Aku no Hana (TV) Reviews
Aku no Hana
2474
Title(s): Aku no Hana
The Flowers of Evil
ꃔ恮čÆ (Japanese)
Creator: Shuzo Oshimi
Genres: Drama, Psychological
Age Group: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Vintage: April 6, 2013
Status: Still Airing
Summary: Takao Kasuga receives an F on a math test. But he doesnā€™t even seem to notice because heā€™s too engrossed in surreptitiously reading Beaudelaireā€™s The Flowers of Evil. And the day goes downhill from there. In a moment of weakness, he finds and takes home the gym clothes belonging to sweet, pretty Nanako Saeki on whom he has a major crush. Unfortunately for Takao, thereā€™s a witness to the theft: Nakamura, who has a huge chip on her shoulder and a sadistic streak. As the saga unfolds, we see Takao struggling to decide whether to confess or cover up his misdeeds at the same time that he tries to win over the girl of his dreams, and avoid the blackmail attempts of Nakamura, his new BFF.
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Aku no Hana
Written by Little_Wolf-18 on May 1, 2013 at 10:36 PM
Overall Rating
Excellent
Story: 5
Dialogue: 5
Animation: 4
Entertainment: 4
To be frank, I wasnā€™t originally planning on watching ā€œAku no Hanaā€ (Flowers of Evil). After last seasonā€™s ā€œLittle Bustersā€ ended the way it did, I was just slightly tired of the high-school-setting-feely-rom-com-whatevers. The supernatural aspect of ā€œRed Data Girlā€ had caught my eye, yet that was that for the running seasonā€™s high school anime. Never did I even look at ā€œAku no Hanaā€ twice.

Itā€™s not all that difficult knowing that something is up, however, when an anime starts off by skyrocketing into ANNā€™s ā€œTop Most Diverging Opinionsā€ list. By the point ā€œAku no Hanaā€ had made it to fourth place there, only the third episode was out, and I was sure there was some surprise hidden in this anime--a point that was only enforced when I saw fan communities getting enraged all over the web. I wasnā€™t sure whether the surprise would be good or bad, but Iā€™d gotten curious by that point, and of course I couldnā€™t help but quell that curiosity.

I canā€™t speak for anyone else out there, especially not for the manga readers--but I for myself can say I almost missed out on something pretty good. ā€œAku no Hanaā€ may be a bit too quietly-disturbing to be awesome quite yet, but it sure has me hooked. Thatā€™s a mere first impression, seeing as only one third of this anime is out, yet I just wanted to share my perspective before ā€œAku no Hanaā€ gets lost among its bad ratings.


If there is one thing to say about ā€œAku no Hanaā€, it would be that it is definitely out of the ordinary. Based on Baudelaireā€™s poetry collection Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal in the original - donā€™t put my spelling under the microscope there), it could be described as a quietly disturbing psychological evaluation rather than a typical high school romance.

I must admit that, at first, I was weirded out by the summary. Stealing someoneā€™s gym clothes and being blackmailed for that? Really? Not that it looks like it couldnā€™t happen; but itā€™s a topic that nobody particularly likes to deal with--not the victims, not the parents, not the policeā€¦ the list is long.

For that fact, however, the result achieved so far is pretty darn good. Perhaps not in the sense of plot twists, mystery, villains and so on, since the plot so far, if summarised, is pretty much the same as whatā€™s written above; but in the sense of originality, of realism, and of characters.

Those characters are a weird bunch. Ordinary high schoolers, at first glance--but only at that. Half the main cast seems to have bats in their belfries, if youā€™d excuse the rudeness. Theyā€™re not the usual sides you see of the people around you, and they definitely arenā€™t the usual guys and girls you meet in the world of anime. And where I canā€™t say in all honesty that theyā€™re likable or even relatable, they are intriguing in an unsettling way. The psychological design, the development, the emotions--itā€™s all there, and where it definitely does not make for a mushy-lovey-dovey-emotional experience, itā€™s memorable for sure.

That, of course, means the characters each are characterised well. Their psychological design is original, about as strong as anime gets from what Iā€™ve seen before. Character exposition is done as naturally as one can expect from an anime of such setup; and where thirteen episodes usually arenā€™t quite enough to delve into each characterā€™s backgrounds, at least whatā€™s seen of the main characterā€™s background so far is explicable.

Development has been outstandingly done so far as well, and the dynamics, where as astoundingly odd as the characters themselves, feel close to reality, even if perhaps tense. That everyone somehow plays a role in this psychological evaluation also helps; whereas the main cast is small, the side cast is no less important in setting up the atmosphere and helping the plot/character development along.

The dialogue, in this sense, is excellently done. It helps the characterisation, comes along naturally, and the voice acting is certainly up there. Itā€™s not the Clannad-style-all-mushy-inside-lovey-dovey-somewhat-philosophical-dialogue some people might expect from a high school setting (Iā€™m just saying, Key Animation), but it definitely fits the setting of each single scene.

The technical aspects are more difficult to describeā€¦ again.

Much of the hate Iā€™ve seen over this all over the web is directed at the animation of this anime. Though Iā€™m pretty sure thatā€™s not the first and foremost reason people donā€™t like this, I do understand that it takes a while to get used to. The animation style, after all, isnā€™t anything like what you usually see.

For one, the animators used rotoscopy. If you wanna know how that works, throw it into Wikipedia; all Iā€™ll say right now is that rotoscopy -can- help in making things look more realistic--surreally realistic, even. Which is odd for an anime, but which isnā€™t bad in itself, if you ask me.

The background art, for one, is very detailed, and here the mentioned technique only helps things along. Buildings and sky shots, especially, look so close to reality I felt I might as well be standing in a town looking up into the sky. Thatā€™s nothing you see every day in anime, but it does fit.

For characters and foreground art, things are a little different. Character motion looks fluid, and realistic this might as well be a live-action series; the character design in terms of art also has a distinctly realistic feel to it. Out of the ordinary for anime, but interesting. Where it gets a little odd IMHO is where background and foreground come together. The characters could use a bit more shading, and as such kind ofā€¦ stick out. I wonā€™t go as far as to name it a bug, but thatā€™s where things do look odd.

If you ask me, thatā€™s pretty much the only thing that should get odd. Then again, Iā€™ve seen quite a number of different styles up to now, and Iā€™ve been quite alright with animation techniques and art styles some of my peers only face-palmed at. What I can say is that ā€œAku no Hanaā€ā€™s animation style is distinctly realistic, and might require time to get used to in many cases, but I personally donā€™t see why everyone says itā€™s ugly.

Oh well.

The background music definitely helps the atmosphere of the anime along--quiet and comparably creepy, conjuring up that sense of seeping dread the entire anime seems to convey. Opener, closer, and background music definitely are fitting overall, and, similar to the animation, only serve to set the series apart from a lot of others out there.

Both the animation and the music may not be particularly colourful, or even beautiful, but both help the atmosphere along and only amplify the entire experience.

And now for the entertainment. This is probably the most difficult part of this review yet, as Iā€™m not even sure one can talk about ā€œentertainmentā€ with this anime. Creepiness? Yup. The psychological aspect? Definitely. Realistic? Yes. Intriguing? Of course. Twisted? Somehow. Funny? Hell no. Entertaining? Awesome? Short of it, I guess.

Thereā€™s one thing that ā€œAku no Hanaā€ definitely is, and thatā€™s out of the ordinary. Itā€™s original, itā€™s realistic, itā€™s bizarrely surreal at the same time, and while itā€™s not particularly beautiful, or even funny, itā€™s definitely effective in what it does. The detail is there, the suspense is, the conflicts are, the psychological aspect is, the atmosphere is. It may be dark, moody, and tense, but itā€™s hooking all the same. The psychological design, development, and insight, where perhaps making the plot rather slow, makes for a surreal depth to the entire anime, and is one of its main attraction points at the same time. Itā€™s something that just creates an impact, and, if nothing else, makes ā€œAku no Hanaā€ definitely memorable.


By the date of this review, thereā€™s only four episodes out, so Iā€™m an early birdie writing this. If you ask me, however, ā€œAku no Hanaā€ has displayed a whole lot of potential so far. It may not be for everyone, and even Iā€™ve got mixed feelings about it. However, one thing I can say for sure, and that is that ā€œAku no Hanaā€ at least to me is intriguing so far. If it keeps going this strong, Iā€™m pretty sure weā€™ll have one hell of a plot, if nothing else, on our hands once this finishes. Seeing as Iā€™m a plot otaku, Iā€™m pretty sure you can guess the rest--though I canā€™t speak for anyone else, Iā€™ll definitely keep an eye on this. Iā€™m not so sure I can wholeheartedly say I like this, but it does its job, and does it effectively.


Even though I never read Baudelaire, I heard about his poetry, and ā€œAku no Hanaā€ does seem like an interesting take on it. Saying, literature geeks might want to at least give this a shot. Those looking for something just slightly creepy and very much out of the ordinary, with a strong and well-done psychological aspect to it, might want to check this out, too.

Not everyone will like this, however. Whoever saw any kind of discussion forum over this anime might have guessed as much. I especially canā€™t seem to speak for the manga readers out there; and even for those that donā€™t know the manga, ā€œAku no Hanaā€ is an anime thatā€™s pretty sure to provoke mixed feelings, and even more darn sure to make people think. Those prepared for that might find it well worth the time; yet even though I am hooked, I certainly cannot speak for the majority out there. Those especially who expect something modest but ordinary should shy away, in any case.


Thanks for the read.
13 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
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