Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku

Since childhood, Hana Haruyama has been enthralled by the art of storytelling. After watching a child her age perform on television with mesmerizing grace, Hana decides to try it herself. She practices by reciting tales to Tonaki Island's children, who are always enthusiastic about her performances. However, growing up in such a small community, Hana remains unaware of the possibilities beyond her world, satisfied with how things are.

Entering Sumomogaoka High School as a first-year student, Hana catches the attention of Mizuki Usurai, the president of the broadcasting club, with her skills. Despite Hana's hesitation and anxiety about the road ahead, Mizuki successfully convinces her to join the club, nurture her gift, and perhaps one day reach the top—the nationals of the NHK Broadcasting Competition.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Haruyama, Hana Main

Fujidera, Minori Japanese

Usurai, Mizuki Main

Shimabukuro, Miyuri Japanese

Natsue, An Supporting

Izumi, Fuuka Japanese

Totonoi, Ryouko Supporting

Yasuno, Kiyono Japanese

Akiyama, Matsuyuki Supporting

Yamashita, Seiichirou Japanese

Kichijouji, Hiromi Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Botanboko, Pokoko Supporting

Kakuma, Ai Japanese

Hakoyama, Setarou Supporting

Ban, Taito Japanese

Saionji, Shura Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Touga, Shuudai Supporting

Chiba, Shouya Japanese

Ootomo, Toshiya Producer

Hirahara, Yuito Producer

Fujii, Takahiro Producer

Ji, Donghui Producer

Reviews

Mar 25, 2025

KANLen09

Recommended

Informative

Flower and Asura — a recital that's best further explored to see if its weight holds up.

I love exploring niche topics when it comes to just about any medium of content derived from the sources that it stems from that's full of awe and intrigue to find out what goes on behind the trait that just works. So, in this Winter season, courtesy of the musical maestro that is author Ayano Takeda and her globe-transcending franchise that is Hibike! Euphonium, let's explore the road less travelled with her rather peculiar story about finding your voice and the incantations that are pretty much the vocal life ... of literature: Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku a.k.a Flower and Asura.

If you're coming into this show and thinking that it'll be a masterpiece like Hibike!, then I'm sorry to say that you're going to be disappointed, since HanaShura doesn't have much of the weight attributed to it as compared to the former series. Instead, it explores the less ventured nuance of literature and, importantly, recitals/speech and storytelling, which Japan has no lack of such exquisite fine practices to help boost its literacy into something special. If you love shows like Summer 2021's Kageki Shoujo!!, then this will be your mojo, just in a different aspect.

Meet Hana Haruyama: the girl who lives on the small island of Tonaki-jima with a sizable population of just 600 and has an interest in storytelling by reading to children. That has been her life at least since the one influence that brought her to the same degree in her youth, until she attends school on a normal basis as a fresh new sophomore and gets noticed by the Senpai of Mizuki Usurai when she starts speaking affluently to scout her into the Broadcasting Club and try out her articulation, which confirms her position in the rather small club. Along with other prolific members of the Broadcasting Club, Hana's journey into the realm of recital literature begins.

Right from the get-go, HanaShura leverages the anime medium in one single fine thread: the aspect of sound through voice acting. It's never easy for VAs to get their articulation right, and when they do, they create some of the most iconic voices that have resonated with us throughout the years (e.g. Yusuke Kobayashi for Re:Zero's Subaru Natsuki, or any character that's voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda). It's the same application here in HanaShura, where the VAs drowns the surroundings until one decides to step up to the plate and showcase their talent, to which sound engineers will enable vacuum chamber-like settings to showcase their talents in clear-cut clarity and stereo voice. It's an art that, though, has been explored before (as in last Spring's Seiyuu Radio no Uraomote a.k.a The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio), but not to this height of composition that enables one's voice to have so much power and feel that when he/she takes the lead, it's just that engrossing. It's for this reason that if you want to enjoy this show all the more, please use headphones or a good surround system to fully appreciate the sound design for the anime.

The Broadcasting Club has no lack of eccentric characters: some like Hana who are in the club for fun or others like Mizuki who've been climbing up the ranks between the various competitions against other high schools vying for the same glory and reputation. Obviously, the 2nd-year students of president Mizuki, vice president Ryoko Totonoi, Setaro Hakoyama and their advisor of Hiromi Kichijoji are experienced when it comes to competitive recital, enough to give the new faces of Hana, rivals An Natsue and Shudai Toga, as well as their meditator of Matsuyuki Akiyama to prove their skills, this becomes all the more important to distinguish what's good (in the comfort sense) and what's better (in the competition sense), because good is never enough, if you're not putting your own skills to the test, which if going by the symbolism of the series' name, Hana (as in the flower) and Shura (as in Shura Saionji, the person who inspired Hana to take on recital storytelling in the first place, or more appropriately as in the Buddhism demigod of war Asura) aptly creates the scenario of people falling into situations in which they have to fight an endless war against their own comfort zone, in a relentless and inhumane manner, if it means earning the fame that they're known for.

Remember how Studio Bind was created between White Fox and production-cum-planning management company Egg Firm just to focus on Mushoku Tensei alone? Well, after 6 years of operations, you can clearly tell where the studio is at thanks to Egg Firm separating it from White Fox to "allow us to move forward with the project in a continuous, long-term, and systematic manner." That's not to say that works from the studio from now on will become less varied, but they still show potential in their production, as does HanaShura here. It just needs to amplify what's needed, and that's as much effort to give the great effect.

Other than the incredible sound design I just mentioned earlier in the review; Masaru Yokoyama's OST also is solidly sound. There's not much to it, but whatever it does have, it's done to delicate balance and knows its centrepiece all the more. I'm also fine with Shishamo's OP and Sato's ED songs, though it's not something that is noteworthy, unfortunately. Props to rookie AiPri VA Minori Fujidera for her performance; the now 18/19-year-old VA easily fits Hana's character very well.

Ayano Takeda certainly wasn't lying when she made Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku a.k.a Flower and Asura, because while it tries to hinge on the massive success of her prior series, at the same time, it's branching out to be its own work as well, which takes a unique audience to understand the brave complexities of vocals and sound in a captivating manner. They say, "a picture paints a thousand words," and I believe that the art of storytelling turns the quote upside down to give its own take on a long-standing rhetoric that shines best in silence.

For sure, HanaShura's a unique experience; just don't expect too much from it (especially if you're going into it with a Hibike! mindset) and let the series just resonate its wavelength of stillness, coupled with vocal harmonics that'll leave you wanting for more.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 2, 2025

RomanRonin

Mixed Feelings

Informative

Flower and Asura is a perfectly fine show. In fact, for what it is, it is an exceptionally good show. The animation is striking, the voice actors are incredibly talented, and the plot is meaningful and makes complete sense. However, there's something about it that is just a bit...boring.

If I have to put words to it, it's a disconnect between me and the concept. The whole concept of Flower and Asura is a high school broadcasting club striving to compete in the national broadcasting competition. Most of the plot revolves around dramatic readings of various texts. These readings are obviously deeper in their meaning, ... and often pair with the characters' own feelings. They also are artistically adapted to convey the emotion of the reading.

However, there's a problem. The VAs are already so talented that, from the get-go, the readings sound fantastic. In other words, whilst the show is meant to show the progression of these characters, they feel perfect from the very beginning. The MC, who is a likeable "Mary Sue" type character, is depicted as imensely talented but not refined, yet by Episode 12 she shoulds virtually the same as always. Sure, her confidence certainly grows, but her actual readings are about the same. In fact, the only person who's readings I actually resonated with was Mizuki, who had immense power and emotion to her voice. Everyone else felt just like professional VAs reading a script, too perfect for their depicted characters.

Now, this by itself doesn't make the show bad: it's perfectly good! But, if I'm being honest, the premise is already a bit boring, so when 95% of these spoken poems are presented with scant emotion and flawless pronunciation, it makes everything feel so...bland. Strangely enough, despite the medium, I actually feel like this is likely better in the manga, as the written form allows for a little bit more imperfection.

Forgive my rambling, but if I had to boil down my long-winded point, I'd say this show played it way too safe, and while its perfectly fine to play it safe, it also hinders it from its true potential.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 25, 2025

Kalokagathos

Not Recommended

Flower and Asura is an anime that does not stand out for anything in particular. The story is very simple, the characters are very simple, and the only element that stands out is the animation. Regarding the theme of voice acting, the only thing that moves you is the visual representation—nothing in the performances truly adds to the story or engages the viewer. The anime never explains what makes a voice interesting, what nuances intonation can bring, or why it matters. Then, suddenly, the story decides you need to know the past of every character in the series.

So, the anime starts delivering one character’s backstory ... after another, with the incredible coincidence that, just as their past is being revealed, some event directly connected to it conveniently occurs—wow, very impressive! These elements of the story feel like unrelated pieces forced together. There isn’t much drama, and nothing justifies the time spent on these revelations. The anime misuses its pacing and fails to convey emotions effectively. Ironic, considering that its core premise revolves around the reading of works by some of the most important and renowned Japanese storytellers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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