Every fucking week Aku no Hana’s just sitting there, waving sinisterly from the middle of my Sunday afternoon. I’mtired, Aku no Hana. It’s been a long freaking week – do I really need to visit your nightmare world of embarrassment and despair again? I mean, yes, I do love you in the abstract, and you are certainly a very good show, but…
Well, alright. At least I’ll have some Gargantian happiness therapy later today. Act like a champion. No regrets.
Episode 7
1:45 – Kasuga always seems to surprise me by showing some real spine. He gets ridiculously worked up internally, but when push comes to shove he’ll yell at Nakamura, confess to Saeki, or ask her what’s wrong and what he can do to help. I think he would actually grow up and get over himself pretty quickly in the absence of Nakamura’s psychological attacks
2:58 – Aw yeah, OP #3. Let’s have it
5:42 – Man, Saeki’s displaying some crazy-ass emotional honesty for a middle schooler
Also, please, Kasuga
6:30 – Man, he’s really writing the book on making shit worse for yourself
8:10 – “Gotten rid of another wall in your heart?” Gah, she’s so pathetic. She gets me with this mix of understanding and revulsion, in that her own narcissistic reasons for doing all this stuff are obvious, but her own damage doesn’t make the damage she’s causing any more justifiable. And then of course the show constantly trolls with her silly grins and stalking routines. Aku no Hana, you are an asshole
9:50 – Yep, ya broke him. Laugh it up
12:35 – Oh jeez these characters are so hideous herp derp
17:14 – Nice to see Nakamura’s indifference broken when Kasuga refuses to play along. Also, that flashback to Kasuga’s haughty Baudelaire speech – it’s looking like they really are going to bond over the worst indulgences in each of their personalities, despite having nothing else in common. Enablers, yay!
And Done
Dear god you guys. That last sequence was so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so good. My lord. The direction, the beauty of the cascading, slow-motion class materials, the song, the pacing, the buildup to that one moment of Kasuga snapping, then Nakamura pushing him even further, then… I’m not sure I remembered to breathe during that. Incredible stuff – I already really liked this show, but that scene alone knocked it substantially upwards in my estimation. Man. I don’t know how they’ll ever be able to top that.