Initially, the director Hiroshi Nagahama declined the offer to direct the anime because he felt it would be best presented as live-action, but reconsidered when he figured out how to adapt it and pitched the idea of using rotoscoping.[16] He felt it was the most appropriate choice because to him, the manga felt very realistic and close to daily life.[17] The live-action filming took around 3 months to complete on location in Kiryu, Gunma.[7] Along with the editing after, it took about twice the amount of time to produce than a regular anime. The end cards at the end of each episode were animated by Nagahama himself in traditional anime style to differentiate them and he made Oshimi's hair wave around to emulate flash animation.[17]
Before the premier of the anime, the producer opted to not release any character artwork.[18] When the anime aired, the use of rotoscoping resulted in criticism from fans of the manga.[19][20] Nagahama knew that the rotoscoping would be controversial, but he felt it was worth it because it would make the anime leave an impact, even if it was viewed as "creepy". When asked at a Q&A panel at Animazement 2013 why he didn't make the adaption a traditional live-action series, he responded that in live-action, the focus is on the actors and not the characters. When further asked about what kind of atmosphere he was trying to create with the pacing and soundtrack of the anime, Nagahama replied that he wanted to make an anime that feels fresh.[17] In an interview with Natalie including both Nagahama and Oshimi, Oshimi said that he was aware of the rotoscoping idea and approved of the direction Nagahama took the adaption, especially of his intent to "leave the viewer with a scar" which he felt aligned with his goal of figuratively "murdering" the readers. He also felt that Nagahama had deep insight into the story and that the anime along with the manga formed two versions of the story from his original idea.[16] Oshimi was also involved in providing feedback on the adaption as it went along and when shown anime-style drawings, preferred the different look of rotoscoping.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flowers_of_Evil_(manga)
The pacing is perfect. The 10 min walk was more intimate than any sex scene. Season 1 ended exactly where it should end.
Marketing was never the aim of the director. He gave 0 fucks about western audience.