There’s No “Fooly” Like an Old Fooly

July 9th, 2012 in Anime, Fooly Cooly (FLCL), General Reviews by

fooly-cooly-review

This is one wild and crazy show that needs multiple viewings to make certain that you can figure out what it all means. You may fail, but this is a show that keeps you on your toes.

The basic plot is about Naota Nandaba (he’s the one in blue at the bottom). He lives in Mabase, a suburb ofTokyo. The city scenery is dominated by the Medical Mechanica building, which looks like a giant flatiron and I mean GIANT. While standing on a bridge, talking with Mamimi Samejima (ex-girl friend of Naota’s older brother, the smoker at the far left), Haruko Haruhara bursts onto the scene,  running Naota over with her Vespa scooter, then giving him CPR and finally hitting him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacher 4001 left-handed electric bass guitar (that dead-center maniac).

This creates a horn on his head, from which later on, a robot emerges from it. Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, Haruhara turns up to be a live-in maid at his house, making an already bad situation even worse for him. And from there, things get progressively stranger. Yes, it DOES get progressively stranger.

Can one really codify the show and not give away huge chunks of the plotting?  I mean, it is only six episodes and it a show that requires a real intensity of watching, because if you miss something, you really miss something. And since it moves at this breakneck pacing, playing catch-up is something you really don’t want to do.

And there is a plot that revolves around these robots, but you wonder if they are any good or of use. It does no good to say it takes a series of strange turns; the entire show is a series of strange turns. I have not gone back for a second viewing, as I am not certain things would become clearer, but others have admonished me to do so, as now I can focus more on the story than the overwhelming visuals that dominate to the point of obliteration.

You are going to be scratching you head, wondering how the whole magilla is going to turn out, or if it will. Well, it does turn out, but the ride there would make evenAlicein Wonderland a tad queasy with all the dips and curves it goes through. If you haven’t seen it, you must do so. Now whether you go one at a time or try to gobble down all six at once, that is on you.

If you have seen in, see it again. Just because I am a chicken doesn’t mean you should shy away from it. At the very least, revel in the bizarre nature of the whole situation.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           9 (This show has a good, distinctive look)
Plot                  8 (I think there is a plot, but who can tell?)
Pacing             10 (Jeez, come up for air!)
Effectiveness    7 (it sometimes is too disjointed for its own good)
Conclusion       6 (It feels like a save point than an end)
Fan Service      3 (A similar shows would be “Wedding Peach”)

Overall            8 (It needs repeated watchings)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. She blinded me with science.


One response to “There’s No “Fooly” Like an Old Fooly”

  1. paperfl0wers says:

    Oh God…FLCL. My friend introduced me to this anime. She said her other friend told her to watch it and told me how insane it is. When I heard the general plot I just HAD to make her watch the first episode with me.
    I know a lot of people love it so no offense intended. It was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Entertaining as hell? Surely. But it’s not something I would watch on my own. Watch it with friends and it’s hysterical but alone…no. It’s like the Twilight films (and I’m sorry to bring up Twilight), they’re just too damn funny to not watch. I only got to watch episode 1. I’d like to finish the other 5 just because it’d be fun but I never got her to watch the rest with me.
    Anyway this show is labeled a masterpiece and you’re supposed to find meaning behind it but I see no real meaning. A show that deserves to say “find the meaning” and “interpret your own story” is Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s a good anime that also has a lot of room for interpretation. Personally I think FLCL is just nonsense.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: