FLCL is perfectly coherent, it's characters are relatable, and it's themes are down to earth, but not any less meaningful because of it. This six episode OVA is about a boy, Naota, transitioning from adolescence to adulthood as he deals with a battery of sexual advances and hormonal imbalances from the main female characters. They all have their own arcs as well which helps to give variety to the shows themes and balances the series. FLCL's method of conveying it's themes is abnormal to say the least, which is going to turn a lot of people off and probably require multiple viewings. The information given explicitly is not all that's needed to really understand what's going on and if you didn't feel it's art and soundtrack were enough to warrant multiple viewers than I can't exactly blame you for writing it off as complete nonsense.
FLCL opens with Naota hanging out by a bridge spanning a canal with Mamimi, a 17 social reject who is troubled by her former boyfriend (and Naota's brother) ignoring her after moving to America to play baseball. She fills the gaping hole in her heart with her unwarranted sexual advances on Naota. Nothing serious, but she cuddles him while disallowing him from returning any affection. Theirs is a dysfunctional relationship that lacks proper communication and only serves Mamimi's desperate need for attention. Over the course of the first episode, puberty hits Naota like a 20 year old pink haired girl on a motorized scooter. He realizes his attraction to Mamimi and this seriously freaks her out. Her pet is transitioning into an adult, and if it becomes mature enough, it might cause it to realize that Mamimi is far more dependent on it than it is on her. "It" of course, referring to Naota, who Mamimi calls Takkun, a pet name for his brother (who she thinks is still dating her). Once Naota gets hit with the puberty bat, he sprouts an unsightly forehead boner which erupts into a giant robot battle in response to Mamimi's emotional turmoil after Naota informs her than she's been dumped in favor of a hot, blond American... it might be better if you watch the first episode before reading this because it's hard to explain. Oh well, it probbaly won't make sense either way. So, with that synopsis out of the way, we can get to why FLCL executes it's themes and character development so well through some very unusual methods.
FLCL is about maturity with an emphasis on sexual desires. Over the course of the show, Naota transitions for a surly and overly serious teenager to to a surly and overly serious teenager who wants to get it on with his brothers 17 year old ex girl friend (he's 12). Being 5 years apart as well as his brothers former love interest puts Mamimi in a fetishist but almost unattainable position. From the moment Naota starts hinting at his attraction to Mamimi to the scene where he drags her to a cafe for a date, which culminates in what resembles a rape scene (his forehead boner impacts the ground directly between her legs after her insistence that she doesn't want to go anywhere with him) their relationship is categorized by misunderstanding and manipulation on both ends. Mamimi wants a pet whom is dependent on her while Naota, in his coming of age, wants a relationship of some kind, but as a 12 year old, sucks at telling her that. Their distance is expressed in the cinematography and symbolism as much as the spoken lines, so we'll move onto that next.
SYMBOLISM, oh yeah...
Medical machina is a factory on a hill. All the adults are excited about it which probably means it has something to do with adulthood and maturity. There is an iconic scene where Naota and Mamimi stand on either side of the frame, the medical machina factory separating them. It symbolizes the difference in years and maturity between them. Much of Natoa's character arc is about him realizing that he needs to be a 12 year old and stop feigning maturity. Sometimes the most mature thing to do is to stop chasing your brothers ex girlfriend, hang out with friends his own age and just be a kid. Now how is this all symbolized? Let's give a few examples
There's the aforementioned medical machina shot, whit both characters separated by their age gap. perhaps the most ironic example is when Naota engages Haruko in an airsoft fight and encounters his fellow class mates, driving a car, working. That turns the whole maturity dynamic on its head. The 20 year old is playing with toy guns while the 12 year old class mates work like adults. Another example is spicy, sour, and mild foods. Naota initially refuses the sour drink offered to him by Mamimi. Later on, he accepts it, despite his apparent distaste for it. The same happens with spicy food. The irony of his feigned maturity is depicted in the plot as well. His embarrassment at having to play a cat in the school play, as well as his embarrassment of having a girl sleep over at his house, and of course, his inability to swig that bat (metaphorical for manning up). I feel this review will become unbearably dry if I'm simply listing examples of symbolism, but if you're the kind of person who enjoys themes and characterization conveyed subtly, FLCL may be perfect for you. I'll finish with this, the most important example of the theme of maturity is how Naota expects adults to behave. He often criticizes others for not being serious enough and that gives the best insight into this confused little boy's head.
Let's move on to something everyone can appreciate, and that's the incredible art and animation. FLCL utilizes the animated medium to its fullest with shots of Naota being extruded through Haruko's bike's vents, and the eye popping mecha battles that take place in every episode. The color palette is vibrant and beautiful without being too saturated, and the animation is fluid. There's several cool directing tricks as well, and you can clearly see the influence of Hideaki Anno and Hiroyuki Imaishi. These directors maximize the tone in every scene, from the claustrophobic experience in Naota's house where his family members literally enclose him in a box of their incessant questioning about his sex life to Canti's asymmetrical take off to the tune of "Hybrid rainbow". That's something else worth noting, the sound track.
FLCL's sound track is composed by the pillows, and it's worth listening to on its own, no matter how much you hate this show. From Runner's High to Bran New Love Song, the pillows inject a wide range of emotions into FLCL, melancholy, frenetic, empathetic, and hype as fuck.
To avoid stretching this out any longer I'll summarize the characters traits and developments and perhaps one of them will strike a chord with you.
Naota is obsessed with maturity but is ironically less mature than is similarly aged class mates. Mamimi has no friends other than Natoa, she's basically homeless, and her life sucks. She can either be an emotionally manipulative loser, or move on from Naota's brother and her need for a pet and make something of her life. Haruko is the embodiment of Naota's adolescent desires. I'm not making this up, she literally says this, and knowing this during rewatch gives a lot of context into what her place in the story is.
If you want something artistically beautiful that spends more time impressing you with its animation and uses symbolism and other abstract narrative methods, this is just the show for you. If you direct story telling that keeps you on the edge of your seat with twists and turns, this is going to be a nightmare. Either way, I wouldn't go into it trying to interpret it, just enjoy the ride.
