(L) Aku No Hana (Flowers of Evil)

[Goty]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

I think episode 2 makes clear why this couldn't be done in a traditional anime style.

Spoiler for Episode 2:

If it were, then right now there'd be guys laughing, "All right, he put his face in her boobs! That was so awesome!" and making animated gifs of the scene. But the point of that scene is to demonstrate exactly how disturbing your typical ecchi comedy is in real life. Likewise, Kasuga stealing Saeki's gym clothes isn't, "Oh noes, I accidentally ran off with a girl's clothes. If I get caught people will think I'm a pervert!" It's "Oh crap, everybody thinks there's a sexual predator running around school and if I get caught I'll probably be expelled if not arrested."

All of which is why most anime fans were never going to embrace this show if it stayed true to the source -- and why the mangaka was scornful of people who follow the manga because they find Nakamura moe.

Great points. Just watched the 2nd episode and i was thinking pretty much the same.

[calorie]

Man, I don't understand all the criticism Aku no Hana is getting. I mean, I do, but isn't anyone else feeling the tense atmosphere, the realistic air of sin and the all-too-reminiscent-of-the-agonizing-childhood-of-an-introvert personal drama?

I wholeheartedly agree with Utsuro no Hako's post about the art style -- this choice makes everything seem that more vivid and scary. There is no way any generic moe anime style could translate the obvious intentions of the author this well. I cannot help but think how much scarier Higurashi would be if it were made in this fashion.

Another great episode, I can't wait to see where the story will go.

[jeroz]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

Spoiler for Episode 2:

If it were, then right now there'd be guys laughing, "All right, he put his face in her boobs! That was so awesome!" and making animated gifs of the scene.

Dude, what are you talking about? That scene is hilarious!
He was like "I'm the worst" and then the next moment he just sniffs again. Not to mention that he does it twice in this episode. That's excellent comedy.

People won't make a gif simply because it's "ugly" and not as fun out of context, but doesn't make it less funny.

[videoman190]

some cosplay

Spoiler for cosplay:

some gifs from ep2

Spoiler for gifs:

[Marcus H.]

A girl with smashing sideburns like that?



O-Oh my god, a 3D girl in 2D. IGOTTADOSOMETHING



RUN! RUN LIKE THE WIND! RUN AWAY FROM THE 3D GIRL IN 2D!

[DragoonKain3]

Spoiler:

Alright, THAT is creepy as heck. Gave me the feeling that she has planned something sinister, unlike the manga version where her facial expression in conjunction with her blush made me think that she wants to do something ecchi with MC behind that hill.

Consider me convinced that this art style is the right choice in the matter.

[jeroz]

creepy? Look how happy she is! She's having so much fun and we should just join in.

I literally burst out laughing during that scene since it's like she's been holding her laugh from the very beginning.

Edit: I just checked out the manga version. I do think that the manga is more chilling since, like you'd said, by just appearance she might look like she's wanting some ecchi stuff. However once you hear the words from her mouth only by then she would appear to be sinister and corrupted. It's the contrast and the shock value. You were lured into a false sense of security, which makes it even scarier. Whereas here you knew everyone is creepy, so it doesn't really surprise anyone. The best type of horror happens when you felt as if you are safe, and least expecting it.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by jeroz

creepy? Look how happy she is! She's having so much fun and we should just join in.

The fact she's having so much fun tormenting the guy is what's creepy,.

You were lured into a false sense of security, which makes it even scarier. Whereas here you knew everyone is creepy, so it doesn't really surprise anyone. The best type of horror happens when you felt as if you are safe, and least expecting it.

It's interesting how Aku no Hana brings out debates that sort of go beyond anime.
Because that's not the case for me,if it were the Shining wouldn't have scared the crap out of me and it wouldnt be one of my favorite movies.
The cast just looks creepy and that there's something wrong with them,in fact that's something a lot of book fans don't like about the movie and even Stephen King was displeased enough that he remade it himself years later.
So really,that's not an issue with me.

[jeroz]

Why though? It's not like he's a good guy or anything. It's going to be a fun ride to see him self destruct. It's a hearty smile, and those people are good people.

[cyth]

That smile made her more like the mischievous child who had something sinister planned long, long ago, but could never get the chance to realize it. Now she's thrilled to have finally got that chance.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by orion

Spoiler:

She wanted him to face the fact that he won't confess. She set him up in a situation to confess that he took the clothes.

He's saying that he is guilty and will repent while inhaling her clothes and prob jacking off. He had bought the gym clothes to school to supposedly confess to Saeki that he took her gym clothes but he can't seem to part with them. He couldn't confess in the class. He couldn't do it in the library. He paused just a bit too much to inhale in Saeki's chest area. He's a pervert and a coward. Nakamura is going to have "fun" with this guy.

I think you're being much too critical of Kasuga. I wouldn't go as far as to say that he's a pervert and a coward. Imagine in yourself in your teens, and did something extremely wrong; do you think you'd just go and confess, knowing that your friends, your parents, your classmates, the whole grade(possibly school), esp the person you like/admire, would look down on you? And he likes the scent of the girl he greatly admires, what's wrong with that? Lots of guys like the smell of their wives/girlfriends/female friends, so I don't see it as unnatural. It's not like he watches porn, goes on porn sites, looks at porn mags, reads ecchi/hentai/sexual-based books, or is interested in other girls/women/fetishes from what we've seen so far, so how is he a pervert with just this one thing? Not to mention considering he had no intentions to steal the clothes until it fell on the floor and everything was impulsive =02.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by frubam

And he likes the scent of the girl he greatly admires, what's wrong with that? Lots of guys like the smell of their wives/girlfriends/female friends, so I don't see it as unnatural. It's not like he watches porn, goes on porn sites, looks at porn mags, reads ecchi/hentai/sexual-based books, or is interested in other girls/women/fetishes from what we've seen so far, so how is he a pervert with just this one thing?

Er, don't tell me that you think stealing the clothes of a girl you barely even know, and then sniffing them and most likely jacking off to them is not creepy at all. Yes, lots of guys like the smell of women, most of them don't steal their buruma. I wouldn't say Kasuga is necessarily a pervert, but what he did was creepy as hell, and he knew it. (He would've been better off just reading/watching porn, but of course he's too chuunibyou/too deep in his ahem, "aoi haru" for that...)

The rest of the episode pretty much went as could be expected re: Kasuga being all "oh shit oh shit oh shit *sniff*" and Nakamura assuming power over him. The end was... uuh. So he even has to write an essay, huh? I like where this is going.

[Folenfant]

That second episode was tough to get through, possibly more so than the first episode even. Things actually do pick up a bit with Kasuga stealing Saeki's gym clothes running afoul of Nakamura and then feeling guilty and trying to tell her about it and this could be some compelling stuff yet the execution of it is awkward to say the least. Again while the art style can have some really rough moments like Kasuga running and flailing around while jump cutting what continues to hinder this show for me is the acting.

The dialogue indicates that Kasuga is supposed to be feeling intense feelings of guilt and self loathing after what he did yet much of the time he just sounds bored and muttery, never fluctuating tone and inflection and often awkwardly pausing and starting again. At some points hes even barely audible over the soundtrack making the subtitles actually necessary and i cant believe this was intentional. This is also a problem with much of the principal cast in all honesty including the veteran Mariya Ise at times which has me feeling that its as much a problem with direction as inexperience. I get the sense that they were told to underplay their roles and in the case of the mostly inexperienced cast its leading to unnatural readsn and thus scenes that are tough to get into. Only the parents really felt natural and believable in their brief interactions with Kasuga coming off as concerned for him which ought to be expected.

Its a shame cause I think the script could more than speak for itself as disturbing and unnatural yet much of the production just renders it kind of dull and really tough to watch and stay interested in. Still I'll soldier on a bit more but sadly I don't expect things to improve too much from here.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Er, don't tell me that you think stealing the clothes of a girl you barely even know, and then sniffing them and most likely jacking off to them is not creepy at all. Yes, lots of guys like the smell of women, most of them don't steal their buruma. I wouldn't say Kasuga is necessarily a pervert, but what he did was creepy as hell, and he knew it. (He would've been better off just reading/watching porn, but of course he's too chuunibyou/too deep in his ahem, "aoi haru" for that...)

Actually, in this instance, I don't. If it was a hobby, then yeah, certainly. We all get thoughts of doing such things that are considered immoral from a societal point-of-view; but only very few act upon it. Immoral, it certainly is, but creepy? Hardly. That's why he said he had sinned, which I perceived to mean that he had stained her image by taking her clothes and defiling them; not physically, but metaphorically, similar to, for instance, a king walking in a "dirty" house, and the home's owner begging for 'forgiveness' for such a "dirty" home. The home is not actually filthy, but it is the issue of someone whom the homeowner considers well above himself being subjected to that which is well below his stature. I think most people look at it from the perspective of a viewer rather than from the character in the story. To say, he'd be "better off" watching porn, sounds like something a person unrelated to this incident would say. He's not doing this for sexual satisfaction after all, so porn wouldn't hold any weight in preventing this. If anything, it'd probably provoke him to think of her(and probably any girl for that matter) as a sexual object.

[Cytrus]

Since Kasuga's chances not to look like a horrible pervert in Saeki's eyes are already gone (I don't know how though, as it's usually obvious when somebody is pushed onto you, rather than jumping on you of his own will, Saeki should just be mad at Nakamura), he should just dispose of the evidence and ignore Nakamura. I mean, we're talking about a dropout who calls teachers shit to their faces... how much is her word worth? Her stealing the clothes in a jealous fit against the intelligent and beautiful Saeki is just as likely as her story of the pervert boy. Except I'm sure plenty of people hate Nakamura while being indifferent to Kasuga.

Kasuga has been established as weak-willed and a coward, so him getting toyed around with by a sadist is perfectly in character and all, but there must be some reason to watch the show for the next eleven episodes...

[kuromitsu]

>frubam

Wait, you think there were no sexual overtones in him taking her buruma? Even if we disregard the whole buruma fetish thing (not necessarily applicable to Kasuga), PE clothes/buruma are highly sexually "charged" clothing items. This is almost the equivalent of taking her bra. (We even see him staring at her in those clothes, later imagining her in them, etc. Don't tell me those were innocent thoughts... )

Again, I'm not saying Kasuga is a pervert. He's just an awkward teenage boy and he has Awkward Teenage Issues (including what you wrote about "soiling" Saeki), and he did something he shouldn't have done. But that doesn't mean taking her clothes (never mind perving over them later) is not, in fact, creepy, and Kasuga is well aware of that. He knows he would never live it down if anyone found out he was the culprit, knows that everyone would think he's a disgusting creep. (He even has a helpful mental vision about it.) That's why he didn't dare to return them/apologize, and this is why Nakamura can have power over him simply by threatening him with telling everyone the truth. (Not that Saeki doesn't think he's a creepy weirdo by now...)

Originally Posted by frubam

To say, he'd be "better off" watching porn, sounds like something a person unrelated to this incident would say.

I only mentioned porn because you seemed to be saying that watching porn is somehow more creepy than "enjoying" a woman's scent by stealing her clothes and sniffing them.

[zarqu]

Originally Posted by calorie

I cannot help but think how much scarier Higurashi would be if it were made in this fashion.

I think this is actually a fairly good point. Many anime have tried to juxtapose cute girls and violence (Higurashi, Madoka), but in my case they haven't really succeeded.

Some people have mentioned the contrast in the manga between cute characters and their horrible actions and how the anime has lost that. Well, I don't know. I've had trouble taking stuff like Madoka and Higurashi seriously, because they use this contrast. I don't know. I prefer my violence as real as possible (ie. Shigurui).

[NoemiChan]

Episode 2

Our villain is getting uglier as usual.. only the Kasuga and Saeki are very well done... Overall interesting....

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by Cytrus

Kasuga has been established as weak-willed and a coward, so him getting toyed around with by a sadist is perfectly in character and all, but there must be some reason to watch the show for the next eleven episodes...

Well, I, for one, can't think of one.

As I predicted after watching the first episode, this has turned into another "girl controls guy through blackmail because guy would be embarrassed if truth were told" kinda story that is "dressed up in darker clothes" than the typical anime of this ilk.

Even if I hadn't seen any of the disturbing images from the source material while doing an image search (which showed the direction this series is headed) I still wouldn't want to continue to watch. Even if Nakamura was a silver-haired beauty, Kasuga would still be a spine-less twit being bullied and tormented. Whoop-dee-doo.

But, who cares? After two episodes, the anime has completely failed to make me empathize or sympathize with any of the characters. As good a job as the "art style" of the "animation" has done setting up the mood, the MC is just another wimp like any other wimp from any old harem anime.

And as for the two main girls, Nakamura they certainly achieved the goal, if that was the intention, of my not liking her. But Saeki they failed at giving her any real presence. She's a girl who the MC has a crush on, but, unlike the MC who's a wimp, and Nakamura, who's a sadist, she has not really had enough of her own characterization to make me have any vested interest in what happens next.

Ironic as it may be that, although there has been a concerted effort with the "animation style" to create a certain mood, the characters themselves end up being like, as Recokner said, "a bunch of janky blobs flying around the screen."

I won't be wasting any more of my time on this series.

[zarqu]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

But, who cares? After two episodes, the anime has completely failed to make me empathize or sympathize with any of the characters.

Pfft. Characters don't have to be likeable for me to enjoy a series (see Texhnolyze and Shigurui).

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

"girl controls guy through blackmail because guy would be embarrassed if truth were told" kinda story that is "dressed up in darker clothes"

I'm interested to see how Baudelaire figures into all of this.