Aku no Hana – 10-11
Awkwaaaaaard.
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Well, after 11 weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is definitely an anime I have to be in the mood to watch for me to get anything out of it. Maybe I’ll rewatch Aku no Hana sometime later and appreciate it more then, but for now, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had marathoned it all when I felt like watching something contemplative. |
Part two of Kasuga running away, and Saeki suddenly deciding to run after him. The idea to go along with Nakamura seems to be less of a good idea, since a lot of her comments were kind of abusive, but they did manage to make it outside of town at least. It seems kind of poetic in a way that they never made it to the other side, since reality came crashing down at the end of the episode without them even getting a good glimpse of it. Kasuga, Nakamura and even Saeki are still all trapped in the town, whether they like it or not.
There was a part in the manga here about Saeki saying that Kasuga was the only one who looked at the real her. That he made her feel special and was the first person who bothered to get to know her/ watched her for a long time/ confessed to her, which is why she was so stuck on keeping him hers (or there’s thole whole first love thing). Thus, making Kasuga’s comment about not wanting to know the human side of her feel more like a bitchslap to the face, but I guess they cut it out so we could have more of a feel for the emotions going on. Plus Saeki’s lines were pretty effective as they were.
But hey, we did see some interesting parts of Kasuga and Nakamura. For one, Nakamura seems to have been depending on Kasuga more than one would think, considering how emotional she got over Kasuga’s choices. She may have been putting up a tough front, but then, why would she need Kasuga with her if she wanted to go to the other side so badly? Why not just go herself? As for Kasuga, all of his pretences came crashing down. We kind of knew this from the beginning, but he doesn’t feel like he belongs in normal society, but on the other hand, being a full out deviant like Nakamura doesn’t feel like his place either. But with that, Kasuga really lost everything and truly did become an empty person. Continuing on into episode 11, Kasuga really has nobody and you can tell that he’s not really living, but only really pretending to. He’s acting like a normal person in society just like he was at the beginning, but his heart’s totally not in it. I didn’t mind the walking scene in this episode as much as I did the last one, but this felt more like a really necessary scene. Kasuga is just wandering through life, but at the end, there’s Nakamura. Without seeing her vulnerable like that, his decision to go back to Nakamura would have felt a bit like it came out of nowhere. Plus the visuals were really telling (you know, being empty and ominous- like his life).
He missed the sign that said “Welcome to Hell”
So real life sucks and it looks like Saeki has come to accept that Kasuga just won’t choose her in the end. She looked a lot more lively compared to Kasuga, so I assume that she’s doing okay in society still. She has her friend, Ai, still defending her and she’s still admired. On the other hand, as the characters pointed out, Nakamura is doing worse than before and she’s clearly more irritated than ever. …So I really liked Kasuga’s decision at the end about Saeki being happy without him and Nakamura being all alone. No, it’s not the best decision, but just look at the aftermath of the confrontation last week. Both girls were disappointed, but Kasuga’s conclusion was totally true. This is the most well thought out decision Kasuga has made in the entire anime (which is saying something) and for once, he seems serious about going through with things. The dream was a turning point of Kasuga giving up on absolutely everything and then finding an answer. Maybe he’ll be less empty with Nakamura.
So yeah, despite being less eventful, I think I got more out of 11 than 10 because I was willing to pay attention. Aku no Hana isn’t the easiest show for me to get into. It’s still adolescents making silly life decisions at this point in the plot (and really, that’s the entire plot itself), but Aku no Hana really creates great moods at times. …Okay, maybe not ‘great’ because the mood usually dark, bleak and depressing, but the anime does well with creating those feelings. The anime is still undeniably slow though, with all of the scenes with characters just sitting there staring at things, and I don’t think all of those scenes are necessary. I enjoyed the walk in 11, but I think the scene with Kasuga’s parents sitting there was drawn out a bit too long. Oh well, Kasuga is changing (maybe) and he’s making his way towards some sort of self conclusion, so I wonder how they’ll end this. I highly doubt there will be time to show all of the rest of the first half of the story, but I can’t think of anywhere where this could stop without it being a huge cliffhanger.
I’d say something about being friendzoned, but this was kind of heartbreaking.
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.
