Aku no Hana

AMO este manga, si me piden una opinión sobre las flores del mal diría 2 cosas, que deberías leerlo y no verlo (me gusta la animación que tenía pero entre que esta obra se disfruta mas leyendo los 11 tomos de seguido y que el anime no causa absolutamente ninguna emoción mas que jajaja se ven raro pero me gusta por alguna razón, pues como que no merece tanto la pena...) y la segunda es que las emociones que causa leerlo son muy reales al ser un manga que en partes llega a rozar el terror psicológico y tener un desarrollo de personajes tan bueno.

I'll be honest Aku no Hana was VERY overhyped and I was expecting a lot more. Nevertheless, the story isn't that bad.

I read Chi no Wadachi by Shuzo Oshimi, the same author, and it was spectacular. It kinda puzzles me that Aku no Hana is more popular than CNW, since I find the art in CNW and the story 10x better.

The story was very confusing for me at first, I didn't understand why anything was happening and it was a pain to read, but around the end, everything kinda comes together neatly.

The character development is pretty good, but the MC is just weak. (trying not to spoil)

The story is kinda unrealistic though, the plot etc, and it kinda made me go "What?" in my head a lot of times. Of course, it's a manga, but I would've preferred it to be a bit more believable.

Overall it was a good manga. I recommend reading it if you like psychological horror esque stories.

tl;dr: A work about growing up that though well written, ends feeling very muddled. 

A lot of stories focus on getting a reader invested in the plot and characters, telling larger than life tales about exaggerated characters. Stories that trend toward this direction generally explain everything pretty clearly and though tastes may differ they are pretty universal in what they convey. There are other stories that focus more on pulling empathy out of the reader, to make them not just understand what a character is going through, but have them feel it, and have them care not as much about where the plot of a story is going, but rather what emotions its invoking in the characters. Stories about angst, especially teen angst, generally lean very heavily towards the latter of these two, and Aku no Hana I think even of the genre especially leans really heavily on pulling empathy out of a reader. The thing with works that focus on empathy though, is that because they forgo simply explaining things to try to have the reader experience things that can’t be easily conveyed through just words through putting themselves into the shoes of the main character, when this fails it really fails. I think that at some point in the story, the main character lost me, and though I understood his story, I lost the ability to empathize with him. 

I could empathize with Takao looking down at the world around them and keeping a distance from it in order to avoid having to acknowledge how it doesn't meet his expectations. I could empathize with him feeling empty and wanting to attach to other things to find meaning. I could empathize with him wanting to escape the current world through any means necessary to find a world beyond it that may have more meaning. I could empathize with coming to the realization that nothing like that exists, and as a result feeling like a ghost who doesn’t see any point in life but also doesn’t want to die. But that’s where my ability to understand and connect with the character ended, or maybe I never properly understood him in the first place and was simply projecting in my empathy regarding the previously mentioned matters. I couldn’t really empathize nor really understand how he made it past that, nor where he found the motivation to face life head on and keep living, with the particular moment he does this and crushes the metaphorical flower of evil especially being unclear, and really making my understanding of what the flower was supposed to represent unclear as well. I don’t understand why he decides to stop running, to confront things, and start living a life that involves more living. I don’t see where this character growth suddenly came from, it seemed incredibly abrupt and random. To a degree I am happy for him, but as it simply doesn’t make that much sense to me, it hence doesn’t have as much of an impact as everything else he experienced, which makes me especially disappointed in that I feel that this is supposed to be the highlight of the manga. I understand him wanting to be truthful with Aya and to finish things properly with everything that happened in his past, because it’s impossible to avoid such things forever and they have a habit of coming up when you least want them to. I don’t understand when and how he decided that his past was something that he had evolved past and now it was simply a mental roadblock he had to overcome at some point in order to keep living life as the new him. I suppose that it also why I do not understand his confrontation in that regard helps him get over everything, especially such that it leads to everything suddenly going to being normal and everyone arriving at the overtly happy ending with not a shred of lingering angst. Though I suppose as a major fan of happy endings, even if I don't understand it I’ll take it and I’m satisfied. Rather, I’m really fond of Tokiwa so I would even say I really like the ending. Still, at some point the character lost me, and hence I kind of feel like the work as a whole was lost to me. 

Now that doesn’t mean I think the work was written badly. Rather I think it was written quite well, with it being paced pretty well with good framing on important scenes, which combined with the realistic but still kind of elegant art style resulting in it being stunning and unsettling at times. But I think in terms of being more than a simple story, in actually trying to convey something, I feel that during the second half it largely didn’t do that well, and in the end I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to take from this. This may well just be a me problem, but ultimately my own experience with the work is all I'm trying to convey here, take it or leave it.

When I write reviews on anything I try to do something outside of the norm. You can have a million people tell you the plot holes, art mistakes, or overall pacing of the story. I am trying to fill a role that is vacant. So I will speak about my personal experience with this manga and what it means to me.

I believe I first read "Aku no Hana" two years ago at the time I was 14 years old, many would say I was far too young to be reading such a graphic work and I have to agree. Something about this manga captivated me, I think it was because I was at a point in my life where I just kind of felt stuck. I was a melodramatic teenager who was going through those angsty teenager feelings two years too early. We all realize when we get older than our lives aren't "ending" and that if we make one social mistake that we're screwed, but this manga takes this teenage paranoia to an extreme.

I think the reason "Aku no Hana" works is because we're experiencing it from a teenagers point of view. To someone in their later years they would remember those time with a bit of embarrassment and feel distanced from those feelings, but during the time you experience them, they feel very real. Takao is a character who lives off of these feelings and thrives in them. He thinks he's unique because he considers his feelings of feeling distanced from the others and reading fancy poetry makes him "special" and "outside the norm". The harsh reality is that everyone goes through these messy times and it's how you compose yourself in them that truly shows what kind of person you are.

Without Nakamura, I think our protagonist would've seemed just sort of..." meh". A disgusting guy who is stupid enough to try to steal him crushes gym clothes. Nakamura is the perfect example of a "foil" I think the best foils in writing are the ones who SEEM similar to the protagonist, but actually, have stark differences that bring you to realizations about the lead. Takao isn't truly living in this dark world he's just going through a phase. While Nakamura definitely has some serious issues. It may be the effects of living in a small town, but no one takes Nakamura's issues seriously enough I often wondered why not a single teacher tried to get her issues for her obvious psychological issues, but then I realized. "Nobody gives a shit" all the teachers saw was a disrespectful student who they would love to get rid of and never stopped to think about what she might be feeling.

Finally, we have the "love interests" of our lead. While some may consider Nakamura a love interest I do not. He was devoid of romantic feelings or her it was more like some desperation he had to fill the empty void she was living in. First up we have Nanako who is just might be the biggest bitch in anime/manga history. I despise her so much. Nakamura may have done some batshit crazy things, but they come nothing close to the shit Nanako pulled. Although the manga may brush it aside (I do believe that the author took this issue very seriously, but what trying to show how Takao tried to repress it) Nanako's sexual assault of Takao was one of the grossest things I've ever seen. It was not glorified or brushed off quickly, but it was quick, and Nanako acted like it was just...nothing. She thought it was fun for him. Let me make this clear she raped him and that is a topic that is rarely discussed in manga. A woman raping a man.

When she meets Takao again she acts like he's in the wrong. Like he's some kind of freak who won't move on maybe its because she felt pitiful when her own life was exactly that, obsessed with the past.

Next up we have Aya who is far superior to the previously mentioned...roach. I really liked this character she wasn't just a boring character who our lead was forced to be with because he couldn't get with the two obviously manipulative women. They seemed to have a genuine bond and I loved it. I hear a lot of people complain about the second part of the story being dull, but I loved it. Life moves on. You're not going to always be stuck in the deep pit of depression and feel like your life is over when it's just beginning.

The funny thing is, I think I was a lot like Takao myself when I read this. I thought I was so impressive because I was reading this adult story that only an "intellectual" could understand. Instead, I just ended up being really confused and..upset. It made me feel things that I didn't want to feel because even with the dark stories manga often present they usually feel separate from our own reality. What upset me the most was that I wanted to understand it so bad. I wanted to feel like this angsty main character of her own soap opera, but I wasn't and I'm glad I wasn't.

I do like this manga and even if you don't enjoy it I really do suggest you check it out.

I'll try to keep my review brief as I think other reviewers have done this manga quite some justice already.

Aku no Hana is a story of 3 children (Kasuga Takao, Nakamura Sawa and Saeki Nanako) who struggle through puberty and later their teenage years, trying to find meaning in life. Takao doesn't have any sense of self-worth and tries to fill the void in his heart with literature. Sawa is tragically afraid of boredom and loathes normalcy to the point of being violent and rude to others. Saeki craves acceptance and is unsatisfied with the grayness of her everyday life, which she spends adhering to the expectations of her environment. All 3 form a very special bond, because in different ways they seek the same thing - something that would give their life "color".

**Story**
Kasuga Takao is the main protagonist and for most of the manga we follow his toils. In a way one could consider his life and thus the plot dull, but it is not so. It makes the story the more relatable, because we've all been a Takao at some point in our lives. There is no grand goal in mind, just people and their emotional struggles.

**Art**
Characters are depicted very naturally and display a whole range of emotions. Sometimes, the emotions are hidden, behind a look or a smile, but you can see them in the eyes of the characters. Interestingly, the mangaka uses a lot of gray, perhaps to emphasize how life is full of different shades and the importance of illumination. There is also this permeating sense of gloom and dread and the reader is left expecting the worst.

**Characters**
The protagonists are extremely real and relatable. They live, they have their ups and downs, and though it might seem like their lives are not exactly spectacular, they resonate with the reader strongly.

**Enjoyment**
I enjoyed the manga very much. In fact, I was so engrossed that I binged it in the span of 2 days.

One last thing I would like to mention is the ending. To me personally it is totally worth the read and I was genuinely impressed by how well the mangaka handled it. In stories like this, the ending is very likely to disappoint the reader or affect him in a tremendously negative way. That's not how I felt after reading Aku no Hana.

I am looking forward to more works from Oshimi Shuuzou.

This manga, oh my god how do I begin to explain it? It's honestly one of the best manga's I've read.
If you are looking for a good psychological manga with a deep character psyche look no further. There were so many times that the dialogue and characters felt real, it never feels forced. The art, my god the art is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. I highly suggest buying this manga because the covers on the later ones are so beautiful I had a few people complement me on just the colors!
I seriously enjoyed this manga but do feel that if you are looking to have a fun happy-go-lucky manga I'd look else where. This one will make you feel things and will force you into uncomfortable situations. A must read for anyone who enjoys psychological manga, beautiful art, and amazing timeless characters.

First watched the anime and liked Nakamura even with those so called horrible drawings. Though it was not enough to watch the anime and started to the manga as well and finished it all at one sitting. I liked Nakamura with manga drawings even more. I believe I fell in love with Nakamura which didn't happen this intensely with any other manga/anime character.

Stealing clothes of a girl may not be a much righteous thing but it isn't that bad to be honest. Kasuga did really see Saeki as a goddess. He must have thought he was betraying her innocence and degrading her after he performed the act. That is probably why he overreacted to his own crime and thought he would be carrying the burden even when he is an old man.

However this all is bound to change with those two getting closer. Kasuga starts to realize that Saeki isn't actually a goddess and isn't actually that innocent. This affects his love against her. Though, maybe it wasn't love from the start, but admiration.

Nakamura which is an outcast girl observes Kasuga in the act and feels relieved that she is not the only "pervert". Then proceeds to make Kasuga show his real perverted side in not a so pretty way for some. However the way she used was actually entertaining and playful for me.

Nakamura is seen as confident, brave, blunt, callous, independent, powerful from the start. She actually is a person like that. She doesn't seem to be an empath. Probably seeing everyone as kusomushi contributes to that. But we see her caring, thinking about Kasuga in some part of the story.

We see Kasuga trying to make Nakamura not feel alone. The page where Nakamura sits on a chair and Kasuga is on the ground in front of her really affected me. It was a perfect way to describe the desire of Kasuga to help Nakamura.

At the end, I feel like the person that matters in the story was not Kasuga but Nakamura. Her personality, deviancy, acting like she has found a gem after seeing Kasuga in the act were the most interesting out of all characters.

I would be much happier if Kasuga made a different choice and we saw the deviant adventures of those 2 outcast people. The way this ended really makes me sad.

Here is my take after reading all 58 chapters of Aku no Hana by Shuuzou Oshimi.

There are times when you accidentally stumble upon diamonds in this world; and I don't believe in accidents.

It is difficult to put the experience of reading Aku no Hana in words but I would try my best to do so.

The story revolves on Takao Kasuga, a middle schooler and his beliefs, principles, dreams, and aspirations; how they were formed through his love for Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire, crushed by the perverted Sawa Nakamura and reassembled by Nanako Saeki just to be crushed once more and cycle full circle.

Every chapter of the story is poetry depicted in images and it was gripping, tensed and immersive to the emotions produced by the interaction of the characters.

I would say that I have never read not experienced something like this as far as I remember so the impact was so powerful to me almost mirroring the impact of Les Fleurs du mal and the girls in Takao's life.

The characters a so well written that they feel like jumping out of every panel of the pages. They were so fleshed out and you can relate to the characters emotions and motivation to a certain extent even once in your life.

From page 1 up to the last chapter it kept me cheering and cursing the seemingly illogical decisions of each character. But in the end they were poetically concluded so my heart was at ease and contented.

I would like to talk more about this, but I would just be spoiling the experience at this point so I will let you do the honors.

I would give Aku no Hana an amazing 10 Evil Petals out of 10!

This might initially seems like the type of dirty "horrible things happening to horrible people" story, but I assure you that it's way more than that. Flowers of Evil is a story full of unexpected twists and turns, one that packed plenty of real life insight and eventually proved to have a considerable amount of compassion toward its complex characters.

The plot started by highlighting the relationship between snobbish and spineless middle-schooler Takao Kasuga and his enigmatic classmate Sawa Nakamura. Saying Sawa is odd would be a major understatement; she's a complete alien of a teenager, showing extreme disregard toward the most basic norms of human behavior and hurling creatively-worded insults whenever she's forced into interaction. Their previous apathy toward each other underwent dramatic changes following a certain incident with some gym clothes, and together they embarked on the psychological thrill ride of corruption, perversion, and anarchy that makes up most of the story's early half (*the later half would take a significantly different direction, of which a reader should discover by themselves). While Takao is the main character, Sawa is the real crux of FoE. It's really uncommon how unpredictable and darkly compelling as a character she is, sporting the sort of complexity far beyond any 'crazy girl' archetype you may have seen. It's telling that even during the stretches where she's absent, her presence still looms large over the story and forced me (as well as probably most of the readers) to wonder about her, how she's going to react to the latest development, and when she's going to re-appear. It's a bit disappointing that in the end the manga doesn't delve into her as much as I wanted, although certainly understandable considering that it's above all Takao's story (*there's at least one chapter told from Sawa's perspective, which ends up being the most revealing and interesting chapter in the story, and that's saying a lot).

The title, a direct reference to Charles Baudelaire's poem collection and Takao's favorite book, is the main recurring motif in the story. These literal evil-looking flowers often appeared to illustrate Takao's downward spiral, but FoE has plenty of artistic appeal beyond that obvious metaphor. Shuzo Oshimi is really good at visual story-telling, often using the characters' expression and body language as a complement or in place of dialogue, which effectively accentuated the atmosphere in a way that most other manga about teenage drama couldn't compare. There is also a strong feel of authenticity; as Oshimi explained in his early author's note, the small-town setting is based on his own hometown and Sawa is inspired by a former classmate.

It's important to note that despite abundance of raging teenage hormone, there isn't a single moment where I could consider FoE as lewdy porn. Its emphasis lies on the psychological realm over the physical, and it's pretty impressive how Oshimi could portray simmering sexual tension and its manifestation without relying much on explicit graphic content or over-sexualizing its characters. It's unnerving material for mature-minded audience only, for sure, but it treated its subject matter seriously and tackled a lot of important themes along its way; small-town malaise, literature as a both a tool of artificial superiority as well as self-healing, mental illness, self-worth, teenage angst, and perhaps above all, fickle human relationship.

Human comes, human goes. Some will be forgotten, and some other will leave something; this is a story about a peculiar human being who would leave her indelible mark on you.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Overall if you want to categorize this manga, it would be romantic or love triangle. But it is much more that that.

For me this manga on a very high interesting note until the double suicide but slumped in the following chapters while it rumbled on high school drama, in other words, the normal life. Fortunately, it picked up speed and substance again in the last 2-3 chapters.

Looking through the series, I think very few characters won but many lost, without any fault.

Saeki's friend – She was an honest friend who always wanted best for Saeki. Her character had clear perceptive, grounded with the reality. I think she was a positive character but circumstances took away her positivity when her friend abandoned her without any intimation or touch.

Saeki – Most of us would call her ‘bitch’, even the author criticizes her character. But I believe she was one of the characters who lost everything, her very essential self. For me, she wasn't a ‘bitch’ from the beginning. She was popular but never was it shown in the starting chapters, that she was egotistic or in a greed of popularity. The chapter where she appreciates Kasuga taking side of Nakamura during the money theft incident, and then greeting Kasuga when others are booing him, itself points the goodness in her.

She did get out of her own control later, but to some extent, per me, it's Kasuga's fault. He did play with people's emotions, especially Saeki. Denying her was the worse for her, she did love him and all she wanted was to understand him. After a series of episodes of denial, bitterness creeps into her, and part of her deviance (which each one of us have to some extent), grew, finally turning her into a bitter, cruel being.

The saddest was when she changed herself physically, to look like Nakamura for Kasuga. Even after growing up, she finds a boyfriend who looks like Kasuga, isn't that sad? Very sad. Her raping Kasuga was the final stage of losing innocence and the peak of her transformation, ending into a twisted, cruel personality who doesn’t care of anyone's feelings.

Tokiwa – She resembles Nakamura and is an aspiring writer. I don't want to write much about her, she wasn't my favorite character anyway.

Kasuga – This guy made so many unhappy, though unintentionally. But then the question is, which still haunts me, 'How' is one supposed to be? Be one who 'does not' make others unhappy or be true to self and just be, but with that end up hurting others? Is there a mid way?

Many would feel empathy towards him but he is the only one who won. He represents most of the confused people, sometimes overthink and try to be someone else. The confusion, mistakes, impulsiveness, regrets, all are real.

There are many places where I think the author does not completely portrays his character. Up into the forest, hills, Kasuga confesses he is not like Saeki nor like Nakamura. He is hanging in between. He doesn't understand 'The flowers of evil'. He pretends to understand and brag about it. In other words, he is confused, not unlike many of us. Later in high school, he keeps himself away from others, confused how to fit in. I think this is unlike his character. Ideally, assuming that there is not sudden turnaround, he would try to understand Nakamura, himself or the evil book, and not on how to fit into the society. Or perhaps, the author hints his end of puberty, his resignation to the questions, where trying to fit in society is the only solution and a part of process of maturing.

Another thing is - kasuga thought of Nakamura day and night, junior, high school. He could simply not forget her. Yet, how he simply fell in love with Tokiwa (maybe it didn’t happen simply but he did fell in love with her). I was a bit surprised and disappointed. (Is this the reason why Saeki says she is disappointed?) This raises the question, did Kasuga really love Nakamura? Or his feelings towards Tokiwa was to escape his bleeding past?

Nakamura – Most of the readers would agree with me that of all the chapters where the manga was super-interesting, were the ones where we had Nakamura and Kasuga together.

Nakamura is purest form, what’s on her mind, is in her words, in her acts, though calling everyone shithead was a bit too much :D

She is the most interesting character in the series but the least explored. She disappears after the double suicide. Author keeps her away from us for a very long time and only to reappear in the ending chapters. But her disappearance peaks our need to know more about what happened to Nakamura. Honestly, I kept on reading through the high school crap only in an anticipation to find Nakamura. It worked well for the author and the story.

Reunion on the beach was the best. When you see and hear Kasuga and Nakamura, you just know that they both are made for each other. If you see, throughout the series, Nakamura showed selflessness, first when she pushed Kasuga during the suicide. She wants him to lead him normal life or she felt he is not there yet (of perverseness). Second time on the beach, when she asks him to leave and lead a normal life. On the beach, when she asks Kasuga if he is seeing Tokiwa, Kasuga replies yes to which her reply is ‘I see’. It was very emotional conversation for me. Maybe it was here again when she decides (to push him) that he is now leading a normal and happy life.

In the end of the manga, Nakamura is shown as calm, there is no clarity what the word really mean. In the extra chapter the author showed us Nakamura’s perspective, I wish he also had showed us what went through her when she met Kasuga again on the beach.

But in the end, I feel sad. How much I wanted to see Kasuga and Nakamura together.

Two things in the ending chapters I really liked was Saeki returning to Gunma and re-uniting with her friend. I really felt much better for both of them. At least they have each other for support. Maybe that will dissolve Saeki's bitterness a bit. And the other was visiting Nakamura. She was no longer the foul mouthed kid once she was, but still a strange girl with added mystery to her aura.

This was my first manga and I really loved it. There were many questions un-answered. But I wouldn’t dwell on those now. I would be re-reading this manga again, not immediately though. I am sure there would be answers to the questions that are floating in my mind after first read.

In the end, I do want to say that the anime does justice to the first part. I wish they animate the rest of the manga too.

I'm only writing this review because i can't help but say how goooood this manga is.I just wanna say that if i could give it an 11/10 i would.

Story 9/10 The story is great and i believe many people out there can relate to which is very important in any kind of art.The only reason i don't give a 10 here is because in some turnpoints the reactions are very..."japanese".That makes a few reactions and choices taken in some points look a bit out-of-the-world.But still it's not even close enough to disappoint you like other manga have done.

Art 10/10 This mangaka....All i'm gonna say is this:When i was reading it and and there was a critical point where someone realized or heard something usually it was followed by an face expression or even better a picture representing it's feelings.This is where i thought "yeah if that happened to me also this picture right here wuold represent my feelings"

Character 10/10 Honestly it was like reading Kafka or Dostoyevsky in a manga.Great psychological portrait of all the characters included

Enjoyment 10/10 I read 40 chapters in one night.

Overall 10/10 Just read it!

The unusual stature where the common manga gets uncommon to read is found in this story where all is centered around a book by a crazy French poet.

Story: The story was psychologically thrilling, i don't think many mangas offer the reverse situation where a boy got bullied by a girl in such a "unique"way. What's mysterious about the whole franchise is that, you get lost trying to understand the character mentality.There were some worthwhile plot twists, and you could exactly feel the aftermaths the of people who had gone through various dangerous phases in life.

Art: Art is very good, it was detailed on the instances where it was supposed to be, and the characters were drawn perfectly.

Character: The most attractive element of the manga. The characters were extremely unique, especially Nakamura ; that's not a character you see every day and nor her mentality. You could initially see how the past interfere's with the character's present and future conditions.

Enjoyment: I relatively enjoyed this manga. There are many things out of the ordinary which is why this manga is getting famous day by day.

Overall: I'd say the manga engages a worthwhile moral to the society, you see the manipulation,mental break downs, and the stuff they do to alleviate their boredom (in Nakamura's case) and respect out of fear (in Kasuga's case) and the big picture involves where they had passed those phases and still dealing with them as as scars but recovering in the end.

So I read this manga weeks and weeks ago but was unable to review it since college was driving me up the walls with projects and stuff. Anyways I gotta say, this manga was pretty chilling and I'm not always the type of person who always gets chills from the horror genre. Well apparently now that I mention it, I got it from reading this series.

Seriously the girl characters in this man, they definitely have that stalker psycho vibe that leaves you on edge the whole time they appear. You definitely feel sorry for the main protagonist that he is sorta trapped in a rather interesting love triangle. Man when I watched the anime adaption a while ago, I never thought it was gonna be that creepy (well duh the art was atrocious) or that well done within the horror genre.

Definitely peeps should only check out this Manga series like seriously, it's such a very good must-read with terror and extremely shady romance involved!

This is a really great manga. And one of the scariest too. I don't know what it is so scary about it. It is just that so many events that happen in the story carry so much consequences that make it scary. I had to take a break from it sometimes it was so intense.

Characters like Nakamura are just so unexplained until the last few chapters. It is so interesting on how a Nakamura can manipulate Kasuga to do so many shameful acts. It is also interesting to see the main character breakdown as his secrets are revealed one by one to Saeki.

The most disappointing part of this manga was the ending. The ending looked like it would've fit in better with the beginning or the middle or something. But then we run into the bigger conflict of the new ending being even worse.

Overall 10/10 I enjoyed it great character development,great art, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Could use a better ending though.

"Because no matter where I go, I wont be able to disappear."

Aku no Hana was in simple words, a beautifully illustrated and well written coming of age manga that sheds a bright light on the lives of outcasts and the harsh reality of coming in terms with the world. This story was amazingly written and had me constantly biting at my nails in anxiousness. It was not only an extremely good page-turner it is a manga that I will most definitely not forget.

Story: 43% / 43%

The story delves deep into the lives of small towns in Japan and how they feels stuck and crushed by the limitation of their circumstances, it also shows a little side of Japanese families and school lives and how all of this come into the psychological upbringing of the Japanese Youth. What I loved the most about the manga and the reason why it gets a solid 33/33 is that the story is strongly tied to the actual "Flowers of Evil" by Baudelaire. In the collection of poems which is called Flowers of Evil the biggest sin and the worst thing a human can ever be is boring. Nakamura in Aku no Hana takes advantage of Takao idolizing Baudelaire and constantly calls him boring to get him to follow with her schemes. The way the actual peoms and the manga are tied together is just beautiful to say the least. Truly, a work of art.

Characters: 31% / 33%

Takao is a quite kid and he is obsessed with books and poetry especially a poetry book by Charles Baudelaire called The Flowers of Evil, he is not very sociable and he has a big crush on the pretty girl from his class.

Nakamura Sawa on the other hand is a rude girl who is always in trouble with the teachers and she is very anti-social and hates the town she lives in, the two get tangled in a strange relationship and they wreck havoc on the other residence of the town and with the law too.

Both of these characters can resonate deeply with many people who consider themselves outcasts of society no because of their perverted tendencies but because of the feeling that every person has felt at least once in their life. The feeling of being different from everybody else.

Art: 19% / 23%
Oshimi has come a long way since Aku no Hana, but nevertheless, he deserves a lot of recognition for his superb art style and amazing facial expressions. That combined with the way he draws backgrounds was simply... subarashii.. Regardless, there are inconsistencies here and there. I'm not talking about the final few chapters, I'm thinking more about actual details that could've been better. Besides that, Chi no Wadachi (the manga I compare Aku no Hana to a lot) was just better art-wise, thus, the rating.

Conclusion:
Aku No Hana is a lot more realistic than a very high percentage every other manga. It takes the outcast kids and shows them the cold harsh reality that is life and being an outcast kid. This was truly a work that connected with me and was hard for me to keep it together throughout reading it. As I write this my heart is beating fast while I recall this manga. My throat feels clogged and this is simply something I had never experienced before even after reading actual tons of manga of this genre.

Overall: 94% / 100% or 9.4/10

I read it all in the span of about 3 hours. And in those 3 hours, I felt completely absorbed in the story. I love it. It stars a protagonist that is stupid and hateable but also reminds me of my younger self. He is conceited because he counts himself as an intellectual because he reads difficult books, even if he does not understand the books he reads. A hypocrite, a contradiction, and as he said so himself, someone hollow. He does not have a personality aside from reading his books, being the stereotypical bookworm is what he has become. However, he is human, a 14-year-old horny pubescent male. This fact is exposed to a very peculiar girl and that is this story's whole premise. And as the first six volumes go on, the growth of his character becomes apparent. Until he loses it all and becomes hollow yet again. He lost the climax of his life, and he along with his family, suffered because of it. So he decided to grow once more, as a normal human being, an idea he despised when he was younger. But he wanted to find closure in order to grow, from the part of his life that he lost. And he does. Then the story ends.

The whole story follows such a simple narrative that is driven by the characters. Every decision they make and do as the plot progresses is stupid if looked upon at the surface. But every character's decision is in every character's nature. They followed the course of action that they would surely make in every part of the story. It seemed as if the author was only an instrument in creating this story. The characters wrote themselves, and the plot along with it. And it is done very, very well. The ending especially leaves you not wanting for more, in the best way possible. Because the story, as simple as it was, found the perfect closure for all of the characters, and the best part is, it ends on a happy note.

If I had to give this manga genre, it would be both a psychological/thriller and a coming of age/romance. This is because from the first arc to the second arc, a huge tone shift takes place.

The MC doesn't seem like much at first, he's just a boy in a class. But what makes this manga amazing is how the MC and the other much more colorful main characters build up on each other, the setting, and their circumstance. It is as if these characters don't amount to much individually, but together create an extremely immersive and thrilling story. It is incredible how such a seemingly typical MC pushes the social outcast(Nakamura) in his class to new lengths, and how she also pushes him.

The setting is based in the same world as the real one, with the same social norms. There's no weird "anime-like" actions of the characters or strange settings, it all feels pragmatic. So when you see the MC be manipulated and mentally tortured, it makes your draw drop due to the pure audacity of Nakamura, yet it is so immersive. The realism of the plot and setting accentuates the events in the story, making it more impactful and entrancing. As the MC develops his relationship with Nakamura, it was if I was as well, growing extremely attached to the character.

The art of the story slightly changes from the first arc to the next, and it's genius how it changes. You can say that the first arc's art is not as good as the second. But intentional or not, it fits in with the concurrent plot perfectly. It has a certain charm to it, a little rough around the edges, and something about it seems vintage. It takes place in his younger years, so it makes perfect sense that the art style is reminiscent of a memory. It fits perfectly with the chaos of the story. Move on to the second arc, and the linework is cleaner, the characters and background are more detailed and crisp. It has a clear sense of coming of age, the present, your reality. It is concise and clear, and it fits the smooth plot of the story. And it contrasts to the chaos in the beginning.

TLDR: The characters and their interactions are entrancing. The realism/believability in this manga in particular goes beyond most others in my opinion. The events that happened within it made me feel awe. The tone shift from the first part of the story to the second was very satisfying and added much more development and variety. The ending left me empty, wanting more(in a good way). And it was fitting in relation to the chaos of the story and what happened after the chaos.

When I was a child, my grandfather thought it was fun to hold me down in the pool while I struggled for air, so you can say I learned pretty early the feeling of drowning. Reading this was the closest thing I felt to drowning. I hated every second of it. I felt afraid for every page of every chapter until the very end. But just as I survived drowning, I survived reading this. I do recommending going through the 56 chapters in a single sitting. I tried stopping a few times, but my attempts were as futile as those times when I was a powerless child. Reading this is an experience I don't recommend, but I do believe that after you go through it, it will mean something to you.

- This review might contain spoilers -

I never related as much to a story as I related to Aku no Hana.
It is a really sad manga who will leave you with that strange devastation feeling in the end, but you must have something to relate to. Honestly this is the kind of manga that I won't be upset if I hear people talking shit about it because I know it can't be enjoyed by everyone. It also makes you laugh, but once again, only if you relate to the characters.
I lived 18 years in a small village, and I hated it but I only discovered I hated it when I left. This is the key for my review but the 10/10 is due to the characters mainly. I can relate to Sawa specially in that last chapter, and to Takao after the time skip.

I'm going to start off with the classic cliche - I don't usually write reviews. I used to. I've written tons of reviews, for everything from music to movies to whatever I could analyze in a somewhat objective manner. However, after a certain point I stopped. I felt like the process of publishing a review was a futile thing - any work of art is bound to inspire a review of sorts inside you - an internal discussion (if it has 'impact' and/or some sort of a 'connect') that you can choose to externalize - but then, why would you? To gain more perspectives? Sure, you could add layers to your comprehension by trying to look at said work of art in a different light, but wouldn't it rob you of the intimate first impression the said work left on you? Because after all, there are certain things that you don't really want to talk about with people, even if sheltered by a pseudonym. The reasons might vary - anything from the fear of being misunderstood to wanting to jealously guard your perspective as something personal, letting it be part of what defines you, treasuring it as an anchor which binds you to a time, a place, an experience that helps you stay rooted in the chaotic flow of every day life.

And then there are some things that just shatter all these essentially made up paradigms. Surrealism was one of them - I had fun reading Baudelaire, Lautreamont, Steppenwolfe etc etc. I devoured anything digressive and acidic for the novel ways in which they broke down my filters of perception and subsequently reshaped them. But as with everything, even though I changed (and keep changing), the violent yet delightful experiences which changed me started fading away. This manga, even if only for a few precious hours, made me feel as alive as I did back then, albeit in a completely different way.

Story/Characters: (10/10) (contains mild spoilers)
The title can be a little misleading for those who expect some sort of an adaptation of Baudelaire's work - it does use some themes which recur frequently, but it essentially is a bildungsroman at heart, following the lives of the Baudelaire obsessed protagonist who goes through puberty in a thoroughly singular fashion, thanks to a classmate that brings out his wildest impulses by sheer force of will, showing him a world beyond literature and hooking him on to unhealthy doses of feeling alive. I've come across reviews where the behavior of the teenagers is viewed as 'uncouth' and 'mystifying, unrealistic, or even downright insane'. I beg to differ. Hyperbole is definitely utilized, but it seems more like a very peculiar combination of somewhat unlikely events rather than a lone man's venture into fantasy land (think Bonnie and Clyde) - in short, sensationalization of reality for added impact and a heightened sense of pacing, which drops when the second arc of the story favors a more mature approach. I realize this made a lot of people unhappy, maybe understandably so considering it is never fun getting off a roller coaster. But I feel like it nicely captures the shift in energies and moods - you could even liken Kasuga to a postwar Japanese survivor who wanted to go all out in a blaze of glory but survived while the ideals he fought for were turned to ash around him. The conclusion is very subtly done - you can clearly feel the author struggling to part with the characters he put his soul into, nevertheless realizing the importance of ambiguity as the most 'natural' conclusion to a bildungsroman - now the characters can make the choices - not that they are going to be any less difficult to make, but those struggles demand a completely different treatment - the metaphors driving the story can no longer sustain it.

Art(10/10)
There's none of the typically manga 'weird faces for relief' stuff here. The facial expressions, even when bordering on the unreal, are extremely well done - everything from the body language to the eyes, the slightly surreal sequences - everything fits perfectly. Since I'm not very qualified to make objective judgments in this department (or perhaps any department), I find it unlikely that everyone will like it similarly.

Enjoyment/Overall (10/10)
When I started reading this somewhat late into the night, I did not expect much. I'd been binge reading manga for the last couple of weeks, and even though there were many that were unputdownable, this was much more. Appealing to the intellect and to emotions buried under a veritable pile of rubble wasn't in the menu, but this manga served it. It might be weird to say, but in some ways it healed and brought some unfinished things to conclusion. Unlikely that I'm going to forget about this soon enough, though I won't particularly recommend it for that specific purpose. Read it with an open mind, and you won't regret it.