by Tomoko Hayakawa, 474 pagesAuntie Nakahara approaches four gorgeous young men with a proposition. If they can turn her niece Sunako into a proper "lady", they can live in her fabulous mansion rent-free. Piece of cake! Or not....
Wallflower cracks me up.
Sunako loves the dark. Seriously. Her "best friends" are a pair of discarded anatomical models (one missing its insides) and a lab skeleton (whom she dresses in a hat and boa and to whose skull she gives a separate identity when detached). She drools over antique torture devices, gets giddy at the telling of gruesome ghost stories, and holes up under a blanket in her pitch black room watching slasher films. Her fabulously wealthy, globe-trotting aunt sincerely loves her, but would also like to be able to take her into high society without inviting disaster. And since Sunako has a pathological fear of all things bright and beautiful--and tends to scare the living daylights out of everyone she meets--that's not going to be easy.
Enter four pretty rich boys itching for independence. There's Ranmaru, the suave seducer; Takenaga, the sensitive intellectual; Yuki, the sweet innocent. And then there's Kyohei--who loves fried shrimp and having his own way. They know they've gotten in over their heads the first time Sunako screams "creatures of the light!" and flees to the safety of her cave. But seeing how none of the four is in any hurry to move back in with his parents, they decide to stick it out.
Through hauntings, stalkers, parental pressure, unemployment, spirit possession, photo shoots, masquerades, high-class parties, home renovations, and countless other crises, the five learn to live together, grow up just a little, and think of one another as friends--even if they have to hide their perpetual failure from Auntie every time she visits.
In this 3-in-1 omnibus installment, the gang has to deal with Christmas Eve plans, a possibly real vampire, Ranmaru's overly active social life, an angry cat spirit, and a classy wedding reception.
If it all sounds very silly, that's because it is. And I love it! Sunako's passions are the author's, and as much as Hayakawa makes us laugh at her, she never condemns her for being herself. And that same gentle treatment is extended to the other principals. As for the visuals, the graceful linework lends itself equally well to hilarity and sobriety, though the latter doesn't see nearly as much use as the former. The hijinks are many and there's just enough could-it-be-romance to keep us saps happy and giggling...and hungry for fried shrimp.
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