

In season 2 episode 2 of _Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai_ ("Kaguya-sama: Love is
War"), in the second skit titled _Kaguya-sama wa Okuritai_ ("Kaguya Wants to
Give a Gift"), Shinomiya Kaguya has a huge birthday cake prepared for the
student council president Shirogane Miyuki. Overwhelmed by her feelings for
the president in anticipation of celebrating his birthday together, Kaguya's
usual personas gave way to her "moron form", in which she is not at all
calculative and is very open to her feelings for the president.

In this form, Kaguya also has a pink flower growing out of the top right side
of her head:

> [![Kaguya in her moron form with a flower growing out of her head -
> 1](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n1FdSl.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n1FdSl.png)
> [![Kaguya in her moron form with a flower growing out of her head -
> 2](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PkA2S.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PkA2S.png)

Is there any significance to the flower growing out of Kaguya's head in this
visual representation of her mental state? Are there any other instances of
anime/manga characters having flowers growing out of their heads to indicate a
simple/idiot state of mind?


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tropes japan kaguya-sama-love-is-war
Why is Kaguya depicted with a flower growing out of her head when in her moron/fool form?


As you've already implied yourself, the flower on her head is most likely used
as a visual comedic cue to indicate Kaguya's "simple" state of mind in that
moment.

When it comes flowers growing on the head, it can have many different
meanings. It can be a representation of the situation they're in, it can be a
representation of the feelings they are going through, or it can simply be a
visual cue as we see with Kaguya (or perhaps a combination).

It is also worthwhile to mention that in the Japanese culture, flowers are
used heavily for symbolism. [The language of
flowers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_flowers) in Japan is known
as [Hanakotoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanakotoba). Different flowers
can have different meanings depending on the context, and sometimes flowers
used in manga or anime are specifically used to symbolize something. A very
well-known example in the manga literature is the use of [roses
(Bara)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bara_\(genre\)) to depict same-sex love
between men and [lily flowers
(Yuri)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_\(genre\)) to depict same-sex love
between women.

A flower growing on a character can indicate some kind of flower symbolism
that is related to the specific character, or it can more specifically
indicate their feelings and emotions that they are experiencing. Whether the
flower type itself has any meaning is up to interpretation.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bi9yD.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bi9yD.png)[![Asagao
to Kase-
san.](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tHxjV.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tHxjV.png)


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There is a Japanese term [脳内お花畑 ( _nōnai o-hanabatake_
)](https://www.japandict.com/%E8%84%B3%E5%86%85%E3%81%8A%E8%8A%B1%E7%95%91)
which translates literally to "garden in the brain". It's meant to indicate
someone who is "off in their own world" or spacing out, so not thinking
straight or not thinking at all.


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To supplement RobR's answer in the pilot/premiere, Kaguya wonders if Chika
(Fujiwara) has flowers instead of a brain.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2yd9.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2yd9.jpg)

So even in this anime/manga, it's not just Kaguya. But of course here it's the
same thing: Chika is arguably not thinking straight because Kaguya is
extremely unlikely to go out on this date. [脳内お花畑 (nōnai o-hanabatake) aka
"garden in the
brain".](https://www.japandict.com/%E8%84%B3%E5%86%85%E3%81%8A%E8%8A%B1%E7%95%91)


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