Final Thoughts Aku no Hana Volume 10

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

"A closet filled with bones is no place 
to build new memories," said the boy, no longer
able to hold his own closet closed. 
And so, he let it all out...

This week, in order to finish up with “Aku no Hana,” I’ll be doing a final two part, meaning Sunday we’ll dive into the final volume of the series. After that, I’ll post a sort of recap talking about the series a little more depth, as well as explaining my overall feelings. With that being said, man this week was a lot. What looked to be Kasuga’s opportunity to run away from his problems instead turned into his final stand against his dark past. Let’s get started.

A Return Home

At the beginning of the volume, Kasuga makes his way back home in order to see his grandfather for the last time. While at the hospital, Kasuga leaves his grandfather’s room in order to check his phone and clear his mind. However, by the time he comes back, his grandfather has already passed. Before Kasuga is able to leave the hospital, he is stopped by one of his cousins, who tells him he is the reason grandpa died, and all Kasuga can really do is apologize.

The scene mirrors a lot of the feeling of volume seven, where everyone finds out about what Kasuga and Nakamura did, and Kasuga and his parents go to apologize to the principal. However, the difference here is that Kasuga is not planning on running away. His apology here is not an excuse, its part of his vow to do better, and to become a changed person.

That being said, his cousin’s anger is understandable, given everything that happened. It probably caused his grandfather a lot of stress to see one of his grandsons going around acting insane, whether or not it was his fault. Still, getting blamed for someone’s death is pretty serious, and I think it only encourages Kasuga to face his past quicker.

Encountering Kinoshita

While at the funeral, Kasuga see’s Kinoshita, Saeki’s friend from middle school. When the two first meet, Kinoshita says “long time no see” in very obviously cold and unattached way. Before she leaves, Kasuga rushes over to apolgize, only for Kinoshita to invite him out later in the evening. The two meet at a family diner, and after Kinoshita leaves and comes back, Kasuga asks why she came to the funeral.

At first, it feels like there is supposed to be a lot more tension in the scene than there actually is. After all, Kasuga did ruin her best friend’s life, in a way. However, it becomes fairly the clear that most of the people involved in that situation long ago just want to forget and move on. This makes sense though, considering the fact that this is the first time Kinoshita is seeing Kasuga in over three years.

Kinoshita responds by telling him she does not know, and only came because she went with her mom. Despite how obvious this lie is, the story confirms it when she starts breaking down over losing her friend Saeki and being stuck in the same town for so long. Before she leaves Kasuga, Kinoshita gives him a parting gift: information on Nakamura’s whereabouts.

Another interesting contrast that comes through in the writing is the way that both Kasuga and those who left his hometown are considerably happier than those who stayed, and that his grandfather’s funeral, the event bringing him back to his hometown, is the thing that is making him sad. Now, obviously this is because its a funeral, but it still serves as a good representation of why Kasuga wants to cut ties so bad: because all his hometown brings him is misery.

The Truth Revealed

Eventually, Kasuga returns home, Nakamura’s location in hand. He gets back to his happy life with Tokiwa, and his friends, but he cannot enjoy it.

The day after he gets back, Tokiwa invites him back to her house and reveals her finished novel to Kasuga. Even though he is filled to joy by this, Kasuga turns down reading her novel, and instead tells her about his long and complicated past. At first, she is confused, telling Kasuga to leave, to which he says he won’t, and tells her that, despite knowing it is egotistical of him to do so, he still wanted to tell her about what happened in his hometown, so that he could move on and keep her in his life.

She then rips up her novel and runs off down the street. Kasuga chases her down, hold her, and says he won’t let go. The two kiss, and Tokiwa vows to go see Nakamura with him.

This scene in particular is probably one of my favorites in the series so far. For starters, it again serves to contrast an earlier part of the story. Whereas Nakamura pushes Kasuga away, thus allowing herself to get caught before the two light themselves on fire, Tokiwa decides to stick with him, even after hearing about his past. On top of that, it serves as the final test as to whether or not he is series about facing his past. If Kasuga wanted to, he could have simply not told Tokiwa, and the two likely would have continued on, but he would never really be satisfied with himself.

Kasuga’s Final Boss

The two lovers spend the start of their spring looking for Nakamura. The information Kasuga got from Kinoshita mentioned that Nakamura was now living with her mom in a small town, working at an eatery. The two travel their by train, eventually arriving and finding the eatery relatively quickly. As the two sit down to eat and order their food, in walks the girl of the hour. After she gives Kasuga and Tokiwa their food, Kasuga reveals himself, only for Nakamura to give her sinister smile right at him, and then the volume ends.

The way Nakamura responds to seeing Kasuga after so long seems to imply a couple of things. One is that she has not really changed much personality wise. In fact the only thing different about her so far is her looks. The second is that she seems to be unaffected by the events of three years ago.

However, the key word hear is seems. Nakamura was hiding a lot of trauma herself, and ultimately ended up using Kasuga as an outlet for that pain, which is why Kasuga feels so conflicted about her even after all this time. It is entirely possible that the reality is much different.

Conclusion

Only time will tell when it comes to Nakamura’s character. However, in the meantime, I have to say that this volume was indeed amazing. The buildup and finishing of plot threads throughout the volume is incredible, and the ending with Kasuga finally meeting Nakamura after so long was executed tremendously.

Thank you all for reading. If you would like to read along with me, consider getting the series yourself on Bookwalker using my affiliate link below:

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