Want to see a high school boy be dragged into a web of blackmail, manipulation, and eeeevil? Then you might want to check out the animated psychological drama "Flowers of Evil," based on the manga from Shuzo Oshimi out later this year from Sentai Filmworks.

The manga, which is being released here in the U.S. by the Viz mature imprint Vertical, was turned into a 13-episode series earlier this year, using the classic rotoscoping technique to give the show its unique, hyperreal look, with direction by Hiroshi Nagahama ("Fruits Baskets," "Detroit Metal City").

From the publisher:

Darkness lurks everywhere, in every human heart, and sometimes it takes just a second of weakness for it to take root. For Takao Kasuga, that germination begins when his obsession with his beautiful classmate Nanako meets the opportunity to “borrow” her used gym clothes. Unfortunately, his loathsome act of laundry theft is witnessed by Nakamura, the strange girl who sits behind him in class. Soon, Nakamura's own dark obsessions begin to hook their twisted tendrils into Takao's miserable existence. Blackmailed into a “contract” under the threat of having his guilt revealed to his entire class, the former bookworm who could spend hours reading Beaudelaire's “The Flowers of Evil” now finds himself entwined in Nakamura's growing fantasies as she leads him down the garden path to damnation. As their blossoming relationship becomes ever darker, even the seemingly innocent Nanako is pulled into the nightmare. Just what are Nakamura's ultimate plans, and will the increasingly trapped Takao really be willing to carry them out? What you sow, you must ultimately reap, and there's certain to be a harrowing harvest ahead in FLOWERS OF EVIL!

Sentai Filmworks hasn't yet provided specific release dates, but we can expect to see "Flowers of Evil" hit digital outlets soon with a DVD release later in 2013.

[Source: ANN]