FLCL: Shoegaze

Fourth time's the charm, right? Surely Adult Swim and Production IG will get it right! Serving as the direct sequel to FLCL: Alternative, this is set to be the final FLCL series by Adult Swim. Will the sequel project go out with a bang or a whimper?

We follow our protagonist Masaki and an eccentric girl named Harumi, who have locked themselves in a strange tower. Masaki has the ability to see these strange ghost-like beings that seemingly no one else can. The two venture into this mysterious tower to find the answers they're both looking for.

The series starts out with quite a bit of promise, ... surprisingly. It has this "Boy Meets Girl" vibe, with the two being completely polar opposites. With Masaki being the quiet, reserved type while Harumi being outgoing, eccentric, and unpredictable. This leads to a somewhat charming relationship that helped drive the series forward. As the story goes on, Harumi helps push Masaki out of his comfort zone. Masaki was somewhat of an outcast due to his ability to see these ghost-like beings. But when he told others about it, they thought he was crazy, leading him to lead a lonely life. Harumi seemingly accepts Masaki, regardless. This leads to Masaki beginning to open up and start feeling things he hasn't before. This is where Shoegaze excelled, as it was able to keep the spirit of the original series and the "coming of age" theme, while still being original.

While not completely required viewing, watching FLCL Alternative prior to this will help fill in the gaps with this story. As this does partially focus on the protagonist from the prequel, Kana, who is now 27 and jaded with the world. The events at the end of Alternative are a huge part of what happens in Shoegaze.

If you haven't noticed, I've yet to mention Haruko. That is because she does not appear in this series, making it the first to be Haruko-less. Harumi stands in as her sort of spiritual successor, as she has the same kind of vibe and mannerisms. And honestly, the show is likely better for it as it helps make it feel more original.

For some positives, both visually and musically it's close to the original and arguably one of the best out of the four sequels. Good character designs and it properly implements the music of the pillows well, unlike Grunge. It brings a lot of great pillows tracks and it reminds you of just how good of a band they are.

Where Shoegaze fails is its final episode. The story becomes muddled, poorly written, and nonsensical. It attempts to introduce elements in the final 10-15 minutes, making it feel like a mess. When the viewer begins to ask questions like "What's going on? Who is that? What is happening?", you know the writers have failed. There's a difference between leaving things up to interpretation and the story just not making sense. This is the latter. Like all the sequels, it misunderstands the elements and themes of the original while still attempting to emulate them. Strangely, this is another series with only three episodes. While the first two sequels had six episodes, both Grunge and Shoegaze have three. And I believe the series suffered for it. The limited run time is, I think, a partial factor in the bad final episode.

Ultimately, Shoegaze is a series that leaves you thinking, "what if?". A lot of missed potential here, as Shoegaze was, at least for the first two episodes, was able to get the "coming of age" theme without copying the original. But the ending was fumbled, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers, such as "Why did I even watch this?". Like most FLCL sequels, Shoegaze will ultimately fall into obscurity.

FLCL is a series that was groundbreaking and influential, and its effects are still felt even today, not just in Japan, but the entire animation industry. With four bad sequels, I believe it's finally time to give it the rest it deserves.

All in the looks, nothing behind the awesomeness. In recent years, a lot of anime have tried this approach. And whilst most of them do have a ting of enjoyment in the cool fight scenes that pop up once in a while, most of the saving grace of anime from the past that are reboots and movies don't have that. It's as though they exist just to complete a set. FLCL: Shoegaze however, is a middling in the two. It tries to achieve both whilst still making it engaging enough. Nonetheless it fails in its approach, unable to capture the hearts of the viewers of ... the long beloved classic that came far before it.

The writing quality and enjoyment while largely subjective when it comes to most, are the things that hold this anime back the most. This is most especially true when you walk into it expecting something as equally good as the classic. If anything at all, this one along with the other long winding string of reboots can be described by one thing in pop culture and it would be the "What happened to the game I love?" meme.

This sequel's writing tries to force development that are non-existent through a streak of events that lack the shock value they were perpetrated to have. Everything is just out-of-whack especially considering that the music doesn't throw at you to fit the sync that is the heavy chaotic nature of the program. Considering it's a sequel to a preposed Avant Garde, there is nothing really ahead of it's time in this time period as everything is just there to exist; just like this statement is there to not make sense in any way, so is the show. The delivery is lackluster at best. This makes enjoying it a rather difficult thing I must say.

The animation however, is not the case. It's one that is particularly well done and would like to give props to the studio for their work on this aspect. It's so well done, one might think they just wanted a shot at animating the loved franchise and decided to put no effort in the other aspects. A shame really considering the end answered with something more to be desired, yet it's underwhelming presentation didn't make it out as extraordinary at all.

In the end, Shoegaze is a rather underwhelming piece. It leaves much to be desired in all aspects except animation. Constantly piercing at the viewer "Is it over yet?", rather than "What's next?". The mystery is almost entirely forgotten throughout. Though I could say this is as a result of the epic conclusion it's first predecessor had. This continuation was far too boring compared to the original.

Weighing everything discussed, 4.72/10 seems a fair rating for its efforts.

Well the (hopefully) last of the FLCL is done. It goes without saying it was unable to live up to the original. While I did like this more than Grunge and maybe more than Alt and Prog it still was not good. This one felt more like it was trying to do its own story while also being a direct sequel to Alternative. I think not having Haruko in this was a good choice as it would have felt very forced, Harumi as a new character and sort of replacement for Haruko's chaotic entry was a good decision. This series still falls flat in terms ... of producing anything of meaning. I feel like if they'd had more than 3 episodes to work with this could've been somethin half ok but this isn't the case. Things still feel rushed and a husk of what should have been. I'm glad these remakes are supposedly over and that FLCL can finally rest.