The Wallflower vol 2
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(quoted from the back of The Wallflower volume 2)
The Spirit of a Lady
Four fabulous guys must completely transform a high school girl if they want to keep living rent-free in her aunt's luxurious mansion. But Sunako Nakahara, the most fashion-hopeless girl in Japan, would rather live like a hermit and watch her favorite horror movies than undergo a makeover.
When the guys stumble upon the mansion's secret subbasement, they discover the ghost of a prim and proper lady who (thankfully) begins to possess Sunako's soul. It seems their problems is solved. Too bad that Sunako's now-suitable personality includes a desire to lock the boys up in the mansion's dungeon!
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The Wallflower volume 2 contains:
A Note from the Author
Honorifics
Chapter 6: Sunako. They're Calling You
Chapter 7: Merry Scary Christmas!
Chapter 8: Sunako Becomes a Lady?
Chapter 9: Blood Splatteringly Steamy Love at the Hot Springs (Part 1)
Bonus Manga
Extra Bonus
About the Creator
Translation Notes
Preview of Volume 3
Storyline:
The story has already been set up from the previous volume so the author didn't have to worry about rushing through the stories in this volume. In fact, the three and a half stories included in this volume don't do anything really dramatic, instead they are just hilarious stories that help develop the characters. Probably the only problem I had with this volume's storyline is that it left on a cliff-hanger which really sucks but it gives the reader something to look forward to.
Artwork:
The art manages to keep the same look as the last volume which is great sense I've already adjusted to it. The characters are well done and so is almost everything. The only two problems I had with the artwork was that there almost never seemed to be any background and the chibi-like (baby faced) character drawings appeared more often then the last volume, but that didn't really take away anything from the series because the story manages to keep you informed of where you are at all times. Plus, the chibi-character drawings are usually used at appropriate times which doesn't really hurt the series (it just seemed like the author used this too much).
Characters:
This volume of The Wallflower spent more of its stories focusing on this category then any other. For good reason! In this volume you learn a lot more about the four boys' personalities and their hobbies. Each of the boys has some type of romantic relationship going on during this volume which is good sense it helps show more about their character. On top of that, Sunako and Kyohei's relationship is starting to pick up. They've even made it to the point where they compete zealously over stuff and Kyohei manages to get a couple of scenes alone with Sunako where he shows that he has more then "friendly" feelings towards her (don't expect too much though).
Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers):
In chapter 6 Sunako gets in charge of decorating her homeroom for the class for the upcoming festival. Of course, Sunako decides this is a great opporunity to bring her darkness into the classroom so that she can be by herself during school. Unfortunately for her, Kyohei runs into her and decides that he's going to help her out to make her room the most popular (of course he's doing it for the grand prize of 500,000 yen). He drags Yuki, Takenaga, and Ranmaru into it so that they can win. The four prettiest boys in school can't lose and after helping Sunako have a sexy/scary haunted house they win. At the end of the chapter Kyohei never gets any of the money because of one of his fights that happened during the festival.
In chapter 7 it is Christmas time at the mansion and Yuki, Takenaga, and Ranmaru decide it's time to get have an "intimate afternoon" with their girlfriends. Ranmaru heads out to be with his girlfriend (who is already married), Yuki goes out to meet his highschool girlfriend, and Takenaga goes out to meet Noi (they fell in love in the last volume), which leaves Kyohei and Sunako all by themselves in the mansion. Sunako immediately goes off to her room and decorates it with coffins and skeletons and is enjoying her horror films when a fat man grabs her. She quickly kicks the shit out of him and whne Kyohei comes to her room to try and save her she kicks the fat man out the window. Kyohei then pulls out the champaign and before they can have a "romantic moment" the three other boys come in because their dates got ruined. Everyone but Sunako gets drunk in her room and she ends up locking herself in a coffin until New Years.
In chapter 8, Sunako and friends are doing New Year's Eve cleaning and after going in the basement Sunako falls into a hole and the four boys have to search for her. After going through tunnels and stuff they come across a beautiful and proper woman who is nonother then Sunako. After they all are put to sleep they wake up and Sunako has tied them up in a dungeon. They quickly find out that Sunako was possessed by a proper lady and after doing some censored stuff to Ranmaru they manage to trick her to leave for a minute, in that time Kyohei breaks them free and they get rid of the ghost that possessed Sunako. Once the spirit was gone Kyohei and friends carried Sunako out of the room beneath the basement and at the end of the chapter they all watch the sun come up at the start of a new year.
In chapter 9, Sunako and company go on vacation (against Sunako's will) to the hot springs. On the way there they find out the place that they are staying at is the residence of Ranmaru's new girlfriend and her husband. Once they get their Noi pulls Sunako to the side and tells her to distract Kyohei because he kept getting in the way of Takenaga and her. After Noi bribes her, Sunako agrees and tries to distract Kyohei for the afternoon. After a grueling ping-pong match (that ended at 51-49, Sunako), Sunako passes out and Kyohei carries her off. After a romantic segment (that was so brief that I almost forgot about it) between Kyohei and Sunako they find out that Ranmaru's girlfriend's husband was killed. To be continued in volume 3...
Extras:
Del Rey kicks ass! They have their honorfics which explains about the Japanese language and stuff and the translation notes which are top notch. There are also the two short stories which give picture about the author. I didn't really care too much about the short stories but the other extras were greatly appreciated.
Content Warnings:
-Language: No
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: Yes
-Sexual Situations: Yes
Overall:
An excellent volume in everyway! While this volume may not have been as good as the last volume it was still top-notch and has made this one of my favorite series. The art is wonderful, the characters are getting more developed, and the stories in this volume really help bring past and present elements together. My only complaint would have to be that the author spent more time on unnecessary chapters then plot progression, but in a series like this (that is like Real World) that doesn't matter. The Wallflower is the type of series in which it doesn't really need a set direction to head in because it will get there in the end.
+ Just a great series for anyone looking for a fun shoujo comedy.
- Not very plot driven, if you're looking for a dramatic tale then The Wallflower might disappoint.
Score: 9/10
