Flower and Asura

Episode 8

It's about time Touga got an episode focused on him! He's been waiting in the wings for so long that I was beginning to wonder if he would get any time to shine, seeing as how Matsuyuki and Shura seemed like they'd become much more central to the story. And while that didn't seem to be the case this week, that doesn't mean we didn't, nonetheless, get a great episode out of it all the same.

The week's main event is Touga's internal struggles with perfectionism and a burning desire not to be ordinary. More specifically, Touga has fallen into the trap of believing that one of his skills is ordinary. And this is, of course, a trap I'm sure we've all fallen into at some point in our lives—especially if, like Touga, it's a skill you've more or less had your whole life. I liked seeing an anime tackle this because I'm unsure I've seen an anime do so in a way that was so bluntly stated. Hearing that your skills aren't necessarily ordinary is something I'm sure we all needed at least every now and again. And that seems to be a common theme with this anime so far: taking remarkably human feelings and experiences that usually aren't dwelled upon much, if at all, in anime and dwelling on them—even if, admittedly, for only an episode. And when it does so, it seems to come from a place of understanding, even empathy. For lack of a better phrase, this anime feels like it just gets it, making it all the more refreshing to watch.

But wonderful as the Touga-centric segment of the episode was, it wasn't the only emotional moment we were treated to this week. Fresh off the heels of seeing Shura's performance, the broadcast club members—Hana especially—feel totally inspired to better themselves. That Hana was the main one talking about this was pretty surprising and really shows how far she's come as a member of the club. It's incredibly sweet and made me more consciously realize how much she's grown on me as the series has continued.

This anime has such an incredibly strong group of protagonists, my god. While Ann remains my favorite, I feel like I've fallen in love with them all, at least a little bit, throughout the course of the series, and it's still got a few episodes left to go. As always, the character writing in this anime has consistently been A+, which is no small feat given that its structure usually only has characters shining their brightest for a single episode. This anime can accomplish a satisfying emotional rollercoaster in 20 minutes that takes some anime entire seasons.

The last couple of episodes have been on the slower side, so it's good to see this anime going full steam ahead once again this week. I know we still have a few weeks left before the season ends, but as I start wondering more and more what my choice for anime of the season is going to be, this one's increasingly one that I've been thinking about, and episodes like this one are a testament to why that is. I've said it before dozens of times in these weekly review: I was a competitive speech kid when I was in high school, and broadcast club seems more or less like the exact same thing; unless this anime royally goofed up somewhere, I was probably always going to find it relatable on some level for that alone. And yet, the relatability of this anime, I've found, goes way deeper than that. It's so rare for an anime to feel as human as this one does, and we still have a few episodes to go. This anime has been nothing short of brilliant thus far, and I'm excited to see what kind of an ending we could possibly be in for.

Rating:

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Flower and Asura is currently streaming on HIDIVE on Tuesdays.