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Takao Kasuga, a boy who idolizes Baudelaire, couldn’t fight the urge to take the gym clothes of Nanako Saeki, the girl he is in love with. From that time on, his fate greatly shaken by the hands of Sawa Nakamura, who witnessed the whole thing. In a small closed town, what direction will their accumulated passion unique to adolescence take? This is a forbidden white paper to adolescence written on the threshold of the sufferings and delight of puberty, something everyone goes through or has already gone through.
Aku no Hana starts from the above introduction. Right after it aired, Japanese websites were stormed with reviews and critical comments like, “The production staff is doing as it pleases, it’s too much,” and, “Saeki-san should be cuter,” were flying around. However, after two weeks passed, positive opinions such as, “I’m not sure how to put it but it’s awesome!” and, “I still have goosebumps from the shock after watching the anime,” became the majority of opinions online. The Flowers of Evil (Japanese title: Aku no Hana) is a much-discussed anime with various comments flying around. Here, we will explain about the animation style that is at the center of these discussions.
While watching the anime, everyone has probably noticed how the background is strikingly realistic and how the movements of the people are delicately portrayed one by one. This is achieved because the whole anime is made using a technique called “rotoscoping.” Rotoscoping is a technique that has been in use for about 100 years, and even though it is being used in recent works as well, it is difficult and more complicated than just making anime out of the original manga, as in order to draw an animation from actual pictures, not only the background but the subtle changes in facial expressions also need to be finely drawn. In other anime, rotoscoping is used in the way of making multiple scenes from actual pictures into animation using 3D CG. However, only hand-draw animation is used in The Flowers of Evil, and is the first attempt not only in Japan but the entire world in making an anime solely using this technique.
The premier of The Flowers of Evil was held in the Science Hall of Tokyo Science Museum on March 21, 2013. As expected, fans of the original work, the production staff and voice cast, and also the cast used in the vital rotoscoping process were present at the screening, and the world of The Flowers of Evil blossomed. The big screen and the acoustics made the anime even better, and even though it was only 30 minutes long, it felt like watching a movie. Moreover, because of the eerie background music and the overall elaborateness, we had goosebumps that wouldn’t go away even in the middle of watching it. After the screening and the talk session was over, we asked director Hiroshi Nagashima, and voice stars Shinichiro Ueda (Kasuga), Mariya Ise (Nakamura), and Youko Hikasa (Saeki) about their impressions of the anime.
Interviewer: Now that the event is over, please tell us your impressions.
Ise: Since two hours isn’t enough for anything, I am hoping that next time we will take at least 3 hours so that I can talk passionately!!! No matter what production, I always put in all I’ve got with love, but The Flowers of Evil is special even among them. The power of the original work and the director’s enthusiasm made me think like that, also seeing how the staff was putting in all their efforts, there was no way the cast team could skimp on their performances. It felt like the moment we eased up, we would lose to the production. I thought that if I didn’t perform with the same amount of enthusiasm the director had, the real intentions depicted in the anime wouldn’t come through.
Interviewer: If The Flowers of Evil were broadcast worldwide, what kind of reactions do you think it will receive?
Hikasa: Since it’s an animation, it will get through even if the language is different. For example, people in Japan, America, or South America all love Disney cartoons, regardless of generation, and I think The Flowers of Evil will reach people’s hearts of various countries and age groups the same way. I can’t guess the reactions, so on the contrary, I’m curious about them.
Ise: It has different reactions even when only broadcast in Japan. But I think that’s a very good thing, if someone didn’t feel anything after watching it, that’s the worst. If you don’t feel anything when looking at something new, be that in Japan or overseas regardless of the color of your hair, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if someone is Japanese or a foreigner, they are all people and I think this anime will get them to feel something.
Hikasa: When Japanese people look at it, they might think it’s very common, but foreign people might think it’s unrealistic. These “incidents that probably every Japanese person experiences once” that are a part of everyday life and are reproduced in the anime might be very fresh for a person from abroad. The setting, Kiryu in Gunma, has a closed atmosphere both in a mental and cultural sense. Japanese people, who are prone to closing themselves off from other people, can easily sympathize with such a city, while foreigners might think it’s crazy.
Interviewer: How was Kiryu, the town where the photos were taken?
Ueda: Generally speaking, there were a lot of nice people. It happened a couple times that we didn’t have enough people at the filming location and we hurriedly asked for help from locals. There were a lot of people eager to help and I am very grateful for that. We only stayed in Kiryu for the three months of the filming, but the locals treated us as family; it now feels like a second home to me.
Nagahama: We caused a lot of trouble when it came to shooting, but there were a lot of friendly people who would lend us the parking lot or their shop. So I concentrated on filming, because I wanted to show Kiryuu properly, and the locals liked the results. There were many people who were happy that their street turned into an anime, so for those people as well, I want to shoot the next season of the anime. On the other hand, Kiryu is an aging city, and even as we were filming, buildings were demolished. As someone concerned with Kiryu, I would also like to reserve the scenery of the town in images.
Interviewer: What was the deciding factor in adopting rotoscoping? And what was the reaction of the original manga’s creator, Shuzou Oshimi, when you told him?
Nagahama: I read the original manga of The Flowers of Evil and I thought, “would putting highlights in their hair just like in most anime, shading the faces, drawing it to be anime-like just to make the characters look the same as in the manga make the author happy?” I think a manga simply made into pictures is not an anime. I have a more graphic image in my head, lively and realistic. Why not do it by live filming? I thought, “Let’s make it in the same fashion that Shuuzou Oshimi would if he made a manga adaptation based on the anime. By doing so, the Sawa Nakamura in the original manga and the Sawa Nakamura in the anime would be slightly different, but still the same Sawa Nakamura, and their outlook on the world would be compatible. I made it so people would either like both the manga and the anime, or if someone doesn’t like one of them, he can choose the other version he likes better.
For example, making a live action film with Sawa Nakamura or Nanako Saeki, an idol is appointed for the role and it’s only the idol. However, with rotoscoping, we combine the visual of Nanako Saeki for the live-action and the voice of Hikasa. By doing so, you get a Nanako Saeki that only exists in the anime; the real Nanako Saeki that can only be found in the anime. Also, this way, the live-action cast or the voice stars aren’t able to pull the heroines out whenever they want, I made it so no one will be able to contaminate them. When I told Oshimi sensei about my idea, he said he liked it better that way, too. When making the anime, we tried drawing them similar to the manga, but when I showed that to Oshimi sensei, he said, “It’s better if you leave them like that (rotoscoping). I don’t think it’s necessary to draw them closer to the manga.” That’s when I thought, let’s do the whole thing with rotoscoping. But doing that requires acting from both the live actors and the voice actors, and it also requires Oshimi’s outlook. I had everything checked by him, one by one. That’s how the process works, and I want to continue working on it side by side with Oshimi. Denying the original work is like denying us, the members of the production staff together with it. I think the only resolution you need is to borrow the original work and take it into another dimension.
From the voice cast saying, “My experience in voice acting has led me to this work,” to director Nagashima’s resolution, as well as the staff who all make a variety of cool works, it would be hard to find a work that has been made with more love than The Flowers of Evil. Don’t miss the moment when The Flowers of Evil carves its name into the history of the anime world!
This is a TokyoOtakuMode original article.