Aku no Hana - Completed on 10/05/2015
Aku no Hana, might have the most split viewer base of any anime. There are those who have watched the series, without reading the manga, and naturally thought it was good because it was different, and there were others, the manga's fans who thought that the story couldn't have been adapted any more poorly. The fact of the matter is, if you could watch an anime, but failed to find a message within it, what right do you have to call it, “the best anime of the season”, ? Aku no Hana, was a very vile, and abrasive series, it was painfully difficult to watch during some scenes. The story was something that really wasn't that impressive, but it was relatable for those who had gone through a similar type of break-down during their high school days. While I didn't really understand most of the poems, or the philosophy in the show, for me the show was a realistic story about self discovery, a lonely boy is in search of the meaning of his existence, and his constantly questioning things, things which no one has ever questioned before. Of course, Takao is also experiencing another conflict within himelf, whether he should go for the mysterious girl, or the class queen, the eternal conflict between brains and beauty. Thus, I feel that Aku no Hana is actually a love story, tied into a tale of coming of age.
Aku no Hana is about deviance, understanding it, and then accepting it. What it actually is, is never explicitly explained but you as the viewer have to have an idea about the types of things the show is talking about. Let's dive into the story, we meet a boy, Takao who is the regular boy in the class, and has friends, but these are all secondary to this first love, books. Takao is not popular, but nor is he completely isolated. Enter Nakamura Sawa, she is the complete opposite to Takao in that respect, she is rude, unfriendly, and no one in the class actually likes her, she is literally in a world of her own. Then there is Saeki Nanako, who is the complete opposite to Takao in basically every respect, she is smart, attends tutoring services, is good at sports, and above all she is the prettiest girl in class. The rest of this story is surprisingly the tale of these three, how they meet, interact, become “friends” and finally deal with eachother. Saeki is the crush of Takao, she is tall, kind, and feminine, all the things Takao likes in a women. Unable to control his gaze, it becomes obivous to Takao's friends that he is in love with Saeki , now Takao must do something about it, but before that can happen fate takes a turn for the worst. One day while walking home from school, Takao recalls that he left his favourite book, the main inspiration for most of the symbolism in the series, in his desk in class. He rushes to school, and finds it exactly where he had expected it, but on the way out he see a bag, with “Saeki Nanako” written on it, overcome with lust, and reverence of Saeki, decides to take it home. Takao is ashamed of himself, what has he actually done, is he a pervert? Unfortunately for Takao someone else saw him, and that someone else is Nakamura Sawa. Now these three must somehow work together, and their bond has still to be made, but at this stage they have been tied together with fate. There lives are now completely changed, and the rest of the series explores their exploits, these aren't the sort of exploits you would expect in say Haruhi but the still are very awkward situations nonetheless. Most importantly, the viewer can guess that the major challenge that Takao will face is whom shall he choose, as the series progress, the answer becomes clear to the viewer, but not to Takao. This is primarily the reason I choose to look at this anime, as a romance, though completely unique from others. It is of course, a lesson for us as well, do you go for the shady, obscene, free thinker, or for the self-pitying beauty?
I would go for Nakamura Sawa, she is attractive in a very Entropy-sort of way. Her uniqueness, and challenging personality make her all that more desirable for me. Most of all, she is a voice for the acceptance of deviance, someone that encourages free thought, and and rationality over indoctrination. Deviance is inside all of us, and manifests in different forms, however Sawa's raison d'etre is to help everyone realize that they themselves are deviant. She is alone, and excited when she finds Takao, because here is someone who would go as far as to take the gym clothes of the girl he admires, but is he honest with himself about the reason ? The characters in this show are very original, expect for parts of Takao's personality, which can be found in most “genius” characters in main-streams television, not anime. There is an air of Camus, in this show, Camus, in “The Stranger” mentioned that people were essetially lying, about everything, their selves, their lives, to their partners, and not thinking critically about the world we live in, and it's futility. These are the “Shitheads” which Nakamura talks about, I wish I could really learn more about her character, because she really fascinates me. Although, I might be just trying to pull a Saeki, and trying to understand someone for the wrong reasons.
Say what you will about this show, the animation, the soundtrack, the pacing, or the oh god, synchronization, this show made me think, and challenged me, to think about actual feelings we hold inside of us, those we are afraid to tell other people. I was lucky enough to find a group of Nakamuras during my college life, and I enjoyed some of the best conversations with them, because when you “break down your walls”, you get to a place where conversation is interesting and intellectual. Norms, and customs are looked at critically, and that is something I feel that very few people get to experience. I know when I started asking questions about simple norms, and why people adhered to them, no one had an answer, the majority of us are in the shackles of our media, they tell us whether we look good, have the right beliefs, and even whether our life is important or not! The media portrays the fascade that there are good people in the world, and bad people, I have never really held this to be true! There are good people, and then there are misunderstood people, we should stop judging people as “weirdos”, just because they refuse to live their lives according to how Disney told them too, we need to reach out to these people, and understand how they view the world, just think about how many teen suicides could be eliminated each year if we took the time to talk to “strange” kids. I was a strange kid, and I thank all my friends who took the time to get to know me, yes I said things that they didn't like, but that helped me separate those people who appreciated me from those who pitied me. Of course I have out grown those troubled days of my youth, and I don't regret a single day, because it was that curiosity, and forwardness in questioning everything that has led me to where I am today. Even today, especially when you graduate, people ask you all the time, “When are you going to meet someone?, When are you going to get serious, and settle down?”, to such people I respond that I'm still discovering myself, and how I want to live my life, I'm not going to aimless subject myself to pointless dating, probably meeting a bunch of air-heads, I want something real, and I'll be patient. I refuse to live my live accroding to how other people want me to, and that really is the message that Aku no Hana instills in me, the show is saying I don't care about whether or not you like the animation, or anything else, but this show is going to be different for any other you will likely ever see, and it accomplishes that goal wonderfully. The difficulty of finding yourself, and people who understand is the really challenge in life, Aku no Hana took me back, and helped me re-experience the difficulty I went through, and that's something really powerful, and it is also something that has granted Aku no Hana, a place very close to my heart. Inside all of us are “Flowers of Evil”, and even though they shouldn't have grown, they did, these painful experiences have made us who we are today, and only when we find someone to share them with, will we be truly happy, and honest with ourselves.
