(L) Aku No Hana (Flowers of Evil)

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by neshru

Disagrees with you on the quality of a show -> must be a pretentious hipster
I like the logic.

I also liked the logic where people who did not like the show are "moé loving plebs who cannot comprehend True Art with their feeble mind" even if they reasonably and rationally gave their reasons as for why and how.

[Reckoner]

ANN just likes to spark controversy for more page views, so why even give them the time of day .

Originally Posted by cyth

I'm pretty sure Reckoner is foaming at the mouth right now. I mean, a person didn't like it subjectively, but objectively this show is a winner?

C'mon Cyth, your trolling skills can't be this poor can they? Son I r disappoint.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I also liked the logic where people who did not like the show are "moé loving plebs who cannot comprehend True Art with their feeble mind" even if they reasonably and rationally gave their reasons as for why and how.

People have given legitimate reasons for not liking the series on this thread, but I judge people to higher standards here.

However the legion on 2ch apparently attacking the manga-ka and director, ordering the series just to cancel it later so it will be overstocked, etc.

Well sorry to say that is exactly my impression of them.

[zarqu]

Does anyone who has read the manga know just how much the themes are influenced by the poetry of Baudelaire and Rimbaud? I read some spoilerless reviews on MAL about the manga, and many people called it, essentially, just another femdom manga where a guy makes a contract with sadistic girl and blackmail ensues.

I'm halfway through Spleen and Ideal and Baudelaire has already conjured up some fantastic images regarding muses, women, death and generally life.

[sa547]

I need a bit of help deciphering here, because there's the actors who lent their likenesses to the show:

http://akunohana-anime.jp/sitetop.html

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by sa547

I think there is a purpose and intent in the unusual use of rotoscoping: this forced me to pay more attention to the story rather than to be concerned about, um, "character design".

I think that this is very true. One big difference between Aku no Hana and most other pieces of rotoscoping is that the technique is usually used to make people move more realistically and be aesthetically pleasing. I don't really think that this is the goal for this show - while the animation is naturalistic, it also seems to be meant to be disturbing at some level. This is supported by the sound design which constantly tries to generate a feeling of unease.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

She's not class queen material like Saeki, but I think the guys would be lusting after her if she weren't a freaky loner girl who looks like she's contemplating the best strategy for when the class is selected for Battle Royale.

In the anime, I don't get the feeling that Nakamura is supposed to seem particularly attractive. This goes fairly well with her discordant behavior. We'll see if this approach will work.

Originally Posted by totoum

But it had the exact opposite effect on me,I had a hard time focusing on anything other than the way the characters were drawn, which is a shame because like 4Tran I like what this episode had to offer besides that.

I think I got used to it after a few minutes. I even got enthralled by the second going-to-school sequence (may or may not be Stockholm Syndrome talking ) - it's really unusual to see anime characters actually acting like real people, and I love how the village feels like an actual Japanese village.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I also liked the logic where people who did not like the show are "moé loving plebs who cannot comprehend True Art with their feeble mind" even if they reasonably and rationally gave their reasons as for why and how.

Who here has been using that logic?

You're drawing a false equivalency here unless you can actually point to someone who has been using this logic. Personally, I haven't seen anybody here on Anime Suki using this logic.

[zarqu]

^ I think that refers more to MAL and ANN.

Discussion here has been very interesting. No one has seriously brought up the completely idiotic plebeian/patrician dichotomy here.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Who here has been using that logic?

You're drawing a false equivalency here unless you can actually point to someone who has been using this logic. Personally, I haven't seen anybody here on Anime Suki using this logic.

Cyth's post kinda rubbed me the wrong way,even if it's a joke.

Me having an avatar from Waltz with Bashir wouldn't make my critisisms any more or less valid

[neshru]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I also liked the logic where people who did not like the show are "moé loving plebs who cannot comprehend True Art with their feeble mind" even if they reasonably and rationally gave their reasons as for why and how.

Of course people that say that are just as stupid as the haters. But you can't deny that a lot of people are hating on the series for really stupid reasons, and seem to be extremely close-minded about anime in general.

[cyth]

Originally Posted by totoum

Cyth's post kinda rubbed me the wrong way,even if it's a joke.

It wasn't a joke to the degree that some people really are shallow when it comes to appreciating visuals. This wasn't aimed at moe lovers though. Check Twitter and you'll see how sakuga fans aren't exactly thrilled the show was adapted this way. Then of course there are those who decided they shouldn't bother with the first episode when they saw the screencaps.

The grain of truth in your concern is that I have two opinions that came out superficially as they did:

1.) Anime shows tend to don't sell very well if visuals aren't "good", or rather, even good-looking shows that have terrible everything else except animation can do pretty well.
2.) The fanbase has over the years become more moe-centric. Now even people who previously despised moe like it, because they've come to the realization times are changing and they'll be left out otherwise.

Of course, the other reason is also because I sometimes troll you people and don't really care if you think it's bad, but it was a very small part of it. Please don't ban me.

[Conan-san]

So what I'm getting out of all this is that this should have been a Drama but they didn't have the balls to float the rules and as such we're stuck with a bad cartoon insulting the people who read the comic instead of trying to grow a pair?

Real progressive guys. You are japan.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by totoum

Cyth's post kinda rubbed me the wrong way,even if it's a joke.

Me having an avatar from Waltz with Bashir wouldn't make my critisisms any more or less valid

I don't think that's the point of Cyth's post there, joke or not.

I saw it more as a commentary on how this show isn't for everyone. Very few shows are, of course.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Conan-san

So what I'm getting out of all this is that this should have been a Drama but they didn't have the balls to float the rules and as such we're stuck with a bad cartoon insulting the people who read the comic instead of trying to grow a pair?

*facepalm forever*

I don't know how you managed to reach this conclusion....

[Conan-san]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

*facepalm forever*

I don't know how you managed to reach this conclusion....

The guy freaking said as much. What else was I suppose to conclude "Oh we couldn't make a drama because of rules and junk, so we had to make it an "anime" instead."

I've seen game and watches with more animation than this mess!

[Eclipze]

Originally Posted by totoum

Also I've got my answer as to what the real life cast looks like

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Both male actors are also providing the voices for their characters

The most disturbing thing about the 3rd and 4th characters is that their noses were shifted upwards considerably, breaking the "realistic proportions" and directly propelling them into the uncanny valley. The 3rd character (second girl) doesn't even look half as attractive as the actress.

That is REALLY lazy work there (and intentional "ugly-fying" by the shifting of the nose)

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Conan-san

The guy freaking said as much. What else was I suppose to conclude "Oh we couldn't make a drama because of rules and junk, so we had to make it an "anime" instead."

I've seen game and watches with more animation than this mess!

Um he didn't say anything like this.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by neshru

Of course people that say that are just as stupid as the haters. But you can't deny that a lot of people are hating on the series for really stupid reasons, and seem to be extremely close-minded about anime in general.

To be fair, artwork that looks so different from the standard anime fare was always going to draw an undue amount of fire. Heck, I would have unloaded on it myself if I didn't think that the direction and overall production value was as good as it was. Moreover, this is destined to be one of the most divisive anime ever made - and it'll only get more divisive if it turns out to be good!

Originally Posted by cyth

It wasn't a joke to the degree that some people really are shallow when it comes to appreciating visuals. This wasn't aimed at moe lovers though. Check Twitter and you'll see how sakuga fans aren't exactly thrilled the show was adapted this way. Then of course there are those who decided they shouldn't bother with the first episode when they saw the screencaps.

The funny thing is that I think looking at the screencaps before watching the show helped me. There's a lot less shock when you already expect that kind of artwork.

Originally Posted by cyth

1.) Anime shows tend to don't sell very well if visuals aren't "good", or rather, even good-looking shows that have terrible everything else except animation can do pretty well.
2.) The fanbase has over the years become more moe-centric. Now even people who previously despised moe like it, because they've come to the realization times are changing and they'll be left out otherwise.

That's unfair. It's an entirely legitimate argument to dislike a show because one dislikes its aesthetics. Moreover, it's not all that hard to hate Aku no Hana's aesthetics whether or not one is a moe fan. You may have a point somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be applicable in this case.

Originally Posted by Conan-san

So what I'm getting out of all this is that this should have been a Drama but they didn't have the balls to float the rules and as such we're stuck with a bad cartoon insulting the people who read the comic instead of trying to grow a pair?

Real progressive guys. You are japan.

Hah! You'd only say that if you haven't watched Japanese TV. Aku no Hana is a lot better than those doramas tend to be!

Originally Posted by Conan-san

The guy freaking said as much. What else was I suppose to conclude "Oh we couldn't make a drama because of rules and junk, so we had to make it an "anime" instead."

I've seen game and watches with more animation than this mess!

What? The show has a decent amount of animation - about the same number of frames as any other TV show. The main difference is that it doesn't use the same kind of motion as those other ones, so it looks like there's less. It'd be certainly fair to say that the animation looks terrible though.

Originally Posted by Eclipze

The most disturbing thing about the 3rd and 4th characters is that their noses were shifted upwards considerably, breaking the "realistic proportions" and directly propelling them into the uncanny valley. The 3rd character (second girl) doesn't even look half as attractive as the actress.

That is REALLY lazy work there (and intentional "ugly-fying" by the shifting of the nose)

I don't think there's anything unintentional going on here. For example, Kasuga has a bunch of extra marks on his face to make him less pretty.

[cyth]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

It's an entirely legitimate argument to dislike a show because one dislikes its aesthetics. Moreover, it's not all that hard to hate Aku no Hana's aesthetics whether or not one is a moe fan. You may have a point somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be applicable in this case.

True, in both cases. It's not applicable at all, I just wanted to clarify any ambiguities that it wasn't really meant to be a serious comment. The two opinions are personal and this topic really isn't the best place to argue them anyway.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Solace

Basically, I could accept the changes if it looked like the staff actually tried, but it doesn't. The effects come off cheap, and it hurts my ability to take it seriously when Nakamura appears and looks like someone smashed her in the face with the ugly branch. There's nothing alluring about her at all. She just looks pissed because life handed her some bad genetics.

I got a good laugh out of this. This post, Reckoner saying that Saeki's first appearance made him wonder if he was watching Attack of the Titans... making fun of Aku no Hana characters make for a fun pasttime.




Hmm. The first guy was captured the most accurately; the other three become progressively less so. The lead character's looks were certainly downgraded a lot, from about a 9 in real life to a 6 in the anime. That guy looks awesome, speaking of which. He looks like he was born to be the main protagonist of an anime.