On the contrary, this season there are TWO SAKUGA VANS:
The Jewelpet staff is great at doing a lot with what it has, but even compared to shows for the same demographic it's very resource-constrained. Is it even animated in 720p yet?
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On the contrary, this season there are TWO SAKUGA VANS:
The Jewelpet staff is great at doing a lot with what it has, but even compared to shows for the same demographic it's very resource-constrained. Is it even animated in 720p yet?
ZachDeKoromaru
Banned
PaniPoni Dash 19-21
It's a dream come true when you have a string of episodes where a side-character you really like gets a decent amount of screen time, and in one of these episode's case an episode where she's the main character. Especially if that character is as lovely as Serizawa is. I'm pretty close to the end of the show so I'll just save any opinions I've had with the show until then, I just REALLY needed to post Serizawa because she is too fuwafuwa to not do so.
It's a dream come true when you have a string of episodes where a side-character you really like gets a decent amount of screen time, and in one of these episode's case an episode where she's the main character. Especially if that character is as lovely as Serizawa is. I'm pretty close to the end of the show so I'll just save any opinions I've had with the show until then, I just REALLY needed to post Serizawa because she is too fuwafuwa to not do so.
dakkumauji
Member
I predict it'll also come with an OVA episode as well.
Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono 1
This is my first time watching one of these MMD shows, and I was struck by just how much more natural and well-paced the conversation sounds than in your average anime. It's really pleasant to listen to. I guess this is the power of dialogue prescoring.
In terms of general tone, this feels very similar to Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku in its style of "let's do comedy within the framework of a generic four-girl school club show while being completely open and meta about the formulaic nature of the whole thing". I kind of wish the episodes were full-length like Kitakubu's, since 11 minutes (minus OP and ED time) is only really enough time for about one proper skit. This episode, it was discussing how to mix up the usual conventions of a baseball club. Which somehow ended up with the whole club attempting to play baseball blindfold against an opposing team of identical clones.
Yeah, I was entertained. This show gets my seal of approval. And luls.
(Oh, and speaking of Kitakubu, I just realised that with all the excitement over new shows like Kill la Kill, I completely forgot to watch the latest episode of that on Friday. I should get on that.)
This is my first time watching one of these MMD shows, and I was struck by just how much more natural and well-paced the conversation sounds than in your average anime. It's really pleasant to listen to. I guess this is the power of dialogue prescoring.
In terms of general tone, this feels very similar to Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku in its style of "let's do comedy within the framework of a generic four-girl school club show while being completely open and meta about the formulaic nature of the whole thing". I kind of wish the episodes were full-length like Kitakubu's, since 11 minutes (minus OP and ED time) is only really enough time for about one proper skit. This episode, it was discussing how to mix up the usual conventions of a baseball club. Which somehow ended up with the whole club attempting to play baseball blindfold against an opposing team of identical clones.
Yeah, I was entertained. This show gets my seal of approval. And luls.
(Oh, and speaking of Kitakubu, I just realised that with all the excitement over new shows like Kill la Kill, I completely forgot to watch the latest episode of that on Friday. I should get on that.)
You forgot One Piece 6
aka the best of all those
hosannainexcelsis
Member
You're the expert, but I'll take Jewelpet Kira Deco over anything I've seen in Precure outside Heartcatch and Smile. And certainly over Pretty Rhythm.
Also those episodes of Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan!
Despite thoroughly loving Wolf Children, I've yet to watch any of these. I'm a bad person.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Shame Smile is the second favorite.
Shame Smile Precure? Is that a doujin?
More importantly, how much Wolfrun is in it?
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Both Summer Wars and TGLTT are worth seeing at least three times.
Kuroko season 1
I marathoned through the rest of this today, which was about 12 episodes. Loved the whole thing and it really picks up after Aomine comes in, despite him being kind of a jerk. I really liked the number of interesting characters and how their relationships went on with their respective teams. It also had a good balance of serious ballin' and not so serious stuff. It was fun powering though it to get to..
Kuroko 26
Holy shit this episode. First off, it started so well as you can see immediately the budget for the show has already increased with the wider shots and more fluid animation. Then, it went from there to amazingness with
Really nice stuff there that was definitely touching.
But in that scene, I exploded when they started speaking english. I already melted last season with Kagami just saying "It's Japanese lunchtime rush" and this was even more of that. I actually hope they do it more this season because it's so cute and it does feel like I'm hearing his voice more than I usually do.
It was a great episode overall and I cannot wait for more!
I marathoned through the rest of this today, which was about 12 episodes. Loved the whole thing and it really picks up after Aomine comes in, despite him being kind of a jerk. I really liked the number of interesting characters and how their relationships went on with their respective teams. It also had a good balance of serious ballin' and not so serious stuff. It was fun powering though it to get to..
Kuroko 26
Holy shit this episode. First off, it started so well as you can see immediately the budget for the show has already increased with the wider shots and more fluid animation. Then, it went from there to amazingness with
the backstory of Kagami moving to America, how he started playing basketball and his relationship with the just introduced Tatsuya Himuro.
But in that scene, I exploded when they started speaking english. I already melted last season with Kagami just saying "It's Japanese lunchtime rush" and this was even more of that. I actually hope they do it more this season because it's so cute and it does feel like I'm hearing his voice more than I usually do.
It was a great episode overall and I cannot wait for more!
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
You need to at least his watch his two Digimon movies. They're both excellent, and must see material for everyone.
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
Kanon (2006) 10
Why can't I hold all these feels? ;_;
Karin 4
We're starting to deviate a little bit from the manga, it seems. They're probably just gonna skip the whole
arc, which is understandable, and, based off the end of this one, may have significantly downplayed Ren's hatred of other men, which is unfortunate because that kinda undercuts his character a lot. Here's hoping that's not the case. I'm not hating the sub as much right now, though to be honest. It is mildly enjoyable.
Why can't I hold all these feels? ;_;
Karin 4
We're starting to deviate a little bit from the manga, it seems. They're probably just gonna skip the whole
Fumio-and-Harumi
Wow. Is that really the new movie or whatever it is?
why
what on earth?
I only have to memorize animenewsnetwork webbsite url.
Nice avatar!
KirbYuuYuu
Member
I think the worst part is that the first thing to remind me that the planet Jupiter is the largest planet, I think of Sailor Jupiter having the largest pair of tits of the group.
gashikunFLCL
Member
They are really great. The direction is wonderful. You fell like it's another show,
even if it would be expected from Doremi.
ZachDeKoromaru
Banned
Serizawa da goddess!
Log Horizon 1
Well, this certainly feels very "SAO-lite".
Interesting how, unlike SAO, this MMO seems to have been an ordinary non-VR game until the players were suddenly trapped inside it. That requires a significantly higher level of suspension of disbelief than SAO's scenario, and I do have to wonder if there will be any explanation of how the heck that works, and what's going on outside of the game. But at the same time, this show seems so much more lighthearted about the whole thing that I'm not sure I really mind if it doesn't bother with those kind of justifications.
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that, unlike SAO, this game hasn't had a system announcement or anything to explain their situation, so the players aren't even sure what death means in this new world yet. I can't imagine that will last long - surely with this many players, somebody's going to end up dying by accident at some point - but until that does happen, it's certainly an awkward situation, since you can hardly ask anyone to test it out. (Of course, if it turns out respawning isn't possible, and the dead players just disappear, that will still leave the question of whether they've died for real or just been ejected from the game...)
At any rate, the show seems simple and fun so far. Looking forward to the next episode and introduction of more characters.
Well, this certainly feels very "SAO-lite".
Interesting how, unlike SAO, this MMO seems to have been an ordinary non-VR game until the players were suddenly trapped inside it. That requires a significantly higher level of suspension of disbelief than SAO's scenario, and I do have to wonder if there will be any explanation of how the heck that works, and what's going on outside of the game. But at the same time, this show seems so much more lighthearted about the whole thing that I'm not sure I really mind if it doesn't bother with those kind of justifications.
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that, unlike SAO, this game hasn't had a system announcement or anything to explain their situation, so the players aren't even sure what death means in this new world yet. I can't imagine that will last long - surely with this many players, somebody's going to end up dying by accident at some point - but until that does happen, it's certainly an awkward situation, since you can hardly ask anyone to test it out. (Of course, if it turns out respawning isn't possible, and the dead players just disappear, that will still leave the question of whether they've died for real or just been ejected from the game...)
At any rate, the show seems simple and fun so far. Looking forward to the next episode and introduction of more characters.
I havent seen the movie in quite some time but it was entertaining at the very least. IT was no EArthSea.
Nothing can be worse than Earthsea. I honestly tried to watch it and yet I couldnt make it completely through.
It does in just a few more episodes.
but we told you it was beautiful. Now go and preorder the Blu-ray.
lol
There's a new trailer? Happen to have a link by any chance? Youtube doesn't seem to show any new ones.
Looks like it might be this one?
90-second PV for Madoka Magica The Rebellion Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkr0og_ROB8
yuushibu 1
WTF he almost put his finger inside of her.
well done old man, well done
At the request of Noi, I thought I'd put up some final thoughts regarding The Flowers of Evil. Because I'm a filthy pleb and I cannot really rate stuff like "directing" or "cameramanship" in any competent way, I will divide my discussion of the show into the following four categories: The Cast, The Plot, The Visuals, and The Score. The Cast will address acting as well as writing decisions taken, The Plot is where I'll attempt to discuss the symbols and all that other stuff you all know I misinterpret wildly, the Visuals will cover dat rotoscopic future and those backgrounds of magic, and the score will be the briefest section, where I'll just gush about this one song, basically.
The Score
Beginning at my weakest point first, I have somewhat mixed feelings regarding the show's score. The ending theme, and all its reappearances during the show, is far and away the best song in it, and it definitely was a much anticipated part of every episode. The "Flower Moments" as I called them, where something slight and evil happens to start the song going were always among the best moments in the show, except, ironically, in the tenth episode, where music was notably absent. Episode ten I don't want to discuss here, though, because it's the surprise secret fifth section because episode ten is incredible.
Anyway, there was a lot of ambient music throughout that was not anything more than that. It helped quite a bit to set the tone of episodes, though, creating an oppressive atmosphere reflective of the feelings each of the principal characters felt. I've more to say on that, but it is all tied to episode 10. So we'll get there when we get there.
The Visuals
Rotoscoping was a bad idea. By that I mean that I wish there was a better way to sell the concept of rotoscoping to people, because the whole of rotoscoping seems so completely tied to stigmatic thoughts in people that it must inevitably be a part of the show's commercial failure. When I heard the show was rotoscoped, my mind turned to a terrible rotoscoped Lord of the Rings I'd once seen when I was young and Jackson had yet to put a budget to the project. As such, the term "rotoscoping" really conjured up negative connotations in my head, and I confess it just wasn't very easy for me to look past that and see the show.
That said, I'm hesitant to even read the manga because rotoscoping is so completely tied up in The Flowers of Evil for me, now. The visual style is distinctive, it lends a weight and motion to the characters you simply cannot see drawn in anime. Faces are completely and entirely unique, when present (although I would argue that the absence of faces from rotoscoping only serves to illustrate the lack of personality or importance the every day people of the town have to these three). In a way, having the people be rotoscoped and everything around them hand drawn almost seems an indictment of an anime industry in which animators have become increasingly reliant on terrible, conspicuous, and dare I say lazy computer graphics for things which there is absolutely no reason to use a computer to animate. Indeed, that people, who are always hand drawn in anime, are this time instead rotoscoped, and the world around them lovingly crafted by animators really makes this point clear to me.
And so before I speak about the gorgeous backgrounds, let me take a moment to discuss, of all things, fan-service. At numerous points in the show, we see up girl's skirts, down their shirts, or them in swim suits. We see our main character stripped naked multiple times as well, and you know what? None of these things are really what I would call sexy. The Flowers of Evil does something I dare say most anime has simply forgotten or chosen to ignore altogether. It creates sex through body-language, and through context, rather than ripping off a girl's shirt or shoving you up her skirt. In fact, at one point the protagonist is thrust into a girl's bosom and is the result sexy? No, rather the contrary, really. When, at various points, Nakamura closes the distance between herself and Kasuga, though? Most definitely. When an entirely clothed Saeki is shown lying on her back, blushing, certainly. An atmosphere of sex is created by character's actions (Kasuga and Nakamura's behavior after trashing the class room is most definitely akin to the behavior of two people having just had some real crazy sex.) rather than the mundane need to hyper-sexualize a woman just to get the blood running a little.
Now, that said, how about those fucking backgrounds, people? Good GOD, I could stare at those for hours. They're colorful, detailed, and rich. Where the characters lack in details, there are more details than you have time to find on everything else in the show. The jug of orange juice has a sticker on it with a bar code that is torn slightly in such a way that I didn't think you could draw with your hands. The mountains have actual geography to them rather than just "here's some lumps." You can't look at the buildings and spot ones that are actually identical. The crumpled advertisements, the weird unnecessary bridge, everything is just so perfectly drawn that I could go on and on and on, but suffice it to say that I have NEVER seen an anime with backgrounds as detailed as The Flowers of Evil's.
The Plot
Above all else, I have to say that the revelation that each of the three main characters was "empty" and desperately lonely, but wildly different was expertly done. The show has for a recurring metaphor the removal of walls around one's heart. As the walls around Kasuga's, Saeki's, and lastly Nakamura's heart fall down one after another, we see that each of them is much the same: a person who feels terribly alone, confused, frustrated, and empty. Everyone wants something, but none of them are fully certain what they want, and when it comes time to get what they want, they don't realize they have only to reach out and take it. It drives home Nakamura's line "Don't fuck with my expectations" and Kasuga's response "I can't give either of you what you want!" After all, Kasuga doesn't even know what HE wants, let alone what they do.
The construction of episodes was well done, I must say. Episode 1 is rough, but I encourage all within the sound of this post to proceed beyond that point. The drama is built tenaciously, patiently, and carefully until the climax, at which point everything is laid bare, and then the entire situation is slowly deconstructed through some very poignant revelations concerning Nakamura. The Flower Moments leave one dying for more, and unlike Attack on Titan's incessant false cliffhangers, each of them ensure that the following episode will therefore begin and end on a suitably dramatic moment.
The drama itself always feels natural, and never forced nor contrived. At one point in the show I felt things had veered into the allegorical and began comparing the cast to the principal actors in the Fall of Adam, and while I'd hold that that comparison has its merits, the final three episodes do a splendid job of completely humanizing a character who had been nothing short of insidious up until that point. Now, I can be EXTRAORDINARILY picky about a last minute revelation that a villain is heroic or not villainous. Sometimes it works (Metal Gear Solid 3, God Gundam) because there was sufficient lead up and foreshadowing to that point. Sometimes it's bullshit and I'll hate it for ever and fucking ever (FUCK YOU SEVERUS SNAPE YOU FUCKING SCUM), and sometimes the writer has no fucking idea what he's doing (Ezelcant Ezelcant Ezelcant). Here it worked because we were conspicuously left out of the loop about what Nakamura was like. Indeed, if it hadn't been for Aoi interacting with her, I would have at one point suggested that Nakamura did not exist, and was just the evil inside Kasuga and Saeki. But again, the utter humanization of her character at the end, especially
The recurrence of the Flower itself was an obvious thematic element symbolic of the growing influence of "evil" in the hearts of the characters. At times this was an obvious evil (Kasuga playing hockey with the emotions of two girls), and other times it was more subtle. The various states of evil were at times reflected in the eyes of characters, with the light in Nakamura's eyes seeming to grow whilst fading from Kasuga's up until the climax. Since I'm not really solid on this point, I'll just mention that a particular shot in episode 10 really showcases the relative flower levels of each of the cast members.
Briefly speaking, so that if anyone is still reading this and skipped over my allegory post (which most everyone seemed to have done), I considered Baudelaire God, the town Eden, Kasuga Eve, Nakamura Satan, Saeki Adam, and Saeki's gym clothes the forbidden fruit or titular flower of Evil. Though I would now argue that the tenth episode essentially ends the entire allegory, I would also say that you can, if you are willing, sit down and see how applicable this is up until Adam and Eve fail to leave the Garden.
The final, if we can call it such, symbol in the show I picked up on was physical contact, particularly of the hand on the chest. At various points in the show, both Nakamura and Saeki touch Kasuga's chest with their hands, in their attempt to breach the walls of his heart. I almost want to say things go worse for a woman right after she does this motion, but I cannot be entirely certain of that.
Oh, and of course the final moments of the final episode are fraught with such arcane symbolism as girl's panties draped over statues that I dare say even the End of Evangelion is given a run for its money. That fucking knife of justice. What if all of this is an alternative, positive universe version of School Days? How fucked up is it that this would be a POSITIVE alternative to that show's world?
The Cast
Was Yamada played by a 40 year old dude? Cuz he looked like it. And Kojima was a creep. Like seriously, in the entire town Kojima was the one deviant, and everyone, Nakamura included, seems to have missed out on this point. Kojima is a CREEEEEEP.
Anyway, first up is Kasuga. I said it repeatedly over the course of the show, but one last time for good measure is definitely worth it, I feel. I really hated his pathetic fucking guts, but unlike absolute losers like Uso Ebbing or Shinn Asuka, I couldn't hate Kasuga completely, because he was a very human character. A very pathetic one, but one all the same. I saw a lot of things in him that I have at times seen in myself. More so than I would like to admit. And that's what really makes him work. The difficulty with say, Shinji Ikari is that people have a hard time relating to what makes him a wet noodle. How many of us have seen our mom's soul ripped out before our eyes? On the other hand, Kasuga's terrible state is something I, at least, found very easy to relate to. How many times in my life have I screwed up or done something petty or dirty or vile and let it fester inside of me? Kasuga's great weakness, as I said the other day, was that he was too afraid to speak up about it. Arrogance and arrogant self-deprecation is his fatal flaw, and it leads him every step of the way. Kasuga works because even though on many levels he's reprehensible or despicable, he's also very much normal. He's human, and not just evil incarnate, like Makoto Itou or Lelouch Lamprouge (where evil incarnate means
in the latter's case).
Saeki is waifu of the year. Even Wolf Mama, who is mother of the year, is not on Saeki's level. The girl is charming, polite, kind, and has that goddamn smile. That said, she's incredibly vulnerable. Her loneliness, gullibility, and stubbornness are all flaws which make her human. If she were ONLY a wonderful girl, she'd be no good and no waifu at all. As has been said, it is precisely because she's vulnerable and needy that she's attractive. Whether that makes attraction in this case predatory or from pity I cannot say. Dresden at one point described her as not so much being Kasuga's victim as his counterpart, and I can see that more clearly now. Her attraction to Kasuga, even after discovering things about him which would turn most normal folk running the other direction, is precisely what makes her such, for it mirrors Kasuga's own attraction to Nakamura, even though he should be running from her. And the subject of pity and predation in sexual attraction is definitely raised in the relationship of each of these characters, too.
Nakamura I have covered at no small length at this point, and it would be hard not to say that her personality is definitely what steals the show's spotlight. The girl chews the scenery and is deliciously over the top in her insanity and evil for the first 6 or so episodes. Around this point it becomes apparent we don't know anything about this girl, and then the last three episodes of the show really shake the entire view of her up. It really wouldn't be the Flowers of Evil without her, and her actress does a fantastic job of bringing the character to life, especially with the increasingly frequent, but ever brief, moments in which we see through Nakamura's walls and onto her true face. She's certainly the star of the show in many ways, and I really wish her actress would win an award for her performance. Speaking of, let's get right to the performances we have all been waiting for, shall we?
The Tenth Episode
In the tenth episode,
There's no music, which I feel I must stress again. No opening credits. Almost no speaking except on the part of the three principal characters. And what lines they have!
Nakamura is deathly silent for much of this.
And Kasuga, oh, Kasuga. His exclamations during this episode are without a doubt the very best:
Seriously, I can't stress it enough. Episode 10 of Aku no Hana is the best episode of any anime I've seen all year. Stuff is something I expect from the climax of a play, it really is on a whole other level than almost anything in anime I can think of. If you haven't seen The Flowers of Evil yet, please, do yourself a favor and go out and watch it right away.
The Score
Beginning at my weakest point first, I have somewhat mixed feelings regarding the show's score. The ending theme, and all its reappearances during the show, is far and away the best song in it, and it definitely was a much anticipated part of every episode. The "Flower Moments" as I called them, where something slight and evil happens to start the song going were always among the best moments in the show, except, ironically, in the tenth episode, where music was notably absent. Episode ten I don't want to discuss here, though, because it's the surprise secret fifth section because episode ten is incredible.
Anyway, there was a lot of ambient music throughout that was not anything more than that. It helped quite a bit to set the tone of episodes, though, creating an oppressive atmosphere reflective of the feelings each of the principal characters felt. I've more to say on that, but it is all tied to episode 10. So we'll get there when we get there.
The Visuals
Rotoscoping was a bad idea. By that I mean that I wish there was a better way to sell the concept of rotoscoping to people, because the whole of rotoscoping seems so completely tied to stigmatic thoughts in people that it must inevitably be a part of the show's commercial failure. When I heard the show was rotoscoped, my mind turned to a terrible rotoscoped Lord of the Rings I'd once seen when I was young and Jackson had yet to put a budget to the project. As such, the term "rotoscoping" really conjured up negative connotations in my head, and I confess it just wasn't very easy for me to look past that and see the show.
That said, I'm hesitant to even read the manga because rotoscoping is so completely tied up in The Flowers of Evil for me, now. The visual style is distinctive, it lends a weight and motion to the characters you simply cannot see drawn in anime. Faces are completely and entirely unique, when present (although I would argue that the absence of faces from rotoscoping only serves to illustrate the lack of personality or importance the every day people of the town have to these three). In a way, having the people be rotoscoped and everything around them hand drawn almost seems an indictment of an anime industry in which animators have become increasingly reliant on terrible, conspicuous, and dare I say lazy computer graphics for things which there is absolutely no reason to use a computer to animate. Indeed, that people, who are always hand drawn in anime, are this time instead rotoscoped, and the world around them lovingly crafted by animators really makes this point clear to me.
And so before I speak about the gorgeous backgrounds, let me take a moment to discuss, of all things, fan-service. At numerous points in the show, we see up girl's skirts, down their shirts, or them in swim suits. We see our main character stripped naked multiple times as well, and you know what? None of these things are really what I would call sexy. The Flowers of Evil does something I dare say most anime has simply forgotten or chosen to ignore altogether. It creates sex through body-language, and through context, rather than ripping off a girl's shirt or shoving you up her skirt. In fact, at one point the protagonist is thrust into a girl's bosom and is the result sexy? No, rather the contrary, really. When, at various points, Nakamura closes the distance between herself and Kasuga, though? Most definitely. When an entirely clothed Saeki is shown lying on her back, blushing, certainly. An atmosphere of sex is created by character's actions (Kasuga and Nakamura's behavior after trashing the class room is most definitely akin to the behavior of two people having just had some real crazy sex.) rather than the mundane need to hyper-sexualize a woman just to get the blood running a little.
Now, that said, how about those fucking backgrounds, people? Good GOD, I could stare at those for hours. They're colorful, detailed, and rich. Where the characters lack in details, there are more details than you have time to find on everything else in the show. The jug of orange juice has a sticker on it with a bar code that is torn slightly in such a way that I didn't think you could draw with your hands. The mountains have actual geography to them rather than just "here's some lumps." You can't look at the buildings and spot ones that are actually identical. The crumpled advertisements, the weird unnecessary bridge, everything is just so perfectly drawn that I could go on and on and on, but suffice it to say that I have NEVER seen an anime with backgrounds as detailed as The Flowers of Evil's.
The Plot
Above all else, I have to say that the revelation that each of the three main characters was "empty" and desperately lonely, but wildly different was expertly done. The show has for a recurring metaphor the removal of walls around one's heart. As the walls around Kasuga's, Saeki's, and lastly Nakamura's heart fall down one after another, we see that each of them is much the same: a person who feels terribly alone, confused, frustrated, and empty. Everyone wants something, but none of them are fully certain what they want, and when it comes time to get what they want, they don't realize they have only to reach out and take it. It drives home Nakamura's line "Don't fuck with my expectations" and Kasuga's response "I can't give either of you what you want!" After all, Kasuga doesn't even know what HE wants, let alone what they do.
The construction of episodes was well done, I must say. Episode 1 is rough, but I encourage all within the sound of this post to proceed beyond that point. The drama is built tenaciously, patiently, and carefully until the climax, at which point everything is laid bare, and then the entire situation is slowly deconstructed through some very poignant revelations concerning Nakamura. The Flower Moments leave one dying for more, and unlike Attack on Titan's incessant false cliffhangers, each of them ensure that the following episode will therefore begin and end on a suitably dramatic moment.
The drama itself always feels natural, and never forced nor contrived. At one point in the show I felt things had veered into the allegorical and began comparing the cast to the principal actors in the Fall of Adam, and while I'd hold that that comparison has its merits, the final three episodes do a splendid job of completely humanizing a character who had been nothing short of insidious up until that point. Now, I can be EXTRAORDINARILY picky about a last minute revelation that a villain is heroic or not villainous. Sometimes it works (Metal Gear Solid 3, God Gundam) because there was sufficient lead up and foreshadowing to that point. Sometimes it's bullshit and I'll hate it for ever and fucking ever (FUCK YOU SEVERUS SNAPE YOU FUCKING SCUM), and sometimes the writer has no fucking idea what he's doing (Ezelcant Ezelcant Ezelcant). Here it worked because we were conspicuously left out of the loop about what Nakamura was like. Indeed, if it hadn't been for Aoi interacting with her, I would have at one point suggested that Nakamura did not exist, and was just the evil inside Kasuga and Saeki. But again, the utter humanization of her character at the end, especially
her room and diary, and the revelation that, just as Kasuga hated the thought of being like everyone else, so, too, Nakamura had wanted desperately to be like everyone else, after a fashion.
The recurrence of the Flower itself was an obvious thematic element symbolic of the growing influence of "evil" in the hearts of the characters. At times this was an obvious evil (Kasuga playing hockey with the emotions of two girls), and other times it was more subtle. The various states of evil were at times reflected in the eyes of characters, with the light in Nakamura's eyes seeming to grow whilst fading from Kasuga's up until the climax. Since I'm not really solid on this point, I'll just mention that a particular shot in episode 10 really showcases the relative flower levels of each of the cast members.
Briefly speaking, so that if anyone is still reading this and skipped over my allegory post (which most everyone seemed to have done), I considered Baudelaire God, the town Eden, Kasuga Eve, Nakamura Satan, Saeki Adam, and Saeki's gym clothes the forbidden fruit or titular flower of Evil. Though I would now argue that the tenth episode essentially ends the entire allegory, I would also say that you can, if you are willing, sit down and see how applicable this is up until Adam and Eve fail to leave the Garden.
The final, if we can call it such, symbol in the show I picked up on was physical contact, particularly of the hand on the chest. At various points in the show, both Nakamura and Saeki touch Kasuga's chest with their hands, in their attempt to breach the walls of his heart. I almost want to say things go worse for a woman right after she does this motion, but I cannot be entirely certain of that.
Oh, and of course the final moments of the final episode are fraught with such arcane symbolism as girl's panties draped over statues that I dare say even the End of Evangelion is given a run for its money. That fucking knife of justice. What if all of this is an alternative, positive universe version of School Days? How fucked up is it that this would be a POSITIVE alternative to that show's world?
The Cast
Was Yamada played by a 40 year old dude? Cuz he looked like it. And Kojima was a creep. Like seriously, in the entire town Kojima was the one deviant, and everyone, Nakamura included, seems to have missed out on this point. Kojima is a CREEEEEEP.
Anyway, first up is Kasuga. I said it repeatedly over the course of the show, but one last time for good measure is definitely worth it, I feel. I really hated his pathetic fucking guts, but unlike absolute losers like Uso Ebbing or Shinn Asuka, I couldn't hate Kasuga completely, because he was a very human character. A very pathetic one, but one all the same. I saw a lot of things in him that I have at times seen in myself. More so than I would like to admit. And that's what really makes him work. The difficulty with say, Shinji Ikari is that people have a hard time relating to what makes him a wet noodle. How many of us have seen our mom's soul ripped out before our eyes? On the other hand, Kasuga's terrible state is something I, at least, found very easy to relate to. How many times in my life have I screwed up or done something petty or dirty or vile and let it fester inside of me? Kasuga's great weakness, as I said the other day, was that he was too afraid to speak up about it. Arrogance and arrogant self-deprecation is his fatal flaw, and it leads him every step of the way. Kasuga works because even though on many levels he's reprehensible or despicable, he's also very much normal. He's human, and not just evil incarnate, like Makoto Itou or Lelouch Lamprouge (where evil incarnate means
a pathetic piece of shit who'd brainwash and murder the people closest to him for his ego's sake
Saeki is waifu of the year. Even Wolf Mama, who is mother of the year, is not on Saeki's level. The girl is charming, polite, kind, and has that goddamn smile. That said, she's incredibly vulnerable. Her loneliness, gullibility, and stubbornness are all flaws which make her human. If she were ONLY a wonderful girl, she'd be no good and no waifu at all. As has been said, it is precisely because she's vulnerable and needy that she's attractive. Whether that makes attraction in this case predatory or from pity I cannot say. Dresden at one point described her as not so much being Kasuga's victim as his counterpart, and I can see that more clearly now. Her attraction to Kasuga, even after discovering things about him which would turn most normal folk running the other direction, is precisely what makes her such, for it mirrors Kasuga's own attraction to Nakamura, even though he should be running from her. And the subject of pity and predation in sexual attraction is definitely raised in the relationship of each of these characters, too.
Nakamura I have covered at no small length at this point, and it would be hard not to say that her personality is definitely what steals the show's spotlight. The girl chews the scenery and is deliciously over the top in her insanity and evil for the first 6 or so episodes. Around this point it becomes apparent we don't know anything about this girl, and then the last three episodes of the show really shake the entire view of her up. It really wouldn't be the Flowers of Evil without her, and her actress does a fantastic job of bringing the character to life, especially with the increasingly frequent, but ever brief, moments in which we see through Nakamura's walls and onto her true face. She's certainly the star of the show in many ways, and I really wish her actress would win an award for her performance. Speaking of, let's get right to the performances we have all been waiting for, shall we?
The Tenth Episode
In the tenth episode,
all three main characters rise above the oppressive atmosphere of the show both physically and audibly. They rise into the mountains, where much of the episode takes place, and the oppressive background music is utterly discarded for the entirety of the episode. Episode 10 runs entirely on emotion, on raw, unfettered and unfiltered emotion. As they all approach a place beyond and without the walls of their home, they also shed the walls around their hearts. The episode is home to the best lines and moments in the entire show. I really don't want to spoil it because some here haven't seen it yet, but this episode is incredible.
Saeki is there, demanding understanding of Kasuga, of a relationship with him, and possibly understanding of herself. After all, like Kasuga himself, Nakamura's awoken or stirred up those hormones in the girl and she wants Kasuga, even if she doesn't really know how to articulate that. In agony she holds out the book again, and begs him explain it to her.
Nakamura is deathly silent for much of this.
When she does speak, she turns to Kasuga, and the look on her face almost doesn't seem to belong to the same person. It's so entirely different, so sad, so hurt that you wouldn't know it belonged to the same person at all. It is the defining and turning point for her entire character, the pivot on which she swivels, if you will.
And Kasuga, oh, Kasuga. His exclamations during this episode are without a doubt the very best:
"I'm empty inside! I never imagined I'd have to deal with a flesh and blood Saeki! I can't be the deviant you want, Nakamura! I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FLOWERS OF EVIL! I just liked thinking I did and that it made me better than everyone else!"
Seriously, I can't stress it enough. Episode 10 of Aku no Hana is the best episode of any anime I've seen all year. Stuff is something I expect from the climax of a play, it really is on a whole other level than almost anything in anime I can think of. If you haven't seen The Flowers of Evil yet, please, do yourself a favor and go out and watch it right away.
The wait for this movie's physical release is going to be exceptionally painful...
Looks as good as the anime it's based off of.
It was new to me. That looks prettttyyyy goooood.
dakkumauji
Member
Kuroko no Basket 2 01
OH YEAH! HERE'S MY GRANRODEO OP OF THE SEASON!
Oh wow, all that semi-decent English/Engrish being tossed around. How impressive. Nice to see some Kagami backstory and another Generation of Miracle member. Even more fun is that all the comedy is still around which was my favorite thing from season 1.
This OLDCODEX ED doesn't match up to either of the ED's from the first season but oh well.
OH YEAH! HERE'S MY GRANRODEO OP OF THE SEASON!
Oh wow, all that semi-decent English/Engrish being tossed around. How impressive. Nice to see some Kagami backstory and another Generation of Miracle member. Even more fun is that all the comedy is still around which was my favorite thing from season 1.
This OLDCODEX ED doesn't match up to either of the ED's from the first season but oh well.
That is some QUALITY right there.
This project had red flags all over it from the start but Im still amazed how much it has gone off the rails.
It lacks a certain panache.
Deputy Dangle
Member
You should check out The Girl Who Leapt Through Time next because time waits for no one!
I might like TGWLTT better than even Wolf Children. Depends on the day. Man, both those movies are just so freaking excellent. Such a treat to watch.
Freezasaurus
Member
Sword Art Online 12-14
I'm assuming episode 14 was intended to be the end of the series before it got a second season, yes? It was pretty decent as endings go.
Sword Art Online 15
Okay, I think I hit the wall you were talking about. What the fuck is this bullshit?
I'm assuming episode 14 was intended to be the end of the series before it got a second season, yes? It was pretty decent as endings go.
Sword Art Online 15
Okay, I think I hit the wall you were talking about. What the fuck is this bullshit?
Ok ok you win, I'm going to watch this, I'm already reading the manga and still don't know what to think about the first part ( I'm loving the second part) so Im going to read it all again after watching this.
Also I still think the retroscope is shit and this should be a drama instead :Kurita
My bad, I did forget that one.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
based on what little music I heard from it, that seems like a fitting cover
I don't watch Jdramas but don't they, like... look like crap?
Also, being a live-action doesn't ensure a focused portrayal of ugliness and decay like it was done here. The grey colour palette, the backgrounds, the 'ugly' (in the context of animation) characters, it jumps out. It's accentuated by the production process and, as lacking as I think the actual rotoscope was, the idea behind it ultimately came through. If you have pretty actors with fancy make-up and weak cinematography, that aspect might be lost. Looking at some manga pics, it definitely isn't there in the original, and wouldn't have been there in a straight adaptation.
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