Aku no Hana – 06-07

“Look at my unibrow. LOOK AT IT.”

Well, I was busy getting ready for an anime convention over the past week, so I didn’t have a chance to get around to Aku no Hana. So yeah, a double post this time. …I had no idea that the Aku no Hana manga was licensed, but since I saw it being sold, obviously it is.

Okay, so the threat of the truth coming out is still lingering over Kasuga, but you have to admit, his relationship with Saeki turned out pretty cute.  … In an extremely awkward way. The immaturity of their class aside, the two blushing and admitting that they were going out seemed like exactly the type of platonic relationship Kasuga wanted. He’s even saying that the uniform thing shouldn’t matter anymore since he wants to become a person worthy of Saeki. He’s still putting Saeki on a pedestal and practically worshipping her, but really, she’s still acting like a saint at every given opportunity. It’s nice to see him try to become a better person for her. …Even if he wasn’t that bad of a person in the first place. Maybe taking the uniform wasn’t the greatest idea ever, but Nakamura seems to make Kasuga seem like a bigger pervert than he actually acts.

Kasuga’s life continues to get better… and then get worse again. Okay, maybe it’s not too bad since the last I checked, having sex was considered normal in a relationship. Though I guess it is middle school students, which seems a bit young and makes the idea a bit more out there, but then again, shit happens. Anyways, long story short, Nakamura suggesting that Saeki would even think of sex seems to have thrown Kasuga off completely. Of course, it completely conflicts with Kasuga’s idea of a purely platonic relationship with Saeki, which is why he was so against the idea. It also forcibly reminds him the Saeki is human and completely capable of thinking things like that. Of course, this is coming from Nakamura, which leaves a lot of room for doubt, but the very thought seems to make Kasuga extremely uncomfortable. Because hormones. Not that wanting to have sex is a terrible thing, but this kind of brings up the question if Kusuga would be able to accept the fact that Saeki is human and capable of making mistakes.

But before we didn’t even get a look into that since Saeki went straight into voicing her concerns about their relationship (…since Nakamura makes life difficult for Kasuga, even in ways that she doesn’t try to).  We did get an interesting moment with Kasuga almost telling Saeki about everything though. …But of course he doesn’t. He can’t seem to even imagine that Saeki might not be perfect, so of course he feels pressured in that she might not accept him. …Though that brings up the fact that she would probably still accept him, even if he wasn’t perfect, so maybe deep down on some level that he doesn’t fully acknowledge, Kasuga does feel like Saeki isn’t a perfect girl. Long story short, maybe if they had a heartfelt conversation when the topic arrived, Kasuga might not have felt so cornered.

Of all of the people he could ask for help, he goes to Nakamura. I get it. I mean, telling Saeki himself would have been hard. But at the same time, the conversation in her house would have been the perfect place for Kasuga to finally tell the truth. I imagine it would be even harder to admit to stealing her uniform after firmly denying that he had any secrets and her admitting that she’s not a strong person. Not that she was doing anything wrong either, but Saeki herself kind of made the situation worse for Kasuga by being so nice. Telling him that he was great for confessing probably made him feel guilty enough, let alone her believing him immediately.

And then this happened. If only Kasuga had this kind of courage half an episode ago.

Kasuga finally snapped and the scene was actually really glorious. Sure, Kasuga wants to be a good person, and I don’t doubt him in that, but Nakamura finally managed to push him far enough into a corner. Plus, as that flashback about the town going nowhere, Kasuga obviously felt trapped just living there. In Nakamura, he found an escape. …Maybe a rather destructive escape, but an escape nonetheless. Which seems like kind of a bad idea since Nakamura was partially the one to get him there, but since she knows his entire secret, I can see why he’d feel better sharing the burden with her. Kasuga isn’t that bad of a guy, but he certainly feels like he is one. So this was the point where he just decided to screw it all and run with it. Nakamura is kind of sharing her problems with Kasuga as well. …Er, maybe it’s more forcing her problems instead of sharing, but she definitely looked like she was enjoying herself when Kasuga broke down. In a way, the two of them have formed a kind of symbiotic relationship. …Unfortunately for everyone else though, this means trouble. Where will this new path take Kasuga? Well, it can’t be anywhere good, but you can bet it will be interesting.

Wow, they really upped the animation towards the ending of episode 7. The ending with the slow motion, blue lighting and song was just an amazing combination. The expressions the actors used too were just perfect as well. Really, it was one of the best scenes I’ve seen in an anime in a while.  Now that this scene has come, the slower episodes at the beginning of the series seem more fitting in a way since you saw just how trapped Kasuga was in life, thus making his decision here make more sense. Anyways, it’s been fun watching Kasuga break and I’m looking forward to seeing the aftermath of the classroom incident.

Your weekly reminder that Nakamura is always watching.

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.