Flowers Of Evil Volume 9
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Shuzo Oshimi
Translation: Paul Starr
What They Say
A lonely, bookish teen struggles to find his identity through Charles Baudelaire’s poetry, until two girls, a bully and the class beauty, help him realize true love and real friendship.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Still bothered by Ninako’s comments, Takao ends up just drifting through the next day of school. He receives another strike to the heart when Aya reveals that she’s back together with Koji. Furthermore, she seems kind of listless regarding her novel, and she tells Takao that Koji wants to apologize to him. That actually seems to go over fine, and it appears Aya’s life may be back on track, though Takao is left hanging.
Haunted by the past, Ninako’s words, and most of all himself, Takao soon enters into a huge internal struggle. However, rather than crumble he faces his inner demons and beats them into submission, admitting his love to Aya in the process. Koji laughs this off, but as Takao continues to pour out his emotions things start to heat up, and Aya ends up leaving both Koji and her job to be with our awkward hero.
With Aya’s heart captured and his self-hatred overcome, Takao is finally able to have some much deserved happiness. He even takes a chance to make up with his parents, and time passes blissfully. However, when Aya suggests visiting his hometown he freezes up before brushing it off. Even so, when it turns out that his grandfather has collapsed, Takao volunteers to go along with his father, finally willing to faces the scars the place left on his heart.
In Summary
With this volume we finally get the cathartic release of the series’ pent up angst. It really goes to show how much Takao has grown, and it’s great to finally see him grab a little happiness. Rather than anger and frustration, it’s joy and raw emotion that flows forth from this volume’s pages, and it absolutely feels well earned. Some major shadows still remain to threaten Takao’s emotional state, but even so it’s just nice to see how far he’s come. Hopefully the finale will end the series on a strong note, but for now this volume serves as a great turning point and a fantastic read.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A-
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Vertical
Release Date: April 22nd, 2014
MSRP: $10.95
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