Aku no Hana

Takao Kasuga, a high school student fascinated by poetry, reveres Charles Baudelaire and even decorates his room with the poet's portrait. On a normal day, Takao forgets his copy of The Flowers of Evil in the classroom. When returning to retrieve it, he steals the sports garments of Nanako Saeki—a model student who Takao calls his muse and a femme fatale.

Deeply ashamed of his act which he sees as a sin and what others see as a crime, Takao realizes with horror that Sawa Nakamura, his classmate and social outcast, knows about his theft. Blackmailed by her, Takao is now forced to partake in Sawa's disturbing fantasies, lest she reveals his deeds to everyone. Caught in a negative spiral of increasingly traumatic experiences, will Takao be able to break free from Sawa's thorns and atone for his sins?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nakamura, Sawa Main

Ise, Mariya Japanese

Kasuga, Takao Main

Ueda, Shinichirou Japanese

Saeki, Nanako Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Kojima, Ken Supporting

Hamazoe, Shinya Japanese

Yamada, Masakazu Supporting

Matsuzaki, Katsutoshi Japanese

Kinoshita, Ai Supporting

Uemura, Ayako Japanese

Kasuga, Father Supporting

Naka, Hiroshi Japanese

Nakamura, Grandmother Supporting

Kasuga, Mother Supporting

Kobayashi, Ai Japanese

Saeki, Mother Supporting

Doi, Mika Japanese

Nakanishi, Go Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke Producer

Kawasaki, Tomoko Producer

Shintaku, Kiyoshi Producer

Reviews

Jun 30, 2013

Polyphemus

Recommended

DISCLAIMER: FOR THE SAKE OF THIS REVIEW I WILL BE OPERATING UNDER THE ASSUMTION THAT THERE IS AN UPCOMING SECOND SEASON. The anime said there would be a part two and I’ll trust that for now. If there is no season two then I'd have problems with the conclusion and the score would have to be lowered. But the anime created interest in the manga, they haven't exhausted the budget, they previewed pt. 2 scenes that they've supposedly finished, some of the most powerful scenes have yet to come, etc. At this point, it seems very safe to assume there will be a second season ... even if the anime sales haven't been great.

Ah, adaptions. The bane of all manga readers. Understandably, this is simultaneously claimed to be one of the best and worst anime adaptions there is. It has attracted much criticism and ridicule due to the huge change in character design, but this change was actually approved by the mangaka and I would tend to agree with him that it was good stylistic choice.

For some reason, fans think all anime characters, besides the comic relief ones, must be attractive. They can’t take ugly characters seriously or treat them like humans, but they have no problem falling in love with cute bug-eyed alien creatures. That’s superficial to a disgusting degree.

The characters are often ugly, but why does that matter? Do you hate all movies with unattractive actors? Not all actresses look like supermodels, nor do the vast majority of women, so why should all anime characters be beautiful? I actually didn't like how, in the manga, Nakamura was meant to be ugly or plain, but the mangaka drew her attractive. It's like the manga version of "Hollywood Homely." When I read the manga, I was kind of annoyed that something like that tried to evoke a masterpiece like "Les Fleurs Du Mals." In the anime, I wasn't offended by the reference, and it heightened my appreciation instead.

Aku no Hana is a work about descent into decadence, libertinism, and the meaning of freedom; mental and physical. Should the characters really be moe? Is it really important that their eyes cover half of their face? This adaption took advantage of all of the manga's squandered potential. This is exactly what a good adaption does, rather than following in every folly of its predecessor.

One thing that should be noted about the realistic nature of the character’s faces is sometimes they look better than others. Like a real person, some of the screenshots will make a character look ugly and some will make a character look normal, although normal is ugly by anime standards. The point is that you shouldn’t assume all the characters are ugly based on a couple unflattering screenshots. They’re not poorly designed, they’re real.

I love the collision between realism and minimalism in the character designs, additionally contrasting with the fact that the city is one of the most realistic I've seen in anime; kind of emphasizing the insignificance of humanity more subtly than the manga ever did. It should be noted that the fact that the city seems to be "decaying" or in poor shape is a reference to a major theme of Les Fleurs du Mal. This animation captures the atmosphere really well and if it was done differently it would have flopped thematically. It had an interesting and creative artistic direction that had a clear purpose to it.

There is much of symbolism and depth to the art, just as there is in the general plot, and it is arguably the best aspect of the show. The animation seemed a bit choppy at times, but the art was generally flawless.

The atmosphere created by the art was enhanced by the incredible OST. The first OP perfectly captured Kasuga’s character, the second OP Nakamura’s, the third Saeki’s, and the fourth was like a victory lap that captured the very essence of the anime. The BGM complimented and accented the atmosphere perfectly while the ED always kicked in with genius timing, changing subtly as the series progresses, culminating in it playing for half of the finale and a new ED coming on at the end. The ED is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever heard. All in all I’d say this is the one of the best and most fitting anime OSTs out there. It certainly has to be the only OST I’ve heard that’s influenced the atmosphere of a series and my opinion of it to this extent.

The plot seems a bit generic in the description, but unlike similarly premised titles, it is not a hentai or a comedy and it plays out very differently. The show is more about presentation than plot, but the plot is still engaging, unpredictable, and unique.

The characters were among the stronger points. Kasuga’s development was the entire point of the show (it appears to be a bildungsroman) and it was very well done. Under the guidance of Nakamura (a great character in her own right) we see him go from a mindless puppet who can only spout out the thoughts of others, but longs to be unique, to a free individual. At first he can only express himself in Baudelaire poems, poems he clearly doesn’t really understand, but looks down on others for not getting although he doesn’t really want anyone else to read them either. This whole concept infuriates Nakamura and she tries to “break down his walls.” Later, even in the classroom scene, he’s just writing what Nakamura says. It isn’t until he faces the prospect of losing her that he really manages to form a thought of his own, in an incredible scene and finale episode.

Nakamura helps him, and seems to treat him like dirt, but she also needs him. Her character is very interesting and the changes to how the audience views her over time were well done. Saeki is a foil to her character and there are many parallels and contrasts between them, both subtle and overt. She wants to understand Kasuga, but she can’t. She would accept him no matter how he is. Some of her character developments towards the end and alluded to in the preview/flash-forward were very unexpected and her character is as complex as any. All of the side characters are also interesting and serve their purpose well.

Enjoyment would be the hardest category to score. I enjoyed it more like I would enjoy a horror movie than a thriller, romance, or comedy. My eyes were not glued to the screen and sometimes it was hard to watch. I couldn't take it in more than one episode at a time, which is a testament to how powerful the atmosphere is. The whole thing was slow paced and tense and chock-full of second-hand embarrassment and humiliation. You really feel for the characters, and as they are dejected for most of the anime, you will be too.

This anime is arguably the best of its season and the best in years, but I wouldn’t recommend it to most people. If you appreciate the decadent literary movement, if you thought the manga could be better, if you aren’t bothered by unattractive characters, if you’re looking for something different or more realistic, or if you are just open minded then this anime is for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 3, 2013

Orsonius

Mixed Feelings

Zexcs has probably done the most bold thing of the season by animating Shuuzou Oshimis manga, Aku no Hana.

Apparently the manga was quite popular in advance and many people were looking forward to the adaptation. Yet after the first episode an uproar of many angry fans has shaken the industry. People were pissed and the show suddenly went to the lowest rated TV series on MAL.

I on the other hand finished the episode and it left quite a good impression on me. After I went to the forums I saw the gigantic flame war and was confused. Why are people so mad?

The answer lies in ... rotoscoping. A technique, were you take live action footage and draw over it so it looks like an animated show. Shows like Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, or Mind Game all use this Technique, as well as many other shows.

Without questioning whether it is good or bad, I ask a different question. If Aku no Hana is based on live action footage with real actors, can it be considered an anime? I think yes, though it is in this weird middle ground between live action drama and anime.

Disregarding whether or not it is an anime, I ask a second question, is it good?


Story
________________________________________

Aku no Hana takes place in a small town in the middle of nowhere in japan. Takao Kasuga is a middle school student who is interested in literature, especially into Baudelaire’s work, Aku no Hana.
He is also in love with one of his class mates, Nanako Saeki, who is his “muse” and source of inspiration.

One day he forgets his book in class and picks It up after everyone left, as he spots Saekis gym cloths and steals it on impulse. He feels guilt and shame and tries to bring it back but the antisocial loner, Sawa Nakamura saw him steal the gym clothing and now controls his life, trying to turn him into a deviant.

Though it is set in a normal middle school it takes a more dark approach than most other school based anime, and right from the start focuses on drama and tension instead of romance and comedy. It’s interesting and comparatively unique as a school anime and quite fresh especially in light of all the more cute and fun shows that normally air.

The show is extremely slow paced. I haven’t read the manga but many people complained it covers only a little of it so I guess it is much slower than the manga version.

Yet I have no problem with the slow pacing as it creates immense atmosphere you don’t see that often anymore. There are sometimes scenes of people walking or just background lasting several minutes with very minimalistic ambient music in the background. It’s quite daring to do this, in nowadays more fast paced oriented anime world and I liked it quite a bit. It reminded me of some scenes in Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

If you are not a fan of slow pacing though I think you will not like it for that.

The Events and interactions are all quite simple though, you have Kasuga being controlled by Nakamura the entire time. They mostly talk and sometimes do things. It revolves mostly just around the 3 main characters and side characters just spice it up, but are never directly involved in the events.
Though it’s not super interesting. The things that happen revolve around normal first love/dating events plus Nakamuras devilish twists to those. It gives the overall story a good amount of tension and you always wonder “how in the world will this end well?”.

Speaking of how it will end well. The things that happened were also quite realistic, nothing internally destroyed the logic of the show, though you sometimes asked yourself how stupid Kasuga is, yet everything that happens makes sense within the personalities and world. There are no visible plotholes or desu ex machina, consequences are real, though not always as you expect them to be.

Sadly the show ends in a preview for a possible second season. I will most likely watch it when it comes out because it picks up where the buildup left.


Characters
________________________________________

Aku no Hana had some of the most realistic written characters I’ve ever seen in an anime. Maybe it comes from the fact they were actors, but it’s also the things they say, the way they react and the world around them. There are no silly school archetypes, no moe girl, no tsundere, no slapstick or fanservice as in other shows that revolve around school.

Takao Kasuga, is somewhat an outsider. He thinks of himself as better than others, though is introverted. He has a massive sense of righteousness and romanticizes not only Saeki but also his literature and the fact that he feels so different.

Yet he is easy to manipulate, emotionally unstable and is drawn to the wrong decisions. No really he is that guy in a horror movie who opens the door to the monster and gets killed and you are screaming “NO NO NOT THAT DOOR YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU GONNA GET KILLED!”.

It was pretty frustrating to watch him stumble from one bad decision to the next, especially when Nakamura takes over his life and he is to weak minded to fight back. There are several occasions he could have gotten out of the mess he was in. Burry Saekis clothing in the ground, throw them in a river, burn them down. But he never did. He only once tried to get rid of them but was too hysterical to do so.

His naïve sense of right and wrong is also extremely annoying but at the same time interesting. He is insecure and has a low self-esteem but hides behind his supposed intellectualism and books.

Sawa Nakamura is the crazy girl from Takaos class. She is offensive, insulting and acts how she likes. She is manipulative and overall I would call her a true sociopath. She is not intelligent but very charismatic. She was just as unlikable as Takao though. I hated her and her attitude and emotional instability. If I was Takao I would not have given her any attention and probably blamed the stolen underwear on her.

Yet she is one of the more interesting characters in anime history. Her evil nature and playful destructive behavior is sometimes quite entertaining. She also is the driving force for all the drama in the show, as she puts Takao into worse situations the more they spend time together.

My biggest problem though is that is never explained why she is such a “crazy bitch”. She comes from a relatively normal household, grew up without a mother and just her father who seems like a nice guy as well as her grandmother who also is very nice. It kinda feels sketchy and she is just crazy so the story has a crazy person.

You know Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki, she was also insane, but at least it was explained why she was insane, while Nakamura is apparently just insane.

Saeki is the class’ most popular girl. Kasuga loves her but at first he is invisible for him. Later when he stands up for Nakamura she adores his brave protection of her and seeks him out. Her character is also hard to understand. She later finds out about what Kasuga did but still likes him nonetheless.

Apparently she hates her sheltered perfect life and sees Kasuga as an interesting boy. Also she explains how she never had any male friends before and Kasuga seems to be the first interesting male she came into contact with.
The rest of the side characters are just extra and I don’t feel the need to go into them as they are almost unimportant for anything that happens.

Overall the main characters of Aku no Hana are very realistic and have a deep intertwined relationship. From this the entire plot and drama derives and makes the show interesting. Even though none of them is likable (at least for me) but their characters are interesting enough to watch.


Art and Animation
________________________________________

I will try to make it brief.
I liked the artstyle of Aku no Hana. The rotoscope was special and different. We might argue about the quality of it and how it makes the show less of an anime and how the characters are not cute and all.

But fact is, if Aku no Hana would have had a traditional artstyle with traditional character designs like those in the manga, it would have been less interesting as it is now. It’s good that a season has a black sheep that goes against the norm so it doesn’t stagnate and becomes the same shit we’ve seen a million times before. And I reward differentness.

Also the backgrounds are fucking beautiful looking. They are highly detailed (probably because they are based on real life) and add to the immersion and atmosphere.

The sometimes used evil flowers also add to the slightly surreal nature of the show and were a great addition effect wise.

In the end I enjoyed the art of Aku no Hana as it was something that I don’t see often and it made the show more interesting. Sure it doesn’t look perfect and beautiful like other school anime do, but it fits the more mature and dark tone of the show much better.


Sound
________________________________________

I can’t really call it voiceacting in Aku no Hana as they actually had their own voice. So I will just call it acting.

And it was great. The actors did a fantastic job, they had a great variety of emotions and gave the personalities of their characters great impact.
The openings were all pretty weird and had this ironic tone. They didn’t fit music wise but lyrics wise and I think it was intentional. I couldn’t like them but give credit for their dementia feel.

The ending song on the other hand is great. I don’t know what the song is called right now but you can find it and give it a listen, it’s very avant-garde and the first time this song kicked in in the first episode I was almost blown away. Definitely my favorite song of the season.

The rest of the soundtrack was also great. It was mostly atmospheric ambient. Some might find it boring but it hit my nerve and I will get my hands on it soon. It makes the show much more gloomy and atmospheric and helps the dark themes.


Enjoyment
________________________________________

It’s hard to say how much I enjoyed Aku no Hana. It was a very exhausting show to watch. The tension and stupidity of the characters made me cringe but also look for more. As I said about Kasuga it was like watching a horror movie in which the characters always did the wrong things. It pisses you off but you want to see how it all ends.
Overall though I think it is one of the best show of the season and that’s thanks to the fact of how daring it is.

Scores
________________________________________

Art and Animation 6/10

Artstyle +1 (rotoscope is different and special)
Quality -1 (the execution was pretty bad though)
Background +1 (Fantastic backgrounds)
Character Designs 0 (They are real humans what do you expect them too be designed after?)
Visual Effects 0 (sometimes the flowers of evil but rarely used)

Sound 7/10

Voice Acting +1 (for overall good acting)
Opening and Ending 0(the ending was great, the openings weird)
Soundtrack +1 (Gloomy and Atmospheric)
Sound Effects 0 (Nothing notable)

Story or Content 4/10

Premise and Setting 0 (It's still just a school drama...)
Pacing 0 (Slow but increased the feeling of dread)
Complexity 0 (simple story, simple world, interesting themes though!)
Plausibility 0 (internally coherent but will make you facepalm at how stupid the MC is)
Conclusion -1 (no real end...)

Characters 7/10

Personality +1 (some of the most realistic and excentric people you've ever seen in an anime)
Behavior and Chemistry +1 (Kasuga and Nakamura create great tension)
Development and Progression +1 (Kasuga slowly becomes a worse human being and removes his sense of righteousness)
Motivation and Backdrop 0 (not everything was well explained, though the motivations are not out of no where)
Likability -1 (argh those people piss me off!)

Enjoyment 8/10

Art and Animation +1 (I like different)
Sound +1 (great soundtrack)
Story and Content 0 (interesting but hard to watch)
Characters 0 (interesting but fucking idiots)
Value +1 (special anime and went into MAL history and probably everywhere else as well)


Conclusion
________________________________________

Aku no Hana is not for everyone. It is tough to watch, has some of the most annoying characters and an off putting artstyle.
If you are looking for something that sticks out of the normal then please go ahead and watch it. It's not a master piece and has many flaws. But at least it is ignoring what is popular and makes its own thing which I respect deeply.

6/10 (Fair)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 6, 2013

GonzyChan

Not Recommended

Whenever people watch a film or show, regardless of whether it’s anime or not, they want to be enticed into a deep and complex world full of mystery and wonder that they can solve for the benefit of their humanity. It seems as though Aku no Hana was meant to be something that was going to be the “change” some people were looking for in the wake of entertainment controlling the masses. But boy, did it fail at doing that on almost all accounts.

Let's reveal the elephant in the room, the animation. It is flawed, but not to the extent where it should be castrated ... out of someone’s psyche after viewing the first episode. For starters, the animation that the studio decided to use is called rotoscoping, a style of animation where people are filmed in live action and animators draw over the film frame-by-frame. Considering that this is the first anime show to do this animation style, how is the quality of the rotoscoping? Not too well, that’s for sure. The lip-syncing is atrocious, and the facial expressions are devoid of any character. They don’t fit well with the emotions that the characters are trying to convey, and given how low the budget was, the animation isn’t very fluid in most places. Though these flaws are mentioned, the show isn’t necessarily unwatchable due to the average animation, so it gets a slight pass in this department.

With this in mind, however, the art design of the background in the show’s setting is truly spectacular. The grime and rust from the buildings and the dark tone of the outside world succeed in enveloping this dark, depressing story. It fits with the style Aku no Hana is trying to capture, and its effectiveness is relatively good. Another thing that also improves Aku no Hana’s mood is the music. Its subtle ambient and minimalist influenced sound is one of the most beautifully crafted scores that I’ve enjoyed listening to.

On a technical level, the show is mixed with good music and art but average animation, but how does it compare to the narrative and writing? Not too well, that’s for sure. For one, the characters and how they are written are not well developed or fully realized with anything happening with the plot. To address this even further, the relationships between the protagonist Kasuga and our two main heroines, Nakamura and Saeki, are as well put together as one could get from a high schooler’s attempt at writing a story as this, a bad one at that. What makes these characters so bad in terms of a writing perspective is how poorly paced it gives us a clear indication that Kasuga has a bond with either Nakamura or Saeki. With Kasuga and Nakamura, there is no chemistry. They play off as a couple of degenerates who spout out vapid angsty monologues towards one another whenever they are on screen.

Kasuga himself is not an enticing protagonist to be on-screen. Just because you make him this Holden Caulfield type of character where he is obsessed with a dark poetry book doesn’t make him have any more depth than any other character in the show. Are we to sympathize with him just because he acts pessimistic about the world around him with his pseudo-intellectual jargon? Not if it’s done with careful precision in Kasuga’s archetype, which is not the case in Aku no Hana.

Nakamura and Saeki are two other characters who are unfortunately not spared in mediocre character writing. The romantic development between Kasuga and Saeki was rushed to the point where we only see very few inclinations that they are a couple. We get two awkward dates and a moment where she invites him into his room. Not only that but Saeki’s reasons for liking Kasuga are not at all convincing to the slightest degree. With all of the things Kasuga did or forced, in this case, to Saeki’s property, any ordinary girl would quickly never speak to him again. Still, just because the writers want to keep the story going, they’ll have to hope that anyone with half a brain would buy into this—no explanation for Saeki’s reasoning for liking Kasuga.

Then there’s Nakamura, Kasuga’s “sidekick” in the show. As you might predict, she is about as explained throughout the show as any other character. This is, of course, the intention because Nakamura is something that we should be wary and suspicious about whether she’s evil or not. Once she forms a contract with Kasuga, the only thing we get out of Nakamura is that she is nothing more than the show’s attempt at pouring empty melodrama into the mix to make the plot seem too deep than what it already is. Her primary goal to the plot’s theme is never given any deep context other than the fact that she thinks the whole world is bullshit and should be destroyed. If you want to provide me with an existential angst plot device, try to deliver a better explanation than just a one-dimensional written one. The character can be portrayed in a reasonably sympathetic light. Unfortunately, Nakamura just doesn’t cut out to be a deep convincing anti-hero with how poor the writing is.

While the show's tone is solid, the atmosphere tries too hard to be frightening to the point where it almost does the opposite effect of what it was initially trying to impose. Whenever there is a faint rumbling noise in the background that’s supposed to resemble a heartbeat, that is hardly effective in establishing a mood, or whenever the music starts to grow in its dynamics with a dark droning noise that is unsettling in a wrong way. What’s funny is that some of the build-ups in some of the scenes are unnecessary and fail to capture any fear. Once you do it multiple times throughout the show, it loses its momentum quickly, and all you are left with is just an empty white noise in the background.

It’s not often I talk about the actual “acting” rather than the voice acting in this show. While good in a few areas, the acting is often overly dramatized and doesn’t reach that greatness of any drama TV show you could be watching right now. Actors constantly spout out their lines and try to carry out as much emotion as possible in scenes that don’t seem as though it was needed in the first place, such as one that involves a bathroom area.

The numerous plot holes drag down the plot from making it convincing to anyone watching. Usually, plot holes can be forgiven if they are tiny to where they are not noticeable to ruin the show's flow. With Aku no Hana, many coincidences can easily be accounted for lazy writing, such as no one noticing the blackboard writing being blocked out the day after the vandalism scene. Anyone could have easily deciphered what the saying was in two seconds flat.

In the short scheme of things, Aku no Hana is just a failed experiment that probably never should have been fully realized given its source material. In all honesty, the original manga’s story is quite fascinating. If only they had hired more competent writers to fill in the wide gap that crippled Aku no Hana’s chances of becoming an intriguing psychological drama. It wouldn’t be a shock to call this a “wasted opportunity” given how the creators were ballsy in making it with the rotoscope technique; it just goes to show when you want to do something “different,” you might want to focus more on your writing structure than your artistic integrity.

Grade: D+

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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