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REVIEW: The Wallflower GN 6




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Wolverine Princess



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1100
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:10 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Volumes 5 and 6 of The Wallflower aren’t necessarily bad, but they are unpolished and lacking in any substance. While they can be a light and fun read, this is a title firmly aimed at shojo fangirls who like to obsess over bishonen boys.


And they aren't even that pretty. That's why I gave up on this one after volume five, at this point the whole story basically revolves around the boring, cookie-cutter boys who are supposed to be "hot", but in reality are just bland and uniteresting. And I've personally never met a fangirl obsessing over the boys from this series.[/i]
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 1617
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:45 pm Reply with quote
I actually found the guys quite ugly when I read the first volume. I don't think I'll continue even past that, particularly if the story is shaping up to be as dull as the review makes it sound like.

Really, if you want a manga with bishie guys to obsess over, Fruits Basket is much, much better. There's something like 8 bishounen characters in the series (drawn much more attractively), and it actually has a plot, to boot!
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:00 pm Reply with quote
I think this review is right on the money. However I still buy these whenever they come out because they make me laugh the way very few titles do. Maybe it's because I don't read a lot of shoujo, but I haven't grown tired of it yet. I don't mind the episodic nature and lack of plot development, since I'm just looking for short bursts of humor. They are, to me, like Ouran High School Host Club. I read both for the same reason, to cheer up the occasional dull day.
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mistress_reebi



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 735
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu May 11, 2006 6:20 pm Reply with quote
I have to disagree with this review because I like this manga series. They are magna characters, not real people; therefore, you arn't suppost to drool over them. This review won't prevent me from buying this manga.
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Oneiropolos



Joined: 13 Jul 2005
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:28 pm Reply with quote
I find Wallflower charming and entertaining. No, the guys to me aren't that attractive (they're far too gaunt most of the time) but I like the craziness. I'm also really fond of Sunako as a heroine. She's just so bizarre. But I will agree, Volume 6 wasn't the strongest in the series.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2006 5:09 pm Reply with quote
After volume 3 I almost gave up on Wallflower, but I did enjoy volumes 5 and 6 a bit more, so I'm not through with it yet...

Quote:
At the beginning of each chapter and the beginning and end of each volume manga-ka Tomoko Hayakawa makes various cutesy “behind the scenes” comments which seem like inane dribble about her music interests and the people who help her on the manga but are actually very revealing about how and why The Wallflower has turned out the way it does. From them one can surmise that the basic lack of plot development in the series (or plot at all, for that matter) results both from her just writing/drawing about whatever strikes her fancy at the time and from her putting only a minimal amount of effort into her work since she’s constantly distracted by her music interests.


"Behind the scenes" sections in manga are typically my favorite section, as I always enjoy reading about the author's life, and it's always much more personal than notes on the authors of American books.

That said I think your analysis of the mangaka is pretty harsh! When I read the afterwords of Wallflower, I get the impression that the author is continually behind on deadlines, and she lacks the team of assistants that better funded manga projects probably have. The only time she leaves the house is to go to concerts of her favorite bands - I don't think that's the reason why she's continually behind on her work, but being cut off from the world outside of these outings might lead to the author being very depressed. Several of the afterwords note her bouts of depression.

Although given the nature of the work - no backgrounds, Sunako continually drawn in chibi to save time, and no plot - if I were the author I'd be depressed, too. Somehow I still manage to find this series endearing, so I'm glad that she's found some kind of audience. I hope that someday the author gets the team of assistants that might free up her time enough to write an actual plot...
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