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The Flowers of Evil (Aku no Hana) |OT| There's a rotoscoped SHIT EATER in all of us

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D

Deputy Dangle

Member
Aku no Hana - 1

Call me a shiteater, but I kinda liked this. The rotoscoped characters provided a jarring mix with the very detailed backgrounds. I dug the decaying town and the strong feeling of monotony. It nails the mundane life that Kasuga is living. You could even say the reused backgrounds were there to reinforce that, but it's probably because of a small budget. There's some good direction underneath this as it sets the tone very well throughout the episode and the build up to Nakamura was good. It's just a shame that the rotoscoping looks this damn shitty. I'm basically echoing what sonic, wonzo, and jex have said at this point.

I don't know that much about the manga aside from the fact that it goes to some strange places. This first episode certainly felt kind of creepy to me so I'm interested to see where this weird experiment is gonna go.

---

I'm not big on the OP either, but that transition to the ED was soooo good. I'm kind of considering reading the manga as this airs now.
 
L

Larsa

Member
Hmm I should watch this. I've read and liked a lot of the manga.
I saw that there will be multiple openings to this show too? At least one by Mariko Goto of Midori and one by Noko of Shinsei Kamattechan (of Denpa Onna OP infamy) both which I fucking love.
That animation sure does look...interesting though. Which could be awesome, have to see it in motion.
 
Q

Qvoth

Member
they really show oshimi's artstyle a disservice with this show...
apparently he agrees with the direction of this? jesus...
 
L

Larsa

Member
Haha, so I watched it... I loved it. I love the pacing, the really ominous bgm, the amazing ED and the fucked up animation. Plus some amazing backgrounds.
After reading what the director and the author said I'm fully on board.
 
B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
iSgT39jshJ855.jpg
Click to expand...

Kind of glad the rotoscoping thing was "spoiled" for me since it meant I went in prepared. I thought it was quite an interesting opening and I'll give it another shot next week.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Did not know they were making an anime of this.

Probably won't watch, though. Looking at the OP, I like the manga designs much better...
 
R

Rayis

Member
I much prefer the manga style to the anime but I'm intrigued, I watched the first episode and that freaking ending gave me chills hahahaha
 
S

Soma

Member
The lead-in to the credits was easily the most impressive thing about the episode for me. I kinda feel bad for people who legitimately dislike the song but different strokes I guess. I hope the show can continue to deliver more moments like that.
 
B

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Crossposting and subscribing!

Aku no Hana 1

It seems that I wasn't wrong in hyping both this show and Shingeki. The animation looks amazing, although a bit weird at first, and the bizarre style is really useful by making it impossible for the show's essence to be misinterpreted - which is something that those reading the first chapters of the source material end up doing regularly.

Good stuff.
 
R

Risette

A Good Citizen
Cloudy said:
I don't get why folks would make an anime with such ugly character designs...
Click to expand...
In short (note that this is a quick & dirty summary):
- At first Nagahama (the director) refused the offer to direct the adaptation, because he thought that simply turning this manga into a pretty, clean-looking anime would be pointless. He says that he believes that when the mangaka draws this story he's seeing something "else" which he expresses as a manga. So there would be no point in simply presenting it in animated form, at that rate you might as well just read the manga and be done with it.
- He thought if it was to be adapted at all, it should be done as a live drama. When he was offered the job the second time, he pitched the idea of using rotoscope. He was aware that the result would be different from the manga.
- Oshimi (the mangaka) says Nagahama is right about the way he creates the manga: the original story is something that exists in his head, and he draws what he sees in his mind. So basically the anime and the manga are two different versions of the story that exists in Oshimi's head. By the way, he was also aware that due to the rotoscope the anime would look different from his work, and he thought it was an interesting idea.
- Oshimi also says that he thinks Nagahama has a very deep insight into the story, and firmly believes that he's taking it in the right direction. He also very much approves of Nagahama's wish of the anime leaving the viewers with a scar.
- Oshimi was pretty much "in" on the whole thing, they tested the rotoscope method on him.
- The interviewer asks about the impact the visuals would have on viewers, and Nagahama says he's well aware that a lot of people will go "what the fuck" and "this is gross," "I hate this, I'm not watching this." But he's pretty much okay with that, too, because he thinks it's fine as long as it leaves an impact on people. Viewers may dismiss it right away, but some may check it out later and find it interesting, or they may come across the manga, recognize the title, and read that.
- Oshimi says that he once got a fan letter from a high school girl who wrote that when she read the manga in middle school she thought it was stupid, but she tried to read it again when she was older and she found it very good. Nagahama says that this is what he's going for, to leave an impact, even if it's negative. He's trying to create something that one can't just ignore or dismiss.
- Oshimi also says that the anime has many scenes that he wishes he would've drawn the way they are in the anime, for example a scene with Kasuga and Nakamura in the classroom.
- Also, he confesses he's writing the manga with the intention of murdering the readers with it (metaphorically, of course), thinks the anime is doing the same, and relishes the idea of the viewers getting slaughtered, jokingly of course. (lol #1)

They leave the following messages to the fans:
- Oshimi: He guarantees that those who feel very strongly about Aku no hana will enjoy the anime. However, chara-moe types, those who go "Nakamura-san, unf unf" will probably feel betrayed. (lol #2)
- Nagahama: Since it's so different from the usual anime, he can't say that everyone will love it. But those who watch the first episode and think "I want to see more" will not have their expectations betrayed.
Click to expand...
.
 
scotcheggz

scotcheggz

Member
I don't really watch anime outside of a few series about 5 years ago. The thread title piqued my interest, saw all the bad reviews and had to have a look at this terrible pos.

Thought it was really fucking good! The soundtrack was amazing (outside of the horrible opening theme, thankfully the ending was double awesome), the 'shots', pacing and feel reminded me of a low budget indie film. Why all the terrible reviews? This seemed creative and interesting and really good!
 
S

Soma

Member
scotcheggz said:
Why all the terrible reviews? This seemed creative and interesting and really good!
Click to expand...

I'm man enough to admit that a lot of my first impressions were based off a kneejerk reaction. After going back and watching the episode again, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit more. I'm looking forward to the next episode as the story certainly escalates after that last scene.

I still find that the character animations weren't the best design choice though. Maybe I'm missing something but i don't understand what's stopping them from creating unappealing/realistic character designs while still using tradition animation. It's not even about keeping it reminiscent of the manga's art but surely a competent studio can portray the same (maybe even better) type of unique atmosphere without resorting to that kind of technique, right? All that said, for all the shit that image of Nakamura has been getting to the point of becoming meme-worthy, I actually really liked how she looks in this frame. Probably even more than her manga design.
 
B

Branduil

Member
BGBW said:
It's what Japanese people really look like...
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Pretty sure Japanese people aren't flat-shaded with outlines, nor do they move at 8 frames per second and occasionally freeze in place. And their facial features don't randomly disappear, either.
 
B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
The problem was that the first image to come out was of her in mid blink. One should applaud wonzo for refraining from using that one particular image of her in the OP.

Branduil said:
Pretty sure Japanese people aren't flat-shaded with outlines, nor do they move at 8 frames per second and occasionally freeze in place. And their facial features don't randomly disappear, either.
Click to expand...
Yous a funny guy. Except that he said character design not animation. The features fading in is pretty bad.
 
M

melichrous

Member
XANDER CAGE said:
I watched it. I really don't understand why everyone is so goddamn mad.
Click to expand...

This. I mean, I can understand some people being put off by the design of the characters. But I still don't understand why it's such a big deal. The dudes made a choice to do things a little differently, and it's pretty fucking cool. For the first 5 minutes or so, I was thinking "Eww, what the hell is this?!", but it really grew on me.


Will definitely watch the rest, and maybe purchase the source manga.

My views are, of course, subjective. Don't hurt me cause you disagree ;)
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
scotcheggz said:
I don't really watch anime outside of a few series about 5 years ago. The thread title piqued my interest, saw all the bad reviews and had to have a look at this terrible pos.

Thought it was really fucking good! The soundtrack was amazing (outside of the horrible opening theme, thankfully the ending was double awesome), the 'shots', pacing and feel reminded me of a low budget indie film. Why all the terrible reviews? This seemed creative and interesting and really good!
Click to expand...

Honestly, from what I can tell, the majority of bad reviews are people reacting badly to the character design when compared to the manga, basically this;

1365171471322.jpg
Click to expand...

But I really don't care myself, the design is different now and I'm okay with that, I don't need every character to be pretty.
 
D

Dedication Through Light

Member
1


Only issue with the visuals is the characters dont blush and stuff which was odd. The effect of the scenes to make them a bit more special and memorable was lost as all the character did was get flustered and nothing else, that is when Saeki and Kasuga had the moment where they both looked at one another with the grades and then he turned, I guess in most anime a characters face would turn red and what not.

Kasuga is an good character but Yamada and his voice was hilarious, easily great and most memorable moments of the episode. Nakamara was shocking with her comment as it was just so absurd and well unbelievably rude. I hope IRL JPN teachers and students are not that rude quite eye opening
when he was like about to hit her and stuff, rude

OP is in the running for best of the season and the ED is atrocious, Ill skip it every week.
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
Dedication Through Light said:
1


Only issue with the visuals is the characters dont blush and stuff which was odd. The effect of the scenes to make them a bit more special and memorable was lost as all the character did was get flustered and nothing else, that is when Saeki and Kasuga had the moment where they both looked at one another with the grades and then he turned, I guess in most anime a characters face would turn red and what not.
Click to expand...

I thought that moment where she glances at him in the classroom was one of the best parts of the episode, it was very realistic imo - having the character blush with a red face would look strange because I'd say very few people irl do actually blush to that extent, it's only very slight. I prefer the ED to the opening, it's a shame they don't have the lyrics for either translated on CR, I feel they're kinda relevant to the plot.
 
G

Gintoki313

Banned
I've read the manga for this and I've gotta say that I'm hyped. The character design looks a little weird with them looking kinda big and a little too realistic but i don't mind. At least you can say that these characters actually look Japanese unlike some characters that look almost american but is still Japanese in the show. Seeing the characters in motion looks good though, that's one good part about it.

I probably won't be watching this for the story since I've read the manga and know the ending, but I will watch just to see it in anime form. Lot's of good anime this season :)
 
H

Hellsing321

Member
The Flowers of Evil 1

i1I6QdUzWRZzX.png

Maybe it was all the negativity that set my expectations in line, but everything went better than expected! The rotoscoping wasn't as egregious as I was told and the direction and atmosphere was great. It seems much more subdued than the manga which makes me wonder who they are going to handle some of the later scenes compared to the manga which is more dramatic. Very interested to see what they do with it from here.

Also I still have some guest passes for Crunchyroll if anyone wants to check out the first episode. Quote me to see them.
 
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