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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 Kaguya in her moron form with a flower growing out of her head - 2

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?

BCLC
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    Not really flowers, but [mushrooms](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/7530/2516) – Aki Tanaka Jul 26 '20 at 20:59
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    @AkiTanaka So, mushrooms grow in a dark, gloomy places, therefore mushrooms growing on a person's head symbolize that they are mentally in a dark and depressed place. Analogously, flowers grow in sunshine and bright places, so flowers growing on a person's head symbolizes that they are mentally in a bright and happy place? –  Jul 27 '20 at 10:18
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    Related: https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/14845/why-does-minori-have-a-flower-on-her-head – Fumikage Tokoyami Aug 02 '20 at 04:25
  • @AkiTanaka Huh? It looks like post you link to says a mushrooms are for depressed/sad while flowers are for stupid/dumb/dense. What am I missing? – BCLC Apr 10 '22 at 14:23

2 Answers2

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There is a Japanese term 脳内お花畑 (nōnai o-hanabatake) 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.

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

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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".

BCLC
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