing panels with the usual box panels, sometimes using diagonal borders to split panels. Every panel is filled which is great because I like seeing busy things while the art stays relax, it's kind of a balance for me. The expression of movement in each panel is divided, minor actions are drawn in a small panel while the romantic and big moments (like someone holding Sunako's hand) are emphasized in either free flowing panel or a big panel covering half the page. Literally like a love story movie, that is meant for people to get excited about. Think about a kissing scene, they go up close and in their faces (the cameras) when they want to make the kissing scene have more of an effect to the viewers and make it seem like you're the one who's being kissed.
Story: The story isn't original and a lot of anime and manga out there have something similar. Take for instance, Papillon (which I really love) has a similar feel, turning an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly (hence the subtitle: Hana to Chou, meaning Flower and Butterfly.) The unique thing about this is it's kind of a harem except it doesn't really involve any romance. What interests me the most is how these four pretty boys will help a girl who just doesn't care about looks anymore.
Expectation
Reality.
The comedy in this volume comes from Sunako's anti-social attitude and her fear of seeing "Creatures of the Light." This is a comedy shoujo manga but there are still serious themes surrounding the story. This title is for the shoujo audience, to be more specific, the middle teens (15-17 years old) because this is where young people experience pressure of looking good and trying to date someone. Younger teens might not have an idea about some of the stuff written here. Each chapter is episodic but they share the same timeline. That's good for a comedy manga for not every moment has it's comedy aspect to it. I feel that the time skips in between chapters can be used for bonus content, telling some random story about that skipped time.
Nazi Sunako? Why not!
Characters: Since I love occult stuff, I can pretty much relate to Sunako, she wants to be alone and wants to live with her hobbies and slasher movies. I like scary stuff too, prefer Halloween over Christmas, like the dark, and anti-social. That's me. The guys are pretty much set for life as they can just live off their fans' gifts and willingness to give them everything. Kyouhei is the all-brawn-no-brain guy, Takenaga is the smart one, Yuki is the caring and softhearted guy and Ranmaru is the "Lady's man" who has had a lot of experience with married women. No kidding. These sound reasonably human but when you read about them, they are just fictional, well, probably a handful of guys are like that.
Yep, the guys are swinging that way... for now.
Development for the characters are somewhat spread out. Sometimes, Sunako gets over her fear of looking at the guys directly and doesn't get any nosebleeds but in other times, she turns into the contrary. She can be a proper lady when she wants to but still chooses the darkness. I don't get it.
There's no need for what?
Bottomline: Read it. If you like something funny to read or even something to relate to (because somehow you're a anti-social recluse who loves horror movies and lives for all things occult) then read this. I must warn you though, there are times when a guy is naked and is totally posed like a model, so guys, don't let that bother you. Just skim through that page and move on. Yep, this is pretty much for the man lovers out there!
Addicting Level: 7/10
Oh, I'm gonna make a confession right here. I have a crush on Sunako. When you see her face in the manga, she's a really pretty girl. She's what you call "my waifu" except in a more realistic way. She's domesticated and we share the same tastes in things. I hope you find Sunako a lovely girl too! Mata ashita ne!?
No comments:
Post a Comment