Aku no Hana is a story of 3 children (Kasuga Takao, Nakamura Sawa and Saeki Nanako) who struggle through puberty and later their teenage years, trying to find meaning in life. Takao doesn't have any sense of self-worth and tries to fill the void in his heart with literature. Sawa is tragically afraid of boredom and loathes normalcy to the point of being violent and rude to others. Saeki craves acceptance and is unsatisfied with the grayness of her everyday life, which she spends adhering to the expectations of her environment. All 3 form a very special bond, because in different ways they seek the same thing - something that would give their life "color".
**Story**
Kasuga Takao is the main protagonist and for most of the manga we follow his toils. In a way one could consider his life and thus the plot dull, but it is not so. It makes the story the more relatable, because we've all been a Takao at some point in our lives. There is no grand goal in mind, just people and their emotional struggles.
**Art**
Characters are depicted very naturally and display a whole range of emotions. Sometimes, the emotions are hidden, behind a look or a smile, but you can see them in the eyes of the characters. Interestingly, the mangaka uses a lot of gray, perhaps to emphasize how life is full of different shades and the importance of illumination. There is also this permeating sense of gloom and dread and the reader is left expecting the worst.
**Characters**
The protagonists are extremely real and relatable. They live, they have their ups and downs, and though it might seem like their lives are not exactly spectacular, they resonate with the reader strongly.
**Enjoyment**
I enjoyed the manga very much. In fact, I was so engrossed that I binged it in the span of 2 days.
One last thing I would like to mention is the ending. To me personally it is totally worth the read and I was genuinely impressed by how well the mangaka handled it. In stories like this, the ending is very likely to disappoint the reader or affect him in a tremendously negative way. That's not how I felt after reading Aku no Hana.
I am looking forward to more works from Oshimi Shuuzou.
