The Flowers of Evil

Recently, people have been fired up in discussion about the anime adaptation of Aku no Hana. Most of these discussions are people complaining about the character designs and people defending it for it's stories, or things of such a manner. This blog today, however, won't be aiming to condemn or defend Aku no Hana (yeah, I'm saving that until after the series is done airing). People are also starting to notice just how bizarre and perverse the story being told by Aku no Hana is. Because of this, I'd like to give a brief nod to other perverse, borderline-hentai works that have been phenomenal in their own ways. Ladies and gentlemen, let's take a walk through the garden of evil:

Title: MM!

Format: Anime and Manga

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Harem

When you have a problem, you can always count on the volunteer club to help you sort it out and overcome. Well, that is if you can stand Mio, the leader of the club, and her eccentric, conceited personality. Despite her abuses (both verbal and physical), she devotes herself to helping accomplish your goal with true tenacity. Under recommendation of a friend, Taro Sado goes to the volunteer club in hopes that they can cure him of his masochism - a sexual arousal received from pain that has gotten him into humiliating and social destroying situations in the past. Mio, and in turn the volunteer club, takes on this challenge that only way Mio knows how: hurt him so much that he no longer wants to be a masochist.

MM! is comparable to a slice of life comedy. It really has no true plot and any plot that it does have is short lived. Despite such a lack of plot, MM! contains massive amounts of comedic genius for it's genres and could be claimed to be one of my favorite comedies. Give it a watch/read and join Sado as he encounters the sadist Mio, the man fearing Yuuno and his first love - whom actually turns out to be a boy in drag.

Title: System of Romance

Format: Manga

Genres: Drama, Romance, One-shot

Once upon a time, a random girl meets up with some random man she met from a chatroom online. They had a romantic one night stand that lead to nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Except for when he kidnapped her two years later and rapes her. Fucked up, right? Very fucked up. It gets worse. She fell in love with him. Weird fucking manga. Only, like, 14 pages or something like that. Quick read. You'll probably never read anything quite like System of Romance.

Title: Ebiten

Format: Anime and Manga

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi

Their club is called the "Asstronomy" club. Yeah, how's that for an introduction?

Ebiten tells a tale of a boy named Itsuki Noya who wishes to join the Astronomy club. However, his hopes are sort of ruined when a girl named Kyouko won't let him join the club since he's a boy. Yet, despite her

concerns, she's quick to allow him in so long as she's not aware he's a boy - which leads to Noya crossdressing in an over sized girl's uniform. The story is very 'slice of life'-ish at first. A new day, a new completely random reason to strip Kanamori and shame her in front of the school kind of thing. The series is also littered with references and parodies to other anime/manga works in the industry, which helps the little bits of story there are along. Not to mention that Noya somehow becomes a magical super villain thing. Not kidding.

Of the titles listed here, Ebiten is certainly the tamest, but it still holds it's own when put to the test. Whether you come for panty shots or the parodies on anime culture, you're in for a treat.

Title: Believers

Format: Manga

Genres: Psychological, hentai, what the fuck did I just read

The story portrayed in Believers is one that we all can connect to. We all go through a phase in life where our lives just aren't going where we want them too. We all go through a search through ourselves to find what truly lies within our souls. We all willingly give up freedom to a cult that ships us off to an island with random people we know nothing about to perform tasks we don't fully understand.

Oh, wait, what? You can't connect to that?

No worries! Believers can emulate the experience for you easy as pie! Three people, one female and two males, have been sent to this island to live away from modern society and to...well...talk about dreams? What they're doing there in the first place is kind of shady. Besides scavenging for food and sharing information about their dreams, there's very little they do on the island. That is, until one of the males and female decide that they're attracted to each other. Once this discovery is made, the island is all about SEX SEX SEX SEX! But, all the sex by the beach side isn't the only reason Believers gets a spot on my list of the perverse. Oh no, there's more to it. The third male finds out about the "adultery" committed by the other two. He's jealous. He wants in on the action. Needless to say, he has a very awkward fetish (pictured at the side). Believers is a very awkward, perverse tale that will make you scratch your head the whole time asking, "What the hell did I just read?"

Title: Sundome

Format: Manga

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Psychological, Ecchi

"Everyone has their own turn-ons....I think. Even if people call me clumsy I still have some turn-ons that no one else may be able to understand. How I like the skin around someone's eyes...or their calves...or the shape of their mouth...or the shape of their ears. Somehow, all of her was my turn-on."
-Excerpts from Sundome

Sundome is a romantic comedy of the most twisted variety. Hideo Aiba has never been considered one of the "cool" guys. Nor has he really been considered for anything ever really. Aiba aligns himself with a group of rejected nerds who focus all their attention onto perversions...and occasionally supernatural things (since that is what their club is ACTUALLY about). One day, a girl named Kurumi Sahana transfers into Aiba's class and she turns out to be a bombshell knockout that Aiba can't help but fall in love with. Aiba's world is rocked even harder when Sahana forces her way into Aiba and co.'s club. It turns out that Sahana is aware of Aiba's feelings and shares them to an extent, but she makes Aiba aware of one thing: she'll never have sex with him; a condition Aiba accepts. Thus begins their twisted journey of sexuality.

Sundome - which literally translates to "stopping the moment before" (*cough*cumming*cough*) - is one of my all-time favorite mangas and one of the few manga series I can return to and reread and experience the same enjoyment as the first time. I recommend it. Though, perverse in nature, the smell from this flower is sweeter than the prick of it's thorns.