FLCL - Reviews

Alt title: Furi Kuri

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matteroffact's avatar
May 22, 2011

This six episode series is mind-blowing on multiple levels. All of which make this a must see film for anime fans. It isn't that the storyline is particularly brilliant (it is crazy and, oddly, rather simple), but this is first class anime. Naota's whirlwind coming of age experience echoes Shinji's Freudian crisis in Evangelion without being all consuming. The action and animation shows the vividness and edginess of Gurran Lagan, but with more innovation and creativity and insanity. The soundtrack - one long rock and roll trip - fits the mood and, honestly, is just damn good music. The animation is stunning and has few comparisons. Scenes like Haruko's appearance are brilliantly entertaining and it requires a few watches just to take in all the aspects of the art. This is great anime and pushes the limits and flexing the considerable muscle of the genre. 

Another interesting subtext to the series - embedded in the coming of age story - is the simple question of what it means to come of age. The adults in this film are, by and large, not very adult - scenes like Ninamori's interactions with her father's mistress and any scene involving the mess that is Naota's father bring out, strongly, the ways one can fail to come of age. Good food for thought amidst the utter pandemonium

7/10 story
9/10 animation
9/10 sound
8/10 characters
8/10 overall
UTXShiro's avatar
Jan 7, 2011

Long story short, FLCL is simply a masterpiece.  The animation isnt bad and varies quite often for great effect (particular the manga-style scenes which are superb).  The Pillows (who perform all music in the show)  are a fantastic band who I have listened to extensively since watching this show for the first time.  Each character is unique, and Naota's voice overs are extremely good at gaguing story progress and character development.  The biggest let down of this series for me is its length.  There was so much development in the 6 episodes that is is truly a shame, though well concluded.

9/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
10/10 characters
10/10 overall
wickedwill1993's avatar
Jun 16, 2010

FLCL is one of those series that just 'wow' you.

The level of detail and quality of the animation was astounding at the time, and still shuns most newer anime series today. Considering this was released 10 years ago, it simply hasn't aged in terms of animation, or story. FLCL is categorized by most people as a 'you either get it, or you don't' kind of series. If you don't dig crazy action scenes, over the top scenarios, and prefer you anime to be more serious/realistic, this series isn't for you. But if you're like me and love anything unique, 'out there' and fast paced, you will adore FLCL.

Set in the town of Mabase, FLCL follows the 12 year old protagonist Naota Nandaba as he copes with crazy adults, a truanting love interest, a robot that spawned from his head and oh, a 19 year old alien who wields a guitar like a sword and drives a flying Vespa. Ths series is mostly fixated on Haruko (the guitarist alien) and Naota as they cope living together and trying to overcome the town's evil corporation Medical Mechanica. Yes it sounds bizarre, and that's because it is. Some episodes won't make sense the first time you watch it, meaning you'll have to watch most episodes more than once to understand it properly. But it's worth it.

It just doesn't get boring. The over the top action, the strange characters, the outlandish dialogue. It's all fresh and entertaining. And the amount of stuff that happens in each episode is enough to satisfy anyone. One minute the cast are in a baseball game, the next a bomb is hurtling towards the city from space. It's crazy. It also has an amazing soundtrack by The Pillows, a Japanese band with a roster of great tunes. Everything comes together to form an amazing package that was just way ahead of its time. The voice acting is good too.

In short, watch this series. Yes it has a story that makes no sense, and only has 6 episodes, but just watch it. It may be the most entertaining and funniest anime series you'll have watched in a while.

8/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
10/10 characters
9.9/10 overall
DrakeTheTypeOf's avatar
Jul 31, 2021

The story is a complete mess. And not in a good way. The episodes feel completely disconnected and this feels like the kind of anime or movie where everything is confusing at first and and at the very end, the cards are on the table and everything resolves into a beatiful ending that ties up loose ends and answers all questions. But the twist with FLCL is that it never resolves. You're just left in confusion with a bunch of questions and a big ol' 'fuck you'. Despite this, the one-off episodic mini-plots are actually written pretty well. FLCL really knows how to tell an isolated story. Sadly they can't tell a drawn-out one.

The art is gorgeous and the animation is stellar. There's nothing more to be said. It often changes styles too so you can really see the talent and the hard work of the animators shown off.

The soundtrack is legendary at this point and it's not for no reason. Similar to the art section, I really don't have to explain anything. The Pillows do a great job setting the mood for basically every scene and the punk-rock style really fits the whole aesthetic.

The characters and the dialogue are interesting. They vary from being boring or even bad to brilliant. The main cast are pretty mediocre but some of the side characters are written incredibly well. The comedy featured is also absolutely amazing. Honestly, it was my favorite part of the whole anime.

An overall good show to watch for fun. The comedy and the action are very well done, just don't come expecting a good story...or actually even a story at all.

6/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
7/10 characters
8.5/10 overall
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Vague's avatar
Jun 20, 2011

So here's the deal with FLCL, if you go into it expecting anything and I mean anything at all you will be disappointed. Don't listen to your friends or forum buddies, heck don't really listen to me or take my review to heart, just watch it, learn it, love it.


Story
Uh, there's a kid and some chick and another, cooler chick who runs over the kid with her moped which causes robots to pop out of the kids head at random and something about saving the world. Does it make sense? No. Does it need to? Absolutely not. Sure, sure there are some who see the deeper meaning and claim that the story is really about adolescence and growing up and all that fun stuff. For me, I saw interesting characters, over the top anime comedy and some pretty freakin sweet action scenes. That's all an anime really needs right? I've seen the series a couple times straight through (easy to do since it's only 6 episodes long) and I get something new out of it every time. It's an anime that makes fun of anime/manga in one episode and in the next it's the most epic thing you've ever seen.

Animation

You may start to watch the series and go why in the world would Vague rate this a 9.0? First of all you're not going into it with an open mind like I told you ;) and second, oh just wait. Sure the general animation is pretty meh, but there are a few fight scenes that look amazing and ooooh the manga scenes. A couple times the show flips over into a semi-animated manga. Imo, FLCL is worth watching just for those scenes. The character design is pretty neat too, graphically speaking, and there's a sort of South Parkish bit that's interesting as well.


Sound
Pretty standard. Good opening/closing themes and the background music was typically to my liking. For the most part the voices are decent, though I really didn't like Mamimi's voice (English dub).


Characters
The main character, Naota, is pretty boring until robots start popping out of his head, but that's okay, Haruko is really the one who steals the show. She's supposedly an extraterrestrial investigator who's looking for some guy named Atomsk. She's employed as Naota's family maid and goes around the city running people over and hitting them on the head with her bass guitar. It's explained later that she's actually creating portals with her guitar to bring out robots from a group called Medical Mechanica in order to capture Atomsk. Like most of the story that doesn't really matter, she's witty and crazy and epic all at the same time and really makes the show fantastic. The other characters kind of get shoved to the back, but Naota's dad and grandpa are pretty entertaining, and Mamimi has a few lines here and there, but most of the time you're just trying to figure out what the heck is going on and Haruko tends to be the focal point.


Overall- 8.5
I really found it difficult to write this review. Like I said in the intro, it is what it is and nothing I write is going to help you out. The easiest thing to do is just watch it...and then maybe a year from now watch it again. You may love and then hate it or you may hate it both times, either way FLCL is one of those series that every anime lover should watch at least once in their lifetime.

Another time, another review.

7.5/10 story
9/10 animation
7.5/10 sound
9/10 characters
8.5/10 overall