An original anime by the above mentioned Studio Gainax directed by Tsurumaki Kazuya (who's also doing the new Eva movies), it tells the story of a boy named Naoto, who lives what he claims is a normal life in a normal town. Then one day a lady on a motorcycle runs him over, and things begin popping out of his head. This lady ends up moving into his house as a “housekeeper” and weird stuff begins to happen. Oh yeah, and there's robots. Because why not.
FLCL's biggest problem is the thing that makes it famous. The fact that it makes no sense. Well, okay, maybe it does make sense. The plot is actually rather simplistic. Boy meets girl, robots appear, and they defeat robots. Nothing new. However, it seems like it makes no sense as FLCL is very very random. All of the episodes are filled with these filler comedic moments that aren't really needed and just seem there to fill an episode. These moments are the ones that make no sense, with random usage of guns and a bunch of hyperactive comedy. With these nonsense moments in there, FLCL gets a feeling of randomness. However, you could liekly remove half of most episodes, with perhaps the expection of the last and the first, and not only ould the show be shorter, it would also make a whole lot more sense. As there's only a few plot elements that don't make much sense and most of those I have a feeling would make sense if you rewatch the show. Another thing that gives this show a nonsense feelign is the way the camera cuts. To different events, different angels, it makes it very tough to pick up on exactly what's going on. However, no matter how much I complain, this is not a bad thing. FLCL is what I call a fun anime, shows that despite several flaws they have a good amount of action and moments that make them enjoyable. FLCL has that air to it.
On the story itself, well... FLCL doesn't exactly have one. I mean, it is there, it just doesn't get revealed until halfway through. In a show that's only 6 episodes long. The story itself is decent, even if it's tough to tell what's going on. In a way, you can classify FLCL as a fast-paced slice-of-life comedy coming-of-age with mecha battles.
The characters of FLCL. They aren't very well developed, but they're fleshed out, if that makes sense. I mean, none of them really change throughout the story. Naoto seems to be bored at the start of the show but when strange things begin happening he goes into straight man mood, and he's not exactly a wimp but not exactly not one either. Haruhara Haruko (who is my favorite character on this show so much I'm giving her a tempoary spot on my favorite character list) is one of those characters that you're never exactly sure on who they are. She typically loves teasing Naoto and is very energetic but not overly energetic. She's fun-loving, that's for sure. Oh, and there's also Naoto friend Mamimi, who's childish and acts like an Osaka (from Azumanga Daioh) type idiot for most of the show. The other characters, like I said, are fleshed out but you never really learn about most of them. They're just there.
FLCL's soundtrack is the best part of the show. By a band called the Pillows (who really need to do more work for other anime) it is filled with several nifty guitar rifts and most of the songs have words in them, and that's just awesome. You basically have every other song being an insert song at times it seems. As one who doesn't typically care too much about the background music unless if a certain Kaijura Yuki does it, this surprised me greatly. The voice actors also do their part, especially the one for Haruko who has a voice I typically dislike but they way she used it was really good here,
The animation is very decent (it is by Gainax, who seems to ahev a reputation for either having really bad or really good animation). The style is dark but colorful at the same time and really manages to stand out. The backgrounds fit the mood of the show, and there's plenty of movement too!
FLCL Final Rating
Story: Really fun but doesn't make much sense, too many filler moments- A very very low 7.
Characters: Fleshed out but never really change, Haruko is awesome- A very very high 7.
Sound- The Pillows are awesome, decent voice acting too- 9.
Animation- Good, neat character designs- 8.
FLCL is a fun show, and that's basically all it is. If you are looking for a mindless piece of entertaiment then give it a try, it is just over 2 hours worth of time after all, so even if you like, it's not that much of a waste. If you must have a story however, then skip this. All in all, I give this a score of a high 7, and it is recommended.
