Please Save My Earth - Design

Design

The following flowers are featured in each volume, with a possible symbolism attached to them.

Manga volume 1

Aster - This flower is known for its ability to grow in poor soil, and is Shion's namesake.

Camellia - These blossoms tend to drop their blooms all at once instead of petal by petal, reminiscent of a head being chopped off. For this reason, the Camellia can represent untimely death. This the flower Alice talks to frequently outside of her school.

Crocus - A common flower for kids to grow in windowsills. Represents longing and youthful rejoicing. This is the plant Alice and Rin brought home from the zoo, that Rin later dropped from the balcony.

Lily Magnolia - This flower represents a love of nature, and is Mokuren's namesake.

Lily of the Valley - These flowers represent integrity, innocence, and the return of happiness. They are sweet-smelling and hardy.

Peony - These large, bold flowers represent bashfulness in Japan.

Plum Blossom - These flowers represent purity, loyalty, and honesty. They also carry a sense of youth and masculinity.

Manga volume 3

Currant - There is no traditional Japanese meaning to this non-native plant, despite how often they appear in PSME.

Tulip - This flower symbolizes sympathy, charity and benevolence, and the obvious flower for Haruhiko's mom to bring to Tamura upon his release from the hospital. Tulips can also represent fame.

Water Lily - This flower is a religious symbol in Buddhism, representing man's ability to achieve enlightenment. Despite this sacred significance, in Japan the water lily, most commonly the lotus variety, expresses conceit and false love. It is used to illustrate the virus as being divine punishment due to the scientists' own cold selfishness, as Daisuke mentions.

Manga volume 5

Baby's Breath - While there is no Japanese meaning for this imported flower, in English it connotes innocence.

Begonia - This flower symbolizes unrequited love, and is Shukaido's namesake. It also represents kindness, politeness and care, which is also fitting for Shukaido's mild-mannered personality. In English, it can also imply "dark thoughts" which may also be appropriate to represent Shukaido.

Carnation - This flower represents unabashed affection and a woman's love, and comes in a variety of colors, some of which have individual meanings. This is the flower Rin gives Alice, whie pretending it's from Haruhiko.

Iris - This flower represents mysterious people and expectant news, perfect for representing Mrs. Yakushimaru's unexpected guest, Tamura.

Chrysanthemum - This noble flower represents purity and nobility, making it the perfect background for Mrs. Yakushimaru's refined and imperious Kyoto-ite icyness as she dismisses Tamura.

Manga volume 6

Azalea - Azaleas are often considered conservative plants, expressing temperance and reserve. But they can also represent passion and enthusiasm.

Boton - This flower is a variety of peony imported from China centuries ago, and represents wealth, honor, and bashfulness. It is a suitable backdrop to Mrs. Yakushimaru as she explains hers and Mikuro's difficult past to Tamura.

Japanese Pagoda Tree - Called the Chinese Scholar tree in English, this tree often appears as the backdrop for its namesake, Enju.

Gladiolus - This flower is used only in connection with the moon characters, indicating a sense of destiny, as well as strength, security, caution, and discretion.

Lily - The backdrop of Mrs. Yakushimaru, white trumpet lilies, imply majesty, dignity and integrity, reinforcing her aura of polite intimidation as she speaks with Tamura at the temple. In general, all lilies imply a sense of refinement.

Manga volume 9

Daisy - Daisies convey a sense of innocence and inexperience. Hiwatari seems to enjoy using these to convey a sense of irony, since Shusuran and Enju are hardly naive little girls.

Delphinium - A beautiful but poisonous plant that is native to Europe, these plants seem to be used with regard to the English meaning since there is no Japanese meaning. In general, they represent ardent attachment, levity and airiness. The pink variety also conveys a sense of fickleness, while the purple variety implies haughtiness.

Orchid - The plants of this family represent the largest family in the flowering plant world, due to their adaptability – they can survive extreme conditions and so can be found on six of the seven continents of the world (Antarctica being the exception). Despite its refined grace, the orchid represents selfish beauty and cheap or shallow love in Japan. Two of our scientists take a cultivar of this flower as their namesake: Gyokuran and Shusuran.

Rose - Roses represent love in Japan just as they do in the west, but of course, the colors each have their own individual meanings as well. Hiwatari seems to prefer using roses to symbolize melodrama rather than drama.