Based on the popular manga, The Wallflower offers a sort of reverse-harem scenario in which a strange girl is surrounded by bishonen (beautiful boys). When Sunako comes to live in her aunt's mansion and attend a new high school, she discovers that the house already has four tenants. Given the task of turning Sunako into a lady or face a triple increase in their rent, the school's four most popular and gorgeous boys soon learn that while they can improve Sunako's wardrobe, polishing her inner spirit is a far more difficult job. Sunako has a very low opinion of herself, preferring to stay alone in the dark with her beloved horror videos and medical dummies, avoiding the “Creatures of Light” with whom she now lives. Although the themes of beauty and self-image are, of course, not inherently hilarious, they serve here as fodder for wild scenarios and humor, with the animation style critical to the storytelling, as characters are often rendered as chibi (or super-deformed) when under duress (Sunako herself spends much of her time this way). Sunako also develops amazing nosebleeds in the presence of the beautiful lads, an anime trope more common to lecherous boys. Not everything is played for laughs, however, and aside from Sunako's issues, the boys also face some of their own. Rated TV-14, this dual-language disc collects the first five episodes of the series. Recommended. [Note: The Wallflower, Lesson 2 is also newly available, with Lesson 3 slated for release on May 27.] Aud: P. (L. Martincik)
The Wallflower: My Fair Bishonen, Lesson 1
(2007) 125 min. DVD: $29.98. ADV Films (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 978-1-4139-1521-1. Volume 23, Issue 3
The Wallflower: My Fair Bishonen, Lesson 1
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: