Aku no Hana is the end product of artistic vision seldom experienced in the medium of anime. A masterpiece, some will say. Still others, a laughable, steaming pile of excrement. The verdict? Straddling the lines of masterclass and tragically missed opportunity. Aku no Hana is a veritable master of atmosphere. Standing alone among the heap of high school harems and bland isekai novel adaptations. The haunting and minimalistic music, the morbidly gray yet excruciatingly detailed art, the omnipresent feeling of dread and anticipation. An orgasm of the eyes and ears that can leave you limp, wheezing and gasping for air and salvation. Aku no Hana lies submersing and drowning in its own pool of narcissism and sheer artistic ambition. This is the dualistic beauty of Aku no Hana.
Rotoscoping: the animation style of Aku no Hana. It's a daring and ambitious adaptation of an otherwise plain and forgettable looking drawn manga of the same name and story. It expresses in animation what mere pen and paper can only dream of, yet the very source of this series's extreme scrutiny. An animation style that few know of and even less appreciate, relegated to the knowledge banks of basement dwelling movie nerds and glinty-eyed hipsters begging for recognition. It defies all the clichés and identifiable traits Japanese animation has come to represent. No big eyes. No panty shots. No flashing lights. It's anime only in the sense that was made in Japan. Love, or hate. No middle ground. Many struggle with the rotoscope. "I reject this!" many say. This was not what I expected, the second thought of the masses. For the few, then comes acceptance. Then appreciation. And now? I see a bold choice by the director to visualize the heart and soul that Aku no Hana as a narrative seeks to tell. And what is that narrative? Watch it. Bask in its insufferable ego and glory!
Aku no Hana's inconsistencies? It's a daring vision that, within the confines of a 13 episode series, struggles to strike an effective balance with the atmosphere, story pacing, and character progression. Begrudgingly, it drowns in the very narcissistic pool that birthed it. Story progression and pacing suffers considerably. Arguably, its slow progression is an aspect of the entire artistic package, but a sometimes unnecessary burden. The art? Background art aside, the character line art would fade as distance increased. Missing anatomy. It's hard to distinguish whether the art is sublime and infused with meaning, a flaw of rotoscope, or a result of rushed deadlines. One other point of contention is the ending. It cuts off and ends prematurely with clips and visions of what is to come in the manga. Is this a sign of a second season? Who knows. I see the ending as an artistic device. Like a clairvoyant seeing the future but the prophecy of it not yet realized in reality. The prophecy of what's to come is more powerful than the actual occurrence of those events, to continue the logic. Or, perhaps equally so, a vainglorious art project not given enough time, money, and resources.
The music, art style, pacing, symbolism, all these elements are deliberate. All meant to coalesce with the holistic message that Aku no Hana visually and aurally represents: the darkness and perverse depravity that society shuns and refuses to embrace in the light of day. A state of pure craft that pen, paper, and manga panels could only ever dream of expressing. Driving hipsters wet with rabid, throbbing excitement, thirsty for the torrent of juicy ecstasy and lustful desire. Kasuga's dark and twisted story of awkward adolescence, of squeamish sexual tension, and of crossing the boundaries of morality, is not one from the bottle. It is the special one. Standing tall with arrogance among the anonymous pile of Japanese anime of years past, present, and future. Art, for art's sake. Yet in the shadow of its many highlights, enough maddening errors of omission (continuing the story) and seeming art and production problems gnaw away and detract from the experience. It has the atmospheric ambition rivaling any Coppola movie. The execution has enough pitfalls that mimics the fumbling of an awkward teenager. If it had ended in the right place, this production would be among the greatest works of sublime and self-worshiping art to have ever come from Japan. Instead it came up short and wanting. A masterpiece, a disaster and dirty stain among anime, or just one hell of a wild ride. Your mileage may vary. Some parting words: just watch it. Seriously. And if you're still meandering, try it out—for Nakamura's sake. If not, you may very well be one: a "shithead." Her words to you, not mine.
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Disclaimer: At the time of the review's writing, there has been no official press release for a second season. This review assumes that there will not be a second season. If there is a second season, I have no intention of writing another review that includes the first season or a review of the second season alone. This is a stand-alone review for the Aku no Hana animation project.
