Dad sums it all up.
I realized while watching this episode that the TV anime gives quite a different thematic impression than the manga. When I read the manga, I remember being most disturbed by everything Nakamura did, the whole thing with stealing the gym clothes, etc.
Yet in the animated version, Nakamura’s craziness seems more like a freaky sideshow. The part that really gets to me in this version is how the main character is going through the most awkward stages of puberty. Reading poetry. Muttering to himself about how no one understands him. Getting obsessed over girls he barely even knows.
Compared to the awkwardness of puberty, stealing clothes and Nakamura’s brand of craziness are nothing.
Also I’ve been trying to be patient and get myself to like the animation, but damn it’s ugly.
You know, I think you’re right. That might be why Aku no Hana is too much for me: it didn’t have to be about Nakamura and the gym shorts at all. Even the awkward animation feels like it’s pubescent, not to mention the acting. It’s just too damn much.
But then.. I don’t know if a more typical presentation would have worked better. Manga lets you (the reader) give the characters a voice and pace things, so I think it just works better than the anime format for a story like this.
I think this is spot on. In manga I can just read quickly through the painful parts. Here I have to sit through every agonizing moment of it. It’s downright painful.