Aku no Hana – 02
…Those are some pretty manly side burns.
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…Yes, the character above is supposed to be female. Well, here I am, attempting to blog Aku no Hana weekly. I honestly can’t say that I ‘like’ the manga, but I … admire it I guess? There was not a single thing about the plot that I wasn’t cringing at, but at the same time, I certainly couldn’t stop reading it until I caught up to the current scans and will definitely read it to it’s conclusion. |
First things first, let’s talk about how big of an idiot Kasuga is. No, taking his crush’s gym clothes was not a smart thing to do. However, as you could tell from the first episode, the town they all live in is incredibly dull and really, finding Saeki’s gym clothes was probably the most interesting thing that Kasuga has had happen in a very, very long time, so I can see why he’d do it (oh yeah, and hormones). Though this is all my own speculation there. Anyways, this is definitely a turning point for Kasuga’s life. …Only, it’s not a very good one. Now he’s stuck with a huge feeling of guilt since his crush is feeling severely creeped out and insecure. Not only that, but he’s now on edge because obviously he would be a social pariah. Or at least he’s convinced himself that he would be one (and judging on everyone else’s reactions, he’s probably right), so he can’t really do anything and apologize. That scene with Kasuga fading into the abyss was nice imagery there.
…Which brings in the stupidity part. Now, Kasuga could do a number of things with the clothes. He was the one who stole them, but there are a ton of ways he could remove any and all association he had with them. He could burn them, throw them out, hide them in someone else’s desk, toss them in the river, or any number of other things. But no, this is the kind of show where he’s going to sit there in his regret and do nothing about it. Plus Nakamura pushing him into a corner doesn’t exactly help the situation. But really, if he did get rid of them and Nakamura called him out, who is the class more likely to believe? Everyone has labelled her as a freak. …Though to be honest, Kasuga is the quiet type with his nose always in a book, so him protesting might not be that believable. Plus he has no spine.
Anyways, I’m pretty damn sure that Kasuga had some kind of remorse in the manga and said things to himself like that he was going to return her clothes. He still took them of course since puberty got the better of him, but he kept trying to justify it to himself in his head by saying that it wasn’t a big deal and that he’d just return them the next day. He was still a huge creep about it, but the difference here was that Kasuga took the clothes, thought “hehehe, I’m a bad person” and the guilt didn’t fully bitchslap him in the face until later. Maybe they will skip over some of the other events in the story since they’re already going off script a bit and speeding up some things. If they don’t though, I have absolutely no idea where this is going to end on episode 13. Even this episode was kind of slow.
If you’re wondering why absolutely no one reacted to Kasuga carrying around a bag of Saeki’s gym clothes (which I know I was, until I actually examined the name on the bag), it’s because he hid them in his own bag. That’s his own name on there. The only thing suspicious about him right now is the way he’s acting. ….Though you might have picked up on the fact that Saeki’s bag was also pink and the one Kasuga was carrying around was blue. I didn’t.
As for Nakamura, she’s definitely… something. They haven’t quite gotten to her, uh, more interesting threats yet, but she’s definitely beyond the norm of the town at the moment. For one, she’s not telling anyone about Kasuga being a huge pervert and instead making Kasuga form a contract. I don’t think that this style of animation accurately expresses just how much of a freaking lunatic she is. There’s not really a big distortion to her features (unlike the manga), so it just looks like your average girl threatening someone. …Or maybe they’re doing it on purpose because we’re not supposed to see how much of a psychopath she is until later? I do hope they up the level of her facial expressions when she shows more of her personality though, since right now, it’s really lacking impact for me. Other than that, I don’t mind how choppy everything is. The realistic body movements are interesting to watch.
The intensity is there though, in a way one might not have felt from the manga. With a book, you can flip pages and skim through the parts where Kasuga is sitting there, wanting to tell people about the misunderstanding, but doesn’t. With the anime though, you have to sit there and watch him. …Or I guess you could skip that or fast forward too, but this is making me appreciate the amount of time they’re planning out for scenes. You read books at your own pace. You can’t really do that the same way when watching something. That scene with Kasuga wanting to tell people about the gym clothes, but doesn’t, you can pretty much FEEL the pressure he’s feeling (or at least I did). It was a really powerful scene of desperation.
So yeah, this is the kind of show you’ll watch and cringe at, since the characters are all slowly ruining their lives. But at the same time, there’s something really intriguing about it all. I’m definitely worrying about pacing, since episode 1 was soo sloooow and episode two was significantly faster, but at the same time, SLOOW. Though with this slowness, some of the scenes are being done really well. Not all of them, but there are a few places, like the part I mentioned above with Kasuga sitting in class feeling guilty. Hopefully things start picking up soon… There’s no point in telling people to get over the art and focus on the plot if the plot is moving so slowly that the story isn’t interesting anyways. In any case, Aku no Hana certainly isn’t for everyone.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
The only thing I have to say is…
That is one ugly female.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Yes, yes it is.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Nakamura is creeeeeepppyyyyy…. Still better than the Giants frm AoT though.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Personally, I don’t think much is going to top AoT at the moment, but Nakamura might be a contender, if she stops looking like such a normal human being.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Such a painful episode to sit through. Dang Kasuga. >_> I guess I can understand where you are coming from but dang think for a moment. Based on Nakamura’s face and apparent insaneness…it’s just going to get worse from here.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…I don’t know if I should tell you or not, but that feeling of sitting there and watching this unfold uncomfortably isn’t going to go away. Ever.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
All I can think watching this anime is “Daaaang, high schoolers are *idiots*!!!” Saeki’s replaced her clothes. She’s gonna hate you no matter what, you have thoroughly blown any chances you would have with her. Take the clothes you stole, put them in a dumpster somewhere with no identifying information. What you DON’T do is bring them back to school, in YOUR bag!
Then just deal with Nakamura however you can: Bluff your way out, become her slave, make weird babies together, whatever. But GET RID OF THE EVIDENCE.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
You’d be surprised. Anyways, watch Kasuga is like watching someone stick needles in their eyes. You really know that they’re screwing themselves over, but they’re still going to do it. …Okay, maybe that’s not the best analogy, but it’s still painful to watch.
lolololololol
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Kasuga, for sure, is an idiot. No doubt there. Despite the fact that he’s into literature and stuff… Baudelaire isn’t that easy to fully comprehend.
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(That’s about manga chapter titles, only the second one though.)
Nakamura isn’t quite what I was hoping, her distorted expressions (compared to the manga) really aren’t doing her manga form any justice. Those other “girls” with sideburns and whatnot weren’t looking good either. I’d say that while the anime makes it very intense, the manga had Nakamura very well done and crazy. You knew from the moment she shows up that she’s crazy. Here, not so much.
And I’ll put this next part in spoiler tags since it will be mentioning Baudelaire and what Nakamura is within Baudelaire’s little ideas (could spoil):
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POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, I figured as much. This is probably just another case of the Japanese taking cool sounding things and applying them to their own stuff. …Or maybe the author was trying to get across how naive Kasuga is by purposefully taking poems that kind of worked and pasting them on to random things. …I’m betting it’s the former though.
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Nakamura definitely looks waaaaay more normal than she did in the manga. Again, I hope they distort her features a bit more when the full spectrum of her insanity is revealed.
Ahhh that’s actually really informative. I’ve never actually read any of his works, so I have no idea how it relates to Aku no Hana (aside from being Kasuga’s favourite novelist).
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 25 comments
Kasuga is way too mild mannered to do what you said. He’s trying to redeem himself by apologizing, but of course he isn’t able to muster the courage to do it. At the same time though, I do believe he’s unwilling to commit one “sin” after another and erase the evidence. After all, he even condemns himself for what he did. Thus, he’s stuck in a state of limbo.
That being said, I don’t think it’d be right to destroy the evidence either. It doesn’t change the fact that he stole the clothes and it’d probably make him feel even more guilty because he did something morally wrong. I wouldn’t do it either if I were in his situation, though I would definitely apologize to Saeki in private and beg for her forgiveness (Neither would I give anyone the chance to blackmail me). But give him a break, he’s still too young and it’s probably the first time he did something bad of such magnitude. He’s uncertain about his future and definitely can’t think as calmly as clearly as we can.
Oh well, that’s my two cents.