Aku no Hana - Flowers of Evil

Aku no Hana (Flowers of Evil) is a psychological drama based on the manga of the same name by Shuzo Oshimi.  The anime aired in the summer off season of 2013 for 13 episodes and a second season was hinted at the end of the final episode.

    Takao Kasuga is a 2^nd year middle school student in a small and secluded town.  He spends most of his free time consuming provocative literature from all over the world.  His favorite book is a collection of taboo poetry by 18^th century French author Charles Baudelaire called…Les Fluer du mal (Flowers of Evil).  Takao has a crush on classmate Nanako Saeki.  One day after school he ends up inadvertently stealing her gym clothes.  His plans to secretly return them are ruined the next day when word of the theft spreads and everyone starts talking about a pervert being on the loose.  After school the troubled girl who sits behind him, Sawa Nakamura, confronts Takao and tells him she knows that he stole the uniform.  She will keep his secret if he agrees to join in a ‘contract’ with her.  For fear of destroying any chance he has of dating Saeki and being labeled a thief and a pervert, Takao reluctantly agrees with Nakamura.  Just what she wants out of him in regards to the contract are a mystery and his life is now filled with anxiety over the truth being leaked and what Nakamura has in store for him.

    This is a slow moving and very heavy drama.  Initially I kept expecting there to be a lot of violence and supernatural elements in the series, but it’s all psychological and in many ways covertly so.  The major themes are isolation, control and struggles with identity but in one way this is a story about romance…a very twisted way.  The most striking thing is the artwork, which was done using rotoscope technology.  If you are unfamiliar with it, watch the movie A Scanner Darkly.  They take live footage and using a computer program, turn that live footage into animation.  You get comfortable with it by about the 2^nd or 3^rd episode.  But it can be a bit jarring.  I thought it was fantastic, especially since they chose to keep the animation as realistic as possible, showing the reality of what Japan looks like, both its people and its neighborhoods.  While pretty much all anime is about bright colors and unnatural features for the characters, many titles also gloss over the less tidy aspects of Japan.  I don’t want to say that the country is trashy, there are areas of Tokyo where I have been and was afraid to toss a finished cigarette on the ground.  But in general many buildings in the country have a somewhat sad look to them.  The city in which the story takes place is run down with plenty of rusty facades and faded signs.  I’ve been in neighborhoods like that, seen cities like that and it was good to see it so well portrayed in anime...the real Japan.

    OK, the story.  As I said before this is very slow moving.   Through much of it you are unsure what sort of resolution the story is supposed to reach.  The key points are the development of the three main characters and building on the tension of Takao’s secret.  Much of his paranoia is due to the general nature of peer interactions in adolescence, being such a confusing and problematic time.  From my understanding of how schools can be in Japan from accounts by foreigners who have taught there it can be even more daunting to be a teenager there.  The level of social acceptance in Japan is incredibly high, being a normal member of the group is one of the most important things and any deviation, real or not, can be devastating to the accused party.  There is a reason teen suicides are so high in Japan.  On top of this the restrictions placed on teachers creates a situation where the children are partially in control of the classrooms.  As opposed to America, Japanese teachers are almost powerless to enforce order in their classroom, with PTA’s being the most powerful voice in the schools.  If a class decides to ignore and disrespect their teacher things can get out of hand quickly and could result in little to no punishment for their actions.  This is a realistic portrayal of growing up and dealing with your own identity; whether through your own eyes or those around you.  That being said, I really enjoyed this show and it is such a breath of fresh air in the land of current anime.  But, it’s not for everyone, it is dark, moody and not an escape from reality.  More, it’s an escape from fantasy.  I look forward to a second season being produced, hopefully sometime soon.

    The series is available on Crunchyroll, no word on it being available on DVD/BD anytime soon.  The manga is also being released in North America and appears to be ongoing in Japan.