Bookworm Takao and class bully Sawa may not appear to be the best couple, but together, by chance, they shake up their entire rural community to its core. In love with the class idol, Takao is given a chance to become a real hero and finally break out of his shell after righting a wrong he committed in a random moment of passion and affection. With the help, or blackmailing by, Sawa Nakamura, Takao is on his way to change his future and enter a world of decadence.
Contrary to Takao's predictions, the girl he was falling for, Nanako Saeki, responds by eventually accepting the bibliophile for who he is. Or at least, who she thinks he is. In the second volume of Flowers of Evil, Takao's lies have given him new life with his now new girlfriend Nanako. And as he becomes closer to Nanako, his relationship with Sawa only deepens as the "contract" they share weighs heavily on the teen.
Unlike [other manga], The Flowers of Evil understands that ’strength’ comes from great insecurities and weakness. However, this ’strength’ is not about climbing mountains and emerging victorious. This involves strength in crossing the dark side of the mountain and how to bask in it—nourishing our personal demons...By loving this manga I recognize what a sick and twisted individual I have become. While I can still say that I am not truly deviant, Flowers of Evil is a great reminder of my own thirst for power and my own personal corruption.” —Otaku Champloo
At only 30 years of age, Shuzo Oshimi is already considered a seasoned veteran of the Japanese comics community. Winner of the most important comics awards for newcomers, the Tetsuya Chiba Award in 2001, Oshimi has been penning quirky slice-of-life dramas now for a decade for major manga publishers such as Kodansha and Futabasha.
Raised in the slow laid back hills of Gunma, in mid-eastern Japan, Oshimi wished to someday escape his community for bigger pastures. Living solely off of comics and books, he is a man of words and that shows in his very humanist stories. While he has drawn nine series in the past decade, Oshimi's star began to climb just recently in 2008 with the release of his first hit Drifting Net Cafe. This horror-themed homage to the legendary Kazuo Umezzu work, Drifting Classroom, was adapted into a live action series and propelled Oshimi onto an international stage. He would soon reach new heights in 2009 with his most recent series Flowers of Evil. In 2010 and 2011, the property quietly landed on numerous must read lists and has helped revitalize the shonen genre.
Bookworm Takao and class bully Sawa may not appear to be the best couple, but together, by chance, they shake up their entire rural community to its core. In love with the class idol, Takao is given a chance to become a real hero and finally break out of his shell after righting a wrong he committed in a random moment of passion and affection. With the help, or blackmailing by, Sawa Nakamura, Takao is on his way to change his future and enter a world of decadence.
Contrary to Takao's predictions, the girl he was falling for, Nanako Saeki, responds by eventually accepting the bibliophile for who he is. Or at least, who she thinks he is. In the second volume of Flowers of Evil, Takao's lies have given him new life with his now new girlfriend Nanako. And as he becomes closer to Nanako, his relationship with Sawa only deepens as the "contract" they share weighs heavily on the teen.
Praise
Unlike [other manga], The Flowers of Evil understands that ’strength’ comes from great insecurities and weakness. However, this ’strength’ is not about climbing mountains and emerging victorious. This involves strength in crossing the dark side of the mountain and how to bask in it—nourishing our personal demons...By loving this manga I recognize what a sick and twisted individual I have become. While I can still say that I am not truly deviant, Flowers of Evil is a great reminder of my own thirst for power and my own personal corruption.” —Otaku Champloo
Author
At only 30 years of age, Shuzo Oshimi is already considered a seasoned veteran of the Japanese comics community. Winner of the most important comics awards for newcomers, the Tetsuya Chiba Award in 2001, Oshimi has been penning quirky slice-of-life dramas now for a decade for major manga publishers such as Kodansha and Futabasha.
Raised in the slow laid back hills of Gunma, in mid-eastern Japan, Oshimi wished to someday escape his community for bigger pastures. Living solely off of comics and books, he is a man of words and that shows in his very humanist stories. While he has drawn nine series in the past decade, Oshimi's star began to climb just recently in 2008 with the release of his first hit Drifting Net Cafe. This horror-themed homage to the legendary Kazuo Umezzu work, Drifting Classroom, was adapted into a live action series and propelled Oshimi onto an international stage. He would soon reach new heights in 2009 with his most recent series Flowers of Evil. In 2010 and 2011, the property quietly landed on numerous must read lists and has helped revitalize the shonen genre.
