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Hayakawa Tomoko - The Wallflower, vol. 01-03 (Eng. trans.)
Fri, Nov. 16th, 2007 11:12 pmFour gorgeous guys have moved in with Sunako in her aunt's giant mansion. Her aunt's promised them that they can have free rent, but only if they transform Sunako into a lady.
I know, I know, it sounds like such a sketchy premise! And yet, by volume 3, the mangaka has got enough of my confidence that I don't think she's going to pull shoujo tropes out of nowhere on me.
First of all, when they say Sunako isn't attractive, they really mean it. It's not that she's ugly -- it's that she's grown her bangs over her face so no one can see it. It's also that she likes to live in the darkness with her android-esque friends and watch slasher flicks, and that wherever she goes, a dark miasma follows her.
Literally.
No, really! Like, flowers wilt! People flee! Light bulbs pop! It's great!
I wasn't that enthusiastic when I first started reading, because I was sure she was going to get the requisite makeover and be stunningly beautiful underneath her bangs. But every time I think the mangaka's going to go there, she doesn't. It's odd and surprising in the nicest of ways. While she's definitely going for a romance with Sunako and Kyohei, my favorite thing so far is that Sunako rescues Kyohei pretty much all the time, and that Kyohei's the only one of the four guys who really doesn't care if she's a lady or not. He just wants free rent.
I'm really looking forward to the rest of this, especially if the mangaka continues to subvert expectations. I don't think it's quite a feminist manga so far, largely because the only other female character we see a lot of is Noi, a gorgeous, popular girl. Still, I'm happy because instead of Sunako being jealous of Noi, Noi is jealous of Sunako. And not because Sunako's living with Noi's crush object! No, it's because she likes how strong and kickass Sunako is! Sunako generally tries to hide from all human contact. Still, most of the other women are portrayed in a not-too-ideal light.
And just to make it clear, when I say Sunako's antisocial, I mean she's antisocial. Not grumpy and irritable like most antisocial people in manga. No! She longs to spend Christmas alone! She tries to see in the new year tucked away in a COFFIN SHE ORDERED! She is all sorts of awesome.
Anyway, I'm not really doing this justice. Check out![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
magicnoire's entry instead.
I know, I know, it sounds like such a sketchy premise! And yet, by volume 3, the mangaka has got enough of my confidence that I don't think she's going to pull shoujo tropes out of nowhere on me.
First of all, when they say Sunako isn't attractive, they really mean it. It's not that she's ugly -- it's that she's grown her bangs over her face so no one can see it. It's also that she likes to live in the darkness with her android-esque friends and watch slasher flicks, and that wherever she goes, a dark miasma follows her.
Literally.
No, really! Like, flowers wilt! People flee! Light bulbs pop! It's great!
I wasn't that enthusiastic when I first started reading, because I was sure she was going to get the requisite makeover and be stunningly beautiful underneath her bangs. But every time I think the mangaka's going to go there, she doesn't. It's odd and surprising in the nicest of ways. While she's definitely going for a romance with Sunako and Kyohei, my favorite thing so far is that Sunako rescues Kyohei pretty much all the time, and that Kyohei's the only one of the four guys who really doesn't care if she's a lady or not. He just wants free rent.
I'm really looking forward to the rest of this, especially if the mangaka continues to subvert expectations. I don't think it's quite a feminist manga so far, largely because the only other female character we see a lot of is Noi, a gorgeous, popular girl. Still, I'm happy because instead of Sunako being jealous of Noi, Noi is jealous of Sunako. And not because Sunako's living with Noi's crush object! No, it's because she likes how strong and kickass Sunako is! Sunako generally tries to hide from all human contact. Still, most of the other women are portrayed in a not-too-ideal light.
And just to make it clear, when I say Sunako's antisocial, I mean she's antisocial. Not grumpy and irritable like most antisocial people in manga. No! She longs to spend Christmas alone! She tries to see in the new year tucked away in a COFFIN SHE ORDERED! She is all sorts of awesome.
Anyway, I'm not really doing this justice. Check out
magicnoire's entry instead.