Tentacle-Free Anime: "Aku no Hana" (2013) Review

- by Kazekun, 9 December 2013

When it comes to anime, I really like psychological stories. Especially the kind that drag the protagonists through the emotional ringer, all the way to the lowest point in their psyche, with no hope left and then, suddenly, something great happens. But once in a while, the story is told in such a way that only bad things can happen from beginning to end and all I can think is… may God have mercy on these character’s souls, and feel okay about it.

Aku no Hana (The Flowers of Evil) (2013); 
Episodes: 13; 
Studio: ZEXCS; Director: Hiroshi Nagahama;
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Takao worships the class beauty, Nanako, from afar. When he is alone in the classroom one day after school, he notices her bag of gym clothes on the floor. He can't resist picking it up. He plans to return it, but the next day, all the girls are commiserating with Nanako that some pervert has stolen her gym clothes. Worse than that, their classmate Sawa quietly lets him know that she saw him take the clothes and will tell Nanako if he doesn't make a contract with her to do whatever she asks of him. And so their strange, tense relationship begins. [AnimeNewsNetwork.com]

Aku no Hana is a new series, having just finished airing a couple of months ago. And despite how the summary reads or may imply when people read that Takao has become a slave to a girl, this series is nothing like you would expect, in other words: it isn’t about sex in any way. It’s all about what happens when you get pulled into a situation of your own design, and those involved with knowing your secret begin to level your psyche like the Hindenburg, until there is nothing left but a fiery shadow of what you used to be.

Promo image.

Takao is a nice boy, he does what he is told, and he keeps to himself and doesn’t speak often. In fact, he’s really more of a book worm but when comes that one opportunity to inappropriately touch the clothes that were worn by his crush Nanako, he takes it and begins paying for it in a way that would drive anyone to extreme pits of hell. Sawa decides to slowly break him down little by little, forcing his withdrawn nature to crack and there is a slow crawling feeling the viewer gets watching the clock tick as you know the day is going to come when Takao loses everything he tries so hard to keep locked away.

This is a slow-paced series at 13 episodes, and it can be a chore to get through, this isn’t an action series, it is a real life situation series and is emotionally draining. 

Though it reaches its apex at the end of the middle arc, making the final few episodes a little jarring and not as interesting to watch, I feel this series is still worth checking out, especially with the possibility of more to come; as the manga this is based off of is still ongoing.

Takao Kasuga.

One of the most easily noticeable traits of the series isn’t its admittedly awesome soundtrack and unique way of approaching sounds, but its unique way of approaching animation. The series uses a technique not often seen anymore, and probably never seen in anime before called rotoscoping. 

Nanako Saeki.

Those of you who know animation styles you already know what you’re in for, for those who don’t, rotoscoping is when animators tape live footage and then trace over it and reanimate it, which can often give characters awkward looks of having no faces what-so-ever from afar, or when lines bend together so hands look like they’re a massive blob. Which to that, you may ask, why not just use the live-action footage then? And I have no argument for that, there’s no reason why they couldn’t, but it’s certainly a unique visual experience that can really give scenery a beautiful painted atmosphere. The first few episodes are not very pretty to look at, but if you can get past them even the rotoscoping becomes very beautiful and the series becomes a lot more digestible to the eyes as it goes. [Some of our readers may remember rotoscopy from the movie "A Scanner Darkly" - Ed.]

Sawa Nakamura.

While I will admit I was very much against the idea of finding out this isn’t the entire story to the series at first, I have to admit to myself that we live in a world now of seasonal anime, instead of series that have a clear start and finish. So it’s like watching western television, except if you don’t want to wait for the next season, you can go read the manga or light novels these shows are popularly based on nowadays. While the series gets sluggish near the end, as if it’s stalling for time, and the rotoscoping can be uneasy to look at first, the series as a whole is an interesting emotional experience and I still recommend it for those who are wary.

Final Score: 3 Sickos out of 6


Have you seen "Aku no Hana"? Enjoyed the review? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: Tentacle-Free Anime.

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