LogFAQs > #898192204

Aku no Hana (The Flowers of Evil)
@TexasZea



The rotoscoping for this show looks a lot better than still images, so I figured I'd do it some justice with a few animated pictures. This is a show I really loved. I'm not really a ranking type person but you could say this is more or less my favorite anime. I think the anime and the manga are both great for different reasons, and so it's hard for me to compare the two against each other. If you're not aware of the reputation of this show it was one that garnered IMMENSE fan backlash almost immediately. The more standard style of the manga was replaced with realistic characters who had been rotoscoped based on real people, and the first impressions did not look too great -- this didn't sit well with fans. The resulting backlash caused the show to pretty much have no chance of commercial success. Many people just boycotted it on principle. All in all it's a pretty interesting little adaptation that says a lot about the anime industry and the fans. These kinds of events always fascinate me and it's cool to think about why some shows will succeed and others will fail.



The directing in this show is unlike most any other that exists. The story is also fairly unique, although I will say a few things. After reading more works from the same author a lot of his stories tend to give off a similar vibe. This makes sense, of course. Someone who writes multiple stories will often have their own style. Anyway I'm not sure where I'm going with this exactly but it's hard to say the story is truly unique when it's part of a collection of works that all have similar themes and tone? Even if they're all written by the same guy, I guess. Plus there are a few other things out there that will remind you of aku no hana, at least if you're speaking purely about the manga. As for the anime... Jeez, I don't know. I can't think of any examples off hand. There's probably a reason this show bombed; and there's a reason why nobody would dare to try making something like this again.

The show is very slow, very deliberate, low stakes, it's weird and awkward... it's unappealing, really, in a lot of ways. You would be totally valid in saying that it was outright boring. I was actually worried when I went to do a rewatch of the series that I would find the scenes to be too slow paced and not enjoy it. I was seriously thinking that what I considered to be a top tier anime, likely my favorite, might not be so good on the second watch. Although I can also say that when I did watch it a second time I was still pretty much captivated the whole way through. I mentioned before in regards to some series how having a unique visual style and being weird was enough to please some people, but for me that didn't matter because they don't fit my specific taste of weird. This is the exact show that fits my exact perfect taste of weird. I can fully understand why it's not well liked, and even why most people wouldn't even give it a chance. But that doesn't change how I personally feel about it.



It's really hard for me to talk about the story and characters without posting spoilers. Ultimately this is because the events of this story are not truly driven by plot. The story is driven entirely by the characters, the actions they take, the choices they make, and the realizations they come to about themselves. For me to say anything about how I felt about the characters or their development would ruin the experience for someone attempting to experience this story for the first time.



I could give an interesting summary and try to appeal to make people watch this, but honestly the weird kind of person who would like this story in the first place is probably already intrigued and I'd only serve to ruin it for them by spoiling what this story is ultimately about.
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