Customer Reviews

FLCL - Ultimate Edition DVD Collection

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Bought the original set of three disks (two episodes each) as they were released for thirty bux each. This set has all three of those discs-a disc of bonus features, a mail in card for a free t-shirt, a sheet of stickers, six postcards, and a bonus book containing notes on the series and translation as well as bonus manga!

At first glance, this box set may seem too expensive. 50 dollars for only six episodes? But there are a few things you have to keep in mind:
Studio Gainax used FLCL as a test subject for various modern and hand-drawn (no CG here) animation techniques. They spent the same ammount of money making these six episodes than they would have spent on an average commercial anime series of 12 Episodes or more. There is very little use of cheap cell-sliding animation and nearly every frame is individually hand-drawn at some level. Besides, the interresting animation style, which varies constantly and includes not only hip, fluid segments but other forays into more and less complex, but equally cutting-edge, graphic styles.
In addition to amazing production values on a per-episode basis, the series really comes together story wise. It's funny, slapstick, and satirical interludes are ballanced by genuinely touching moments. The entire series can be watched over and over again until you understand the intricate pop-sci-fi plot, but what makes the story so beautiful is that at heart, despite all the crazy and often irrelevant action, it is really a coming-of-age story about a frustrated teenager going through puberty. The anime (and the books on which it was based) are loaded with metaphors and symbolism, and the series can be taken either literally or as an abstract portrait of a boy's experience in high school. However, the series still shines with Gainax's tried-and-true ability to manipulate the audience in ways that will have you laughing histerically and suddenly be cought off guard by a surprisingly touching and sometimes heartbreaking moment. Most of the episodes build up to finales that are consistantly serious and powerful and yet never quite kill the playful mood of the entire series.
The incredible score by the Pillows makes this not only my favorite anime, as I'm not a huge fan of the standard 20-minute cartoon format, but one of my favorite films as a whole.

Anime can be pretty weird -- just look at series like "Paranoia Agent" and "Boogiepop Phantom." Really weird, sometimes impossible to totally understand.

But for sheer strangeness and kookiness, the winner has got to be "Fooly Cooly (FLCL)." Even as it pokes fun at typical anime, it tells the surrealist story of a very odd coming-of-age, complete with strange plots, oddball characters, and robots sprouting out of a young boy's head.

Naota is a young boy living what he sees as an oppressively dull existance, in a quiet city dominated by the Medical Mechanica building. The closest thing to excitement is fending off the advances of his brother's troubled girlfriend Mamimi.

Then sudenly a girl on a Vespa runs him over, resuscitates him with a smooch, and then bashes him over the head with a bass guitar. That evening, Naota finds that instead of a bump, he has a horn growing out of his head, and no idea what it is or how to get rid of it.

Despite his efforts to avoid her, Naoto's kooky father has hired the crazy Vespa girl, Haruko, as a housekeeper. To make matters worse, his "horn" turns out to be a robot and a giant mechanical hand -- springing out of a channel in his head. And you thought YOU had problems.

The five episodes that follow don't get any more normal, as Naota must deal with the Mayor's daughter getting his strange power, cat ears, more robots, baseball, bombs, the Pirate King Atomsk, seaweed eyebrows, and the interplanetary Medical Mechanica which may or may not be intent on galactic domination. It all clashes in the final episode.

For newbies, "FLCL" is probably the WORST anime to start with. It's a parodic mishmash of anime in-jokes -- giant robots, fanservice, boy falls for kooky abusive alien girl -- and a storyline that is bizarre to the point where you may not be able to understand what's going on. But oh, is it a fun ride.

As if the plot weren't hyperactive enough, the animation is exaggerated and crazy, full of distorted faces and wild robot battles. Lots of action and overdramatic dialogue ("OH NO.... OOOOOOOOO... an American GIRLFRIEND!"). As if it weren't funny enough, the director sprinkles in homages to other shows, ranging from other anime to "South Park."

And the characters are as bizarre as the story itself. Naoto starts off as a typical bored preteen, but slowly gains confidence and guts as he gets immersed in the weirdness. Haruko is a completely off-the-wall kook who is apparently an alien. And there's a bunch of other weird characters -- troubled pyromaniacs, wistful robots, preteen pervs, and a guy from Interstellar Immigration.

"FLCL" is perhaps the strangest anime in existance. It's also enough to blow the top off of your head, with the strange characters and wildly surrealist plot. Fooly Cooly!

I love FLCL and I decided to purchase this DVD set from a local store for far less then anyone on Amazon is selling it now, (about $60-$80). It has amazing extras and features, however there is one issue: The first disc is often broken.

I kept returning my broken set, and in each one I opened the first disc was starting peel apart, causing minor skipping, but with potential to get worse in the future. The store went through all 12 copies they had, and they were all broken in the same way. According to them, many sets were returned to the distributors, and the set has been officially discontinued.

Good News though, Funimation has picked it up, and will be re-releasing the series on DVD and Blue-ray later this year. You should probably wait for that to come out. Here's Funimation's official site for FLCL: [..]

Subtlety, it seems is a dying art in modern entertainment. Always we are bombarded with one explosive action scene after another, shallow characters, and overly exploited plot concepts. We want for originality but maybe we're just looking in the wrong places.

Anime is a category very often dismissed by the majority of "serious" entertainment seekers, (which is, in itself, something of a contradiction now isn't it?) writing it off as kids stuff or, the love of melodramatic teens. While I will concede that this label does tend to apply to a large quantity (maybe even most) of the genre it cannot encompass every series and every work. I freely admit that I, myself once had a rather inflexible stance toward anime. Now I see it for what it is, a genre as broad and flavorful as if I were to simply say 'drama', or 'comedy'. One could hardly toss every work of drama in as original and amazing, such is the case with anime.

As for the nature of this particular series, I find it to be truly spectacular, even to the point of being a holder of some of life's greatest lessons, let me elaborate. FLCL, or as it is pronounced in english, Fooly Cooly is a very intricate work of fiction that requires the viewer to see beyond the comedic outer story which is, in it's own right, a slightly above mediocre presentation of zany, confusing fiction. If we are able to see past this exterior, we find one hidden meaning after another, often doubly, and at times even triply, concealed and pretzeled amongst other meanings and bits of story. The series is a scant six episodes but demands to be watched over and over to pick up one subtle lesson after another. I myself have watched the entire series, front to back at least thirty times, only to still find some new subtle meaning every time.

The outer story is a mind trip, especially if you can't see the hidden messages. It may quickly be viewed as ridiculous insanity that cannot be explained. I assure you this is untrue, as every bizarre occurence in the plot has at least one, if not three, alternate meanings. The most recurring plot pretzel is the three-sided message. One of these sides being the overt, clearly visible story message. The second is a sexual-enuendo type of message (designed to grab at your immaturity) and the third is a message about maturity.

Overall, I find the series to be genius and I have found many heart-grabbingly true lessons to be tucked deep within the plot of FLCL. A boy's bitter struggle against the truth that the world is not a magical place, his denial and self-shielding refusal to accept the first truly amazing thing that comes into his life, and lastly, the bittersweet pain of being forever seperated from that magic, taking away the lessons it taught him so he may have a more fulfilling life. This is the message.

OK, I loved this show when it aired on TV but I guess I've forgotten about it the last few years. I just bought this (the ultimate collection) a few days ago (when it was released)..and it is awesome! I was very skeptical at first, mainly because of the price, but what the heck, I decided to get it anyways, and I'm so glad I did. The DVDs are wonderfully, and I especially enjoy the bonus "Test Type" DVD that has several music videos and artwork. All the other extras are pretty neat as well. You get 6 post cards, some stickers, and a little book that has some manga excerpts as well as details on the characters and production. There is also a section that explains some things one might have missed from the episodes, such as meanings of words or references to things in the media. Of course, there's also a black "Never Knows Best" wristband and a mail in for a t-shirt card. Watching it again, I know why i fell in love with it the first time. The animation is crazily funny cool and the music is wonderful. There are also a lot of symbolism and the atmosphere of some of the scenes are amazing. I dont really know how to describe it...but bottomline, the collection is as wonderful as the anime and I am very glad I bought it. For those of you who think it's a bit expensive, that's probably true but you'll be very pleased once you open it! (also go read other people's post as to why it's the price it is)

Okay, first let me start off with two things...firstly, if you haven't already watched this series then you are "seriously" missing out. Secondly, If you are going to by FLCL in any form...BUY THIS ONE!
(Sorry for the caps but figured it'd be the only way to get my point across.)

Let's start off with the DVD's themselves...The first three dics contain the full, albeit short, series of FLCL. All 6 episodes are right here, so you can't miss a thing. I'll be the first to admit that this is my all time fave series ever. But it's what Gainax brings to the table in the discs that makes it all so blasted good. The plot is original, the art style is colorful, and the whole thing just makes you want to be a part of it.

Now, I own the original US releases of the series on DVD...However, after reviewing my original releases and these new releases I've noticed that Gainax really cleared it up even more than it was at first. The lines are sharp and the colors are gorgeous! Definately they've retooled the screen resolution. And for those of us that can't afford a fancy-pants HD TV or whatnot, listen up. I've got a battered and beaten floor model RCA 24" TruFlat (flat tube, not flat panel) and the series looks absolutely beautiful on it. The sound design is also top notch and superbly preserved on the discs, no loss of sound resolution here.

Next...my favorite...the fourth disc, the "FLCL Test Type" DVD. This fourth disc came in the package and I found myself saying, "Huh? What's this? Another disc!?" Immediately I tossed it into my DVD player to see what it was. I'm greeted with a sampling of 5 music videos of sampled and synched bits from the series. They did an awesome job making them too. Especially the "Come Down" video. They even play the extended song with never before released lyrics in it! Speaking of lyrics, you can also change the subtitles on the bottom of the screen in the music videos to "english" or "karaoke" subs, very cool. The galleries on the disc are packed with illustrations and art from the series. It's amazing how much they put into this.

Next up, the extras...In the box you get, the series in a new, and beautifully designed case with blue Canti on the front and a slip cover with red Canti on it. There's even a black silicon wristband in the box bearing the "Never Knows Best" quote on it from Episode.2 "Firestarter". Then you get 6 collectable post cards and a sticker sheet of various FLCL logos. Then the coup de' grace, the booklet. The booklet has everything you need to know about the series, from interviews with the animation crew, to character bios, background info, and both manga forms that appear in the series. The only problem I have is that they still didn't change the booklet's manga parts to exactly what you hear in the series.

(There is also a postcard that you can mail in to get a free t-shirt in the box, so keep that in mind too. Even if you don't wear the shirt you can mat it and put it on your wall or something.)

Finally the box itself is very well done. The graphics are sweet. They really convey the feeling of FLCL on it. Also, this box is sturdy and tough. So now you don't have to worry about damaging anything inside the box unlike your other series that come in flimsy paper slip covers.

If you're going to buy FLCL, you should buy it in this boxed set. For the price of $55.99 you can't beat it. This definately ranks among my top 3 best investments of all time! So what are you waiting for? BUY IT NOW!

I wanted to address the review below and the reviewers suggestion that this release was not worth the cost.

6 episodes on 1 dvd would be a bootleg DVD. That DVD is not licensed by GAINAX or Production I.G or any LEGITIMATE company involved with the release of FLCL. The Ulimate Edition featured above takes what was released in Japan for $30 PER 1 episode disk with added features that go even beyond what was a bonus filled release in the US.

Perhaps you do not understand things about licensing and paying residuals to the Japanese creators, but the $10 you bought is illegal and no royalty money goes back to Japan.

This DVD release has several things that your bootleg does not have, including new commentaries, a storyboard track, and a book filled with FLCL information and translation notes. Hm, I'm sure your $10 bootleg had tha- wait, it didn't.

Hopefully you decide to support the Japanese creators as well as realize that the production quality on US release is much better than your bootleg dvds. Plus, buyers can rest well with the knowledge that they aren't stealing from creators.

It's hard to write a review about FLCL, because it throws a whole lot of action and activity at you. However, when someone really thinks about everything, including the robots coming out of people's heads, the super-powerful Haruhara Haruko and the guitars, this is really an anime pop art masterpiece.

Naota is a young teenager who lives in a boring town. His brother's girlfriend, Mamimi, hits on him regularly. Before he could tell her that his brother has a girlfriend in America, he suddenly gets smacked in the head by a woman on a Vespa scooter with an electric guitar. The woman is actually an alien who, by smacking him in the head, created an inter-dimensional portal capable of transporting robots. Some are shaped like an elongated pencils before they come out, some are horns (get it?) and some are cat ears.

While it may be a little incomprehensible to call Naota the last hope for Japan, he actually does personify the part. Naota is one of the boys of Japan, and anime robots literally fill up his head, so there's not actually any gray matter there anymore. He has many friendships with girls, but he's really only in love with Haruko, who is more in love with the robots in his head.

It's a bad love that literally causes the destruction of Medical Mechanica, the government ministry which is supposed to iron the wrinkles out of Japan's recession. And it's a little unrealistic for Naota to love a middle-aged woman. However, part of the romance is actually similar to another case in Japan, where teenage girls act as prostitutes for middle-age salarymen. Whatever the case, this anime is like a psychedelic trip through J-pop culture, with robots, gunfights and a Westerner who wears seaweed eyebrows to look like his favorite anime characters.

Yet, when that sexual excitement on J-pop is over, Naota has to grow up. And eventually, Naota has to move on to more realistic relationships, with good friends such as his friend at school, Ninamori. After all, a boy needs better things in his head than robots, right. Then again, I could be wrong about current Japanese children. Some of them get too addicted to Japanese pop culture.

Still, I think this anime proves once again that everyone could use robots and girls killing robots with Rickenbacher guitars. I highly recommend this series for people who love anime. There are more commentaries and extras in this collection to pique those otakus' interests too. While this series is not too deep, FLCL is always fascinating for its display of teenage angst and romantic frustration through Rickenbacher guitars, guns and a tough woman with a super-powered Vespa scooter.

This is an awesome deal for FLCL! The initial disc costed 30$ per, so this is quite a steal. I saw this for the first time maybe 5 years go, and it totally blew my mind. The animation is really unique, paired with a hyperactive pace. Those looking for a linear plot should probably look elsewhere- this story line is just wacky and convoluted. That's not to say that it isn't a whole lot of fun! And I really like the soundtrack- The Pillows are awesome. Highly recommended.