Flowers of Evil Volume 9 Review: Ghosts, Guilt, and Growing Up
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Yes, it’s true, I’m empty, A shit-bug, misfortune on two feet… and yet… and yet…”
Kasuga is still living under the invisible shadow of Nakamura, her scathing words and insidious bullying have convinced him that he isn’t a decent human being, let alone someone worthy of a “normal” life. In Volume 8 of Flowers of Evil, he refers to himself as a “ghost,” something he seems to truly believe, like he’s an invisible teen nobody notices.
Of course, as readers, his self-pity and self-deprecation ironically come across as self-centered, especially when he says this to Tokiwa’s boyfriend, Koji. Kasuga is too consumed by his own misery to notice the attention he’s receiving — much of it due to his uncanny, budding friendship with Tokiwa, one of the prettiest and most popular girls in school. Volume 9 of the manga focuses on Kasuga coming to terms with ordinary existence, and his growing desire to live like other teens.
One of the biggest turning points in this volume is Kasuga’s decision to stop living passively. If you recall, Saeki (his brief middle school girlfriend) confronts him in the previous volume and bluntly questions whether he’s simply using Tokiwa as a substitute for Nakamura. This moment prompts Kasuga to reflect deeply, eventually realizing that he harbors more than platonic feelings for Tokiwa and decides to act on them.
Shuzo Oshimi crafts a stirring emotional exchange between the teens, and the second half of the volume is surprisingly calm and collected, showcasing typical days spent by the protagonists. I found this to be a welcome shift, or perhaps, it’s just the calm before another destructive storm in Kasuga’s life.
Watching Kasuga slowly grow and change over these chapters is genuinely compelling. His bond with Tokiwa, formed over their shared love for literature, stands in striking contrast to the shallow conversations of their peers, which is focused mostly on food, crushes, karaoke, and sex. One of my favorite moments from the last volume was how Kasuga unwittingly inspires Tokiwa’s passion for writing a novel. She’s unsure of her talent and plot, but a few encouraging words from Kasuga ignite in her a new resolve to not only flesh out her story but finish it.
For the first time, Kasuga has a clear, positive impact on someone. And though it’s not explicitly stated, he perhaps senses what he means to Tokiwa. In return, she helps him rekindle his love for fiction and literature. At least for now, it’s a healthy, blossoming relationship, a refreshing change from the chaos and destruction of earlier volumes.
Shuzo Oshimi’s artwork continues to be vivid and engaging. While earlier chapters lacked expressiveness, the illustrations have improved significantly over time. A few panels even showcase subtle artistic symbolism. In one striking panel, Kasuga sees two figures that look eerily like himself and Tokiwa, but with completely blackened eyes, like ghosts. “I don’t want to be a ghost!” Kasuga exclaims, making a decisive choice that marks a huge turning point in the story, a positive step in his character arc. The scene symbolizes how the protagonists, like many teens, are drifting through life like ghosts, conforming to peer expectations instead of pursuing their passions.
Overall, this was a great volume, ending on a twist that sends Kasuga back to his hometown for a family event. But returning to the place where he once infamously attempted a public suicide with Nakamura — will it awaken the demons he’s tried so hard to bury?
Well, we’ll see.
Rating: 4 on 5. This volume of ‘Flowers of Evil’ is on Kindle Unlimited.
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