Episodes: 25
Genre: comedy, romance, shoujo, reverse harem
With the number of reverse harem shoujo manga out there, I become quite pleased when I find one that has been adapted into anime format. Ever since I discovered Ouran High School Host Club, I squeal in delight at the idea of watching any form of romantic comedy, shoujo manga adaptation, specifically reverse harem genre. Those are fun because unlike usual harem anime, the female protagonists don't give away fan service boob shots every five seconds and their chests aren't made out of synthetic materials the size of Mount Everest.
Does every female really have to have ginormous breasts in order to be in anime? Really now. That's why I like shoujo manga and anime. The chest is usually not the main focus of the screen.
Backing off of my soap box now...
And reverse harems are usually classified shoujo demographic while harems are classified as shounen or ecchi. To be given the choice, I will always choose shoujo reverse harems over ecchi harems. Less headache, less fan service... and occassionally a bit more tasteful in comedy and storytelling.
To date, this is the third reverse harem shoujo anime I've watched since anime became a regular diet on my viewing list. The first being Ouran High School Host Club and the second being Fruits Basket.
Of course, we make no mention that I've been gorging myself on shoujo reverse harem manga for the past six months as well -- Hana Kimi is god's gift to all shoujo fans out there!
What better series to make mention of during this holiday season than one dealing in the dark arts and covered in skeletons, anatomical figures, and guts and gory.
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge is a mouthful. But luckily it also has two other titles that it goes by: The Wallflower and Perfect Girl Evolution. From here on out, I shall be using whatever name pops up in my mind and whatever is easiest to type.
This series is mainly very straight forward about one girl and four guys living under the same roof with a given mission. Basically, to make a long synopsis short, these four men have been given the task of turning Nakahara Sunako (our heroine) into a proper and glamorous "Lady". This task proves to be rather arduous as Sunako-chan isn't simply a girl with low self-esteem and bad skin care habits.
Nakahara Sunako is morbid, twisted, and she's interested in everything that has to do with horror, dark arts, and the darkness of life itself. She hides her face under her hair, she hides herself in her dark room, and she probably wears the same comfortable looking track suit in every single episode. Her favorite holiday is Halloween and her best friend is a science anatomical figure named Hiroshi-kun whose guts are showing on one half of his body. Her other friends include Akira-kun and Josephine, another anatomical figure and a skeleton, respectively.
Within the twenty-five episodes, Sunako-chan is in her SD form at least 90% of the time. Only whenever she become very passionate about something having to do with her beliefs or with Kyouhei does she actually turn back into her original form as a young girl. Her heckcare emotions define the SD form and her emotional ups and downs define her normal look.
It can only be imagined how hard it would be for four young men, unexperienced as fashion consultants, to teach this girl how to become a proper lady for the sake of their rent. It also doesn't help that the girl nosebleeds every single time she comes in contact with anything overly "beautiful" or "dazzling" as she calls them.
In essence, the series is simply that straight forward. Hilarious antics ensue, interesting monologues, plot devices, and twists incur which sum up to the entire episodic series of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge.
Our four male protagonists thankfully each have a personality of their own (as usual reverse harem men do).
Takano Kyouhei is probably the main male protagonist as the storyline boasts a bit of a relationship between Sunako-chan and him. Kyouhei is rough and rude and impatient, but even as he claims that all he cares about is free rent, he readily understands Sunako's circumstances and takes care of her as well as his friends living within the mansion. He is proclaimed as "the prettiest of them all", which is kind of disturbing, but his demeanor and personality could contradict his own looks. As contrasted to the other three, at least he tries to fight his own "prettiness" and acknowledges it as some sort of issue...
All in all, I feel like this guy probably has the most depth than the rest of his co-male characters.
Oda Takenaga is a rather quiet, smart, and refined young man with the personality and background of a young master. Toyama Yuki looks like a girl, acts like a girl, and could probably be a girl as he is the most gentle and caring of the bunch-- I feel little sympathy for him being mistaken as a girl regularly and forced to dress like one. And Morii Ranmaru is simply a playboy with no personality-- I don't like him in the slightest.
The other regular supporting character is Kasahara Noi who is depicted as the "Lady" who worked hard to look and be the way she is at present. She is in love with Takenaga, admires Sunako-chan, fights regularly with Kyouhei, and gets along with the rest quite well.
I have little to say about this series but giving such a recap of the characters and the storyline. The series itself does not leave an impression. And while I am quite amused with the horror and dark arts themes circulating this series, the plot devices become quite old after a while.
Everything is usually quite funny the first time around. And then the ideas are reused, recycled, and repeated so many times that it loses its appeal.
I liked the dark arts theme. I enjoyed the "talking" anatomical figures, and Sunako-chan's SD form was actually very, very adorable. But her nose bleeding, her constant hiding in her room, her continous moping about being "ugly"... it all just ended up becoming quite annoying. Her fascination with anything dark and twisted always piqued my interest, but got old real fast.
It was a good thing that Sunako-chan proved to at least be efficient in some areas where many shoujo manga girls are not. She can cook, she can clean, she's not academically stupid, and she has her set of common senses despite being morbid and twisted. Sunako-chan is not an idiot; she just simply sees the world in a very, very twisted way.
Did I mention that she's very dark and twisted?
The guys annoyed me too. I mean, are there truly men out there who look as beautiful as women... and even more so when they actually dress up as women? I feel a little down just thinking about the fact that a man could possibly be prettier than me when he puts some effort into it-- though it takes little effort to get to that point.
But still... I guess this is just a typical Japanese manga thing to have men be able to look just as beautiful as a woman.
As far as the series goes, it was all good entertainment. I like anime and manga aimed at the shoujo demographic. It's as simple as that. If the series had ended with a good romantic wrap-up between Sunako and Kyouhei, I would have been happier, but there was only a hinting and Sunako still nosebled all over Kyouhei. So even as the anime series is over, I hold no hope for any progress in their relationhip any time soon in the manga which is still ongoing.
Nonetheless, the relationship between them is quite heartwarming. Of course, this is setting aside the fact that Sunako tried to kill Kyouhei on many different occasions, can't seem to look him in the eye without having a nosebleed, and calls him "dazzling creature" in a rather resenting tone. Otherwise, they seem to like each other and can get along fine.
Side characters in the series were nothing but background noise and quite annoying. The episodic plots were some you would have to take with a pinch of salt and a spoon of sugar.
The landlady who is also Sunako's aunt, affectionately addressed as "Oba-chan" by the boys, is an interesting lady what with her constant changing of boyfriends and her outrageous entrances and exits. All-in-all, she's not a bad person and I can see how Sunako would enjoy her presence so much despite her being such a beautiful woman.
I enjoyed the series up to a certain point. I liked the theme music. And Sunako's seiyuu Takaguchi Yukiko did an excellent job, especially with all the voice changing between Sunako's human form and SD form.
As far as the must see factor on this series, I'd simply say this is something I wouldn't mind watching simply to pass the time. If you're looking for something wonderful to tell your friends about, this series probably isn't it. But it was fun, it was funny, and it was entertaining. I will admit that I really enjoyed the anime a lot. It's just not something I would become hooked on such as the likes of Ouran High School Host Club or Lovely Complex.
I've seeked out the manga version and plan on viewing it soon. It is still ongoing and so there is still much development to be seen. Hopefully it will satsify my fangirl desires where the anime could not.
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