Here is a list of characters from The Flowers of Evil.
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Takao Kasuga
- All Men Are Perverts: Half the theme of the manga is him struggling with his awakening sexual desires, and how he fears he'll be perceived because of them, due to the dull conservative town he's living in.
- Always Save the Girl: Goes against his parents, his peers, and even the police to try and save Nakamura by exposing "the other side" of the town. To say he fails is an understatement.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Toward Tokiwa. At her workplace. With her boyfriend in the same room as her. Despite all the odds, it works.
- The Atoner: After starting his relationship with Tokiwa, Kasuga starts fixing what went wrong in his life.
- Bookworm: Played with, as he likes reading, but mostly receives average grades. He later admits he doesn't even understand all the books he reads. He stops reading altogether when he starts pursuing Nakamura.
- He's thrown away all of his books when his family moved to the new city, but regains an interest in them thanks to Tokiwa.
- Born Unlucky
- Break the Cutie: Throughout the series. By the time of the Time Skip, he's become a Broken Bird.
- Calling the Old Man Out
- Cannot Spit It Out: So, so, SO much.
- Classical Anti-Hero
- Dark Secret
- Digging Himself Deeper
- Driven to Suicide: Attempts a double-suicide with Nakamura. But she pushes him off the stage at the last minute.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: When he destroys the classroom.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: His hair has grown longer after the Time Skip. Then after the second Time Skip his hair is back to being short again.
- Heroic BSoD: Most notably after the Time Skip
- Heroic Self-Deprecation
- I Just Want to Be Special / I Just Want to Be Normal: Is conflicted by this.
- Love Martyr: Toward Nakamura later on. His reasons behind wanting to help her, right or wrong, are even called into question.
- After the Time Skip, he decides to make efforts to move on from her, but when he meets her again, he still says he's glad that she didn't disappear.
- Madonna-Whore Complex: He has a very idealized view of Saeki, and even refers to her as "[his] Madonna". He is outraged by Nakamura's suggestion that Saeki might want to have sex with him. At the end of the manga, he and Tokiwa are shown in a happy sexual relationship, showing he's gotten past this hang-up.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: His characterization after the Time Skip.
- Panty Thief: Steals Saeki's gym uniform, which starts the plot. Later on, he steals all the girls' panties except Saeki's, in the hopes of entertaining Nakamura.
- Small Town Boredom
- Talking to Themself: His symbolic talk with the mountain post-Time Skip borders on this.
- What Does He See In Her?: Everyone's reaction to his falling for Nakamura.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Every time he gets caught in his misdeeds.
Sawa Nakamura
- All Women Are Lustful: Admits to Kasuga that she's a pervert as well.
- Batter Up!: Takes to carrying a bat around later in the manga which she uses against Kasuga's father to help him escape.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Saeki's Betty.
- Book Dumb: Constantly gets 0 grades, mostly because she doesn't really care.
- Break Them by Talking: Her specialty, though by far not her only means of breaking Kasuga.
- Catchphrase: "Shitbug", or any of its variants.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Kasuga accuses her of this, stating it's the reason behind why she sadistically screws him over. She chews him out for being an idiot. But later evidence shows this may have been the case after all.
- Cluster F-Bomb
- Creepy Child
- Cruel Mercy: Decides at one point to show some mercy towards Kasuga regarding his date with Saeki...on the condition he wear Saeki's stolen uniform under his clothes.
- Date Peepers: Does this with Kasuga and Saeki's date.
- Despair Event Horizon: Reaches this when Kasuga tells her that "the other side" is within her, which makes her realize that there is no true *other side*, and that no matter where she goes she'll never be able to disappear.
- Dissonant Serenity: It is never a good thing when she smiles at you.
- Domestic Abuse: To Kasuga even before their Relationship Upgrade. A notable moment after that is when she starts scratching his bare chest until it bleeds heavily.
- Driven to Suicide: Attempts a double-suicide with Kasuga. At the last minute, she pushes Kasuga off the stage, and then her father stops her from committing the deed.
- Even before that, when Kasuga makes her realize there's no true "other side", she begs Kasuga to kill her by bashing her head in with her bat.
- Drunk on the Dark Side / Evil Feels Good: Gets ecstatic over causing destruction.
- Evil Red Head: Pretty much. Only she may have dyed it.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When Kasuga meets her again after the time skip, her hair has grown long and is now black instead of red.
- Heel Realization
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Takes the news of Kasuga going out with Tokiwa very well, because it means he's chosen a normal way of living compared to her.
- Jerkass: Goes without saying. Being friends with her means putting up with her destructive behavior and harassment.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eventually starts progressing into this, although it is very hard to see the gold at times.
- Kubrick Stare: At the start of the series.
- Lack of Empathy: So it seems. Subverted later, when it's shown she does care for Kasuga.
- The Lost Lenore: To Kasuga after she's Put on the Bus. Later subverted in that he learns where her whereabouts are so he pays her a visit.
- Loners Are Freaks
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A darker version of the trope than usual.
- Manipulative Bastard: Towards Kasuga at first.
- Missing Mom: Lives with her dad and grandmother, with no mother in sight. They divorced when Nakamura was young. Nakamura goes to live with her after the Time Skip.
- No Social Skills
- Not So Stoic: Boy does Kasuga learn this the hard way.
- Put on the Bus
- The Runaway: She wants to be this, to the point she asks Kasuga to take her to the other side of the mountains.
- Secret Diary
- Secret-Keeper: Keeps Kasuga's secret, in exchange for a contract with her.
- Slasher Smile
- Slouch of Villainy
- Small Town Boredom
- The Stoic: Is this for most people, but around Kasuga she shows more of her true colors.
- Troll
- Troubled Abuser: For all her destructive behavior towards Kasuga, much of it stems from severe issues on her part due to being an outcast in a very isolated town. She eventually decides to push Kasuga away, so he can lead a more normal life.
- Yandere: Though nowhere near as bad as Saeki. Later on she starts displaying some Tsundere traits.
Nanako Saeki
- The Ace: A model student, the opposite of Nakamura.
- Broken Ace: Then she snaps when Kasuga breaks up with her for Nakamura.
- Bait the Dog: She's such a sweet girl, that many readers called her the most sympathetic of the characters. It makes her later actions, namely her raping of Kasuga, all the more repulsive.
- Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Nakamura's Veronica. At least until she snaps.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Later on starts revealing herself to be this. To the point that she rapes Kasuga in the hopes of winning him back. In fact, she attempts this twice, but the second time Kasuga stops her.
- Covert Pervert: Tells Kasuga that she doesn't mind that it was him who stole her gym clothes. She's later upset that he didn't steal her underwear when Kasuga goes on his Panty Thief spree. And then to try and win him back, she strips naked and forces herself onto him.
- First Girl Wins: Plays this straight when she asks Kasuga out. Subverted far later on.
- Heroic BSoD: Suffers from one after mishearing Nakamura's Wham Line to Kasuga, to the point that she skips school.
- Hypocrite: Post-Time Skip, she has the gall to scold Kasuga for using Tokiwa as a replacement for Nakamura, when it's implied that she's done the same with her current boyfriend.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: At least Kasuga thinks so. Later proven to not be the case.
- In Love with Love: Kinoshita accuses her of this.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Points out the lack of logic Kasuga and Nakamura have about how they're trying to find "the other side" with panties. It's too bad she didn't try this without raping Kasuga first.
- Love Makes You Crazy
- Nice Girl: So nice she even praises Kasuga for defending Nakamura. This doesn't last, especially after Kasuga dumps her.
- Not Good with Rejection: Her Sanity Slippage is based on this.
- Sanity Slippage
- What Does She See in Him??: Kinoshita questions what exactly she sees in Kasuga. Even when Saeki does try to explain, it's clear her view of Kasuga is highly idealized.
- Yandere
Ai Kinoshita
- Knight Templar: Towards Saeki.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Post Time Skip, she regrets her actions, and how they only drove Saeki further away.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Her telling on Kasuga and Nakamura would have been the right thing to do, but it results in inaccurate rumors spreading and further alienating Kasuga and Nakamura, eventually driving them to their suicide attempt.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to the above three, she's the only one who sees how fucked up the whole situation is.
- Satellite Character: There's not much to her character beyond being Saeki's very concerned friend.
- The Stool Pigeon: Attempts to convince Saeki to tell on Nakamura and Kasuga's Panty Thief antics, but Saeki keeps convincing her not to. She spills the beans once Saeki is arrested for arson.
- Undying Loyalty: To Saeki. Unfortunately, Saeki didn't seem to appreciate this, because post-Time Skip Kinoshita is alone.
Aya Tokiwa
- Bookworm: Loves books, and even wants to write a novel. But none of her friends are interested in literature, including her boyfriend, so she avoids discussing it or bringing anyone over into her room because of her personal library.
- Cannot Spit It Out: She can't bring herself to break off from her boyfriend Kouji, even though their chemistry is lacking at best. When Kasuga confesses to her, it gives her the courage to end her on-again off-again relationship with Kouji.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Says this many times about Kasuga. Justified in this case, because she does have a boyfriend already, and her UST with Kasuga adds more strife to their already troubled relationship.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Essentially says this when she and Kasuga are trying to reach out to Nakamura on the beach. Subverted since Kasuga still stays with her.
- Last Girl Wins
- Nice Girl: In high contrast to the other female characters, she's the most down-to-earth and the most kind-hearted.
- Replacement Goldfish: Saeki argues with Kasuga if Tokiwa is a replacement for Nakamura, given how alike they look. Despite his noting their similarities, he states she's not. When Kasuga tells her his past, she initially feels she may be this to him, but they are able to go beyond it.
- Stepford Smiler: Smiles brightly among her friends, while hiding or downplaying her relationship problems, along with not being able to discuss her favorite hobby with anyone until Kasuga entered the picture.
- Tsundere: Towards Kasuga in the beginning.
- Walking Spoiler: She appears after the Time Skip, and is the girl Kasuga ends up with. So nearly everything related to their relationship is a spoiler.
