This anime has a lot of subtext, during this review my aim is to reveal some of the scenes to perhaps enrich your perspective of which some wisdom may be helpful and applicable to your life, I'm not going to bore you with too much detail so lets jump right in.
Les Fleurs Du Mal
The story was inspired by a french poet who wrote a book of poems about the influence of industrialization on large cities, as a critic he's not afraid to touch the darkness in his works, just like in the anime where the protagonist Takao Kasuga admits that he doesn't really understand the
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full meaning behind the poems I believe it is just as hard for us readers and watchers to really get it, the reason for this is that none of us really lived through that period and few of us experience the same feelings the work is trying to bring forth. Because of this disconnect you have to really try to put yourself into the shoes of a social reject. Nakamura.
Puberty
Our story starts with a nerdy boy who is infatuated with a girl in his class, he pays a ton of attention to her and puts her on a pedestal despite not knowing what kind of a person she is, without having ever talked to her, she seems oblivious to him, and his friends make fun of him, the artstyle seems to bridge a gap in attractiveness between all of the students, which I really like, their facial expressions too give you some information about what kind of a person they are and out of any anime these characters actually look japanese in their expression and in their contour, this removes the need for a spectrum of hair colors to show differences, however there is one character that jumps out just because of their hair, which is a very important character in the show, she stands out just like how some people IRL stand out coloring their hair, both the character artstyle, the extremely beautiful detailed backgrounds of the city and the other touches create a strong link to our reality, it tries its best to set itself above fiction.
Takao is set up as a character that is proud of being different, maybe even a little self absorbed thinking himself to be better than his friends because he reads books, this is an important contrast to what is to follow because one day when he goes back to class to fetch his favorite book, the gym clothes of the girl he's infatuated with drop in front of him and he feels the temptation to explore them, there is undoubtably something sexual to it but he doesn't want to admit and still looks at his infatuation as pure love.
Nakamura, the girl with the red hair, who openly insults her teachers, appears to know about it but it is unclear whether at some point she's made a calculated guess or if she really saw him take the clothes, since she's sitting behind him, she would have caught him looking and deduced it was him purely from his behavior, she waits to tell him she saw him take the clothes until they meet on accident and only when she can use it as blackmail, Takao being weak runs away that first time, he's trying to keep himself from turning into the pervert he is, but fails. Nakamura is excited by this and tries to get him to partake into these sinful behaviors and asks him to tell her how it feels. She thinks of him as kindred spirit a deviant one.
Takao's parents start to find out that their son is acting strange, coming home late because of nakamura's influence, his dad is the more patient of the two and attributes it to puberty.
Here the idea is that Takao having been a good boy towards his parents has started to change, but I believe the most important thing to take from this is that his puberty started through the discovery of a dark aspect of himself, an aspect that Nakamura is very familiar with and she is the one who seems to act as his evil mentor spurring it on or if you want to use the theme of the anime she is causing it to bloom. Aku no Hana.
God's Trial
During one of their meetings in the library Nakamura inadvertently causes a connection between Saeki and Takao, causing them to start talking, It's not something Nakamura thought would happen but she seems to celebrate it when Takao is successful in asking her for a date, ofcourse the celebration is because she can torment Takao by making him wear those gym clothes on their date, she also reveals that she's intent on breaking the walls the prevent him from seeing himself like a deviant, he's still resisting that he is a pervert and fails to tell Saeki the truth, it seems like on their date Saeki has never really had a boy confess to her and she takes this as something dear to her, which is why the nature of this date isn't so vibrant or special yet she still wants to make it work, Saeki comes across as a dreamer, a person who pictures a fantasy in her mind, just like Takao's fantasy of her being his angel, his muse... Saeki's fantasy is just as naive, she sees him as special because he is the first one to ask her out, later Nakamura seems to also reveal something about Saeki, that she deep down wants to have sex with Takao, how she really knows is unclear, Nakamura says that she looked like she wanted to have sex. From this you have to ascribe some kind of knowledge to Nakamura, the knowledge of the distasteful aspects that people hide underneath their ideals.
This idealism and crude disgraceful nature stands against each other and while Takao is in agony over it Saeki is not, her's is perhaps more acceptible, in the same trend she seems to be accepting of Takao's perverted nature and tries to love him like he is. This is interesting, it's almost like she is able to surpass this agony, she's willing to erase the guilt that Takao feels with how she behaves, she's also not corruptible, there's a moment in the forest where Nakamura undresses Takao in front of Saeki almost to tempt her desire of seeing him bare, it's not a good time for that but it also does nothing to provoke her, saeki stands her ground and is only interested in whether Takao wants to come with her or Nakamura, This scene is a crossroads between returning to civilization and giving into nature this is what it is really about underneath it's Nakamura against Saeki, These parts of the story are also beautifully supported by the music at the start of each episode.
Exodus
In the ending we get a little bit about the cause of all of this suffering, the wave of suffering that rippled through all the people connected to Nakamura and Takao started with a broken household, there's not much explanation it's left open and perhaps rushed but if you wonder how the flower took roots this is the most obvious answer, I haven't read the manga. There are a few moments throughout the story where you see Nakamura unleash her pain by screaming, and she is visibly relieved and happy after they vandalize the classroom, perhaps she is special, is it common for people in pain to orient themselves towards destruction? Maybe it's the fact that all of this was beyond her control, maybe her satanic reactions are because god dealt her a bad hand. It's an open ending, there are flashes of the future as they both lay on the ground, a future that isn't a future, a future that only further breaks down their lives and the lives of those around them,
Definitely not a happy ending, but hey it promises a part 2, maybe it gets better, I'm actually fine with this ending, a happy ever after story would have detracted from the theme.
The positive take is hidden, god gave them both another chance, but they had to sacrifice a part of them, the part that they wanted so hard to be free. Saeki could do it, she's an actual angel in this story. Light in the dark
The Actual Review
The artstyle was something to get used to, but I understood it as a design choice to compliment the theme and it wasn't hard to adjust to it, I think it added value since I was able to more easily differentiate characters from each other, I wouldn't mind if more studios started to take Rotoscoping seriously, maybe optomizations could be made since it seems like some scenes were slower than others, perhaps it's not something that should become a default because that would take away from the artists who want to create characters different from human contour, or the ones who want to focus on personality rather than looks.
The story was simple but good, it did the job in trying to convey the philosophy behind the poems, the ending lacked a lot of depth and it felt rushed I'm not sure if that can be as easily forgiven, they could have added more romance too, the relationship between Takao and Saeki lasted for like 2 seconds, perhaps it shouldn't have been put into a mere 13 episodes and been given a larger budget, because this anime would definitely be able to get a cult status, the artstyle is a hurdle for that so maybe they should have made compromise there, I'm glad they didn't but also mixed about it.
The music was good, it felt like they def. had talent there, it was unlike anything I'd heard before and it worked, it gives you the chills when it was supposed to, the little variations also kept you listening to it with every episode. I think then ending song was supposed to represent beautiful dysharmony and I wonder if this is an actual genre or if this was just something they came up with just for the show, you have to be really talented to create something unique on demand. I have mad respect for whoever did that.
Overall this anime is going to be bland to most people, I don't see many of you be able to enjoy it, but I consider it an important voice that people who want to understand the world should listen to, usually that only applies to those who have suffered greatly from the same type of moral boundaries but maybe it's even more crucial to people who haven't, they could learn something that they aren't subjected to it could help them understand and plan to interact with those who are. If learning lessons from philosophy is ridiculous to you perhaps you appreciate the mention of Baudelaire and consider this an excuse to get familiar with his work and derive it's secrets this way, be safe and don't fall into temptation or do I don't really care.
Dec 5, 2022
Aku no Hana
(Anime)
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This anime has a lot of subtext, during this review my aim is to reveal some of the scenes to perhaps enrich your perspective of which some wisdom may be helpful and applicable to your life, I'm not going to bore you with too much detail so lets jump right in.
Les Fleurs Du Mal The story was inspired by a french poet who wrote a book of poems about the influence of industrialization on large cities, as a critic he's not afraid to touch the darkness in his works, just like in the anime where the protagonist Takao Kasuga admits that he doesn't really understand the ... 
Jan 8, 2022
The first 4 episodes are a decent continuation of the first season, it's not as good but it keeps you interested in what's next to come.
After ep 4 it quickly goes downhill it reminded me of the later dragged out spreadsheet episodes of neon genesis so I assume they got in financial trouble or something. No development during the hostage arc, they just brought in some quick convenient patches to fill the holes in their narrative and then kept explaining us why they wrote them which ruined immersion and the whole OVA for me. An example of this is their repeats of why paku wasn't able to ... 
Sep 15, 2019
Blade & Soul
(Anime)
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Everyone has their thoughts about what makes a good anime.
For me the best anime are the ones who have philosophy lessons hidden behind the story. That's why I like this anime even though it has obvious flaws elsewhere. If you are not aware, most stories have a message underneath, whether the writer does this consciously or not I don't know. I believe this one tackles the meaning of life, or at least it tries to. You have Aruka going through different stages in her life, from the emotionless robot who simply follows a code to someone who through suffering and pain grows into a balanced human being. I say ... 
Aug 21, 2019
This movie doesn't add anything to the series.
However, it does a good job at providing fans with more content while it is still enjoyable to watch. I respect any sequel or movie that doesn't screw up even if it doesn't manage to improve anything. Dislikes: 1) The "kami-sama" insecurity skits which make Yuuta look like an ordinary harem MC. They kinda made up for it with the punchline at the end but that wasn't worth it really.. 2) Some of the emotional scenes didn't have as much weight to them, especially the last ones, I don't really know why but it didn't move me. Perhaps it's because the ... 
Aug 14, 2019
Shinmai Maou no Testament
(Anime)
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1) They do not judge good or bad.
What this show does really well is show a spectrum of good and bad from the get go and not making it very apparent, most of these characters show their own morality. For many other shows it feels like "good" or "bad" is just painted on them. You could've made this about anything really, heroes and demons was something that didn't matter to the story, you could replace it with any sort of faction that didn't have a clear divide between good or bad. They didn't really talk about the heroes or demons much but I don't think that's a ... 
Jul 19, 2018
In short:
There are elements of genius in this anime, but it isn't well executed for most people's expectations of anime. It's worth watching and especially so for individuals that like to think about our future as a society and the problems we are going to face. More: You watch this anime for it's ideas mostly, anything else surrounding those ideas isn't so good. The anime is about the dilemma we face concerning our future with robots and AI, it uses unique ideas since most anime like this have one super AI trying to take over, where this one lets AI battle themselves and it makes for a more ... 
Jul 18, 2018
Gave this a bad rating although i enjoyed it. It starts off really interesting but like so many anime fails to deliver at the end.
The story is weak, basically a lesbian relationship that gets stretched by challenges, it teases you with the promise of two people getting together which is common in other anime too. The thing is that there's not really a backstory to one of the main characters, leaving you to wonder why she is acting this way, and it's never explained apart from her saying that it's just how she is. There were parts where it got interesting, but it just went unexplained. Holes in ... 
Jul 16, 2018
Towa no Quon 2: Konton no Ranbu
(Anime)
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The fighting scenes are quite good, especially in the first part, they start you off with the premise of a good anime.
I liked the most when they started to portray the villains as normal people too, not too many anime do that. However, the story doesn't check out. Characters know things they shouldn't have been able to know multiple times and it got me out of it to the point where i felt like i had to drop it. Maybe i shouldn't have dropped it so soon, but it triggered me too much. Didn't really feel like it would be worth pushing trough either. 
Jul 15, 2018
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
(Anime)
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The anime is mediocre from the start, it jumps in without explaining and you'll get confused at first.
First episode isn't that good except for the surprisingly realistic battle. It's really special, it uses time as a resource to really add weight to everything that happens, events aren't rushed just to keep your attention. There seems to have been a low budget, and they handled that perfectly, it didn't feel like there was filler at all, everything was balanced and they focused their efforts on the most important parts. One of the best things was that everything everything was REAL, for example: the dialog made it so there didn't ... |
