Anime and manga don’t shy away from gentle, charming stories. And sometimes at the end of the day, a gentle slice-of-life story about friendship and love is just what the doctor ordered. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity is one of those stories. I will spoil the story in this article: this is one I recommend watching if you like beautiful animation and gentle romance.
Chidori Public High School and Kikyo Private Academy Girls High School do not get along. Chidori is known for its low-performing, delinquent boys. Kikyo is known for its high-performing, cultured girls. Ne’er do the two mix. Rintaro Tsumugi is a kind Chidori student who looks more like a punk than the soft-spoken, conscientious teen he is thanks to his height, ear-piercings, and dyed blonde hair. Kaoruko Waguri is a beautiful, kind girl from a humble family. She excels with her grades and is well-liked by her classmates. And, well, you can already see how this will play. But sometimes the “how” matters more than the uncertainty.
Rintaro’s parents own a bakery, where he sometimes works. One difficult day, Kaoruko breaks down into tears as she eats a slice of cake, and Rintaro comforts her. That day stands out in her memory, but, as the audience learns at the end of the series, Rintaro had forgotten it. For Rintaro, their first meeting happened on another day when Kaoruko had visited the shop–as she often did to try to speak with him again. And on that day, Rintaro fears he has frightened her because of his size and appearance. Rintaros’ mother urges him to walk Kaoruko to the train station, considering the late hour. Rintaro discovers Kaoruko being harassed by a group of boys who owe Rintaro money. He comes to her defense. The next day, he learns, when she tries to thank him, that she is a Kikyo student. Concerned about her reputation, he tries to avoid her, but she would have nothing of it. The pair soon meet to study together, pulling their friend groups into the mix.
Rintaro’s friends form a second family. They each are kindhearted goofs who see Rintaro as the kind, cool dude he is. The interactions among Rintaro and his guy friends feel unnatural, though. Guys don’t talk about emotions the way these guys do! But, perhaps, guys should. There was a time when men were open like these guys are with each other. Letters from the 1700s and 1800s between close guy friends show this level of male emotional intimacy that Rintaro and his posse share. Kaoruko’s best friend, Subaru, has a fear of boys thanks to how she was bullied by them in childhood. Kaoruko had rescued her from those bullies and befriended her. When she sees Kaoruko around Rintaro, she immediately worries about Kaoruko’s reputation and the scholarship that enables Kaoruko to attend Kikyo. When Subaru runs into Rintaro’s friends, Subaru and Rintaro’s friends exchange heated words, solidifying Subaru’s concern for Kaoruko. Subaru ends up confronting Rintaro and asking him to leave Kaoruko alone. Rintaro, unlike many romance protagonists, has a spine (not that he doesn’t doubt himself too) and tells her directly no. He wants to be Kaoruko’s friend. Kaoruko, for her part, wants to keep seeing Rintaro. This sets up the character arcs for each set of friends.
For Rintaro and his posse, their development arc centers around trusting each other, especially with Rintaro opening up with his feelings. They want him to tell them what’s troubling him so they can go after the problem if need be. They also learn how to open up to each other more and act as Rintaro’s wingmen concerning Kaoruko. Rintaro and Saku develop a temporary rift with Saku standing against Rintaro seeing Kaoruko. Saku also conflicts with Subaru. But eventually Saku reconciles with both Rintaro and Subaru. And as Saku spends more time with Subaru, he develops feelings for her. Subaru, for her development arc, comes to trust Rintaro and gang and begins to reciprocate Saku’s feelings.
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity‘s conflicts between the characters are interesting with how they develop and resolve. They resolve gently over time. The internal conflicts, however, prove more challenging. Each of the developed characters–Rintaro and Kaoruko, Saku and Subaru–face their inner fears and emotional vulnerabilities with quiet resolve. Each take stumbling steps forward while being supported by their friends. Rintaro and Kaoruko support each other as they take slow, earnest steps toward each other. The story shows how frightening emotional vulnerability can be, especially for the guys. Rintaro’s emotional vulnerability is on full display as his character develops. He shows how much courage this requires, how emotional vulnerability is a strength and not the weakness as it is so often portrayed.
Rintaro’s parents, particularly his mother, play an interesting role in the story. As a child, Rintaro sees a chef with piercings and blonde hair, which makes him want to achieve the same look. When he expresses this desire to his parents, his mother bleaches her black hair blonde first to offer support for his wish. Throughout the series, she and Rintaro’s dad offer similar quiet support. When Rintaro decides he wants to bake Kaoruko a cake for her birthday, he asks his dad to teach him. His dad does so with the loving sternness master craftsman tend to have. The experience inspires Rintaro to continue learning how to bake because of the joy his cake brings Kaoruko.
Each of the characters move forward, small steps at a time, even when stopping would be easier. Kaoruko takes the most steps toward Rintaro, closing the distance between them until Rintaro closes the little that remains with his kokuhaku. There’s many lessons for dating within this story. First, ladies should consider taking the first steps, start the chase if you would. This has actually been a motif throughout ancient literature and throughout anime–a girl crashes into a man’s life and forever changes him. But the guy also needs to close the remaining distance. He can’t be passive after she does the initial work. It’s a relatively recent development for men to do the chasing and initiate the romantic relationship. But this process teems with fear, vulnerability, and uncertainty for both people. Rejection hurts. Both Rintaro and Kaoruko fear this rejection and the damage it would’ve done to their friendship, but they also couldn’t deny their deepening affection for each other.
CloverWork’s animation compliments this gentle story well. They use a calming color palette. The facial expressions memorized me to the point where I would pause the stream and rewatch it. The lip animations! Just look at the emotions contained in Subaru’s lips in this still.
The animation, brief as it is, is even more expressive. While the lips are just a few lines and shapes to suggest form, the expressiveness of those lines and shapes is truly impressive. The depth of emotions the animators managed to convey within a few frames, sometimes by “shivering” the outlines, animating the lines but not the color fills, shows the skill of the studio. These are small details, but they add up throughout the series to support the emotional development arcs. Even these still frames show the subtle emotions.
The studio also balances these scenes with comedic effects using heavier outlines and exaggerated expressions. CloverWorks varies the inlines and outline thickness to represent the scene and characters. When the characters feel “thin,” frightened, vulnerable, or other gentle feelings, the lines become thin. When the characters feel big feelings like excitement or trepidation, the lines thicken and become bolder. You will also see extra lines surrounding the eyes of the characters. These lines represent the eyelids, wrinkles, and the muscles around the eyes, allowing even more expressiveness.
I’ve groused about how anime focuses too much on high school students, but a gentle, innocent story like this one wouldn’t have worked as well with adult characters. Sometimes the high school setting allows for a more charming and wholesome story. The innocence of first love remains a popular tale because of the wistfulness it can generate in the audience. The honesty, and tenderness of the feelings comes from the newness of the experience, before life and adulthood mars the experience. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity works because of this innocence and heart the age of the characters allows for. The story might be a little too quiet for some; the story is more literary with how it focuses on inner emotional conflicts.
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity is a beautiful anime with its animation, characters, and story. It has a lot of heart. Recommended.
