ehalcomb: FLCL (Fooly Cooly) || Anime Review

"When it comes down to it, there are few people who will swing the bat." This quote, among others, sums up FLCL perfectly. To put it simply, it's a story about growing up; actions vs. consequence, true love, etc. This story approaches it from an angle that I have never quite seen before. Using beautiful story and animation techniques it provides multiple viewpoints for a story about one kid's journey.

The story is all over the place in a good way. Characters are introduced ad nauseum, plot threads get cut and reintroduced seemingly randomly, and personalities can flip at a dime. In any other anime these would all be bad things but in FLCL it sums up what it means to be young. You meet new people, forget and remember past actions, and most importantly, you are extremely emotional. The character of Naota is just this. At the start of the show he is young, immature, and inexperienced but when the finale hits, he is a whole new man. Every single character in this show has a great arc of growing up. By episode six every single character has changed and grown. Before the plot of the show, Naota's older brother had a girlfriend named Mamimi. When he graduated, however, he moved to the U.S. in order to pursue his own dreams which leaves Mamimi heartbroken and she uses Naota as a cushion for her sadness. To her, Naota is the closest she can get to Naota's brother. This does cause trouble, though. Naota is twelve and Mamimi is seventeen. Among the funny and awkward character interactions the position they're in is conducive to them understanding each other more by the end. The first episode of FLCL is an utter masterpiece. I don't want to give too much away but a character is introduced in a way that perfectly captures her personality. The show's story isn't without its faults though. The show does have a supernatural element to it that isn't explained very well. The characters do work well around this element and it can lead to some great action scenes and funny moments, but it isn't until the finale that you truly understand what's going on. Is that a bad thing? No but I feel the series would have been even better if it at least hinted at the explanation.

The animation and soundtrack are both mind-blowing. The art style is perfect and the fight scenes have a certain kind of Saguka to them that really got my heart racing. The character designs themselves are even great. The characters are all memorable just by their designs alone which helps you become attached to them even more. The soundtrack fits the show perfectly. Almost every song is created by a Japanese band named "The Pillows". They do a great job at catching the theme of the show and the entire OST will go straight into my music library after writing this.

FLCL is an anime that I will never forget watching. It is clean, simple, but also beautiful and surprisingly mature for a comedy-action series. The plot is confusing but has great re-watchablity.

FLCL is utterly crazy in a good way but can be hard to follow.