In the third volume of The Flowers of Evil, Takao must make a decision. He now has an opportunity to break free from the social shackles that Nakamura has placed on him, as he has a chance to be loved by someone he has affections for. This could also be an opportunity to be accepted by the masses in his small community. But with this choice comes fear and self-reflection. After having a chance trip to Nakamura’s place, where he got to experience the world his only “friend” has grown up in, he realizes that for both teens, there is very little future to look forward to as they are raised in the boonies. Their lives are mapped out before them. For most adolescents these days, life will continue to be blasé at best, miserable at worst. Can they change things together? Do they want to even bother? By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Takao becomes the center of Shuzo Oshimi’s third volume of The Flowers of Evil. Pushed against a proverbial brick wall, Takao decides to run from the masses instead of becoming one of them. Though he doesn’t break free according to…
Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The routine of class and endless stupidity in a provincial town is taking a toll on middle schooler Takao Kasuga. Though he gets along well enough with his peers, they’ll never begin to dig any of that reading business that’s his only true escape. What can he expect when he’s in love with foreign stuff like the poems of Charles Baudelaire? Yet, his life threatens to take a turn for the worse when he finds and takes home, in a moment of weakness, the gym clothes of pretty, sweet, and smart Nanako Saeki on whom he has a major crush. Witness to the theft is the oddest girl in class, who seems to consider the whole world a pile of excrement and to nurse a terribly sadistic streak… Rising star Shuzo Oshimi, the author of the hit apocalyptic series “Drifting Net Cafe“, finds his groove in an ever-so-slightly autobiographical work that grows more soulful with each volume. Nominated for the 2012 Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize). By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Shuzo Oshimi’s Flowers of Evil begins innocently in a school setting where the seemingly normal Takao…