The bold and the beautiful.

Given that most of the time the main cast is beautiful and “radiant,” it’s only natural that the packaging reflects this. On the front cover of the slim slip box is a nice triple portrait of Takenaga, Noi, and Ranmaru. On the reverse is the synopsis for the series with lots of amusing scenes from the show. Each DVD case is slim and clear, and both jacket covers have interior illustrations visible through the cases. The first DVD sports an adorably sexy portrait of Yuki, while the inner illustration is a group shot of the boys, Sunako, and her beloved anatomy mannequin Hiroshi. The second DVD cover is an elegant picture of Takenaga, while its interior is of the entire main cast. The menus for each DVD are pretty much the same as seen in the previous DVD set, right down to the pictures. A devious fullscreen background image of Sunako , with some appropriately wicked music, hosts the main menu of the DVD—which is simply a list of the episodes and options at the bottom. However, no matter how large a TV the DVDs are viewed on, the text used for the menus is so heavily stylized that titles are a bit hard to read. The English voice cast is subpar and doesn’t suit their characters at all. The Japanese cast, though, is superb and Sunako’s voice actress is a real treat when it comes to her radical mood changes.

The road to super-cool extras!

…Does not exist in this two-disc set. The only extra contents at all for the Wallflower are clean opening and ending songs, found on disc one. On disc two are the DVD credits and a small offering of Funimation trailers. The trailers are for Shuffle, School Rumble, One-Piece, Moonlight Mile, Ouran High School Host Club, and D. Gray-man. If this were boxing, the extra features for Wallflower couldn’t even compete in the featherweight division.

So…Radiant!

As a charming and hilarious series, the Wallflower does not disappoint. The fact that it’s directed by Shinichi Watanabe (“Nabeshin”), the insane mind behind Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi, pretty much ensures that there will be hilarious inserts and obscure references throughout the show. But beyond that, the Wallflower has such a unique premise that it’s a little hard to classify. It’s a story about a girl slowly overcoming her self-doubts (whether she likes it or not) and realizing she’s just fine as she is. That may sound like typical shoujo fluff, but Sunako Nakahara isn’t some wishy-washy schoolgirl—she’s a violent force of nature from the abyss. Almost anyone can watch this show and enjoy the crazy goings-on of the Nakahara estate. This is a show that is also especially soothing to those who are tired of the same “girl meets boy, girl falls in love, DRAMA, happy ending” formula that prevails in most shoujo series. You won’t find that here. It can safely be said that the Wallflower is well worth the addition to any anime collection, and a treat to watch.