What They Say
FLOWERS OF EVIL revolves around Takao Kasuga, who is caught stealing Nanako Saeki’s gym clothes by Sawa Nakamura whose cold attitude makes her generally disliked by everyone. In exchange for her silence, he makes a “contract” with her, in which he must abide by all of her unreasonable demands. Initially torturous, Kasuga wants out until one day when things start to change between them…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
So Saeki finally knows the truth. She recognizes the evil flower painted on the floor of the classroom as being the same art as the cover of the copy of Flowers of Evil that Kasuga bought for her. With the stolen uniform lying in the center of the flower’s eye, it’s not particularly hard for her to figure out that the vandalism and uniform theft are related. And so, now, having disgusted Saeki, Kasuga is without a true friend in the world.
Or so you would expect the story to go. In reality though, in a development that almost strains belief, Saeki isn’t mad. She’s even happy that he stole her uniform, as it proves his love for her. She refuses to break up and asks Kasuga to reconsider. It almost strains credibility until you realize the alternative would be absolutely boring, and a typical exercise in the “good kids gone bad” genre. But here we’re presented with something new and unexpected: What if Saeki is really the craziest one of them all?
Throughout the entire series, Kasuga has held up Saeki as a muse and a stand-in for the Virgin Mary, a girl whose purity and nobility could forgive all of his sins. And in the shock of his life, she actually is willing to forgive and accept. But it’s he who cannot accept this. Whether her acceptance means she is imperfect, or he feels that he has stained her with his sin, getting everything he wanted is the worst outcome for Kasuga. He skips school the next day, and Saeki is worried.
She approaches Nakamura for help, because she assumes she and Kasuga are normal friends. She asks if she knew about what Kasuga had done, and why she wanted to be friends. Nakamura tells Saeki that she told Kasuga that Saeki wanted to have sex with him, because it would be fun to see how he would react. Saeki is obviously still concerned that Kasuga and Nakamura’s relationship is sexual, but Nakamura assures her that they merely have “a contract” and its goal is to expose Kasuga’s perversion. Saeki rejects the idea that Kasuga is a pervert, even now, and decides to approach him at his house.
Kasuga refuses to see her, hiding under the covers, so Saeki resorts to shouting up to his window from the front lawn, in an echo of the earlier scene where Nakamura did something similar. Saeki tells Kasuga that she doesn’t understand him, and she wants to, badly. She confesses she was even happy about his stealing her uniform, which confuses Kasuga even more. All she wants, she says, is for there to be no more secrets between them. “Talk to me, not just to Nakamura,” is ultimately her final plea.
Before Kasuga has a chance to work any of this mess out of his head, his mother walks in with the ink-covered shirt he carelessly left in the washer the night before. Mom’s smart, and basically figures out he’s been behind everything all along, as well. Kasuga panics, and flees from the house, ending up at the riverbank where Nakamura always hangs out. Nakamura tells Kasuga that there’s nothing left for him here, and that he should finally come with her over the mountains to a new place. Kasuga seemingly agrees with his lack of resistance. Meanwhile, Saeki sees Kasuga’s mom searching the town for him, and it’s pretty clear from the determination in her eyes that Saeki intends to find Kasuga first.
In Summary
The pace speeds back up, and Flowers of Evil comes to its unbelievable twist that seems to defy rationality. When I first read the chapter in the manga where Saeki was pleased about Kasuga’s mischief, I was dumbstruck until I realized this was the ultimate message of where the work was going, and any alternative would have been dull and played out. Now the cat’s out of the bag: We’re dealing with three very unstable, borderline crazy young teenagers here, and events can only escalate from this point. The only disappointment is we only have four episodes left from here. It’s silly to hope for a second season, but it would be fantastic to have one.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen
