Comics / Manga

The Wallflower: Volume 14

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 7, 2008 - 08:28

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the image.

When her aunt leaves town, goth chick Sunako Nakahara finds herself living in her aunt’s boarding house/mansion with four high school age boys.  Kyohei Takano (the hot guy), Ranmaru Morrii (the glamorous lady’s man and bishounen), Yukingo Toyama (the emotional one), and Takenaga Oda (the brainy type and male feminist) have made a deal with Sunako’s aunt to live with Sunako and turn her into a proper lady in trade for three years’ rent free.  It’s a household full of warring teens.

In The Wallflower, Vol. 14, Sunako and the handsome and alluring Kyohei end up trapped in their mansion’s basement, and due to a rainstorm, the flood waters are closing in on the hapless duo.  Sunako may finally get the chance to see a real corpse, if Kyohei dies first!  Meanwhile, the reclusive Sunako tries to fit in with mainstream society while out for a day of shopping – with disastrous results.

THE LOWDOWN:  A frolicking shoujo (girls’ comics) title, The Wallflower is slapstick romantic comedy for the teen set.  The narrative, however, often gets crowded out by a too-large cast.  The best stories focus on one or two of the leads, such as the chapters “Dreams of Lovers in Love” (about Sunako’s attempt to fit in) and “Sweet Typhoon” (in which Sunako and Kyohei are trapped together).  Those stories allow the characters to stretch and show more of themselves, giving a reader a better grasp of their finer points.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  There’s also lots of bishounen (androgynous or feminized beautiful boys) fun and man-crushing, which will take The Wallflower beyond its target audience of older teen females to older female readers.

B-

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12