I'm on my third or fourth time through this series, and it just keeps getting better. Firstly, because the complete insanity of what's happening in front of you will keep your mind from fully grasping things the first time through. And secondly, because the story works on a couple different levels.
Plot-wise, FLCL/Fooley Cooley/Furi-Kuri ostensibly concerns Naoto, a kid who lives in a "boring" town with a giant iron-shaped factory, who's constantly (half-heartedly) dodging the advances of his traveling older brother's messed-up girlfriend, and who suddenly is hit by a Vespa ridden by a girl carrying a Rickenbacker bass (with some sort of chainsaw motor) who claims to be from outer space. Got it? But really, the giant robots, alien battles, and weird eyebrows that ensue are a thin veil for a story that's really about puberty and what it means to grow up. That facet of the story never lays itself out completely, it's more implied like the meaning of a song. But it is the overall most important factor here, and it makes the re-watch value high. To top it off, Gainax has put yet another layer of story on top that spoofs their own brilliant previous work such as Evangelion. For otakus and trivia buffs, there is even a gratuitous reference to Gainax's original "Daikon" shorts.
And that's only half of it: Gainax took their reputation as a studio with an eye for quality and ran with it. Great, unique character design and smooth animation aside, there's so much going on here visually that they've done just because they CAN, it's unbelievable. The bar has yet to be raised any higher than this show, and it's over seven years old now. As a bonus that can rarely be asked for in anime, the dub is a joy to hear. Wordplay is huge in the dialog, and the translation and voice acting do the script justice and then some.
I hate to rate anything by numbers, but I'm giving a 9 because I can make a claim here without being hyperbolic: Every last second of FLCL will blow your mind. It's a feast for the eyes and the brain or rather, it's more like dessert for the eyes and brain. Enjoy it, it's just incredible.
Plot-wise, FLCL/Fooley Cooley/Furi-Kuri ostensibly concerns Naoto, a kid who lives in a "boring" town with a giant iron-shaped factory, who's constantly (half-heartedly) dodging the advances of his traveling older brother's messed-up girlfriend, and who suddenly is hit by a Vespa ridden by a girl carrying a Rickenbacker bass (with some sort of chainsaw motor) who claims to be from outer space. Got it? But really, the giant robots, alien battles, and weird eyebrows that ensue are a thin veil for a story that's really about puberty and what it means to grow up. That facet of the story never lays itself out completely, it's more implied like the meaning of a song. But it is the overall most important factor here, and it makes the re-watch value high. To top it off, Gainax has put yet another layer of story on top that spoofs their own brilliant previous work such as Evangelion. For otakus and trivia buffs, there is even a gratuitous reference to Gainax's original "Daikon" shorts.
And that's only half of it: Gainax took their reputation as a studio with an eye for quality and ran with it. Great, unique character design and smooth animation aside, there's so much going on here visually that they've done just because they CAN, it's unbelievable. The bar has yet to be raised any higher than this show, and it's over seven years old now. As a bonus that can rarely be asked for in anime, the dub is a joy to hear. Wordplay is huge in the dialog, and the translation and voice acting do the script justice and then some.
I hate to rate anything by numbers, but I'm giving a 9 because I can make a claim here without being hyperbolic: Every last second of FLCL will blow your mind. It's a feast for the eyes and the brain or rather, it's more like dessert for the eyes and brain. Enjoy it, it's just incredible.
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