The fragrant flowers really be blooming with dignity

Do you know… youtuber Probably Pretentious hated the anime. Unfortunately he has probably pretentious in his name so I can’t even criticize him for being pretentious.

Jokes aside, he did explain why it didn’t work for him pretty well. People like to say things like “x youtuber missed the point”, but isn’t that how tastes work? he has a different worldview and it didn’t resonate with him. Sure, you can always learn more about a piece of work to change your mind and enjoy it, but he’s not really obligated to do so. It’s impossible to do that to everything you consume anyways. But I digress.

Firstly, saying that these things doesn’t happen in real life is just like saying Scum’s Wish isn’t realistic - which is probably true, but that doesn’t mean teenagers literally don’t have sex in real life. Class divides do happen among real kids, so is the gender divide, and putting two schools beside each other is a recipe for some really toxic rivalry. I know that doesn’t make sense but good luck trying to convince child me that.

I don’t think KaoruHana is meant to be taken literally, I don’t think it’s meant to dive into any of these topics. At its core, it’s an overly idealistic kindness propaganda. Have you ever really really wanted to hurt someone who hurt you, then regretted it when you did? This is a world where you decided against it, and emotionally risked yourself for a better outcome. And it pays off because the world is much kinder than you think. Turns out, you’re not the only one with that regret. They hurt you because they were afraid too. Compromises are never fair, you will still think you deserve more, but who the fuck cares about any of that when you’ve made a new friend.

Yes, being overly idealistic does dilute all the serious topics the story deals with, which is why it didn’t work for some. But I think it’s also why it worked so well. It’s much easier to justify putting aside your differences when you’re facing miniature versions of real world problems, especially when they’re all young teenagers with healthy emotional support from adults.

I’ll admit that combining rivalry between schools, class divide, and the patriarchy into a single plot might be too messy. Despite that, the story manages to be amazingly nuanced - as in, human. Being in the wrong doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you were wrong. Of course, you’re watching from Rintarou’s perspective, you only got to see the other sides of the story thanks to his relentless kindness. Thanks Rintarou-kun.

I think KaoruHana is intended to inspire the same in real life, on situations with real stakes. Like, I think it’s genuinely a great manga for boys. There is an understanding that men, especially teenagers, are also victims of the patriarchy that you don’t get much elsewhere. No one chose to be born in a certain way, some will treat you harshly for your supposed privilege that you don’t really want. The story teaches that the solution isn’t to fight back on people who have no other way to cope with their situation, but to break the cycle as a new generation.

Yes, it’s a big ask to ask a wounded person to risk even more and compromise for a better outcome, yet KaoruHana did that extremely convincingly. How can you not want to be kind after seeing this display of wholesomeness?