FLCL by Dave K

Japanese Title: Furi Kuri
Also Known As: Fooly Coolly
Genre: Action/Comedy
Format: 6 OVA
Allegiance: Gainax
Director: Tsurumaki Kazuya
Vintage: 2000-2001
Intelligence Agency Report by: Djudge
Naota’s life in Mabase is the epitome of drab. Nothing exciting ever happens there, period. His family is about as immature as one can get and now his brother’s just left to play baseball in America. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, he gets run over by a beautiful, if psychotic, girl who, after a strange exchange of words (and guitar blows) speeds off. In the wake of this strange meeting, Naota then sees his world turned upside-down as robots start spontaneously popping out of his head and wreaking havoc on the town. It seems that the scooter-riding stranger is back and she has answers to what’s happening to Naota. So much for boring days…

Field Agent Report by: Dave K
Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio
7.50
9.50
9.75
9.25
10.00
Overall 9.75

Have you ever seen or heard the phrase “OMG! WTF?! BBQ!” That very well could have resulted from a person watchingFLCL. The anime is seemingly nothing but mindless insanity, with seemingly being the operative word.

There is definitely a hidden purpose to FLCL, and while on the outside it may be all insanity and what not; on the insideFLCL is symbolic of an adolescent wondering about sex. The story itself is pretty basic and can probably be told in but a few sentences, but that’s because FLCL is more about the development of the characters, then about the development of the plot.

With one aspect already lacking FLCL had to be good everywhere else to keep itself as an upper echelon anime. So right off the bat we are hit with some excellent artwork and animation. The vivid colours and unique character designs make FLCL a surprising piece of eye candy. If you understand Japanese conversation, then FLCL is one of those anime you can just sit back and listen to. The seiyuu work is absolutely brilliant and the music (done largely by The Pillows) fits the series like a glove. FLCL definitely has one of the best OSTs available.

So while FLCL may lack in the plot department a bit, it more then picks up the slack and defines itself with an amazing cast of characters, excellent animation, voice acting and one of the catchiest sound tracks ever. If you haven’t seen it, then what are you waiting for? If you have, well check out the manga.