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68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Giant Flatirons in the Sky, March 6, 2004
Some of the best work in a genre comes when it satirizes itself. Anime is noted for many things, dramatic (and over-dramatic) plots, silliness in the face of disaster, haphazard development, even an excess of pompousness, but very rarely is it self aware. For the most part anime is written for the fans of anime, not the fans of the fans of anime, e.g., the people who create it. FLCL is a celebration of the humorous aspects of anime - and a brilliant success.FLCL, however, undertakes to be a well (and outrageously) written satire on the entire alien girl sub-genre as well as a perfect example of its type. These are the stories where an unsuspecting adolescent boy suddenly finds himself inextricable entwined with a beautiful alien (or robot) woman, who overturns his life, continually embarrasses him, and loves him without any regard to his obvious flaws. In a way she (in this case Haruko) is the perfect foil for the insecurities of a young man - forward where he is afraid, and forgiving wwhen he makes mistakes. Poor Naota not only has his older brother's girlfriend (Mamimi) making overtures to him, but Haruka the space girl appears, runs him over with her Vespa, and then moves into his household as a maid. Surrounded by beautiful older women, it would be easy to envy Naoto if it weren't for the robots that start growing out of his head. And Haruka's habit of swatting him with a bass guitar. And Mamimi's fascination with fire. No, it's not really supposed to make any sense. Instead, enjoy it for the ribald puns and dialog, the countless 'in-joke' references to Japanese popular culture, and its irreverent experimentation with its media. The collaboration team that created FLCL (or Fooly Cooly) is composed of Gainax's best artists and writers. The level of professionalism is what makes all the crazy parts fit together, leaving the viewer staring wide-eyed at the screen waiting for the next impossible setup, While the first two episodes contain nothing so blatant as to be offensive, there is a high level of fan service that runs throughout the series. Gainax has chosen not to pursue a rating for FLCL. Most teenagers should be mature enough to handle the innuendo, though. And, honestly, I haven't seen a film that was this much pure fun in quite a while.
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104 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply the best, July 31, 2002
FLCL is simply the best anime ever. A 6 episode series, it's less than 3 hours long in total, shorter than many movies. I've read a review stating that watching FLCL is like falling in love for the first time again, and it's a great way to put it. In summary, FLCL is a story about a 11 (I believe, may be 10) year old boy named Naota and his brother's strange girlfried named Mamimi, and what happens when they meet a strange 20-year old woman named Haruhara Haruko who claims to be an alien. The first 2 episodes will confuse you, but will leave you curious. Episode 3 is the weakest, and may draw some people away. Episodes 4-6 are simply incredible, as we find out just what's up with Haruko and why it matters. The climax in episode 6 is simply beautiful, stunning, moving. As many people have said, FLCL is very confusing. The confusion is not an especially frustrating type, because we understand what happened, but not always why. But in the end, it's easy to see that it's more of a coming-of-age story than anything. Some have raved about the soundtrack, and it indeed is great, the best in anime. Most of the background music are rock songs by a band called The Pillows, and they are simply perfect for every scene they are in. Every episode but ep3 has at least 2 scenes when I was simply in awe of how well music could fit with the scene. When I think of FLCL, I think of it more as a beautiful piece of art that used anime as its medium, not the other way around. FLCL doesn't really fit in any of the classic genres of anime, although the plot may. I encourage anyone and everyone to see it in its full.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly mind-warping., July 5, 2004
Whew. Gainax really outdid themselves with FLCL. This is one of the most random and completely Dadaist things I've ever witnessed. Seriously. This makes other off-the-wall anime I've seen (Elf Princess Rane, Excel Saga) seem downright pedestrian by comparison. Okay, maybe not Excel Saga, since that's pretty insane in of itself, but FLCL is quite different from that, and still pretty "wha?" inducing. Beyond that claim, pinning an accurate description to this anime is extremely difficult, but I'll give it my best shot anyway. Is FLCL a comedy? At its core, I think it is--there are a lot of humourous sight gags, one-liners, and a conucopia of inside jokes (many of which even I haven't deciphered yet) along with a lot of stuff that's just plain incomprehensible. But there's more to it than comedy. It's initiation story, drama, parody, and action all rolled into one package...and then promptly injected with some seriously psychotropic substances. Just when you think it's going to start making sense, FLCL laughs in your face and throws enough bizarre dialogue and imagery at you to make your brain hurt for days. And yet, there IS a story, and some sense of logic...though an alien one. I've seen all six episodes three times (once with a serious caffiene bender), and I'm still trying make sense of it all. Needless to say, the characters are a little more than slightly off the beaten path. The boy Naota is the most normal of the lot; he acts much like an average small-town prepubescent boy...until giant robots start sprouting out of his head for no apparent reason. Mamimi, girlfriend to Naota's older brother (who we never see in the series), is just your typical homeless chain-smoking teenage girl with a facination for fire. But the most inspired character is Haruko--a pink-haired alien woman with a penchant for whacking things with her bass guitar/chainsaw hybrid, generating mass carnage with her Vespa scooter, and alternating between cute and completely deranged in a split second. The two women act as a sort of foil to Naota, influencing his development and character (it relates to the initiation story aspect). Freud would have a field day with some of the psychological symbolism on display here. If that wasn't enough to chew on, also add a giant factory that looks like a clothing iron; Naota's bizarre dad and hentai grandfather; giant monster battles; a school play; gobs of fan service and innuendo; a walking TV set; and enough pop culture references and in-jokes to make Quentin Tarantino green with envy. The character designs and art are gorgeous, and the animation quality and production values are consistently high (not to mention as schizophrenic as the storyline). FLCL is one of the most beautiful anime I've seen in quite awhile; it compares favorably with other recent high-quality productions, and surpasses a good deal of them. And to top it all off, it's got great music courtesy of J-Rock band The Pillows, who are kind of like a Japanese version of The Pixies (I am searching for the soundtrack as of the typing of this review). Gainax put a ton of work into this and it shows. The dub acting is great, and I actually prefer it to the subtitles. The liner notes even elaborate on some of the more peculiarly Japanese in-jokes, which eases the "WTF?!?" factor slightly. Too bad that the cost per DVD is somewhat exorbitant (25 bucks for two episodes--ouch), and the whole thing only lasts 3 hours, though I doubt you will find a more action-packed and thought-provoking 3 hours anywhere. All and all, any experienced anime viewer (if your only previous anime experience is Dragonball Z, you may not want to jump into this right away) needs to check out FLCL. It's one of the most original viewing experiences ever, and deserves my highest reccommendation.
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