Easily the best episode of the spring season, this tour de force puts Flowers of Evil in the running for anime of the year.
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):
If episode eight was the walking episode, episode ten could easily be described as the screaming in the rain episode. It comes at you like a force of nature, masterfully executed, brutally honest, and lays bare all of the tension built up over the slow burn of the series. Episode seven ended with a great cathartic moment that should live on YouTube and Nico forever, but as honest and revelatory as episode ten is, there is no catharsis. There’s only pain and misery and a cliffhanger that is utterly bleak. If there is a better episode of anime this year, this will be a banner year for anime.
Kasuga, having been discovered by his mom as the culprit of vandalism, fled to the riverbank to find Nakamura. Seeing his desire to run away forever, Nakamura returns to her original plans of having Kasuga take her beyond the mountains, out of the town, and to “the other side.” They ride off, and it starts raining heavily, so they decide to take shelter on the side of the road under some trees.
Saeki, meanwhile, saw Kasuga’s mom searching for her son. Instead of eating dinner, she decides to call Nakamura’s house, since she believes Kasuga and Nakamura have a romantic relationship. Nakamura’s father answers, and tells her that she’s not home. So Saeki lies to her parents with the same sweet smile she’s always had, telling them she’s going to pick up notebook paper for school. She rides off in the rain afterwards, getting a tip from a food cart owner that he saw two kids on a bike riding off into the mountains.
Saeki rides desperately into the night, and Kasuga and Nakamura prepare to sleep when Kasuga’s eyes catch Saeki’s for just a second. Saeki stops, gets off her bike, and approaches the pair. The first real showdown between all three characters comes in utter silence, with no background music. Only the sounds of the torrential rain, mixed with the eerie rattle of the flower’s blooming contrast with the tears and screams of frustrations coming to a head.
There are lots of ways you can read the confrontation. Saeki has always represented purity and excellence in the story, while Nakamura has always been obsessed with sexuality and excrement, and Kasuga is torn between the abstract and the physical. But the characters are more than mere metaphors, and Nakamura and Saeki can each see through each other’s illusions. When Nakamura talks about going to the “other side”, Saeki dismisses such a place even really exists. Nakamura finds Saeki’s pure love pathetic and hypocritical, and strips down Kasuga to show her his true perversion. In response, Saeki touches and embraces Kasuga’s naked body. In disgust, Nakamura begins to ride away, but Kasuga bolts to run after her. The two then ultimately ask Kasuga to choose between them, to stay or to return, to choose between an abusive but exhilarating love, or a platonic purity that fills Kasuga with guilt.
But he cannot choose: He knows that he is empty, that he is no better than anyone else, and his belief that he is special by virtue of his literary selections is his own delusion. He doesn’t understand Baudelaire at all and lived a lie, and is thus unworthy to choose. He may very well be right, but neither of the girls accepts this answer. Saeki, having struggled to understand the book Kasuga bought for her, throws the copy of Flowers of Evil to the ground. Nakamura stomps on it and tears it up. And in the look on her face, we see that Nakamura is just as brutally hurt as the other two have been.
Then the police arrive. Nakamura tries to flee, but is caught, and the three broken hearted would-be lovers are returned to their desolate town in the back seat of a police car.
In Summary
As powerful and harrowing as watching three people destroy themselves for the sake of their ideals can be. I’ve watched most of the series with an air of detachment, having read the manga, and having a somewhat dark sense of humor, but this episode was still incredibly uncomfortable. The lack of any musical accompaniment except for the haunting ending theme makes the episode seem voyeuristic, thought the symbolism and psychology of the scene can still be analyzed like the best of film. There is nothing left to say but, “watch this episode.” This is the best of what anime can be.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen
