Kasuga Takao is a kid that likes to read books and admires a girl in his class, from a distance, named Saeki Nanako. After forgetting one of his books at school, he return to the classroom, after school, to not only finding said book, but Nanako's gym clothes. He finds him fixated on the clothes, but soon becomes anxious, and he ended up taking her clothes with him. Only there is one problem, someone saw him take the clothes, and her name is Nakamura Sawa.
Story
I've just recently found out I was a psychology nerd, as far as most stories go. So when I first heard about this title being a psychology horror, I want to jump in head first to see what this type of genre would be like. And lets just say, Aku no Hana isn't something to complain about story wise.
The first few episodes are probably the slowest of the season, but as a whole, it really does a great job expressing a good amount of psychology mixed into what is a gloried teenage angst plot line. From the focus on the interactions of all the character involved, to the large amount of environment shots; Aku no Hana does a great job of getting the viewer to, at the very least, believe the thing that happen in the anime are not that far off from the reality.
Breaking that line of what people believe is real, and want isn't, might make it things a bit more uncomfortable for some people to watch, but I've always been drawn by those kind of feelings discomfort or awkwardness.
As far as something of this genre, I would say it does a successful job at being horrify, but at the same time exciting enough for you to want to what more of what you don't want -- almost like being a masochist.
Art
This is a point of pain for some people coming fresh into this series. Some people would argue that rotoscoping was a bad idea, and it certainly has been a deterred factor for some people, who wanted to watching the anime. However, I have argued before that this art style really does lend to the nature of the anime.
I don't disagree that this art style isn't for everyone, and it really is a matter of whether or not you can tolerate it for something that is a great experience. As far as personal experience goes, it didn't take too long to grow accustom to, and it just became something really minor. However, it is a real pain point for some, so it is worth mentioning regardless.
Characters
- Kasuga Takao (voice: Ueda Shinichirou)
- Nakamura Sawa (voice: Ise Mariya)
- Saeki Nanako (voice: Hikasa Yoko)
With the action of the anime centered around psychological tormenting of most of the main characters -- mainly inflicted by Sawa -- there had to be believable character for any kind of horror to take effect. Aku no Hana does a great job of this, considering that they are supposable in middle school. Any more than the three would probably be too much to keep track of; and the relationship between Takao and Sawa really does seem symbiotic, despite it looking more of a victim-predator situation.
This guy is stuck in-between trying to keep his reputation at school the same, and not pissing off Sawa. Takao is certainly an interesting boy to see develop, the longer he follows Sawa almost wholeheartedly. With him being the victim, you almost feel sorry for him, but he usually ends up picking things that are harder on him in the long run. Which is a bit strange to me and as a result, I'm not too sure I fully understand Takao all too much.
The misunderstood teen who is just trying to spicy up her otherwise boring school life. Sawa is defiantly my favorite character of the bunch because she doesn't want to settle with the boring life style of living in peace. She uses what she can to get results, and doesn't care what people think of her. Even if it is all due to teenage angst, I find her character to be the most interesting of the group.
Takao's love interest, who is also subject to getting her gym clothes stolen. Nanako is idolize to the point of almost creep status by Takao, and we really don't hear much of her until later in the series. I'm not going to spoil things, but I will say, Nanako isn't as pure as Takao seems to think she is.
Overall
| Good | Bad |
|---|---|
| believable characters | ending had no closure |
| incredibly atmospheric | some scenes felt drawn out |
| accurate psychology depiction | |
| uncomfortably exciting |
Aku no Hana was one of the few anime that would get me to wait until it was dark before enjoying each episode. Even with the initial backlash from the art style controversy, the anime delivered a fantastically atmospheric experience, that not many anime could pull off. This was my favorite anime this season and despite that, there probably won't be as many people watching it on the art alone. But I would highly recommend this if you are a psychological nerd -- like myself -- or just like to be shocked. Give this one watch and quiet the part of the brain that will complain about the art.