FLCL, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Gainax (Author)

Book Description

Series: Flcl | Publication Date: September 16, 2003

From the mind of Hideaki Anno (Evangelion) comes this bizarre tale of adolescence in a nonsensical world. Naota's life isn't simple. He lives with his eccentric father and grandfather in a city distinguished marked by a gigantic hand-iron shaped factory perched on a hill. So the last thing he needs is for his brother's ex-girlfriend to make passes at him or for an impish, playful alien to smack him in the head with a bass guitar and then insinuates herself into his family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (September 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159182396X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591823964
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Chaos, December 30, 2005

By 

Antonio D. Paolucci "Collector of Entertainment" (Beaver Falls, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FLCL, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

For anyone unfamiliar to the FLCL anime, after flipping through the first few pages of this book you'd most likely end up slamming it back down on the display rack and grab some of the more beautifully animated manga, like Naruta, InuYasha, or an Ani-Manga of some sort. But for fans of FLCL, the chaos of art that hits you from start to finish will make you smile, as it is very reminiscent of the anime in some ways. The FLCL anime had chaotic storytelling and action, while the manga has chaotic art. Both, however, are beautifully made.

The differences this volume of the manga has from the series are very few. The story has been expanded somewhat in the first volume. A couple more mysterious characters were added, like Naota's grandfather, whose role in the series was minute at best. Plus, Mamimi, Naota's brother, and Naota's relationship are explained just a little better here, and we know the main reasons why Naota's family dislikes the mysterious fire-starter. Beyond that, though, the story is pretty much the same. Naoto is hit by a strange Vespa Girl. A horn grows from his head, and soon a robot crawls from that horn to defend him and his friends from intergalactic (maybe) threats.

My main problem with this anime is that it's artistic style alienates people easily. I've told many that FLCL is one of the best animes ever, and whenever I recommend anime I always try to recommend the manga, because it's cheaper and if a person likes the manga, the anime is sure to follow (oddly enough, I'm not a big manga reader). FLCL, while beautifully chaotic, doesn't translate well for outsiders of this wonderful series. It's very difficult to recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen the anime. I would strongly recommend this volume for anyone who loved the anime, however, because the back-story of the characters can be found here, shedding some light on the FLCL.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Distinctive and Unusual Manga, November 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: FLCL, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I think Kazuya Tsurumaki, the director of the anime FLCL (which came out first) said somewhere that they purposely chose someone with a distinctive, different drawing style to do the manga. Mission accomplished: Hajime Ueda's style is so bold, rough and sketchy that you may not initially realize how good it really is. Page after page are masterpieces of beautiful layout, done in the most subtle and minimalist style, a great example of the kind of offbeat manga that we almost never see translated, even by Tokyopop. On the down side: some of his panels are so crazy and experimental that they go over the top and don't work. Narrative continuity is admittedly somewhat fractured, worse in the second volume where characters appear and disappear without explanation, and the story -- such as it is -- doesn't really follow the anime (This is common in manga adaptations, though since the book jackets say "story by GAINAX" one wonders if perhaps the story hadn't been finalized when Ueda started work). In fact, I think the anime story is a little better than the one in the manga, but don't worry about it; this is a wild and unique manga, so check it out and give it time to grow on you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming new take on the series, February 23, 2010

By 

J. Granville (Denver, Colorado, United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FLCL, Vol. 1 Special Edition (Paperback)

This was kind of a random find while cruising a store one day that I put off buying for a while, but now that I have, I really don't regret it in the least. The manga does an excellent job retaining the charming idiosyncrasies of the show, while being much more than a simple shot-for-shot rehash (as some comics based on shows or movies can be). It develops the story in original directions, while maintaining the interesting characters an situations of the original. Also, I really enjoyed the art style. If you're a fan of the series, I highly recommend this as an addition to your collection.