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Flower and Asura (TV).




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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1837
PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 7:49 am Reply with quote


Flower and Asura (TV)

Source: Manga (ongoing @ 7 volumes by Ayano Takeda)

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio: Studio Bind

Genres: drama, slice of life

Themes: coming-of-age, school

Plot Summary: On Tonakishima, a small island with a population of 600, lives Hana, a high school girl. She loves recitals and holds regular reading sessions for the island's children. Mizuki, the president of the Broadcasting Club, senses Hana's power to attract people through her reading and invites her to join the club. Hana joins the Broadcasting Club and experiences many firsts with the other members.

Air Date & Platform:
January 07, 2025 (Tuesday)
Available on: HIDIVE

Episode Count / Runtime: Pending

[EDIT: Fancy opener stuff added. -TK]
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 2918
PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 4:08 pm Reply with quote
I really liked the first episode. It looked great with some rather creative imagery, the theme is interesting and something I would like to learn more about, the characters so far are all charming and seeing the mc go for it after a lot of doubt on her part felt fulfilling. I really do not have a single complaint to make for once and am looking forward to seeing who the other members of the club are.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1837
PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 4:34 pm Reply with quote
I liked this too. I agree that it's pretty. My only complaint is that sometimes characters or objects would have these white outlines where it was obvious they'd been somehow pasted moving on to a still background. But the characters were always well drawn, and the backgrounds were always pretty.

The show did something a little unusual in the first half. There was almost no musical score. The show let silence do the emoting. Long silences broken by a scraping shoe, a bird's squawk, a crashing wave, and so on. And then, once Hana made her decision and opened up the emotional floodgates so to speak, the music came pouring in. Good music too.

I liked the poem as well. Whoever translated it did an excellent job. And I liked all the March Comes in Like a Lion style impressionistic scenes representing the character's emotional states. I liked the way the islander ferry boatman agreed to help Hana out no problem. Good stuff IMHO.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24457
PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:03 pm Reply with quote
Episode 1

I'm not really in a SoL mindset these days so this is gonna be a tough sell for me. I will give it more of a chance, meet some of the other Broadcast Club members, but these days something like Solo Leveling is more my speed.
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zfunk



Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:59 am Reply with quote
Cute series. This is an example of how gender can change your thoughts on something. How aggressive the upperclassman was in recruiting the main character. It is fine because she is a girl, but if it was a guy doing stuff, OMG call the police.

Anyway let's see where this goes, does have that Jellyfish Can't Swim feel, though so far not as good. Not that is a bad thing, just feels like a poor man's Jellyfish, though that might change if the other characters in the club are good characters.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1837
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 5:27 pm Reply with quote
I'm still right there with this anime as of episode 2. I expect some people might find an episode about a bunch of students sitting around in a room reading things for half an hour kind of boring, but for my part, I thought there was far more tension in the proceedings than the spree of zombie killing that went on over on Bogus Skill <<Fruitmaster>>, the other anime I watched today. I thought it did a good job of capturing the nervous tension of high school, or of adolescence in general, when one of the scariest things out there is to go out on a limb and risk being bad - or even good - at something that most people aren't doing or don't care about.

I also like the squabbling former club captains.
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zfunk



Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 6:16 pm Reply with quote
Edjwald wrote:
I also like the squabbling former club captains.

Even though it said the girl liked somebody else, they do remind me of Ishigami and Hayasaki from Kaguya-Sama Love is War in terms of their relationship. Though as a character, the upperclassman guy with the glasses has the Ishigami vibe.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24457
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:26 pm Reply with quote
BOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINNNNGGGGG!!! Dropped.

Oh wait, I didn't consider Edjwald's delicate feelings... lemme try that again...

Gosh, while I super appreciate all the hard work the creative team put into this anime about a boring chick who likes to read out loud, I just--

BORING! FLUSHED!

Hey man, I tried.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 2918
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 3:21 pm Reply with quote
I like the second episode. It taught me new things about broadcasting and it set up the club rather well. In the case of the latter there are differing views and differing talents (An might need to ease up on stressing herself out though). Seems like that might be the case for the senpai too given the reaction of the vice president, there is a story there. Add in that teacher at the end and there is a lot ot work with.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 2918
PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 2:08 pm Reply with quote
The third episode was another good one so I am in it for the whole ride. This week in particular had a lot of interesting information when it comes to recital. It was particularly good in showing how much tone, breathing and pronounciation can change even a single sentence. The teacher is a tad harsh but fair.

Drama wise I like that Hana has finally opened up about what she truly wants and why she is so reluctant to go for it. Being proud of a talent (though in Hana's case it goes further than that) and said talent not being all that special in a competition of high level could be crushing.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4177
PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 3:33 pm Reply with quote
I love the visualization. It seems to be using Fantasia's rules of free associating audiences so eventually I expect it to move past the abstract and start some visual narratives. I think that's why the rest of the show is so reserved, they're building up to something.

As for episode 3, Hana is so introverted I can't tell what her reaction to their time in the tub just being a foot bath. I sensed.... disappointment more than anything else.

Something I forgot: I was enjoying the taste in movies and movie posters which include Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and MiB. But her reasoning...

"I like movies made before I was born."
She's 16. Most movies were made before she was born.


Last edited by Animegomaniac on Wed Jan 22, 2025 9:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1837
PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:54 pm Reply with quote
The advisor reminds me of a cat. A bit narcissistic, playful, likes to torture lesser creatures for fun...but I think he's a good addition to make things a little livelier when time is being spent on breathing and pronunciation.

I liked the reading of the footbath poem. The first poem that opened this show in episode was awesome, but there have been a few recitals since then that I don't think were as awesome as the show or imagery in the background was suggesting. I didn't get much out of the advisor's recital in this episode, for example.

And I think this might be my favorite closing piece of Winter 25.
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Piglet the Grate



Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 938
Location: North America
PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 11:20 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
BOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINNNNGGGGG!!! Dropped.


Maybe they need to teach announcing in the style of Yahya Saree to spice things up?

Edjwald wrote:
I liked the reading of the footbath poem.


Thought it was going to be a foot fetish scene, but then they cut away from the feet and did not show them again.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1837
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 6:19 am Reply with quote
Welp, Piglet, if last episode left any doubt, this episode seems to confirm that the romance aspect of the show is going to be a slow burn rather than "The Fast and the Yurious." Which I'm fine with. I hope Mizuki stays front and center though. She started out seeming a bit pushy, but it seems the MC needed somebody like that, and Mizuki's a fun character.

And the ending also confirms little miss "You must compete! Banish all silly thoughts of enjoyment! Schnell! Schnell!" is going to be a central source for drama.
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Piglet the Grate



Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 938
Location: North America
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 11:06 am Reply with quote
Edjwald wrote:
Welp, Piglet, if last episode left any doubt, this episode seems to confirm that the romance aspect of the show is going to be a slow burn rather than "The Fast and the Yurious." Which I'm fine with....


I have no further comment (PM me if anyone wants to know why) on that subject until if and when something both explicit and unambiguous happens.
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