An eerie story about two friends who are trying to reach a place beyond the hill

Quick Disclaimer: As I am going to write many more reviews, there will be points where you might not agree with me, this review is nothing but my own personal opinion about the anime. Keep in mind that I rate anime based off my overall enjoyment. There WILL be spoilers. :)
( IF YOU WANT TO, you can read my review while listening to Aku no Hana's soundtrack, take a glimpse!)

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Aku no hana is the anime that I considered to watch for a very long time, but usually avoided the idea, since so many people found something negative about it, or had something to say about the way it looks, plays out. Years after my negligence, I FINALLY checked it out. And oh was it worth it! Let's start..

Plot

Aku no hana follows the life of a bookworm, Takao Kasuga, who one day decides to take home the uniform of his crush, Nanako Saeki. Later on, he is blackmailed by a classmate, Sawa Nakamura, who witnessed the theft. As we go on Nakamura pushes Kasuga to engage in a series of increasingly disturbing acts, to find herself someone who is as much of a "Deviant" as her, and are trying to reach the city beyond the hill.
This is a pretty simple setup for a show that dvelwes very deep into creating complex characters, which I'll get into in a minute. The plot itself is not really the highlight of the show, so not really much to say in this category.

Art.

Likely to be the category that is disrupting other people and anime enjoyers to find pleasure in this show, which I kind of get. Though, to me, the way this show was animated and drawn added so much more creepiness, eeriness to it, I could not imagine Aku no hana being presented any differently. I have also heard that the original creator, Shuuzou Oshimyui, stated that she was incredibly happy with the adaptation and she wouldn't have imagined the adaptation any other way, so the studio must have really felt proud!

Music.

I don't know about y'all, but this anime has one of the most underrated ED ever.. it's so haunting, yet so catchy, it stays in your mind for a while, makes you stay until the very end to hear it, + it was always combined with a cliffhanger so it was even more exciting. The opening is not really my cup of tea, and some of the other OST aren't really memorable, but every other memorable OST in this show brings out a feeling that kind of reminds you of the good childhood days. During the highlights of the anime there were barely any songs.. this might be the most underwhelming category, for me! (Currently listening to the ending btw)

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Characters.

The category I feel like everyone was waiting for, and I understand that. Aku no hana might have a trio that is most memorable to me in all of anime.
Let's start with the main character:

Takao Kasuga

He is a very troubled and socially awkward teenager that tends to not focus well in very psychologically intense situations, he doesn't find the right solutions to think of under pressure and usually stutters. He's incredibly obsessed with books, and specifically a book by Charles Baudelaire called "Les Fleaurs du mal".

This is the part of Kasuga I want to explore the most, the book itself. "Les Fleaurs du mal" deals with themes relating to decadence and eroticism, particularly focusing on suffering and its relationship to original sin, disgust toward evil and oneself, obsession with death, and aspiration toward an ideal world. This was a book that was incredibly controversial during it's time, regime of the second empire calling it "An insult to public decency". Six poems from the work were suppressed and the ban on their publication was not lifted in France until 1949.

It's without a doubt that this book had a massive impact on Kasuga, as his actions most of the time were not something a normal person would do. He lacked social skills, was incredibly awkward and silent. Having no friends, his main way of learning how society works was through this book, so I would say this book played the biggest part in his "descension into madness".

Next up, my favorite character in the show:

Sawa Nakamura

The persona that I would consider to be "Destruction" in this show. She's a troubled teen that, ever since little, struggled to fit in society. Her only friend was a notebook for a while, expressing her hatred towards the "boring world" she had wished would rot, turned into a pile of poopoo( I seriously do not know if I can even include words like sh*t here) until one day she meets Kasuga, someone who, in her eyes, was capable of being as much of a "deviant"as her, since Nakamura's first impression of Kasuga was him stealing Saeki's clothes. So she strives to find him and try to "befriend" him, though her way of making friends seemed very childish, but maybe that's also realistic since Nakamura also did not socialise very well with others. She continued torturing, manipulating, being incredibly aggressive, but I guess that's just her way of showing atleast some affection, since at the end she does want Kasuga by her side, and she DOES want to leave beyond the hill with him. To me, Nakamura portrays some sociopathic tendencies. Some of these traits include manipulation, a lack of empathy, and a propensity for destructive behavior. It's very interesting to me to see Nakamura and Kasuga get along so well, being polar opposites, always having something to say about one another. She is without a doubt the character that the show would not exist without, she's the root to all problems.

Nanako Saeki

I rewatched this show with my amazing friend, Lulu, and as we were watching, the most psychologically intense moments that happened with Saeki arrived, and our interpretations of what happened were VERY VERY different, so she is a character that to me, is portrayed like "any other human" in this show. Though, as humans, none of us are as perfect as Saeki is portrayed, and so isn't the true Saeki herself. To me, she was a human that was called perfect her whole life, and was attracted to Kasuga's disagreement to "Majority votes", if you catch my drift. She was attracted to that. She even became pretty much obsessed because Kasuga was a person to her that was nothing like she had ever seen, as she was surrounded with people who always tried to fit the standards. And when Kasuga later on leaves Saeki, for Nakamura, this absolutely crushes her, as it was also the first time a man said "No" to her. A truly wonderful character, but I have heard that most of her "madness" is in the manga, which I have not read.

Highlight of the anime: Episode 10

Truly a pity that the anime is so underrated that a moment like this does not even have a video on youtube, but yeah. this whole episode itself completely blew my expectations. This was the episode that was set to be the main confrontation in the show. Kasuga's main decision: will he stick with Nakamura and go beyond the hill, continue to live his "Deviant" life, or stay with saeki and try to become an ordinary human. this was so intense the whole episode, I could not even move an inch for a second. Truly the most memorable moment for me!

The show's weaknesses:

1. An unfinished ending.

Truly pains me to see that the studio did not manage to continue this marvelous story, I tried to read the manga but the sudden change in artstyle was a bit off putting and it did not feel like Aku no hana for me, but maybe I'll finish it sometime in the future.
2.Pacing issues
There were moments, mostly at the start of the show, where Kasuga was walking to school for 5-6 minutes. I get that it is eerie, I get that it is haunting, but this method was used for too many times, and it sometimes irritated me.

Conclusion:

A haunting story about two "weirdos" surviving in a small village, where everyone knows each other, rumors spread around as fast as you can imagine, and trying to stay right in their head.
I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind watching a show with a weird art-style for the amazing characters and the realistic options they take. Though it is nothing mind blowing, it's a must watch to everyone who likes some thriller and psychological drama.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have enjoyed my take on "Aku no hana"

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