Flowers of Evil was one of the worst-received anime of the last ten years, but does the series really deserve its bad reputation?
Like any medium, anime is riddled with hits and misses. Some titles go on to be internationally acclaimed. Others fall into benign darkness. And still others end up completely vilified. Flowers of evil falls (unfortunately) into the latter category.
Flowers of evil — or aku no hana — was one of the most discussed releases of 2013. However, it was a hot topic for all the wrong reasons. Between the art style, the unsavory cast of characters, and the theme, viewers found little in the series to praise and more than enough to criticize. However, despite the overwhelming initial response, Flowers of evil It is a title with a lot to offer.
Flowers of evil follows high school student Kasuga Takao. Quiet by nature, Kyosuke has few friends, a penchant for reading, especially Baudelaire’s. The flowers of Evil — and a romantic crush on Saeki Nanako, the most popular girl in her class. One day after school, Kyosuke steals Saeki’s gym uniform. He is witnessed by Nakamura Sawa, the sullen misfit of the class. Under threat of revealing what he has done, he blackmails Kyosuke into signing a contract with her. Although he is subjected to various mind games, Kyosuke comes to form a significant bond with Nakamura as the story progresses.
Watching the plot alone, Flowers of evil it has much in common with most coming-of-age narratives. However, the series falls far short of almost all previous coming-of-age anime on several levels.
Flowers of evil is the first anime series to be animated using only rotoscoping techniques. Rotoscopying is an animation process in which an animator tracks live moving images frame by frame. Once compiled, the resulting action looks more fluid and real. As innovative as it was, the choice to rotoscope render the series proved controversial, especially among fans of the original manga. Some of the series’ harshest critics found the rotoscopic effect not only off-putting but even comical, undermining the narrative.
While the animation style is at the forefront of most criticism of the series, viewers were also taken aback by Flowers of evilThe brooding, overtly adult subject matter and the unpleasant central cast. That said, despite their negative reception, each of these devices work together to create a compelling (if puzzling) narrative that puts even today’s most popular titles to shame.
That’s true Flowers of evil it’s a coming-of-age story. However, it has much more in common thematically with a psychological thriller than it does with a typical school drama. The games Nakamura puts Kasuga through are creepy and genuinely unsettling. An especially disturbing example occurred when Nakamura forced Kasuga to wear Saeki’s gym clothes, the same clothes he stole, under his own while on a date with Saeki. Unnerving as these events are, they force both Kyosuke and Nakamura into situations where their true natures are revealed, subsequently creating a story that is darkly human and insidiously gripping.
Further, Flowers of evil houses a main cast that, while not necessarily likeable, feels more authentically human. People in the real world are not always nice. It’s hardly a pioneering concept, but it bears repeating: real human beings are complicated, and the central characters of Flowers of evil they’re meant to encapsulate and showcase that complexity, even the ugly bits. Also, it’s no coincidence that the creative team behind the series employed an animation style meant to look more realistic to portray characters that are supposed to emulate real people, even if their actions can be extremely disturbing.
Very similar to Baudelaire’s. The flowers of Evilthe anime adaptation of Flowers of evil he was very much a victim of his time. The series was unfairly criticized and has had to struggle to gain its well-deserved legitimacy for the better part of a decade. The theme may well leave viewers unsettled, while the rotoscoped animation style can be polarizing, if not downright objectionable. However, Flowers of evil is a story that incorporates the best parts of numerous, seemingly disparate genres, delivering them in a way that is essential for audiences to experience.
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