520https://i.ur.com/macpH36.png I finished the Flowers of Evil a week ago and Ive been putting off rating the psychological drama manga. A reason for this is wanting to offset recency bias. Great works should leave a mark. Therefore if I find that the memory of an anime or manga doesnt stick with me Ill often lower my rating. In order to be sure that my glowing reception of the manga wasnt simply due to finishing recently I waited. After waiting I have no doubts that I love Flowers of Evil. Its wickedly terrific. The very premise itself encapsulates everything I adore about this series. Takao Kasuga is a middle school boy living in the sleepy town of Kiryu Gunma Japan. Throughout the series the town is described as stifling. The blandness of the town is felt particularly by Kasuga who is often described as gloomy by his peers. Hes often engrossed in Charles Baudelaires volume of poetry Les Fleurs du Mal. Kasugas most damning characteristic is his obsession with his popular classmate Nanako Saeki whom he considers an angel and his muse. One day he returns to class after school and finds Saekis bag of gym clothes. On impulse he steals it and is seen by Sawa Nakamura a crass an eccentric girl in his class. Nakamura makes Kasuga form a pact with her in exchange of keeping her lips sealed regarding the theft. 520https://i.ur.com/tgaiJrJ.png Flowers of Evil is perverse and that fact is front and center in the first chapter. Know that the depravity and suffering will get far far worse. The situations that Kasuga finds himself in are quite anxiety inducing so reading Flowers of Evil is often quite unpleasant. Reading the first chapter or so is enough to gauge if youre into this type of story or not. Its a psychological drama for a reason and if youre someone who has a history with trauma or severe anxiety you most likely wont gleam any benefit to reading Flowers of Evil. If you accept that for most of its duration Flowers of Evil is a series of increasingly unfortunate events then buckle in for a wild ride. I felt that Kasuga got everything that was coming to him at first but I soon started to feel for the kid as his punishment began to feel disproportionate. There are a few pockets of hope in the story but theyre soon dashed by more misfortune. Flowers of Evil is a trainwreck in all the right ways. You know something horrible has is and will happen but you continue to read because you just need to see what happens next. As much as Flowers of Evil is perverse its provocative. Its hard to put the series down for even a moment and when youre not reading it youre reflecting on what happened and what will happen next. This makes for a truly exhilarating reading experience. The person who introduced me to the series binged it in three days. I was originally just going to read the first volume for the manga club but I found myself clamoring for more finishing the maga in less than two weeks. At fiftyseven chapters the Flowers of Evil doesnt overstay its welcome at all. I enjoyed the Flowers of Evils connection to literature. Its hard to miss the title itself is the same as Baudelaires poetry collection. If youre having a hard time getting into the mind of Kasuga Id recommend reading some of the collection. It sets the tone frighteningly well. Another thing that sets the tone is the art which is deceptively normal. At times the art looks quite innocuous serving as a great contrast to the storys dark themes. The artwork can also be said to symbolize the nature of the town. However when the mangaka wants to accent the depravity he uses darkness and shadows to a chilling effect. 520https://i.ur.com/1wXZAm0.png The characters really help The Flowers of Evil be as great as it is. Every major character has hidden depths such as the seemingly perfect Saeki having issues relating to wanting to please others thus explaining the reason why shes seen as perfect. Nakamura while still frustrating due to arguably being the source of the situation getting as out of hand as it did still has reasons for acting in the way she does. Theyre not necessarily good reasons and theyre not that fleshed out but I think part of the fun is filling in the gaps. Theyre not plot holes by any means just not handed to the reader. Finally we have Takao Kasuga. As I hinted at earlier I really didnt like him at first but he grew on me. Part of why I find him so compelling is the fact that he is in a way relatable. In some ways hes an exaggeration of aspects of ourselves. Most people have had a crush on someone. A lot of people have felt truly alone. Some have felt perverted and obsessive. I think the Flowers of Evil especially its ending really speaks to these people. While Im sure there are a lot of people who cant connect to Kasuga at all Im sure many will find themselves surprised at the aspects of themselves that they find in the character. I also like that despite the outlandish situations the characters find themselves in the world itslef is realistic. What I mean by this is that the characters reacting to the outlandish situations react in ways that are realistic thus not taking me out of the story. Id say real in relation to Japanese culture but as a western reader I didnt find a lot of culture shock. Turns out small town experience is similar whether youre Japanese or American. 520https://i.ur.com/PqawFHC.png Spoilers for the last third of the story. Overall Im pleased to say that Flowers of Evil is a story that will stick with me. Its a ride from start to finish. Itll make you nervous it will make you angry and it will make you smile too. At the end of the day a good story is one that elicits a wide range of emotions from its readers. A good story is one that lingers in its readers minds long after finishing. Because Flowers of Evil does this I cannot in good faith call it a good story. I can only call it a masterpiece. 200https://i.ur.com/vqVS3ha.png 520https://i.ur.com/4XDUEKf.png