Either the worst eyesore you have ever witnessed in your entire life, or your salvation from a miserable existence without ever having witnessed this gracious account of a teenage boy's descent into evil. In the "Reviews" section of this fairly revolutionary-wise visual presentation, those are the only two kinds of reviews you will ever find. In the "Ratings" section, however, you will find a wide range of different people, who have either enjoyed, endured, or dropped this newly classic saga of adolescence. Those traitors! How could they have rated Aku no Hana as anything BUT a 9.0 or higher?! How could they have not savored
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the decadent scenes of Kasuga-kun walking through grass for basically half of one entire episode?! How could they have not delighted in the cliffhanger at the end of the series?! All of these little nuisances serve only to truly please the true fans of Aku no Hana. Yes, I am referring to masochists such as myself, who were taken aback by the god-tier skill and passion that was put forth into making each episode painful, and were constantly asking for more by the end of each episode. Let us unite and spread the good word amongst the deviants!
Anyways, on to the review. Please note that the actual novel, Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, does not play as big a role as you might have thought. Sorry for the disappointment, folks.
STORY l 10 l
In this particular anime, we start off by being introduced to Kasuga-kun, our beloved protagonist for this series, and the dull setting that he is immersed in. Basically, he lives in a tranquil, quiet town, where nothing commercial/big has reached. The buildings are soft and crumbling, and the shrubbery and trees softly melt into the clear, distant sky, setting the perfect mood for absolute chaos to bloom. Kasuga-kun is a junior high student, and is walking to school, when suddenly, BAM! nothing out of the ordinary happens at all. Anyways, in his class, Kasuga-kun is almost a complete loner, save for the geeks that he has attracted. Most of his classmates view him as weirdo, who is obsessed with books (Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, in particular); and it turns out that he is. It turns out that we get to listen in on almost every single thought that enters his mind, narrated in the voice of Morgan Free- Ueda, Shinichirou, I mean. Anyways, he's obsessed about this one girl named Saeki, Nanako, who just so happens to be one of his classmates. He literally acknowledges her as his reason to live, and seriously worships her accordingly. Despite this, he hesitates to check her out during P.E., as the other guys do (Good Guy Kasuga-kun). Too bad Saeki quite literally does not acknowledge him at all. Another important character to take note of here is Nakamura, Sawa. Alright; now, the actual story is set in motion when Kasuga forgets his copy of Les Fleurs du Mal at school. When he comes back to retrieve it, he is greeted by Saeki's bag of goodies (her bag of gym clothes), and upon an impulse, he grabs it, and runs like hell, the bag in one hand and his book in the other. Little does our Kasuga-kun know, though, that a certain girl (Nakamura) was loitering afterschool, and caught a glimpse of a certain someone stealing another certain someone's clothes. Oh, boy.
ART l 9 l
Now, despite how everyone was complaining about "rotoscoping", a technique of animation which they probably picked up from this anime page's forums, have no idea about the ethics of it, and have been tossing it around like monkeys with their own feces, I'd like to state otherwise. Although it's verily painful at first glimpse, it's simply beautiful once you get used to it, and it'll grow on you. Anyways, onto the concept of rotoscoping, and its ethics in being used in anime. Rotoscoping is basically an ancient form of art, with evidence of its use in any type of animation being as early as 1915. It is quite literally, the art of drawing over recorded material; just drawing anything at all is incredibly hard, so you should get off the animators' backs when you criticize any type of animation. Also, for those who have claimed that rotoscoping was used in this instance because there wasn't enough funding, let me tell you why that is bull feces. Instead of simply animating out of scratch and having voice actors create their magic, so much more was financed in renting a place to film, having a film crew, also having animators, and paying extra for actors who would fit the role, and work twice as hard as simple voice actors. If this was too long, and you didn't read it, then it can be summed up with: Anyone who criticizes animation should just go do it themselves.
SOUND l 9 l
Aku no Hana has one of the most beautiful original soundtracks my ears have ever been witness too; and I've even listened to Yoko Kanno's works. You have Uchujin's already well-established works with different vocalists doing the opening songs, and ASA-CHANG & JUNRAY's simply genius song, "Hana -a last flower-", fit one of the anime's most important themes about evil blooming like flowers. Aside from the OST, the background sounds to several settings within the anime are done masterfully, effectively simulating the exact same feel as though it were a picture. That is, assuming they didn't just use the clean-cut background sounds from the footage that they had recorded. If so, then anyone may correct me on that point. Also, the actors had done a wonderful job of voicing who they were meant to act as.
CHARACTER l 8 l
Character. The lowest point of 8 in my rating. I might be mistaken in judging these characters, but what the hell. Alright, first, we have our first main character, Kasuga-kun. At first, we are shown that he is a vigilant bookworm, with a passionate love/desire for Saeki. With time, his character quite literally withers into an emo teenager who actually does repeat "I'm empty!" several times in a certain episode. By the end, though, you become witness to the beautiful emergence of Kasuga-kun out of a symbolic cocoon; anything more would spoil the entire anime for you guys. Next up, we have Nakamura-san, who is, instead of Saeki, the next most important character in this anime. All throughout the anime, basically, you can sum up Nakamura-san as an absolute bad-ass angel of chaos, who seeks nothing but a companion for the end of the world (symbolically); or, if you're a normal person, then a crazy, red-haired demon. Also, by the end, you are shown more of what had motivated her to do the things that she had done. Next, is Saeki-san, the next important character within this story. She is basically an angel from heaven, a blessing for her friends and family, and a sight for sore eyes if you're an abstinent male. Kasuga-kun has completely fallen for her, and with this honest emotion, she can't help but feel it mutual. It's a relatively short relationship, though, so celebrate Kasuga-kun's luck with brevity! Anyways, later on, Kasuga-kun is put between a rock and a hard place, when he absolutely must decide between two of the lovely ladies. You must watch it in order to find out what happens next!
ENJOYMENT l 10 l
Every Saturday/Sunday/Monday (whenever it was available to me from ggsubs), I would sit dutifully in my chair and watch Aku no Hana in perfect silence, absorbing all that I could from it. I honestly enjoyed this anime a lot, because again, I am quite the masochist. This anime will fulfill anyone looking for chaotically pristine drama, and will destroy anyone who isn't looking for salvation within this anime. I very much recommend this anime to anyone who is looking for something to marathon when you have nothing else to do, because there literally is no other way to watch it but in a marathon (unless you were stuck in purgatory, waiting each week for the newest episode to be subbed, like I, and many of my brothers in the Spring of 2013 anime season). I might have enjoyed it quite a bit due to the fact that it sort-of mirrors my adolescence a bit. Oh well, whatever.
OVERALL l 9 l
Alright, I'm not gonna be a tyrant here and absolutely make everyone who bore through my review watch it, but just watch it, if you have even the slightest interest in it.
Jun 30, 2013
Aku no Hana
(Anime)
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Either the worst eyesore you have ever witnessed in your entire life, or your salvation from a miserable existence without ever having witnessed this gracious account of a teenage boy's descent into evil. In the "Reviews" section of this fairly revolutionary-wise visual presentation, those are the only two kinds of reviews you will ever find. In the "Ratings" section, however, you will find a wide range of different people, who have either enjoyed, endured, or dropped this newly classic saga of adolescence. Those traitors! How could they have rated Aku no Hana as anything BUT a 9.0 or higher?! How could they have not savored
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