To be frank, I wasn’t originally planning on watching “Aku no Hana” (Flowers of Evil). After last season’s “Little Busters” ended the way it did, I was just slightly tired of the high-school-setting-feely-rom-com-whatevers. The supernatural aspect of “Red Data Girl” had caught my eye, yet that was that for the running season’s high school anime. Never did I even look at “Aku no Hana” twice.
It’s not all that difficult knowing that something is up, however, when an anime starts off by skyrocketing into ANN’s “Top Most Diverging Opinions” list. By the point “Aku no Hana” 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 wasn’t sure whether the surprise would be good or bad, but I’d gotten curious by that point, and of course I couldn’t help but quell that curiosity.
I can’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. “Aku no Hana” may be a bit too quietly-disturbing to be awesome quite yet, but it sure has me hooked. That’s a mere first impression, seeing as only one third of this anime is out, yet I just wanted to share my perspective before “Aku no Hana” gets lost among its bad ratings.
If there is one thing to say about “Aku no Hana”, it would be that it is definitely out of the ordinary. Based on Baudelaire’s poetry collection Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal in the original - don’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 someone’s gym clothes and being blackmailed for that? Really? Not that it looks like it couldn’t happen; but it’s a topic that nobody particularly likes to deal with--not the victims, not the parents, not the police… 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 what’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 you’d excuse the rudeness. They’re not the usual sides you see of the people around you, and they definitely aren’t the usual guys and girls you meet in the world of anime. And where I can’t say in all honesty that they’re likable or even relatable, they are intriguing in an unsettling way. The psychological design, the development, the emotions--it’s all there, and where it definitely does not make for a mushy-lovey-dovey-emotional experience, it’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 I’ve seen before. Character exposition is done as naturally as one can expect from an anime of such setup; and where thirteen episodes usually aren’t quite enough to delve into each character’s backgrounds, at least what’s seen of the main character’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. It’s not the Clannad-style-all-mushy-inside-lovey-dovey-somewhat-philosophical-dialogue some people might expect from a high school setting (I’m just saying, Key Animation), but it definitely fits the setting of each single scene.
The technical aspects are more difficult to describe… again.
Much of the hate I’ve seen over this all over the web is directed at the animation of this anime. Though I’m pretty sure that’s not the first and foremost reason people don’t like this, I do understand that it takes a while to get used to. The animation style, after all, isn’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 I’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 isn’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. That’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 of… stick out. I won’t go as far as to name it a bug, but that’s where things do look odd.
If you ask me, that’s pretty much the only thing that should get odd. Then again, I’ve seen quite a number of different styles up to now, and I’ve been quite alright with animation techniques and art styles some of my peers only face-palmed at. What I can say is that “Aku no Hana”’s animation style is distinctly realistic, and might require time to get used to in many cases, but I personally don’t see why everyone says it’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 I’m not even sure one can talk about “entertainment” 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.
There’s one thing that “Aku no Hana” definitely is, and that’s out of the ordinary. It’s original, it’s realistic, it’s bizarrely surreal at the same time, and while it’s not particularly beautiful, or even funny, it’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 it’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. It’s something that just creates an impact, and, if nothing else, makes “Aku no Hana” definitely memorable.
By the date of this review, there’s only four episodes out, so I’m an early birdie writing this. If you ask me, however, “Aku no Hana” has displayed a whole lot of potential so far. It may not be for everyone, and even I’ve got mixed feelings about it. However, one thing I can say for sure, and that is that “Aku no Hana” at least to me is intriguing so far. If it keeps going this strong, I’m pretty sure we’ll have one hell of a plot, if nothing else, on our hands once this finishes. Seeing as I’m a plot otaku, I’m pretty sure you can guess the rest--though I can’t speak for anyone else, I’ll definitely keep an eye on this. I’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 “Aku no Hana” 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 can’t seem to speak for the manga readers out there; and even for those that don’t know the manga, “Aku no Hana” is an anime that’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. (
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