With a show like Aku no Hana, I think it's not just the artstyle, but also the overall genre. Even the director stated at first that he thought it was more suited for live-action than animation. So the fact that it doesn't appeal to the hardcore anime collectors isn't really that surprising -- I don't think they expected that in the first place. But I'd also say, with that genre, so much of it rides on the story and execution. With a show like Henneko, or Railgun 2, or OreImo 2, you have established fanbases and a very clear sense of what to expect from the show (and a pretty high likelihood of getting about what they expect). But with Aku no Hana, I think even the manga readers aren't too sure what to expect or if they're going to like the way it's handled. The crowd who appreciates the show just for its artistic value isn't necessarily going to be the sort to rush in a pre-order months before the disc release anyway. I think there's a lot of "wait and see".
So, yeah... there are reasons.
Edit: In addition to what 4Tran also said, which I no longer need to add.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhl88
Fix'd... the Blu-Ray sales were quite low...
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I think it didn't need "fixing"; that was implied by the statement. The point was that saying a show "failed" doesn't depend on our definition, but the production committee's own metrics. They're not necessarily all under the impression that their show will sell tens of thousands of Blu-Rays in the first place. Sometimes the anime mainly exists (and was commissioned) to advertise something else.