"FLCL" review

It's actually quite difficult for me to write a review about FLCL. It's impossible to place it in a genre, as it is completely unrecognizable compared to any other show. The plot is hidden in a shell of insanity, with a core full of intuitive symbolism and surprising underlying messages. The characters are all incredibly likable while still containing a true human nature. The grunge rock soundtrack fits perfectly, with most songs feeling as if they were made for the series. Conventional language and analysis cannot convey the impression of brilliance brought on by this six episode series, but I'm going to try anyway.

In the first episode, the audience is introduced to the town of small town of Mabase. There's Noata, an apathetic and windrawn junior-high student. There's Mamimi, his older brother's girlfriend, who nonetheless just can't seem to keep her hands off Noata. There's his dad, who runs the town convenience store and secretly prints the towns gossip zine. Sure, this all sounds quite normal, but I haven't got to the robotic television which does dishes and serves curry. Ah, there's also the space alien Haruhara who makes Naota's life a bit more interesting, usually through bashing a Rickenbacker bass guitar to his face. If this all sounds a bit strange, FLCL has not even begun to leap off the deep end. To some viewers FLCL will look like a nonsensical cartoon, just for the sake of being random. However, I can assure confused viewers that there is indeed a point to the madness.

FLCL is surprisingly chock full of symbolism and deep moments, especially when contrasted between destruction and clashy guitar chords. Under the surface there's a very intuitive coming-of-age story, mainly dealing with the many adolescent struggles of becoming an adult. The show only begins to hint upon the various undertones 2/3 into the series, so most viewers don't even notice the messages until then. I won't spoil the various symbolism and subplots here, as I had a blast doing research and re-watching the series again and again to be able to catch them all. FLCL would've been entertaining enough even if these underlying messages weren't included, but the fact that such thought was injected in spite of the madness makes this series almost masterful.

This is all aided by the inventive animation, which gushes with life and personality. Gainax packed alot of TLC into all six episodes, and it shows. Art styles are played around with constantly, detail is packed into every frame, and it all works incredibly well. There's alot of flash to the imagery, but whats nice is that beautifully crazy artwork adds alot while not becoming a staple of the show.

Backing all of this up is an absolutely stellar soundtrack headlined by a Japanese rock band called The Pillows. If I had to compare it to an American band, I suppose the Pixies would be a familiar comparison: jangling guitars, distortion, heavy bass, bizarre lyrics fit perfectly with the show's direction. Every scene where music is included works in complete harmony with the visuals, and adds alot to the experience.

At first glance, FLCL looks like a undiciplined mess, being random for the sake of being random, but in the midst of the insanity the creators create a very functional, deep, and entertaining experience. It just works. It will make you laugh, get misty eyed, then perhaps make you light things on fire and assault people with a bass guitar (right after you buy that bitchin' yellow vespa). If that's not a successful series, I don't know what is.

Writing: A
Animation/Art: A+
Music/Sound: A+
Overall: A+