Flower of Eden

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"I am your real brother and I have come to take you back."

Midori Wakatsuki seems to be a normal student on the outside, but her life is actually not very ordinary. Her parents died in a fire when she was young, she was separated from her older brother Tokio and placed in foster care... and at "home" she withstands her adoptive brother's sexual abuse, alongside her foster parents treating her as few more than a stand-in for their deceased daughter Reika.

Midori's terrible life starts taking a turn when, after dropping from school and while still in her uniform, she meets a man who comes from the States, asking for directions to the Tokyo Tower. She forces her way into his route, asking him to kidnap her... sort of. They end up becoming friends rather fast—And later, it turns out that the man is Tokio, her long lost brother! Tokio eventually finds out about Midori's horrifying life and decides to help her out, reclaiming custody and taking her into his household. From then on, Midori and Tokio start mending their lives. . .

Flower of Eden (エデンの花, Eden no Hana) is a Japanese manga created by author Yuki Suetsugu, author of Chihayafuru. It has some measure of infamy, since it's the title in which she included plagiarised art from manga including Slam Dunk and Vagabond, thus leading to its cancellation and almost the end of Suegutsu's career.


Tropes used in Flower of Eden include:
  • Attractiveness Isolation: Midori's classmates wonder if this is the reason why Midori is a borderline outcast in class. It's more because of Loners Are Freaks
  • Big Damn Heroes: Subverted. Tokio actually breaks back into Midori's life right via revealing that he has been granted her custody... when she's about to be raped again by her stepbrother. While Midori's parents refuse to let him see her, that gives Midori the courage to fend off said stepbrother via a Groin Attack and reply to his calls, pretty much jumping through the window and into Tokio's arms.
  • Broken Bird: Midori
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Not exactly by Midori's will.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Masamune is very flashy, but he's also pretty reliable at getting info and a good emotional support for Tokio.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: "I'm NOT Reika! MY NAME IS MIDORI!" Also a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • The Chikan: Midori falls asleep on the train and the man sitting next to her gropes her thigh. Her classmate Hashiba, the local Megane, looks at the man threateningly and he gets off the train.
  • Coming of Age Story
  • Dead Little Sister: Midori's foster parents had a dead daughter called Reika, who perished in an accident years ago
  • Flower Motifs: Roses, lts of them
  • Joshikousei
  • Large Ham: Masamune is... bombastic, to say at least.
  • Megane: Hashiba, who is also Blind Without'Em.
  • Mood Whiplash: Tokio and Midori are speaking about paradise and life decisions. Tokio's adoptive brother Masamune shows up. Hilarity Ensues. And whiplash hits again, as Masamune also had the information about Midori's whereabouts.
  • Ninja: Played for Laughs with Masamune.
  • Parental Neglect: Midori's foster parents. See Replacement Goldfish.
  • Rape as Drama: Midori's story of sexual abuse. Tokio almost went through it when in his teens, according to him.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Midori's foster parents adopted her to fill in the blank left by the death of her bio daughter. Her mentally-broken foster mom treats her with relative kindness, but calls her by the dead little girl's name and acts as if Midori was the real Reika.
  • Shoujo: Before it was cancelled, it ran for 12 volumes and was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend.
  • Teens Are Monsters: Midori's rapist stepbrother
  • Tragic Keepsake: Midori has a photo of her, kid!Tokio, and their mother among her belongings. Tokio has one of them and their dad.