Sunako just wants to remain in seclusion inside her dark room, but glam Auntie has other plans and drags her niece to a party. Upon arrival, Sunako takes refuge in an empty coffin, where she finds a diamond. Imagine morbid Sunako’s delight when she learns the jewel is cursed!
Tomoko Hayakawa (はやかわ ともこ, Hayakawa Tomoyo) is a Japanese artist and writer, best known for her ongoing manga The Wallflower, which has spawned both an anime and a live action series.
The Wallflower, Vol 13 is a bit more tied together than the last volume (in that three of the chapters/stories kind of follow each other).
Chapter 51 brings the Landlady back into the picture - who is planning on becoming a traditional Japanese housewife. And anyone who has read the previous books is probably going - What? We get more Auntie and Sunako-chan bonding in this story and that unconditional love between these two. Not to mention the whole message of being yourself. It was a wonderful chapter and lead into the following two chapters (Chapters 52-53). While being dragged away by her aunt, Sunako-chan is found by a Diamond (which is then gifted to her). Chapter 52 introduces us to the apparently sentient Diamond who is determined (it feels kind of weird typing this) to be admired and shown off - but it now belongs to Sunako. When it doesn’t get what it wants it causes Havoc in Sunako-chan’s life! And after mishaps and mayhem, and some rude men - after a sort of Cinderella-ish twist, Sunako ends up giving the diamond to her aunt.
But the actions of the diamond aren’t completely forgotten (especially the scene involving a Naked Sunako and Kyohei)! In Chapter 53, Sunako-chan is far from normal - she keeps going around naked (thinking she’s fully clothed)! This leads to Kyohei attempting to keep her as covered as possible and saving her from a serious situation! The only complaint I would have here is we don’t really know what caused this (I’m guessing it’s something leftover from the Diamond but it’s never clarified). At least Sunako-chan goes back to normal - for the sanity and safety of everyone!
Finally we have the last chapter of this volume, Chapter 54 - one that is unconnected to the other three stories. Where Sunako finds herself competing against a western-style restaurant for Kyohei’s (stomachs) affection! Well…Kind of. This one brings Sunako-chan’s passion for cooking and Kyohei’s passion for eating, and a series of misunderstandings for another fun adventure! Let me just leave you with a quote from this chapter:
“I don’t do too well around creatures of the light but…nothing makes me happier than seeing someone enjoying my cooking. If you’re going to be cooking for him from now on…I hope you’ll be able to put a smile on his face.”
See how much these two have grown (individually - especially Sunako-chan) and in their relationship!
Overall Rating: B Synopsis: A Shōjo comedy/romance manga created by Tomoko Hayakawa. At the beginning of the manga, Sunako Nakahara confesses her love to a boy, who utterly rejects her and tells her she's ugly. As any reasonably young person would do, Sunako then discards all traces of her femininity, and retreats into odd and morbid hobbies, such as collecting skulls.
Fortunately, Sunako's aunt owns a mansion that four gorgeous boys live in (huh?). Apparently, the boys pay rent to live in the mansion, and the aunt offers them free rent if they give Sunako a Pygmalian-esque makeover, and she becomes a "perfect lady". The boys set to work, and hilarity ensues.
Often, Sunako is shown as an exaggerated version of her true self that looks like a female version Cartman from Southpark. Will these gorgeous boys succeed? Will Sunako's inner beauty shine through?
I passed over The Wallflower several times before checking it out. I'm not a huge fan of the art, but I love the ridiculous plot so far. This works pretty well as a comedy/romance Shōjo, and I'm interested in the characters. The series is ongoing, so I'm not sure how long they can keep the plot interesting, but I'll definitely be reading it for awhile. It has a lot of potential.
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Sunako’s Aunt returns, she is in love and wants to become a traditional Japanese housewife... Sunako tries to help her aunt learn in hopes of being closer to her beloved aunt... alas Auntie’s ideas are not traditional at all.
Chapter 52 - The Brilliant Accident
Sunako is whisked away to a party by her aunt and is given a beautiful gem, when she return home the gem starts to control Sunako and puts her into some very compromising situations. The gem has a spirit and it wants to be seen, this causes Sunako all kinds of trouble.
Chapter 53 - The Brilliant Accident, Part 2
Fall out from the previous chapter, the unspeakable event happened and Sunako has blocked it from her memory, but does so have rewired her brain to think she is fully clothed when she is not. Kyohei (even though her really didn’t do anything) is freaking out trying to save her from her break with reality.
Chapter 54 - Gourmet
Kyohei starts eating out and this upsets Sunako when she learns he is eating at a western restaurant instead... Sunako works hard to improve her cooking to compete - does this mean she is jealous / love?
In this volume, Sunako and her aunt spend some quality time together; Sunako ends up naked on Kyohei’s bed, and then just about everywhere else; and finally, Sunako goes creepy and crazy when Kyohei appears to reject her cooking.
Last time I commented on a volume of The Wallflower, I said nothing ever seems to change, and while this volume is as episodic as the last, the tone felt different. Sunako is still undeniably *strange* (and happy that way), but she spends less time freaking out about the “creatures of the light.” I really liked seeing some of the things that make Sunako happy other than horror and darkness: spending time with her aunt, and cooking for people who appreciate her skill. It feels as if she’s progressed a tiny bit, without having given up on the person she is.
Seriously, the story isn’t very *good,* but it usually amuses me--sometimes despite myself. This probably doesn’t speak very highly of my sense of humour, but I couldn’t help but laugh at this: “It’s the first ever horror porno! The naughty adventures of the she-cat.”
In this volume Sunako is possessed by a spirit in a diamond, and visits Kyouhei NAKED! in his room! And Kyouhei freezes! cuz he is in 'puberty' hahaha. Obviously when Sunako remember this, she wants to die.
I thought we will finally have some romantic scenes between the two of them, when Kyouhei started to skip her meals (he is her biggest fan after all) and she could not sleep cuz she was cooking all the time, trying to get the perfect food. How could I not remember this was Sunako-chan? It was not about jealousy over the new girl Kyouhei 'started to like' (as the boys thought); she was just being competitive over the food!
After taking a trip with the Landlady, Sunako comes back with a piece of jewelry. But when the jewelry has a mind of its own, what is Sunako to do when she wants to keep it hidden and it wants her to put it, and Sunako, on display?
The main thread of this one works pretty well, but some of the secondary arcs, including a final one involving Sunako cooking for Kyohei don't pan out as well. Still, might as well keep reading.
Ho wow a lot happened here! There was so many funny stuff going on!!! Like the landlady being a housewife, that was real fun! And we get to know more about her relationship with Sunako-chan I think it is an important part of the manga because in volume 1 when I read that the aunt asked the boys to transform her niece I wonder what sort of relationship they had. But answers are soon to come I guess
the very best wallflower volumes are the ones where sunako rides hard for other women. trufax
combine that with my weakness for stories about ~family~ and i was basically nodding and smiling my way through the entire housewife storyline
kind of ridiculous? true! but what is not ridiculous is sunako loving her aunt and wanting to find ways to spend time together. that is what we here in the biz call heartwarming as heck
Loved this series. I love reverse harem type series especially when the girl is considered to be 'plain.' Nakahara was a hilarious character and I loved all of her creepy ways.
It was similar in my mind to Boys Over Flowers. Same general concept and characters.
Overall series review (mostly) 4 Stars - so far, I’ve still got a few to go… Additional: Like most long running series there are some duff chapters/volumes
this book is good love the romance and havin the four boys being nice 2 sunako and love the comdey plus when they get scared of sunako we she stared at them they scream?????
For some reason the cooking story really resonated with me, but the rest was enjoyable too. Wondered why this book had the 16+ rating on it, and then hit "The Brilliant Accident." o.O Too funny!