Luffy looking surprised in One Piece.
By
Zach Zamora
Published 23 minutes ago
Zach joined the ScreenRant Anime team as a contributor in June 2024, before taking on a Senior Writer role in November. Since then, he has covered breaking news and produced features and lists about the most popular anime titles.
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Whether an anime adaptation is viewed by fans as successful usually comes down to how accurately it depicts the source material, and whether the series compliments or elevates the original story it's based on. An anime series can be as flashy and fun as it likes, but if it doesn't do the source material justice, fans won't be happy.
However, there are times when an anime adaptation does something so out of the ordinary or unexpected that fans don't really know how to feel about it. 2013's The Flowers of Evil is one of those stories, and over a decade on from its controversial airing, the series is returning in an unexpected way.
One of Anime's Most Controversial Shows Is Returning in Live-Action
The Flowers of Evil Is Returning In an Unexpected Way in 2026
Sawa Nakamura from The Flowers of Evil anime.
Shuzo Oshimi is one of manga's most underappreciated artists, and since his breakthrough with The Flowers of Evil in 2009, he's continued to stun readers with dark, disturbing, and incredibly moving stories. As most successful manga are, The Flowers of Evil was adapted into an anime series in 2013, though it would become highly divisive among fans.
Studio Zexcs and director Hiroshi Nagahama took a unique approach to the series, choosing to have it animated using exclusively rotoscoping, a technique in which live-action footage is traced over by animators. The visuals gave the series an uncanny look, but one that was entirely different from the source material it was adapting.
At the time, viewers seemed to either love or hate the direction of the anime, with very little in-between, and the unhappier of the two groups have expressed a desire to see the series revisited. Over a decade later, it seems they're getting their wish, though in a somewhat surprising way.
The Flowers of Evil is being adapted into a live-action TV drama series and will begin airing in Japan in April 2026. While fans will be excited to know the series is returning, those who were unhappy with the anime's version of the story might have mixed feelings about the live-action production. A worldwide streaming release date has yet to be confirmed.
The Upcoming Live-Action Flowers of Evil Is Already Stirring More Controversy
Sawa Nakamura staring forward with a straight look on her face.
Surprisingly, fans of The Flowers of Evil in Japan responded far more favorably to the 2013 adaptation of the series than fans did in the West, though those same viewers have already expressed some disapproval for the upcoming live-action series. On social media, some are wary of the show's ability to capture the drama of the manga, while others are unhappy with casting choices.
Given the rocky history surrounding The Flowers of Evil and its adaptations, the 2026 live-action version of the series will have to knock it out of the park to keep fans happy, and that's a tall order considering the high quality of its source material.
The Flowers of Evil is a 2013 anime series based on the original manga of the same name by Shuzo Oshimi. The haunting psychological drama follows Takao Kasuga, a middle school student struggling to find his own identity when two girls enter his life and change it forever.
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