FLCL is a series that will not be enjoyed by everyone thanks to its seemingly random and nonsensical nature if folks are coming into the series for the first time. The show's humor comes from the unpredictability of Haruko's character and Naota putting up with all the adults around him behaving immaturely for their age within the town of Mabase. The series also isn't afraid to make nods to other anime titles and break the fourth wall with its humor at points. For the most part though, FLCL's over-the-top humor was an enjoyable ride for me as it felt spontaneous and meshed well with the themes it delve into.
Yes, I said themes. As crazy as it is to believe, FLCL is a coming-of-age series exploring how Naota should view his life as he approaches adolescence. Without spoiling too much, the kid finds Haruko's presence in his life leading him to learn more about what it is like to be an adult and finding his purpose in life. Several other relevant characters in the series also get their focus as FLCL explores how they perceive maturity and being an adult depending on their current situations. Gainax is clever enough to plant in some subtle things hinting to how characters develop and perceive their situation throughout FLCL and leave enough open with its coming-of-age themes where folks would have to rewatch the series more than once and can come to their own conclusions over what the series was trying to depict with its themes.
The show also has an ongoing plot that it dabbles into involving the mystery of Haruko's character and the robots that come out of Naota's head in each episode of the series. In spite of her eccentric traits, Haruko is hinted throughout FLCL to have more ulterior motives as to why she is sticking around Naota's house and manipulating events to go her way and having more dimension to her character than on the surface. The robots coming out of Naota's head are also connected to her presence on Earth and the series explores more about their origins as the series progresses.
Visually, FLCL is something of a rather oddball case much like the complicated details on its storytelling that I just covered. The scenery and character design quality is noticeably more on par with a late 1990s TV anime than an OVA with washed-out colors, minimal detail on scenic shots and moments where the series can resort to animation shortcuts to cut on corners. At the same time, the series does add in some clever animated sequences and unique styles at varying points of the series such as its famous animated manga sequences, a spinning 3-D camera sequence in its first episode and South Park style animation seen in the fifth episode. It looked like Gainax knew how to better conserve its animation budget to milk the unique moments of animation for FLCL since they were notorious for going overbudget with several of their works during the 1990s.
FLCL's soundtrack is another unique element to the series as it is performed entirely by the Japanese alternative rock band, The Pillows. Mixing around high-energy and low-key vocal tracks throughout the anime's run, the tracks sung by the Pillows are a perfect fit to the sometimes manic and sometimes insightful moments witnessed throughout FLCL's run.
Overall, FLCL is easily among one of Gainax's most famous works and it shows with its manic and insightful coming-of-age story and sci-fi plot centered around preteen Naota and crazy alien officer Haruko. The series won't be for everyone thanks to its manic humor and those who cannot see past it. But if you are open-minded enough to indulge in the insanity that FLCL offers up, the series is a definite recommendation worth checking out.
