Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge or best known by North American audiences as The Wallflower is a 25-episode anime based by the manga written and illustrated by Tomoko Hayakawa which up until now, is still on going with individual chapters serialized in Bessatsu Friend since 2000. The anime was adapted by Nippon Animation which aired on TV Tokyo and TV Aichi from October 3, 2006 through March 27, 2007.
Due to the popularity here in the Philippines, this show is one of the top searches in Yahoo! Philippines back when it first aired here and is one of the frequently requested shows to reair by fans.
The show kicks of with the events that happened on our lead female’s middle school year. She was dumped by his crushed by saying these words, “I hate ugly girls.” This caused our lead’s heart to break and turn into the “dark side.”
On the present, four boys who are renting a mansion owned by a Landlady which the call her, “Auntie”, asked them to turn her niece into a lady, to be exact, a Yamato Nadeshiko, an ideal Japanese lady. In case they fail, they will pay their current rent, triple. Thinking that this is an easy task considering that these boys are heartthrobs, they accepted the challenge.
Who are these boys? Here is a short introduction. Yukinojo Toyama or best known as Yuki is a boy who often cross-dresses and often mistaken for a girl due to the fact that he looks convincing like a girl. Next is Ranmaru Mori, the group’s playboy who is known to hit 2 or more girls at the same time AND sometimes hit married women! Next is Takenaga Oda, is the smartest in the group. He is the son of a well-known family that’s best known for flower arrangement. Both Takenaga and Ranmaru by the way are rich kids. Lastly, is Kyouhei Takano, the sort of leader of this quartet, extremely handsome that even his male bosses harassed him and caused many fan girls melt into either a puddle or nosebleeds every time he arrives.
These boys are now waiting for the arrival of Sunako, the Landlady’s niece, until finally; she arrives, in a very odd way. Yuki noticed that there is something moving in the bush of the mansion, he peeked and the boys get the surprise of their life! Sunako crawled out from the bush ala Sadako from The Ring fame! After the boys stopped screaming, they finally confirmed, this is Sunako.
Like her namesake, Sunako is a pun of Sadako from The Ring fame. When Sunako first arrived in the Nakahara mansion, she dons a hairdo similar to Sadako and wears a long sleeved white shirt.
We later on learned that Sunako was the girl who was dumped by her crush back in middle school. Because of the events that happened, she decided to turn into the dark side… literally. She started loving gore, horror, darkness and developed a fear of “radiant” people such as the boys. If she saw one, she will nosebleed. The boys therefore conclude, to transform Sunako into a Lady is indeed a challenging task.
As the series progressed, the boys tried their best to transform her into a Yamato Nadeshiko and sometimes ending not successful… HOWEVER, they almost turn her into a Lady once but it was only temporary. A Love story developed from the unlikely couple of Sunako and Kyouhei. On some episodes, Auntie pops up to either ask the rent or show up in an event with her current boyfriend.
Two girls related to our two boys are introduced to be exact Takenaga and Ranmaru and they are Noi and Kikono. Noi is one of the students in the school where Sunako and the boys study while Kikono is Ranmaru’s fiancé.
On to the review, the basic of every Romantic Comedy genre show or film is that both Comedy and Romance is well balance but in YamaNade’s case, the show is loads of comedy that is why I liked it. It is not cheesy like a certain overrated love story coming from Hana Yori Dango, but something unique they you might even say to yourself, “Hey, why didn’t they thought of that?”
On to the review, the basic of every Romantic Comedy genre show or film is that both Comedy and Romance is well balance but in YamaNade’s case, the show is loads of comedy that is why I liked it. It is not cheesy like a certain overrated love story coming from Hana Yori Dango, but something unique they you might even say to yourself, “Hey, why didn’t they thought of that?”
Sunako is the mix of your everyday Goth Girl that likes to say what she feels while Kyouhei is the everyday handsome jerk the most girls fell in love with. Put them together, we have a love story that can be compared and contrast or even would give Hana Yori Dango’s Tsukasa and Tsukushi a run for their popularity.
Another funny couple in the show is Takenaga and Noi, what makes it funny is that every time these two tried to kiss, they will be interrupted by anyone who is available!
The show also has a similarity to Hana Yori Dango, aside from the top examples, the four boys reminded me of F4 only poorer and Sunako is the girl who is caught between the flowers.
For the show’s comedy, there are couples of episodes that will cause you to fall in your chair and laugh and those are The Pirate Island Episode, The First Episode and my personal favorite, The Valentine’s Day Episode. The show made a good use of Sunako’s super-deformed mode to give an emphasis that this part of the show is not that serious. Chibi Sunako carried the comedy of both the manga and the anime. That is why I was wondering how the live-action adaptation of the show could can pull of the show’s comedy.
One thing I liked about this show is the segment called; “The Path of Being a Lady” in which the Japanese dub of the show had a narrator that sounds like Yoichi of Eyeshield 21 fame but in the Filipino dub, the narrator sounded like some guy from a circus which adds to humor of the segment. In the manga, if my memory serves me correctly, this segment does not exist. This segment adds more depth on how to teach Sunako into a prim and proper Lady.
To the disappointments, since the source material, the original comic is still on its run (And up until now, it is still ongoing) while the show is still airing, some chapters, which are very important to the show, are not included. A perfect example is the introduction of someone who likes Sunako in the form a guy who resembles Kyouhei with the glass and a lot more thinner. A very short segment in which we learned that Yuki has a girlfriend…that was very surprising. Sunako’s Middle School Class Reunion in which we finally met the one who dumped her and lastly, *cue in the angry fan girls* Sunako and Kyouhei’s second kiss.
Overall, YamaNade is a great Romantic Comedy show that would cause you to really laugh out laud and get touched in some episodes, to be exact how the boys first met and when Kyouhei returned to his parent’s house. This show is a perfect to those who watched Hana Yori Dango who wants something fresh. If I would be given the chance to pick a show to watch all over again, I would pick this. Hope the producers decided to create a Season 2!