FLCL

[Twilight_Bringer]

how come there were only six episodes?... i wish there was more... but i asked my sister... and she said... that it was because flcl was like a comic series... comics... like american ones... only have like 5-7 books... so... that's what i think... what about you?...

[angelx03]

FLCL doesn't need more episodes or else the wierdness factor will become bland. Plus there's other reasons of which I can't think of.

[kearlywi]

I like the randomness. It varies up the way comedy can be implemented by refusing to follow any kind of path or guidelines for the presentation of humor, allowing there to be a greater variety of comedic devices to be available for use which greatly contributed to the originality of the anime as a whole.

Ah, me use much big words...no can think good now!

Randomness itself doesnt accomplish this. FLCL accomplished this feat by simply being inexplicable. I could never see where FLCL was going, and if anyone claims they could, they should have their head examined.

Inexplicableness is just slightly different from randomness. Randomness is an undeveloped and illogical action that occurs spontaniously. Inexplicableness is both logical or illogical behavior that is unpredictable and happens before we realize what we've seen. A good example of inexplicableness in another anime is in Goldenboy; Kintaro sometimes finds himself cleaning toilets, then, despite his tiny shreds of self dignity, finds himself making love to the toilet (and of course he always gets caught). This carries some logic to it, or at least an explanation, since his female love interest had sat there, and he's a first class pervert with no shame (he even tries, and fails, to stop himself).

In FLCL, Haruka smashes the injured Naota in the head with an electric guitar. Now if someone was just in a horrible motor vehicle accident and was thrown to the pavement, he/she would likely have a broken neck, you would'nt move them; EVERYONE KNOWS THAT. So when Haruka smashes her guitar into Naota's head going full speed on her wheels right after this accident, our reaction is shock, "WTF?!"

I'll admit, that made me laugh, but only as a very quick, sucker punch laugh out of shock value (it was almost more like having a breath forced out than laughing). I'm a big believer in the setup to a joke, and FLCL seemed to have very little setup to any of its jokes, almost as if the jokes were made simply due to the fact that no setup existed, as if just to point out this absence, and for no other reason (perhaps for no reason at all). The only setup in the whole series was the running Manga gag:

"They said they'd cancel us if we did it again!"
"Who cares! Its the last episode!"

Other than that, FLCL lived off of inexplicableness and colorfullness. After the first episode, the jury was still out as to whether I liked the show or hated it. I had definitely had my fill of retardation and was waiting to see if character development or developed scenarios would increase my interest in the show. As I came to find out, up until perhaps the final episode (which contained some sanity), the entire show was a Rebellion against structure, logic, and the basic rules of storytelling. I think this is why some people see all the crazy expressionist elements and assume that FLCL is loaded with symbolism. FLCL is a message anime, it shows us how much fun it can be to defy the norms, no symbolism needed. Its just that I didn't have fun, and the ride was a tiring one.

[Scintilla]

Other than that, FLCL lived off of inexplicableness and colorfullness. After the first episode, the jury was still out as to whether I liked the show or hated it. I had definitely had my fill of retardation and was waiting to see if character development or developed scenarios would increase my interest in the show. As I came to find out, up until perhaps the final episode (which contained some sanity), the entire show was a Rebellion against structure, logic, and the basic rules of storytelling. I think this is why some people see all the crazy expressionist elements and assume that FLCL is loaded with symbolism. FLCL is a message anime, it shows us how much fun it can be to defy the norms, no symbolism needed. Its just that I didn't have fun, and the ride was a tiring one.

Personally, I thought there was plenty of character development. At least with Ninamori, Naota, and Mamimi; they all do a fair bit of growing up as the series goes on. Naota finally learns to "swing the bat" (Tsurumaki-san specifically said in the director's commentary that that WAS symbolic) and take a more active role in his own life (which includes basically dumping Mamimi in ep 5); Mamimi eventually comes to realize that no kind of "Ta-kun" will ever be able to replace Tasuku; Ninamori gets over her little thing for Naota (I still say that her high jump in ep 6 is symbolic, considering what she, Gaku, and Masashi are talking about directly before) and learns the importance of being honest to herself (another thing Tsurumaki-san explained in the commentary); etc., etc.

I will admit that the plot really doesn't get moving until episode 4, when Amarao and Kitsurubami arrive on the scene and actually start explaining some of what's going on. The first three episodes are primarily for establishing the characters -- 1 mostly about Naota, 2 Mamimi, and 3 Ninamori.

[Kearly]

Personally, I thought there was plenty of character development. At least with Ninamori, Naota, and Mamimi; they all do a fair bit of growing up as the series goes on. Naota finally learns to "swing the bat" (Tsurumaki-san specifically said in the director's commentary that that WAS symbolic) and take a more active role in his own life (which includes basically dumping Mamimi in ep 5); Mamimi eventually comes to realize that no kind of "Ta-kun" will ever be able to replace Tasuku; Ninamori gets over her little thing for Naota (I still say that her high jump in ep 6 is symbolic, considering what she, Gaku, and Masashi are talking about directly before) and learns the importance of being honest to herself (another thing Tsurumaki-san explained in the commentary); etc., etc.

I will admit that the plot really doesn't get moving until episode 4, when Amarao and Kitsurubami arrive on the scene and actually start explaining some of what's going on. The first three episodes are primarily for establishing the characters -- 1 mostly about Naota, 2 Mamimi, and 3 Ninamori.

I'm glad you brought up the high jump point, because that is symbolism, even if it is pretty minor. It has plot significance and was well explained by you. I'm not buying the swinging the bat symbolism, or at least not until I see more direct evidence actually presented inside the anime. The creator's vague confirmation outside the anime is compelling, but its not fair to say something is symbolic without explaining the symbolism itself nor establishing its significance. It sounds like to me its trying to say that he's grown up, that he's taking responsibility like a man. But I already know that, because he saved the world with the action itself, again, no need for a secondary level of meaning, the surface level covers it.

I have to say I felt the characters were very poorly developed. Many characters never made sense. I never understood Haruka's character, not even a little. Same goes for Naota's dad, and the class rep girl. Mamimi was the most developed, and Naota was developed a little, but I found his sudden love for Haruka at the end just a little sudden (oh mamimi dumped me, I love you Haruka!). Aside from FLCL, I don't think I've seen any 6 episode series where I felt the characters were adequately developed. I've never seen shows 13 episodes or less run off of character development and do it effectively (well, ok one, Kanon).

FLCL needed to be 6 episodes in my opinion, longer than that and my head would have exploded. I think it accomplished its goal very well in 6 episodes. I do not feel that FLCL is a failure, it just didn't mesh with me.

Anyway, I saw your newest vid Scintilla. My friends showed me this random Vanilla Ice vid to Eva and FLCL and we were like, "hey, how did this crap make the top ten %?" But all kidding aside, I enjoyed it and I almost died laughing when Gendo said "Lets get out of here, Word to your mother!" It wasnt even until a few days later I noticed that you were the one who made it. Congrats on the success!

[Scintilla]

I'm not buying the swinging the bat symbolism, or at least not until I see more direct evidence actually presented inside the anime. The creator's vague confirmation outside the anime is compelling, but its not fair to say something is symbolic without explaining the symbolism itself nor establishing its significance. It sounds like to me its trying to say that he's grown up, that he's taking responsibility like a man. But I already know that, because he saved the world with the action itself, again, no need for a secondary level of meaning, the surface level covers it.

I'd really have to re-watch the episode to be able to answer this completely, so for now I'll keep my comments limited. We see in the beginning of ep 4 that Naota, though he gets enough at-bats, never swings the bat once. Why? Because he's afraid of being put to the test, afraid to try, afraid of failure. Naota always comments in episode 1 that everything in his life is ordinary and nothing ever changes, but he also doesn't make any attempts to change it. This is probably best seen in his indifference towards Mamimi's advances even though he realizes full well that she's only using him as a substitute for his brother and he doesn't seem to be getting anything out of the deal.

One thing that used to puzzle me about Episode 4 is Mamimi's disappointment that accompanies her line "He swung the bat..." near the end. The director explains in the commentary that the reason she's disappointed is because Naota's becoming the kind of person who <i>would</i> swing the bat, who would take a chance and try to change things; and this kind of a Naota is not what Mamimi wants, because he's more likely to reject her, because he's realizing he doesn't need her anymore. Then in ep 5, we do in fact see Naota taking a much more active role than usual in the battle, yelling at Mamimi to stop calling him "Ta-kun" (because he knows she's referring to his brother) and consciously climbing into Canti's jaws instead of being forcefully eaten.

Okay, that wasn't so great, but maybe it'll make more sense the next time I watch.

I never understood Haruka's character, not even a little.

Personally, I think episode 6 says more about Haruko's character than any other episode. We see that her number 1 priority in life is to recover Atomsk, and she doesn't mind sacrificing Mabase to get him. I also think that Haruko does genuinely have <i>some</i> feelings for Naota; when she's reporting to her superiors via Miyu Miyu in episode 5, she feels the need to deny it. But she tries not to let them distract her from her ultimate goal.

Same goes for Naota's dad

Not much to say here. Acts like a kid, and Naota can't stand that.

and the class rep girl.

I think the most important thing that happened to her character-wise was that she learned to stop fooling herself into thinking she was more of an adult than she was. Or something like that.

Naota was developed a little, but I found his sudden love for Haruka at the end just a little sudden (oh mamimi dumped me, I love you Haruka!).

Um yeah, what was with that? Personally, I think that it's because she embodies the novelty and amazement that had formerly been so absent from his life... and I also think that Naota had felt that way for a while but didn't want to admit it to himself. See his reactions to Amarao's interrogation in ep 4 and what he says and does in the scene before the eyecatch in ep 6. But yeah, that sudden confession always struck me as a little odd (and disappointing when the series had to end shortly thereafter).

Anyway, I saw your newest vid Scintilla. My friends showed me this random Vanilla Ice vid to Eva and FLCL and we were like, "hey, how did this crap make the top ten %?" But all kidding aside, I enjoyed it and I almost died laughing when Gendo said "Lets get out of here, Word to your mother!" It wasnt even until a few days later I noticed that you were the one who made it. Congrats on the success!

Hehe, thanks ^^
That scene was probably one of the first I decided on the footage for...


I also wanted to say that I really enjoy seeing this kind of intelligent debate going on in General Anime... now if only it would happen a little more often.

[Cloud Clone]

Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! (insert villianous laughter here) Live, my pretty little topic, live!

....but seriously, does anyone see any real meaning behind the copious amounts of nonsensical randomness that's rampant throughout the entirety of the series? Wasn't some part cut out of the AS version at the end? Doesn't anyone have any answers for these haunting questions?

Whether I find out or not, I'm still sticking to my point that it's a wicked-awesome series!

[Karou_ken]

FLCL will live on forever .........................................I think

[Daio Kaji]

true, FLCL will never die, if it did, it would come back in a michael jackson thriller parody type thing and be right back picking at our smooth shiny brains

since the subject was brought up a couple of pages ago, does anyone have any profile-type information on TV-boy/Canti

seems like he was just one of two monsters that Naota sprouted out of his head, i don't think that Canti was fighting for humanity's sake in the beginning, though it would serve to be a good superhero parody on the show, i think maybe two monsters accidently started to go through Naota's portal in his head and neither one wanted to let the other through, so they fought to decide who would come through the portal

..but what would the robots do after they came through the portal?... what's on the other side of the portal for that matter? i know i heard that Atomsk has enough N-O to transport things across galaxies, but Naota doesn't have that much N-O (sp?) so does that mean that the robots were really coming from the Medical Mechanica factory and because they don't have any doors on their factory they use mental transportation instead... LMAO

man... the crazziness of FLCL deems it a good show imo... same now goes for Goldenboy which i really really really want/need to see/buy/experience in a room full of girls bigger than me and able to crush me with their luv!

[Cloud Clone]

Wow, I'm actually impressed by the thought you must have put into this anime- I just enjoyed about 90% of it just for the seeming randomness like a 3 yr. old. Good job!